The Red Sky Series (Book 2): Blue Cloud

by Greene, Kellee L.

  “You won’t. Give me your shoulder.”

  I leaned down, and he placed his hand on my shoulder. He had most, if not all of his weight on his good leg.

  When he was standing a smile curled onto his face. “See, I’m doing better already. Bet you’d never even guess I’d been shot less than twenty-four hours ago.”

  I widened my eyes and stared at him before shaking my head. At least his positive attitude would probably help speed up his healing.

  “Should I try taking a step?” Nick asked, uncertainty saturating his tone.

  “I don’t know,” I said chewing on the inside of my cheek. “Maybe give it another day or two, you don’t want to make it worse.”

  Nick winced as he tried to put a little more weight on his bad leg. “Maybe you’re right.” I tightened my grip on him and helped ease him back down onto the sofa. “Tomorrow. I’ll try again tomorrow.”

  I smiled, but Nick didn’t smile back. He’d worn himself out. “Do you want more of the pain medicine?”

  “Someone like me probably shouldn’t.”

  “I don’t think you’re going to have problems with the generic over the counter stuff we have.”

  “I guess,” he said turning his head to the side and closing his eyes. Every bit of optimism he’d had only minutes ago, seemed to have vanished.

  I nodded at him even though he didn’t see me and left the room. Blair was already standing several feet away from the door holding a bottle of water and three pills.

  “I’ll bring them to him,” she said without looking at me.

  “Thanks,” I said even though I was slightly annoyed she’d been listening in. Maybe I shouldn’t have been annoyed. With all the time she was spending with him, it was pretty obvious she actually cared about him. She probably would do a far better job of taking care of him than I ever could.

  I sat down on my blanket and watched Bronx as he paced in front of the door. It felt as though I’d been watching him for an eternity before he crouched down and pulled the blanket out from the crack at the bottom of the door.

  His fingertips glided back and forth across his forehead as he stared at the small gap between the floor and the bottom of the door. Bronx opened his mouth, but then started to pace again.

  “I’m going to check on the situation,” Bronx finally announced. He turned to me, his gaze as sharp as a blade. “Alone.”

  The left side of my face turned upward into a cocky smile. I shook my head before tilting it to the side. “Try to stop me.”

  He chuckled but stopped abruptly. The slight smile he’d worn for a moment instantly disappeared. “Where’s that rope?”

  “Funny.”

  “Who said I’m joking?” There was a long hesitation before he looked away. “I’ll be quick.”

  I stepped up next to him, ignoring both his stare and the one I could feel from Jamie piercing me through the back.

  “You’re not going alone. What if something goes wrong?” I asked leaning closer to him. The intoxicating woodsy scent of his deodorant filled my nostrils. My mind flashed back to our kiss. It almost felt as though it had happened a lifetime ago. And to two very different people.

  Bronx looked at me, and I wondered if he was thinking about the same moment. He swallowed and pointed at the gun on his hip. Nick’s gun.

  A gun wasn’t going to drag him back into the storage room if he passed out or whatever the poisons out there could do.

  “Let’s go then,” I said taking a step forward. He held up his arm to block me, but then lowered it.

  “I’ll lead.”

  I shrugged. “If you must.”

  He pulled the gun out of his waistband and looked at Danny over his shoulder. “Watch the door.”

  “You got it,” Danny said bouncing forward on the balls of his feet.

  “But stay in here,” Bronx reminded him.

  “Of course,” Danny said standing to the side of the door.

  Bronx sucked in a deep breath and released it quickly. He slowly opened the door and peeked out. I followed him as he stepped out into the main room.

  I jumped when Danny closed the door behind us. Bronx’s spine relaxed, and he lowered the gun as he looked around the sunlit room.

  The cloud that had trapped us inside was gone. It was like it hadn’t ever existed.

  Shannon’s body was still lying on the floor where we’d left it. When we got closer to the door, I could see another body in the distance, and I knew without a doubt that it was Monica.

  “They hadn’t made it far,” Bronx said.

  “If they had, Jamie wouldn’t have ever made his way back.”

  “I’m still surprised he did.”

  Bronx opened the front door and stepped out in front of the building. I followed him, paying close attention to my body.

  “You okay?” Bronx asked noticing me lightly touching near my collarbone.

  “Yeah,” I said sounding surprised. “I’m totally fine. You?”

  Bronx didn’t answer. He didn’t even move. I stared into his eyes until I realize he was looking at something over my shoulder.

  My voice felt as though it was stuck in my throat as I spun on my heel to face whatever was behind me. I almost choked on air when I saw what he was looking at.

  “Holy crap,” I said watching as the massive blue-gray cloud moved across the ground heading to wipe out whatever was left behind us. “It’s moving so fast.”

  “The wind I guess… or maybe it’s just really, really big.”

  “What is it?” I asked even though I knew Bronx didn’t have the answer.

  His shoulders tensed up toward his ears. “Death.” Bronx drew in a breath, and his body relaxed slightly. “Guess we should tell the others.”

  I nodded, but a sourness bubbled up to the back of my throat. The cloud may be gone, but we couldn’t leave. There was no way Nick was ready.

  Nineteen

  We were all squeezed inside of the office. Nick was sitting up on the sofa, but I could tell he would have rather been lying down.

  “Well, that’s good news,” Nick said, taking a look at each one of us. “So why do you all look like someone died?”

  He chuckled, but it turned into a cough. Bronx stroked the long stubble on his chin as he stared at Nick.

  “You too? I’m not dying,” Nick said staring at Bronx.

  “I know,” Bronx said.

  “You know,” Nick said inching himself forward, “I have an idea.”

  My eyes were rolling before he finished his sentence. Nick’s good ideas were few and far between.

  “Well?” Bronx said tapping his foot.

  “Okay,” Nick said, clapping his hands together. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to get back on track.”

  My shoulders tensed and I rubbed the back of my neck. If someone didn’t remind him about his leg, I was going to have to do it, and I really didn’t want to be the one to do it.

  “We?” Bronx asked.

  “Well, I was thinking that you guys could get started, and I’ll catch up in a few days. I know how important it is to Gwen to get moving—”

  “What? I mean, of course, it is, but we aren’t going to just leave you here,” I said throwing my hand into the air.

  Nick held up his palm as he shook his head. “I’ll catch up in a few days.”

  I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. It wasn’t even a few seconds before I started laughing.

  “You’re crazy,” I said. “We’ll be fine, all of us, waiting here until you’re better. There is no way we’re going to separate.”

  “No,” Blair said biting her lip. “Nick’s right. You guys should go ahead.”

  I didn’t blink as my gaze shifted over to Blair. “Lovely, you’re both insane.”

  “Gwen,” Nick said reaching out for my hand, but I stepped back. “Grandma might need you. We’re already behind schedule.”

  “We had a schedule?” I asked.

  “You’re overreact
ing,” Nick said.

  I could feel my blood starting to boil. It was scalding every inch of my body. I drew in a deep breath.

  “I am not overreacting,” my voice was shaking.

  “Calm down,” Nick said.

  “Calm down?” My voice raised several octaves. “Calm down? Oh, I’m plenty calm. This idea of yours is just stupid, and it’s not going to happen.”

  Nick glanced up at Blair and then Bronx. “Could I have a few minutes with my sister?”

  “They don’t need to leave. Anything you’re going to say to me, you can say in front of them.” I could feel my heartbeat racing so fast it was shaking my body.

  “I just want you to think about it. Grandma might need you more than I do,” Nick said. “You know, I wouldn’t tell you to go if I didn’t think you’d be okay. We can’t be that far.”

  “You’re out of your mind. It’s at least another fifty miles!” Gwen said.

  Nick swallowed, and his eyes met with Jamie’s for a split second.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “What was what?” Nick asked.

  “That look.”

  Nick rubbed his palms together. “I trust him to get you there.”

  My eyes narrowed as I looked back and forth between them. My eyes settled on Jamie’s. “You talked with him about this?”

  There was a long silence before Jamie’s eyes darted to the side wall before he turned them back on me. He ran his hand through his hair.

  “We did,” Jamie said.

  “And you think this is a good idea?” I asked.

  Jamie shrugged.

  “Well, it’s a terrible idea,” I said before storming out of the office. I blew right out of the storage room and didn’t stop until I was standing outside facing the gas pumps.

  I rested my back against the wall pressing my hands against my chest. My lungs felt tight, but it wasn’t because of anything that the fog cloud had left behind. It was from stress. Nick had lost his mind.

  I let myself slide down to the ground. The cloud was even further in the distance, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It didn’t seem real even though I was staring right at it.

  The sound of footsteps softly tapping the floor alerted me to the fact that someone was coming. I didn’t want to look. At least one thing I knew for certain was that it probably wasn’t Nick.

  “Hey,” Jamie said peeking around the corner. He looked apprehensive about stepping outside. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine. Wait, that’s a lie. I’m pissed off.”

  Jamie chuckled. “I appreciate your honesty.” He slowly stepped out and stood next to me. I knew without looking his eyes were on the cloud. “Hope you aren’t pissed at me.”

  I shook my head.

  “Nick?” He asked.

  “Bullseye.”

  “Wait, maybe I should be pissed at you too,” I said remembering that Nick and Jamie had discussed the plan and Jamie had been on board.

  A small frown sprouted on Jamie’s face. “He’s looking out for you.”

  “It’s better if we all stay together.”

  “Who knows how long it’s going to take for his injury to heal. Could be weeks.”

  “Right. Exactly,” I said looking up at Jamie. “And he said it was no big deal and he’d be right behind us. Nonsense.”

  Gravel crushed under Jamie's feet as he took a step back and leaned against the building. “Well, if you want to wait, we’ll wait. I just know you've been wanting to get to your grandma’s house for a while and I know a bit about how you feel about Nick.”

  “I never wanted to abandon him,” I said staring at my fingers. Abandoning him was exactly what I'd done. He pushed and pushed with all his screw-ups, but I was the one that gave up. Dammit.

  I'd messed up our relationship just as much as he had. I blamed him for everything. Part of me still did, but I couldn't do it again. Especially considering it was likely, he was the only family I had left.

  “He might have been an asshole, but I'm not leaving him. I’m not going to be an asshole too,” I said twisting my neck to look up at Jamie. Random items inside the building crunched as someone made their way through the gas station.

  Danny stepped out and spotted us instantly. “Bronx wants you guys to come back inside.”

  “Now I can’t even get some air?” I asked taking out how I was feeling on Danny.

  “That’s what he’s worried about,” Danny said.

  I shook my head and narrowed my eyes at him.

  “He’s worried that the air isn’t all that fresh,” Danny said shoving his hands in his pockets. “Come on. Come inside.”

  I exhaled slowly. “Tell him I’ll come in when I’m ready.”

  “Actually, I can’t do that. He said I couldn’t go back in without you.”

  “Of course he did,” I said lowering my head.

  I groaned and pushed my hands down on the ground. The tiny pebbles pressed against my palms.

  My head tipped back as I stood, letting the sunlight soak into my skin. I turned to Danny and jerked my chin toward the door.

  “The air is fine,” I said.

  “You should come inside and tell him that,” Danny said with a smile. He turned, and Jamie shook his head as he followed Danny to the door.

  I was tempted to make a run for it, just temporarily, so I could have time to myself. I couldn’t think clearly with everyone around, and that was exactly what I needed to do. Think.

  “Stop!” someone said.

  Danny and Jamie both stopped in their tracks. They looked at me with a confused look on their face.

  The voice hadn’t sounded like Bronx, and it definitely hadn’t been Blair. I spun on my heel and swallowed hard.

  Standing there looking at us was five heavily armed men. The one in front had his gun aimed at me, and the other four had their weapons aimed at Jamie and Danny.

  “What are you doing here?” the one in front asked. He had a black bandana wrapped around his head holding his long black scraggly hair in place.

  “We were hiding out from the cloud,” I said narrowing my eyes. “How about you?”

  “Following the cloud,” he said. The man in the bandana glanced toward the gas station. “You three alone?”

  “Yes,” I answered quickly. Possibly too quickly.

  The man looked me up and down. I started to cross my arms in front of my chest, but he tightened the grip on his gun.

  “No sudden movements,” he grinned. “Makes me twitchy.” The guy didn’t take his eyes off of mine. “Anything left in there?”

  I shook my head. “It was looted before we got here.”

  “So where are you headed?” the man asked.

  “Nowhere in particular,” Jamie said. “Just trying to survive this shit like everyone else.”

  I turned slightly and looked at Jamie out of the corner of my eye. The man’s eyes quickly darted over to Monica’s body and then back at us.

  “What’s that all about?” he asked.

  “No idea,” I lied.

  “We have a safe place, not too far off, what do you say about joining us?” the man with the bandana asked.

  I flashed him a smile. “We’re good. Thanks.”

  “What if I wasn’t so much asking?” The man with the bandana grinned. He smirked at me. “I’m straight up telling you how it’s going to be.”

  My body tensed and it made the man’s lips tighten. He liked the fact that he was getting under my skin.

  The man jerked his head to the area behind the cloud. “If you don’t want them to join you, they can stay behind, but you’re definitely coming with us.”

  “No, we’re all together. You take one, you get us all,” Jamie answered taking a small step closer to me.

  The smile grew bigger on the man’s face. “Well, then it’s my lucky day. Let’s go.”

  Twenty

  We were walking in the same direction we needed to go which was a good thing, at least I hoped it was, but it
was the only good thing. I had no idea how we were going to get away from the armed men, and I hoped we were doing the right thing by leaving the others behind.

  I could have mentioned Blair, Bronx, and Nick but I was too worried about what they would have done to them. It’s bad enough I don’t know what they’ll do to us. Maybe they would have left Nick behind… alone. Maybe they would have killed them.

  We were lucky that they didn’t insist on checking inside. Both Danny and Jamie walked close to me. Neither of them said a word, but I knew they were both wondering how we were going to get away.

  I almost laughed but somehow managed to hold it in. Jamie seemed to notice when I covered my mouth to disguise the strange hiccup-like noise that escaped from between my lips.

  “What was that?” Jamie asked leaning toward me.

  “Guess I’m leaving him behind anyway,” I said glancing over my shoulder to make sure the guys leading us away hadn’t heard. I wanted to look back at the gas station to see if I could see Bronx or Blair watching us being led away, but I didn’t dare.

  I slowed my pace to catch up with the man with the bandana. He looked at me, his eyebrows squeezed together tightly.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “Told you we have a place,” the man said.

  I nodded. “What kind of place?”

  “The kind where you’ll be safe.” The man looked me up and down. “You sure like to ask a lot of questions, don’t you? The others that join us are a lot more thankful.”

  “The others?”

  “Another question.” He grinned as he looked down at his feet. The man turned back to me and sighed.

  I shrugged. “Is it so wrong to know where I’m being taken against my will?”

  “Against your will? Aw, come on. I didn’t think you were one of those.”

  “One of those?”

  “Can you even talk without asking a question?”

  I raised my brows and shrugged again. It didn’t seem as though I was going to get anywhere with him.

  “One of those who doesn’t want to be helped. I’m taking you to a safe place with other people looking to restart. You don’t even realize how lucky you are.”