Maya was so excited and knew that helping Dennis work on the house would keep her busy enough to not think about missing Matt so much. The grounds were so beautiful and with just a little bit of work, she could clear a very large area for a garden next spring. They could easily grow enough to feed a small army if she had help planting and weeding.
As much as Maya loved her mountain cabin, she had to admit to herself that she was slightly thrilled at the thought of staying at this mansion. She had never lived in such luxury before.
Her mind spun with various ideas and thoughts while Dennis talked non-stop about his plans for the place.
The ride home was quiet while they both were lost in their own thoughts. Maya didn’t look forward to being alone again and was dreading her first night alone. She had become so strong and independent after all of those months alone but having Matt around for a few months had made her soft. She was grateful that Dennis hadn’t gone with Matt but wondered why that was. Dennis definitely seemed eager to be a part of a community again so why had he stayed behind? She didn’t expect to get any answers from Dennis and instead decided to enjoy the time they would have together and use it as an opportunity to get to know him better.
That evening, Dennis and Buddy stayed for dinner and she warmed up one of her previously made soups for them all to enjoy.
“I think if life went back to how it was before the virus, I would still have to stay hidden in the mountains eating your good cooking. You couldn’t buy anything like this at the grocery store before!” Dennis exclaimed while he happily slurped up his soup.
Maya smiled at him and memories of her life before the virus outbreak came swirling in. She used to put off going to the grocery store and dealing with other everyday tasks as long as possible. Often times the result would be her coming home to a dinner of ramen noodles or hot dogs! She had lost the roots of her upbringing for quite some time but finally felt like she was back where she belonged. It gave her pause for a second thinking what if the world did go back to how it was before once their communities began to grow? If she was able to figure out the secret to the failed pregnancies and women began having children again, how quickly would they re-populate to the point where the societal structure would require large companies and corporations again.
Dennis looked at her quizzically while she sat quietly. “Oh you don’t have to worry about things going back to the way they were before any time in your lifetime missy. It will take hundreds of years for the world to repopulate to that point again.”
She laughed and felt foolish. “You’re right, I guess I just enjoy how things are now so much that I worry about it ending. In my previous life, I barely had a second to think of anything but my work. Now I get to spend entire days working in a garden and watching my child grow. It truly is magical and I feel guilty sometimes for thinking that way because of how many people lost their lives.”
Dennis smiled knowingly. “Don’t feel guilty Maya, feel special.”
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As Maya lay curled up in her bed alone that night, she relived all of the wonderful evenings she had had with Matt while he was here. She took great comfort in knowing that they would be back together soon and this time, nothing was going to tear them apart!
Chapter 27 – Project Location – SUCCESS! - present
Derek smacked his hand on the table in glee and rewarded John with a large smile, the first anyone had seen Derek smile in a very long time.
“Let’s keep this information between us for now. Tomorrow, once we get within range, you and I will recon the situation and then brief the soldiers.”
John nodded at Derek even as he felt the uneasiness growing in his stomach. Derek had become so obsessed with finding Maya, growing more impatient and angry with each passing day when no information was found to her whereabouts.
John had considered not sharing the information that he had found with Derek but he had hoped that this would give Derek some sort of closure so that he could once again become the leader that the group sorely needed.
As John left the room, he heard Derek fold up the piece of paper that named Maya as the sole heir to her grandmas estate, which included a mountain cabin a few towns over. Maya had never disclosed the actual location of her grandmas cabin, but she had talked of it many times over the years. Her descriptions of the town and surroundings had led them to the state of Colorado and Dereks persistence of checking each and every county office as they traversed the state had finally paid off. John had come across the information after stumbling across the grandmas death certificate and recognizing the last name. Further searches through accompanying files turned up the information of the cabins whereabouts. The information had taken them a year to find and although he still didn’t know what Dereks intentions were for tracking down Maya, he had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t be a happy reunion.
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With each passing mile, Matt felt a little more uneasy about leaving Maya. Levi had reported a few days ago that Dereks group had moved out of his range and he had been unable to locate them again but Matt had put off returning to the compound for fear of leaving Maya alone. He knew that Dennis would keep an eye on her and Cade every waking moment, but it was the moments in between that worried Matt.
He had asked Levi and Max to further the range of their search but they had turned up nothing so far. His intentions were to gather up his best tracking men and go out in search himself for the group so he could satisfy his fear that they had discovered Mayas location.
Before he left the cabin, he had worked with Dennis to reactivate all of the motion detectors and cameras hidden around the property and test the transmission back to Dennis’ place as well as Matts hummer. It wouldn’t give him enough time to get back if an alarm did go off, but Dennis was close enough if something did occur during his absence. Despite trying to reassure himself, he still couldn’t shake the dark feeling that had settled over him.
Chapter 28 –A reunion of sorts - present
Maya’s first night alone was uneventful and she woke the next morning to a happy, animated Cade. Swinging his arms about madly, he let his mom know that he was ready for breakfast and to tackle a new day. How could she feel depressed with this bundle of joy at her side?
Scooping him into her arms, she set into the kitchen to begin her day. The garden was slowly winding down with its production so she could maybe get a few more items out of it today. Another task she had been putting off was doing laundry. A while back, Dennis and Matt had surprised her with installing a washer and dryer in the kitchen. It wasn’t an elegant setup but it was a lot quicker than her previous method of washing everything in the river and hanging it up to dry. Although today she decided to use the river for washing just to give her an excuse to spend even more time outside. It was such a glorious day with not a cloud in the sky and a gentle breeze flowing across the mountain valley.
Dennis didn’t show up until dinner time and he announced that he had made much progress at the mansion with various tasks. She sensed a trepidation in him and didn’t quite believe his boisterous claims about the various items he had fixed at the mansion. She couldn’t quite place it, but he was definitely not telling her something. Based on her past experiences, she guessed that he had been tasked with keeping a constant eye on her and had most likely instead been hunched in the bushes all day watching her toil in the garden and river, not making her aware of his presence so as not to alarm her.
She intended on confronting Matt when he returned to finally get some answers. He and Dennis would be so secretive sometimes when they were together and at first she didn’t mind so much, but now it was getting old. She had a right to know what was going on, as much right as they did seeing that they were all a part of the last of the remaining humans on this planet.
Buddy seem
ed more vigilant than usual that evening. Only coming in the house briefly to say hi to Cade and give him a thorough licking before asking to go back outside. He sat alert on the deck scanning back and forth for the rest of Dennis’ visit and even Dennis had to laugh at his over-protective nature. “Never had a dog so damn intelligent. Scares the crap out of me sometimes!” Dennis proclaimed when Buddy refused to come in even for dinner scraps.
Once Dennis and Buddy left for the evening, Maya bundled up her and Cade on the couch and put in one of her favorite movies “The Notebook”. When this movie had come out many years ago, she used to dream that her and Matt would reunite one day in a similar fashion and now her dreams had finally come true. Every time she watched a movie, she would find herself wondering about the fate of its actors. Did they succumb to the flu or was their passing from a more sinister force? She had heard the horrific stories from others of witnessing attacks on friends and family as people had slowly lost their minds. She had seen the chaos first hand and had had to continually remind herself to stay focused while trying to flee the city.
She fell asleep on the couch while in the midst of these sinister thoughts and was having some nasty nightmares when a bark awoke her. Realizing she was still on the couch, it took her a few to get her wits about her and realize that she still heard intermittent barking. Cade sighed as she slid him off her chest and set him gently down on the couch so she could peek out the window.
Buddy sat in the middle of the front yard, watching silently until he saw her move at the window and he let out another sharp bark. Now what was this dog doing? He sure was acting strange lately! Maya opened the door slightly and whistled at him. “What’s up Buddy? What’s the matter?” Buddy didn’t move from his spot, he merely barked at her again and then waited with his ears perked up for her response. “Go home Buddy before you wake Cade”
Maya shut the door and scooped up Cade from the couch. She could still see Buddy out the window and every few seconds, he would let out another sharp bark.
Maya made sure all of the windows and doors were locked after laying Cade down in his crib. Buddy had finally stopped barking and she no longer saw him out the window. His behavior made her nervous and when she finally crawled into bed, she lay staring silently at the ceiling, unable to fall back asleep.
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It had taken a large portion of the day for Derek to brief and prepare his soldiers for the task at hand. He and John had set out early that morning, taking only the top soldiers with them and instructing the rest of the group that they would be back in a couple of days to take the others to their new compound. John knew that this was a lie and tried to hide his knowledge from each person that approached him trying to get information about the new compound.
John and Derek found a suitable stopping point a few miles from Mayas cabin and left the soldiers there while the two of them hiked in to the location to see what they were up against.
The sun had barely peeked over the horizon when Mayas cabin came into view and upon seeing the little cabin, Derek grunted and mumbled under his breath “She lives in this piece of shit?” John found it rather charming but had to quickly squelch his feelings when he remembered what Derek’s plan for the place and for Maya was. He was too scared at this point to voice his disagreement with Derek and he just hoped that Derek would change his mind before following through with his plan.
Before they could even get close enough to see inside any of the windows, they spotted the old man hidden in the brush of the woods on the other side of the house. They sat quietly for several minutes observing the man, neither of them voicing their thoughts for fear of being spotted. Once they realized that the man didn’t intend on going anywhere, Derek made the motion for them to retreat. They had seen the property and gotten a good enough idea of the layout. Although they hadn’t spotted Maya, Derek was certain she was inside and still asleep. But who was this old man and how the heck had he survived the flu? He had never come across anyone of his age that had survived. Not that he cared that much anyways, if the old man got in his way, he would kill him without any regret.
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The moon was barely a sliver in the sky leaving the woods in a thick blanket of darkness. Perfect for a night time attack! Derek and his men snuck silently through the bushes up to the house each holding their designated piece of dynamite and instructions on where to place it. Derek had returned with his soldiers around midnight and they had all waited silently until finally the old man gave up his vigilant watch and retreated into the woods. Derek had sent one of his men to follow the old man and take him out if he tried coming back this way. Shortly thereafter, a damn dog showed up outside the cabins window barking. Derek saw movement at a window and stopped breathing for a minute when he recognized Mayas outline with her wild, curly hair. Her front door opened just a few inches and he heard her voice yelling to the dog. It was obvious that she knew the dog but what really caught his attention was her reference to a male name and indicating that the dog would wake him.
The rage within Derek’s chest swelled and was almost overwhelming when he realized that Maya had found another man to fill her bed. He knew John could sense his swelling rage when John looked over at him with a troubled look upon his face. Derek took some deep breaths and got himself back under control before anyone else noticed his reaction.
The dog finally took off, running into the woods at top speed in the other direction. They waited several more minutes to make sure the coast was clear before sneaking the rest of the way up to the house. Once they made it down the driveway, they began to spread out, placing their explosives in various locations on the outside of the house. Once they had all placed their explosives, they reconvened to the side of the house next to the stream and all stood silently while Derek watched the house quietly for several minutes. His head was a storm of emotions. But the strongest emotion of all was anger, any other feelings of love or kindness that he still had towards Maya were swallowed up by the raging inferno of images in his mind of her making love to another man.
A rumbling noise startled the men and they all scattered into the bushes to hide as several vehicles came roaring down the road. So she had found a group of people to live with. Derek waited until the first vehicle had pulled into the driveway and walked out in front of it, causing the driver to screech to a stop on the driveways gravel halfway to the house. Holding up the detonation device in his hand, Derek could hear the yelling within the vehicle as he pushed the button.
The explosion was heard before it was seen. A tremendous thunder boom that shook the trees in the woods followed by a giant ripping ball of fire, splintering wood and glass flying through the air. Derek dove off the side of the driveway into the bushes as he heard the explosion, but realized he was also hearing something much louder. A yelling like he had never heard before in his life. The anguished cry of a beast filled his ears and as he strained to see what was making such a ruckus, the smoke began to clear to reveal a man several inches shorter than himself standing in the middle of the driveway screaming in anguish and yelling Mayas name. How could a man that size make so much noise? Derek covered his ears until the man quit yelling and had fallen to his knees in the gravel sobbing. Several people ran to surround him and help him up but instead the man leapt up in a rage and trained his eyes directly on Derek.
Derek felt fear in the pit of his stomach when the man’s full glare became trained on him and he fumbled for his weapon when the man charged. Before Derek could even unsheathe his knife, the man rammed him full force in the chest and grabbed him in a bear hug while they both slammed to the ground. Derek wheezed for breath as the air was knocked out of him and the man began squeezing and preventing Derek from filling his lungs. He struggled and kicked, thrashing his legs wildly while th
e man held tight screaming in an utter rage. Derek could hear the yells of his men and several others that he didn’t recognize and he knew without looking that an all-out battle had ensued.
All of the men heard it at once, a deafening scream that could have only come from the lungs of an angry woman.
All motion stopped as every eye turned in the direction of the angry screams.
Maya stood at the edge of the woods staring at her ruined home and screaming in anguish. Cade sat up in his backpack, arms flailing wildly and eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to take in all of the commotion in front of him.
“Maya!” Matt yelled in relief. Shoving up off of the ground, he pushed Derek away from him so hard that Derek hit the ground with a thud, catching his head on a rock.
“Matt!” Maya yelled back when she turned at the sound of his voice and saw him getting up off the ground. Then her eye caught who was on the ground beneath him and she froze. Derek stared back at her, anger and disbelief washing over him. There was no doubt in his mind that the child with her was his. Did she know she was with child when she left? How could she have not come back to him when she discovered it if she hadn’t already known? And now this ‘Matt’ guy had replaced him as a father?
Derek’s rage overtook him and he jumped up with his buck knife in hand, Maya screamed as Derek plunged the knife deep into Matt’s belly.
Strong hands grabbed Maya from behind, yanking her backward into the woods before she could react. Dennis’ voice said in her ear “Please come with me.” Dennis held her tight while she struggled and kept dragging her further away from the scene in front of her. “No, Let go of me. I have to get to Matt.” Maya screamed in fury.
After Days Page 13