“I’m sorry. I was hoping this would go over much more smoothly, but I guess there is nothing else I can do right now. I’d ask you to help me take turns with the watch, but if Alice wants your gun, that means she’ll probably kill me if I give you mine.” He’d been looking forward to being able to catch a few hours of rest, but now that hope had been dashed.
“Well, I don’t have to be the one shooting to keep watch. How about you sit down in that lawn chair right there and rest your eyes, and I’ll be the lookout. If I see something that needs to be shot, I’ll wake you up and you can do the dirty work.” She winked at him, and Garrett couldn’t help but smile.
He settled himself in the lawn chair and put his hat down over his eyes to keep the bright sunshine off his face. Wren settled herself next to him in the other chair and began a systematic sweep of the area. Before Garrett fell asleep, he remembered thinking that she seemed like she had had some kind of training. It was either military or police, something that would teach her to be this cautious in a time like this.
Chapter Nine
Garrett jerked awake. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He was still on the porch with Wren, and now it was dark out. She’d let him sleep for how long, he didn’t know. He immediately took off his ball cap and shot up out of the chair.
“How could you let me fall asleep? And for so long?!? It’s night already!” Wren gave him an innocent look.
“You looked like you needed the rest. If you want, you should go up to bed with the rest of your family.” Garrett felt panicked, but when he looked up and down the street and saw nothing. It helped alleviate some of the guilty feeling.
“I can’t go to sleep. If I’m asleep then there won’t be anyone to watch over them and protect them.”
“What am I? Chopped liver?” Garrett couldn’t help but smile in the dark. He liked this woman.
“I didn’t say that. I just have no reason to trust you to sit up on watch. My family is the most precious thing to me, and it’ll take a lot for me to entrust their safety to someone other than myself. I’m sorry, but I just don’t know you well enough.”
“I understand you love your family, but from the opinion of an outsider, you guys are a bit on the dysfunctional side. Not that that’s a bad thing, you know. I’ve just never met one like yours before.” Garrett laughed bitterly, sitting back down and putting his head in his hands.
“You really have no idea. Alice left me for Austin. My friend who was at the sheriff’s station with me? Yeah, that’s her new husband. She’s pregnant with his child. I came back home with PTSD, and that’s when I went a little nuts on the doomsday preparations. I know that was a lot for her to handle, and she left. I loved her enough to let her go and be happy with someone when she couldn’t be happy with me, but it’s torn my heart out ever since. Lately I think it’s been my fault for losing her, since I didn’t go after her. We had a little talk the other night, and she said all she’d wanted was for me to show her I cared. For me to go after her and let her know that she meant something to me. Guess I screwed that up royally.”
“That sounds pretty rough.” There was no judgement in Wren’s voice, so Garrett decided to tell her the rest of it.
“I even re-enlisted in the military after that, but they sent me back home. I thought that would be the way to go; get over there to the heavy fighting and not come home. Then they would have the family life they wanted, with a man who wasn’t as damaged as I was.” A single tear slid down Garrett’s cheek as he told her this part, and she put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
“I can understand that all too well. My whole family was military, and I got caught up in it as well. I trained with my father and brothers and was ready to join, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. To this day I don’t know what was holding me back, but I do know it wasn’t because I couldn’t get the job done.”
There was a bitterness to Wren’s voice, too, and Garrett was proud of himself for discerning that she had some sort of a military background. He understood what she meant, because he hadn’t wanted to re-enlist, but it was the only thing he felt he could do. So he’d done it. The opposite could be just as powerful a feeling, and that was what Wren had gone through. Being ready and trained for something all your life, just to find you couldn’t do it, was hard to live down. Especially since her whole family was going to be coming down on her, wondering why she hadn’t followed through. It was almost as if his family was damning him for his preparations.
The two of them had moved into living room almost an hour ago, and now were sitting in the warmth, talking with ease. Garrett still was exhausted from the greatly reduced amount of sleep he’d been getting during the past week, and was about to nod off when there was a loud knock on the door. Instantly his eyes flew open and his hand went to the pistol on the table. He’d decided it was safe enough to leave it there instead of on his hip. Wren was proving to be exactly what she said. Granted, he couldn’t trust her completely yet, but he was starting to do so. When he looked over at Wren, she was already on her feet, and she looked nervous. That was the first time he’d seen her that way, and now that he knew more of her background, it made him catch a case of the nerves, too. It would take a lot to get this woman rattled, and that meant it was something serious. Seeing Wren’s reaction made him tighten his grip on the pistol and click off the safety before he started for the door.
“What’s going on?” Alice’s voice was harsh, but it was only to hide the fear in it.
She was coming down the stairs with both her own gun and Wren’s in her hands. Austin was behind her, keeping a barrier between her and the girls, who he was trying to convince to get back upstairs and stay there. Garrett felt his nerves grow taut. If it was just him and Wren to worry about, then it wouldn’t be so bad. But now everyone he cared about was down here and possibly in danger.
“I wouldn’t ask this if it weren’t for the current situation, but would you be willing to give me back my gun so I can protect myself?”
Wren’s voice was soft, and Garrett knew Alice could hear the fear in it as well as he could. Looking at the woman with a hard stare, Alice finally handed Wren back her gun, nodding at the grateful smile the other woman gave her.
“What’s going on, Mom?” Jenny’s voice was small and quiet in the dangerous silence.
“I don’t know yet, Baby. Go upstairs with your sister.” Jenny took Brooke’s hand and was ready to go upstairs but Brooke planted her feet.
“No. I want someone to go with us. I want Austin to come upstairs with us to protect us.”
Garrett felt as though a knife had gone straight through his heart. His daughter didn’t want him there to protect her…she wanted her new daddy to be there with her. Everything went numb inside of him. Austin went up the stairs with the girls, and Garrett turned his attention back to the knocking on the front door.
“Stay behind me.”
Wren and Alice flanked him, their guns at the ready, and he started for the front door. As he reached it, a knock landed on the door so hard it rattled in the frame. Sighing heavily, and mentally preparing himself, Garrett opened the door, Alice and Wren at the ready to either side behind him. On the front porch stood John and his son Nat. That didn’t assuage any of the horrible feelings rushing through Garrett, because both of them had guns, and they were pointed toward them. Garrett did his best to block the doorway so the women would be safe and out of the line of sight.
“John, what can I do for you?”
“Look, Garrett. I don’t want to do this, and as long as you cooperate, no one is going to get hurt. This is me doing what I have to. I only want what’s best for me and mine. If that means you have to pay, so be it.”
“John, I already told you. I’m not giving you anything, and I won’t step aside and let you hurt my family.” John frowned, and Nat sensed something was going on, because he tugged on his father’s sleeve.
“Do we really have to do this, Dad? I just feel sick about it.”
“Nat? What’s going on?” Brooke wasn’t stupid, and she could size up the situation for herself. Now tears filled her eyes as she saw her best friend standing there, gun pointed at her family, ready to hurt them.
“I’m sorry, Brooke. It’s nothing personal. This is just what has to be done.” His voice was cold now, and he was getting to be too much like his father, in Garrett’s opinion.
“Why? Why does it have to be this way?” She was gearing up for an argument, and Garrett didn’t think that was going to be such a good idea. Teenagers with guns was a bad situation no matter what day it was, and during the apocalypse was even worse.
“Because I’m scared and I want to protect my family, okay?!?” Nat’s calm demeanor was gone.
“I’m scared, too. I’d be stupid not to be. But I’m not the one standing on the porch with a gun pointed at my best friend’s family.” That struck a nerve with both Nat and John, and now Garrett was trying to make himself larger so he could block out the rest of his family from view.
“No one has to get hurt here. Just give us the supplies and we’ll leave.”
John’s voice was a growl, and his eyes flashed with anger. Garrett wanted to do something but he didn’t know what. Suddenly, John straightened up, and his gun hand went limp by his side. No one knew what was going on, until a voice penetrated the darkness.
“That’s enough, John.”
Kayleigh had come up behind her husband and shoved the barrel of a pistol hard against the side of his head. One of her eyes was bruised and swollen, a hand print was reddening on the other cheek, and the way she was holding her side made Garrett think John had kicked the hell out of her.
“I’m done being your punching bag. When we got married, you weren’t this way. Now you abuse me every chance you get. I’m done with it. I’m the one in control now, and you do as I say.”
John was sneaking his hand back up, the one with the pistol, and before Garrett or anyone else could cry out a warning, Kayleigh shot. She’d been shaking badly enough to make her teeth chatter as she spoke, but from that close range, even she couldn’t miss. John was dead before he hit the floor, but his finger still was on the trigger, and his muscle contractions at the bullet’s impact with his head made the gun go off.
“Mom!” Both Brooke and Nat’s voices cried out in unison, and as much as he wanted to help Kayleigh, the fact that something had happened to Alice was more important. He spun around to see Alice on the ground, blood pooling around her at an alarming rate. The shot brought Austin running, Jenny on his heels, but by the time they made it downstairs, Garrett already had Alice in his arms, holding her as she cried through the pain. He took off his shirt and ripped off a large chunk of the lining. Wrapping it into a tight rope, he immediately searched out and found where the bullet had gone in. It was in her upper thigh, thankfully far away from the femoral artery. He put the tourniquet on until she squealed in pain. He couldn’t assess the situation if she was bleeding to death. He had to do what he could to save her life.
Austin came tearing down the stairs after barking at both girls to get back to their room and stay there. Brooke and Jenny never had seen him like this before, and it scared them. For once they did as they were told without a word. Garrett tried gently waking Alice up, but she was unconscious. His heart started racing as he thought maybe she was dead, but when he took her pulse it was strong and steady, albeit irregular. The only explanation he could think of was that her body was shutting down to protect the baby. Something that traumatic could put her into a coma to deal with the injury until her body was ready to handle it. If that happened, he didn’t know what he could do. Yes, he’d had some medical training in the military, but he’d never had to learn how to feed someone through a tube.
“Is she going to be alright?” Austin’s voice was soft and weak, and for the first time, Garrett felt sorry for the man. He wasn’t the only one in love with Alice, and that fact made them brothers in the cause to save her.
“I don’t know. I’ll do what I can with the medical supplies I have in the basement, but then it will be up to her. The good news is it missed her femoral artery, so she won’t bleed out in five minutes. I’ll have to go in and get the bullet out, though. If I don’t, it can’t heal right.” Austin looked green at the thought but nodded. A loud noise made them jump. Wren had slammed the door shut, and now was positioned in front of it with her gun.
“I’ll keep watch and guard the house. You two take care of her.” Her tone was no nonsense, and the men just nodded.
“Austin, take her up to the master bedroom. I’m going to get everything I need from the basement and meet you up there.” Garrett wanted to give Austin a chance to say anything he wanted to say without him being there making the situation uncomfortable. He grabbed a bowl, some towels, a needle, thread, a candle, a lighter, and some forceps. He could get the bullet out and sew up the wound no problem, but he was afraid something would happen to her in this condition, and the stress of the gunshot would put her into labor.
Fifteen minutes later, Austin was doing his best to help Garrett. Garrett had clean, boiled water and towels ready to clean up the wound, and now he was holding the skin apart to get to the bullet. Austin stood ready with a rag of chloroform in case Alice woke up. She lay there like the dead. Garrett had just grasped the bullet when he heard Austin gasp in horror. He wanted to get the bullet out before turning his attention to Austin. Handling one thing at a time was the only way he would get through this. He dropped the bullet into a little dish, threaded his needle and was about to start sewing when Austin gave a strangled cry.
“What is it? Is something wrong?” Garrett looked over to see the other man white as a sheet, staring in horror between Alice’s legs to her belly and back again.
“She just went into labor. I can see the contractions. What are we going to do? She’s not even conscious!” This was it. This was what he’d been afraid of. He barked orders in his military voice.
“Get Wren. Make her lock the door. You get the rest of the medical supplies from the basement and come back. Between the three of us we can deliver this baby. Hurry! I need to sew this gash up before I can help with the baby.”
Garrett turned back toward Alice. Her eyes were beginning to flutter, and he didn’t have the time to give her pain medication. He grabbed the chloroform cloth that Austin had dropped in his rush to follow orders, and pressed it to her nose.
Chapter Ten
In slow motion, Garrett watched as Alice collapsed. Blood began pouring out of her leg, and a sickening lurch in his stomach almost brought his last meal back. Austin came out of nowhere, just in time to catch her before she hit the floor. Her breathing was rapid, and Garrett could tell by the wild look in her eyes that she was in shock. Silence had pressed in on him, from the moment he heard his daughter’s voice scream out, “Mom!” Now everything was starting to come back. Kayleigh was staring at Alice, crying through the bruises on her face. Nat was screaming at his mother that she’d just killed his father, but Kayleigh wasn’t paying any attention to him.
Garrett was on the verge of panicking himself, seeing that someone he loved was in pain. Brooke’s face swam into his line of sight, and he could tell she was trying to say something, it just wasn’t registering in his mind. He shook himself mentally, staring at her face until the sound of her voice reached him again.
“Dad! You can’t check out now! You’re the only one who knows how to treat her. Come on! She needs you.”
Clarity came to his vision, and a survival instinct clicked into place deep within him. Brooke was right. He needed to step up and take care of Alice because no one else here was trained enough to do it.
“You’re right. Austin, get her up to the master bedroom so
I can examine her.”
Meanwhile, the door was still open. He could see people were beginning to come out of their houses, trying to see what all the fuss was about. Garrett didn’t want anyone else in his house who he couldn’t control. So he turned back to the mother and son who were arguing on the front porch.
“Look. Either you stay out here with the body, or you come in. It’s up to you, but this door is getting shut and locked.”
Nat glared at Garrett, thrusting his chin out in defiance. He stood next to the body, while Kayleigh came in the house, still in shock herself and crying. The door shut with a snap, and Kayleigh winced when the lock was engaged.
Running up the stairs, Garrett got into the master bedroom to see Alice hyperventilating, and Austin holding her hand, trying to keep her from thrashing around on the bed. It tore at his heart to see her like this, but he knew he was going to do everything in his power to help her.
“Elevate her leg above her heart.”
Garrett heard his own voice come out in a bark, and he flinched at the authority in it. Usually, he never would use this tone of voice outside of the military, but right now it was the thing to do. Austin jumped to obey, and it made Garrett relax a little to see this was something that he and Austin could come together on. If for no other reason than Alice’s safety.
“Alice? Can you look at me?” She turned to look at Garrett, and he saw how much pain was on her face.
“Do you trust me?” Without a second of hesitation, she nodded.
Anger clouded Austin’s face, but there was nothing to do because Garrett was the only one who could save her. He had nothing to offer except his assistance and support.
“What’s going to happen to her?” Austin spoke up, just to let Garrett know he was still there.
“I don’t know, but I swear I’ll do everything I can.” Garrett looked down at Alice’s tear-stained face.
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