The color drained from Peter’s face, no longer able to hold his front, “We got out. We did what we had to in order to escape.” He paused, casting a glance over at the taller man next to him, “Did you guys complete the plan?”
“Yeah, only dey got Chris; he an’ Martha didn’ make it,” he sighed loudly, “Far as the boys, we couldn’t find ‘em. An’ two o’ da girls was missin’,” he confessed. “But we still get ‘em back,” he grasped Bailey’s right shoulder, giving her a squeeze, “We got a few things t’ trade for ‘em.”
“I can’t believe you left without them,” she glared at her uncle, refusing to be pacified.
“Shhshh,” Caleb soothed, tightening his grip, “I’m sure they did what they could. Besides, there were a lot of lives at stake, an’ most of ‘em got away. Tha’s really what counts.”
Pulling away, she stared into his clear blue eyes, “You really believe that? They left your mother over there, for Christ’s sake!”
“I’m sure they had no other choice,” he nodded at the two men,
Kathy joined the group at that moment and interrupted their pow-wow in an authoritative manner, “Devon, your wife is in John and Martha’s bed, if you want to join her there. I can let you take Carson’s room if you like,” she wafted a hand at Peter, “Since I will fit better in the chair.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Pete shook his head, “You go on an’ take the bed, an’ I’ll stay down here with the kids. I guess we’re all here, for now, an’ we need to get some sleep. We’ll need to get a lot of things done as soon as the sun comes up, getting that gate blocked being at the top of the list.
Devon guided the woman up the stairs, thanking her for taking care of his wife and child as they disappeared onto the second level. Bailey watched them with doleful eyes, her tears again streaming down her face.
Giving her another squeeze, Caleb led her over to her mattress, where he pushed her to sit and removed her boots for her. “Lay down, little bit,” he instructed as he grasped the blanket and covered her shivering body, fairly certain her quivers were not a result of being cold.
“Lay with me,” she begged quietly, her eyes wide pools of sorrow.
Pursing his lips, he studied her tear stained face while considering the request. “Ok,” he nodded, kicking off his own footwear and stretching out beside her, facing her as he had done in the car only a few nights before. “Take the couch, Pete,” he called to the other man, who had been removing his own outer layer.
Stretching out on the cushioned surface, Peter sighed deeply, resting his arm across his forehead while he stared at the ceiling above him. Damn. He hated like hell that his two nephews were missing, and only hoped to God they could in fact get them back.
No Room
The exhausted group fell into slumber quickly, only to be awakened a few hours later when John Cross came stomping through his house. Only glancing at the bodies that had begun to stir in his living room, he scowled at the sight of his son lying on a mattress, the Dewitt girl curled in his arms.
Continuing his ruckus, he clomped up the stairs to see who else had returned. He opened his bedroom door, and closed it quickly in front of his own face, having discovered a couple in his bed, “Devon?”
“Yeah, whattcha need?” the large black man called while sitting up slowly, trying not to disturb the young blonde lying next to him.
“We got work t’ do,” John stated loudly through the wood. “Get your family together an’ bring ‘em down t’ th’ ranch house quick as you can. We got food an’ a place for them there with the other women an’ children.”
Returning to the hall, he knocked on Carson’s door before opening it and called through the crack, “Who’s in here?”
“Kathy,” the woman replied, “I’m decent, John,” she sat up on the bed, still fully dressed.
“Tha’s good,” he stepped inside, “Breakfast’s at the ranch house,” he nodded to their medical staff and closed the door behind him. He then made his way to the stairs to rouse the rest of the crew if they hadn’t made it to their feet already.
Inside the master’s quarters, Amanda sighed loudly, and rolled over. She slid out from the sheets, pulling their daughter to the edge to change her diaper and dress her tiny frame. Having only moments before completed their morning feeding, she smiled at how much lighter her breasts felt at the moment, amazed that she could make all the sustenance her infant needed; at least for the time being.
“Things’re gonna work out, aren’t they, Dev?” she turned to locate her own clothing.
“We’ll be ok,” he agreed, “Jus’ need t’ stick together. Get yurself ready an’ I’ll take ya down like he said,” he commanded, moving to the bathroom for a quick shower before he dressed to face the day.
Downstairs, Caleb had awoken when his father came through the room, and lay staring at Bailey’s sealed lashes when he returned. “Get up,” the older man instructed, “Get down t’ the servin’ line an’ get fed. We got a full day o’ work ahead o’ us gettin’ the walls blocked off ‘fore those asshats come after us.”
Peter was on his feet, already pulling on his jacket, “I don’t know that we got the materials to block that gate off.”
“We need t’ tear down the arena,” Caleb supplied, “That’s what we decided before you guys got here. We didn’ have the manpower t’ complete it though,” he lamented.
“Tha’s th’ plan,” his father agreed, giving his boy a nod, “Le’s move.” His voice gruff, he shook his head to himself, making his exit and heading to the barn that housed the big CAT they would use to complete much of the process.
Running his fingers lightly along her jaw, Caleb caressed the female into consciousness, “Time to get up, little bit.”
“What time is it?” she inquired in a soft voice, stretching at the same time.
“I dunno,” he confessed, pushing himself up and getting to his feet, “It’s still dark, so it’s pretty early. I’ll take care o’ the dog, an’ we’ll get outta here. They got breakfast for us, an’ then we got lots to do.”
Giving no argument, the girl slipped into the bathroom to pee, and to give her reflection a scowl in the mirror; sleeping in your clothes is becoming a bad habit. Of course, she really didn’t have any options at the moment either, as there was no room to spread out and have much privacy now that most of the community had returned. Washing her face to wake herself more fully, she exited the tiny room a few minutes later to discover Devon had joined them.
“We’re gonna wait on ‘Manda, so we can all take the Jeep together,” Caleb informed her. “Kathy rode with your uncle.”
“Ok,” she nodded her approval, “I’d like to check on the outside world, if you don’t mind,” she wafted a hand at the small office.
“Naw,” he agreed with a wave of his own towards the alcove, “We got a few minutes; see what’s left out there, if you can.”
Sliding into the chair in front of the computer, Bailey’s heart began to pound out of control. Staring at the screen a few minutes later, she wished she had passed on her curiosity. Returning to the kitchen, she got right to the point, “We’re fucked.”
“Whadda ya mean by that?” Amanda demanded from the stairs.
“The whole world is caught up in this mess,” Bailey could see the other girl was overloaded between her bag and infant, and moved to help her by taking the luggage. Shuffling the heavy satchel over her shoulder, she grinned at her nemesis anxiously.
Caleb watched the girls nervously, kneeling to give the dog a pat. Wafting a hand, he indicated the back door, “Got the car warmed up for us. We can discuss it on the road,” he stated flatly as he made his exit.
Following, the group piled into the Wrangler, the men taking the front seats, while the girls took the back. Flicking her gaze over at the tall blonde, Bailey frowned, “The internet is still working, but not many people are using it. All of the stupid stories Yahoo always carried are gone; no who’s sleeping with who in Hollywood no
nsense scrolling across the page.”
“So what’re they saying?” Caleb eased the vehicle through the darkness, noting it had begun to snow lightly once again.
“Europe and Asia are getting dumped on, same as we are. And most of the northern states have gone dark. There’s power outages from coast to coast that are days or weeks long now, and most of the cities are seeing riots, while everyone is scrounging for food. I guess FEMA can’t really save us all, can it…” her voice trailed away.
“No, little bit,” Caleb’s voice softened, “They can’t save us all. How’s Illinois?” he glanced at her in the rear view mirror.
“Frozen,” she whispered, staring out the portal to her left, causing him to once again regret his ice age comment from last summer.
“I’m sorry, Bailey,” he soothed, pulling up behind the other parked vehicles.
“It’s ok,” she glanced at the girl next to her, eager to change the subject, enough to make peace with her enemy, “What’s her name?”
Amanda smiled, hugging her babe more tightly as she climbed out, “Hope. We named her… Hope.”
“That’s a nice name,” Bailey pulled the stocking cap from her head as they entered the familiar structure. Inhaling deeply, pangs of hunger flooded into her consciousness, “Man, Connie has been cooking up a storm!”
“Sure have, missy,” the older woman teased, “While you’s sleepin’ in! Get yourselves served; we got a full day ahead, snow or no snow.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the girl flicked her auburn locks, taking a plate and joining the others.
Half an hour later, the entire company had been fed, and Luis took Bonny’s hand. The couple would be heading over to the diner to get started setting it straight, and Bailey quickly realized it was actually to get the outsider out of the way while the real job assignments were handed out.
Most of the men would be taking care of dismantling the horse arena and using the materials to shore up the wall, completely sealing the main gate. Bailey and a few of the other girls would be visiting the rest of the houses, getting them back into shape so the families could return to their homes.
Finally, a few of the women were going down into Lawson, to begin prepping their quarters so the group could transition underground seamlessly if the need should arise. At hearing this, Bailey asked quietly, “Why don’t we just go now? Lock ourselves in and hide?”
“Because,” Pete supplied, “We still have to defend the surface. We need the structures for the animals, an’ the windmills that provide water and electricity for us. Besides, livin’ down there would be really hard on morale. We need to maintain some semblance of normal for as long as we can.”
The girl grimaced at the explanation, following him out onto the porch, “Hmmp, like all this snow is conducive to normal.”
“Easy, Bailey-girl,” he chided more quietly, “You’re still on probation around here,” he glanced at the few who had followed them. “Keep a positive attitude an’ do what you’re asked.”
“I will,” she agreed with a nod, making sure her hat and gloves were in place, “I guess we can pick up at the Knight’s place,” she informed the three girls who had been assigned to help her with the task. Leading the way, Kristen, Rebecca and Amber followed close behind.
As soon as they were inside the second structure, Rebecca Burns grabbed the older girl by the shoulder, giving her a strong hug, “We’re so glad you made it back here!”
Stunned, Bailey stared at the other girls, Kristen’s shock at the move evident, “Well, I’m glad you guys made it out of Pouty. Only, I wish my brothers could have escaped, too.”
“Don’ worry,” Amber reassured, “Our dad’s still there, an’ he’ll look out for them!” She grinned at the tallest girl, having grown close to her through months of Facebook chat. “I know mom still don’t think much o’ you, but she’ll come around.”
“Thanks,” Bailey sighed, “I think,” she flicked her eyes across their faces nervously. “Let’s start here and work our way through the house and finish on the other end.” Quickly going over the process she had been using to clean up the mess and get the space reorganized enough to make it liveable, the group set to work. An hour later, they were ready to move on, the work much quicker with four sets of hands.
Outside, the sun had begun to break through the clouds, casting a soft grey glow across everything. Bailey had noted it was nearly nine, by the clock on the wall in the Knight kitchen, but the dark overcast made that hard to believe. Arriving at their next stop, the group surveyed the Burns’ home in disgust.
“Jesus Christ,” Rebecca swore loudly, “Those bastards tore up everything!”
“Yes,” Bailey joined in her friend’s displeasure, “It took me hours to clean up what they did to the Cross house. It almost looks as if they were after something, the way they pulled everything out and ransacked it.”
“Maybe,” Kristen frowned. “I guess this means my house is gonna look the same way?” she indicated the adjacent structure through the wall with an open palm.
“Pretty much,” their leader sighed. “No use crying over it, though. We need to gather everything up and you guys can go through it later when you have time.” Handing out the trash bags, she put an end to the discussion matter-of-factly.
Half an hour later, the group was still working on the living room and kitchen, when a horrific boom caused the small dwelling to shake. Bolting to the door, they moved to the porch, noticing that the big CAT had been over turned and lay on its side. Her eyes wide in horror, Bailey blinked rapidly, realizing what she was seeing through the haze; Caleb’s body lying a few feet from the capsized machine.
Call Me Baby
The cry that escaped the girl sounded odd, almost foreign to her as she dashed across the snow. Her auburn locks whipping behind, her bare hands clutched at the prone figure, pulling at his jacket to roll him over. Coughing a few times, Caleb made it onto his knees, sitting back on his haunches and gasping to breathe, “I’m ok, little bit.”
“Stop it,” she commanded, her fingers finding their way to his face in the freezing air. Continuing to inspect him, she discovered that he appeared bruised, but all of his limbs were attached.
Catching her hands when his mind began to clear, he demanded, “Where the hell is your coat?”
“Still in the house, I guess,” she stammered, still too stricken for rational thought.
“Come on,” he stumbled to his feet, dragging her with him. Casting his gaze around the area, he noted the rest of the community had stopped moving, and everyone stood in a transfixed state, glaring at the couple. “Get your jacket,” he instructed, indicating the porch where the rest of her crew stood gaping at them, “An’ find Kathy for me. I’ll be at the med center.” He took two steps in that direction before he collapsed.
“CALEB!” she screamed again, dropping down next to him once more.
She still had a hold of him when one of the girls reached them and demanded, “Here, Bailey, put this on!”
Taking the protection against the cold, the girl slid her arms into the sleeves, her emotions running too high to really notice the bite of the wind, “We need help,” she stammered.
“Kristen went to find Kathy,” Amber supplied, “The guys are gonna get him to the med center,” she indicated the two men who were approaching carrying a two by eight plank, about eight foot long in length.
“He can’t balance on that!” Bailey objected.
“Get a blanket from the house,” Peter instructed the younger girl, “We’ll use the wood as a brace an’ carry him in a hammock.”
A few minutes later, they were set, one man on each corner of the oversized cloth, lifting and sliding the injured Caleb lightly across the snow. The system worked perfectly, the board giving the setup a bit of structure, so that he didn’t become folded inside the comforter. Arriving at the med center a few minutes later, Kathy was already there, and prepared to take charge.
Shooing the men and girls out of th
e building, only she and Bailey remained. “Can you stay and assist me?” she asked of her green-eyed companion without looking at her.
“Of course,” the girl pulled off her coat.
“Good,” Kathy forced a smile, “We need to get these clothes off and evaluate his injuries,” she began by tugging at his jacket and rolling him onto his side to get it off of him. “We’ll cut the rest,” she stated flatly.
His eyes popping open, Caleb countered, “That won’ be necessary.”
“Oh my God,” Bailey grasped his hair and shirt, laying her face on his broad chest.
“We have to remove these,” the nurse insisted, “And I don’t want you trying to stand until I’ve evaluated you,” she stipulated.
“Ok,” he breathed heavily, wincing at the shoots of pain each inhalation produced. Staring at the bright lights above him, he commanded, “Gimme a minute, an’ I can get ‘em off from here.” Running his hand down her trembling back, he tried again, “Lemme up, little bit. I’m ok.”
Her face stained with tears, the girl released him, taking a step back and folding her hands in front of her face, “Let me know if you need help.” Watching his effort, she focused on calming her breathing, aware that her panic wasn’t helping anyone.
“Sure,” he smiled, cutting his eyes over at her. Fumbling with the buttons for a moment, he sighed loudly, “Ok, I need help.”
The girl eagerly took charge, “Lay still.” Unfastening the shirt, she helped him slide it off, and lifted the white thermal underwear that lay beneath it, exhaling a loud gasp.
“It’s ok,” Kathy soothed, joining in by unclasping his pants and helping him to get them down, “He’s responsive and moving around. That’s a good sign.”
A few minutes later, the pair of females had stripped the man to his tight cotton briefs, to which he announced, “Ok, I think tha’s far enough. Whatta you think?”
The Irrevocable Series Boxed Set Page 39