Then Jared exploded into a burst of laughter again. He was laughing so forcefully, he couldn’t speak. His eyes watered while he struggled to catch a breath. He gasped, “Leave it to a chick to assign those freaks a name!”
Blaine just smiled and kept his eyes on mine while he replied to Jared, “Chill, dude. At least she came up with something to call them. All you’ve done is pee your pants every time they come around.”
It was as if Blaine had hit a switch. Instantly, Jared stopped mid chuckle. “Not cool,” was all he had in reply. And then he proceeded to climb into one of the bunks and sulk. I glanced over in his direction in sympathy.
Blaine continued, “It took a lot of argument, but I finally convinced my mom to let me install one.” I noticed with the mention of his mother, his expression looked sorrowful. Hearing him mention his mother made me realize that his parents were not around when I had arrived, and I thought the worst.
“Speaking of your mom, where are your parents?” I interrupted, cautiously.
He broke eye contact and began fidgeting with a loose strand on the end of his sleeve. “That’s the thing. I don’t know. I tried to tell them everything in the weeks leading up to the incident. They just brushed it off as if it were one of my jokes. They didn’t believe me at all. I had to be careful what I said, afraid that they would have me committed or something. They were headed out, last night, to a bed and breakfast somewhere out of state. I have no idea if they survived the last two nights with the Intruders all around.”
He looked as though on the verge of tears, clenching his jaw tighter and swallowing hard. He paused for a moment while the sound of Jared, lightly snoring, in the background broke the silence. Then, he continued, “I can’t see their future, Kara. I can see some of yours, your parents, Jared’s, and even Crystal’s. But not my parents’, not even mine. You have no idea how frustrating that is, knowing what is going to happen but having no way of seeing how it will affect yourself. Well, at least you don’t know anymore.”
With his words, I was reminded of the fact that I still had two days of my life that were unaccounted for. Forty-eight hours that involved kissing Blaine – twice, seeing the future, and cracking my head open like a Canadian hockey star. A new feeling of irritation washed over me. I wanted to know more about those two days and as soon as possible. We were locked in a cement cave for the night. The threat of the Intruders would have to wait.
“Yeah, about that,” I replied, “Aside from the fact that we kissed, and I don’t remember it, you said I could see things too. Did I tell you what I saw?”
Blaine began to rake his hand through his hair then responded, “Well, yeah. You said something about being in the woods by a creek, and that Jared was there. But you mentioned dogs, and I don’t know anything about that. I never saw the same thing you did, so I have no idea where they came from.”
My attention was caught at the mention of the woods. Up until our move, I had expressed little interest in the outdoors. But afterward, all I could think about was getting outside for a run. And my track of choice, the woods. Could that be my subconscious trying to push a memory to the front of my mind? “What else did I see? Could I tell you where we were? Why we were there?” That spark of recognition left me hungry for answers.
“No. Both of our visions were short. The first time, I pushed you off of me. To be honest, it scared the hell out of me.” His eyes were bright with apology. “But the second time was longer, and I was able to see more. I saw the power outage after the solar flare, people turning on one another, killing others to get what they needed to survive. Each vision came in bursts, one right after the other, each one ending as quickly as it began. I saw the uprising—” Blaine caught himself mid-sentence, as if he had said too much.
“Uprising of what?” I wasn’t sure if I truly wanted to know but, at this point, I felt so ignorant. I needed as much information as I could squeeze out of Blaine in one night.
“Did I see an ‘uprising’?”
“Not the first time, no. The second time, I don’t know. We didn’t compare notes,” Blaine said, his frown tipping upward to a slight grin. “What happened next, you may not understand. The second time we kissed; I drove you home and dropped you off. I was supposed to call you that night, but I didn’t.”
“Nice,” was all I could manage to get out.
Blaine acknowledged the irritation in my voice and carried on, “Like I said, you wouldn’t understand. You have no idea how badly I wanted to call you that night, to talk about what happened, and try to make sense of this whole mess. But, at the time, I thought it would be better for us to be apart. In hindsight, a dumb idea, I know. But each time I kissed you, I saw things that were so dark, so twisted, that it terrified me of what would come. I knew trying to avoid kissing you would be easier said than done. Being in a room with you, I couldn’t help but crave your touch, your smell, and the way your lips felt so soft on mine…” he trailed off.
“So, what now? You’re psychic. You can see the future? And I could too? I’m sorry if I sound skeptical, but I find it hard to believe that I had ever been able to see the future. I can barely focus on the present, the idea of being able to predict things that haven’t happened yet seems a little out of my reach. And how come I don’t remember any of this, why can’t I do it now? Why did it stick with you, and not me? You don’t need to kiss me to see visions anymore. Why haven’t I had dreams about these Intruders or solar flares?” My face was hot with anger, my breathing picked up pace. I was dangerously close to hyperventilating. Balling my fists, I shot out of my chair. Frustration and exhaustion had caught up with me and I began to fume. What was wrong with me that I couldn’t remember any of this?
Instantly aware of the amount of noise I was making, I glanced over to Jared, still asleep. Wow, he can sleep through anything.
Now Blaine was on his feet, directly in front of me. Both of his hands were on my shoulders, and I reached up to clasp his wrists, staring down at his ankles. I wanted to cry, scream, I didn’t want to be in my own skin. Holding my breath, I dampened the urge to sob.
Blaine spoke, “You hit your head pretty hard, Kara. It could have been just enough damage to hide your abilities from you.” He took a step towards me to close the gap, leaving only a few inches between us, and I rested my forehead on his chest. I could feel his heart beating beneath his sweater.
“These visions aren’t fun,” he continued, “trust me. They haunt my dreams every night. I was relieved for you when you didn’t have them. It made me feel better knowing that you wouldn’t have to fear sleep. Okay?”
I nodded my head, grinding it into his sternum. Then something else occurred to me. My body stiffened, and I raised my head slowly. For a second, I thought Blaine had winced. His eyes widened, and I gazed deeply into the dark brown pools, then grinned and chimed, “You up for a little science experiment?”
Chapter 24
The adrenaline was electrifying as my body began to tremble. “Are you sure about this?” Blaine asked, hesitantly. “If it still works, you may not like what you see.” His expression was uncertain, but I was aware of how he really felt. At the moment, he and I shared the same curiosity.
Closing the small gap between us, I took a step closer. I felt Blaine’s grip tense on my shoulders as he almost tripped in retreat. Fixing my palms to his chest, I placed one foot in front of the other until I had him backed up to the wall. Searching him for any sign of resistance, I saw none. My final step narrowed the last bit of space between us, our faces only inches apart. I could feel his breath on my mouth as I replied, “I have had to steal a car and a dirt bike…” I paused to take in a slow breath, “…fish for keys off of a dead man, and sat by while hearing the screams of an attack by the Intruders…” I stared at Blaine’s parted lips and swallowed hard. “…if this works, I think I can handle a little nightmare.”
In response, Blaine let out a humored sigh. With his head bent down to me, he whispered, “Don’t say I didn’t warn
you.” The moment was too intense for me to smile. “I can’t make any promises,” was all I could manage to murmur. His lips grazed mine tentatively, sharing each breath as if we were one person. With his hands drifting to the small of my back, I felt powerless. I slammed my eyes shut and forced my lips to his. I kissed him fervently and unyielding. I accepted the way it made me feel, the way he made me feel. Giving in, I never wanted this to end.
My eyes were sealed shut and I realized that if I had not seen anything yet, I wasn’t going to. Blaine would be pleased. I felt the sudden urge to open my eyes and tell him. As my eyes flew open, I had an instant feeling of being confined. I was back in the tiny closet that Blaine and Jared had found me in, but I was still kissing Blaine. My mind was screaming, but my body would not respond. In the distance I could hear Crystal shouting “…okay, we give up…” Just when I was asking myself why I was hearing Crystal, I came up for air. Taking two huge steps back from Blaine, I realized I was back in the bomb shelter. It didn’t seem real, standing in the middle of this concrete cave. Then I looked up at Blaine, gulping to catch his breath. His gaze was to the floor and, without tipping his head up, we locked eyes. Beaming with a small sense of pride, I squawked, “I saw something!”
Blaine’s expression took on a look of amusement. “I didn’t,” he blustered.
“What did you see?” he asked, joining me on the floor.
I didn’t know how to explain the vision. “I don’t know. It wasn’t bad, though.”
“Well, that’s good. Can you tell me where you were, what you were doing? Was anybody with you?” He shot one question after the other.
“I was in that closet that you found me in. You were there…” I blushed remembering the activity we were engaged in, “…kissing me. And I could hear Crystal outside yelling. It was me, in the closet, only I couldn’t move when I tried. I just stayed tangled up with you the entire time.”
At first, Blaine’s face expressed that he was searching. But in an instant, his face lit up with recognition. “Kara, you remembered something!”
“What? What do you mean? What did I remember?”
“You just described the first time that we kissed. Kara, you were having a memory.” Blaine looked pleased as if he had just solved a difficult Sudoku puzzle.
“So it worked?!” My smile quickly faded. “If it worked, why didn’t you see anything?”
“Good question.” Blaine began to pout in thought.
After mulling over several different scenarios of why things were going the way they were, and coming up with nothing, we finally gave in and decided to get some sleep. Blain laid a blanket on the floor for himself and gave me the other bunk. Although Jared was snoring profusely by now, I immediately fell into a heavy slumber.
Chapter 25
When I awoke, the guys were loading supplies into a pack and whispering. Pretending to still be asleep, I listened. “Did you tell her yet?” hissed Jared. “No. Last night wasn’t the right time,” hissed Blaine.
Jared hissed back, “You know, if you wait too long, it will be too late, and she isn’t going to forgive you.”
“I know, just not yet. When we get settled, I promise,” replied Blaine.
I seized the opportunity to make my presence known and gave a theatrical yawn and stretch. “What’s for breakfast?” I croaked in my best groggy voice.
Just then, Blaine gave Jared a “drop it” look, and Jared sauntered over to me by the bunks. “Well, Sleeping Beauty, take your pick. We have dried cereal, dried fruit, or dried meat. Ladies first.” He motioned to the table. Covered in a mountain of dried goods, the table was near invisible.
“Um, yeah. I think you overestimated my appetite, just a little.”
Jared chuckled, “That’s not ALL for you, your highness!” He shook his head while packing his bag.
“We have to pack what we can carry and move out,” Blaine clarified.
Move out? But it was so secure here, safe from the Intruders and other threats. I didn’t understand why we couldn’t just stay here for a while.
“We can’t stay here. It won’t be safe forever. Eventually, if they look hard enough, the Intruders will figure out our shelter and barge in,” he added.
“But they didn’t find us last night. And you and Jared were safe here two nights before that.” I felt as though by leaving we were giving ourselves a death sentence. An image of the diner owner flashed into my memory, and I swallowed hard.
“Kara, even if they never did find us, we wouldn’t be able to continue living in this one area. Eventually, we would run out of supplies and have to go farther and farther to get them. It’s better if we keep moving.” He gestured to the door, “Yesterday, Jared and I were surveying the town to see how bad the damage was. We ran into a guy that came into town for fuel, and he had no idea what happened. When we filled him in, he told us that he hadn’t heard or seen any of the Intruders around his property. We asked him where he lived and he owns about three acres of wooded property where he parks his RV.” Blaine paused to let me respond.
“So what? What does he have to do with us not being safe here?” I asked puzzled.
“Well, it got me thinking, so we tried talking to more survivors. We found out that most of the survivors were nomads, campers, and people that had no other choice but to sleep in their cars parked in the woods.”
“You’re saying that there is something about the woods that repels the intruders? But why?” I could tell Blaine was taking this somewhere, but I was having trouble following.
“There is something about them that keeps them out of the daylight. That is why they don’t come after us in the day. Whatever keeps them out of daylight must also be why they don’t go near cars or trucks. Haven’t you noticed that every car, on the side of the road, has not even a scratch? They tear through supplies after destroying every home and building in their path, but leave my entire truck full of fuel and camping supplies. It’s like their afraid of vehicles or something.”
I remembered the night in the little shack, listening to the Intruders’ footsteps padding on the grass just yards away from me. I recalled how they never came any closer, even though I was sure they had known I was inside. All that time, I had been sitting with the dirt bike right at my feet, the engine still warm from my short travel that evening. Something about an engine, and the sun, kept them at a distance. But what the connection was, I couldn’t be sure.
“We’re burnin’ daylight,” Jared chirped, shoving a bottle of water and some trail mix into my hands. Swinging the huge pack onto his left shoulder, he left the shelter and headed to the truck. Light gleamed through the trap door opening as Blaine pulled me through.
With Jared up ahead, Blaine and I followed suit. Halfway down the driveway, next to the dirt bike, Jared stopped mid-stride. “Kara, you rode here on this?” Turning toward me, he waited for an answer.
“Among other things,” I replied, feeling a jolt of pride at his reaction.
Jared, looking slightly impressed, asked, “What other things?”
I told him about the car troubles and added, “But mostly I ran on foot.”
“RAN?!” he screeched, “Damn girl, you’re like Forrest Gump on steroids!” He then turned back toward the truck and attempted to throw his pack into the bed.
Blaine and I followed behind, snickering at Jared as we watched him struggle to get the pack up over the side of the truck bed. It resembled a turtle on its back trying to correct itself. Blaine sneaked up behind him and used one hand to support the bottom of the pack while giving it a big shove just as Jared pulled it up and over. Then Blaine jumped back over to my side, an act that left Jared to think he had lifted the pack himself.
Chapter 26
Sitting between Blaine and Jared in the truck left me with an intense feeling of nostalgia. Of all my fondest memories of the past, there wasn’t one that didn’t involve them. Being with the pair seemed so effortless, uncomplicated. Even with our current situation, the atmosphere wa
s no different.
As the truck carried on down the road, the guys informed me of some things that I had missed in the time I had been gone. Blaine explained to me the contents of his brief visions and everything he knew about the Intruders. He spoke of their vulnerability in the daylight, and how it frightened them. He told me of how they head out at night in packs, rummaging for food, killing any living things in their path. And when I explained that I had not seen what they looked like, he gave me a description. They had thin skin and an almost human body structure with bat-like facial features. I shivered as I remembered that night in the shed, only feet away from the Intruders.
Blaine and Jared answered my questions to the best of their ability, as well as pacifying my concerns of the scarce gasoline supply. Apparently, Jared had a method of extracting gasoline from the tanks of the stations without the use of the electrically operated pumps. The guys managed to collect a supply of full gas cans for our journey ahead.
They had just finished updating me on the events leading up to when they had found me, when I noticed we were pulling into a large parking lot. Peering through the window, I examined the monstrous building straight in front of us. The lot was empty, deserted. Broken glass stretched across the path in front of the outdoor hobby warehouse.
“Why are we here?”
“We need ammunition,” Blaine replied softly, anxiety in his tone.
Staring at the nearly demolished structure, I exclaimed, “How is there anything left?”
Jared interjected, “There’s no way of knowing if it has been cleaned out, but we know that the Intruders…” he motioned with air quotes, mockingly, “…don’t use guns of their own, so it’s not likely they have managed to strip the store of all their ammunition. We also need some other stuff too.” He opened his door and hopped out onto the pavement.
Chapter 27
Blaine offered his hand to help me out of the truck, and my eyes locked onto the waistband of his jeans. Tucked into his pants, just near his hip, was a gun. My thoughts must have been obvious because he cleared his throat and said, “Can’t be too careful,” and finished helping me out of the truck’s cab.
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