The Roar (The Roar Series Book 1)

by A. M. White

  “She’s not going to die,” Max’s father shoved Cara. She bounced off the wall and slid down on her back.

  Timothy restrained him, “Get him under control, Max.”

  Cara softly said, “I’m so sorry, if I had been here sooner-.”

  Max faced me searching for truth. I bowed my head.

  His lip quivered, “Dad, we knew this was coming. She has been sick for so long and it has been bad.” He gripped his father’s arms.

  Max’s dad slumped to the floor. He obviously knew that Cara was right. He thumped his head on the carpeted floor, weeping. Timothy let him go.

  Max went back to his sister. He enveloped her in his arms and rocked her. She whined and snuggled into him.

  A tear rolled down my cheek for the little girl and her family. At least Lily would find peace soon. Death was always harder on the people it left behind.

  Chapter Twenty- Four

  Cara crawled toward Max’s dad. She stroked his back trying to console him. He shot up and growled, “Why? Why did you do this?”

  “Our people did this, not us,” she said evenly. “My brother and I don’t believe in any of this.”

  “Their mother died giving birth to her. They took her from me. If she had been in a hospital, she would be alive. Instead, I had to watch her slowly die from losing blood. Now, I have to watch my baby girl slowly die, too,” he sobbed.

  Tears rolled out of all of our eyes.

  Cara sniffled, “I am so sorry. I would gladly kill them all for doing this. It isn’t right to let people suffer, especially little ones like her.”

  He placed his head in his hands and cried. In Lily’s room, Max hummed for his sister, trying to drown out our conversation.

  His sister stuttered painfully, “Max did I die?”

  “No baby. Why?” He ran his fingers through her hair.

  “The girl that hugged me had black eyes. I thought she was here to take me,” Lily wheezed.

  She went into another coughing fit. This time blood splattered onto her chest. She began to cry at the sight of it.

  Cara shrank against the wall. “It might be better for her not to see me again,” she decided. “I do have something that will help her to sleep.”

  The fathered nodded and waited for Cara to remove the bottle from the bag. She handed the whole thing to him.

  “Give her two drops at a time. It will make her sleep for at least four hours at a time. I suggest saving some until the end. When you are ready to say goodbye, give her ten drops. She will quietly slip away,” Cara instructed.

  His eyes were so distant at the thought. “I can’t- I can’t do that,” he stammered.

  “Yes, you can,” Timothy urged. “She is your daughter and you won’t want her to suffer through what is coming.”

  He clutched the bottle in his hands. He nodded slowly. I watched his gaze flit to the gun at his side.

  Timothy placed his hand on the father’s back. “You have to be strong. You have to take care of them. There are people here that need you,” he said.

  “Thank you,” Max’s dad mumbled.

  He picked up his gun and dragged his feet to the room with Lily and Max. Max handed lily to his father and came back out to us.

  “Thank you for-,” he paused. “I appreciate you coming.”

  His eyes flooded and I hugged him. “I’m so sorry,” I repeated.

  Timothy put his hand on my shoulder to cut the embrace short. “I apologize, Max, but we really should be going. We should give your family space,” Timothy said solemnly.

  I shot him a dirty look. He avoided my eyes, but took my hand.

  Max offered, “But, I promised you a meal?”

  “We really appreciate that but the day is fading and we need to make time on the road,” he explained and pulled me toward the stairs.

  We all hurried down the stairs. Cara hugged Max and whispered something in his ear. He choked up and a few tears escaped his eyes.

  Timothy rushed us out the door. He took both of our hands and walked quickly away from the house. I had to trot to keep up with his strides.

  “Timothy, what is going on?” I huffed.

  He answered me with silence until we made it to the tree line across the road. “Have you been inoculated?” He asked. He started tugging on my sleeve. “Tell me you were as a child.” His face was stricken with fear.

  “Yes, I think so, I had all of the normal shots they give you,” I panicked a little. “My mom was religious about taking us for them and to check-ups. Why?”

  Timothy dropped his arms at his sides and sighed in relief. Cara was beside herself. Neither she, nor I had thought of the danger I was in if I hadn’t been vaccinated.

  A gunshot rang out. We all froze. Then another followed, screams carried from the house, another and another came. The hairs on my neck stood out, more shots fired.

  Timothy shoved past me. “Cara, keep her here!” He exclaimed. He took off toward the house.

  I leapt to follow and Cara yanked me back. The shots continued.

  Timothy ran faster than I had ever seen. He landed on the front step at the moment Max fell out of the door covered in blood. Timothy grabbed him and lifted him on to the door frame. He yelled at Max.

  Max hung his head and vomited to the side. Timothy dropped him into the bushes and sprang into the house. Max was tangled in the bushes. Cara and I heard him wailing.

  “Cara, let go of me!” I demanded.

  She let go and I hit the ground at a sprint. She wasn’t far behind. When we reached Max, he was screaming, with his bottom half caught above him in the holly bush. He cursed as he cried, but didn’t move.

  Cara crouched by his head, “What happened? Tell me!” She screamed over him.

  “He did it! He killed them all!” Max bleated.

  I pushed the front door open, pulling my knife out of my belt. ”Timothy,” I yelled.

  “Wait!” Cara reached for me. I sidestepped her and slipped through the entrance.

  “Timothy!” I called again.

  The couches in front on me were dripping with blood. I walked further into the living room. Bodies lay strewn across the floor each with their ever growing puddles of red. I took in the scene; none of the bodies moved.

  Footsteps pounded upon the stairs. I turned and Timothy was at my side. I looked back at the massacre.

  At the edge of my eye, I saw him curl over. His hands rested on his knees.

  “He did it. He killed them all. He gave Lily half the bottle,” Timothy panted. He opened his clenched hand with what was left of the medicine. “He killed himself.”

  “I can’t process this,” I struggled. This seemed like a nightmare.

  Timothy turned angry and he sneered, “I told Cara to keep you out. Where is she?”

  “Outside with Max,” I whispered.

  Timothy wrapped his arms around me and walked me out the front door. I leaned against Timothy for support. My legs felt numb.

  Cara sat in the yard with Max on his hands and knees heaving.

  “Why? Why?” He repeated over and over.

  I dug my nails into Timothy’s arm. We were above them looking upon the mess that had been left by his father. How could I make this excusable? A father is supposed to be strong. He is supposed to take care of you.

  Timothy squeezed my hand. “I can’t imagine,” he breathed as though he read my mind.

  I had forgotten that they never knew their fathers. I remembered mine as steadfast and caring. He would never leave me with this burden if given any other option.

  Visions of my own father flickered in my head. The flashbacks were ghosts of him showing me how to fix things, pushing me to be better, and protecting me from myself. I folded in on myself and dropped to the ground where Max and Cara were.

  The three of us sobbed. Timothy joined us and held me to him. What Max’s father did was incomprehensible. Cara probed his body as he writhed.

  “Were you shot?” she asked repeatedly. Max moaned as she
felt his body looking for a wound. It was hard to tell, there was so much blood on him.

  “Is he dead?” He finally groaned.

  Cara held his face and nodded. Max sobbed into the grass. “Did he kill her?”

  Cara turned to Timothy. He closed his eyes.

  She held him around the waist, “He did it peacefully.” Max’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.

  “There has been too much noise here,” Timothy interrupted. “I hate to be this way but Max needs to decide whether he is coming with us or staying?”

  Cara gave Max the choice. She quickly told him that she would protect him if he came, but if he stayed there was no telling who might have heard the screams or the gunshots. If he stayed, he would be alone to fend for himself.

  Max gathered himself for a moment; he closed his eyes and thought. We all held our breath.

  He sat up upon his knees. “I have to go,” he stated. “I will be stronger than he was.” I saw a spark of anger behind his eyes.

  Cara and Timothy helped him to his feet. Max quietly cried from there. He knew that was part of the bargain. He had to stay quiet. Cara let him lean on her for support but we walked quickly from the house. There was no reason to stay there any longer.

  The trees enveloped us and it felt safer, once more. Timothy paused briefly to ask Max if he had vaccinations when he was young. Max told us that his father told him he had the TB vaccine before he went on his massacre.

  His father told him to get out of the house, but he refused and when his dad started shooting, he tried tackling him. His father was too big and threw him. Max told us he was thrown onto the living room floor which was why he was covered in blood. All of the others blood splattered on him. He thought his dad was going to shoot him but he ran upstairs to die with his baby girl.

  The whole story made me weak and distraught. I didn’t know how to help him or even give him a glimmer of hope from the abyss his father had made.

  His whole body trembled; his knees wobbled. Timothy caught him just as he fainted. Timothy laid him down, gently.

  Cara sat and placed his head in her lap. “What are we going to do? We can’t leave him here,” she eyed Timothy for his approval.

  Timothy ran both his hands through his dark hair. He stared at the sky. “If he can’t walk, I guess I’ll have to carry him,” Timothy concluded.

  “Give me a second,” Cara whispered.

  Cara caressed Max’s face and said his name in a whisper coaxing him to wake. Soon, he moaned and his eyes opened.

  He looked at Cara for a moment and smiled, “I can see why Lily thought you were an angel coming to take her.”

  She smiled back and rubbed his shoulders.

  “I need you to be able to function,” Timothy broke in. “There is a good chance that people or our kind will be coming to investigate. I know you have been through a lot so if you don’t think you can, I am going to have to carry you.”

  Max closed his eyes and sighed.

  “I think you can do this,” Cara said.

  “I think you can, too,” I added.

  “I will get myself together,” he stated. “I keep thinking that I want to make sure they are all buried properly, but I couldn’t do it on my own,” he confessed.

  A single tear rolled out of the corner of his eye.

  “No one can blame you for that thought. They were your family,” Timothy affirmed.

  “Will you help me up?” Max raised an arm. Timothy pulled him to his feet. Max nodded, “I guess we better get going, then.”

  Cara draped Max’s arm over her and held his hand. “Let’s go,” she motioned.

  We all forged ahead. Max stumbled along with Cara, but she kept him at pace. Timothy placed me under his arm in a protective manner. We climbed a fairly steep hill and finally saw the river in the distance.

  Pausing at the crest of the hill to drink, Timothy proposed that we make our way to the river bank and hold up for the night. The rest of us nodded or grunted in agreement. The light was getting dim so stopping would be necessary soon.

  Something dawned on me as we walked. Max didn’t have the special boots we did. “Timothy,” I slowed so that Cara and Max would be a little in front of us. ””What about Max not having boots like ours?”

  His eyes widened. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it. What an idiot,” he cursed himself. “I will have to have us backtrack some, to throw off our path with him. I need Cara and you to find some metal quickly.”

  “Cara,” I called, “We have a problem.”

  They hobbled to us. Timothy explained the situation. Both of their eyes widened at the thought of us being tracked.

  “I bet that is how they found us at the treehouse. We got too comfortable and took our shoes off at the shore of the pond,” Cara pondered.

  The three of us slumped. What a stupid mistake.

  Timothy immediately grabbed Max. “We will meet you at the river’s edge. Max, it doesn’t look like you are going to have much of a choice, at some point you are going for a ride.”

  He pointed to a spot a little to the east. “You have to find me some metal to cover the bottom of his shoes.” Timothy demanded, “Meet us there.”

  “Timothy, where am I going to find metal out here?” Cara whined.

  He opened his mouth to say something unpleasant, so I interrupted, “We will make it work.”

  I pulled her down the hill. I looked back, Timothy and Max were gone.

  “Seriously, Alex, where are we going to find metal?” Cara questioned. She tugged at me to stop.

  “Does it have to be a certain type?” I asked.

  “The thicker the better for wear and tear, but as a temporary fix, no,” she said.

  “Good, that gives us a better chance. A tin can or aluminum will do for now. Once we get to the boat, it won’t matter, right?” I confirmed.

  She nodded in agreement.

  I directed us straight down the hill. We might have a better opportunity to find human trash washed ashore that we could use.

  I kept an eye down while listening to the sounds around us. Everything was still. I didn’t even hear birds or squirrels. I held my finger to my lips. If it was this quiet, it wouldn’t take much for us to be heard talking.

  Our feet slipped a couple of times and we clung to each other and trees for support. The leaves that were among the decline were slippery from decay.

  At the bottom of the hill, the ground leveled. I let out a breath of relief. A fall out here could set us back more.

  Once the sun had fully set, Cara stopped and pulled a small case from her pocket. She plucked the contacts from her eyes and placed them back into her pants. She gestured that it would help her see more clearly.

  A few steps further, she held her hand up for me to stop. She tilted her head from side to side to her right. She pranced over to a muddy spot and brushed some leaves aside. She returned to me with an empty soda can. We both grinned at her treasure. Now, we just needed one more.

  Chapter Twenty- Five

  Soon, the sound of the river became audible. It started as a thin white noise, but as we approached, it turned into an ominous rumble. The current was strong, the water brown, careening over and through rocks jutting from the bottom.

  I searched the bushes and shore line for trash. I found a plastic bag plastered against a tree trunk. I shook it out. There were no holes, so I stuffed it in our knapsack. We walked further east sweeping for anything glinting among the muck.

  Cara waved me over to the river. She pointed to the middle, where a log laid across a rock. Stuck between them was a can.

  I nodded. “I’ll get it,” I whispered.

  She shook her head. “No, Alex, Timothy will kill me if you get hurt,” she protested.

  Now, I really wanted to be the one to get it. “Don’t be silly,” I shrugged.

  I stepped out before she could argue and balanced on the closest rock. She grimaced at me and put her hands on her hips. I tested the next rock and h
opped over.

  I looked ahead. Two more rocks and I would be there. I swayed a bit, but steadied with my arms out straight. I kept them out as I stepped onto the next.

  The last one was wet and dark. It made me a little nervous. I stuck a leg out and probed the surface. It was going to be a tough one because it was very slick.

  I tried to shift my weight to the last rock before launching myself from the one I was on. My foot slid off the surface and into the water. The rest of me followed. My side skidded along the jagged rock as I fell.

  Cara gasped and stepped into the river. I emerged and grasped the rock.

  “No, stop Cara, I’m alright,” I sputtered.

  She backed up to the shore. “You sure?” she asked.

  I nodded, still mostly submerged. The current pushed me against the rock. My side burned but was tolerable. The cold water took my breath away. I was already in the water and so close; I decided to go for the dumb can. I clawed my way over to the log and pried the can free. I spit water from my mouth and wiped my eyes. Clutching the rocks, I swam back to the river bed.

  I stood dripping wet and shivering but I had the second can Max needed.

  Cara hugged me then pushed me away. “You are a clumsy idiot!” She exclaimed, “I am so mad at you!” A smile broke her frown, “But thank you.”

  I wrung out my hair. Timothy appeared from the tree line a few yards away. Max was on his back.

  “Do I even want to know?” Timothy grumbled.

  “Probably not, but we have two cans for Max,” I offered.

  He raised an eyebrow, “What is that?”

  He pointed at my side. Blood had soaked through my shirt. He placed Max on a stump and hurried to me. I was shaking from the cold and fear of what lie beneath my shirt. Timothy lifted the shirt and exposed the jagged cut. He squatted next to me to inspect it.

  “I leave you two alone for half an hour,” he scorned.

  Cara rummaged around in our belongings for her healing salve. “You guys are really putting me to the test. I’m glad I had the where with all to grab this stuff from the treehouse,” she boasted.

  “I’m sorry, Timothy. I’m sorry,” I repeated.