“He was always pretty picky about his stuff. Sometimes it almost seemed a little OCD the way he cared for it. I don’t know why it isn’t all in its proper place,” I say.
“That’s strange,” Jess says and scans the rest of the garage.
I grab some of the supplies that were left in the garage. Luckily, my fishing gear is still in its place and appears to be in good condition. The two of us exit and walk toward the sound of the waves.
“I wonder if something happened when he was on one of his fishing trips. It’s very unlike him to leave his stuff lying around…” I fade off when I see the boat clumsily put onto shore with his rod and tackle box still in it.
“Is that your grandfather’s boat?”
“Yes, I wonder why he didn’t put it up. He always would. Even if we had been out all day and were tired and hungry, he made sure everything was organized. And look,” I say as I point to a bag of apples in the boat, “he must have gone across the lake to pick these for my grandmother. She loved it when he did that.”
I walk closer to the boat and see his footprints. It looks like he stumbled and got on his hands and knees before getting back on his feet and walking toward the house. There is a discolored section in the dirt that looks like it could have been vomit.
I glance up at Jess in horror and she displays a look of understanding. When she notices my attention is on her, a mask of neutrality takes hold of her face.
Before I can react to her expression, she distracts me by speaking. “At least we found your grandfather’s supplies. Let’s go fishing. It’ll be fun.” She finishes by repeating my earlier words.
“Jess,” I begin, unsure exactly how to phrase my questions. “Do you think he got attacked in the water? Can these things swim?”
She looks out toward the water. “I doubt it. From the way they move and react, I can’t imagine them having the coordination to manage it. I suspect your grandfather got infected when he was picking the apples.” Jess lets out a deep breath. “We still need to keep an eye out, but we should hear or see them with enough warning.”
I turn my attention back to the boat. I circle it to check for any visible signs of damage. I don’t notice anything so I put all of the fishing gear in and push it into the water. Once it’s out a little ways, I motion for Jess to get in and soon follow her.
My grandfather believed that the best fishing came from as quiet an atmosphere as possible. Because of this, he didn’t have a motor on his boat. I grab the oars and take us out to the deeper water.
The cove we share with Andrew and Chris’s family secludes us from the deeper waves of the lake. If I look far enough across the water, I can make out the small outline of their cabin. The farther I get away from the beach, the more alarm shows through Jess’s mask.
A strange thought crosses my mind. “Can you swim, Jess?”
Instead of answering, Jess just slowly shakes her head. Her eyes remain focused on the water. No wonder she wasn’t excited about the prospect of fishing.
“Don’t worry, you’re not going to fall in. And even if you do, I’ll come get you. I promise.” I try to reassure her.
Her eyes leave the water to look at me and gauge my sincerity. She still looks doubtful so I decide to break one of my grandfather’s rules. I take my shoes and shirt off so I’m just in my shorts.
“What…”
I don’t hear the rest of her statement. I hold my breath and jump into the water. I make, at least according to my grandfather, an unacceptable amount of noise with my splash.
The cool water feels amazing on my skin. I stay under for a little bit just to enjoy it. I forget about all the horrors. For those few seconds, I simply appreciate the water. It could be any other visit. For those few precious moments, my grandparents are alive. My mother is alive. The world isn’t broken.
I imagine my grandfather—not the man I grew up with, but the infected thing he turned into—under me, reaching for me, wanting to pull me down and take me with him.
I break the surface and take a deep breath. As the air enters my body, I quickly look around to assure myself I’m not in danger. Jess’s panicked expression bores into me. It would have been smarter to not stay under the water so long.
“See, I’m fine. My grandfather taught me to swim when I was really little,” I say.
I swim around the boat to prove my point. Her eyes never leave mine as she rotates in the boat to maintain eye contact. “I’m going to get back in now. It might be a little wobbly when I do. Just stay calm.”
I put my hands on the boat and hoist myself in. Jess quickly compensates for my weight and leans back against the other side. She visibly relaxes once I sit down.
“Will you teach me?” she asks.
I nod and lean back against one of the seats. After the cold water, the sun feels warm and soothing on my skin and quickly starts to dry me off. I take a deep breath and reassuringly smile at Jess. She stares at my chest. I grab my shirt to put it back on and hide myself.
She carefully moves closer and pushes my hands away. After a couple of seconds, she moves her right hand to my scar and traces it down my chest. The feeling of her hand on my body creates goose bumps. I stay motionless and hold my breath at her touch. The scar starts in the middle of my chest and curves down my left side. About eight inches long, the red, angry line stands out against my pale skin.
“Tell me,” Jess says once she’s traced it a couple of times.
“It happened right after my father left us. Dominic blamed me. Not much of a story.”
“What did he use?” Her voice barely conceals her anger.
“It was a knife from the kitchen.” I shift uncomfortably. Besides the doctor that treated me, the only other people who knew about this were my mother and Dominic. Though, I don’t actually mind telling Jess.
“He blamed me for Father leaving because of…well, just because of who I am.” I pause to examine her expression. I don’t see any evidence of pity so I continue my story. “He just came at me and lunged. I jumped back out of the way so it didn’t get as deep as it could have. My mother heard the noise and ran in before he could have another attempt and took me to the doctor. Dominic claimed he was just playing around and didn’t actually mean to hurt me.”
“And everyone believed that?” she asks, shocked.
“I don’t think my mother did. But he was always so good and perfect at everything else so they wanted to believe him. Plus, because my father walked out, the doctor felt bad for him because he was being punished for me. I’m quite the scandal, you know,” I add playfully in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“Quite infamous, from what I understand.”
A twinkle in her eyes shines through. I’m completely captivated by her. I inch my hand closer to hers when I hear a loud whooping sound.
“Get some, Elliot,” a familiar voice screams, quickly followed by a catcall and splashes. I jerk my head up. While we were focused on my scar, Andrew and Chris had quietly rowed their boat out to greet us and jumped in the lake.
I blush and put on my shirt. A guarded expression replaces Jess’s playful mood and a pang hits me, longing for her to remain unguarded. However, my two childhood friends—similar enough in appearance and age to pass as twins—demand my attention as they swim closer and closer to the boat.
Years of experience with them lead me to a pretty good guess as to what they’re planning to do. I quickly strap all of the supplies in the boat and lock in the fishing gear.
I turn to Jess and say in a rush, “It looks like you’re about to get your first lesson in swimming. Do you trust me?”
Her eyes widen almost comically at my words and her lips form a small circle when understanding hits her.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not really,” I say and grab her hand just as Andrew and Chris get to the boat.
“So who’s this nice lady you tricked into comin’ out here, Elliot?” Andrew asks. He sounds innocent enough, but his smirk gives awa
y his intention.
“Yeah, some’d consider it rude if you don’t introduce her to your friends, very rude in fact,” Chris continues, his large mouth curved in amusement.
“Guys, this is Jess. Calm down. No need to do anything rash.” I put my one hand up in defeat, keeping ahold of Jess with my other arm, as I speak to them because I know there is little chance of their not following through.
“Whoa. You have a temper now?” Andrew asks as they continue to tread water.
“We better help him cool off.”
“She can’t even swim,” I say in a last attempt.
“Nice try,” Chris responds.
Jess squeezes my hand tighter and her breathing rate increases. I tighten my grip.
The two of them take a deep breath and dive under the water. The boat starts rocking. I quickly lose my balance and fall out of the boat. Because we’re holding hands, Jess enters the water with me. Unlike my last plunge, this time I quickly rise to the surface and pull Jess with me. We break the surface and tread water. Well, I tread water and keep Jess’s head above the surface. I pull her back to the boat and help her back in before I get in myself.
“I didn’t drown,” Jess says only loud enough for my ears. She sounds surprised.
Before I can respond, Andrew and Chris climb into the boat and rush forward to hug me. Their sudden movement almost causes the boat to tip again. I quickly steady them. They look over at Jess.
“This here fine gentleman is Andrew,” Chris points toward Andrew in his introduction.
Andrew bows slightly and points at Chris. His long, dark hair falls across his face. “And this impressive guy is Chris.”
I laugh in appreciation. They’ve always fed off of each other so well. Jess seems a little taken aback by their behavior but allows each of them a small smile.
“I’m Jess,” she says.
“I’m so glad you guys are okay,” I exclaim with joy once the pleasantries are over with. I look them over and they look very healthy. Their hair has grown out since I last saw them and it flows past their eyebrows.
“Why wouldn’t we be?” Andrew asks as he shakes his hair out of his eyes.
My heart drops at their obliviousness. “Where have you two been these last few days?”
“Been here,” Chris answers and gestures around the lake.
“Just, you know, livin’ the dream,” Andrew says. He tilts his head toward Jess. “Carly told us that you were comin’, but she didn’t say you were bringin’ anyone. You been holdin’ out on us?”
For a moment, I allow myself to pretend that their interpretation of the situation is accurate. I take a deep breath and steady myself.
“We need to talk,” I say and sit back.
I inform them of all of the terrible things that have been going on since I last saw them. At first, I can tell they think I’m hosting an elaborate joke. When I describe how my mother died, they start to take me seriously. They know I would never joke about anything bad happening to her.
“That’s all I know,” I conclude. “I can’t believe the two of you didn’t know anything.”
“Well, since our parents’ accident, it’s just been us three,” Andrew says, clearly taken aback by the state of things.
“We hadn’t seen your grandparents in a couple of weeks, but out here, that isn’t that surprising. We stick to ourselves,” Chris says.
I always envied their seclusion from the rest of the world and it clearly seems to have protected them from whatever disease is spreading throughout society. I wish that protection had extended to my grandparents.
“You know, we haven’t seen you since our parents’ funeral, Elliot,” Andrew says.
“I should have come and seen you sooner, but I’m just so thankful you’re all safe. Although, I don’t understand how my grandparents got infected,” I say.
“Your grandfather must have gotten bitten on his last fishing trip.” Jess makes her first verbal contribution to the conversation since the introductions. She answers all of our confounded expressions. “You said it yourself, he always put his gear up. He didn’t do that the last time. Plus, it looked like he was sick after he landed.”
It all adds up and it makes me want to cry again. My grandfather loved my grandmother from the moment he met her and the idea of him attacking and killing her is unthinkable. He would have done anything for her and my only hope is that he had no idea what was going on when he hurt her.
“Whoa, man. That’s unreal,” Andrew says.
Not knowing what else to say, I look around. There is no other sign of life around us. Once again, I’m struck by how peaceful it is here versus what must be going on in the territories by now.
“If you think about it one way,” Chris says to continue the conversation, “did we or did we not always say the world would come to an end before our little Elliot would show up with a girl?”
I sneak a glance over at Jess as I answer, “Nothing like that’s going on. We found each other on the road back when my mother and brother were still with me. We’ve been together since then.”
Jess looks at me with a smirk, lighting my face on fire.
“Okay, we believe you,” Chris says.
“Yeah, sure we do.” Andrew snickers.
“Now that that’s settled,” Jess says, “how much space do the two of you have at your house?”
“We’ve space for ya’ll if that’s what you’re askin’. Easy peasy. Of course, you’ll have to deal with our younger sister. She can be a lil’ annoying.” Chris nods along as Andrew speaks. “But it might get a lil’ cramped for you two…friends.”
“Great, we’ll be over before the sun sets. We just have a couple things to do.”
“We do?” I ask Jess. This is news to me. She simply nods while I stare back in confusion at her.
“We’ll let ya’ll have some time alone.” They both chuckle as they jump into the water and swim back to their boat. I grab the oars from the bottom of the boat and paddle us back to my grandparents’ house.
Jess and I make eye contact for several heartbeats before she finally breaks it. She stares out into the distance without saying anything.
When we get closer to the dock, I finally break the silence. “Can I ask you a question?”
Jess visibly tenses and answers after a pause. “It depends on what the question is.”
“Why are we going over to their house? What’s wrong with staying here?”
Just as quickly as she tensed up, she relaxes. “It isn’t good for you to stay there. One, you need to get out of the house with all of the memories. Two, if Dominic comes back looking for you, your grandparents’ cabin is the first place he’ll go. And finally, it will be safer for everyone if we’re all together.”
“I guess that’s true. What if one of the infected comes after them and they don’t know what to do? I mean, I told them, but what if they panic?”
“Exactly. Trust me on this one, you don’t want to be wondering ‘what if,’” Jess concludes and I can tell by her tone that she means to end the conversation. So I let the conversation die out and continue rowing us back to the place my grandparents lived and died.
Chapter Ten
“Jess?” I rummage through the kitchen cabinets. We’re going to bring all of the food over to Andrew and Chris’s to have it all in one place.
“Mmmm?” Jess mumbles back, clearly distracted. She squints at an old can. “Do you think if it says it’s expired it’s actually expired? Or is that just a suggestion?”
“I’ll let you be the test subject for that,” I say.
She considers the can of food and says, “I might give it to your friends as punishment for forcing us into the lake.” A smirk crosses her face while she places the can into her bag.
I should check the expiration dates of everything I eat going forward. Just in case. She has so many different sides to her. One minute, she’s playful and the next, she closes up.
“What really happened to you?”
She freezes. “What?”
I barely hear her reply and hope that she will open up to me rather than closing up. “How did you end up alone?”
“It’s not a good story.” She turns slowly away from the pantry and sits by the kitchen table. We make eye contact. Her head falls and she stares at her crossed hands. “It’s not something I’m proud of.”
I’m not sure exactly what to say, so I sit down next to her. She briefly looks up in reaction to my movement but places her head back down as soon as I sit. What could have happened to make her feel ashamed?
“I didn’t have the best relationship with my parents. When I was younger, everything was all right, but then my father started to drink heavily. All of our money went to support his addiction and it caused more stress, so he drank even more. It was a terrible, endless cycle.” She takes a deep breath. “My father was a tolerable man sober, but when he was drinking…” Jess shakes her head and continues, “He would get angry, and then my lessons would start.” Jess laughs bitterly.
No wonder she is so guarded—she grew up in an abusive household.
Her entire body language shifts and she sits up straighter to make eye contact with me. “Before my little brother was born, I was so mad at him. My mother was in labor for such a long time, and I was upset that my father would put her through even more pain. By this point, we could hardly afford to stay in our apartment, let alone pay to plan for a new child. In my mind, childbirth was just another tool he utilized to put my mother through more torment. I resented my unborn sibling. But when my brother was born and I first laid eyes on him…he was so innocent. Here I was, fifteen years old, and I knew what love at first sight was.”
I close my eyes and try to picture the image of her accepting an Unplanned sibling instantly. Why couldn’t Dominic do that?
She continues her story. “My father stopped drinking for a little bit and everything seemed to be better. And then one day when my brother was around six months old, I came home and found him with a red mark on his back and there were empty bottles on the floor. I’d never felt such strong hatred for anyone before.” She takes another deep breath. “I stood up to my father. Luckily, he had been drinking so his reflexes were slow and I didn’t get hurt myself.
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