“That’s one hell of a dream. You doing all right? You’re still shaking.” I point out her trembling and pull her closer.
She rubs her cheek against me like a kitten. “I’m better now.”
I laugh. “Don’t get too comfortable. Today is our wash day. We should wake Azami up soon so she can take a bath too. Two bird with one stone.” Taking her mind off of her dream is a good idea for now. We can talk more about it when it isn’t so fresh and real.
By the time we finish washing, bathing, and eating, my girls are tuckered out. Azami passed her bedtime several hours ago. Insisting on staying up like a big girl. She makes it another ten minutes’ tops after that statement. Her mother is not far behind, head bobbing at the dinner table. Her dream leaving little of her remaining strength for the evening.
Lillie falls asleep before I finish tucking Azami in. Tossing my shirt off, I crawl into bed next to her, and pull her flush against me. Her warm pliable body relaxing me, even with the worries that plague each moment. The visions tormenting her mean something. We have the responsibility to figure them out. Hopefully, she’ll rest well tonight and then tomorrow we can begin deciphering what these new dreams represent for our future. Life in the caves over the last year has been packed with chaos. I long for the peace of the first few years. Becky and Jeff’s indiscretions while Becky and I were still together started the downward spiral. Granted, that was a minor issue in comparison to Becky and Jeff becoming Infected. James being almost killed, Azami being kidnapped. Lillie’s assault… both of them. Not to mention my own supposed death and then return. Our small family has been through hell and back. Bringing the other group back has strengthened us and I’ll fight with everything in me to keep what we have.
My mind is on high-speed, sliding from one issue to the next. Jeff being the biggest concern. From what Lillie described in her dream, it’s safe to say there is a good possibility that he is still alive. Our hope is that she’s projecting her fears into the dream, but she’s not convinced. Her emotions betray her and emanates all her fears onto me, even though she tries hard to keep them to herself, as not to worry me. The Infected, led by Jeff, are plotting against us.
They’re outside our caves, checking the perimeter. Which should never have gone undetected, especially during the day. Even though we’re a small group, we patrol our surroundings several times a day. We’ve never come across them or discovered tracks of any sort. Have they began their search yet? How much more time do we have? Or is my paranoia getting the better of me? I figure being overly paranoid is better than letting my guard down.
A soft moan brings me from my thoughts, bringing my focus back to Lillie’s sleeping face. She leans into me, rubbing her cheek against my bare chest. My heart swells and butterflies dance. I run my fingers though her blonde hair and kiss the top of her head. No matter how we handle the upcoming situations, sleep is required. I close my eyes, counting her breaths until I fall asleep.
We expect the raiders any day. With the threat of the Infected lurking around the cave, sending a search party out for them doesn’t bode well for any of us. So when Dane hollers down the hall, relief apparent in his voice, excitement floating on his emotions, I know they’ve returned. Three healthy and happy waves of sensations overtakes me. They’ve made it without incident.
Instead of heading directly to them, I take off toward the kitchen, where Sarah is teaching a cooking class. Lillie and Azami are propped up next to the table, watching with infatuated intensity. A chuckle rumbles up my chest. Their expressions of rapture are identical. My laugh is not loud enough to gain their attention, but Lillie turns and locks eyes, sensing me either way.
My smile spreads, relaying the message through our silence.
Her smile grows.
Azami turns to look at me. Sitting on Lillie’s lap, she knows they’re back as well. She jumps from her mother’s lap and speeds toward the main cavern. “Untle Dames!”
Others in the class turn to watch her escape, curious. “They’re back.” I announce, my excitement grows with the crowd’s.
Once Lillie is at my side, we race back into the main area. James already has Azami in his arms, bear hugging her. We make our way to him and take our turn pulling him close and thanking whatever god is left that he’s made it back without incident.
After Lillie releases James, she moves to Mason. He wraps his arms around her, hugging her tight, lifting her from the ground. She squeals, laughing. Her anxiety melts away, replaced with relief. Once she regains her footing, she moves over to Luke and pulls him in just as tight. Luke appears caught off guard, but only for a moment before he pulls her to him tightly. He releases her shortly after, letting her move back to James. She touches his cheek and his arm several times, making sure he’s real. Probably worried she’s dreaming.
James smiles down at her, having grown a good foot taller than her over the last year. He wraps his arm around her shoulders, Azami hanging onto the fingers of his other hand.
“How’d the trip go?” Lillie asks.
Before they can answer, I speak. “Let’s go to the kitchen. Quinn and Deagon bagged an elk, there’s plenty of meat. It’s just about lunch anyhow.”
For the first time in a long time, every person in the cave is in the kitchen, celebrating their return. Even Jane, Sam and Tony’s mother, comes down to welcome them home. Spirits are high as they recap their journey.
They’ve only had one encounter with the Infected and they were able to steer clear without incident due to James’s sight. “The entire trip couldn’t have gone any better.” James confirms.
“We were able to grab plenty of blankets and clothes for the winter. James made a detour to the local library in one of the towns.” Mason smiles over at James.
James matches his smile with one of his own. “They had so many good books, I wished I could have brought them all. I did grab some How Tos, ones about plant and berry life in our area, as well as poisonous plants to help Jen with her classes. They had recipe books for Sarah.” James hurriedly searches her out to reassure her. “Not that you need it. You’re an amazing cook.” The crowd chuckles and agrees with him as he continues. “We got medical books for Michael. I found learning books for several age groups for Azami and Gage. And best of all, Mason stumbled across coloring books!” James exclaims, acting years younger than his age. “He was even able to find crayons.”
I smile down at Azami. She’s only ever used a stick in the dirt. She’ll love the different colors she’ll have to choose from. “Thank you. Those are all amazing gifts.” I say, thinking how nice it is for them to think about everyone while they were out.
Gratitude and love float to me on an emotional tidal wave. Our group is growing and what makes us the strongest, is the love we share for each other. Sure, we’ve had our disagreements at times, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for the people in this room. That’s what keeps us moving forward, making each day its best.
I cough the lump from my throat, pulling my eyes away from Lillie’s smiling face. Life has taken and given so much to all of us. I scrub my hands down my face, attempting to compose myself once again. The weight of each person’s emotional wave is hitting me harder than normal.
“You all right?” Lillie whispers quietly, so only I would hear.
Our eyes lock for a moment and even though she doesn’t have the same gift I do, I exude all of my love toward her as if she does. I want her to know exactly what she means to me. Everything.
Her eyes begin to glitter in the light. I tug her against me, kissing her hard. It doesn’t matter to me that we’re in a room full of our family. She’s mine.
Once our bellies are full, we move to unload their bounty. They’ve done very well. Better than expected. With multiple hands helping to unload, it only takes us an hour to unpack. We bring everything to the main cavern for Dane to log, before it’s relocated to its proper place. Besides the books, they’ve also retrieved more clothes and blankets, food, hygiene and medical supplies, including
medicine.
“I’ll leave one jug of gas here and take the rest with me when I park the car.” Luke says to no one in particular.
“Sounds good.” I reply to let him know I’ve heard him.
He hops in the car and starts to pull away. “Wait!” Lillie yells at him.
He slams on the break, glancing at her. Clearly worried at the look on her face. “What’s wrong, Lil?” He looks around concerned.
“Take someone with you. Please.” Her last word a plea before he can protest.
Luke looks at me, silently asking what this is about. “When you get back.” I tell him.
He nods, and has Mason go with him. As they drive off, I make my way toward Lillie.
“Sorry.” She apologizes.
I kiss the top of her head. “Nothing to be sorry about. We’ll fill them in when they return and we don’t have such a large audience. Besides, we need to debrief them. Regardless if this is an actual premonition or not, we can’t take the risk of being wrong. We don’t want to be caught off guard when we can be ready.”
She wraps her arms around me, watching our daughter draw with her new coloring books. She’ll be distracted for ages now. The thought has me smiling. Such a simple thing when we were younger turns into such an amazement to our kids.
A short while later Luke and Mason return, heading directly toward us. Intent set strong on both their faces. They know Lillie’s premonitions usually don’t bring about good news. Most others have returned to their daily activities or chores, leaving our small group. Azami went with Sarah to finish up their cooking. Luke and Mason stand in front of us.
“What’s going on?” Luke asks, looking Lillie over, checking for injuries.
“We’re waiting on Dane. I don’t want to have to repeat any of this. It’s hard on Lillie.” She ducks her head, trying to disappear from the eyes that are now trained on her.
“Are you all right?” Mason asks.
My protective side rears its ugly head. “She’s fine.” Mason’s eyes grow dark, watching me. I’m being an asshole and I know it. Mason is one of my closest friends and he only wants us safe. “Sorry.” I mumble. “What I’m about to tell you disturbs me.”
Mason calms down, prepared to hear what we know, which isn’t much at this point. Dane arrives, prompting us to tell our story. Dane, Luke, Mason, James, Michael, and Jen listen as I relay Lillie’s dreams to them. James informed Luke and Mason about her first dream of being dragged away, on the night they were leaving. Now hearing the rest, their faces pale. This early on we have no idea who the dream is about. Would we lose Lil, or someone she can’t see? Either is unacceptable. Losing anyone will devastate the entire group.
Clearing his throat, Dane asks. “Where do we go from here?” For once Dane is at a loss. We usually go to him for guidance, but here he’s just as clueless.
“I’m not sure. We really don’t have enough information to rely on. We know the Infected are planning against us. We know someone is taken, dragged away from us. What we don’t know is more important. When? When are they going to come? We have James back now, so hopefully we’ll see it coming.”
The group turns to look at James. “Don’t put that on him.” Lillie speaks up, protecting him. “His sight doesn’t always work in time, especially if Ian is involved. They counter each other, Ian blocks his sight.”
The relief on James’s face shows how much he appreciates Lillie’s defense. He doesn’t want the sole responsibility for sensing them when they come for us. “I’ll do what I can.” He speaks up.
I nod to him. “If we work together, using the information we have, hopefully we’ll sense them before they make their move.”
“With Lillie’s premonitions, James’s site, and your sensing emotions, we have an edge that they don’t. We can see them coming. We’ll increase patrols outside to look for prints. The dream sounded like a scouting mission. They’d have left evidence of their perimeter exploration. James is able to pick up on intent. Once they set a plan, he may sense it. Ian, you’re going to have to push your senses if you can. Read anything out of the normal for the people in the cave. If you can pick them up outside, that’ll give us an even better chance.” Luke begins devising a plan.
“The only issue is that the Infected aren’t really traceable. Their emotions are almost nonexistent. The new ones are the only ones I can sense and even then sporadic. When they become fully Infected, they are lost, uncaring. Anger is one of the only emotions left behind.”
“We’ll have to do the best we can. Surprise is no linger on their side. We have a slight edge at this time and I’d like to keep it that way.” Luke states.
We all agree. The meeting adjourned, and releases us to finish the day’s tasks. Dane logs each item they’ve brought back, pleased with the results of our last raid of the year. With everyone in the same vicinity, I decide now is a good time to test the moods in the cave and surrounding areas. Figuring out the extent of my senses is a trial. Normally I have to stand next to, or in the same room as, the person I’m reading. Over the last couple of months, my senses have strengthened, but I’m not sure if it is enough to project the way Luke wants.
Each person radiates a different undertone of current, but the main one floating through the room is happiness. There’s worry and concern from some, but that’s expected from the ones who know about Lillie’s dreams. Dane is dealing with personal issues, so I’m not surprised that his emotions are rougher than the rest. Rosie has gone off on her own after the initial lunch celebration. I hate seeing them like this, not able to do anything to help. This is something they have to work out together.
A soft touch startles me, causing me to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Lillie asks.
I shake my head. “I’m supposed to use my senses to detect people and yet you can sneak up on me when my back is turned.”
She giggles. “That’s because your senses recognize me and know I’m not a threat. There’s no need for them to distract you just for me.” Her logic rings true.
“You’re so smart.” I whisper against her lips as I kiss her.
Her moan greets my tongue. I want to devour her at every turn. Desperation consumes me, conveying that this may not last forever, and to enjoy it while we can. Which is exactly what I plan on doing.
Chapter 18
Lillie
Days go by and still we find no trace of the Infected. I begin to doubt what I though felt so real. No other dreams plague me, letting me sleep through the night peacefully. Even though the nudging in my subconscious still follows me throughout each day, nothing happens. The waiting is the worst. Winter is right around the corner and we can’t afford to send anyone out to track them down. On top of the cold weather, the Infected could attack while they’re away, leaving us vulnerable. We’re sitting ducks, waiting for the next chapter.
Ian, Mason, and Quinn are out chopping firewood. The afternoon being the best time, since the morning and evenings are dropping close to freezing. Azami and I tend to the greens in the garden, plucking the ripe plants for dinner. Quinn and Deagon are set to go out tomorrow to hunt. The last elk is beginning to dwindle, enticing them to keep our meat stock up. I have to admit, Luke is by far the best tracker, but Quinn and Deagon know how to hunt.
With everyone lending their hands in the cave, the winter preparations are almost complete. The gardens are planted and will rotate over the winter months. The clothes, medical, and hygiene supplies are stocked and ready. After the next couple days of fire wood gathering and splitting, we should have enough to heat the caves for the colder months. Tomorrow after Quinn and Deagon return from their hunt, we’ll place the tarps over the larger crevices in the ceiling. I’m eager to watch them patch up the roof. Ian explained how they weaved and tied branches together, making an artificial roof, before placing a large tarp over the top, followed by another roof to stabilize and strengthen the structure from the heavy snowfall.
This is our first winter in the caves. Outs
ide the temperature is dropping degrees each day, while inside the caves it stays stable. Ian describes how the tubes of scorching water that lay beneath the surface of the rock keep our home warm. We use the hottest of the water tubes to cook our food, making the kitchen warmest. Our lives depend on the water running through the veins of the caves. Without them, life would be very different.
Quinn and Deagon leave early in the morning for their excursion, taking breakfast bars with them. Hopefully they’ll return with more meat. The abundance of hardy meals has left the caves overflowing with extra energy. Chores are being completed without tiring. So much so, that most take on extra duties. After breakfast, Azami stays with Sarah to star as her big helper in the next cooking class. Besides going outside for what Azami calls berry class, helping Sarah in the kitchen is her next favorite activity. Since the outdoor classes are dwindling for the winter, Sarah thinks the cooking class will offer another form of survival training. Teaching others what and how to cook items we grow or scavenge is another requirement in the world that currently surrounds us.
With Azami busy for the morning, I head outside with Mason and Ian to cut more wood. Granted, I don’t actually do any chopping, but I sure do stack wood with the best of them. While Mason and Ian grunt and swung their axes, I stack the split wood in-between their swings. After the last load I add to the already giant stack of firewood, I head out to grab more water. When I return, Ian and Mason are laughing. I stop to watch them, relief sweeping through me. Mason is by far the best friend I’ve ever had and I’m drowning in happiness that I didn’t lose him.
Ian turns, sensing my unease.
I continue over to them, handing out their waters. Ian wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close so he can kiss my temple, silently reassuring me that all is fine. I glance up to catch Mason watching me, his eyes softening. My heart clenches.
Mason suddenly moves forward, wrapping me in his arms, hugging me tightly against his sweaty body. My chest ceases up tighter. This is his way of letting go, while still being my best friend and comforting me.
Flash Series (Book 2): Immune Page 13