ANYONE ELSE?: (ANYONE Series Book 2) A post-apocalypic survival novel

by Angela Scott

  “Yeah,” he responded quickly. “I don’t want to answer the question of ‘what are we doing here’ in either of its connotations. One is too big and the other too dangerous.”

  I wondered which one was which — our relationship or our relationship to the whole freaking messed up world.

  “I thought you had wisdom to impart.”

  “Apparently not.” He was blunt. “The question to where we came from, where we’re going, and what the point of being here is one even the brightest philosophers have struggled with. Except religious clergy. They seem to know it all, but me? I’m a regular dude simply taking it day by day.”

  Day by day.

  There was something profound about taking life day by day, but there was also something quite depressing about it to.

  “I’m talking about, when we get to Kansas, not the meaning of life, though I guess it would be nice to have that answer, too.” I let out a slow breath. “But what if nothing is there in Kansas, like you said? Then what do we do? Where do we go? And my brain makes things even worse when I think about if people are there. What will it be like? Happy go-lucky apocalypse where we help each other grow carrots and braid each other’s hair, or is it going to have more of a Walking Dead kind of feel to it where they want to bash your head in with a bat so they can eat you later? This is the kind of stuff I’m thinking about.”

  “Wow, Tess. You’re quite the killjoy.”

  Didn’t I know it.

  “And that’s just the beginning,” I continued. “There’s a lot more swirling around in my head, too. Like Bob. What am I going to do about him? Keep him? Raise him? Hand him over to someone else? If given no other choice, of course I’d keep the kid. I’m not a monster. But if we found people? I don’t know. I suppose I need to do what was best for him, whatever that happens to be. And what about me? Without Dad and Toby, my family is gone. All this time I’ve been with you and Bob. If we found others, I wouldn’t know where to even begin to fit in.”

  “Well, for starters, I’d suggest not talking so much. You’ll freak them out, kind of like you’re doing to me right now. And you said one question. You’ve gone way beyond your limit.”

  I sighed, ignoring his truth. “Coming here made our situation seem all that more, I don’t know, real, I guess. Really real. Can you see why I can’t sleep?”

  “I’m starting to see that. I thought I was doing a good thing bringing you back here. I figured it was something you not only wanted but something you needed.” He brushed the hair away from my eyes, but sensed he crossed an invisible line of some sort and pulled his hand back. “I guess we should’ve headed straight to Kansas with no stops down memory lane, because a couple days ago you were all for it.”

  “No, it’s fine. It’s probably a good thing we came. It’s good to have closure.” As I said the word out loud, I realized how finite it sounded. Closure — an awful word. “I knew they wouldn’t be here.”

  “That makes one of us. I totally thought they would be.” He turned his head and stared at the bottom of the bunk above us. “When you’d said you wanted to go home, I had this ah-ha feeling that we should — that they’d be here.”

  “Your angel instincts let you down this time.” I gave his shoulder a playful nudge.

  He groaned and turned to look at me again. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

  “Probably not. It’s kind of fun for me to think you’re more awesome than you are.”

  “At least you’re honest.” He pulled the edge of my sleeping bag up over my shoulder, tucking it in around me. “You’re not mad at me for bringing you here, are you?”

  “Not anymore.” That was the truth. I was totally mad at the beginning, but now that I had seen everything I needed to see, I could let it go and move forward. Or at least try to.

  “That’s good.”

  It was. I didn’t want to be angry with him. After all, besides Bob, he was the only other person on the planet I had left. I needed him now more than ever.

  “Hey.” He moved his head a little closer to me on the shared pillow. “It’s going to all work out. One way or another, we’ll find what we need, just like we’ve always done. You’re going to be okay, Tess, whether we find people or not.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Trust me.” He pointed to his head. “I have wisdom. Well, a little bit, anyway, but let’s not push it.”

  I smiled. “I wouldn’t think of pushing it.”

  He climbed from the bed. “I guess I should try and let you get some sleep. You seem to be—”

  I grabbed his arm, stopping him. “No, don’t go. Not yet.”

  He gave me a weird look. “First, you didn’t want me lying next to you. Now, you want me to stay?”

  I shrugged but didn’t remove my hand from his arm. “What can I say? I’m complicated.”

  He positioned himself next to me again, lying on his side once more. “You’re telling me.”

  Chapter 50

  I slept, which surprised me. With no windows and only a small battery-operated lantern turned low, the bunker remained dark. Only the glow from the digital clock on the microwave relayed that it was almost seven in the morning, but since Cole had arbitrarily picked a time the night before for the heck of it, I had no way to tell what time it was. The joys of apocalyptic living.

  Once my eyes had fluttered all the way open, I found Cole’s left arm holding me against him. My head lay on his chest. His heart thumped below my ear, peaceful and comforting, his breath shallow and rhythmic. No wonder I was able to sleep.

  I didn’t move. I didn’t want to.

  Maybe it sounded corny and completely cliché, but with his arm protectively around me, his heart beating beneath my ear, his musky male scent wafting through his thin t-shirt, and his sleepy breathing warming the top of my head, I knew what people meant when they said things like, “He felt like home.”

  I snuggled closer without disturbing him.

  In that safe space, many of the worries I had earlier didn’t seem all that bad anymore. I didn’t need to worry about Kansas, Walking Dead scenarios or not. I had him. As long as we stayed together, it wouldn’t really matter where we were. I’d be home.

  He was home.

  And that was enough for me.

  It was crazy what a couple of hours of sleep and snuggling a guy could do for a person’s psyche.

  I felt so much better.

  I could take on this day and all the days that came after as long as this guy, this wonderful and extremely patient, though somewhat annoying guy, was at my side.

  Maybe only a couple of hours of sleep and the sweet smell of him messed with my ability to think straight, giving me false optimism. I brushed those thoughts aside. The exhilaration I felt was much better than the dread from the night before. I wanted to hang onto it for as long as I could.

  Bob gave out a whimper, soft but enough to indicate he was starting to wake up.

  My time cuddling Cole ended much more quickly than I would’ve liked. I wondered what he’d think had he woken up and seen us hugging one another. He was so against any inappropriate affection that he might’ve freaked out on me again.

  The bunk bed was tiny. Super tiny. There was no way two people, especially one of his size, could comfortably sleep together without limbs becoming entangled. He had to know that.

  Over the wall of pillows that we placed around Bob to keep him from falling off the lower bunk opposite mine, the baby sat up. He whimpered again and reached for me with his pudgy baby hands.

  “Just a second, Bob. I’m coming.”

  Satisfied that he had been acknowledged, he found his pacifier, plopped it in his mouth, and sucked it. The sucky sounds filled the quiet space.

  Callie stood on the back of the couch, stretched, and made a brave leap from her perch to Bob’s bed to check things out. That cat, for as much as Bob tried to choke and smother her in his attempt to show love, always wanted to be near him. Strange cat.
/>   Bob had Callie to entertain him and he also had his pacifier, so that bought me a little time.

  I nudged Cole.

  He only pulled me closer but didn’t make any move to wake up.

  I tapped his chest.

  He groaned.

  “Cole, Bob’s awake. You need to let me out.”

  He rolled over and opened his eyes. He smiled. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning.” I grinned. His dark hair stood on end, almost looking intentionally styled that way. Of course, beautiful people would look … well, beautiful in the morning, even when they weren’t trying.

  “You sleep okay?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Better than I thought I would.”

  “I’m glad to do my part.” He winked. “So, the plan is still to leave today?”

  I nodded again. “I think it would be best to go. The sooner we get out of here, the better. Too many memories here.”

  “I was just checking in case you’d changed your mind during the night, but I’m completely on board with whatever you decide.”

  He untangled himself from the blankets and sat up, his feet on the ground. I grabbed his forearm, stopping him, much like I had done the night before.

  He turned to me. “Everything okay?”

  I had no idea why I did what I did. There was no plan, no forethought. I just did it.

  One second, I held his arm and the next, I took his whiskery face between my hands and kissed his surprised lips. I really hadn’t planned to. I was pretty sure I only planned to thank him, but there I was with my lips smooshing his.

  What had I just done?

  What had I done? Why? Why would I do this?

  He stared at me, eyes slightly wider than normal.

  I stared at him, completely mortified.

  He tilted his head to the side. “Okay, that was definitely unexpected.”

  I quickly dropped my hands from his face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” I scrambled to repair the situation. “I’m not even sure why I did. I think last night, you and me, and being super close.” I motioned to the bed as I rambled, trying to undo what I’d just done. All the time with the smelling him ! Ahhh. I really needed to stop doing that.

  Then I paused and shook my head.

  Definitely unexpected?

  How was it “definitely unexpected?” We’d been dancing around the issue of the two of us almost from the get-go, and the longer we were together, the more difficult it became.

  Screw it!

  “You know what, Cole? That’s not even true. I do know why I did it.”

  He watched me, our eyes locked on one another. “You do?” He didn’t ask the question in a surprised kind of way, but more of like a statement with a hint of a question mark at the end.

  “Yeah, I do. I know you have your issues, especially when it comes to our age, but I don’t care. I like you.” I caught myself off guard a little when I said it, but then I looked at him and decided to own my feelings. “I really like you.”

  I’d put myself out there, making myself emotionally vulnerable to him. I worried that in the process I’d lose him. He didn’t want this. He’d been fighting against it for as long as I’d known him. No touchy-feely had been his motto and running off whenever things between us became too intense was his M.O.

  Thankfully, the bunker wasn’t that big. He couldn’t go far — no running laps in a mall or playing hoops in a Walmart.

  He didn’t say anything. He only stared at me.

  I couldn’t read what he was thinking. I didn’t have his kind of ability. The bravery I once felt dissipated as the silence between us grew.

  Oh, crap.

  I closed my eyes and shook my head.

  Why, Tess, why?

  Things were good between us. We were heading to Kansas. What was wrong with me?

  I’d slept only a few hours, had breathed in his magical aroma, and I knew that nothing good ever came from making decisions, big decisions, on a sleep-deprived brain.

  I was so stupid.

  I ruined everything.

  Hating the silence and attempting to rewind the time and fix my heinous mistake if it wasn’t too late, I opened my eyes. “Cole, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put you—”

  He took my face in his warm hands, tipped it upward, and enveloped my partially opened lips with his.

  We’d only really kissed once. I didn’t count my awkward attempt a few seconds before. The first kiss, back in the abandoned mall in the sporting goods store, was a long time ago. The memory of that incredible experience combined with this new one held me captive, shocked, but totally intrigued.

  A rush of heated emotions burrowed their way through me, building and awakening all my senses, so quickly, so crazy.

  I’d been kissed by a few boys in my past, but being kissed by Cole, that first time and now this one, transcended all others.

  Colors danced behind my eyes, all the colors, colors I didn’t even knew existed … amaranth, coquelico, mikado, fulvous….

  My heart beat double-time, filling my ears with its manic booming.

  My body trembled and shivered, or maybe it didn’t. The ability to know what was happening outside me and what was happening inside me blended into a mashup of every possible euphoric feeling, smudging the lines of certainty. Soaring, swaying, falling … all of that without moving as his gentle hands held my face.

  Whatever he was, man or something more, he sure knew what he was doing.

  Nothing in all my seventeen and a half years had ever felt like this.

  We pulled away, ending the most perfect fairy-tale kiss. I watched his reaction. If he was going to freak out, change his mind, this would be the time for it. I held my breath, waiting.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “You sure?”

  Oh, god was I sure. I was totally sure. I nodded again.

  He smiled. “Okay, so where do we go from here?”

  For some reason, my mouth, still heavy from the feel of his lips on mine, no longer seemed to remember how to form words. I said nothing, but my mind ran wild. We go anywhere and everywhere. We could climb mountains, or fly over them, we run from flames and tornados, and face uncertainty and the unknown together, head on at full force.

  Together, all things seemed possible.

  We could do anything!

  That was what I wanted to say but didn’t and couldn’t as Cole cocked his head to the side. “Did you hear that?”

  I hadn’t heard anything. My complete focus had been on him, on us, this crazy yet incredible — and about damn time — moment.

  What was he doing? Was he trying to distract me with some imaginary noise to keep from talking about us and our future? Great, just great! This was what I’d been expecting. Another moment like the one back at the mansion where he pretended to hear Bob wake up.

  “There,” he said, standing up all serious-like. “Did you hear it now?”

  I was about to call him out on it, tell him to stop making stuff up, but I did hear something.

  I really did.

  Faint. Almost mistakable.

  He wasn’t screwing with me.

  I listened again, straining to hear through my somewhat unbelieving state of mind.

  One long tap followed by one short and two successive three taps in a row.

  I quickly stood up, too.

  I glanced at Cole and he glanced at me.

  “What is it?” Confusion clearly marked his face.

  The taps came again. One long one. One short one. Two quick three taps in a row.

  He raised his shoulders, dumbfounded. “A very rhythmic woodpecker?”

  My breath seized inside my chest. No air in. No air out. I worried the pounding of my heart would drown out the sound I was desperate to hear.

  More tapping, exactly the same.

  “Don’t open the door unless you hear this.” He gave the metal door a rap with his knuckles. “Don’t you come out,
Tess. You stay put and we’ll be back. Promise me you won’t open this door.”

  I nodded.

  “Promise me!”

  “I promise.”

  I pushed passed Cole unapologetically and flung open the partially closed door that separated the containment area from the living area of the bunker.

  I stood below the hatch door, staring up.

  More tapping. Exactly the same.

  Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

  I climbed the ladder, one rung at a time, desperate to reach the top. Cole grabbed hold of my ankle, stopping me.

  “What are you doing?”

  I glanced down at him, tears welling in my eyes, ready to cascade down my cheeks at any second. I removed one hand from the rung and pointed at the door. “That’s my dad.”

  Cole released his hand from my leg and stepped back. “How do you know?”

  “That tapping…” Tears fell freely. “That’s my name in Morse Code.”

  The End

  About the Author

  Angela Scott hears voices. Tiny fictional people sit on her shoulders and whisper their stories in her ear. Instead of medicating herself, she decided to pick up a pen, write down everything those voices tell me, and turn it into a book. She’s not crazy. She’s an author.

  She lives on the benches of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains with two teenagers, one young adult (yes, he’s still living at home), and a very patient husband. She graduated from Utah State University with a B.A. degree in English, not because of her love for the written word, but because it was the only major that didn’t require math. She can’t spell, and grammar is her arch nemesis. But they gave her the degree, and there are no take backs.

  What’s Next?

  ANYONE AT ALL?

  ANYONE? Series Book Three

  By Angela Scott

  COMING 2020

  Kansas, really?

  With no way of truly knowing what’s out there in the post-apocalyptic world, Tess relies solely on the marked-up maps and notes left behind by others. Yes, the notes are months old, but they’re better than nothing.

  They at least give her hope.

  Something she doesn’t feel she has much left of.