The Phoenix Curse (Book 3): After

by D. R. Johnson

  Her avoidance crushed me. I had needed her then as much as I needed her now, and she was shutting me out. Anger welled over the hurt, and I growled as I repeated myself. "I won't leave her."

  Ali paused but never turned to face me. I saw the tilt of her head as she nodded. "Okay."

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  The soft click of the door stung. She was gone. I blinked away angry tears and slapped the couch in my frustration. A cloud of dust rose into the air. Above the sound of running water, Stephanie sang something in the shower I didn't recognize.

  Okay, I thought, hearing Ali's last word repeat in my head. What did she even mean by that? Okay?

  "I won't leave her," I said to the empty air, walking to the balcony. I looked over the ruined city but didn't actually see it. My thoughts raced.

  Why wouldn't she talk to me? We never talked about Sweetwater, at least not about her leaving me. I didn't blame her for what happened there. It wasn't her fault, but I think she believed it was. Just like she thought it was her fault Seth was gone. That was another thing she would never talk to me about.

  The thoughts whirled in my head as my eyes glazed over. Before me stood the empty hotels of Las Vegas, all eerie and lifeless, but I no longer cared. Earlier, a part of me wanted to be out there, exploring and imagining what it was like before the world was infected, but that longing was gone now. The argument with Ali had silenced that part of me.

  The water shut off, and I rubbed the palms of my hands over my face, hoping to hide the signs of my stress. I spent the next few minutes trying to calm myself down. When the door cracked open, I thought I was ready.

  Stephanie poked her head out, looking around the room. When she spotted me, I wondered why she was blushing.

  "Where's Ali?"

  "She went to grab our things." My voice sounded level, almost cheerful. I was able to force a convincing smile.

  "Good!" Stephanie laughed, slipping out the door. She had wrapped herself in a fluffy bathrobe that swallowed her. Even her pregnancy was hidden underneath the thick material. "I don't have anything to wear. I thought about it before I jumped in, but I didn't care. I just couldn't wait! I figured the robe would be okay for a while, anyway."

  She carried a towel out with her and began to run it over her wet hair. "It was so wonderful! I feel so much better now."

  "Good," I said. The firmness that had been in my voice was gone, and I was lucky it didn't crack. All of the anger had fled as soon as I realized Stephanie was telling me she was naked under her robe. She casually came around one side of the couch, while I swiftly went in the other direction, keeping the couch between us. I said, "Think I'll give it a try now."

  At least that's what I tried to say. The jumble of words that fell out of my mouth didn't even come close, and I didn't bother taking the time to correct myself. I fled the living room and groaned once I was safely behind the bathroom door. I looked in the mirror, having to wipe away the steam. My reddened cheeks seemed to flame in the reflection.

  And Stephanie was laughing out there.

  Then it struck me. I plucked at my shirt, realizing I would have to wait for Ali to get back with some clean clothes, or I'd be walking around naked in a bathrobe too.

  You dumbass! I groaned at myself, slumping to the floor and leaning my head against the wall. No wonder she was laughing, and now I was trapped. I kicked at the pile of Stephanie's dirty clothes and wondered how long it would take Ali to get back.

  It apparently took a lot longer than I was willing to wait. I decided that I could at least slip my pants back on after I was clean, and as soon as I felt the hot water running over me, I didn't regret my decision at all.

  Nearly thirty minutes later, I stepped out of the bathroom wearing my dirty pants and a towel wrapped around my shoulders. My hair was getting long, and I needed something for the water that dripped from the wet strands. I was surprised to find Stephanie dressed, and a pile of our things strung out on the couch, but no Ali.

  "Where is she?" I asked as I grabbed my pack to pull out some fresh clothes.

  "She went to shower in Meg's room since you were taking so long." Stephanie smirked at me, but it faded quickly. "She seemed... upset."

  "What?" I said, pausing to look up at her.

  Stephanie shrugged, "I don't know. Sometimes she just seems angry."

  "What did she say?"

  "Nothing other than she was going to shower in the other room." Stephanie walked into the kitchen, her hand trailing over the counter tops. She smiled and changed the subject. "Isn't this place wonderful?"

  I nodded in agreement, but my attention was on other things. Something I hadn't even considered. What if Stephanie wanted to stay here? What would I do then?

  And was Ali so upset over our conversation that she couldn't hide it from Stephanie?

  That was my fault. I hadn't stopped to consider anything before I had snapped at her. The guilt settled into my stomach along with the overwhelming urge to make sure Ali was okay. I dressed quickly, then listened to Stephanie yammer on about how great our new room was, every word driving home the point that I was wrong.

  The guilt grew heavier, and I felt nauseated by the time Ali returned. She was clean, but drained, and it pained me to see the fake smile she put on for Stephanie. I could hear the tightness in her voice. "Everyone feel better?"

  "Yes! I feel fabulous!" Stephanie exclaimed, bouncing up and down she was so excited.

  "Are you ready then?" Ali asked, trying to sound chipper. Stephanie didn't notice the strain in Ali's voice.

  "Yes!" Stephanie started for the door. "I can't wait to meet her!"

  Ali didn't meet my eyes until Stephanie was beyond us. Then, her glance was so quick, it was over before I could catch her attention. There was nothing left for me to do but follow.

  Ali led us to the door that Meg had called the play room and knocked.

  "Come in," came from the other side. I nervously scrubbed a hand through my damp hair as I walked through the doorway.

  Meg greeted us, smiling wide. She motioned to a couple couches she had cleared of toys, but I looked beyond them to the rest of the room. I stared in awe at the massive amount of toys that littered the open area, and my eyes happened to stumble across Hope, standing in the midst of it all.

  Dressed like a princess, Hope's pale green eyes looked back at us timidly as she clutched a stuffed, white tiger to her chest. Her eyes glittered brightly, captivating with their unnatural color. It was a stark contrast to the memories I had of the children in Boulder City.

  "We're not used to having company." Meg was saying. I politely turned my attention to her, but when I saw she was more smiling at Ali, I let my eyes wander back to Hope. Stephanie seemed to be transfixed by her as well. She moved to her slowly as if the girl might bolt at any moment, but Hope remained where she stood, eyeing us all carefully.

  "What about Gordon?" Ali asked.

  "He'll probably drop the meat by soon, but he won't stick around." Meg answered, sitting on one of the couches. Stephanie did the same, sitting close to where Hope stood.

  "I'm Stephanie." She said softly. "What's your kitty's name?" She asked as she tapped the huge white tiger on the nose.

  Hope's didn't answer, but she didn't shy away. She simply stared at Stephanie with those pale green eyes. As Ali settled down on the couch, Meg said, "She doesn't talk much."

  I watched as Stephanie tried to coax a response out of Hope. Occasionally, Hope would glance my way and I'd make funny faces at her. Soon, she didn't know which one of us to give her attention to, and she finally broke out into a broad grin. Ali and Meg talked as they watched us, and I let most of the conversation drift past me.

  "Have you ever seen anyone passing through?" Ali asked softly. That caught my ear, and I began to pay attention.

  Meg's smile faded slowly, and she looked at all of us before she answered. "Gordon has seen some people when he's gone out hunting. I never have, though."

  "Did he tell you about them?" Ali
asked casually, but there was something off in her voice.

  "They were normal. Not like us." Meg whispered, but I could easily hear her. "They were in the southeast part of the city, rummaging through the buildings. Gordon said they didn't look like nice men."

  Ali shot me a glance. Meg didn't catch it while she was watching Stephanie and Hope play. Stephanie seemed oblivious to the conversation, having picked up another stuffed animal to play along with Hope's tiger.

  "Did they see him?" Ali asked.

  The look Meg gave her was knowing, "You think these are the same assholes that stole your truck, don't you?"

  I had been wrong about Stephanie not paying attention. She sat up straight and said harshly, "Most of those men are dead now."

  The room stilled as we went silent, even Hope. Stephanie slumped back, blushing fiercely. Hope's green eyes stared at her intently as she backed toward Meg. It was clear Hope didn't understand what had happened with her new playmate, and it frightened her. I leaned forward, capturing Hope's attention with a smile.

  "Do you have any toys that I can play with?" I asked her and watched her face light up. She gave Stephanie another cautious glance as she ran past into her maze of toys. Fetching a plush, brown puppy, not quite as big as her tiger, she ran it back to me. I leaned forward to join the game, and Hope eagerly continued. She quickly became caught up in her play again and didn't give Stephanie a second glance when she rejoined us.

  Meanwhile, Meg stood and motioned Ali to follow her to the balcony. Even though Stephanie and Hope wouldn't be able to overhear them, I would. Ali glanced at me and nodded, and it seemed Meg caught her meaning as she turned to regard me for a moment.

  "I didn't want to tell Stephanie's story before," Ali whispered. "But those assholes in Boulder City held her prisoner. They caught Joss and me too, but we escaped."

  Meg stared back and forth from Ali to Stephanie for a long while. Her voice sounded pained when she spoke, "Her pregnancy..."

  "Rape." Ali's whisper was so soft, even I barely heard it. A choking sound came from Meg as I cringed.

  "And the one that followed you out?"

  "He was the one that led the whole thing." Ali's voice was tight. Although I wasn't looking at her, I could imagine the fear in her eyes by what I heard in her voice. "We haven't seen him since the morning we left Boulder City. I figured we had enough distance between us, but I didn't know he knew someone else was here."

  Meg was silent for a while as she stared back at Stephanie and Hope. My eyes met Ali's, and I saw the uncertainty there. Had we gotten as far away from Reed as we thought?

  Meg's next words weren't unexpected. "This changes things."

  Ali reached out to put a hand on Meg's shoulder. "If he knows you're here, you can't stay here."

  Meg's head snapped around, and her voice was stern. "He doesn't know about me. They only saw Gordon. He doesn't know where we are."

  Ali let her hand fall to her side. "I never wanted to put you in any danger. Give me time to get the truck running, and I'll create a trail on the way out that Reed can follow. He'll never find you guys."

  I tensed, knowing the conversation Ali and I had earlier wasn't over, but she spoke with finality, as if the plan was already in her mind. Stephanie seemed absorbed in her play with Hope, but the blood drained from her face, and I knew she had caught at least part of their conversation. She looked terrified behind her pasted on smile.

  "Of course you can stay for a few days. We'll enjoy the company." Meg hesitated, then lowered her voice again, "It's just one man, right? What could he do against all of us?"

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  That night was pleasant. I couldn't recall the last time I'd slept so well. When I woke, it was early morning, but Ali was already up and out. I cautiously opened the door to see that Meg had propped the door to her room open, and a wonderful smell was wafting out into the hallway. The last time I'd smelled something that good was back in Sundown.

  I passed the door of Hope's play room and cautiously poked my head into the open doorway. Hope, who was sitting on a fancy looking couch, spotted me instantly and began to wave. Seconds later, Meg stepped out from the kitchen, wearing an apron and oven mitt.

  "Good morning!" She grinned. "Come sit down. Breakfast will be ready soon."

  Meg disappeared as quickly as she had come, returning to the kitchen. I stepped into the room just in time to see her pull a tray of freshly baked rolls out of the oven. My mouth began to water.

  "Finally." She said with satisfaction as she set the tray down. "This is my third batch this morning. Sometimes they don't turn out the way they should."

  "Um," I said, looking around to see Hope watching me. They were the only ones here, and I had left Stephanie sleeping in her room. "Where's Ali?"

  "She went out to gather things for the truck." Meg paused as she considered her own words, then she tilted her head and gave me a questioning look. "Can she really get that truck running? Gordon's been trying for the past five years. If it's electrical, no problem, but cars are another thing. Oh, and that reminds me. He took the golf cart to work on it some."

  I nodded to answer her question, but she continued to talk without pause. I nervously scratched my head and wondered what to do until I caught the big smile Hope had for me. She was eager to play again, and I was happy for the distraction. She held the same puppy in her hands that I had played with the previous night, and I took him from her, sitting down beside her.

  Meg continued to chat away. "I always enjoyed cooking. Is that ironic that we don't have to eat as much now? At least I can cook for Hope."

  Did she want me to respond? I decided against it. It felt like I would be interrupting her flow if I said anything, and I was content just listening and offering the occasional smile and nod.

  "I remember being worried that I wouldn't have enough food. We even rationed it at first until Riley began to figure some things out, and that didn't happen until after Hope was born. He didn't eat anything for a whole week and there were barely any ill effects." She shook her head as she remembered.

  "What was..." I hesitated, unsure if I wanted to finish my question. When Meg gave me a questioning look, I swallowed and went on. "What did you do before?"

  "Like, before I got pregnant?" Meg actually laughed at that, and I exhaled slowly. I was afraid she might think I was nosy. "Now that's a loaded question."

  Meg shrugged, pulling off the oven mitt as she stared off thoughtfully. "Las Vegas wasn't all glamour and charm. My father was an attorney for the D.A.'s office - ya know the kind they have for people that can't afford a lawyer? - and I got to hear about all the exciting cases. Interesting stuff, but he wasn't bringing home the big bucks. That fell to my mom.

  "The great Gloria Richards, lounge singer and entertainer." Meg smiled broadly. "She's no one you've ever heard of, but I was so proud of her when I was a kid. She's the one who gave us a decent living. I ended up pretty spoiled because of it.

  "Then I met Luke. He had a couple tattoos, a leather jacket, and these dreamy blue eyes. He was a real James Dean."

  "Who?" I asked when she paused.

  Her only answer was a small smile before she continued. "He was a bad boy. Luke, I mean. Not just in image, but a real bad boy. I thought he was the love of my life, but he was gone before I was two months pregnant.

  "I was living with some friends at the time, too afraid to go back home. Then when I got sick, my mom was able to track me down at the hospital, but my dad was super pissed. She told me when I brought Hope home, he'd come around."

  She fell silent. I chanced a look at her to see her concentrating on her hands as she chopped some vegetables with a large knife. It was obvious to me that her parents had been lost when the red mist hit, and I didn't want to bring back bad memories.

  After a few seconds, she continued. "I went to check on them after Hope was born. It smelled so bad when I opened the door. Not like how the zombies smell, all dirty and unwashed, but like rotting bodies."

>   Suddenly, I didn't want to hear anything else she had to say, but I couldn’t stop her. I stared at her with my jaw dropped in disbelief as she finished her story.

  "I found my mother in the living room floor, dead. She had been turned, and my father had killed her. Killed them both, actually. He was dead on the couch, still holding the gun."

  Meg reached for a towel to wipe her face, and her next words were barely a whisper. "His eyes had changed. Turned green like mine."

  I fell back against the couch, feeling the impact of her tragedy. Her dad was like us? He had lived through it all just to end his life before he knew his daughter was alive. And his granddaughter too. I look of horror crossed my face, and Meg noticed it.

  "You heard me?" She said, looking at me curiously. I dragged my thoughts away from her horror story to focus on her again, wondering how she could be so calm about it. Then I noticed she wasn't calm. She was changing the subject because she had to.

  "Ali told me about your hearing," Meg said. "But that's amazing! I barely heard myself. Have you noticed anything else different?"

  "You mean other than not having to eat and sleep as much?" I said awkwardly, struggling to recover from her story, but Meg was nodding for me to go on. "No. Nothing yet, but it wasn't that long ago when I figured out about my hearing."

  "It's odd, isn't it?" She turned back to the stove and I heard the sizzle of something being thrown on the skillet. "Did Ali tell you what I can do?"

  "No?" I said, the inflection at the end of the word turning it into a question. "We haven't had much chance to talk lately." I winced as I said it, remembering our last conversation. I didn't know if Ali was able to avoid being alone with me on purpose, or if it was coincidence.

  "I don't know how it works, really. It's hard to explain, but I can show you." Meg was saying as she approached. I immediately stumbled to my feet, and Hope gave me a disappointed look as I abandoned our game.