After the EMP (Book 5): Chaos Gains

by Tate, Harley

  The sound cut through Colt’s annoyance and he glanced at Dani. Have I ever heard her laugh?

  “Come on, this way.” Doug motioned toward the basement stairs and Dani followed, leading the way to a door partially hidden behind the hot water heater. Colt squeezed into the small room as Doug admonished them both. “Stay quiet. When it’s clear, we’ll let you out.”

  Colt bristled. “What if there’s a fight or they demand to come inside? I can help.”

  “Not this time, you can’t.” Doug shut the door and the sounds of something heavy scraping across the ground filtered into the room.

  Is Doug shutting them in? Locking the door? He turned to Dani. “What is he doing?”

  She plunked onto an olive green cot shoved against the rear wall. “Hiding us. They’ve got a bunch of paint cans stacked on a plastic shelving unit and they pull it in front of the room whenever anyone might come down here.”

  “And that’s worked so far?”

  “That’s what Mrs. Wilkins said.” Dani crossed her legs and settled the little dog on her lap. As she stroked the dog’s head, the fur on its face pulled back and exposed beady black eyes. “Doug hid Lottie here when the army came though the first time. Melody showed me the space while you were unconscious. Just in case we needed it.”

  Colt stalked to the end of the room and spun on his heel. About ten by eight, he guessed. With a pair of cots, a stack of water and rations, and a glowing portable lantern on the floor, it would hold a couple of people but not much more. He assumed Harvey built it with that in mind.

  He crouched, supporting himself with the cool wall of concrete blocks. The stitches in his leg pulled, but Colt ignored the discomfort. Saving Dani was worth the pain. Despite the bruises now yellowing all over her body, she looked good. Happy, even.

  Colt played cool, picking at a loose strand on his pants while he asked a question. He needed information. “Did you get to know anyone while I was unconscious?”

  “Mrs. Wilkins is really nice. She cut my hair.”

  Colt risked a glance. “It’s pretty.”

  Dani tilted her head as a faint blush crept up her neck. “Thanks.”

  “What about Will? Did you get to know him?” The boy had to be about Dani’s age, but Colt couldn’t get a read on him.

  “No. He’s always trying to get his electronics to work.”

  Good. At least Colt didn’t have to worry about some teenage romance. It would be harder to keep Dani safe if a boy got in the way. “What about Mr. Wilkins or Melody?”

  Dani hesitated.

  His tactics weren’t the smoothest, but Colt needed to know and time was precious. This was the first chance they had to speak frankly since Colt woke up in a stranger’s bed the day before. Learning everything possible about their saviors would help Colt make tough decisions later.

  He eased to the floor, grimacing as a stab of pain sliced through his quad. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  “It’s not that.” Dani shook her head and the cropped strands of her hair bounced. He’d caught a glimpse of the scab covering the back of her head when she passed him earlier, but the new haircut suited her. Much better than blood and dirt and matted tangles.

  After a few moments of petting the dog in silence, Dani’s head jerked up. “Do you want to stay here?”

  He glanced around, pretending to take stock. “I suppose I could make do, but after a while, I’ll miss the sunlight.”

  Dani snorted. “You know what I mean. With Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins. Do you want to stay here in Eugene with them?”

  He rubbed his beard, mussing up the wiry strands as he thought it over. “It means fighting Colonel Jarvis. Putting our lives on the line again.”

  “I know.”

  “What do you want?”

  Dani’s eyes flicked up and away. “I’m grateful they helped us.”

  “But?”

  “I—” A thump upstairs drew Dani’s focus to the ceiling. “Shh. They might be inside.” She huddled into the corner, clutching the little dog to her chest. Tucked into a ball, she looked more child than young adult. Thanks to the hardship of her life, Dani possessed a strength and maturity well beyond her fifteen years. It was easy to forget her age.

  Colt followed her line of sight, gaze lingering on the joists above. Any guardsman worth his boots would find them down here. With only one way in and out, the room hurt as much as it helped. Next time, no matter what Doug said, he wasn’t hiding in the basement.

  “Do you know anything about Doug? What about that guy who was here the other night? Lucas, I think?”

  Dani wrinkled her nose and glanced again at the ceiling. Her voice barely traveled the four feet to Colt’s ears. “They don’t pay much attention to me.”

  That’s how it should be. “What have you observed?”

  She squirmed on the cot and the dog jumped off her lap. “Lottie, come back.”

  Dani reached for the fluff ball but it scrambled down from the cot and trotted over to Colt. He glared at it, willing it to go back. “I didn’t know dogs came this small. It looks like a guinea pig.”

  Stifling a laugh, Dani scooted off the cot and scooped her up. “Melody said she’s a Yorkie.”

  “Not enough meat to even make feeding it worth it.”

  Dani clutched the dog to her chest. “You wouldn’t.”

  Colt shrugged. “Depends how hungry I get.”

  Her mouth fell open and Colt chuckled. “Relax, I won’t eat the dog. All that fur would be a real pain to shave off.”

  Colt stretched out his legs and groaned. “So if you won’t tell me about our friends upstairs, will you at least tell me what you want to do? I’m well enough to hit the road if that’s what you want.”

  She turned the question around. “Is that what you want?”

  A yes perched on his tongue, seconds away from slipping out. Part of him wanted to dump that dog at Melody’s feet, grab his pack and set off, never looking back. But Dani meant something. He refused to leave her.

  Staying gave Dani a warm bed to sleep in every night. Food. Water. Clean clothes. A chance to make friends and have some normalcy.

  It also brought risk. Colonel Jarvis wanted them both dead. They couldn’t hide in the Wilkins family’s basement forever. At some point, fighting was inevitable. For themselves, the Wilkins, Melody, and everyone else in the town of Eugene.

  He scratched at his beard again. “If we stay, it means fighting the army, or whatever’s become of it. We can’t hide in the basement every time they come down the street. Sooner or later we will be caught.”

  Dani pursed her lips, but didn’t speak.

  “Are you prepared to fight those men again? Some of the people here… They won’t make it. Hell, none of us might.”

  “Mr. Wilkins would fight.”

  “What about the rest of them?”

  Dani shook her head. “I don’t know. But they saved us.” Her head dipped low, chin almost brushing her chest.

  Colt strained to listen.

  “After we escaped the apartment and hit the road, you collapsed on the street.” She stroked the dog again, hand running down the little thing’s back so hard, its ears flattened. “I yelled at you. Hit you. Tried to drag you away. But it didn’t work. If Mr. Wilkins hadn’t helped get you into the basement, we would both be dead.”

  She finally looked up, eyes blurry and unfocused.

  Colt exhaled. He knew Harvey offered to keep them safe, but he had no idea how it all went down. That whole day and the ones that followed were muddy and blurry in his mind.

  If Harvey hadn’t shown up, Dani would have been captured. Colonel Jarvis wouldn’t have killed her. He enjoyed inflicting pain too much.

  Colt opened his mouth to speak when the scraping of plastic across concrete made him turn.

  The door opened and Harvey stuck his head inside. “All clear. You can come out.”

  Chapter Five

  DANI

  Wilkins Residen
ce

  Eugene, Oregon

  7:30 p.m.

  The little peas slid around the plate with every push of her fork, leaving slicks of dressing in their wake. Dani couldn’t stop thinking about Colt’s questions. Did she want to stay or go? Would these people accept her? Did she want them to?

  “How about you, Dani? Did you enjoy school?’

  She blinked Mrs. Wilkins into focus. “It was all right.”

  The older woman smiled in encouragement. “There had to be something you especially liked. A teacher? A subject?”

  “Lunch.”

  Mrs. Wilkins’s face froze for a moment before she recovered. “That’s great.”

  Dani ducked her head and scooped up a bite of the peas before shoving them into her mouth. Maybe they would stop asking questions if her mouth stayed full. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate their hospitality, but all the poking and prodding into her life made her feel like a contestant in a beauty pageant.

  No way would she smear Vaseline on her teeth to keep smiling. If they didn’t like her the way she came, then maybe it wasn’t the best place for her. Maybe Colt was right and they should leave.

  Dani lifted her head. Will slouched in the seat across from her, ignoring everything except the portable game in his lap. Half of his dinner still sat on his plate, untouched. So much food wasted.

  She nudged his foot under the table. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

  His eyes flicked up, but he didn’t move his head. “I’m full.”

  “So?”

  “I don’t wanna eat any more.” He broke eye contact and picked up the device in his lap, mumbling as he mashed his thumbs on the controls.

  Dani glanced at Colt. His elbows perched on the table and he faced the Wilkinses, but he was watching. She tilted her head in Will’s direction and Colt eased back in his chair.

  As Mr. Wilkins finished talking, Colt spoke up. “Hey Will, what’s that you’ve got in your lap?”

  “A game.” Will still didn’t look up.

  “Wow. How’d you figure out how to charge it? I would have thought all the fancy computers would be dead by now without the grid.”

  Will snorted. “It’s a crappy handheld. Works on batteries.”

  “It was a Christmas present a few years back. The product description said over a hundred games and it only needed batteries.” Mrs. Wilkins’s shoulders lifted in excuse. “Leave it to grandparents to pick the wrong thing.”

  Dani’s leg bounced up and down involuntarily. She wanted to jump up and scream, shake the kid across from her and tell him to wake up. It wasn’t that different than school. So many kids worried about having the latest gadget or the best clothes. It was hard to relate when her biggest worry was hiding from her mother’s dealer and finding a way to eat.

  She reached for Will’s plate and pushed it across the table to Colt. “We shouldn’t waste the food.”

  Colt stopped, napkin in one hand and mouth half open like he’d been about to excuse himself.

  “Can’t you eat a little bit more, Will? The salad is fresh from the garden.”

  Mrs. Wilkins’s face sagged as Will shook his head. Dani resisted the urge to grab the spoon and force the food down Will’s throat. If he didn’t want to wake up and face reality, no one could make him. He could starve.

  Was the rest of Eugene just like him? Were all the kids she went to school with huddled around the last glowing screens, clinging to the world before?

  She pushed her chair back and stood up. “I’m not feeling well. Can I be excused?”

  “Of course, dear.” Mrs. Wilkins smiled at her and Dani forced her lips to reciprocate.

  Grabbing her plate and glass, she cleared her dishes before retreating into her temporary room. Dani sat on the bed across from the dead TV and stared at her reflection. The little lantern on the side table distorted her features, turning her into a ghoul from a horror film.

  Tonight she felt a bit like one, too. After all she and Colt experienced the last week, she couldn’t go back to this. Sitting around pretending the old life existed wouldn’t keep them fed and warm.

  Or even alive.

  She shuddered as memories of the soldier in the bathroom flooded her mind. The things he said… The way he touched her…

  Dani clicked off the lantern and plunged the room into darkness. She remembered how the soldier’s blood coated her fingers. How it dripped off her elbows and stained her underwear. He was probably dead by now.

  But the others weren’t. Colonel Jarvis wouldn’t forget. Colt almost killed him and the rest of the men in that apartment. He wouldn’t let them just blend back into the scenery of Eugene.

  Tugging her sweatshirt down to cover her hands, Dani thought about her mother. Was she still living it up on campus at the University of Oregon? Did she ever think about Dani and what happened? Did she even care?

  Dani knew the answers to all of it, but she refused to dwell. Her mother would never change. She would never be kind and generous like Mrs. Wilkins or Gran. She would never love her the way she wanted.

  She didn’t know how long she sat there, staring at nothing, thinking about the past and the ghosts that would haunt her forever. At last, Dani stood up, eyes fully adjusted to the night, and slipped into the hall.

  Colt deserved an answer to his question and she was ready to give it to him.

  The house sat squat and low on the lot, a rectangle with bedrooms on one side and common space on the other. Dani eased past the other bedrooms, one for Will and one for Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins, and found the basement stairs.

  Avoiding the creaks in the middle, she navigated by feel down to the lower level of the home. A living room of sorts sat at the base of the stairs and the room Doug shoved her and Colt into was around the corner, behind her.

  Colt’s bedroom occupied the opposite corner. Dani flicked on a small flashlight and crept through the living room, avoiding the coffee table with the sharp corners and the pillows stacked up on the floor and stopped outside Colt’s room. She waited for a moment, mustering up the courage to knock.

  After a mini pep-talk, she tapped on the door and waited.

  Nothing.

  Is he already asleep? She knocked a bit louder. “Colt? It’s Dani.”

  She waited some more, chewing on a nail as she bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet. At last, she couldn’t stand it and turned the door handle. The door swung open and she ducked her head around the wood, anticipating a sleeping Colt too tired to wake up.

  She never expected an empty bed.

  Scanning the room with the flashlight, Dani took in the made bed, the lack of clothes, the missing bag. Did he leave? Did Colt really leave without her? No, he wouldn’t. He…

  She stepped into the room and spun around, unsure of anything. Was it because she wouldn’t answer him? Colt point-blank asked her if she wanted to leave and she didn’t tell him yes. Now she wished she’d screamed it. Yes! Get me out of here and away from this crazy fake-normal that everyone’s bought into.

  If he left her here with Harvey and Gloria and Will, she would go mad. Without him, would they even want her to stay? Panic bubbled up inside, quickening her pulse and forcing shallow breaths to barely expand her lungs.

  She couldn’t go back to being on her own, but she couldn’t stay here. Dani sagged onto the bed and clicked the flashlight off. The dark wrapped around her like a blanket, all at once comforting and claustrophobic.

  Dani didn’t know what to do. There were only two options: stay or go. If Colt left, then staying was pointless. But what if he only needed fresh air or wanted to scope out the city? Then he would return.

  Dani flopped on the bed, and shoved her face into his pillow before screaming at the fluffy down. The feathers muffled the noise and she screamed again, beating the mattress with her fists and feet.

  As she kicked, something fell to the floor beneath her with a massive thud. Dani sat up and wiped tears off her face.

  Screw being weak. She
snuffed back the snot and dropped to the floor before clicking on her flashlight. The light panned across a parcel now separated from the bed.

  Dani tugged on the sheet used as wrapping and exposed the guns Colt stole from the army before the ambush. Three long rifles and a handgun. One was missing, but that was all. He wouldn’t leave them behind permanently, would he?

  After pulling one rifle out, she carefully wrapped the remaining weapons up and slid them back into place between the metal support posts of the bed. If Colt left, he couldn’t have gotten far. With a stab wound in his leg and a gunshot wound to the arm, he would be slow and awkward.

  I can catch him.

  Dani jumped up and hustled from the room, almost forgetting to shut the door. If Colt wanted to leave, she would go with him. All she had to do was find him before he disappeared.

  Chapter Six

  MELODY

  Harper Residence

  Eugene, Oregon

  8:00 p.m.

  “That dog is going to cause us nothing but problems.” Doug paced back and forth in the dark kitchen. Every turn of his heel sent a squeal of protest up from the linoleum.

  Melody glowered at his back and snuggled Lottie a bit closer to her stomach. “What was I supposed to do, Doug? Let the soldiers take her? They would have killed her, just like they killed all the other pets in the neighborhood.”

  “You don’t know that. For all we know, they’ve quarantined the animals somewhere and when everything calms down, they’ll release them.”

  Her eyes rolled so hard she almost saw her brain. “Right. And all those weapons they confiscated are just waiting to be cataloged and given back, too.”

  Doug stopped pacing and turned to face her. Without a single light on in the kitchen, all Melody could make out were the whites of his eyes and the contour of his jaw. The moon didn’t care to glow much tonight. She stroked Lottie’s fur and waited.

  “You really think standing up to them is the right thing?”