by Baker, LJ
"So what are you going to name the baby? If it's a girl I think you should name it Elyssa, and if it's a boy you should totally name it Quinn. But, you should have a girl, because girls are better. Oh my God, what if you have twins? You could have a girl and a boy."
Jay scrubbed his hands over his face and shook his head. "Whoa there, let's not go talking about twins. One baby is more than enough. I think you and Izzy should get to work on the breakfast mess before you head out to dig the last of the potatoes. We need to finish getting everything ready for the winter. It will be here before you know it."
"Fine." Jenny huffed and took Izzy by the hand to start clearing the dishes.
It was amazing how resilient kids could be. Outside our little community was in chaos. The dead ate the living. The living killed each other. The world was a mess, but watching Jenny act like a normal kid gave me hope.
I got up and stretched. The nightmares left me so exhausted that it almost felt like I'd hadn't slept at all. Jay grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the side.
"I want to apologize for yesterday." He leaned against the wall and lowered his eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
"I was kind of a jerk about you leaving Mira. I didn't know she sent you for the pregnancy test. Not that it's any excuse anyway. I shouldn't have talked to you like that, so I'm sorry."
"Don't be daft." I did my best to imitate Dan's Irish accent and waved my hand at him. "You left me to look after her and I wasn't there. You had every right to be angry."
Jay took a deep breath and brought his eyes up to meet mine. "We're a family here now. We all have to look out for each other. I'm just so used to having Mira, then Jenny, as my top concern. It's hard to let people in, ya know?"
Did I ever.
"I know. It's an adjustment." I patted his arm and smiled. "For all of us."
Jay nodded and headed out to work on preps for the winter.
Will walked over and raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?"
"Nothing. He was apologizing for his attitude yesterday. You working with him today, or can I finally get some alone time with you before you're exhausted?" I slipped my arms up his back and into his hair. It was getting long and needed to be cut.
He leaned his head down and brushed his nose against mine. "There is nothing I'd love more than to spend the day alone with you."
"But?"
He brought his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. "But… you know we have to get things settled. Winter will be here soon and then we'll have plenty of time to be alone. I'm looking forward to discovering all the ways we can keep each other warm." He tilted his head and ran his tongue along my bottom lip. "Think maybe you can wait for tonight?" His dipped his tongue into my mouth, but pulled away far too soon.
"Mmhmm." I nodded against his lips, then pressed my mouth to his for one last kiss.
Will took in a sharp breath and pushed back from me. "Okay, that's enough or I will be dragging you back to our room and Jay will be seriously pissed at us both."
"It might be worth it." I batted my eyelashes a few times and smiled, hoping to convince him, though I knew it wouldn't work.
Standing over by the door, Dan cleared his throat loudly and tapped his foot. "Think you two can break it up long enough to get this work done? Some of us get up early to be done with breakfast and get the day started." He rolled his eyes with dramatic flair and tried to stifle a smile.
Dan did his best not to be jealous, but there was only so much he could take before cracking.
"Yeah, yeah." Will kissed the top of my head and headed out the door with Dan.
"Looks like things are getting better with those two." Mira propped her legs up on the chair next to her and stretched her arms over her head.
"Yeah definitely. When Will got infected, it was like all the bad blood between them just melted away. Dan was great with him while he was in the worst of it. I don't think I could have gotten through it without him."
Jenny and Izzy finished cleaning up the breakfast mess and went outside to do the rest of their chores. Jay was big on giving the kids responsibility and to be prepared for their new world, they needed to learn early. It was sad that they'd never have the same kind of carefree childhood that I had at their age, but they were alive, which was better than the alternative.
Mira sat forward and looked at me intently, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know how.
"What?"
She pursed her lips together and paused for a moment. "It's just that… I mean… so how does that work?"
"How does what work?" She wasn't making much sense and I had no clue what she was talking about.
"Will. Like, he was infected, but cured. So, is he immune now? Or can he get infected again?"
I'd wondered the same thing myself.
"I guess. It's not like we're going to test it out, but Derek seems to think so. That's usually how it is with virus, unless the strain changes."
Mira leaned back and ran her hand over her belly. "Hmm. I wonder if that immunity can be passed along, like genetically."
That I hadn't thought about. It made sense though, but since I wasn't immune, I would rather not take the chance.
I was about to get up and get to work on canning some pickles Mira and I made, when Jenny ran back into the cafe, slamming the door behind her.
"Something's wrong." Her face was pale and her eyes opened wide. Dirt fell to the floor from the potato squeezed in her little hand.
Mira and I both jumped to our feet at once. I ran to check Jenny over, while Mira grabbed the shotgun from behind the counter.
"What's wrong? Where's Izzy?" She didn't appear to be hurt, but I inspected her just in case.
Mira stuck her head out the door and looked around, then bent down to Jenny's level and put one hand on her shoulder. "Tell me what happened."
"We were out in the back field for the potatoes and Precious started growling and ran off. Izzy chased her, even though I told her not to." A single tear ran down the girl's cheek and she let the potato in her hand fall to the ground with a thud.
Mira turned to me and handed me the shotgun before Jenny could continue. "Go get the guys."
I wanted to hear the rest of the story, but I did as I was told. They were on the far end of town, but in what seemed like seconds, I was there. Dan noticed me first, and ran to meet me.
"What's wrong?" He grabbed hold of me and looked me over, panicked.
Will and Jay made it to us before I could get any words out of my mouth.
"I don't know. The girls were in the field and Jenny came back. Something happened. Mira said to get you."
By the time we got back to the cafe, Jenny was sitting at the table holding back tears and Mira was gone.
Jay looked around the cafe, panic building on his face. "Where's Mira?"
"She went to find Izzy." Jenny's breath hitched as she wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth.
Jay pulled open a closet behind the counter and grabbed a few shotguns to toss to each of us. "Andi, you stay here with Jenny while—"
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen."
Jay thought about protesting, but shrugged and headed out the door.
We headed straight for the field, but there was no sign of Izzy or Mira. Jay motioned to Will to head around one side of the barn with me, while he and Dan went around the other side. Will grabbed my hand and pulled me along. The barn was a good size so it was impossible to see around it if anyone was hiding behind it.
Jay and Dan cleared the side first and as soon as I peered over Will's shoulder, I saw them standing there, guns pointed. My eyes trailed to what had their aim and my heart sunk in my chest. Izzy was on the ground in a heap, either dead or unconscious. Next to her stood Mira, held still by an enormous tattooed bald guy with his arm around her throat, who looked like he could have easily played a villain in a superhero movie. Behind the big guy, there were two more bald freaks and Tim, the Marlboro ma
n, each with a gun drawn, pointed at us.
"Fancy meeting you all here again." Tim stepped forward and tipped his hat like it was a social visit. "I have a few more friends that you haven't met yet, and I can see, that you have a few more for me as well."
In all the nightmares I'd had, Tim finding us there was never one of them. Then there he was and I couldn't imagine why it hadn't occurred to me sooner.
Jay gripped the shotgun so tight that I could see his knuckles turn white from where I was. I was probably squeezing Will's hand just as much as I stood slightly behind him and waited, not sure how we were going to get ourselves out of our situation.
"We don't want any trouble. Just let her go and get out of here." Jay called over, directing his demand at the beast holding Mira, even though Tim seemed like the one in charge.
Tim took a few steps forward and lowered his weapon like he had nothing to worry about. "Well see, that's going to be a problem. I actually do want trouble. Your little friends here killed a couple of my good friends and I can't just let that go without any consequences."
Tim was a lot more cocky than I remembered, but then having a few pumped up brutes with him gave him the courage he lacked on his own.
"You better just drop your weapons now, unless you want this pretty thing to have her brains all over the ground." Tim ran his hand through Mira's hair and pulled it up to his face to smell.
I was pretty sure Jay was going to pounce on him right then and there, but he kept his cool.
"Even if I were to agree to that, these people here never will." Jay held his gun still and kept his eyes focused on the big guy holding Mira. "See I figure, even if we lose her, the rest of my people will take yours down and we only lose one. My guys are damn good shots."
Jay was acting like losing Mira was worth it to take them all out. He couldn't possibly have meant it, but he was taking a risk. I didn't like it though. I wanted to put a bullet in that bastards head just as much as Jay did, but if it were Will's life on the line, I probably would have dropped my weapon.
Tim leaned his head back and laughed, a deep belly laugh, as if it were the funniest thing he'd heard in a long time. "You think that we just happened upon you here and rushed in? We've been watching you for days and I happen to know that this brown-haired beauty is your wife, so you're not fooling anyone. There's no way you would be willing to sacrifice her for the rest of your group." Tim's smile faded and his face grew serious. "So drop the fucking weapons, or somebody gets dead."
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to take slow breaths into Will's arm. Part of me was hoping it was just a dream, that I would open my eyes and wake up. Will would be perched over me with a smile and it would be just another morning with our new family. But it wasn't a dream. It was real and Mira's life hung in the balance. We couldn't just give up our weapons. They would kill us for sure. But we really didn't have many options. Something had to be done.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
I slipped back behind the barn and took off running toward the cafe. I hoped they didn't notice right away that I was gone, but even if they did, there wasn't much they could do. I was the only one who wasn't out in the open and actually could get away.
Back in the cafe, Jenny cowered in a corner clutching a shot gun that was more than half her size.
"Are they all right?" Her head popped up when she saw me come in.
"No. They are definitely not all right. Listen, we are going to have to do something really scary, and it might possibly get us killed. I can understand if you want to run and try to get away, but if you can be brave, I'd like your help." I looked over the scared girl. She was only thirteen and small for her age. She didn't exactly look like a fighter, but she was going to have to be.
She took a step forward and held the gun tightly. "Wh…what do you need me to do?"
I explained what was going on and she listened with wide eyes.
"So how good of a shot are you?"
"I'm an excellent shot. Jay says I'm a natural." She flashed me a proud smile and for the first time, I thought maybe we had a chance.
"Good. You're going to have to be." I swapped out the shot guns for something smaller and faster. "Okay, so I'm going to go for the one holding Mira and you take out the one in the hat. After that, just aim and shoot. Hopefully, the guys will catch on quick and join in."
"Andi, are you sure about this? We might save Mira, but what about the guys?"
"Yeah, I get it. This is a dangerous plan, but what choice do we have? If we do nothing, they could all die." I couldn't let myself think about that. "At the very least, Will knew I left, so he is probably assuming I'll try something, so at least he will be ready."
Jenny's hands trembled around the gun. "I'm scared."
"Me too." I steadied her by the shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "But this has to work."
I was afraid that I was not only going to get Mira or the guys killed, but Jenny too. I gave her a quick smile in pretend confidence, and lead her toward the barn.
We stayed out of sight as we approached, but my heart thumped in thunderous beats so loud that I was afraid it would give our position away. There was an old tractor east of the barn that would provide cover, if we could get there without being noticed.
"I'm going to try to get back there. You stay near the barn. Get yourself right behind Will and come in low. When I give you the signal, count to three and shoot."
Jenny nodded, her little face pale, but determined.
I hugged her one last time and made my way over to the tractor. The standoff between Tim and the guys kept their attention focused and off me. I wasn't even sure if they'd noticed I'd slipped away.
"This is your last warning," Tim yelled and stepped in front of Mira, blocking my shot to the beast holding her. "Drop the weapons, or she dies."
Dammit.
I had to make a decision fast. Maybe if we took out Tim, one of the guys would react fast enough to get the one holding Mira. But If not, she would be dead.
Tim pulled a knife from his belt and held it up to Mira's throat. I signaled Jenny and hoped for the best.
One.
Two.
Three.
Jenny made the shot and Tim dropped. I fired a split second after her and the bullet sailed through the air smack into the side of the beast's head. There were more shots, and people scattering. I tried to take out another of the bald freaks, but missed twice. Mira threw herself on top of Izzy, who remained still, in a heap on the ground, and Jay ran forward to cover them.
The scene was chaos. Loud pops of guns rang out, deafening me and amping up the confusion. When my gun was empty, I ducked back behind the tractor and hoped for the best. The only one of our group that I could see was Jenny, as she hide on the side of the barn with her back straight against the weathered planks.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a matter of a couple minutes, an eerie quiet spread over the place. I wasn't sure who was alive or dead, other than Tim and the bald freak who had Mira. They were both very dead. As far as our people, or the other two of them, I wasn't sure. I wanted to call out, see if everyone was all right, but with no ammo, I didn't want to tip off my location.
Everything stayed quiet for a good five minutes, before I noticed Will headed in my direction. I stood up, without even thinking, and propelled myself into his arms.
"Is everyone…are they all…?
"As long as there were no more hiding out there, yeah, they're dead. I can't believe you did that. You could have gotten yourself killed." He squeezed me tight against him and rested his chin on my head.
"Is Mira okay?"
"Yes. She's with Jay in the barn." He pushed back to look at me and his eyes told me something was very wrong. "You need to come."
He took my hand and tried to pull me toward the barn.
"Is it Jay? Did he get hit? Oh my God, is it Izzy?" My feet slid along the gravel as he pulled me.
Will turned to plead with me. "No. I n
eed you to walk, Andi."
"Just tell me." I dug my feet down and yanked my hand from his. If he didn't tell me what was going on exactly then, I was sure I'd puke.
"Baby, I'm so sorry. There was so much confusion, and I didn't even notice right away, but…"
The sound of his voice faded and a tingling ran up my arms. Suddenly, I no longer wanted to hear what he had to say. I knew it was bad, worse than I wanted to know.
Will bent down and lifted me over his shoulder. If he hadn't, I probably would have passed out anyway. He carried me into the barn and set me on my feet, but kept a hand on me to make sure I stayed upright.
Izzy and Jenny sat on a bale of hay and hugged each other, crying. Blood trickled down Izzy's head, but it didn't look life threatening. Jay cradled Mira in his arms only a few feet from the girls. Fat, wet tears ran down Jay's face as Mira stroked his face to comfort him. He'd come so close to losing her and I understood the rush of emotions that he felt having her safe again.
At first, it didn't click. My eyes scanned the room and I saw our friends safe, albeit a bit banged up, but alive. I turned back to Will, confused.
"But, everyone is all—"
Will turned me around and I nearly dropped to the floor right there. Dan was spread out on some hay, his middle blood-soaked, as he held a filthy towel against his wound.
I took the few steps to him and fell to my knees on the hard floor. It never occurred to me that it would be Dan. It couldn't be. He would always be there, he promised me.
"Hey sweetheart." Dan forced a smile and coughed.
"You were shot?" I wanted to lift the old rag and see how bad it was, but I couldn't bring myself to touch it. My head spun and my stomach twisted around itself, threatening to eject its contents.