No Shelter Trilogy (Omnibus, Books 1-3)

by T. S. Welti

  “Damn it!” she shrieks.

  Isaac crouches down so their faces are level. “Mary, I know all this stuff between us is because I hurt you. And I know that even though we were clear on the terms, it’s impossible to not let emotions get in the way. I was wrong to ask that of you… I’m sorry.”

  Wow… he is really good.

  He reaches for her hand and she stuffs her hands into her pockets. “Come on, Mary. I’m on my knees here,” he says. “What more do you need?”

  She finally looks up with a wicked glint in her eyes. “I want you to describe in detail what we did the last time we were together.”

  Isaac stares at her for a moment before he stands. “Come on, Nada. Let’s go.”

  “I guess he doesn’t want you to know,” Mary says, with a shrug.

  Isaac takes a few steps before he looks back. “Don’t listen to any of this, Nada. She’s just trying to get inside your head.”

  I sometimes wonder how I’m still alive, considering Mary had hundreds of opportunities to kill me in my sleep. I understand her hostility toward Isaac, but I had nothing to do with what he did to her. I didn’t ask Isaac to keep their relationship in the shadows or to leave Mary for me. He left her before he even attempted to be with me. Yet, somehow, I’m the one she seems intent on mentally torturing. I almost wish she would use her knife on me instead.

  “Just get it over with,” I say to him.

  “No way,” he says. “I’m not torturing you for her sick pleasure.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” I reply. “We can’t make it there without her.”

  “I’d rather die.”

  “Would you rather I die?”

  Mary watches us going back and forth as if she’s watching a sporting match.

  Isaac pulls me aside. “Nada, this isn’t something you can undo.”

  “What are you so afraid of?” I say. “I’m not naïve. I think I know what to expect.”

  “She’s trying to break us up and you’re playing right into her little scheme.”

  “I don’t care anymore. Maybe it will help to get it out there. I’m tired of her acting like there’s some big secret I’m not in on. I want this over with.”

  “This isn’t as simple as pulling off a bandage. It’s more like sticking the knife in and twisting the handle.”

  “Geez, what did you two do together?”

  “Please don’t do this.”

  “Just make it quick,” I say.

  Isaac motions to the log for me to sit, but I take a seat on the ground instead. I need to maintain some sense of control before this begins.

  Isaac takes a deep breath. “We had a place we always went to,” he begins, but he’s not looking at Mary or me.

  “Our spot,” Mary says with a satisfied grin.

  I immediately think of the cliff where Isaac and I used to sit and watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean—before Mary came along. We called it our spot. Please don’t let that be their spot.

  Isaac can see my thoughts racing. “It was an abandoned barn,” he says, and my shoulders relax. “Do you want me to stop?”

  I shake my head because I’m afraid if I try to speak strange sounds will come out.

  “We went to the barn and…” Isaac pauses.

  This is the last pause he’ll take for the next five minutes as he attempts to rattle off every detail of his and Mary’s final encounter at record speed. By the end of his story I feel sick.

  I rise and take one last look at Mary before I walk away. Isaac holds out his hand to me, but I pass him up and venture into the forest alone.

  The three of us hike in silence for five hours, only speaking to convey directions or to help each other up a steep hill. When the sun begins to set we dedicate our efforts, and the few words we share, to finding shelter.

  I make it to the top of the hill before Isaac and Mary. The view of the brilliant red sunset takes my breath away. Isaac stands next to me in silence. I know he’s thinking of the countless sunsets we shared before Mary. All I can think as I gaze at this dazzling sky is there is beauty left in this withered world.

  I want to collapse on this hill and never move, but that’s not an option. I can’t let Mary’s emotional terrorism shatter me. I can’t allow their past to affect such destruction on my future.

  Isaac didn’t want me to regret making love to him. I wish I had heeded his concern because right now the regret is palpable.

  We find a small overhang of rock to camp out beneath. Isaac clears the snow out from beneath the ledge and sets my backpack and Daedric’s sleeping bag on the ground. Mary drops her backpack and sleeping bag and now the ever-burning question of who will share a sleeping bag must be answered.

  “I’m going to get some firewood,” Isaac says. “Can you come with me?”

  Isaac wants me to help him. He actually expects me to help him.

  “I’ll be back,” he says, when I don’t answer.

  I can sit here and feel sorry for myself or I can be a big girl and go help him look for firewood. I trudge after him and he stops at the sound of my footsteps.

  We gather wood in silence, breaking branches from parched trees and gathering stones to contain the fire.

  “I… I don’t think there are enough words to express how sorry I am for what happened back there,” Isaac says.

  “It’s over,” I say with a shrug.

  “It’s not over,” he says. “You can’t even look at me.”

  I turn around to head back toward the campsite. I hear Isaac drop the stones he’s been carrying and he cuts me off.

  “Please look at me, Nada,” he begs.

  I don’t want to look at him and see him doing the things he just described with Mary. I don’t want to look at him and think that what we did last night was ridiculously simple for him.

  I don’t want to look at him and see myself through his eyes. I must have seemed so naïve and inexperienced last night and I hate myself for even caring what he thinks.

  “Please don’t let her win,” he says.

  I look up and my stomach turns. I throw up all over his boots. He scoots out of the way and holds my hair back as more bits of partially digested hawk spew from my mouth all over the snow.

  I drop the branches on the ground and sink to my knees. Isaac crouches next to me and puts his hand on my forehead.

  “You have a fever,” he says, before he scoops me up into his arms and carries me back to the campsite.

  He lays me down and unrolls Daedric’s sleeping bag for me to get inside. An hour later, the fire is roaring as he hands me a chunk of willow bark to chew on for the fever.

  Mary gets inside her sleeping bag without a word to anyone and turns away from us. I watch Isaac tend the fire for over an hour as I try not to get splinters of willow bark between my teeth. I wonder if he’s ever going to ask if he can sleep with me. Is it possible Isaac is ashamed of himself?

  “Isaac?” I whisper hoarsely. “Come to bed.”

  He looks like a man who has just come home after watching all his friends die on the battlefield: relieved yet full of regret. This is the Isaac I met two and a half years ago at Whitmore High School.

  He slides into the sleeping bag behind me and we watch the fire flicker away under the moonlight. It seems an eternity of silence is what lies in store for Isaac and me. I close my eyes and try to shut off my mind.

  Isaac leans forward and whispers in my ear. “I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

  I turn over in the sleeping bag to face him. “Making up for what?” I say. “What happened between you two is your business. Yes, I’m a little hurt, but not by you. Yes, I’m a little shocked, but that’s not your fault. Please, Isaac, just give me some time to process this.”

  “I just don’t want to lose you again.”

  “I know.”

  I turn my gaze back to the star-filled sky. I think of how Isaac must have felt watching me with Daedric. After a few minutes of contemplation, I r
each back and grab Isaac’s hand to wrap his arm around me.

  Isaac was right. Nothing is simple anymore… but everything was much simpler with Daedric.

  CHAPTER 17

  Self-preservation is an amazing instinct. When all is said and done, and you must choose to save yourself or someone else, your mind can determine in a split second how important that person is to you. A split second is all it takes to decide how you feel about someone when the barrel is pointed in your direction. If only prolonged survival situations provoked such efficient decision-making, maybe then I wouldn’t question why I’m trying to save Eve and Elysia—and one of Isaac’s former conquests.

  I think Mary is verging on another cutting session. I can see the despondency in her eyes as she stares into oblivion every time we stop to rest. She hates herself for what she’s done, and I’m still too traumatized to forgive her.

  It takes us five days of excruciating hikes to get within ten miles of the cabin. We feast on the last bit of rabbit from this morning’s hunt and retire to our sleeping bags. One more night of peace before we dive into the snake pit tomorrow.

  I wake first and immediately unzip the sleeping bag so I can get the fire started.

  Isaac grabs my waist. “Wait.”

  He’s going to say something corny like, “No matter what happens today, I will always love you.”

  “What?”

  “I want you to stay here and wait for us,” he says as I turn to face him. “I’ve been thinking about it all night and… we need a lookout. We need someone to stay behind in case this doesn’t work.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “No, I’m not. I don’t want you to go. You can stay here and if we don’t make it back by tomorrow night you can head back to the cave.”

  “Trying to protect me is one thing, Isaac, but I don’t need you to treat me like a child.”

  “Fine. But I want you to know—”

  “I already know.”

  “You’re not going to let me say it?”

  “No.”

  He stares at me for a moment before he continues undeterred. “If anything happens today,” he says, “If they take you—and if I make it out alive—I want you to know that I won’t abandon you.”

  He won’t leave me behind the way I left him behind in the Salton Sea. The cynical side of me wants to believe this is Isaac’s way of taking a stab at me for my betrayal, but I know in my heart he’s being sincere.

  “Thank you,” I say.

  He glances at my lips and leans forward slowly. This is the first time he’s attempted to kiss me in six days. As our lips connect a wave of emotion surges through my body. Why must I lose all sense of reality every time Isaac touches me?

  There’s a profound urgency in this kiss. It’s our way of saying to each other, “No matter what happens, I will always love you.”

  We walk in a straight line with Isaac in front brandishing Mary’s machete. I’m in the middle carrying my five-inch blade with the jade handle and Mary brings up the rear with a small knife in her right hand and medium knife in her left. At a distance, my knife-throwing skills aren’t terrible. But in a hand-to-hand combat situation, I’ll ditch the knife faster than Mary will ditch me.

  Isaac keeps glancing back at me to make sure I haven’t disappeared. He freezes at every crackling or crunching sound in the forest. We have no way of knowing how far from the cabin the Guardians have set up a perimeter.

  We decide to approach from the eastern side so we can get a view of the cabin from across the lake. We take cover behind the trunk of a redwood tree. The midafternoon sun reflects on the surface of the frozen lake. In the midst of this dusky white scene, the two Guardians standing in the front and back of the cabin stick out like ants in a bowl of sugar.

  “We’ll wait until the sun goes down then we’ll move in from the south,” Isaac says.

  Mary looks confused.

  “The south…” I say. “That’s the backside of the cabin.”

  “Oh.”

  “You should take out the first guard with a knife to the neck,” Isaac says to Mary. “Can you handle that?”

  She raises her eyebrows. “Uh… yes, I can handle that, but what if it doesn’t kill him? We don’t know how many more Guardians are inside the cabin.”

  “There can’t be more than four or five of them,” he replies. “He knows he won’t be able to pass himself off in Umbra if he’s surrounded by an army of thugs.”

  “I think he should be more worried about passing himself off with just one hand,” I say.

  Mary chuckles a little before she realizes she’s laughing at something I’ve said. She walks away to practice her knife-throwing skills on a tree.

  When the sun has set, we begin making our way around the lake toward the backside of the cabin.

  The frozen lake gives off an eerie blue glow under the moonlight. It never feels good to know there’s a distinct possibility you may die soon, but our chances of survival tonight seem even more dismal than usual. My stomach is clenched so tightly I doubt a bullet could penetrate me.

  “Don’t forget to watch out for Eve’s traps,” I whisper.

  I told Eve to set up traps for potential intruders, but, unlike some animals, humans must be lured into a trap. If the Guardians showed up unannounced, it’s possible they haven’t stumbled upon the traps.

  Mary creeps through the snow. She grasps her switchblade firmly in her right hand preparing to heave it into the throat of the first Guardian we come across. We pass a collection of stones, which appear completely out of place. I grab Mary’s arm before she steps near them.

  “What’s your problem?” she whispers, yanking her arm out of my grip.

  I point at the stones and she stares at them for a moment before she understands.

  “Thanks,” she mutters, as she skirts around the stones and keeps moving.

  The guy standing guard in the back of the cabin is a stubby guy with a bald head, just like Vic. If it weren’t for the fact this guy has both his hands wrapped around an assault rifle, it might be him. We’re close enough to see his foggy breath has formed a frozen white stain on the black bandanna that covers his mouth.

  “Are you ready?” Isaac asks Mary.

  She stares at the ground as she collects herself. “I’m ready.”

  Isaac and I are right behind her as she creeps around the tree where we’re hiding. He sees movement from the corner of his eye and looks right at us. Mary’s arm is a blur as she flicks the knife in his direction. He doesn’t even have time to lift his rifle before the knife hits him square in the eye. He collapses face first into the snow.

  “Crap!” Mary whispers. “I missed.”

  We creep quietly toward the Guardian and I slip the strap of his rifle off his body as Isaac turns him over and checks his pulse.

  “Nice shot,” he whispers.

  He pulls the knife out of the guys socket and his eyeball comes out with it.

  Isaac whispers a few curse words as he slides the eyeball off the knife and wipes the blade clean before he hands it to Mary. “Give me the gun.”

  I hand Isaac the rifle and he straps it on. “Do you know how to use that?” I ask.

  “Can’t be that hard,” he replies, as he creeps toward the rear corner of the cabin.

  My heart is beating out of my chest. This is it.

  Isaac turns the corner fast, but the tall guy standing on this side is quicker. He shoots at Isaac a split second before Isaac pulls his trigger. The force of the rifle and the impact of the bullet hitting his forearm spin Isaac. I glance at the Guardian who shot him and he’s down.

  I pull off my scarf and hastily tie it around the crook of Isaac’s arm as a crude tourniquet. Isaac turns around just as a chubby guy in a black bandanna rounds the corner from the front of the cabin. Mary pitches her knife at him and this time it hits him square in the throat. He doesn’t go down. I drop my blade and my instincts take over.

  I sprint forward and he reaches
for his rifle as I leap at him. I tackle him to the ground and ram the butt of my hand into his nose. The sound of his nose cracking snaps me out of my frenzy. Isaac pulls me off the chubby Guardian and shoves me behind him.

  I hear the sound of the cabin door opening then someone trampling the snow, but we can’t see who it is from this side of the house.

  “Isaac?” Eve calls out, and I can tell she’s crying.

  The tall guy Isaac shot begins to stir and Mary kicks him in the head. This is repulsive. I know it’s us versus them, but the idea of killing another human being is making me sick.

  Isaac creeps toward the front of the house and I grab the back of his jacket, partially to stop him and partially to keep from collapsing.

  “It’s a trap. Don’t turn the corner,” I whisper.

  “Eve, are you alone?” Isaac calls out.

  “I’m with Qiana… and Elysia’s inside,” she answers.

  “How about Vic?” Isaac shouts back.

  “I’m right here!” Vic’s deep voice calls out. “I’m ready when you are!”

  “You’re the only one left, Vic!” Isaac shouts. “Just let them go and we’ll let you go!”

  Vic doesn’t respond.

  “Come on, man!” Isaac shouts. “This is your chance—”

  “Isaac! He’s coming—”

  Qiana’s cries are cut short by a booming gunshot. Isaac charges out from behind the wall with Mary and I right behind him. Vic has Eve in a headlock with an enormous handgun pointed at her head. Qiana lies motionless at their feet.

  “Oh, my god,” I whisper, but it’s Mary who vomits.

  Isaac and Vic stand frozen in a genuine standoff. Eve’s face is the picture of terror, but she doesn’t make a sound as Vic holds his thick arm with the stump against her throat. He begins to back away toward the forest.

  “I’m taking this sweet little thing with me!” he shouts. “You can keep the rest of them! This one’s mine!”

  He keeps backing away further and suddenly the expression of terror in Eve’s eyes turns to shock. I glance behind her and see another cluster of rocks partially covered with snow.

  “Don’t move!” I shout, but Vic keeps backing away.

  Eve slithers out from beneath his forearm and runs toward us. Vic takes a shot at her, but he misses. He must be right-handed. He can’t aim with his left hand. Mary and I run to Eve as Vic disappears into the forest.