by Shelly Crane
We drive a while, Merrick, Miguel, Jeff, Danny and Celeste, Lily and the Lighter, in the van. We are driving slowly, Miguel says he’s looking for a good spot. Good spot for what? Just do it already if that’s what we have to do.
I don’t want to be responsible for the death of anything. But if we leave him alive, what of the ones he’ll hurt later as I know he will. Can I actually condone this? Or can I say it’s for the greater good to be rid of one more evil thing?
I’m just ready to go home. I can’t take another freezing uncomfortable night. Lily is sleeping soundly on Merrick’s lap. He’s warmer than me. He didn’t even argue with me about it. Lily was to sit on his lap and that was that. I sat next to him, his arm around me instead, as it should be.
At least I know this night can’t get any worse. We’ve dealt with more Lighters, Takers and Markers in the past day than we have all other months combined. If I never see another one of any of them, it’ll be too soon. But I know I will.
No sooner I think, I hear a strange sound. A warped gunshot almost. Muffled, silenced. Glass flies everywhere, pelting my head and back, my hands flying up instinctively for protection. Merrick, tucks Lily and I under his arm.
I feel the van jostling and jerking. Miguel has lost control and I see him hunched over the steering wheel, a blood spot on his shirt in the back growing bigger.
Oh no! We are heading right for the bridge. Will the control fence keep us from going over?
The question is answered and the answer is no.
We bust through the side and careen over the edge. All I see through the windshield as we head over and down is dark water and nowhere else to go. The van is plunging into the river.
This is it.
The force from crashing into the water sends us banging into the back of the front seat. The Lighter flies over our heads, slams all the way into the front windshield, still tied up. It’s head smashing against it with a loud thud. I can hear Lily screaming.
I don’t see what happened to Danny and Celeste in all the commotion. My vision is blurred and the sounds are muffled. Then I slowly begin to come back into my own consciousness and regain my composure. I see Celeste unconscious and Danny’s head is bleeding.
Water starts to pour into the broken back window. That’s when I realize with finality what has happened. Miguel, still passed out on the steering wheel, thank God he was wearing his seatbelt, has been shot. I can see the bullet hole in his shirt now, that’s why we lost control. But who shot him out in the middle of nowhere? Lighters don’t use guns.
Merrick starts to panic. He’s shaking, his arms are squeezing us so tightly. His eyes are wide with fear. Lily is whimpering softly against my chest.
Sherry... I don’t know how to swim.
“Babe...”
I start to explain the mechanisms of swimming and that I’ll help him but I remember about my leg and make shift wooden cast, I don’t even know how I’m gonna get myself to the top let alone Lily and him. As if he was reading my mind, Danny comes to the rescue.
“Sherry. If you are sure you can make it, I’ll take Lily.”
“What about Celeste?”
“I’ll...hold Lily and pull Celeste behind me,” he says but he hears how impossible that would be and frowns.
Oh God help us.
“Jeff?”
“I can’t swim either, Sherry.” His voice shaking and he didn’t look much better than Merrick.
How are we gonna do this? Two panicky Keepers who can’t swim, a toddler, an unconscious women, an injured man and a cripple with only one good swimmer?
The van is half full of water now and we have to get out. Now I’m the one panicking.
“Just go, Danny, take Celeste. I can help Merrick with Lily. We’ll be fine. No time! Go!” The water continues to rise and it’s at my stomach now. “I mean it! Go.”
“What about you-”
“Mewwick. I’m scarwed,” Lily cries, fighting to get higher on his chest.
“Don’t be scared, Lily bug. We’ve got you. Danny. Go! No time to argue. You know I’m a good swimmer. I’ll be fine! Go! Now!” I yell and if I could compel like Muses or Lighters I’d use it right now to make him go without another word.
He grunts in frustration and looks reluctant but pulls Celeste towards the back, taking a deep breath and out of the window under the water level and up towards the surface.
“Merrick. Jeff, listen. Merrick, I need you to help me with Lily. Jeff. You’re gonna have to try to get Miguel out and to the surface. All this is going to be is holding your breath and kicking until you reach the surface ok. You can do this. I know you can. I believe in you both. Let’s go!”
Merrick grabs Lily and I and we head for the window.
“Ok Lily, Merrick, when I say three, take a deep breath and hold it in and grab on tight to me ok. Jeff, just follow us the same way out. Merrick, Jeff, kick with all you’ve got, ok. I love you.” And the tears choke my words but I have to finish them. “I love you both. I love you too, Lily.”
“I love you, honey.” Merrick kisses my forehead. “We’ll be ok. I’ll kick with all I’ve got,” he speaks but he doesn’t look convinced, in fact, he looks like this is goodbye but I can’t even think about that.
The water is to my chin now.
“Don’t do that. No goodbyes. Now let’s go. I’ll see you at the top. Both of you.” I look at Jeff and then back. “Ready Lily? Hold your breath. One...two...three!” I shout and we plunge under the water and squeeze ourselves through the window as we try for making an impossible attempt to the surface.
Water Under The Bridge
Chapter 40
I’m kicking with my one good leg. I’m holding tight to Lily still. She has stopped moving and my lungs are burning, I can’t see how I’m still alive but somehow I press on. My leg is protesting not so silently. I will keep on going until I lose consciousness.
Merrick is still grasping my arm, helping me hold Lily and he’s kicking as well. I can’t see in the murky, dark, freezing water but I can feel his jerky movements. The only light is the headlights from the van below us. I feel something pulling me from consciousness.
Death.
It’s coming. I can feel it. The last few seconds before the final darkness. My eyes are begging to close and surrender to it. My face twitches, my lungs burn and ache. I strain with everything in me, kick with the last effort I can muster. Kick! Kick!
My lungs can’t possibly hold another second but somehow I press on and on and then...and then...
Then, finally, I break through the surface and the icy cold breath, though stinging and painful as it is fills my lungs and I’m alive.
“Oh thank you, God!” Danny yells as we struggle to catch our breaths. “I was coming to get you. I had to wake Celeste.” He runs to me in the water and pushes my hair back so he can see my face. “Are you ok?”
I nod as I sputter and cough.
“Then, I’m going after Jeff.” Then he plunges back into the water.
I can see again, the blurriness goes away enough for me to focus with the small amount of light from the streetlamp. Merrick is on his knees in the water beside me, gasping and coughing. Lily is in my arms, not moving.
“Lily!”
I crawl to the shallow bank where they are as quickly as I can, painfully. My leg is throbbing, somehow the dang splint still intact. I am so out of breath and exhausted but gotta push through that now. I lay her head across Merrick’s lap and tilt her neck back, give one good blow in her mouth.
She automatically spits and sputters and coughs. She’s crying loudly and screaming, scared to death and shaking violently from fright and cold.
“Lily,” I say soothingly, my teeth chattering.
Relief floods me.
“Lily, sweetheart. Open your eyes,” Merrick says, leaning over her as well, rubbing his hand over her forehead and hair to smooth it and soothe her.
She obeys and though she still whimpers, she calms down enough to pic
k up. I rock her in my lap, Merrick’s arms around us both as we kneel in the murky water and mud.
I hear splashing behind us and look up to see Danny hauling Miguel, who is now awake and yelping in pain, out of the water and Jeff isn’t far behind him.
Yes! Thank you! They made it.
Merrick helps Jeff to the bank and we all sort of catch our breath and listen to Miguel’s colorful cursing and yelling in pain and confusion.
Then Merrick and I, hauling Lily, roll and crawl to the others. I hug Danny so tight, tighter than I’m sure I ever have. We all huddle there in a circle for a minute, calm our heartbeats and settle our breathing.
I can’t believe how bad my chest hurts from lack of air and then freezing air. It makes my heart ache for poor Lily. So tiny and fragile. She must feel ten times worse than me. She’s so quiet now. Awake but very quiet and still.
Celeste past back out but wakes up after a few pats on the cheek from Danny. We make sure everyone is ok, taking turns it seems asking each other. All of us worried about the other. Miguel is the worse off, but still the same Miguel. After a quick explanation of what happened, he checks his wound and claims “he’ll live”.
Jeff decides it best to head up the embankment towards the road again. Merrick having to carry me. Danny carries Lily. Jeff helps Miguel up the steep hill and over the railing. Celeste drags herself, barely.
Once we are all up on the road and looking around we see another van, parked on the side by the ditch. It’s lights are on.
“There. Those are the ones who bloody shot me. But why? Why would they...” Miguel asks wincing and swaying as Jeff pulls his arm around him and sets him to the ground.
The lights flash at us and all the doors open to reveal a band of armed Crandle fans. One of them is even wearing a t-shirt that says ‘Why buy the cow when Crandle will give you the milk for free’.
I have no idea what type of guns they are carrying but who cares. I’m so exhausted and cold I can barely focus or even register to care. But I do care. And I’m sick of every thing that can go wrong, does go wrong. Murphy’s law can stick it. I’m just done.
“Well, hello there,” one of the men in the center speaks, his voice deep, really deep. “You’re still alive I see. That’s a shame. It would’ve been much easier for you if you’d just died in the crash.”
“Wait Jack. Look. They’ve got Lily,” a female voice announces, sounding entirely too annoyed to be referring to the precious thing Danny holds in his arms as she steps up to cling to the mans arm.
My heart clenches in my chest painfully. This is what death feels like I can imagine. I thought I was dying in the cave and then the water, but no, that was cake compared to this. Compared to watching Lily freeze with fear, her glazed eyes too big for her face. Her tiny little fist bunching Danny’s collar like she’s hanging on for dear life and her lips shaking.
These people seem like they are going to attempt to get her from us. Over my dead body. And it may just come to that.
“Lily?” the man, Jack, says with authority, hooding his eyes with his hands and focusing on her.
“Danny, bring her to Merrick,” I say low so he can hear but the others can’t.
He does and Merrick wraps her up in his warm arms.
“Lily! Come to your momma!” Jack yells again.
“Pwease don’t make me go. He’s a bad man,” Lily ask with tears in her eyes, looking right into Merrick’s face.
It must be breaking his heart as it is mine, he looks sick. Sick that this little girl had to go through so much and yet thrilled that she wants to stay with us without even a second thought.
“Oh course not, sweetheart,” Merrick tells her, readjusting her to his right arm so his left can support me better. What I wouldn’t give for those stolen crutches right about now. “You don’t ever have to go to them again if you don’t want to.”
“Lily. It’s momma. Come on now. Get down from there and come to your momma,” the female voice says, sweeter this time, coaxing.
“Enough,” I say through my clenched teeth to keep them from chattering. “You can’t have her. Now get on with it. You shot at our van. Shot Miguel. Why?”
“Uho! We got ourselves a big mouth! Ignorant woman. We were called in when you attacked the house. You stupid fools! You really thought that you could not only defy the authority of the leader but also go to his home, attack him and get away with it? Bold but stupid. No wonder if you’ve got this little...pathetic excuse for a women leading your outfit,” Jack says with clear unbelief in his voice.
Merrick growled deep in his throat beside me.
“We went to get Lily back, seeing as how he kidnapped her,” I snapped back.
I can see them slightly in the yellow glow now since my eyes have adjusted. The men behind the female and Jack are holding lantern flashlights and that’s helping too. The women rolled her eyes and made a ‘who cares’ face, her hands going to her hips but the man stood firm and completely still.
“If that’s true he had a reason. He always has a reason. You think I care about that? We sacrifice everything for Crandle. Even her. Nobody or nothing is worth more than the savior of the world. This is war darling, or hasn’t anybody told you?” the man says it with a tone of disbelief, like how could we be so stupid as not to believe it already.
Lily, clinging to Merrick buries her face is his neck. I know she doesn’t really understand the words he’s saying but she understands the ramifications at least. They don’t want her as a daughter. They don’t really want her at all except to do bidding for Crandle.
I wish I could comfort her with words but what can you say to someone who is hearing from their own father’s mouth that they don’t want you? Especially the words of a delusional psycho and his blindly adoring idiotic wife.
“Ok. Whatever. Let’s get on with this. You don’t want her, fine. We do.” Merrick and I look at each other and despite the situation smile knowingly. I continue. “Now what?”
They all pull guns from the backs of their belts simultaneously, like it was some planned or choreographed cheesy action movie stunt. Ugh. I’m at my breaking point. I’m slap happy. They have guns pointed at us and all I wanna do it laugh at the cliché.
“She won’t save you. If she won’t come to us then I have no problem with sending her to hell with the rest of ya,” Jack says gun pointed, taking one small step forward.
We stand off, them on one side of the street, guns pointed and us on the other, injuries a plenty and weaponless. I can hear Danny whisper to me, from behind me.
“I can make one of them drop the gun but not all six of them at the same time, the others will just shoot us before I can get them all down.”
“I know, Danny. I know,” I say knowingly, not defeated.
I look back at all of them. Jeff is standing in front of Miguel as he lays on the ground. Celeste is standing with Danny, their arms around each other.
I don’t want to die, and I don’t want them to die, but fate hasn’t exactly been a very nice ally lately.
I’ve been almost killed more times than I can count on one hand in the past day. I’m tired, drained and achy. But the sun is slowly coming up, I have Lily and Merrick and Danny here beside me.
We did what we set out to do, get Lily and Calvin back. Calvin is safe with Lana. And as harsh as it might be to say it, I’d rather Lily be here with us, even to die, than to live a life of abuse and God knows what else with Crandle or these lunatics. If this has to be it, the end, I guess being in the arms of the ones you love is a better way to go.
I close my eyes and hug Merrick and Lily to me. Merrick must understand too. He pulls us tighter and rest his forehead on mine. I try to block out the fact that Lily lips are blue and we are all still shaking uncontrollably, except Merrick, who has desperately been trying to cover us with his warmth.
We stand there together and I feel Danny’s and other shivering arms surround behind me. Celeste probably but I don’t really care who. They are all
my family now. I wrap one arm around to touch them.
I hear Celeste crying but I just whisper to Lily.
“I love you, Lily, so much it hurts.”
Not caring if the gun men hear us or care what they do anymore. I just want her to know that someone really and truly loved her.
I hear a gasp and whispers. I glance up to see what they are waiting for. Following their gaze I see a vehicle coming down the road.
We are all staring now, glancing back and forth between the oncoming truck and the evildoers gunning us down. Wondering what they are gonna do now. Maybe this truck is with them.
The truck begins to slow down as it nears us. The sun is barely casting a glow over the horizon, a brilliant orange and yellow haze over the land and sky. Wow, a whole night outside without Markers. I had forgotten to even think about the possibility of Markers in the mix, that would have definitely have made things way more...interesting.
As grateful as this revelation has made me I pull myself back to the freezing cold reality of standing road side, about to die and wondering what this truck is...Wait! I know this truck!
Cain!
Cain’s silver Dakota is making a slow ascent up to us on the hill where the demolished bridge side is. I try to keep my excitement to myself and not show it on my face so the others across the street won’t know.
I elbow Merrick behind Lily slightly.
I see him.
I glance quickly at Danny and he has already noticed as well. Then I hear a shout. A deep manly bellowed scream. Turning my attention back to the ones with guns, I see that one of the men in the back has taken off running through the brush and dirt behind them, holding his gun over his head, knees drawing up high as he sprints away.