Apokalypsis Book Three

by Kate Morris

  “That’s really cool you did that to remember them by.”

  She nodded. “That’s all I have left of them.”

  “Really? They’re all…”

  She pulled on her tank top and long-sleeved tee again. Elijah’s lust was gone like someone had dumped ice water over his head. All he felt now was concern and a deep sense of sadness for this pathetic, misunderstood new girl.

  “They weren’t done yet. They had to make an example of my family. They torched our house.”

  “How did you…”

  “Jamie,” she explained and sat next to him on the sofa. “He was coming on duty to relieve one of the other guards.”

  “Wait, your uncle was a guard?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head again and offering a sympathetic smile at his confusion. “He’s not really my uncle, Elijah. He’s my protector, assigned to our family like the other government agents. He managed to get into the house, found me, and carried me out.”

  “Wow, that’s crazy,” he remarked. “Thank God, he found you.”

  She nodded as if she didn’t quite agree with that statement and gave an indifferent shrug. “Yeah, I guess. My family was gone, though. All of them murdered. I was the only survivor. My father was an only child, and my mother’s family was distant, lived in South Africa, so we didn’t ever see them. She came from a wealthy family, but her parents had never even met me. She had a sister that lived in France, but I didn’t know her, either. It wouldn’t have been fair to dump me on people that didn’t care about me knowing they had to keep on the move. My mother didn’t like her family. It was in her will that we shouldn’t go to them should something happen to our parents. They would’ve been in grave danger, too. The government set me up in a witness protection program. Jamie insisted on being in charge of me. They were going to place me with a married couple, agents of course so that it looked like they were my parents, but he wouldn’t have it. After that night, he’s never left my side. When I woke up in the hospital, he was there. And every day since. He’s kept me safe.”

  “What about the men who did that?”

  “I testified against them, and they’re all in prison. That’s the other reason I’m still in witness protection. The family wants me dead so their son can get released on an appeal. The murder convictions didn’t stick. The evidence was too far burned to be a deciding factor and got pled down to an accident, basically. But he’s still in there on arson, racketeering, and other minor offenses. Oh, and for shooting me, of course. The government seized a lot of their money, too.”

  “How much?”

  “Two-hundred and twenty million,” she explained, to which he mouthed the word ‘whoa’ again. Wren nodded with understanding. “And my father had already put away thirty-two million in a trust fund for my brother, sister, and me. It’s untouchable by the government in an off-shore account. When I turn twenty-one, I’m signing off on witness protection, going to change my name, and collect my father’s money. Then I can live anywhere I want. I think I’m going to move to Texas. They have a lot of good medical research companies down there. Or Sweden. One or the other. Me and Jamie, of course. I think my father knew they were going to get to him. I don’t think he anticipated they would kill his whole family, though.”

  “No, I’m sure he didn’t,” he agreed and thought about all the questions going through his mind. “And you and Jamie have just kept on the run for the last four years?”

  She nodded. “Yes, if he feels the heat coming on or gets a bad feeling, we go. Or if the government catches a ping, we go. These people, Elijah, are not like other people. They’re…they’re more like the night crawlers.”

  He frowned, “What do you mean?”

  “They don’t have feelings for anyone or anything but themselves. They want their money back. They want their son out of prison. That’s why I carry a gun to school, why I’ve lived in five different countries and many of your states here in the United States. We don’t stay for more than a few months, usually.”

  “God, Wren,” he said and squeezed her hands again. “That must’ve been so lonely.”

  She offered a half-grin that contained no humor. “I’m still alive. At least I have that. At first, I didn’t want to be, but Jamie helped me. He told me not to disrespect them by throwing away my life.”

  “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”

  Her aqua eyes bore into his. “You can, though. You’re the only other person I know like me. Parentless, having lost a sibling, alone except for one person who cares about you. You’re surrounded by people who want to use you for their own advancement. I was, too. I still am. The government made me testify. All the football people around you want to use you. We’re so alike in so many ways.”

  Elijah nodded and moved his hand to rest on her knee.

  “They used me to testify. Then they seized all that money, everything except the trust fund. Jamie and Alex are the only people we can trust until we met each other. I’ve never trusted anyone until I met you, Elijah.”

  This struck him straight to the core. His brow grew heavy, and the air felt thick in the den. An overwhelming feeling of anxiousness seeped into him.

  “You can’t leave, Wren,” he stated. “I won’t let you.”

  “I have to,” she said, her eyes taking on a certain desperation. “There was a signal. Someone was looking for me on the web. They’ll come, Elijah. You don’t understand. They’ll kill you, your brother, Jamie, and they’ll take me and torture me until I tell them where the money is. Then they’ll force me to redact my statements to get their son out of prison. And when they’re done with me, they will kill me, too.”

  “I don’t think it was Russo,” he said quietly and stood. Elijah felt a huge burden on his shoulders. He ran a hand through his hair and walked over and took a suspicious peek out the window. If he was antsy before because of the people out there, the night crawlers, then he was a thousand times more on pins and needles because of Wren’s past and who was after her.

  “It had to be,” she said. “He was the only one who was questioning things about me. He wouldn’t let it drop. Jamie said the bureau got a hit within a ten-mile radius of the school. It had to be him.”

  “It was me, Wren,” he confessed softly and walked back to her. She stood and closed the distance.

  “Wh-what do you mean, Elijah?”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t think it was Russo. I mean, maybe it was him, too, but when I was with Alex in the hospital a few days ago, I started looking for information about you. That’s why I ignored your texts. I was angry. Angry and stupid, obviously. I thought you were just some sort of lying con artist or something. I knew you were hiding stuff from me. I felt like our relationship was crap because I knew you weren’t being honest.”

  Her eyes widened. Then they narrowed.

  “I tried searching for you. That’s why I didn’t answer your texts. I was so angry because of what I found. I realized you’d lied to me about everything about…you. I was mad, so I researched you. It was dumb luck. I saw that photo of you on the beach and started there. I figured your accent was Australian. Is your name Abigail Wren Fossey?” he asked and could tell he was right. Her chest rose and fell at an accelerated pace, and her eyes jumped to his. “From Bondi Beach, Australia?”

  What she did next couldn’t have surprised him more. She slapped him. The sound was a loud crack in the quiet den. Elijah was shocked. He just stood there like an idiot gaping at her.

  “I…” he got out before she attacked.

  Wren pounded on his chest and pummeled with her fists.

  “Elijah, what have you done?” she cried as real tears fell from her eyes. “You’ve killed Jamie, Elijah. You’ve killed me.”

  “Wren,” he tried shouting over her and grabbed her wrists. She winced, which made him feel terrible because her wrists were still red and bruised from Russo. He moved his hands to her upper arms instead. “Wren, calm down.”

  “Calm down? Y
ou did this days ago and didn’t tell me till now? They already have people on planes coming here. I guarantee it.”

  “There isn’t a whole lot of air travel happening right now. Remember the press conference tonight? They’re slowing down public transportation to emergency use only.”

  “These aren’t the kind of people who go to the airport and hop a plane. They have their own private planes, Elijah.”

  “Oh,” he said stupidly. “Wren, listen. You and Jamie aren’t alone now. You’ve got me. You’ve got Alex, too.”

  “He’s sick!”

  “Yeah, but he’s still got experience. He was in the Army. Alex ain’t a punk. He can hold his own. He knows how to shoot.”

  “No wonder they said we needed to move,” she said. “The ping came from so close. If they zero in on it, too, which they will, then they’ll find me.”

  “I did it at the hospital. That’s not like it was here in my house or something.”

  She chuffed loudly. “It’s only ten miles from here. They’ll come thousands of miles around the world for that. They’ll find you, too. That’s why I covered the computer camera with tape, remember? Now, they’ll see it was you.”

  “No, they won’t. Think about it. The school’s shut down for cleaning. I used the computer at the hospital for most of the search anyway. I don’t even know if those had cameras. Most of the businesses are closed. Nobody even knows you. I’m the only one you talk to.”

  “That’s not true,” she said. “There are cameras everywhere. As much as I try to avoid them, camera systems in cities have proven to be a problem in the past. Facial recognition software? Your face is all over this fucking town, Elijah! They almost caught up to us in London a year ago. It was from a street camera. These people have a lot of insiders in the government who work for them.”

  “The government is busy right now trying to fight a world-wide pandemic,” he said and stepped closer. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep you safe.”

  “I’m more worried about you. They’ll link you to me…”

  “Then it’s a good thing we didn’t go to homecoming and get our picture together and post it on the internet.”

  “They’ll find us,” she reiterated.

  “If they do, they’ll be sorry. They won’t be coming after a family asleep.”

  She looked up at him with skepticism.

  “I’ll keep you safe,” he said. “I’m not letting you go, Wren.” She just seemed so small and fragile.

  She walked over and retrieved her pistol again and set it on the ottoman. He slipped behind her and wrapped her in a solid embrace. Her thumb swept back and forth over his forearm.

  “I don’t want to leave, either,” she said, giving him hope.

  Her body felt weak and fatigued in his arms, so he led her to the long leather sofa.

  “Sit,” he said. “You should rest. You look exhausted.”

  She nodded. Elijah went to the entertainment center and took out some throw blankets and pillows and made her a makeshift bed.

  “I’ll sleep over there in the chair by the window. We don’t have a security system, so I’ll stay up tonight and keep watch.”

  She stretched out on the sofa and fluffed her pillow. Elijah perched on the arm of the chair.

  “I’m going to go check on Alex again and make sure everything’s locked down. It’s getting late.”

  “’Kay,” she said. “You can take my gun.”

  “Nah, I’m going up to get my dad’s shotgun. I’ll be right back. Go to sleep.”

  He left the lamp on in case she had to get up to use the restroom since she was in a strange house. Then he retrieved the shotgun, checked that Alex was still asleep, and made sure all the windows and doors were locked. Again. He knew he’d be doing that a few more times throughout the night. Then he went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. This was all overwhelming, a lot to digest. He’d gone from staying away from her, to trying to be her friend, to finding out that besides her fake uncle that he was the only other person she had in her life. What did that make him? Elijah blinked at his reflection in the mirror. Did he even have what it took to take care of her? He didn’t know, but Elijah felt that being close to her would lessen her chance of being killed.

  He flipped off the light and returned to the den to find her awake.

  “Can’t sleep?”

  “No, I sometimes have to take sleeping pills,” she answered. “I don’t sleep well.”

  He couldn’t blame her with what she’d been through. He shut the door and locked it. Elijah was glad the old house had such solid, heavy oak doors.

  “Jamie texted to say that he was still out looking for Russo. He thinks he might be gone for good. His house is emptied out. His wife and two kids are gone, too.”

  “Weird,” he commented then offered, “Hey, I can see if my parents had anything in their medicine cabinet for sleep.”

  “No, I’ll be fine,” she said and paused as if she had something more to say.

  “What is it?”

  “W-will you lay by me?”

  He hesitated only a moment before sitting on the sofa in front of her. Then he laid down and slid his arm over her waist.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, worried about her injuries from Russo. She nodded, but Elijah could tell there was still something she wasn’t telling him.

  Eventually, her body melded and softened against his rigid planes and contours.

  “I don’t want to get this sickness,” she said quietly.

  “I won’t let you,” he promised, wishing vehemently that he could make that true. Wishing something into truth didn’t usually work. If it did, his mom would still be here.

  “You can’t stop it from happening,” she said. “Nobody knows if they’re going to get it.”

  “We’ll keep wearing masks and gloves if we go out in the public,” he told her and felt her hand slide over his and bring them both up to rest under her chin.

  “I don’t want to die,” she added. “There’s so much I want to do still. I’ve been a prisoner for four years in this life I’ve been forced to lead. It just isn’t fair. There are so many things I’ve never been allowed to do that other people my age do.”

  “You’ll get to do those things,” he said, not even sure if either of them would live another week. “I’ll make sure you do.”

  She fell asleep a few minutes later, and Elijah eventually slipped away to go and walk around the house again. He wanted so badly to be able to keep those promises to her. He just had to keep her alive. Outside, the nightly call of birds, coyotes, and neighborhood dogs started up, which made him unsure of his ability to keep Wren safe. He knew what those sounds meant.

  Something outside screamed, an animal or human or one of the night crawlers. She wasn’t sure. They’d stayed overnight again at an abandoned home just outside the city. It was a home on some acreage. It felt safe or had until now. A few other people had taken refuge in the same house with them. One of the leaders had suggested moving again. She hadn’t agreed to it, and neither had he. They felt it would be safer sitting tight rather than moving at night. By the sounds of whatever just made that noise outside, it might have been the best decision they’d made so far.

  One of the younger children began whimpering. Her acting mother tried to comfort her. Most of the children in these people’s group were motherless, fatherless, or both. At least this little girl had someone willing to step in and mother her. Also an orphan, she understood their plights so well. She, too, wanted to curl into a ball and cry. For the last month, she’d felt this way. Another feeling had also been sprouting its wings of hopelessness in her heart. It was inevitability. She had recently begun to feel her own death was now inevitable. Every day. Every hour seemed like she was closer and closer to her own demise. Living on borrowed time was beginning to take its toll. She didn’t know how many more priceless days any of them had left.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “I know another place,” he
said, feeling more urgent about the situation. “It’s smaller. Not popular.”

  “Okay, we can try,” she said with hope.

  Her uncle jumped in to say, “I’ll go. You should stay here with Elijah and his brother.”

  “I want to help, Jamie,” she argued. “If this is all going to happen the way they’re predicting, we need a lot.”

  They were in Elijah’s kitchen discussing the state of the world. Two nights ago, she’d stayed with Elijah in this house, and he’d driven her home to Jamie the next day. Now, they were gathered together in Elijah’s house. The news channels this morning were showing the truth finally. Stores were being looted on live television, buildings burned, the police were chasing people down, the military was setting up camp in most towns. It was martial law for sure. She’d always grown up thinking the United States was the most powerful country in the world, full of capitalism, democracy, law and order, and a place to fulfill dreams. Her father had held the country in great esteem, even admired and wished for some of the same laws in their own. However, what they’d all seen on the news was not estimable at all. No country on earth was unaffected now. The footage was not just from America. Reports and uploaded videos were flowing into the news networks from all over the world. It all looked the same. Chaotic, dangerous, frightening.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Elijah said, agreeing with her uncle. She shot him a nasty look, to which he flinched.

  “I can help. I want to. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

  “You can do something,” Jamie said. “Help our neighbor pack. She has a little one, Wren. She could probably use the help.”

  “I’m going over to help Lila,” Alex announced. “I already talked to her.”

  “Oh,” Jamie said.

  “You feelin’ up to that?” Elijah asked, clearly concerned for his brother’s state of well-being. To Wren, he looked great. Maybe slightly paler than normal, but he ate a hearty breakfast and said he felt fine, other than he seemed to tire a little faster.