What Came After

by Nord, K. C.

  "The second time was when I was sixteen. A group of bandits attacked a neighboring farm, and I was shot in the upper arm during the gunfight. As for the third time, it was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A fight broke out in a bar in New Orleans, and I managed to get shot in the leg during the fight."

  "That was some bad luck," Angela remarked as she carried in a tray of food and sat it down on the bed in front of me.

  "Thanks, I'm starving,'' I said and awkwardly picked up the spoon with my left hand to try the chicken noodle soup.

  "There's also bread fresh from the oven with honey and butter and some herbal tea with an added pain reliever."

  "I could definitely use some of that," I said and took a swallow of the surprisingly good tea. From past experience, medicinal foods usually didn't taste the best.

  "I've always heard that redheads have less tolerance to pain," Nick remarked and reached out to grab my cup of tea when I choked on it.

  "You know," I said with a glare. "I'm surprised that you've only been shot three times."

  "Ouch!" Nick said with a grin.

  Angela laughed and sat down in the other chair across from my bed, "you military types are all alike."

  "Anger is a good way to take your mind off the pain," he remarked complacently.

  He's insufferable, and I'm not a redhead," I grumbled. But I did grudgingly admit to myself that my anger did seem to help alleviate the pain.

  "How is Norah doing?" I asked while Nick helped himself to a slice of bread and butter.

  "She woke up a little while ago and is doing much better. But it will be a few days before either of you will be up to traveling," Angela replied.

  I nodded quietly, wondering what kind of a battle I would be up against when I told Nick that I wasn't going back to Celeste's house.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  After I finished eating, Angela filled us in on her strange life growing up with her grandmother Mabel.

  " She was always a little harsh and very strict, but life wasn't all that bad, just lonely. But around three years ago, she took up with George. And at first, things were good; having someone else around gave her something else to think about and gave me a break from her. But after a while, I became suspicious of all the new stuff that kept showing up in our house. They were acting secretive, and I didn't know for sure what was going on. But it was far worse than I could imagine. One day, I was out for a walk, and I found a mass grave on our property. I confronted Mabel about it, and that's when I found out that they were robbing and killing some of the travelers that passed by our house. She said that it was George's idea, but she certainly didn't have a problem with it."

  "That must have been so scary for you," I said.

  Angela nodded, "It was terrifying. Once I found out what was going on, I tried to warn anyone who happened to stop by. After a couple of travelers escaped, George and Mabel became suspicious and started watching me all of the time. I even tried to run away a couple of times, but they caught me and kept me locked in the barn for a couple of months as punishment. By then, I was starting to fear that if I made too much trouble, they might decide to kill me as well."

  "I don't blame you," I said with a shudder.

  "Kaley, how did you and Norah end up here?" Nick asked.

  "We had a blowout about a mile down the road," I replied.

  Angela winched, "Just recently, they had started putting spikes in the road to trap unwary travelers."

  Nick nodded, "That explains the blowout then."

  "Wait, where's Ethan!" I exclaimed, feeling a little ashamed that I'd completely forgotten about him in all of the excitement. "Mabel said that the two of you had run off together."

  Angela shook her head, "I have no idea what happened to Ethan. When George and Mabel took you and Norah captive, I took Moose and ran to get help from the closest town. Along the way, we encountered Nick, and once I convinced him that I hadn't murdered you and stole your dog, we came right back here."

  "Did he take a vehicle, or is he on foot?" I asked.

  "I just got back myself, so I'm not sure if he took out on foot or took one of the vehicles from the farm. The implement shed is full of vehicles belonging to their victims," Angela replied.

  "Maybe we should go and look for him. Something might have happened to him out there in the desert," I said.

  "It's too late to do anything today," Nick replied. "But I'll take a look around in the morning."

  "It's been two days; if he took off on foot out in the desert, his chances probably aren't that good," Angela said regretfully.

  "Ethan's a smart guy who always seems to land on his feet. I really can't see him not making it out of this," I thought out loud.

  "You seem to know him pretty well," Nick commented.

  "No, but I think that I got a pretty good reading of his personality," I replied with an annoyed look.

  "I was just wondering why you would invite someone that you've only known for a day or two to travel with you?" Nick said with a challenging glint in his eyes.

  I ignored his remark and sat aside the now finished cup of tea. I felt a little better now that I'd eaten and taken a pain reliever, but I was in no way up to arguing with Nick.

  IF I'D EXPECTED TO be back to normal the next day, then I was in for a rude surprise. Because of the pain and a few nightmares, my sleep had been fitful, to say the least. And when morning came, I was feeling even worse than yesterday. Now my whole body, not just my shoulder, ached, and I was alternately freezing cold and burning hot.

  "Good, you're awake," Angela said as she maneuvered through the door with another tray in her hands. "I brought you some more tea and a bowl of oatmeal if you're feeling up to it."

  "I'm a little tired," I said and took a sip of tea before setting it down on the tray with a slightly shaky hand.

  "You look a little flushed," Angela said and reached out to feel my forehead.

  My eyes closed, and I drifted off into a light sleep, only waking when Angela came back with Nick a few minutes later.

  "It looks like you might have an infection that's causing your fever," he said and felt my forehead. "We'll get you started on an antibiotic and a stronger pain reliever, and you'll start feeling better in no time at all."

  "Since when did you become a doctor," I said with a dubious look while watching him set up an iv.

  "I'm not a doctor. But I am a trained medic; it was part of my training when I joined the militia."

  "That makes sense," I replied with a yawn.

  "When you're feeling better, I'd still like to have that talk with you and Norah," Nick said with a serious look.

  Unconcerned, I smiled at him, feeling relaxed and a little loopy as the pain reliever flowed through my veins." Hey, did anyone ever tell you that you have the most beautiful blue eyes?"

  Nick's lips tipped up on one side, "it looks like the pain reliever has kicked in."

  I yawned, struggling to keep my eyes open, and reached out and touched the dimple in his cheek, "you're usually so grumpy, but you're really cute when you smile."

  "You're always cute, even though you can be the most annoying woman alive." I heard him say as I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.

  IT HAD TAKEN ME A FEW days to start feeling like my usual self, but today I'd woken up feeling quite a bit better. Norah had stopped by earlier, as was her custom, every morning before taking Moose out for a walk. And Angela had brought my breakfast right before Nick, who was his usual grumpy self, stopped by.

  It felt strange and even a little embarrassing to have him taking care of my medical care. And I felt my face flush a little when I recalled some of the things that I'd said while under the influence of anesthesia. Oh God, I could just cringe!

  I'm sure that whole situation probably felt weird to Nick as well, but I could tell that he was doing his best to keep things professional. Even so, I would be glad when things got back to normal. I wasn't used to needing help and didn't like
the feeling of having to depend on someone else.

  This morning Nick was even more moody than usual, and I'd given up trying to talk to him when he only grunted in response when I said anything. My personality was more like my grandma's; if she were mad about something, she would tell you about it right then. And it was over. She never carried any anger or grudges afterward.

  On the other hand, Nick was my opposite and tended to take life a lot more seriously than me. He also took a little longer to get over things than I did. So with that in mind, I decided just to ignore him and talk to Angela. She at least was friendly and didn't make me feel like a burden.

  "If you like, I can show you how the shower works so that you can get cleaned up a little," Angela offered.

  "That sounds great," I replied and grabbed a clean change of clothes, pajama pants, and a t-shirt would probably work since I was still mostly on bedrest.

  Taking a shower without getting my wound wet was a challenge, to say the least. Luckily the shower came equipped with a hand sprayer, which helped a lot. But it still took twice as long and was ridiculously hard when you only had one arm to use. My whole body was sore from the beating that I'd taken while being held captive by Mabel and George, but in the end, I managed to get reasonably clean without getting my wound wet or even having to ask for help. By the time I managed to get my clothes onto my still damp body and brush out my hair, I was utterly exhausted and ready for a nap.

  Walking back into the bedroom, I was surprised to find Norah waiting for me. She'd remade my bed and had brought me some books to read, but I could tell right away from her manner that something was on her mind.

  "I know that Nick can be a little hard to get along with at times, but I hope that you can give him a little bit of a break," she said.

  "What do you mean?"

  Norah sighed, "I'm probably not explaining myself very well. It's just that he has a lot on his plate right now, and anything that we can do to make things easier will help."

  I sat gingerly down on the bed, trying to favor my sore ribs as much as possible, "I don't get what you're talking about."

  Norah frowned, " what's wrong with your stomach?"

  "I have a vague memory of Mabel kicking the hell out of me at one point when I fell down and was too drugged up to move."

  "What a mean old bitch! You might have a broken rib," she exclaimed.

  "Maybe, but what were you saying about Nick?"

  "I forgot that you were kind of out of it for a few days. Were you aware that Angela had found a mass grave on the property?"

  "Yeah, I guess Mabel and George were murdering and robbing travelers."

  Norah grimaced, "it's horrific. Nick got a hold of the sheriff from New Meridian, and they are now excavating the grave. A lot of the bodies may never be identified, but at least they will get a proper burial."

  "I had no idea," I whispered, feeling ashamed that I'd spared very little thought to Mabel and George's victims.

  "No, it's not your fault. You've been pretty sick the last few days, and nobody wanted to burden you with this. But I just wanted to let you know what's been going on. So if Nick seems a little harder than usual to get along with, you'll know why."

  "Why didn't he say something?"

  "Oh, you know how guys are. They never talk about their feelings, and he was probably trying to shield you."

  I nodded, "now, I feel bad for giving him a hard time."

  "No, I think that arguing with you helps to take his mind off things, just as long as it doesn't go too far. And I just wanted to let you know what's going on," Norah replied.

  "Ok, I'll try and not be too much of a pain. I just thought that he was mad at us for taking off like we did."

  "Oh, he's plenty mad about that," Norah laughed. "And I'm sure that we'll hear all about it when the time is right."

  "I just love lectures," I grimaced.

  Norah rolled her eyes, "Yeah, me too!"

  "You seem to know a lot about what makes him tick."

  "Well, I should, considering that we've known each other almost all of our lives. Growing up, if Nick and his brother Miles weren't over at my house, then I was at theirs."

  "Miles, is he Nick's older brother?" I asked.

  "Yeah, he's three years older than Nick and even more of a boy scout, if that's even possible," Norah replied.

  "I've heard you use that term before, but I'm not familiar with it," I questioned.

  "Oh, I didn't mean anything bad. A boy scout is a term used to describe someone who always follows the rules and does the right thing. None of that is necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes you have to break the rules a little."

  I nodded but didn't say anything; something about Norah's tone when she mentioned Miles caught my attention, and I sensed that there was more to their relationship than she wanted to let on.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  With every day that passed, I was starting to feel just a little more like my old self. Most of the bruises had faded, which only left me with sore ribs and the bullet wound that was now starting to heal. This also meant that boredom was beginning to set in as I'm not the type of person who enjoys inactivity.

  The cleanup of the mass burial site was finally over. And today, Norah and Nick were busy going through some of the abandoned vehicles on the farm, searching for clues to help identify the victims. I'd offered to help as well, but Nick didn't want to take a chance on me reopening my gunshot wound.

  So with a lot of time on my hands with nothing to do, I decided to snoop around in Mabel's room and see if I could get a hint about where she might be hiding. Like the rest of the house, Mabel's bedroom was immaculate without a speck of dust or anything out of its place. And at first glance around the room, you would take her for the typical grandma. A couple of pictures that Angela had drawn as a small child adorned the dresser along with a cute pair of baby shoes and a baby's first Christmas ornament. But it didn't take long before her true nature revealed itself.

  A stack of books dealing with unsolved serial murders from the past sat on her bedside table. Next to the books was a small box that contained an extensive collection of rings. Most of which were wedding rings and a few other trinkets taken no doubt as sick trophies from her victims. I sat it back down on the table and made a mental note to let someone know about them, just in case any of the families wanted to go through it.

  Next, I started looking through the clothing stuffed closet when there on an overhead shelf in the back, I found some old photo albums. Forgetting about my injured shoulder, I reached out to pull them off the shelf when my shoulder twinged, causing me to drop them onto the floor. Grumbling under my breath, I bent down to pick them up and froze when I came face-to-face with a human skull.

  Shaken, I dropped the albums and tripped over my own feet, falling with a loud and not very graceful thud onto the bedroom floor. "What the hell!" I breathed in shock. The whole back of the closet was lined with human skulls! I've seen more than my fair share of senseless death over the last year. But it still bothers me a lot more than I would like to admit, and this was one of the most revolting things that I'd ever seen.

  Favoring my injured shoulder, I started to pull myself up off the floor when a floorboard behind me creaked. Slipping seamlessly into fight mode, I spun around and lashed out with my left fist. Unfortunately, my assailant was taller than I expected, and the blow deflected harmlessly off his chest. Acting on instinct, I went for the knees with a snap kick.

  "Son-of-a-bitch," he yelled and wrapped both arms around me as we fell to the floor, with him taking the brunt of the fall with a grunt as I landed on top of him. Quickly seizing the advantage, I attempted to headbutt him, but he wrapped both legs and arms around me as he tried to hold me still.

  "Kaley, what the hell is going on! Calm down before you hurt yourself," Nick ordered, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry that I scared you like that. But I never dreamed that you would turn into a wild woman."

  Recognizing his voice, I stoppe
d struggling; calming down after a massive surge of adrenaline was no easy feat, and the after-effects left me feeling a little queasy.

  "Better?" he asked, gently rubbing the side of my head. And I was amused to see that he was gentling me almost like one of his horses.

  "Yeah," I nodded and sat up, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

  "What was that all about?"

  "Take a look at the back of the closet," I replied.

  Nick leaned forward for a better look, "what kind of a sick excuse for a human being-"

  I shuddered and leaned against his side as he helped me up off the floor, " she's a psychopath."

  "Let's go get a cup of coffee while we figure this out," Nick suggested.

  "Or maybe something stronger. Norah makes an awesome bloody mary," I replied.

  "Did I hear someone say my name?" Norah asked, meeting us outside Mabel's bedroom. 'Hey, what happened?" She asked, noticing that Nick had his arms around me.

  "Take a look in Mabel's closet," I said.

  Nick reached out to grab her arm, "just a head's up. the old lady was collecting human skulls."

  Norah's eyes widened, and she disappeared inside the bedroom only to reappear seconds later with a horrified look, "Oh-my-god, there are no words."

  "I've seen a lot of weird stuff in my years with the militia, but this is some of the sickest," Nick commented.

  A few minutes later, we all sat around the kitchen table drinking some of Norah's bloody marys. In my parent's day, it wasn't legal to have a drink before the age of 21. But considering the fact that the outbreak wiped out over 75% of the population, nobody really cares.

  "I'll have to get the Sheriff back here tomorrow so that the skulls can be put with the rest of the remains, '' Nick said grimly.

  "Oh, poor Angela," Norah said.

  "I'll talk to her," I offered, hoping to take a little of the pressure off of Nick.

  "Thanks," he said, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. "This has been one hell of a last two weeks."