The sliding glass door opened, and Becca stepped into the doorway. She glanced between Jason and Dani, and even though she still didn’t seem to believe that Jake was her brother, her eyes found and locked with his. “We should go,” she said, her voice raspy, as it had been since she was young. “I have had a vision. If we do not leave soon, the General will find us.”
“Shit,” Jason muttered, and Becca turned slowly and exited the kitchen, leaving the door open behind her.
Dani led Jason toward the sliding glass door, his imposing form dwarfing her petite, battered one. Part of Jake wished Zoe’s wounds were as straightforward as bruises and broken bones; those wounds would heal. What Clara had done to her might not.
Feeling deflated, Jake followed after them. Once again, Zoe was right in front of him, but as unreachable as though she were miles away; it infuriated him. While Clara’s first attempt to kill the only woman he’d ever loved had inevitably brought Zoe closer to him, Clara’s final attempt might have succeeded in tearing her away completely.
2
ZOE
MARCH 24th, 1AE
Rocky Mountains, Colorado
“Potty break,” Dani said, halting her paint horse, Wings, in the middle of the highway just ahead of me.
I’d been riding a brown mare named Mocha since leaving the house in Colorado Springs, the others taking turns staying close to me, since I had no clue what I was doing. Tavis was my current companion, riding on my right. I liked him; he was a funny Australian man who didn’t talk much, but when he did it was playful and put me at ease. Becca, the woman sharing his saddle, seemed nice, though she hadn’t said much to anyone during the five-plus hours we’d been on the road. She seemed almost as lost as I felt.
Dani struggled to dismount Wings using only her right arm, since her left arm was cradled in a sling. She was obviously in a lot of pain, despite the medicine the doctor, Harper, had given her.
I glanced up ahead at Jason, assuming he’d be charging toward us to help Dani in her flailing attempt to dismount and chastising her for attempting it on her own. But he was at the head of our parade line, talking to Chris and completely oblivious to Dani’s self-dismount.
When Dani’s boots hit the ground, she glanced toward Jason, then looked up at me, a sheepish grin on her face as she brought her index finger to her lips. “Don’t tell him…”
I smiled and shook my head. I liked Dani, a lot. She was fiery and peppy, and the ease with which she spoke to me made it easier to cope with what was going on, like I had a friend who would stay by my side no matter what. When she’d tried to explain to me what had happened to the world, that we’d grown up together and had spent the last three months trying to get to one another only to be separated by the Colony again, I’d begun to freak out. The weight of reality and my lack of memories and sense of self were all too much to bear at once.
But Chris had been quick to wrap her arms around my shoulders, telling me that it would be alright, I just needed time to readjust, and for some reason, that had made me feel better. Dani had later explained that it was because Chris had the innate ability to comfort people. Although I got the distinct impression there was more to Chris than that—a nagging suspicion in the back of my mind—I liked the way I felt in her presence and savored the reprieve of unwanted emotions when she was around me.
“Come on, Zo,” Dani said, holding her good hand up to help me climb out of Mocha’s saddle. “Let’s go pee. You never know…” She scanned the tall aspens on either side of the road. “We might not find another woodsy spot before we stop for the night. Might as well take advantage of the privacy while we have it.”
I considered the image of the two of us standing side by side, best friends who, I’d been told, were so completely altered from the last time we’d seen each other. Tiny little Dani, with her bruised pixie face framed by wild, red curls, and me, tall, with an unmarred exterior but hollow interior. I wish I could remember… But having been found inside the bedroom closet of an abandoned house the night before was as far back as my memory went.
“Zo? You okay?” Dani’s brow furrowed. “Do you need me to get Harper?”
I shook my head. I had a million and one questions, but a pee break wasn’t the time to ask them. Instead, I offered her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “No, I was just thinking.” I waved her proffered hand away. “I got it, Dani, but thanks.” I didn’t want to hurt her by jerking her body around as I dismounted. “It’s only a couple feet.” I’d decided it was much easier getting up into the saddle than it was getting down, an art I was determined to master if this was going to be my spot during our several-day journey.
While the others seemed all too excited to meet up with the rest of our group, it meant that I had even more people to “reacquaint” myself with. Dani had spent part of the morning filling me in on my relationships with them. Now I just needed to remember all that she’d told me: Sarah, apparently a friend I’d traveled with from the East Coast, was pregnant; her boyfriend, Biggs, was a military man we’d met up with along the way; Mr. Grayson was my high school history teacher and had been traveling with Dani for months; and Jason’s best friend, Ky, and Ky’s older brother, Ben, were waiting for us deeper in the mountains.
I stood up in the stirrups, prepared to fling my leg over for an awkward dismount.
“Here,” Tavis offered kindly as he strode up beside Mocha. I hadn’t even noticed him dismount his own horse. He wore an easy smile, and his blue eyes crinkled in the corners where his smile touched them. His dirty-blond hair was a little long and mussed from running his fingers through it so frequently.
Caught off guard, I felt my heart flutter a bit.
“Fling your leg over, and I’ll help ease you down…”
Flashing him a brief smile, I did as Tavis instructed. With one hand gripping the saddle horn and the other gripping the edge of the saddle seat for leverage, I swung my leg over Mocha’s rump, just like Dani had shown me. As I was about to lower myself to the ground, Tavis’s hands grasped my waist, firmly but gently, and he helped lower me the rest of the way down.
“It’s not mountain climbing, so you’ll be a pro in no time,” he said as I pivoted around to face him.
“Thanks,” I chirped, and he answered with a nod before he turned and headed back for his horse.
Turning around, I found Dani eyeing me carefully. Jake, a man who hadn’t uttered a single word to me since they’d found me but had taken to watching me with unnerving intensity, sat upon his horse behind her, his gaze equally assessing.
“Jason,” Dani called ahead, startling me. I looked up toward the front of the caravan as Jason turned around in his saddle, his gaze questioning as it shifted between us. “We’re gonna pee,” she said. “It might be difficult for you to keep nulling for a minute, but we’ll be right back.”
Jason’s eyes hardened. “Be careful.”
“Come on, Zo,” Dani said, biting her lip. There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “There’s some stuff you should know.” She hooked her arm in mine, and we headed toward the tangle of bushes a dozen yards away.
“Dani,” Jake said, swinging his leg over his saddle, clearly intending to come with us.
Dani shook her head at him and patted the handgun in her shoulder holster. “We’ll be fine, Jake. I need to talk to Zo for a sec.”
Although Jake didn’t seem pleased with the decision, he remained in his saddle, his gaze shifting between us as we turned away.
“Wait, Zoe—” Sam, a forward little boy I’d spoken to only a few times, called from behind us.
“We’ll be right back, Sam,” I said over my shoulder as Dani pulled me forward; I was practically stumbling as I tried to keep up with her. “What’s—”
“Zo, I know you’re probably exhausted and more than a little confused about everything that’s going on, but you’re super close to getting yourself into a mess that you’ll regret later.”
Trying to stay at least partially awar
e of where my feet were landing, I gave Dani a sidelong glance. Her bright green eyes were a bit glazed over in the sunlight. I could tell the pain meds were starting to kick in.
“What do you mean by ‘a mess’?” I asked, near panting as we clumsily hurried through the underbrush and over uneven ground.
“You’re with Jake,” she said.
I blanched and stopped, the abrupt movement making Dani wince. “What?” A faint thrill wriggled down my spine.
“Yeah, for a few months now, I think…” She shook her head. “What’s important is that you remember that, especially when you’re chatting it up with Tavis.” She urged me toward the berry bushes a few feet away.
Falling into step behind her, I frowned. “But Jake hasn’t even talked to me.”
She snorted. “That might have something to do with the fact that you don’t even know him anymore.” Pulling a wad of tissues from her pocket, Dani handed me a couple, and then looked down at her broken arm. “This is gonna be fun,” she muttered, and I tried not to laugh, though I didn’t do a very good job.
I found that preoccupying my mind with observing Dani, her little quirks that I was still trying to understand, was a good distraction from all the things I was supposed to already know, the things that threatened to overwhelm me and bring me to tears.
As we each squatted behind our own cluster of bushes to do our business, I allowed my mind to wander, if only a little. I considered what Dani had told me about Jake and me being together, and I found it impossible to picture. He seemed so quiet and capable, it was a little intimidating. I couldn’t even imagine having a conversation with him, let alone being with him. But in spite of my reservations, there was also a mysterious air about him that was intriguing, and I was curious to discover what the old me already had. The number of questions ticking through my head increased exponentially.
Hearing leaves crunch beneath footsteps on the other side of the shrubbery, I sighed and finished up. “Geez, you’re fast.” I assumed I’d have to help Dani, not that she would leave me in the dust. Jumping up to my feet, I zipped up my jeans and stepped out from behind the tangle of leaves and branches. I froze.
Sam was standing a few yards away, his bow drawn and an arrow aimed at the figure of a small girl standing between us. Her back was to me, her blonde hair hanging in a knotted mess.
Sam’s expression was one of pure horror—his pale eyes wide and his nostrils flaring—but his stance and aim were unwavering.
“What the hell are you doing, Sam?” I screeched.
“What’s wrong, Zo?” Dani called from behind the bushes. But I was too focused on Sam and the little girl he was prepared to shoot an arrow through to answer.
“Sam,” I said again. “She’s just a little girl. Put your bow down.”
Dark brown hair hung in his eyes, but he stared at her, unblinking, and I could see his uncertainty.
“Sam…”
As if hearing the scolding tone of my voice had brought the little girl to life, she slowly turned around. At the sight of her, my heart nearly stopped. The front of her nightgown was covered in dried blood, as were her arms and neck. Her face was doll-like, with crystal-blue eyes wide and gleaming in the sunlight, and her porcelain skin was hidden beneath what looked like weeks’ worth of layers of dirt and blood.
“Mommy?” The haunting pitch of her voice sent chills up my spine.
“Jesus,” I breathed. “Are you alright?” Although I had the innate urge to run away from the little girl, I took a hesitant step toward her, wondering what the poor child had been through.
“Zoe, get away from her!” Dani said from behind me.
The little girl took a step closer to me, her eyes narrowing and her lip curling into a snarl. Her body was suddenly trembling, like her muscles were coiling to strike. Gritting her teeth, she growled, “Mommy?”
As she lunged toward me, an ear-piercing crack resounded through the air, and before she could take another step, the little girl fell to a crumpled heap on the ground. A crimson patch blossomed on her nightgown, spreading across her chest.
My hands flew to my mouth and I screamed, tears trickling down my face. “Oh my God.” Turning around, I found Dani, handgun drawn and still pointed where the little girl lay. Dani’s eyes were wide, her face ashen, and her mouth hung open. “What have you done?”
Dani blinked several times, and her gaze slowly shifted from the small body to me. Her eyes were filled with shock and horror. “She was a Crazy,” she said, lowering her gun. “She was a Crazy.” I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince me, or herself. “I—I had to…she was a Crazy…”
“A what?” I turned back to the little girl and stared down at her. I was suddenly shaking uncontrollably. “What the hell just happened?” I asked no one in particular. “She’s just a little girl.”
I heard a rush of footsteps and calling voices, but I couldn’t focus on anyone but the dead child lying horrifyingly still on the ground. Her eyes were open and staring directly at me. She thought I was her mother…
“I’ve never seen a kid one before,” Sam said, and I looked at him. “I tried to warn you.”
~~~~~
“This is gonna be bright,” Harper said as he sat me down on a log beside the fire and clicked on a small, near-blinding pen light. He shone it directly into my eyes. On instinct, I tried to blink, but Harper wouldn’t let me; his fingertips were warm and firm as he held my eyelids open.
“Sorry, Baby Girl, but I just want to check one more time…”
Still trying to understand the whole Ability thing Sam had explained during the last stretch of our journey, I decided now was as good a time as any to start asking more questions, especially since Sam was probably getting tired of being the one having to answer them all. “Harper?”
“Hmmm.”
“Were you a doctor before, or is this, you know, just part of your Ability?” I had no idea what counted as an “Ability,” only that Sam had said everyone who survived the Virus had one—at least those who weren’t “Crazies.”
Harper smiled. “This doctor stuff is all training, Baby Girl. I was a medic in the Army. My Ability has to do with visions and seeing things that haven’t happened yet.”
I snorted, determined not to cry out in confusion and disbelief.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, especially all in one day, but we can’t risk another incident like earlier today.”
I shrugged, figuring the more answers I had the easier it would be for me to fit in. “Yeah, Sam said he has heightened senses, that he can hear, smell, and see things that others can’t.” I shook my head.
“Try not to move, Baby Girl.”
“Sorry.”
Harper shifted his hand down to my chin, gently gripping it while he moved my head from side to side in tandem with the flashlight he waved in front of my face.
“What are some of the others’ Abilities?”
“Well,” he began, “let’s see—I’m not sure what Tavis or Daniel can do, but Carlos can control electricity, Dani can communicate with animals, Sanchez is telepathic, Jake can regenerate…Chris and your brother, well, they’re the reason you’re dealing with things as well as you are; Chris is keeping you calm, and you’re brother is keeping your Ability hidden. He can actually nullify or amplify other people’s Abilities.”
Regeneration? Communicating with animals? Telepathy? Controlling electricity? I was almost afraid to ask… “What’s my Ability?” I placed my hand on Harper’s, gently pushing the pen light down so I could look him in the eyes. “What’s Jason protecting me from?”
Harper gave me a sympathetic smile. “You can see people’s memories. You can feel what they’re feeling. On top of everything that’s happened today, we didn’t think it was a good idea to add your Ability into the mix, too.”
Jason and Chris had been shadowing me pretty closely all day. Part of me wondered if I should be offended that they hadn’t told me about this sooner. But then again, the idea of
having an Ability, especially one that was so intrusive, didn’t seem like something I could handle on top of everything else.
Harper clicked the light on, blinding me once more.
“Is there something wrong with my eyes?” I asked a bit tersely. The more he wanted to check them, the more concerned I became.
“No. Sorry to scare you. There’s nothing wrong, I just—” He gave me another sympathetic smile as he clicked the light off. “I was just making sure there’s no brain damage, or…I just want to make sure I’m not missing anything that might help us figure out exactly what she did to you, or how bad it is.” He sighed. “But I don’t see anything, and I doubt I will without doing an MRI or—”
“It’s only been a day,” Dani chimed in as she walked by. It was the first time I’d heard her speak since the incident with the little girl…the Crazy. Dani stopped in the narrow clearing where everyone was setting up their tents for the night. “You might be back to your old self by tomorrow, Zo. Could be all you need is a good night’s sleep.”
Dani fought to keep a nylon sleeping bag from slipping out from under her good arm. Although she flashed me a smile over her shoulder, I could tell it was weak and forced. I could picture a real Dani smile brightening her face to glowing, nothing like the halfhearted smile she gave me now, which had quickly faded.
I watched as she struggled to open a tent bag. “I’m sure you’re right,” I said and glanced up at Harper. “Tomorrow will be better. Can I be done?” I felt like I needed to be doing something to help Dani, since I was otherwise useless and she was having such a hard time after such a crappy day.
Harper nodded absently, not really staring at me so much as staring through me. He rubbed his jaw and took another deep breath.
I stepped toward Dani but hesitated the moment Jason appeared beside her, crouching to help. He muttered something I couldn’t hear.
The Ending Series: The Complete Series Page 88