Counting Down

by Lilah Boone

  And then she heard Kyle. “Make it blue.” His voice sounded faint, raspy as if he was having difficulty breathing.

  Abby immediately imagined the white light around her hands changing colors, watched as it flickered and shifted around her before transitioning into a pale sky blue. She heard the hushed whispers behind her and focused on Alex’s shoulder.

  In a matter of seconds the blood stopped flowing and Alex’s flesh was whole again.

  “It worked.” Abby let out her breath and smiled. “It really worked.”

  Alex slid his sleeve down quickly. “Thank god. That hurts like a bitch.” He grabbed Abby’s hand where it still hovered by his arm. “How did you know you could do that?”

  Abby grabbed herself a bottle of water off the counter and leaned against the sink. “I was painting and mixing colors when the idea just came to me.”

  “More bean sprouts?” Alex asked, gesturing to the row of finished paintings propped along the back of the counter.

  “Yeah.” She took a sip, ignored the art-snob undertone in Alex’s voice. “Anyway, I remembered that white light is a combination of all the other colors in the spectrum.”

  Sam sat up in his seat. “Oh I get it. You’re light… your abilities are a mix of everyone else’s.”

  Hanna sat next to him looking thoughtful. “Huh? That makes sense. I wonder what red, orange, and violet can do though?”

  “That’s actually a really good question.” Abby pointed in Hanna’s direction with her water bottle. “I plan to find out the answers eventually. May take some time though.” Abby felt almost giddy. She wasn’t useless after all. She could do everything the Gleamers could do, plus she had her own unique talents that none of them could touch.

  That thought reminded Abby that she had more new abilities to test out. Staring at her water bottle she imagined yellow light all around her, felt the change in energy. With one swift motion she released her fingers from around the plastic and watched it hover in front of her.

  She waved her hand and sent the bottle flying towards Alex, stopping it right under his nose. “Thirsty Alex?” Abby laughed out loud and brought the bottle back to herself with a cocky, come-hither flick of her finger.

  Abby heard Evie’s quiet laughter and sent a smile in the other woman’s direction. “Should I do the fruit thing now?”

  Evie smiled back. “Definitely. I could use some rehydrated bananas anyway.” She gestured towards the opened bag of banana chips on the counter.

  Abby snatched up the bag and emptied it onto the table where Hanna and the two brothers sat. She took a breath, shifted her light until she could see the green hue along her fingers. With another deep breath she forced out energy through her hands and into the fruit before her.

  The slices of banana filled with moisture, grew from thin chips into thick, juicy chunks before their eyes. The room was full of the freshly peeled scent when Abby stepped back, slipping her energy to its normal white shine with a shake of her head.

  “Sweet,” Jake said. “I was craving something besides petrified Salisbury steak today.”

  Kyle’s voice entered Abby again, abruptly enough to make her jump. “So.” He pushed out a hard sigh, coughed twice. “We’ve got a Healer, a Grower, and three Movers.” Another cough. “If we can do everything they can do, what does that make us?”

  Her eyebrows came together in confusion. His question didn’t register at first. All Abby wanted to know was why an imaginary person would be coughing.

  “I don’t know.” She answered him in her normal voice, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “You’re the one who likes naming things.”

  Abby didn’t care if they thought she was nuts anymore. She had proven her worth. She was confident in her methods, regardless of how unconventional they may be.

  Alex came up behind Abby, stood close. “The voice is back.”

  His voice sounded ominous, but she didn’t react. “Yes.” Her eyes met those of the four glowing individuals in the room. “But I think the time has come to accept it. I may be crazy, but apparently crazy pays off. If it weren’t for this voice we might never have discovered these talents – talents that will keep us alive above ground.”

  She received nods from the brothers, a wide open grin from Hanna, and a look laced with pity from Evie.

  “You’ll get no complaints out of me,” Jake finally said. “You could see dancing dragons on the ceiling for all I care just so long as you keep getting those gut feelings and I still get to play catch with Sam.” He leaned back against the wall, locked his hands behind his head. “No hands of course.”

  Sam nodded in agreement.

  Abby’s face softened until the corners of her mouth lifted. “Play all the no hands catch you like Jake. Just stop trying to pull my curtain open while I’m changing.”

  Jake’s eyes grew big and he quickly pointed to his brother. “I swear it wasn’t me.”

  “Yeah, that’s gotta stop boys,” Hanna said.

  “Uh huh. We’ve noticed our curtains slipping open every now and again too,” Evie added.

  A laugh slipped from Abby as she shifted on her heels to return to her bunk. “I’ll see you all later. Think about the missing colors for me in the meantime.” With that she left them to return to her painting.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Friday, January 18th 2013, 9:42pm

  Friday nights had become the designated time to hold ritualized poker parties in the bunker. For the first time Abby felt like participating, even though she was a terrible bluffer.

  Sam tossed his wager into the center of the table. “I’ll bet one spaghetti and meatballs MRE.”

  Alex was up next. “I’ll see your MRE, but this one’s uh…” He stopped to read the label. “…beef stew. And I’ll raise you two cups of ramen noodles.”

  Oohs and ahs echoed through the bunker. Ramen noodles were prized among the rations and sometimes fought over like precious jewels.

  “Too rich for me.” Jake folded his cards in front of him.

  “I’m in,” Abby said. “I’ve got another beef stew and I’ll see your ramen raise.”

  “Okay then,” Alex said. “Let’s see what everyone’s got?” He threw down a pair of tens and waited.

  Sam placed his cards down with flair one at a time to reveal a flush. Abby flopped down a pair of kings with a playful huff.

  “Winner, winner, ramen noodle dinner,” Jake said clasping his brother on the back of the neck. “

  “Aw, I thought I had that one,” Abby said. “I haven’t won a single hand. I officially suck at this game.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll share my beef stew with you,” Sam said. “I know it’s your favorite.”

  “Don’t listen to him Abbs.” Alex shuffled the cards noisily. “He’s just trying to get on your good side.”

  “That and your bunk,” Sam added. Abby huffed a laugh. “Well he might have a shot. Fossilized beef stew is the way to this girl’s heart.”

  She was enjoying watching the boys bicker and barter over their food wagers when Kyle’s voice came to her for the first time in five days.

  “Abby.” She could barely hear him. “I…”

  “Hush.” She craned her head, listened. “Everybody be quiet.”

  “What’s going on?” Alex asked, pausing in the deal.

  “I’m hearing him… it again, but the voice is barely a whisper.”

  They all sat in quiet as Abby looked off into space anticipating her imaginary version of Kyle to speak to her.

  It was the coughing she heard first followed by Kyle’s weak words. “I need you to listen to me. I need your help.”

  “With what? I don’t understand.” “Just listen. I need you to come to me.”

  Her head trembled back and forth. “What are you saying?” Was her delusional mind asking her to kill herself now?

  He continued. “I think you can withstand the radiation for a while. The levels are almost normal now.”

  “Where
am I going?” She shifted her eyes between the others in the room, noted the way they gawked at her.

  “There’s another shelter… under the barn. Please.” The coughing started again, this time going on for a bit before he could speak. “Use your vision. I’m here… I’m not dead.”

  Abby flinched. Her body tightened. Cards and food packages stirred as she fought to hold on to the edge of the table while the wind came back into her lungs.

  “Abby!” Alex moved around the table to grab her shoulders. “What’s happening?”

  It took a moment for her to find her voice. When she finally did her words came out in a burst. “He said he’s in another shelter under the barn. He said…” She gulped in air. “He’s not dead.”

  “Jim!” Alex yelled over his shoulder, then back to Abby, “Just hold on. We’ll figure this out.”

  Jim was padding into the main room in seconds. The two hounds followed, nails clicking on the linoleum. “What’s all the fuss? Is someone dying?”

  Two crevices appeared between Abby’s brows. She bit her lip and choked on the knot that had formed in her throat.

  Alex spoke for her, raised his eyebrows high. “Kyle’s voice just told Abby that he’s not dead and we need to come get him out of a second bomb shelter under the barn.”

  Jim almost laughed, but one look at Abby’s face held him back. “That’s not possible. He would’ve mentioned something like that.”

  Abby swallowed the lump and made her voice box work again. “He said I could use my vision to see for myself.”

  Jim paced a few times, chewing unconsciously on his thumbnail. “Okay, let’s say he is alive and you’ve been hearing his voice this whole time. Why wouldn’t he have suggested using your ability to prove he was alright from the start instead of letting you think you were going crazy?”

  “I don’t know Jimmy.” Her breathing started to calm. “If he is alive, I’m sure he’ll be willing to explain. Right now I need to find out the truth.”

  Abby didn’t need to close her eyes to use her abilities anymore. She left them open wide, staring past the faces in front of her until her vision vibrated out of focus.

  It only took a short time for something to happen. Abby felt as though an electric current were stretching from her body, up and out into the world above, and straight towards the barn.

  She refused to look around the grounds of the farm as it blurred by. The barn was her focal point. She didn’t want to catch a glimpse of anything resembling death and destruction; no dead horses, no bloated chickens, and certainly no bodiless work boots lying under rubble.

  She entered the barn doors, glancing around in her mind’s eye to see nothing with the exception of decaying horses and a mess of debris. So much for trying to get out of seeing the death, she thought trying not to let the bile rise in her throat. Thank goodness she couldn’t see their faces. Bucky’s gorgeous brown eyes, vacant and sunken into his head, was not something she needed to witness.

  Ash was everywhere. The right half of the roof had collapsed onto the barn floor leaving a mess of timbres and shingles. Random tools scattered over the ground; spades, rakes, saddles and other tack. Piles of hay were still miraculously stacked in the back corner, somehow having been missed by the falling roof.

  She forced her vision down in to the earth under the barn, through the rich soil and roots until she hit a cement wall.

  “Oh god.” A mixture of fear and hope punctured her heart. The little ember of a wish she had foolishly held on to was beginning to grow inside of her, sparking up into a weak flame.

  “What?” She heard Jimmy’s voice like it was far away.

  “It’s here. There’s something here.”

  Abby focused with renewed force and shoved her sight down further until the darkness of the earth opened up into a dimly lit room.

  She didn’t have to go far once inside. She heard his labored breathing and swung her head to the left. There, on a single bunk in the back corner of the tiny shelter, lay Kyle’s motionless body.

  Her vision floated closer until she was right beside him. There was weeks of beard on his chin, his dark hair was slick with sweat, stuck to his forehead in little waves. He was trembling with cold as more sweat beaded up along his brow and dripped down onto the pillow.

  “He’s alive.” She said, trying to restrain the joy in her voice. There was no time for celebration.

  With one more look at Kyle she snapped her vision back to the bunker on the other side of the farm. Seven worried faces peered back at her.

  “I have to move fast,” she said. “I don’t know how much time he has left.”

  Jim was at her side immediately. “What did you see? What’s wrong with him?”

  “I don’t know but he’s not conscious.” She rubbed her hand along the back of her neck. “It doesn’t matter. I have to go now.”

  “Wait Abby,” Jim began. “The levels outside aren’t low enough yet.”

  Abby met his eyes defiantly. “Are they close enough for Hanna to heal me if I’m affected?”

  “Probably. The radiation is below deadly, but you could still get seriously sick.” He looked back at Hanna. “What do you think?”

  “I could try.” Hanna tucked her curly red hair behind her ears. “I mean, I’m sure I could do it.”

  Abby took a step towards the release lever. “That settles it then.”

  “Wait Abby.” Alex pinched the back collar of her shirt. “I’m coming with you.”

  “So am I,” Jim said. “I’m not sending you up there alone.”

  “Us too,” Jake said, his brother beside him.

  “Don’t look at me,” David said as he stepped into the room. “I don’t care if he’s alive, dead, or somewhere in between.”

  “We weren’t planning on bugging you Dave.” Alex sneered.

  “We’re wasting too much time. We have to go now.” Abby raised her hand over the lever again. “Those of you who are staying get in the back and don’t move until we return.”

  She waited for them to move, flipped the lever, and moved up the stairs with the four men behind her.

  Once they reached the surface they all realized quickly that none of them had thought the operation through. It was winter and the ash cloud still hung in the sky, obstructing any heat from the sun. Instantly they were freezing.

  Abby clenched her fists at her sides and listened to her teeth chatter. Her breath was visible in front of her. “We have to run.”

  The five of them sprinted through the ash, slugging along where it was especially thick as though they were running on loose sand. Abby kept up pace with the men, pushing her shorter legs to their limits. As the icy wind bit into her flesh and her legs burned beneath her, she kept her mind centered on Kyle. It was that blinders-on focus that made her the first to enter the barn.

  All five of them stopped once under the roof, looked around while they caught their breath.

  “Oh no Bucky,” Jim said.

  “Don’t Jimmy,” Abby said. “You don’t want to see. Just help me find the way in.”

  Abby tried to discern where the hatch would be, thinking back to her vision. She ran to the third stall and started kicking around the hay. Her toe hit metal right away but her feet were too cold to feel the pain.

  “It’s here!” she called. “Help me.”

  Jim moved in beside her to sweep off the layer of hay and horse feed until the hatch was completely exposed.

  “How will we get it open?” Alex asked. “It locks from the inside.”

  “Give me a second,” Abby replied before slipping back into her projected sight.

  She was next to Kyle with a thought. “Kyle. Please Kyle you need to get up. We can’t get you out unless you open the hatch.”

  He didn’t show any signs of hearing her and Abby was sure his breathing had become slower.

  “Kyle!” She screamed into his face, willing him to hear her. “Callum, get up!”

  When he didn’t move a wave of panic
landed on top of Abby. There had to be another way. Just as quickly as she had slipped in, she slipped out of the vision and back to the frozen barn.

  “Anything?” Jimmy asked beside her.

  “Shush. I need to think.”

  Abby searching her mind for a solution. She was not going to let him die on her. Not again. In a fit of frustration she smacked the side of the stall and watched wood chips fly to reveal a hole the size of her fist. It wasn’t just her hand that had hit the wood. It was the ability to throw off a force with only her mind.

  “How’d you do that?” Alex asked. “Were you using the yellow light?”

  “No I wasn’t.” She pointed to Sam and Jake. “You two. Put a hand on my shoulders.”

  The brothers stared, stunned.

  “Do it now!”

  They flinched but moved to stand beside her as she faced the shelter entrance. Each of them rested one hand on Abby and waited.

  “Now help me move the lever inside the hatch. Lend me some of your abilities. I’ve never tried to use two at once before. I’m not even sure it’s possible.”

  “We’ll try,” Jake said.

  “Thanks,” she said before her vision zipped back into the bunker below.

  This time she appeared before the lever. She looked back at Kyle for a moment then channeled her strength into moving the red handle with her mind. She could feel the energy of Jake and Sam, soaking into her like warm water to a sponge.

  The lever quivered for an instant then was still again. She took a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and pushed again. With a sudden jerk the lever flipped and Abby dropped to her knees. Once again her consciousness was above ground.

  “Go,” she gasped. “It’s open.”

  Jake flicked his hand and the hatch popped up easily. “Come on Abby.” He smiled down on her. “Let’s go do some rescuing.”

  Abby stood and allowed Jake to help her down the narrow stairwell. The other three men were already at Kyle’s bedside.

  “What’s wrong with him?” She heard the panic in her own voice, felt it like a row of rubber bands around her chest. As she approached she read the look in Alex’s eyes and she almost fell to her knees again.