by Riley Flynn
Alex took a seat next to Jamie, feeling around in his pocket as he sat down, his jaw still sore. From inside, he fished out the zippo lighter. He’d forgotten to give it back to Krol. It had meant something to the man, but he’d never thought to ask what.
“Jamie. Do you see this?” He held the lighter in front of her face. “You know this belonged to Krol. He gave it to me, when he showed me into the barn. He knew I wasn’t going to like what I saw in there. He knew I’d hate him for it. But he did it anyway. Handed this over and showed me his secrets. It wasn’t a case of trust. He just knew certain things were unavoidable. Inevitable.”
Jamie didn’t answer. She buried her face in her hand. Alex could feel the others watching him, their eyes on his back. He knew this woman was devoted to Krol but he didn’t necessarily know why. Regardless of how he felt about her, something in the back of his mind respected her unshaking loyalty. Now, after the man’s death, he could see why she held him in such high esteem.
“Jamie, listen. You don’t have to like me. You don’t have to trust me. But this isn’t a simple matter. We’re going to have to fight. Krol told me how you – you and the other guys – how you escaped from that church. Levine did terrible things, to you and others. But he’s not finished yet. Tonight, he’s coming for us. And we’re going to try and stop him. We don’t have long. We have to act.”
Stretching out his hand, Alex offered her the lighter.
“Take this. I’m sure he didn’t mean for me to have it. He didn’t mean for any of this to happen exactly as it did. But here we are. Take it.”
Jamie lifted her head. With her free hand, wet with tears, she reached out and pushed it away.
“He never did things accidentally. He always had a purpose. You’re meant to keep it.”
There was no point in arguing. Alex put the lighter back in his pocket.
“Fine.” Alex looked around at the others. “Let’s make sure he didn’t die for nothing. Let’s make sure we live. Let’s live to see another day.”
It wasn’t much in the way of grand speeches, Alex knew. But it was all he had. They’d have to make it work.
29
Everyone left the kitchen knowing what they needed to do.
Overseeing the plan in action, Alex listened as everyone began shouting instructions at one another they moved through the house.
“Reni, get whatever wood you can,” Timmy shouted. “Board up the windows from the inside. We’ve got nails?”
“In one of the sheds.”
“Go get them. I want every single window and door sealed tight. As tight as possible.”
Everything was outside, that was the problem. So many sheds, lean-tos, and storage spots on the farm, trying to find everything in the dark was a nightmare. Alex led them all outside to fetch the supplies. Once it was all inside the house, they could work from there.
“Timmy, you’re on guns.”
“You know it, man.”
Running back and forth from the front door to the arsenal, Timmy was carrying armfuls of weapons. Three rifles over each shoulder, handguns shoved down his pants, he cradled the shotguns and the semi-automatics to his chest.
“Don’t forget the ammo.”
“I know, man. I’m working as fast as I can.”
“Great. I know. Good. Once you’ve got everything, set them up inside the house in different spots. Caches, scattered around. Wherever you think we might need something.”
“Hey, Alex.”
“Yeah?”
“Guess what I found.”
Alex didn’t have time for games. He stared at Timmy, making this clear. Already laughing, his friend reached into a pocket and pulled out something round and olive-colored.
“Grenades, man! They got all sorts of-”
“That’s great, Timmy. Get it all inside.”
Leaving Timmy behind, Alex heard a strange sound coming from outside. They couldn’t be here already, he prayed. We’re not ready.
Looking out through the front door, Alex saw Jenna trying to manhandle a steel drum up the steps of the porch. The dull metallic thud and the splashing of the liquid inside was making all kinds of weird sounds.
“Here, let me help.” Alex ran toward her.
“Thanks.”
Together, they lifted it up over the steps and began to push it into the house.
“It’s gasoline,” the teenager said, voice bursting with enthusiasm. “I thought I could get some empty bottles and-”
“Molotov cocktails!”
“Exactly!”
“Great idea. Get it in the kitchen.”
Alex left Jenna behind. He could hear someone hammering in a distant room. Reni must have brought all the supplies inside. Running through the house, he went to check.
“Got everything?”
The window in the bedroom was being sealed shut. Reni held a hammer in one hand and a collection of nails stuck out of her mouth. She spat them into her hand.
“This is it.” She pointed at a few boxes of nails on the bed. “It’s all we got.”
That wouldn’t be enough. There were too many windows in the house.
“Crap. Do we have any more? What about in the barn?”
“I don’t know, I never went in-”
“I’ll go and check. Stay here. Work on all the windows on the bottom floor first.”
More nails. We need more nails. Alex racked his brain, desperately trying to think where he’d seen any sort of hardware. His dad had always kept stuff like that in the barn. But that was where Krol buried the bodies. Maybe he left something in the back.
All the doors were open as Alex ran through the house. The wind was blowing in from outside. Cold.
Exiting through the front door, he arrived in the courtyard. Everything was covered in a few inches of snow. If this had been any other time, it might even have been peaceful.
In the distance, Alex could hear a car engine approaching. Only one, though. Surely Levine wouldn’t just arrive in one car? He ran towards the sound and saw a set of headlights coming from out in the fields.
Jamie was at the wheel. She hardly slowed down as she saw Alex, even though he waved. The car was one of the wrecks the farm had accumulated over the last few months. A real clapped-out jalopy.
“What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer, just jerked her thumb towards the trunk. As she passed, Alex looked in. Stuffed into the back of the car were meal packets and supplies. Wherever Krol had been storing them, wherever he’d been getting them, Jamie had decided it was time to share.
“Just take it all inside,” Alex shouted after the departing car.
No response.
The barn was still open and Alex ran straight for it. Darkness filled the inside.
Get to the walls, he thought. If there’s anything left in here from before, it’ll be stacked up beside the walls.
There was no escaping the stench of death. The shallow grave had been emptied. The bodies might have been buried in another place, but they left their marks behind. Nothing would ever get rid of the smell.
Alex had no idea where Krol had taken the bodies. They must have been in various states of decay. No wonder no one was wearing masks anymore, he thought. They’ve had a face full of rotting corpse. After that, a virus would be sweet relief. Somewhere inside him, a tiny pang of guilt could be felt. If they’d been infected by this, that was his fault. Right now, though, there were more pressing threats.
There was nothing left by the entrance. Krol had cleared it out. Alex plunged deeper into the darkness of the barn, feeling around in front of him.
His hands touched up against a piece of cold metal. Feeling the shape of it, Alex knew it was a pot of paint. There were more. Dozens, perhaps. They’d been laid against the back of the barn. Piled up.
But there was something else. As Alex followed the wall around, turning a corner and arriving at the back, looking back at the open door from afar, his sneaker caught, nearly tripping him up.<
br />
As he swore and stood up, Alex looked again. It was a metal handle. As he searched around with his hands, he could tell the whole area around it was a flat steel surface.
“Weird.”
Alex had given up on finding nails. He knew he should run back into the house and help out some more. But he couldn’t resist checking. Patting his pockets, he wished he had a flashlight.
An image of a falling flashlight burst into Alex’s mind. That one was back in Athena. But did he leave another one in the car? He tried to remember desperately what he’d taken when he’d filled up the vehicle.
“Oh, Christ.”
The thought had completely slipped his mind. Nelson was still out there, beside the tree. Alex started to run, charging through the barn and kicking up snow as he covered the courtyard and dashed down the track.
“Nelson!” He shouted, seeing the oak tree in the distance. “Nelson, I’m coming!”
The car was still there, sitting with an open door. As Alex arrived at the scene, he could see the fresh dirt in the spot where Nelson had been digging. Cam was underground. A makeshift cross had been driven into the earth.
“Nelson! Hey, where are you?” Alex looked all around him. It was so dark out, the snow flurrying all around. He could hardly see.
“Alex? Over here.”
The voice came from out in the field. Alex ran towards it.
“What’s going on? I came to get you, come on. We need to get back to the farm.”
Nelson had a jerry can in his hand. He was thirty feet from the car, walking back towards it. A trail of gasoline slopped out behind him.
“Sure, sure. I’m just doing-”
“Why are you wasting gasoline like that? We might need it. Come on.”
Nelson stopped and stood up tall. He was still shorter than Alex. Two big, bright eyes, looking up.
“I know what you said about how they was coming, so I thought: if I lay a trail here, then we might be able to see when they cross it.”
“From up at the farm? Won’t the fire go out in the snow?”
“Not if I use enough gas.”
It was a pretty decent plan, Alex thought. Nelson had started on the field closest to Athena. If he crossed the track and went a decent way in the other direction, they’d have a basic barrier. It wouldn’t slow down Levine and his men, but it would let them know when the church people crossed it.
“That’s a great idea.” Alex looked across the field. “It’ll take ages, though. We don’t have that time.”
“I’m half done, we might as well finish.”
Alex was torn. Finish this job or get back to the farm and prep the defenses.
“No, let’s get back. We’ll light what you’ve already done.”
Nelson nodded and put the cap back on the jerry can. Alex reached into his pocket and took out Krol’s lighter. It was already proving useful.
Leaning down and touching the flame to the gas-soaked snow, Alex had to jump back as the fire caught. It spread out in a line, perhaps a hundred feet out into the field.
“That caught fast.” Alex was impressed.
“Yeah, I tried to kick aside the snow. It’s on the ground. No idea how long it’ll last, though.”
They ran together back to the car. Alex had the engine running in no time. A small collection of guns still sat on the back seat. They’d be useful back at the house. He reached out of the window and brushed away the snow. Too much for the wipers.
The car moved, accelerating up the drive. Alex looked back one last time, seeing the cross above Cam’s grave. He hoped he’d be able to visit it again.
“Hey.” A thought formed in Alex’s mind. “Nelson, where’d you get the nails for that cross? And the wood?”
“Hmm? Oh.” Nelson had been staring out the window. “Behind the stables. Pile of stuff there. Went and got it before you came back. Why?”
“We have to make a stop.”
The car raced up the track. Alex didn’t care about losing control. Speed was more important. Braking hard in the courtyard, he made Nelson lead him to the stash of nails. There were plenty there, a whole workshop’s worth of hardware. Wood, hammers, nails.
“Grab as much as you can and take it back inside.”
Alex took as much as he could carry and left Nelson to shuttle the rest.
“Timmy! Jenna!” He shouted out into the house as soon as he walked in the door. “There’s loads more wood and nails out here. Help Reni seal everything up.”
All around him, people were working hard. Most of the bottom floor was almost done. With Timmy and Jenna, too, they’d have all the windows covered in no time. When they were ready, they’d seal the front doors, too.
Alex ran through the house, checking everything. Jamie had stacked piles of food in the kitchen. Enough for a siege.
“We should take some upstairs, for Joan and the baby,” Alex suggested.
Jamie just glared at him and grunted.
“Don’t worry, then. I’ll do it. Can you get any furniture you can find and prop it up against the windows?”
With her one arm, Jamie motioned toward her empty shoulder and soldiered on anyway, snorting air out of her nose.
“I’m sorry,” Alex pleaded, about to make himself scarce. “We don’t have much time.”
Taking a collection of food parcels, Alex ran for the stairs. By now, he was well used to taking them two at a time. He knocked and let himself in.
He had expected to see Joan laid up in bed, the baby asleep in her arms.
But she stood at the window, rocking the little girl and singing a lullaby.
For a moment, it was all Alex could do to listen in wonder. A woman and her child, watching the snow settle as a soft song echoed around the bedroom. It was almost calm.
“Alex, thank God you’re here. I’ve got so many ideas. We need to act fast, they’re coming.” Joan stopped singing, her voice turning into a tired whisper.
“I know, Joan. I brought you this.” He brandished the food packet. “And this.”
Placing the food on the bed, Alex pulled another present from his pocket. He’d taken it from the backseat of the car. A pistol.
“It’s loaded.” He put it on the bed. “Just in case.”
One gray eye, one blue. Both reddened and weary. Joan stood silently at the window, the candlelight dancing across her face.
“They’re coming, Alex. Thank you.”
Something in her voice told him everything. Alex rushed to the window. He looked out and could see the line of fire Nelson had laid across the field. Shapes moved in front of it. Silhouettes of people.
Alex ran from the room as fast as he could, leaping from the stairs and landing in the kitchen. His knee wailed in agony. No time to dwell on the pain, he told himself. Taking a huge breath, filling his lungs, he shouted for the whole house to hear.
“They’re coming!”
30
They moved across the barren fields, black shapes against the snow. The sound of a hammer driving nails into a wooden board filled the farm house. Every entrance was sealed shut. Alex and everyone else, locked inside, holding off the horde.
As Reni fixed the last planks of wood across the door, Alex stood next to Joan in the bedroom. They had extinguished the candle. Together, they stared through the gaps in the window.
“I could fit the rifle through here,” said Alex, holding the Savage.
There was only one space large enough that Alex could fit both the barrel and the scope through. He had left it like this on purpose. A place to spy. A way to watch them coming.
“Don’t.” Joan held her baby in her arms. Finn danced around her feet, weaving in and out of her legs as she walked around the room. “You’ll wake her up.”
“She’s slept since I got back. Hasn’t said a word.”
It was true. For a baby who’d spent almost every day crying, she had hardly made a sound since returning home.
Through the scope, Alex tracked the people moving acro
ss the field. Nelson’s fire had died. But Levine’s people brought their own. Torches carried in elevated arms, lighting the way forward.
It was impossible to count them. Alex had no idea how many had died in the church explosion. But he could count twenty torches in the fields and could see those moving without them. He trained the crosshairs over each light, finger hovering over the trigger.
“I’m taking a shot.” Alex announced to the room. “Cover her ears.”
Finding a burning torch and aiming at the black shape beneath, Alex found his target. He fired. The torch fell to the ground. Every other light began to scatter.
“I got him.”
“That was so loud, Alex.”
“She’s awake? She’s not crying.”
“She’s awake.”
The door burst open. Timmy ran in.
“What the hell was that, man? We heard a shot?”
“It was me. I think I hit one.”
Timmy walked up to the window, squinting through the slats.
“Here,” said Alex, holding out the rifle for his friend.
“What do you want me to do with it?” Timmy took it anyway.
“Anything you see that moves, you shoot it.”
“That’s it?” Timmy took the gun in his practiced fingers, inspecting every atom of the weapon. For the first time ever, Alex saw an expression on his friend’s face which approached steely determination. None of the sarcasm or the flippancy he’d usually conjure. Just pursed lips, open-eyed resolve.
“Protect the house, Timmy.” Alex looked back to Joan and the baby. “Protect them.”
Leaving his friends behind again, Alex descended the stairs. The whole house was quiet. Most people were alone. Reni and Nelson were the only people sharing a room. They sat in the kitchen, chatting in murmurs.
“You two.” As Alex spoke, they sat up straight. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing much.” Nelson’s gun sat on the table in front of him. “Waiting.”
“Nothing much we can do but wait,” said Reni. “It’s agony.”