Anyone?

by Scott, Angela

  “Burned? You sure are asking a lot of bizarre questions, and now I’m starting to wonder if you’re okay.” He held me at a distance with his hands on my upper arms. “Physically you look fine but mentally you’re starting to scare the crap out of me.”

  “I’m fine. Here, let me show you.” I maneuvered myself from his grip and rolled up my sleeve to show him the severe sunburn I’d received that afternoon. The light from the headlamp illuminated my pale skin. Pale skin? What in the world?

  “Okay, I have no idea what’s going on here, but when you make it back to civilization, you may want to get that mole looked at.” He pointed to a brown mark near my elbow, something I’d had since birth.

  “No, that’s not....” I couldn’t finish my thought. My arm that couldn’t be touched earlier that day, without bringing tears to my eyes, no longer hurt. The redness was completely gone, wiped away as though nothing had happened.

  “You okay, Tess?” He tipped my chin, forcing my eyes away from my arm.

  I shook my head several times. “No, I’m not. I think something is really really wrong with me.”

  “What are you talking about? You look fine to me.” Cole took my outstretched arm in his hand and turned it over several times. “I don’t see anything.”

  “That’s just it!” How is this possible? No freakin’ way! “I... I don’t understand this. I don’t understand any of this.” I ran my opposite hand over my skin and splayed my fingers, searching for any hint of the burn, but finding no signs at all. “This isn’t right.”

  “If being okay isn’t right, then I’m struggling to understand your logic.”

  I had ceased to hear him as worries piled on top of one another and pinpricked my brain. How am I to trust anything anymore? What is real and what isn’t?

  I touched Cole’s whiskered face, needing to feel him, and dragged my fingers along his jaw line, hoping it would ease my worry, but it didn’t. My hand fell to my side, and I shook my head. I didn’t even know if he was real. Not really.

  What is happening to me?

  “Tess?”

  Am I losing my mind? Am I sick?

  “Come on, talk to me.”

  I dropped to my knees as realization sank in. I had to be sick, because nothing else made any sense. I combed a quick hand through my dark hair, but no strands fell away. That had to be good news, but I ran my hands through my hair again, this time feeling my scalp for signs of sores. Nothing.

  Just because it wasn’t happening now didn’t mean it wouldn’t.

  Cole crouched in front of me. “What are you doing?” The inflections in his voice hinted at my craziness. “You’re filthy, but I think you’re a few days out before you need to check for bugs and little critters.”

  I jumped to my feet, glanced down at my clothing, and then looked at him. “Shine the light on my pants!”

  He cocked a brow and slowly rose, standing in front of me with his head tilted to the side. “You’re freaking me out a little.”

  “Do it! Shine the light on my pants.”

  He released his breath, but aimed the headlamp at my jeans. “You’re the strangest girl I have ever met, and I’m not talking by a little bit either. If there was a crown for this kind of thing, you’d be wearing it.”

  “There! Look!” I grabbed at my pants, tugging the material tight. A smear of dried blood. “And here, look at this!” I pointed to the blood splattering on my jacket and smiled. Dylan’s blood. “Do you see it?”

  “Jeez, Tess! What did you do to yourself?” He stepped forward and reached for me, but didn’t quite follow through. His hand hung in the air. “Why are you smiling like that?”

  “Don’t you see? This isn’t my blood.” I shouldn’t be smiling. This wasn’t a smiling type of situation, but a grin curved my lips anyway. “The boy I told you about, Dylan? The one who stole your backpack? This is his blood.”

  Cole’s hand dropped and he took a half a step backward. “You didn’t kill him did you?”

  I shot him an incredulous look. “Really?” I shook my head, even though his question didn’t deserve an answer. “I don’t know what’s going on here. I know you told me he didn’t exist, and then he told me you didn’t. He said I made you up. He told me I was sick and getting worse. And this—” I raised my arm and waved it around—”with the whole sunburn thing, I thought I was going crazy. But his blood is on me. His blood!”

  “And you’re happy about this?” His face squished together like he smelled something bad.

  “Yes!” I waved my hand around. “But not like you think. I feel like I’m losing it.”

  “You think?”

  “Knock it off, please.”

  He placed his hands out in front of him, palms forward. “Sorry, go on.”

  I was going to sound insane, I knew it, but started talking anyway. “You don’t understand. Ever since Dylan showed up, I’ve been questioning everything—you, him, myself—everything. He was really sick, Cole. He lost his hair, he lost weight, and then he bled to death in front of me. He told me about planes coming in and killing everyone, and how no one is coming to help. He said I was sick too.”

  “And this makes you smile, why?”

  “Because he was real! Don’t you get it? At least he was real. Everything else sucks big time, especially the part about possibly being sick too, but at least I have this!” Knowing Dylan had been real was only a small victory, but it was a victory, as bizarre as that seemed. I’d take what I could.

  “Okay, then what about me?” He stepped closer, holding the headlamp in his hand, aimed upward, highlighting the both of us. “What am I?”

  His eyes searched mine, and I couldn’t turn away. After a few minutes, I answered, “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “No.”

  “I don’t feel real to you?” He grabbed my hand and placed it on his thumping heart. “And now?”

  “You feel very real.”

  “But you’re still unsure?”

  “I know I had a major sunburn on my arm this afternoon, but now it’s gone. How do I explain that?” My fingers lingered, enjoying his hand on mine and each breath he took beneath my palm.

  He shrugged. “Quick healing or maybe your sunburn wasn’t as major as you thought?”

  “Maybe.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  I crinkled my brow. “What question?”

  “What am I? Real or not?”

  “I don’t know. Dylan didn’t see or hear you running around the mall. He said he watched for a long time before deciding to talk to me, and never saw anyone else, just me.” Why am I doing this?

  “He was a stupid teenage boy, and a sick one at that. What do you believe?”

  I kept my eyes locked on his. “What should I believe?”

  He held my gaze for a long time then turned away from me and whispered, “Would it make a difference if I was real or not?”

  “Yes,” I was quick to answer. Of course it would matter. It would mean the difference between sanity and going out of my mind. “And no,” I added, leaving me no better off than before we’d got into this discussion. If he was a figment of my imagination—a damn fine one at that—I didn’t want to know. Figments of the imagination would only lead to disappointment, and I couldn’t handle that right now.

  “What do you want me to be?” He continued to hold my hand against his chest and stepped closer.

  The back of my hand, still touching him, pressed into my own chest—the space between us disappeared. “I want you to be what you are, whatever it is.”

  He grinned. “You’re a strange girl, Tess.”

  “I know, you’ve already told me.”

  He cupped my face, turning it toward him, our mouths only inches apart. He stared at me and smiled softly.

  He’s going to kiss me. I steeled myself for his lips on my mine even though I knew it would complicate everything. Somehow, it just seemed right. To hell with age differences! It w
as an apocalypse, for heaven’s sake!

  “Tess?”

  “Yeah?”

  “We should really get going.” His lips brushed my forehead and he tapped my nose with his finger. “I’ll help you grab your things.” He patted his leg and gave the rope a small tug, enticing Callie to follow after him

  What the—? That didn’t just happen, did it? “Are you serious?” I called after him.

  “Yeah.” He smiled at me over his shoulder. “I’m not tired and you slept like the dead, so I figure we can get ten miles in before the sun comes up.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

  “What are you talking about?” He scooped Callie into his arms and scratched between her ears, avoiding looking at me.

  “This”—I pointed to him and then back to me. “What was that about? I thought...” What did I think? That Cole would be any different than he’d been several days ago? That we could be something more than traveling buddies? I knew something was there—the whole hand on the chest thing, what was he thinking by doing that? “You’re screwing with me, aren’t you?”

  Seriousness replaced his smile. “If anything, that’s the one thing I’m trying to avoid.”

  Did he say what I thought he said? My breath caught in my throat. Oh, my heck! I was right! He did like me. I knew it!

  “I told you I’ll help you find your dad, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m taking you to him all in one piece”—he waved an arm around—”exactly as I found you.”

  “Exactly as you found me?” I paused as the meaning of his words settled over me. “Wait, do you think I’m a virgin?”

  He stopped petting Callie mid-pet and stared at me. “Aren’t you?”

  “Would it make a difference if I was or wasn’t?” I threw back at him the same question he’d asked me earlier.

  He kept his eyes on me for a long time then shook his head. “Nope. Not at all.” He cleared his throat. “Now go grab your bag. We need to get going.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” I pressed my back against one of the bridge’s wooden trusses as shadows outside my safe zone started to disappear. The rising sun swallowed them inch by inch. Please don’t be wrong, Cole. Please.

  He released the buckle of his backpack and let it fall to the ground with a thump, causing the bridge to vibrate, then stepped fully into the morning light. He closed his eyes, turned his face toward the sun, and held his arms outstretched at his side. “Is my skin sloughing off?”

  “Please don’t joke around.”

  “Am I starting to smoke? Do you see any flames shooting out from my head?”

  “You didn’t get sunburned before, so standing out there now doesn’t prove anything.” I glanced up at the roof of the old covered bridge—weather-beaten and broken in several areas, it wouldn’t take long for the light to creep in and take over, leaving me with only a foot or two of possible shade.

  I was pretty much screwed regardless if I stepped into the sun or remained here. “We should have stayed at the motel we passed several miles ago, and walked tonight after the sun went down.”

  Cole dropped his arms and opened his eyes. “You want to climb a mountain in the dark? In pitch blackness? Yeah, that sounds like a much better plan to me, way more reasonable.”

  “And if I burn, what are you going to do? By the time you can pick me up and run from here to there”—I pointed to a small thicket of trees—”you’ll be carrying my fleshless skeleton in your arms.”

  “Wow, you’re dramatic and incredibly visual with your words.” He held his hand out toward me. “Come on. It’s going to be fine, I promise.”

  I looked at Callie cradled in the crook of my arm. “What about her?”

  “What about her? Did she get burned by the sun too?”

  “No, but she went crazy right before I reached my arm outside the garage. She knew something wasn’t right long before I did.”

  He pointed a lazy hand at her. “She looks pretty darn peaceful to me. Come on.”

  I knew what happened to me, even if I couldn’t understand how I’d healed so quickly. Whatever had happened, I didn’t want to experience it again, especially if I could avoid it. “What if you’re wrong?”

  “I’m not.” He wiggled his fingers.

  I swallowed and hugged Callie closer. “I don’t think I can.”

  “Well, the sun’s going to get you one way of the other.” He indicated the decreasing shadows near my feet. “You can waste time by standing there, or you can trust me. The choice is yours.”

  “How fast is your running ability?”

  He shook his head. “Not too good.”

  Great. “I’m supposed to step into the sun likes it’s no big deal?”

  “Yeah, because that’s exactly what it is—no big deal. If I believed you’d be hurt, I wouldn’t make you do this.”

  “And if something bad does happen?”

  He threw his hands into the air. “Then I’ll let you set me on fire so we’re even, okay?”

  I took a couple of deep breaths and looked at him. “You better be right.”

  “I am.” He wiggled his fingers again, this time with a little less patience.

  I braved sticking the toe of my boot into the light. Normal warmth heated my foot. No human combustion, but that didn’t mean anything—my foot was covered. My arm hadn’t been.

  Please, please, please.

  I reached into the light with my free hand, sticking it out for a millisecond and drawing it quickly back in. Again, normal warmth. Okay, not bad.

  “Do it again,” he said.

  The shade around me shrank several more inches. “I really hate this.”

  “I know.” Cole made himself comfortable in the middle of the dirt road, his legs straight in front of him and crossed at the ankle. He leaned back on his arms and tipped his face to the sun. “Ahhh... it feels wonderful.”

  “You’re a huge jerk.”

  He smiled, but didn’t look at me. “I know.”

  Light trickled over both my boots, and pierced the broken beams overhead, though not quite touching me—not yet anyway. Either I would die a horrible death or this experience would turn out to be something funny to look back on.

  Please be funny. Please be freakin’ hilarious!

  I wrapped Callie’s leash around my hand and took one final deep breath. All or nothing. No going back. Do it. I kept my eyes on the stand of trees and took off running across the open space between them and the bridge, not giving myself an opportunity to change my mind.

  Dust kicked up around my boots. Callie screeched, coming awake, and dug her baby claws into my arm. To the trees, to the trees! I zipped past a relaxed Cole, hardly noticing him as I ran for the shade and instant safety.

  Mr. Wanket, my P.E. teacher would have been so proud at my sprinting ability. Yeah, his name was Wanket, and yeah, the jokes were plentiful, but in that moment, I couldn’t remember even one. My focus was that intense.

  When I got to the trees, huffing and panting, I realized the only pain I suffered came from the scratches inflicted by my surprised cat. I glanced at my exposed arms then reached up and patted my face.

  “I’m okay!” Thank heavens!

  Cole stood, brushed off his pants, and smiled. “That’s debatable, but you are still as pale as ever, so that’s a good thing.” He seemed to think for a moment, then waved a hand at me, pointing from my head to my feet. “Now that I think about it, you should probably put some sunscreen on.”

  A small fire crackled in the makeshift pit. Occasionally, a few embers would float into the sky, but die a quick death in the cool air. A breeze swayed the branches high above our heads, but otherwise, a thick eeriness permeated everything. Where normally an owl would hoot or a wolf would bay at the moon, only silence filled the night. No crickets chirping. No bullfrogs croaking. No life at all. It should have felt more comforting—no threat of being eaten by a bear or attacked by a moose—but the deadly silence was almost worse.

&
nbsp; I adjusted the blanket around my shoulders and petted Callie as she slept belly-up in my lap. The fire warmed us, though the night was cool and pleasant.

  Cole knelt near the fire, keeping an eye on a pot of water. “The altitude must be screwing with the boiling process. This is taking forever.”

  “You filtered the water, right?”

  He’d spent a good deal of time before the sun went down pumping water from the small creek next to our camp. The process was slow, but necessary.

  “Yeah, but I want to take every precaution possible. The last thing we need is stomach cramps and the turkey trots.” He used a large stick to shift the hot coals. “Hate being frank like that, but we’re out in the woods with only a couple rolls of toilet paper between us. Those rolls are worth their weight in gold, and I won’t easily share mine.”

  He thrived on having no decorum. I only smiled—a different response to his uncouth words. He must have worn on me or I had decided correcting his behavior wasn’t worth the effort.

  “Did you get enough to eat?” He looked across the flames. “I’m pretty sure you’re getting skinnier with each passing day.”

  Really? I hadn’t noticed. My pants hung a little loose, and I’d had to tighten my belt, but in a world where fresh proteins and veggies were scarce, this would be expected. A person could only live on “add water and stir” meals for so long without it affecting their physique. “Remember how you tried to stop me from laughing and having a panic attack? You told me we’d pick wild berries and hunt rabbits on this camping trip?”

  He made himself comfortable on a fallen log and poked the flames with the stick—a giant dangerous kid. “Nope.”

  Go figure. “Well, you did, and now I’m telling you I could go for either one of those.”

  “Sorry, kid. I shouldn’t have said it then. The most I can offer you is a peanut butter granola bar.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, I figured.”

  “You want a granola bar?”