Turners | Book 3 | Junction

by Thomas, Ellis

  “Stay between us,” Joshua told Sydney. She knew it bothered him for her to be on the front lines, but every able-bodied person was expected to hold the defense.

  As always, she was impressed at the organization and firepower Aftertown had. Those in charge had done a great job of training and enabling everyone to defend themselves. Because of the town’s size, the defensive line was formidable. It had been set up on the oncoming Turners’ side of a wash on the outskirts of town. That way, if things got out of hand, the front line had a way out, and the embankment of the wash would slow the Turners down considerably. Additionally, a group of shooters had gone out to meet the first wave in trucks, with the hope of putting down the faster ones. They would do as much damage as they could while keeping in communication with the residents so they could prepare accordingly.

  It took no time at all for the mob to get close enough for the shooters to hit their targets on the first shot, and they aimed like their lives depended on it because, well, they did. It always perplexed Sydney that the guys treated these attacks like target practice. She thought maybe they kidded with each other to ease the tension, but that tactic never seemed to work for her. She always saw death approaching and knew that one little lapse in judgment or concentration could send a person over to “their” side.

  As the Turners closed in, Aaron and Jeremy shouted orders to widen the line and move to opposite ends of the wash. Joshua told Sydney to stay in the middle with the boys, and he went to the far end. Twenty minutes later, no more of the undead were walking.

  When the last ones fell, so did Sydney. She dropped like a bag of cement, and everything went black.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  She woke up in the clinic with Savannah, Joshua, and the boys sitting around her.

  “What hap—” was all she could get out before she started vomiting violently. Savannah was ready with a pan and washcloth.

  “You blacked out and hit your head,” Savannah told her. “You have a slight concussion. Have you been feeling different lately?”

  “I think I have a bug,” Sydney replied, shaking her head. “I’ve been really tired, and my stomach feels queasy a lot of the time.”

  “Well, I took a blood sample, and I want to get a urine sample from you as soon as you can provide it, Savannah said. “We’ll figure out what’s going on. In the meantime, I want you to rest quietly.”

  Mason stood up and leaned over to give Sydney a hug. “We’ll get out of your hair and let you have some peace.”

  “The day you guys are in my hair will be the day I’m a brunette!” Sydney teased, smiling at his concern.

  She could see the relief on the boys’ faces and wondered how they could even think that she wouldn’t want them around. But Savannah was adamant about the “resting quietly” part of what she’d just said.

  When everyone but Joshua had cleared out, he took her hand and kissed her forehead.

  “I love you so much,” they both said at the same time. Sydney hated to see the worry in Joshua’s eyes.

  “I’m feeling better already, so I don’t want you to be concerned about anything,” she told him. “How did everything turn out?”

  “We finished them off, and the patrols went out to make sure there were no stragglers lurking around. We had just started putting the cremating groups together when Austin ran over to tell me that you were out cold. The first thing I did was check you over for scratches or bites. As soon as I knew you hadn’t been compromised, I called one of the trucks over to help me get you here.”

  Sydney shook her head. “I can’t figure out what happened. I’m feeling okay right now. Maybe it’s something I’ve been eating. Whatever it is, Savannah will figure it out.”

  Jeremy knocked lightly on the door and poked his head into the room. “I hear we have a war casualty in here!” He came in and walked over to the bed, with Jen and Aaron right behind him. Jen did her best to lean over and give Sydney a hug.

  “You’ve really given us a scare, Sydney,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m doing okay, but I’ll be happy when Savannah figures out what’s going on so I can get over this.”

  “Rosie’s cooking up a pot of chicken soup for you,” Jen said as she softly stroked Sydney’s hair back away from her face. “She says that’ll cure just about anything!”

  That made them all laugh, because Rosie seemed to have an edible remedy for nearly everything.

  “That definitely gives me something to look forward to!” Sydney said.

  “Well, since everything seems to be under control here, we should be getting back out there, Jeremy,” Aaron said. “We’ve got a lot of cleanup to do, and we need to run the perimeter to check for stragglers.” He squeezed Sydney’s hand. “I’m really glad you’re okay, Sydney. We were worried about you. Get some rest, okay?”

  Sydney assured him that she was fine and suggested that they take Joshua with them, to get his mind off of her for a bit.

  “You gonna stay here, Jen?” Joshua asked.

  “If Sydney feels up to the company,” she said with an inquiring look at Sydney.

  “I’m always up for your company, Jen,” Sydney replied.

  “Okay, hon,” Joshua said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back as soon as we finish up.”

  20 Nothing Lasts Forever

  Rosie showed up with her famous chicken soup. Once Sydney had filled up on the delicious broth, she was able to give Savannah the other sample she needed. Sydney didn’t know if it was the concussion, her pleasantly full stomach, or maybe just the fatigue that she’d been feeling so much lately, but she started getting really drowsy. Jen suggested that Sydney take a nap, assuring her that she’d be close by if Sydney needed her for anything.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Sydney wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but the next thing she knew Savannah was sitting next to the bed. She couldn’t quite decide what the look on Savannah’s face meant.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up!” Savannah said as she helped Sydney sit up. “I’ve found what I believe is responsible for the symptoms you’ve been having.”

  “Yeah?” Sydney asked.

  “It looks like you’re going to be a momma! Congratulations!” Savannah could barely contain her excitement.

  Sydney’s mouth dropped open. She was going to have Joshua’s baby. She was going to have a baby! A baby!

  “Oh, my gosh! Don’t tell Joshua. I want to surprise him!” Sydney’s mind was churning, running through the different ways she could spring the news on him. Now she wished she hadn’t encouraged him to leave with Aaron and Jeremy.

  “My lips are sealed!” Savannah said. “I’m going to finish my rounds while the news soaks in. I’ll be back to check on you in about an hour. If you’re still feeling better when I come back, I don’t see any reason you can’t leave.” She gave Sydney a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, congratulated her again, and left her alone to absorb what she’d just been told.

  Sydney looked down at her abdomen and tried to picture it swollen with their baby. How blessed she was. Joshua was going to go out of his mind when he heard the news!

  Before long, Jen returned to see how Sydney was feeling. Sydney felt great and wanted so badly to share the good news with Jen, but Joshua had to be the first to know. So, Sydney did her best to act as though nothing were different, and when Savannah gave her the okay to leave, she and Jen headed back to Jen’s place to wait for the guys. But, for the second time that day, the alarm changed Sydney’s plans. She looked at Jen, and they made a dash for the nearest cache.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  When Sydney found Joshua, the boys were with him. Many of the able-bodied had already taken positions in the defensive line. The skies were ominous, ripe with a monsoon storm that had been building since early afternoon. In sharp contrast to the surly, steel gray skies to the south and the east, the setting sun was brilliant, making it hard to see in that direction. Squinting with thei
r hands shading their eyes, they could barely make out the shapes coming toward them. The wind had picked up substantially, adding to the dust already floating in the air from the shuffling horde. Sydney’s chest began to tighten. This mob was moving!

  At the same time the shooters in the front began to fire, the clouds broke, and huge drops of rain started pelting them. Within minutes, a gigantic bolt of lightning etched its way across the sky, and thunder rumbled not so far away. As difficult as it was to focus through the torrential downpour and light show, they were making a good dent in the mob, but it seemed like an entire city had been turned and was charging at them.

  The Turners that were still upright started fanning out to the sides, no longer able to easily climb over the piled-up bodies that had dropped. Someone shouted orders to widen the line. Joshua and Christian, knowing that Sydney was relatively safe in the middle, went with Jeremy and Aaron to help fend off a large group of Turners that was making its way around the far end of the “wall” of fallen bodies. Mason, Austin, and Sydney stayed where they were, along with a dozen or so others, ready to take out any zealous ones that might manage to climb over the mulched mass. They were holding their own when the storm unleashed another round of rage, the black sheets of rain all but completely obstructing their vision.

  A few minutes later Sydney began throwing up. Aaron saw her and had Mason drive her and Austin back to the clinic. He promised Sydney he would let Joshua know where they were.

  21 Only Change Is Certain

  At the clinic, Sydney gradually began to feel better as the nausea waned. Mason, Austin, and Jen were sitting with her. Deby and Savannah had been in to check on her but were busy with other patients.

  Night descended while they talked and patiently waited for the men. It was getting late, but Jen mentioned that Aaron and Jeremy always hung around until the pyres were going strong before they left things to the cleanup crew.

  “The heavy rains earlier must have drenched the bodies. They’re probably having a hard time getting the fires going,” she said, trying to calm herself as much as Sydney and the boys. She seemed to be uncomfortable, repositioning herself in the chair every few minutes. Before much longer she decided to go home to wait for Aaron, but when she stood up to leave, clear liquid gushed from between her legs, creating a puddle on the floor. Sydney thought she was dying!

  “Hurry! Go get Savannah!” Jen told the boys.

  When she saw the horror on everyone’s faces, she smiled as best she could and said, “My water broke. The baby is coming!”

  Watching the boys take off as if new Turners were after them, Sydney heard them scramble down the hall. In no time at all, they were back with Savannah. Jen’s contractions were coming quickly by then.

  Savannah remained calm. “It looks like the population is going to increase by one tonight!” she said as she helped Jen into the room next door and gave her an injection to ease the pain.

  A few minutes later, Savannah came back in and asked, “Where’s Aaron?”

  “The guys haven’t come back yet,” Sydney told her. “Have you heard from them?”

  “No, I haven’t. I’ve been busy tending to battle wounds. I’ll stay here with Jen if you want to go see what you can find out.”

  “Is Jen going to be okay?”

  “She’s going to be a new mother. Believe me, she’s going to be just fine!”

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can, then,” Sydney said, still concerned about Jen despite Savannah’s attempts to reassure her, but now growing more concerned about Joshua and the others.

  She half ran, half walked in the direction of the communications hut, and it wasn’t long till she saw Aaron and Jeremy coming her way.

  “Where are Joshua and Christian?” she asked, her voice shrill with fear. The look on their faces told her that something was terribly wrong.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “We lost them,” Aaron said, sounding as defeated as he looked. “They left in the Jeep to do a final scout of the perimeter for stragglers. When they didn’t come back, we got a few others together to look for them. We found the Jeep overturned in a wash about four miles out. We searched the wash and the surrounding area, but all we found was Christian’s knife. There was no other trace of them. They must have been swept further down the wash. I’m so sorry, Sydney. We’ll pick up the search again at dawn, but we’ve done all we can do tonight. They’re in God’s hands now.”

  Sydney’s legs were like rubber, and her chest felt like it was ripping in half. This nightmare couldn’t be happening. She envisioned Joshua and Christian lying on the ground somewhere, broken and suffering. Being turned was not something she would even consider.

  Then somehow, despite the fog of shock and disbelief in her head, she remembered Jen.

  “Aaron, Jen’s at the clinic. She’s having the baby!” she blurted out, her throat choking with pain.

  Losing one of them was unimaginable, but to lose both Joshua and Christian were beyond her ability to cope. She sensed, more than knew, that she was being led to a bed. She knew it wasn’t so that she could sleep, but to give her a place to keep her body so she wouldn’t have to hold it up.

  The night passed agonizingly slowly.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Shortly before daybreak, Sydney walked to the communications hut. Aaron, Jeremy, Mason, and Austin were already plotting out a search grid with some of the others. Savannah was also there, ready to help look for her brother. Wrapped in her own misery, Sydney had forgotten how much Savannah loved Joshua. Her pain was just as great. Sydney could also see the concern etched into Austin and Mason’s young faces.

  “How are you doing?” Jeremy asked Sydney.

  “I’m ready to help you look for Joshua and Christian,” she replied. “How is Jen?” she remembered to ask Aaron.

  “She had our baby boy early this morning. He was a little early, but they’re both doing great. Leesa is with her now, and Rosie will be coming by later to stay with her.”

  It occurred to Sydney that none of them had really slept last night, what with Joshua and Christian missing and Jen having the baby, but here they all were at the crack of dawn, ready to go search. Knowing that she wasn’t in this alone brought her a measure of comfort.

  Within fifteen minutes they were ready to leave.

  Arriving where the search had left off the night before, they split into pairs and began a painstaking hunt for clues that could point them in the right direction.

  Twelve hours later, having stopped only for a brief lunch, they still had not found anything significant. They had searched one mile up and ten miles down the wash with no luck whatsoever. Their only hope hinged on the fact that they had not found their bodies. If they had managed to crawl out of the wash, the storm had washed away any evidence.

  For Sydney, not knowing what had happened seemed almost worse than knowing, and her mind kept filling with all kinds of possible scenarios.

  Exhausted, they headed back to Aftertown at nightfall. The open desert was cold at night, even in the summer. Being able to call out to God was the only thing holding the horrors that kept wanting to take over Sydney’s mind at bay.

  Leesa was waiting when they got back. Putting her arm around Sydney, she said to all of them, “Rosie has a warm dinner waiting for you in the cafeteria.”

  Anguish had kept the hunger pangs away, but when Sydney walked into the cafeteria and smelled the food, her body’s needs took over. Stomach growling, she took a seat with the others.

  Finishing up the plate Rosie had given her, she started to feel a little better. “I’d like to go see Jen and the baby, if you don’t mind, Aaron.” She had to keep moving and living.

  “Can’t think of anything she would enjoy more. Let’s go,” he said, putting his big arm around her shoulder. Knowing how many people cared for her filled Sydney with strength. As they turned to leave, Mason and Austin were right on their heels.

  Walking into Aaron and Jen’s home and feeling the warmth of a fam
ily brought Sydney some peace. They hadn’t found Joshua and Christian’s bodies, so at that moment she decided to choose to hope instead of fear.

  The baby was absolutely beautiful, and Jen looked so content. Mason and Austin looked on in amazement, and in Sydney’s mind she envisioned holding the little one that God was even now forming inside of her. It seemed that even in the midst of tragedy, the sun would still shine, birds would still sing, and life would go on. She realized then that the joy that was to be had was not in what surrounded them but in how they chose to look at things.

  She would not give up on Joshua and Christian.

  22 The Strangers

  The Toomey family had been walking for days. They were tired and completely soaked from the afternoon downpour. Because of their need for shelter and warmth, they had been forced to leave the road and search for a crevice in the small mountains that were within sight.

  Finding a shallow cave that all three could fit in, they hunkered down for the night.

  Drifting in and out of sleep, the woman thought she had heard a voice calling. She listened intently but soon told herself it was just the wind. Still, she listened awhile longer before dismissing the sound altogether and drifting back to her fitful dreams.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  In the dark, Christian continued to drag his body through the mud and sand, desperation pushing him on.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The next morning broke with clear skies. The family ate their breakfast and then, with stomachs barely satiated, they packed up and started out. They hadn’t gone far when they noticed the remnant of a trail still visible in the drying dirt. Curious as to what had caused it, they followed it for about sixty feet before deciding their time would be better spent making their way to the next town.

  Taking one last look into the desert, they didn’t see the body lying just below their line of vision. Christian, broken and unconscious, had given up on the far side of a small mound of sand.