Apokalypsis | Book 5 | Apokalypsis 5

by Morris, Kate

  Last night, she’d explained her father’s health situation when Maureen had inquired after him. Jane speculated that Maureen was bummed out that he was alive at all. It wasn’t as if their divorce was friendly. She hated her father.

  “I’m not fucking leaving,” Maureen said. “I don’t know my way around or anything.”

  “We’ll get you a map. You brought a car…”

  “That car is a piece of shit! And now it’s wrecked.”

  “Then you’ll just stay at the house. It doesn’t matter. This is the only offer you’re getting, Maureen. Take it or leave it.”

  “Well, well, well, Janie’s found her voice,” Maureen said in a sly manner. Then she turned to look at Roman. “Oh, I see. You two are fuck buds, right? You must be. You’re letting him and his dead weight little brother stay here but not your own mother.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Jane said before Roman had to answer. “You always are.”

  “You little—”

  “Pack up. We’ll take you over there in ten minutes,” Jane said and left the room with Roman.

  Down the hall, he pulled her into the bathroom. “You okay? That was probably really hard to do.”

  She nodded, although her limbs felt weak and shaky. “Yeah, I’m fine. We can’t have her and Stephanie under the same roof. And you don’t know Maureen. She’s a million times worse than Steph. She’s…manipulative and cruel. She would be controlling and running this house by the end of the day. She’s horrible.”

  He nodded with understanding. “I get it. I’m glad you stood up to her. I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. I just get a bad vibe from her.”

  “That’s because you’re human,” she joked and got a grin.

  Then he cupped her cheek. “I’ll back your play, Jane. Always. You call the shots, I’ll back you up. No questions.”

  “Thanks,” she said quietly and leaned into his palm slightly. “Ready?”

  Maureen complained the whole ride over to the farm, and Jane mostly ignored her. Some small part of her felt that it was wrong to do this to her own mother. Then she remembered that her mother had no problem with murdering someone in front of her. She also hadn’t called Nana Peaches to come and get her that night. Jane had been stuck in protective custody until Nana found out.

  Roman made sure the furnace would light, and that heat was coming out of the register vents. Then he carried in the two boxes of supplies they were giving her.

  “Make it last,” Jane reminded her. “One of us will be over every morning to feed the horses. Later tonight, we’ll come by and show you how to handle their evening feedings.”

  “Do you brats even realize those things come out at night?”

  “Of course,” Jane said.

  “I don’t even have a gun. Your dad has plenty. You need to hook me up,” Maureen ordered.

  “When he’s awake, I’ll talk to him about it,” Jane answered with a confidence she didn’t feel.

  “Don’t be an ass, Jane,” Maureen said. “What if I get overrun? You know, that’s part of the reason I got outta’ jail. The infected ones attacked some of the medical staff and guards.”

  “What made that happen?”

  “Duh, Jane. They’re psycho! Haven’t you had any experience with them?”

  “Yes, of course,” she said. “I’m sure everyone has dealt with them by now.”

  “So why are you questioning me?”

  Jane shrugged.

  “Fine, I may have helped them out a little to get it started. Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have a weapon. You know I need one,” she argued.

  “Hang on,” Roman said and left the room. Jane heard him on the stairs. He returned a moment later with a baseball bat he must’ve found in the basement. “Here ya’ go.”

  Maureen scoffed. “Get real, will ya’?”

  “It’s better than nothing,” Jane reminded her.

  “You both have guns. I saw it on your waist, Jane.”

  “That’s to protect myself and Connor.”

  “You’re more worried about his brother than your own mother?”

  Jane was losing her patience. “Connor is a defenseless child. You mastermind prison breaks. I think you’ll be fine.”

  With that, Jane turned and followed Roman back out to the truck, where he opened her door for her.

  Jane looked up to see Maureen still standing in the open doorway glaring at them. Then she slammed the door shut. It didn’t matter. Jane didn’t have the time or energy to deal with her mother. She had to focus on her father’s health and the meeting with their new friends.

  Roman took her hand in his and said, “For what it’s worth, I think that’s the right decision for now. We’ll give her some time to cool off. When your Dad’s better, he can make the call like you said.”

  She nodded and took comfort in his touch but not his words. Roman didn’t know Maureen at all. She didn’t ‘cool off.’ This would anger her to no end. Her specialty in life could be summed up as the art of revenge.

  Chapter Nine

  Elijah

  Every part of him, or so it seemed, was sore, achy, broken, or bruised. Alex had taped his ribs last night. Spencer had given him stitches on the cut above his eye and on his thigh where the bullet had grazed through the muscle. He warned not to push too hard, or he’d tear that one open. They’d even managed to administer a shot of some sort of painkiller for the stitches and oral antibiotics. It had taken quite a while, and he’d apparently fallen asleep on the sofa where they’d worked by candlelight because he was awake now and still there. Wren had been nowhere in sight during all of it. Typically, she was hands-on, wanted to be involved in everything, but she’d trudged up the stairs with her dog and closed their bedroom door without a word to anyone.

  He attempted to roll onto his side, but the pain sliced through him, and he instead just remained on his back.

  “You’re awake,” his brother said from somewhere behind him.

  “Alive. Not sure about the awake thing.”

  Alex chuckled. “I’ve got food made. You should eat. Then I can give you a pain pill.”

  “Thanks, man,” he said and yawned. An attempt at stretching caused pain to slice through his ribs and stomach.

  A few minutes later, Alex brought him a tray with toast and scrambled eggs. There was a sports drink on the tray along with a pre-packaged cup of applesauce.

  “Thanks,” he said again and managed to sit up with Alex’s help. His stomach grumbled at the sight of it all. He hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since they’d taken him and was definitely famished. “Looks great.”

  “They feed you up there?”

  He shook his head and dug in. It all tasted perfect, like the best meal ever. “Where’s Spencer?”

  “He left when the sun came up. Our place connects with the Andersson’s, as you know, and he lives over there. Guess Avery had an apartment above their garage her dad built for her, and he lives in it.”

  “Is that her boyfriend or just a family friend or something?”

  “Nah, she’s with the other one- Tristan…something, can’t remember his last name,” Alex explained as he sipped his coffee.

  “Really?” he asked with disbelief and even wrinkled his nose. “That’s odd. Never woulda’ pegged that.”

  “No, me neither, but the dude seems pretty cool,” Alex said. “I think her parents are dead. I don’t know for sure, but I didn’t see them at her house yesterday. Some of her siblings weren’t there, either. I think there was like seven or eight of ‘em.”

  “I remember,” Elijah said. “Sounds like she’s been hit as hard as everyone else.”

  Alex nodded. He grimaced next and said, “I’ll get you another bag of ice when you’re done. You need it for the swelling.”

  “Just like old times, right?”

  Alex chuckled and nodded again. “Nothing like ice baths and bandages.”

  Football got a little rough sometimes, but it had been the only thin
g he was ever good at. He wished he’d studied cage fighting or joined a shooting league in retrospect of the last few days. Getting his ass kicked wasn’t a good feeling, literally and figuratively.

  “Swelling above your eye is good,” Alex observed. “I set a bag of frozen green beans on it when you were out last night.”

  “You did? I don’t even remember.”

  “Yeah, well, the power of narcotics,” he remarked. “They didn’t beat you with anything, did they? I mean, just their fists?”

  He nodded, “Why?”

  “Just want to make sure you don’t have a concussion.”

  “Nah, I’m good. I had one in ninth grade, remember? It was mild, not a big deal.”

  “Your face would say otherwise,” Alex said, sipping more coffee. “I don’t think you have one, but I am concerned about internal injuries.”

  “I’m just beat up, A,” he assured his brother. “I don’t think my ribs are broke. I’m just sore and banged up.”

  “Jamie didn’t get as lucky,” he said with a hard frown.

  Elijah winced and stopped eating for a second, remembering her fake uncle. The guy hadn’t exactly been nice to him, definitely hadn’t been his friend, but he had done everything to protect Wren’s life, even given his for hers. For that, Jamie had his respect. Now, it was up to him to keep her alive. He wasn’t sure if Jamie was right about the international mob still coming after her, but Elijah wanted to keep her safe and hidden from them just in case. This farm seemed like the best place for that.

  “Yeah, it sucks,” Elijah agreed. “I feel like crap about that.”

  “Wasn’t your fault, man,” Alex said. “He wanted to draw that group off of us. He did, but it backfired. They sent him to a quarantine camp, and then he went back to that damn trailer. Why’d he do that stupid shit? Why didn’t he just come here?”

  “He said there’s stuff there he had to do,” Elijah said, cramming the last of the toast into his mouth. Alex hurried from the room and brought him two fresh pieces, and dumped some more scrambled eggs directly from the pan onto his plate. “Thanks. Anyway, Jamie said I have to go back to the trailer, get something for Wren, and then torch the place.”

  “What? Why?”

  He shrugged and then flinched at the pain. “Not sure. He wouldn’t say. Just said to go back to the trailer and find something he’d hid for her under the floor in the closet.”

  “Why didn’t he just bring it with us when we left?”

  “He thought he had time to go back. Or he planned on going back. I can’t remember the exact way he put it. I was having trouble focusing sometimes when he was talking to me. I don’t know.”

  Alex asked, “What could be so important that he’d want us to risk going back? I mean, not all those assholes last night are dead. Some are still around. They could be waiting at the trailer to ambush us again.”

  “Not sure. Seems like it’s important, though. I don’t think those people will mess with us again. I’m sure they realized it was a mistake.”

  “Hell yeah,” Alex agreed quietly. “Assholes.”

  “Has Wren come down yet?”

  He shook his head, and Elijah frowned and then regretted it. He was going to have to work on his stoicism until his face healed up a little.

  “Electric working?” he asked his brother, who took his empty plate and drink container. “Thanks again.”

  “Yeah, for now,” he said. “Warm enough?”

  “I’m good. I think I’m gonna go up and take a shower.”

  “Need help?”

  “Uh…with what?” he asked in a teasing tone.

  Alex chuckled and helped him to his feet. “Don’t be a little dick.”

  Elijah chuffed. “Right. I think we both know that isn’t true.”

  “I’m the big brother for a reason, asswipe. Don’t you forget it.”

  “Not from what I’ve seen.”

  “Been checking it out, huh?”

  “With bifocals, of course,” he teased further.

  Alex laughed and then sobered and gave him a gentle hug. “Missed your ugly mug.”

  “You, too.”

  “Can you get up the stairs okay? Or do you need me to carry your purse?”

  “I got it,” Elijah answered with a chuckle, then winced.

  His leg was a little stiff from the stitches, but what was the sorest were his arms from being hung from his wrists on that pipe. The muscles were overly tired and weak.

  The hot water felt great, and he allowed himself a few extra minutes to stand under the head and let the spray soak his sore muscles.

  When he got out, he dried off and removed his wet bandages to discard them in the trashcan. His leg didn’t look too bad. Spencer was quite the medic despite saying to the contrary. The four tiny stitches above his left eyebrow were neat and precise. The ones on his leg, about seven or so, were also tidy and straight. His face was kind of a mess, though. His chin had a bad bruise. His forehead had a lump, and the rest was just covered in abrasions, small cuts, or bruising. He looked like he just stepped out of a boxing ring on the wrong side of a win.

  He wrapped his towel around his waist, left his discarded clothing on the floor, and tried to creep down the hall to his bedroom that he shared with Wren. Opening the door, he cringed when it creaked a little. He was surprised to see her on the lower bunk, his bunk. Her dog was on the floor and stood to trot over, lick his hand, and rush past him. It probably needed to go out to the bathroom because it jogged down the stairs. Wren was awake, lying on her side facing him, and on her cell phone, which she quickly shut off and sat up. She sniffed and pulled her cardigan a little tighter around the front of her.

  “Hey,” Elijah said softly.

  She didn’t answer but waved once and wouldn’t look at him.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you. I just need clothes.”

  “I’ll go,” she said and stood up quickly.

  “No, it’s okay,” he said, holding out a hand. “Just turn around.”

  She looked undecided but did so slowly.

  Elijah opened his dresser drawer and pulled out clean clothes; jeans, underwear, warm socks, a t-shirt, and a flannel shirt. Pulling a hoodie over his head seemed like it might be hard to do with his sore ribs.

  “Ow,” he blurted as he tried to button the shirt.

  “What’s wrong?” Wren swiveled.

  “Oh, nothing,” he said. “Just, my hands are sore from being tied up.” His wrists were medicated with cream and bandaged by Spencer.

  She walked over and began buttoning his shirt for him.

  “Thanks.”

  “Sure,” she said, her voice scratchy.

  “Get any sleep?”

  She just shook her head.

  “Wren…” he began and didn’t quite know where to go with it. She finally looked up at him, and he saw the pain and anguish there. She wasn’t crying, but Elijah could tell she was hurting deeply. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to leave him. I—”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I finally got freed, Jamie made me leave him to escape. I ran into Tristan so we were able to go back for Jamie, but he wanted me to come for Alex, to bring back help.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  That felt odd. Of course, it mattered.

  “Tell me what happened, Elijah,” she ordered quietly, then added, “And don’t leave anything out.”

  “Okay,” he answered. “Sit. I’ll tell you everything.”

  She complied, and Elijah sat next to her and told what he knew and what he and Jamie had experienced.

  “He never told them about you. Neither of us did. Jamie still thought you were in danger. You know, from the mob and all that. They just wanted the guns he had stashed. How come you never told me about those?”

  “Because they were a backup plan,” she answered. “It wasn’t a big deal. Jamie said he’d go back for them eventually. We weren’t even sure we were going to be able to stay here with you a
nd Alex. That’s why he left them…and other stuff.”

  “What other stuff?”

  “Emergency money and new i.d.’s,” she said. “I got them last night out of the storm drain. He had them in an ammo can.”

  “And what’s still at the trailer that’s so important?”

  She rose and walked over to the window. “I don’t know.”

  “Is that the truth?” he asked with distrust.

  She shot him an angry look.

  “Sorry, it’s just that I didn’t know about the secret trove of guns and ammo. I figured there were still a lot of secrets you were keeping. You and Jamie. I mean, it’s not like the guy was an open book. Neither are you.”

  “The only reason we would withhold information from you is to keep you safe, Elijah. That’s all. There’s no reason to endanger more people.”

  “Why would telling me about the guns put me in danger? And did we get all of them? Alex said you made them wait while you went in there.”

  She shook her head. “No, there’s more, but I didn’t think we’d need them all.”

  He chuffed and stood, as well. “See what I mean?”

  “I didn’t tell you because we were a little busy last night. It’s not a big deal. We’ll get them when we go back to the trailer. There’s a few other things in there, too.”

  “Like what? A cannon?”

  She grinned lopsidedly and then frowned again. Elijah walked over and took her into his arms. Wren actually laid her head against his chest for just a second as if she needed the comfort but was afraid to take it.

  “I’m really sorry about Jamie,” he said and stroked her hair. “I know how much he meant to you.”

  She nodded and stepped back. He realized she needed space. Wren wasn’t an affectionate or sometimes even a nice person, so he knew she didn’t want to let the waterworks loose.

  “Hey, the electric’s on if you want a hot shower. It—”

  “What I want is to go back up there and finish the job,” she said coldly and turned to dig out clean clothes.