The Reset Series | Book 4 | Swamp

by Greene, Kellee L.

  “Dammit,” Caleb said turning to her.

  Jenna moaned. She was pale and unsteady on her legs. “Oh, god! Oww!”

  5

  Adam

  I found energy I didn’t know I had left. My feet moved with speed and agility that I didn’t know I’d ever been capable of as I pulled Leah along.

  It had been hard to see the rooftops through the trees, rain, and mist but I was almost certain that at the top of the nearest mountain, there was a resort.

  Was it the place I was looking for? Of course, I hoped it was but also a roof would give us a much-needed break. I could think. I could figure out a plan while not getting tortured by the never-ending rain.

  “Do you think this is the place?” Leah asked.

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” I said. “Could be.”

  Leah smiled. “Can you imagine? The possibility that this is the end of the road.”

  “I doubt it’s the end of the road,” I said. “Look around. We’ll still be living in this hell, even if we do have a place to stay. And don’t forget what’s still out there.”

  “But it will hopefully be less hellish, right?” Leah asked.

  “I sure as hell hope so,” I said with a smile.

  There were trees in the area but it seemed as though there were fewer, which, of course, was a good thing. If there had been more, we might not have seen the resort.

  Before we got too close, I spotted an armed man standing with his arms crossed next to a tree that was twice as tall as he was. If he was trying to stay hidden, he failed. He spotted us only seconds after I spotted him.

  He raised up his gun. “Turn around.”

  “Wait,” I said. “I’m looking for someone.”

  “Yeah, well, they’re not here,” the guy said.

  “Maybe that’s true but my dad gave me an address,” I said.

  The guy blinked several times. “Adam? Is that you?”

  He had my name right but I didn’t recognize him at all. The guy was twice as big as I was and covered in hair. He hadn’t shaved in weeks.

  “Yes,” I said. “Do I know you?”

  He started laughing and slapped his thigh. “It’s me. Steve.”

  I blinked.

  “Steve Norton,” he said. “Your neighbor!”

  “Ooooh!” I said recognizing him.

  He’d lived next door to my parents for nearly half my life. He was hairier and at least fifty pounds heavier but it was him.

  I stuck out my hand. “How are you?”

  “Good, good,” he said grabbing it. “Your dad had told us to keep an eye out for you but honestly, we all had kind of given up hope.”

  “I don’t blame you,” I said glancing at the building behind him that was still quite a bit off from where we were. “My dad’s there then?”

  “Yep,” Steve said. “People who come here are usually only allowed inside if they come to the main entrance. If they’re wandering around out back here, they likely weren’t invited. Lucky I didn’t shoot you.”

  I swallowed. “We’re damn lucky you didn’t.”

  “I’m not supposed to leave my post but we’re not going to risk sending you back without an escort,” Steve said. “We’ll be quick.”

  Steve walked us to the resort. He looked us up and down and sighed.

  “Still hell out there?” he asked.

  “Indeed,” I replied.

  Steve waved at someone inside the nearest building and they rushed outside. The woman had her hair pulled back and her glasses were a bit too big for her face, somewhat magnifying her dark brown eyes.

  “Steven,” she said clicking her tongue. “What are you doing? Get back to your post.”

  “Yes, boss,” Steve said saluting the woman. “This is Martin’s kid.”

  “You’re kidding?” the woman said.

  I didn’t know the woman. She placed her hands on her hips and smiled at me.

  “Okay,” she said waving her hand. “Now, get out of here. I’ll get him to Martin.”

  The woman led us down a wet path. The buildings formed a half-circle around a pond in the center of the resort. When it was colder, it had probably been an ice-skating rink.

  If I’d ever been to the resort, I didn’t remember it. Some of the buildings were tall, some were smaller with private entrances. The taller buildings made of red brick looked like hotels. The smaller buildings looked like cottages. Nothing had a sign posted to indicate the purpose of the building.

  “This way,” the woman said leading us into the tallest building.

  Inside, there were people gathered in the lobby. All of their eyes landed on Leah and me. She grabbed my arm as if she were afraid we’d be separated.

  Everyone there was nicely dressed… and dry. We stood out. Not only because we were soaking wet but also because we were dirty.

  They looked down their noses at us. I’d felt judged. There was a part of me that wanted to yell at all of them that we belonged there just as much as they did.

  “He’s right in here,” the woman said smiling before she knocked on one of the doors.

  The door opened only a crack. I couldn’t see the person on the other side.

  “What is it?” the unmistakable voice grumbled.

  “I believe we have your son,” the woman said gesturing at me.

  The silence shook my bones. My ears rang so loudly that I thought it was going to make me pass out.

  The door opened wider and my dad stuck his face out. At first, he looked angry, like he thought some kind of horrible joke was being played on him… until he saw my face.

  “Adam,” he said swallowing his breath. He grabbed the door frame to steady himself.

  “Hi, Dad,” I said.

  “Jesus,” he said sucking in his quivering lip. “Am I dreaming?”

  I shook my head. “If you are, we’re having the same dream. Where’s mom?”

  “Come in, come in,” my dad said stepping to the side to open the door wider.

  He gave a quick thanks to the woman. She smiled at him, bobbing her head before walking back down the hall.

  “I can’t believe it’s really you,” my dad said pulling me into his arms for a rare hug. He didn’t let go until I squeezed him back. He looked me up and down. “You look different.”

  “I guess the end of the world will do that to a person,” I said.

  “I guess so,” my dad said. “I still can’t believe it’s really you.”

  I shrugged awkwardly. “It’s me. I got your note.”

  “Thank God,” he said holding his hands up toward the ceiling. “It’s a miracle.”

  “Where’s mom?” I asked looking around the fancy hotel room.

  “I’ve got some bad news about that,” my dad said looking down toward his feet. “She didn’t make it, Adam. She didn’t survive the earthquake.”

  It felt like my heart rose into my throat. Leah grabbed my hand but I’d gone numb and barely noticed.

  “Why didn’t you leave it in the note?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe I should have but I wanted to make sure you came here,” my dad said. “I wasn’t sure you’d fight as hard just to see me again.”

  “Of course, I would have, dad,” I said choking back the sadness. I couldn’t believe my mom was gone. “What happened?”

  My dad shook his head. “Does it matter? I’ll tell you the truth, I really don’t like to talk about it. Still dealing with some PTSD on the matter.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Gosh,” my dad said shaking his hands at his sides. “This just seems like it has to be a dream. I’m just waiting to wake up. After what Eva told me, I was certain I wouldn’t see you again.”

  My body stiffened.

  “Who’s your friend here?” my dad asked apparently not noticing my reaction.

  My mouth wouldn’t work.

  “Leah,” she said taking a step forward.

  She stretched out her hand. My dad grimaced as she quickly pulled it ba
ck.

  “Lovely to meet you, Leah,” he said. He always repeated a name to help commit it to memory. In fact, he’d probably over-use it until he was sure he’d remember it. “If you’d like, you can go into the bathroom and freshen up a bit. First door on the left.”

  Leah nodded. “Thank you. I will.”

  “There’s a clean robe if you want to get out of those dirty clothes,” my dad called after her. He turned to me. “I’ll send them to get you new clothes as soon as possible.”

  His words were like sentence soup. I couldn’t concentrate. All I could think about was how Eva had made it to the resort.

  “Eva’s here?” I asked.

  “Yes,” my dad said grinning. “She went through hell to get here too. I think it was even worse than what she told us.”

  The door to my dad’s room opened. No knock. It just… opened.

  I turned and sucked in a breath that made me cough uncontrollably. Eva raised a brow and exhaled. “So, it’s true.”

  I couldn’t speak. Anger seared my veins.

  Eva could see it. Her lips curled at one end. “You look like shit.”

  6

  Stevie

  The couple looked as though they were struggling. There was a short woman who was guiding a thin man who kept slipping in the mud.

  They didn’t even make it to the house before the guy collapsed. The woman flopped down next to him. It looked like she was crying and screaming… begging him to get up.

  She turned and looked at the house, her eyes were wide. There was no way she could see inside the house.

  “Help!” she screamed. “Please help me!”

  “What do you want to do?” Shawn asked placing his hand on my shoulder.

  “There’s only one thing we can do,” I said as I walked toward the front door. I picked up the shotgun. “We help them.”

  Shawn followed me outside. The rain-soaked me, sending a chill through my body as we cautiously approached the couple.

  The young woman’s gray eyes were bulging as she looked up at us with a gasp. She hadn’t been expecting anyone to actually help her.

  “Please,” she said lightly shaking the body in the mud. “He needs help.”

  “Let’s get him inside,” I said slinging the gun strap over my shoulder.

  “Who are you?” the young woman asked. Her cheeks were sunken and her skin pale.

  I grabbed the man’s feet as Shawn hooked his hands under the man’s arms. We lifted him much easier than I had anticipated. The poor guy couldn’t have weighed much more than a hundred pounds.

  “This is our place,” I said.

  “Oh,” she said. “I thought maybe we were all that was left. I guess my prayers were answered.”

  We got them both inside. Kieran and Lucy were waiting with towels in hand. At some point, they had placed three towels on the living room floor.

  “Set him down there,” Kieran said looking at him with concern. She turned to the young woman. “What’s his name?”

  “Noah,” she said hugging herself. Lucy quickly handed her a towel which she wrapped around her shoulders. “He passed out. Unconscious. I don’t even know if he’s still breathing.”

  Kieran lowered herself to the man’s chest and looked up toward his face. She sat up and grabbed his wrist. “He’s breathing but his pulse is weak.”

  “We haven’t had much to eat or drink in days,” the young woman said.

  Lucy dashed out of the room, reappearing in seconds with a bottle of water. She handed it to her mother but with the young man out of it, there wasn’t much they could do to get him to drink.

  “Is he going to die?” the girl asked. “He’s all I have left.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” Kieran said. “We need to get him to wake up so he can drink. Did he have any health problems before this?”

  “No,” the girl said.

  Kieran nodded. She looked at Lucy. “Let’s work on drying and warming Noah. Get some blankets and some clean clothing.”

  Lucy dashed from the room as if Noah’s life depended on it and maybe it did.

  “What’s your name?” I asked the girl.

  “Ella,” she said without taking her eyes off Noah. “He’s my brother.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek, at least I was almost sure it was a tear and not a raindrop. She studied him as if she were seeing him for the first time.

  “He doesn’t look good, does he?” Ella asked. She looked down at her arms. “Neither do I.”

  “Let’s get you something to eat,” I said jerking my head toward the kitchen.

  “I’m not sure if I should leave him,” she said glancing toward the kitchen. Her nose raised up as if she could smell food.

  “They’ll take good care of him,” I said.

  Kieran met Ella’s eyes. “We’ll get you if there is any kind of change.”

  “Um, okay,” Ella said.

  She followed me into the kitchen. Ella clasped her hands together and stopped at the edge of the kitchen counter. Her eyes scanned the massive kitchen.

  “Were you a professional chef?” Ella asked.

  “Oh, this isn’t my house,” I said.

  “Which one of you does it belong to?” she asked narrowing her eyes.

  I shrugged. “The owners weren’t here. My guess is they didn’t survive.”

  “So, you just took it?” Ella asked.

  “We went through hell out there. We were sick of the rain and struggling,” I said pulling down a box of toaster pastries. “So, yeah, we took the place.”

  Ella pressed her lips together. Her shoulders relaxed slightly. “Yeah, us too.”

  “We didn’t take it from anyone that was using it if that’s what you’re worried about,” I said. “We’re peaceful.”

  “The gun had me a bit nervous,” Ella admitted.

  “It’s for our protection. Not everyone out there is nice,” I said.

  Ella’s jaw tensed. “You ran into a lot of trouble?”

  “Not a lot. Truthfully, it was the rain and water that beat us down,” I said. “How about you?”

  “A good mix of both, I guess. Mostly we just hid but that’s probably also why we ran out of food,” Ella said. “We’re from Arizona. I’m not even entirely sure where we are now. Do you know?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m not sure. Maybe northern New Mexico? Or Texas? I’m also not sure it matters anymore.”

  “I don’t even know what I’m talking about. I can’t stop thinking about him,” Ella said glancing over her shoulder. “He took care of me. I wouldn’t even be alive without him.”

  “Yeah, I can understand that.”

  Ella cocked her head slightly. “That guy with you… he’s your brother?”

  “No.”

  “Husband?”

  I laughed. “Definitely not.”

  “Oh, he’s like super cute.” Ella’s head moved side to side as if she were trying to erase something. “And you said you could understand so I just assumed—”

  “No, Gage, you haven’t met him but he’s like a brother to me,” I said pressing my fingertips to my temples. Could she see my hands shaking? “Let’s go check on your brother.”

  We entered the living room and Ella gasped. She pushed past me and ran to her brother, who was sitting up on the floor, smiling at her.

  “Holy crap!” she said as she wrapped her arms around him. “I thought you were dead.”

  “I did see a light,” he said looking over his shoulder. His ocean, blue-green eyes landed on me.

  There was a bit more color in his face but still, he was skin and bone. Every bit of food they must have encountered, Noah must have given her more.

  “That’s not funny,” Ella said smacking him lightly on the arm. “How are you feeling?”

  “Tired, hungry, thirsty,” Noah said raising a finger with each word.

  Kieran stepped closer, crossing her arms across her chest. “His pulse is up. He can focus on us. We’ll have to keep our e
yes on him but I think he’s going to be just fine.”

  “Thank you,” Ella said popping up to give her a hug. She bounced over to Lucy and hugged her too.

  Shawn and Gage both entered the room and she hopped over to them, giving them both a quick hug too. She met my eyes and I held up my hand to stop her.

  Ella gave me a quick, thin-lipped smile. “Thank you all so much. For everything. I have to admit when I first saw you, I thought you guys were going to kill us and maybe eat us.”

  “We have enough food,” Gage said with a wink.

  Ella giggled.

  “So, what part of the government do you all work for?” Noah asked.

  Ella glared at him. “Ignore my brother.”

  “We’re not with the government,” Gage said. “We’re just survivors. Like you.”

  “Like us?” Noah laughed. “You guys survived… we’re still trying to survive. Are there others?”

  “It’s just the six of us,” Shawn said.

  Ella frowned. “Are we all that’s left?”

  “Maybe,” Shawn replied.

  “Have you all given up on trying to find help?” Noah asked.

  “They are help,” Ella said crouching down beside her brother, taking his hand into hers. “We owe them our lives.”

  Gage chuckled. “No, you don’t.”

  “You know,” I said straightening my spine. “You’re welcome to stay here. We have more than enough room and food.”

  “Are you sure?” Ella asked.

  “Sure,” I said. “As long as you’d like.”

  Ella squealed and clapped her hands. “I can’t believe this.”

  “There are bedrooms down the hall,” I said. “You can each pick one or share if you prefer and we’ll get you the bedding.”

  “Oh, my God. This can’t be real,” Ella said. “We must have died out there.”

  “I can assure you, you’re alive,” I said raising a brow. “Unless, of course, we’re all dead.”

  I let out an uncomfortable laugh. Ella gave me an awkward smile in return.

  “So, none of you think help is out there?” Ella asked.

  “I don’t,” I said and Ella frowned. “I’m sorry. If you’ll excuse me.”

  I turned and walked out of the room. What the hell was I thinking? I didn’t know anything about either of them. How could I just invite them to stay and without even consulting the others?