Ending ELE (ELE Series)

by Gober, Rebecca

  Connor and Claire come over to us, wondering who we are calling out to. “Did you find someone?” Connor asks. “Lillie! Did you find Lillie?” he yells out to me.

  I shake my head. “No, I just feel like someone is here. They’re hiding. They’re very, very scared.”

  “Lillie! Lillie baby, it’s me, Connor. If you’re here, please come out,” he calls frantically.

  “Connor, it might not be Lillie. It could be anyone.” Tony tries to calm him down using his empathic ability like I did earlier.

  Connor fights it all the way and continues to call for Lillie. The sound of a loud thump above us causes us to go quiet. The rest of our group has come up the stairs to see what’s happening.

  I look up at the ceiling where the thump came from. There’s an attic! “Someone is up there,” I say, pointing upwards.

  Connor’s expression turns hopeful. With Tony’s help, he pulls down the attic door in the ceiling. A built-in ladder descends along with the door. Connor is the first to climb up.

  “Wait, it could be a trap,” Alec calls out.

  Connor could care less. I hear him step foot into the attic above us.

  Tony climbs up behind him and calls down to me. “It’s mostly insulation. It’s not finished out. Be careful where you step, Connor. Stay on the framing studs.”

  “Lillie!” Connor calls into the dark attic.

  “Co-co?” a shivery little voice calls out.

  “Lillie!” Connor yells excitedly, then there is a thud and a yelp. I look up to see Connor’s leg sticking through the ceiling.

  “I said to stay on the studs,” Tony yells up above, slapping his palm against his forehead.

  Alec runs to where Connor’s foot is sticking through the ceiling and he helps push it back up through the sheetrock. I climb up the stairs halfway so I can see what’s going on inside the attic. A small window allows just enough light for me to see Tony helping Connor get back up on the studs.

  “Co-Co!” a little girl’s voice calls out from the far end of the attic. That’s when I see the coppery red hair. She’s shaking and sitting on her knees on one of the wooden planks in the far corner of the attic. Another woman is sitting behind her, trying to keep her from running across the sheetrock and falling through the ceiling like her brother did. I look at the woman a little closer, assuming that it would be Connor’s mom. It’s not though. She is the teacher from the shelter, the one who took care of Sabby and all the other children.

  “Lillie!” Connor’s voice is filled with relief.

  “A-rre the-they g-g--gone?” Ms. Wallobee calls to us. She’s shivering from the cold, so much so that it takes a second for us to realize what she’s asking. They must not have had enough time to get a coat before fleeing to the attic.

  Not sure who she is referring to, both Tony and Connor nod their heads, answering in unison, “Yes.”

  They make their way across the planks in the attic. Connor grabs Lillie’s hand first and turns to guide her safely across the room. Tony helps Ms. Wallobee up. “Careful,” I hear him guiding her.

  When Connor and Lillie reach the ladder, I hold my arms out to her. She puts her cold arms around me and I help her down. Connor follows her and the second he touches the ground, Lillie turns and bolts into his arms. “I w-wa-was s-ooo sss-carred,” she says, shivering and crying.

  Claire runs up with two wool blankets. She drapes the first one over Lillie’s shoulders and then joins Connor in a group hug.

  I take the other blanket from her and give it Ms. Wallobee when she makes it down the stairs. She accepts it gratefully. Her short, dark hair is messy and her glasses are askew over her neon-yellow eyes, but she still manages to look beautiful and very studious. I notice now that she’s about my mother’s age. I can tell by the look in her eye that she remembers me.

  “Ms. W!” Sebastian comes running over to her. He throws his arms around her legs.

  “Sss-ebbastian.” It’s all she says because her teeth are chattering, making it too hard to talk. I can see the happiness in her eyes at seeing my little brother again. She hugs him tightly and then runs her hand over his curls. It takes a few minutes for her to warm up enough to talk coherently. My little brother stays close to her side the entire time. He tries to rub her arm to help her warm up. I can feel the love that she has for him and Lillie emanating from her. She loves children and considers her students as her own.

  Her face turns sad after those feelings run their course. “I could only save Lillie. She was the closest to me.” Ms. Wallobee’s shivering voice is filled with emotion.

  “Did you see who came?” my dad asks her.

  “No. I could hear a muffled voice on a loud speaker. Then all of a sudden, everyone’s eye colors started going back to normal. Most everyone who was upstairs with me ran downstairs to see what the commotion was about. I was about to be behind them but wanted to grab my jacket first. That’s when I heard the screaming and things crashing around downstairs. I saw Lillie coming out of the bathroom and grabbed her. The attic was the first place I thought to go since my sister and I used to hide in our attic when I was younger. They didn’t even look for us up there.”

  “It sounds like the same military people,” Tony says.

  “Do you know what they want? Why did they take everyone?” Ms. Wallobee asks.

  “We don’t know yet. We were hoping to come and meet up with your group, to warn you first. I guess we didn’t make it in time. They had taken the people I was staying with too. Lee was there and was taken as well. I’m sorry, Ms. Wallobee,” I tell her.

  She shakes her head. “It’s not your fault, Willow. And you can call me Carrie.”

  I smile sadly at her. I still can’t help but feel like we were too late to be of help. “Thank you, Carrie. Do you know when they came? How long were you in the attic?” I ask.

  “It was only this morning that they came,” she tells me.

  “We’ll get everyone back,” my dad tells her.

  She nods her head and says, “Thank you, Henry.”

  “We should move out just in case they send someone back over here to do a second sweep,” Tony says.

  “Yes, I agree,” my dad concurs.

  Carrie grabs her coat and a few items, while Connor helps Lillie get dressed for the cold air outside. We search the place for their usual weapons storage area, but we come up short. I guess whoever took them confiscated the weapons as well.

  “Where should we go from here?” I question since I’m not familiar with this area.

  Tony thinks about it. “I’m not sure. I know we shouldn’t stray too far. We need to be able to help the others so that means we have to be close enough to scout out the area.”

  “There’s a river not too far from here. I’m sure that we would be able to find some houses or cabins along the bank. This area was a premier vacation spot back before the virus,” Carrie says.

  “Which way is the river?” my dad asks her.

  “I can’t say I’m completely positive, but if I were to guess, I’d say to the north,” she answers while she wraps a scarf around her neck.

  “Let’s do this then,” I say. Tony gives me a silly grin at my enthusiasm.

  While I dread going back out in this winter wonderland, I still can’t help but feel safer the further we get from the safe house—which is no longer considered safe. I don’t doubt that the soldiers will come back to check for any returnees. The strange part of that is that I don’t necessarily find myself as fearful of running into them as I am of running into Blake and his posse. The soldiers came in and hauled everyone away, but we didn’t see any casualties from the takeover. Blake and his group of mad men were ready for a hostile takeover. If my dad’s vision was accurate, my friends and family wouldn’t have fared so well.

  We pass a few houses and cabins along our journey north but decide that they are too close to the other safe house for comfort. We continue in search of this river that Carrie told us about, travelling for a few hours th
rough the woods. My legs are starting to ache from having to march through the snow.

  Tony, having sensed my discomfort, picks me up in his arms. I laugh as he spins me around once and then continues walking with the others while keeping me in his arms.

  “I’m perfectly capable of walking,” I say with a huge grin.

  “I know and I am perfectly capable of carrying you for miles.” He leans in and kisses me on my cold nose.

  I snuggle in closer to him as he carries me. I happen to catch my dad looking at us. First, I see a small hint of a smile and when he sees me looking, he shakes his head and rolls his eyes. I laugh to myself. My dad’s not too keen on my being in a relationship, but he also likes to see me happy.

  Soon Sabby convinces me that he needs me to give him a piggyback ride. So Tony reluctantly sets me back down on the white earth and Sabby climbs aboard. He rides on my back for what seems like hours, but I’m sure it was just thirty frustrating minutes. Each house we come to seems more unsafe than the last and we still haven’t reached the river. All the trees that would normally surround each house have been cleared, giving anyone walking nearby a perfect view. The sun is beginning to set, while the wind is turning colder and becoming stronger, whipping my hair wildly. Sebastian begins to bury his face behind me to keep from getting frostbite on his little nose.

  A soft rumbling sound caresses my ears. I scrunch my eyebrows, and then Tony’s eyes meet mine. He can hear the sound too.

  “Is that rain?” I question aloud. By this time, everyone that’s with us can hear it as well. The trees become more and more dense again and the rumbling sound gets louder and more distinguishable. “I know that sound. I just can’t place it,” I say under my breath.

  Tony nods his head and looks around us. We trudge through the snow one step at a time. It is almost to our knees at this point, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to walk. Instead, we end up wading through it, making long, streak-like patterns in it.

  It’s nearly impossible to see more than a few feet in front of us because of the thick sheets of white falling down from the sky. I can barely even see my dad and Connor, who have taken the lead of our pack. The sound continues to get louder and louder until it’s almost deafening.

  I can feel a strange emotion rolling off Tony and when I look over at him, a stark realization dawns on his face. “Stop!” he yells as loud as he can. He starts running towards the front of our group because the noise is so loud. “Stop!” I am on his heels when he reaches my dad and Connor a second later. He grabs them both by the shoulder at the same time and brings them to a halt.

  Startled, Connor says, “What the...?”

  “Stay back!” Tony interrupts his questioning.

  We’re all a bit confused by the intense seriousness that Tony is projecting, but everyone quiets down and stands still.

  Satisfied that he has our attention, he motions for us to follow him. We trail Tony as he inches forward, only a few steps ahead, moving very cautiously. I can vaguely make out a break in the trees, although the visibility is very limited. My feet are cold as ice and I feel my legs going numb as well. The rushing and roaring sound is so loud now that I can barely even hear my thoughts.

  Tony stops abruptly again and holds out his arms on either side of him. He turns his head to look at us. “Stop,” he commands and, even though we can’t hear him, we can read his lips.

  I read his thoughts even before I see what is causing the noise. Tony mouths the word, “Careful,” to us, and then he allows us to inch closer so we can see what he’s looking at.

  The wind carries the snow away from my face for just a moment, but it’s all I need in order to see the sheer cliff that stands before us. Running off the adjacent cliff is a massive waterfall that jets down to the churning waters below. I suck in my breath at the sight before the snow takes it away from me again. If it hadn’t have been for Tony, someone may have died. The thought is unsettling. We were trucking through the forest pretty quickly and the snowfall might not have allowed us to see what was only a few steps ahead of us.

  Everyone takes a turn looking over the cliff and gawking at the majesty of the entire situation. “Well,” says Connor loudly, “I guess we found the river.”

  CHAPTER 4

  I snort. That’s the understatement of the century.

  Claire punches Connor in the arm playfully, and then puts her gloved hands back under her arms to keep warm.

  “That’s great that we found the river, but we really need to find shelter,” I say, stating the obvious. We try looking around us but all we see is white, white, and more white, for as far as the eyes can see… oh, and a river.

  “Look,” Ms. Wallobee states as she points below her feet. We all squint and stare, trying to see what she points at. The snow shifts again and for a brief second, I see the opening of a small cave along the cliff wall. It’s not easily accessible but there are a few small ledges that lead down to the cave, making it somewhat manageable to get to.

  With no other immediately better option available, we decide to go for it. Tony takes the lead, checking his stepping on the way down. With all the snow that’s piled around us, it makes it almost impossible to tell where to take our next step. We all grab hands as if we were in a long train and place our feet exactly where the person in front of us placed theirs.

  For a moment, I watch in horror as Tony loses his footing up ahead. I hold my breath, unable to scream as I watch my father grip his arm and pull him back up. My heart pounds in my chest and I hold onto Sebastian’s hand a little more tightly. I take a few deep breaths to reassure myself that Tony’s okay.

  It takes us a good half hour to make our way down to the mouth of the cave. When we all reach solid ground, we huddle around each other for warmth. Tony digs in the snow and finds a large rock. He throws it into the cave to make sure it’s unoccupied. We hear it ricochet off the cave walls. A few grey bats fly out for a moment but fly right back in when the snow hits their wings.

  I shiver, but not because of the cold. The only thing I can think about is the vampire-like bats I saw on my tablet when I was younger. I remember having nightmares for weeks after I read about those. Tony motions for us all to enter but remains cautious. The mouth of the cave is only large enough for one person at a time. It’s amazing that Ms. Wallobee was even able to see it. It’s almost completely covered by large boulders.

  When it’s my turn to go into the cave, I have to take a deep breath and mentally put my big-girl panties on. It’s pitch black and there’s no telling how many bats and other animals we’re sharing this cave with. Claire, who’s in front of me, stops. We wait a few seconds, hear the click of a flashlight, and, at once, the cave is illuminated. The light bounces off the cave walls, revealing the slick, rocky surface. The light hits the ceiling for only a moment and I catch a glimpse of a few bats giving their wings a territorial flap. Sebastian’s grip tightens on my hand and I try to give him a comforting squeeze. Tony spends a few more minutes checking out the area. It seems the cave is only about twenty-feet deep and about fifteen feet in height. The ceiling was far too low for my comfort zone, especially with the bats involved.

  I look over at Claire, who seems excited to see the bats. She stares up at them in wonder. “Bats don’t usually pick caves like this to hibernate in. Usually, they pick between only a few large caves in this part of the US to spend the winter. Those caves have a certain type of airflow that helps stabilize the cave and protect them against a freeze. If I were to guess, since there are less than twenty bats here, I would say that these poor guys tried to outfly the quick change of temperature.” She looks back down and her eyes meet mine. Her face turns sad. “I doubt all these little guys will survive this freeze. They don’t fare well at all when the temperature drops below thirty-five.”

  In that moment, the fear I had over spending the night with the bats is replaced with empathy for their situation. Like us, their lives and their routines were thrown off-kilter. Their worlds fli
pped on their axis. Much like us survivors, they are just trying to live another day in this crazy life, never knowing if today will be their last. My heart hurts for them. My heart hurts for everyone who has had to endure the turbulence of these times, including us.

  As if sensing my forlorn emotions, Tony takes my hand and leads me further into the cave. The newfound silence engulfs my ears as the heavy snow and waterfall is muffled behind us. Setting our belongings down in a heap, we collapse in exhaustion. We count our blessings when Tony finds a few pieces of firewood that must have been left by a camper, who knows how long ago. He starts a fire nearer to the mouth of the cave and we all scoot closer to warm our hands and feet.

  The heat is exquisite and I move closer to take as much of it as I can, until my feet tingle from the warmth of the fire, making me uncomfortable. I heal them in a few minutes and continue to revel in the warmth.

  The fire crackles, filling the cave with an eerie whisper. Shadows dance across the walls from the small movements we make. Every now and then, you can hear a bat flap its wings as it flies from one place to another. There’s a constant dripping sound in the far corner.

  My dad pulls out a couple cans of… and that’s when I realize there are no labels on them. I scrunch my eyebrows. “What is it?” I ask, breaking the deafening silence.

  A small, mischievous smile splays on Tony’s lips and he shrugs his shoulders. He gets a playful gleam in his eye and it’s all I can do to keep from laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” I question him once more, still studying the cans.

  He smiles at me and answers. “Well, living out in the middle of nowhere, we sort of ran out of things to do when I was younger. So, one day I thought it would be fun to remove all the labels off the cans.” I scoff.

  “But, why would you do that?” I question, interrupting him. “Then you don’t know what you’re going to eat.”