“Dad…” Hunter took Cole’s right arm. “We gotta go, Dad. Before the bridge collapses.”
Cole looked at his son, hearing the words but having a hard time processing them. His mind felt thick and fuzzy. There was something else he needed to do. Something important. “Mike…oh my god, where is he?” Had he lost that man, too?
“He’s okay, Dad. I got him in your car. Come on.” Hunter tugged, but Cole felt as though his feet were bolted to the bridge.
Sean’s arm draped over Cole’s shoulders. “Let’s go. The rest of them need us alive. Elly needs you. That new baby needs you.”
Cole nodded forcing his feet into action as he trudged back to his vehicle, but when he went to slip behind the wheel, Sean nudged him to the rear driver’s side door. “I’ll drive.”
Hunter climbed in from the other side and Cole wanted to ask him where his car was, but he couldn’t force the words through his constricted throat. Still clutching the soaking wet jacket, Cole shivered hard. They all shivered, soaked to the bone, but Cole didn’t feel the cold. He felt numb.
17
Elly watched Jenna tend a deep scrape Cole had sustained on his left side. His left hand sported a new bandage too. Everyone was stunned and saddened when they learned what had happened to Steve, but Cole hadn’t said more than two words since Sean, Hunter, and Mike had come off the bridge. “I’ll be right back, Cole.”
He sat on the edge of the rental truck passenger seat, his feet planted on the ground. Without meeting her eyes, he simply nodded.
Mike had already had a minor head wound treated and he was resting on the passenger seat of Piper and Jake’s SUV. It was the roomiest for the big man and he liked the cats.
Mike’s eyes were closed but maybe he sensed her shadow on his face because he opened his eyes and rolled the window down. “Is Cole okay?”
Nodding, Elly gestured to the rental truck. “Yeah. Jenna’s patching him up now. How are you?”
“I’m okay. A little headache, but that’s all.”
A big bruise on his temple showed it was probably more than a little headache, but Elly nodded. “I’m so sorry about Steve. He was a good man.”
Mike drew a deep breath and opened his mouth as if he was going to confess something. That was Elly’s impression, which she pushed aside immediately because it didn’t fit the conversation. In the next instant, the expression on Mike’s face changed to sorrow and he tipped his chin to her. “Thank you. Yeah, Steve always tried to be a good guy. He wasn’t perfect…but he was good. ”
One of the cats Cole and Hunter had found leaped onto the back of Mike’s seat, eliciting a soft chuckle from the man. He reached up and scratched the kitty behind the ears, then patted his chest. The cat accepted the invitation and promptly curled up and closed her eyes.
“Well, you get some rest.”
“Thanks, Elly. And, tell Cole that I appreciate everything he did. Sean told me how Cole tried to rescue Steve.”
“I will.”
She returned to Jenna’s side, helping her treat a cut on Cole’s arm. Cole hadn’t mentioned it earlier and she raised an eyebrow at him but he didn’t notice her look. He wasn’t paying any attention to her or even what Jenna did as she closed the wound with tape applied in a butterfly pattern before she put a dressing over it.
“Do your best to keep this dry, Cole.” Jenna packed up her first aid kit as Cole stood. He’d already changed into dry clothes, and for the moment, the rain had stopped.
“Do we keep going today…or what?” Sean scrubbed his head with a towel as he sat in his vehicle and turned to look at his brother.
Cole glanced at him and shrugged. “Whatever.”
Elly bit her lip then said, “I say we keep going. The farther we get from this river, the better I’ll feel. Tonight, we should have a special meal in honor of Steve and maybe Mike will say a few words.” They had to acknowledge Steve’s death and remember the man. It was the right thing to do, out of respect and in order to get closure. She wished they could do more, but under the circumstances this was the best they could do.
When Cole moved to enter the driver’s side of his car, Elly rushed forward. “I’ll drive. Joe will drive with the kids today.”
For the first time since Cole had come off the bridge, he seemed to see her, but his eyes narrowed. “I can drive my own damn car, Elly.”
“I know you can, but I thought you might want some company today.” She squared her shoulders, not intimidated by his glare. He was hurting and she could deal with his anger. He wasn’t angry with her. Not really.
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got this, Elly.”
She looked up from the hand to find Sean at her side.
“Come on, Cole. I’ll drive. It’ll give me a break. Jenna’s missing all the women talk.”
Elly wanted to hug Sean. “Yeah, Joe’s a nice guy and all, but I think he could also use a little peace and quiet. You know how I can chat your ear off, Cole.”
Cole looked from her to Sean then threw his hands up like he didn’t care either way and sulked to the passenger side of his SUV. “Just don’t bitch about the heat. The eggs need it.”
“You got it, brother. I am looking forward to being toasty warm.”
Elly rounded to Cole’s side, catching the door before he closed it. “See you later.” She took his face between her hands and searched his eyes. For just a moment, she saw a flicker of anguish before he averted his gaze. It was enough. She gave him a quick kiss, relieved when he returned it. She backed out and shut the door, giving him a wave. He nodded.
Hunter drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for Joe to move in behind his dad and Sean, and for Sophie to come back to the SUV. Buddy had whined to go out just as they were ready to leave so since she was close to grassy area on her side of the vehicle, she took him.
He’d seen and heard what his dad had said to Elly. He hoped she understood that his dad wasn’t angry at her. Elly was astute though. She would know he was upset about Steve, and when she gave Hunter a small wave as she climbed into Jenna’s car, he nodded back, relieved that she was okay. Or, as good as any of them could be after what happened.
At least his dad had her to get him through this. She was so good for him. He hoped his dad was good for her too. The first few times he’d seen his dad hold her hand or whisper something in her ear, he’d felt uncomfortable. It was new to him. His dad had gone out on a handful of dates in the fifteen years since Hunter’ mom had died, but nothing serious. Out of all the horrible things that had happened in the last year, he was happy his dad had found a little happiness.
It would have been better if his dad would have let Elly ride with him, though. She had a calming effect and in the last two months, Hunter had become so used to little displays of affection between Elly and his dad that he’d barely noticed them anymore. And his dad needed a little TLC about now.
The scene on the bridge replayed in his mind and he ran a dozen different scenarios where he had reacted in a way that could have saved Steve, but every scenario met with the same outcome. It was a freak accident. It could have been any of them, but Steve was the unlucky one. Even though Steve and Mike weren’t blood-related to any of them and had only been with them a month or so, in the close confines of the island, it hadn’t taken long for everyone to feel like family.
Mike had fit right in. He was easy to talk to and after he’d saved Hunter, everyone had completely accepted him. Steve, however, was more like a distant cousin or something. The man had been talkative, but hadn’t offered much information about himself. Hunter didn’t even know if he had ever been married. Why hadn’t he ever asked Steve about himself? It felt so rude and selfish now to just assume that Steve’s life wasn’t worth asking about. And now he would never have a chance to ask the man anything ever again. How many stories had he listened to at dinner time where everyone would bring up funny incidents from their childhood when no one asked Steve about his stories? He must have
had some. Everyone did.
“Everyone ready to go?” It was Sean’s voice on the handheld radio.
Hunter looked and saw Sophie returning. “Give us a minute. Buddy had to use a bush.”
The dog took a moment to shake his fur, spraying Sophie. She opened the door to let the dog in the back seat, and said, “Let me change into a different sweatshirt. This one is soaked now.”
Hunter nodded even as he continued to dwell on Steve’s death. What did he know about the guy? He didn’t have to think too hard about the first thing that came to his mind about Steve. And that was that he had been generous with his supplies; never seeming to be upset about sharing what he’d had. He’d seen Steve slip the kids candy. At first, he’d been suspicious of the offerings and made a point of never leaving them alone with the man. And then Steve had given Buddy a large chunk of fish from his own plate a few times, and Hunter even caught him down at the stables feeding Red a piece of candy cane. The man had looked embarrassed to be seen, as if his secret was out. Hunter had grinned and said it was okay. Red and Princess loved sweets. Steve had smiled and shrugged. It was apparent that the man just liked giving treats—be it to kids or animals.
“…Hunter? They’re moving.”
He shook his head and glanced at Sophie. “I’m sorry. You said something?”
“I said you might want to get going so we don’t get too far behind.” Sophie rubbed his shoulder. “Do you want to talk?”
The last thing he wanted to do was talk. “Not really.”
“Okay. But whenever you want to, if you do, I’m right here.”
He glanced at her, wrapped in a blanket, her face peeking out over it, eyes wide. “Thanks. I know.”
He wasn’t sure Uncle Sean was the right person to offer comfort to his dad. He wasn’t certain who would be the right one because how do you comfort someone who had a man’s hand slip from their grip and that man was swept to their death?
He blinked hard and coughed to cover the sniffle and swore under his breath. His dad would be okay. He was strong. But, he thought of how his father had taken Trent’s death and hoped he wouldn’t blame himself to this one too. It wasn’t his fault any more than the virus was.
To take his mind off Steve’s death, he filled it with thoughts of the baby’s birth. Even jitters about being a dad didn’t dampen the joy he felt every time he thought of the baby. Jenna had put his mind at ease about the birth. Yes, there were dangers, but it wasn’t quite the same as delivering before modern medicine just because they didn’t have electricity. Even if the Hoover Dam no longer provided power, Jenna had antibiotics for both Sophie and the baby if needed, and had other medications at her disposal.
“Hey, Soph. Have you given any more thoughts to names?” The next hour passed with them tossing names back and forth, debating whether middle names were still needed, and the merits of the baby taking Hunter’s last name when they weren’t legally married. And then she worried about a birth certificate and went on to worry about immunizations and how the baby would ever get them.
Hunter couldn’t give her an answer and they worried together until Sophie said, “Well, if we look at this way, there aren’t going to be many other kids to pass their bugs onto the baby, right? If there are only a couple of babies around, and nobody travels much, diseases won’t spread either.”
“You have a point. I’ll ask my dad about that.”
“Or Elly.”
Hunter grinned. “Or Elly.”
“I’m so excited she’s having a baby too. It means my little peanut will have a playmate.”
“I can’t believe the playmate is going to be his or her uncle or aunt!” Hunter chuckled.
Cole watched the drenched landscape pass by, hardly noticing the overgrown lawns, wrecked cars, or burned out buildings on the outskirts of some town. They’d passed a lot of burned out buildings since leaving the island. It made him wonder how the fires had started. Some were obvious when the burned out remains of a vehicle stuck out from the charred remains of some building near a road. But, other fires were a mystery. Perhaps lightning had started a few of them and spread, or chemicals had spilled and ignited. Whatever the cause, the destruction of whole blocks wasn’t uncommon.
“I can’t believe Steve’s gone.”
Cole turned to look at Sean. Was there an accusatory note in his voice? Sean stared straight ahead, his expression open, and somber. He didn’t look at Cole and it was possible he didn’t know Cole was watching him, but his brother spoke again. “I should have been nicer to him. I wasn’t big on him or Mike hanging out with us. You know me. I was being my usual ‘friendly’ self around both of them.” He slanted Cole what he must have thought was a smile. It was more of a sad grimace.
“You were okay with them—you are, still, to Mike, I mean.” Cole sighed, his sentiment getting lost as he mixed the past tense that was Steve with the present that was Mike. “What I’m saying is you were welcoming to Steve. Remember when you guys talked hunting strategies a few weeks ago?”
Sean gave a real smile that time. “More like hilarious hunting stories. It felt almost like old times, shooting the breeze with the guys down at O’Malley’s Pub.”
Cole had always been a little envious of Sean having guys to hang out with at the corner bar. His brother wasn’t a barfly, but once a week he’d buy his employees a round and go watch football on Sundays. Jenna claimed it gave her Sundays to watch what she wanted, and she had her own circle of friends she’d go out with once or twice a month. Cole, well, he’d gone a few times to watch a ballgame, but he didn’t have the history with the guys like Sean did, and always felt out of place.
Sean cleared his throat. “You were right. We should have crossed last night. If we had…”
“We had no way of knowing the bridge would fail right as Steve’s truck crossed it. I don’t have a crystal ball.”
“But you wanted to go last night. I talked you into staying one more night and crossing today.”
“And you had good points. By the time we had everything packed and over, it would have been dark. Finding a place to spend the night in the dark, driving on unfamiliar roads that could be blocked or flooded wouldn’t have been safe either.”
They rode in silence, each lost in their thoughts, but the silence was comfortable. Cole closed his eyes as the heater blasted through the cold that had seeped down to his bones. As he relaxed, his mind wandered to his own interactions with Steve. The first night he’d been at the island and offered brown bread from a can. If he was ever fortunate enough to eat that again, he’d think of Steve and how the kids had raved about the bread for days afterward, begging Piper to learn how to make it.
18
Cole rounded a sharp curve and slammed on the brakes. “What the hell?” After a glance in the rearview mirror to make sure there were no chain reaction accidents behind him due to his sudden stop, he returned his focus to the road.
A boy, hunched into a red jacket, had been in the middle of it a second before, but where had he gone? He scanned the area until a flash of red caught his eye and watched as the boy scuttled behind a bush on the side of the road.
The sky was a deep purple behind them and a brilliant pink and orange straight ahead, but they were at a bend that curved north between two hills and cast the road in dark shadows. They had less than an hour of daylight and Cole had planned to stop a few miles down the road at a campground so they could get settled before it was fully dark. Since Steve’s death a few days ago, they had made decent time, although they had been forced to take alternate routes several times when they found roads blocked. Gas had been an issue yesterday and they’d spent time searching out usable gasoline.
Tonight, they had a campground circled on a map. It was their destination. He wondered if the kid had come from there and if he had, did that mean other survivors were nearby as well?
Cole started when his radio blasted.
“Is there a problem, Cole?” Joe sounded calm, but his voice held a h
int of concern.
“There was a kid in the road. A live one,” he amended. They had seen plenty of dead children along the way, or what was left of them. He’d learned to look away from small bundles of bones wearing tattered clothes. “A boy, I think. I’m going to see if he needs help.”
“Be careful.” Elly must have taken the radio from Joe.
Cole opened his door slowly and stood half out of the car, his hands up and open, worried more about scaring the kid than any danger from the child. “Hey, I’m getting out. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just wondering if you’re okay?”
There was no reply and so Cole scanned the area and felt to make sure his gun was still in its holster beneath his arm. He had a bad habit of removing it when driving, but he was relieved to feel the solid weight of it right where it should be. He stepped away from the safety of the vehicle but left the door open for quick re-entry if needed.
He saw a patch of red through the bush and took a few steps in that direction. “My name’s Cole and we’re passing through on our way west. We’re mostly family. How about you? Have a name?”
The bush rattled a little, and he thought he saw a shoulder.
“Are you hungry? We have plenty of food. I can leave some for you if you want. Or you could join us for dinner. We’re heading your way—just up to a campground a few miles up the road.”
“Best not.”
The words were so low and quiet, Cole wasn’t even sure if he heard them. “Excuse me?” He took a few steps closer. “I didn’t quite get that.”
The voice grew louder. “I said y’all best not go to the campground.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“It’s where they live now.”
Cole perked up. “More survivors? Are they your family?”
“Ain’t no family of mine. Don’t have a family anymore.”
“I…I’m sorry to hear that.” Cole took a few more steps until he glimpsed the top of the boy’s head. Matted dark hair nearly blended into the bush. “If we shouldn’t stay at the campground, do you know of another place we can camp for the night? Like I said, we’re just passing through and don’t want any trouble with anyone.”
Sympatico Syndrome Trilogy Box Set Page 69