Apokalypsis | Book 5 | Apokalypsis 5

by Morris, Kate

  “Right, I remember him.”

  “Hey, I knew Terry, too,” Elijah perked up. “I went to a party at his house once with some of my friends from school. Nice kid. He took off with his dad?”

  “Yes, they had property up north, remote, lot of land,” Roman answered. “Kind of like here, I guess. I don’t know what he took with him, but they had really nice horses. Jane knows a lot about horses, so I remember her liking them.”

  “I don’t know that much,” she said, uncomfortable under his praise.

  “That’s great,” Renee remarked excitedly. “You ride then?”

  “Only a little. I worked at a riding academy. Mostly barn work, not riding, definitely not showing or anything.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Renee said. “Most of the hard work is put in on the ground anyway, right?”

  Whatever that meant.

  But Jane shrugged nervously. “I guess.”

  “Groundwork is the foundation of your relationship with a horse. A lot of people are too impatient to do it, then they get pissed when the animal isn’t responding correctly. Duh.”

  Whatever that meant, too. Elijah was lost.

  Roman said, “Anyways, if we went for Noah’s equipment, it’s not far to my friend’s place. If this all blows over, I’d return anything we took like that from people.”

  Wren snorted. “This isn’t blowing over. Don’t you get that, drongo? It’s this, and that’s all it’s gonna be now.”

  “He’s just trying to be hopeful,” Avery put in.

  “Waste of time,” Wren said.

  “And what’s a drongo?” Spencer asked. “Are you from England or something?”

  “And how’d you learn how to shoot like that?” Tristan asked, keeping the barrage going.

  After a moment of silence, which he was used to because Wren shaded him for months like this, he said gently, “Wren’s been through a lot. Let’s back off the questions, okay? Let’s get back to planning.”

  And they did, which he appreciated. This group of people was about as kind and generous as he’d ever known. When he looked down the table toward Tristan, though, the scary looking soldier was still considering Wren’s evasion with narrowed, dark blue eyes.

  Roman suggested, “We have the horses we brought from the riding academy where Jane worked, which people could ride to just go back and forth to each other’s houses or to take care of the animals.”

  “How many did you bring?” Renee asked.

  “Not that many. Only five. That’s all we could haul,” Roman answered for them. “We freed the rest of them. Seemed cruel to keep them penned up knowing nobody would be taking care of them anymore, that they’d just starve. You guys have some, too?”

  “I had seven, but we’re down to four.”

  “What happened?” Alex asked.

  “We don’t know,” Renee answered again. “We went back to my family’s farm to get them and the cows, and some were missing. Some cows, too.”

  Everyone paused to consider this, but nobody seemed to want to discuss it. Elijah figured they were all thinking the same thing but sparing the little kids at the table from hearing it.

  After another hour of discussion and hearty food and planning, Tristan drove everyone home, insisted on it, and bade them all to be careful.

  He fully expected Wren to want the room they’d planned on giving to Jamie when he arrived, but she stayed in the bunk room with him. He was thankful, too.

  “Need anything else?” he asked as she crawled into the smaller top bunk. “I’m going down with Alex to see if he needs help, but I can bring you something.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

  That was the lie of the century. Wren was anything but.

  “Okay, I’ll be up in a little bit. Try to sleep.”

  He got another nod before she turned onto her side to face the wall. Tomorrow was going to be another long day, so she needed her rest. He also knew she was keeping busy, wearing herself out, so that she wouldn’t have to think about Jamie.

  Downstairs, he offered to help stoke the fire in the basement but was met with resistance from his brother. They drank mugs of hot tea since they were saving the coffee for early mornings only, and talked awhile about the coming days, their new allies, and Wren. Alex seemed concerned about her, which was strange for him. His brother didn’t often show a lot of emotion, so Elijah knew he didn’t completely despise her. Maybe he didn’t display that often, but for him to ask after her welfare, he had to like her just a little.

  Elijah turned in a few hours later, leaving his brother to stay up on watch duty for a while, which Alex wanted. He crawled into the bottom bunk and lay there for a while thinking about all they’d been through- the suffering, the loss, and the heartbreak. Then her bed creaked as she shifted, and the next thing he knew, Wren was slipping under his blanket.

  “Can I sleep here tonight?” she asked quietly.

  “Yeah, sure. Absolutely,” he answered without hesitation and gathered her into his arms. She felt thinner than normal, which was a difficult task. Soon, his shoulder was damp, and he knew she was crying softly. Elijah didn’t say anything because he also knew that Wren wouldn’t want him to. Right now, she just needed physical comforting, which was what he could give. He stroked her back, smoothed her hair back from her cheek and forehead, and pulled her closer. Eventually, she fell asleep that way, but Elijah lay awake for a long time thinking about how to prevent what happened to them from ever happening again. The idea of losing her was not even on the spectrum of what he could consider.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jane

  She slept beside her father, whose fever was completely gone now and remained so throughout the night. To say she slept would be a gross exaggeration. Phasing in and out of sleep every few moments wasn’t exactly sleeping, but she rested, which was good enough. At five a.m., she heard someone moving around in the house and rose to check it out.

  “Hey, sorry. Did I wake you?” Roman whispered as he pulled on his socks in the living room.

  “No, it’s fine. I guess I didn’t sleep much anyway.” She pulled the door to her father’s bedroom closed softly.

  “Me, neither,” he admitted. “Thinking about her?”

  She nodded and stared at the floor.

  “Yeah, I figured,” he acknowledged and walked over to offer a hug. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get through this.”

  She nodded against his chest, drawing in deeply the scent of him, and wished he were telling the truth. It wasn’t that Roman was outright lying; he wouldn’t do that with her. He thought he was being honest, but Jane was starting to figure this out. Not everyone was going to make it. Her best friend had taken her own life, and seeing Dez lying dead in the woods had done something to her. She’d never not think of that moment, feel her friend’s sheer lack of will and deep despair. It had hit her so hard right in the stomach looking at her friend’s wide open, lifeless eyes staring up at the sky, her blood on the ground all around her. Jane knew she would never recover fully from that, and she’d have to see that sight for a long time to come when she laid down at night, closed her eyes, and prepared for sleep. Dez had been her best friend, her only one before Roman.

  “When are you leaving?” she asked, pulling away.

  “Soon, a few minutes,” he answered and went to the kitchen where he poured stale coffee from the glass pot. It was yesterday’s coffee, but they couldn’t be picky. He didn’t even heat it up in the microwave. Ick. “The others will be here soon.”

  “I want to go with you,” she said, leaning against the counter behind her.

  “Hunting?”

  She nodded vigorously. “Yeah, I mean, what if something happens to you? We could starve. I used to go fishing with my dad, but I don’t know anything about hunting.”

  He almost said something but stopped. Then he started again, “What about your dad?”

  “Noah can watch him with Connor and Stephanie.”

  “
Stephanie can do what?” her antagonist asked as she came into the kitchen in a skimpy tank top and undies. Jane looked away.

  “Stay with her father so Jane can go hunting with me,” Roman said. “And put on some damn clothes. Don’t strut around here like that in front of my little brother.”

  “He’s asleep, dumbass.”

  “Put on clothes. Don’t make me tell you again.”

  Stephanie was going to retort something snippy but hesitated. “Fine.”

  “And you’re staying with her father so she can go hunting.”

  “Okay, sure. I’d rather not go traipsing around in the cold ass woods today.”

  “Good. And keep an eye on Connor?” he questioned.

  “I’m not a fucking idiot, Roman. Yes, I’ll babysit. Everyone. Even the vegetable upstairs,” she said of Noah presumably.

  Jane frowned. That was harsh. But, then again, that was Stephanie. She didn’t pull punches.

  “I can make us some food before we go,” Jane offered and pulled her long cardigan closer.

  Roman added, “I’ll get the fire going. Looks like it died down.”

  “Yeah, no shit,” Stephanie remarked and poured the last of the coffee into her mug and stuck it into the microwave. “I sleep in the basement, remember? Colder than Hell down there.”

  Jane didn’t point out that Hell was usually referred to as a rather hot place.

  “Oh, sorry, Stephanie,” she apologized instead. “If you want to move up to the living room or something, we can…”

  Her hand shot up. “No, thanks. I like my space down there.”

  “I can change the sheets in the guest bedroom if you want it,” Jane offered since Destiny and her mother would no longer be using it. It was strange how many people had come to live with them and how many were left. They’d started with nine and were down to six.

  “Nah, I like my privacy down there.”

  “There are more blankets in the closet down there,” Jane offered.

  “Yeah, thanks,” Stephanie returned in an untrusting manner.

  “Don’t think I don’t smell the pot you’ve been smoking down there,” Roman said from the living room.

  “Shoulda’ locked it up with my coke and pills,” she said as if unembarrassed, which she probably wasn’t in the least. “I only smoke it down there when it’s too damn cold to do it outside.”

  “How the hell much more do you have?”

  She grinned.

  “Pancakes?” Jane asked.

  “Sure, Suzy homemaker,” Stephanie said, although Jane had been asking Roman.

  She didn’t answer but got to work while Stephanie left, hopefully, to put on clothing. Jane didn’t want her to walk around like that in front of Connor, either. Or maybe in front of Roman, too. Then she chided herself for thinking like that. Roman was not hers. She held no claim over him, but it bothered her knowing they were all under the same roof and that he and Stephanie had a past relationship, baggage, and Jane was just Jane. Even without her hair extensions, makeup, and long fake nails, Stephanie was still really pretty. And a whole heck of a lot more confident.

  Fifteen minutes later, there was a light tapping on the door. Roman answered, carrying his plate and eating at the same time, and greeted Spencer, Wren, and Elijah and a dog, a big one that looked really mean. Brutus chuffed softly and wagged his tail. Then the two dogs were checking each other out. Within another minute, Brutus was enticing Wren’s dog into playing with him, which was way too many dogs in the small living room.

  Jane knew they were going to need more pancakes. They had four boxes of premade mix left. That wouldn’t go far. She longed for the wisdom and guidance of Nana Peaches. She’d know how to handle all of this. She’d know what to do, know how to make food go further, what to make, how to grow things in the spring. And when to hug Jane and give her a few encouraging words, which seemed more important than anything else in her life right now.

  “Hungry?” she asked them, holding a spatula with two pancakes on it.

  “No, thanks,” Elijah answered. “Alex made us breakfast before we all left. He’s going with Tristan to find livestock. I thought I’d stay and help look after your dad,” he said with a shrug and looked at Roman, “and your little brother. Can’t do much else right now. Nothing to do at our house, either.”

  “Wow, thanks,” Jane said with true appreciation.

  “Yeah, that’s great, man,” Roman said and shook the star athlete’s hand. She thought Roman was big, but Elijah Brannon was huge. He was also very handsome, had a surfer, California kind of look about him. She was quite sure he was a very popular boy at his school being so good-looking and the star quarterback on such a successful team. “Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem,” he answered. “We’re neighbors now, so…”

  “Allies,” Roman corrected and got a nod. “Unless this all ends, and we have to play your school in football again.”

  Elijah chuckled. “Yeah, don’t think that’s gonna happen anytime soon.”

  Roman just chuffed and set his empty plate on the counter.

  Connor meandered into the kitchen and hugged Jane around the waist. He was a sweet boy, but she knew the loss of his parents was hitting hard. He’d known Destiny but wasn’t necessarily close with her. They’d lied to him and told his little brother that she’d fallen in the woods and was killed. Roman hoped it served two purposes; that he’d not wander into the woods without him, and that it would save Connor just a tiny bit more of his childhood without having to also deal with a suicide within their group. Roman told her that he wasn’t even sure if Connor understood what suicide meant yet. She definitely didn’t want to have to explain it to him and agreed not to tell him the truth. Jane tried to sit with him every day for a few minutes to read books from around the house to him, which were about things her father was interested in like wars or true crime, probably not the best for a boy his age. Jane never had siblings, so she wasn’t sure what to do with him or how to help him with his grief. She didn’t even know how to deal with her own.

  They ate quickly, and she changed into thermal long-johns and warmer clothing. She dug through the bin and found a warm toboggan and thick gloves. Donning her leather barn boots, she was ready to go.

  “Got your pistol?” Roman asked, to which she nodded.

  “Ready?” Spencer asked.

  Jane wrinkled her brows and asked Elijah near the door, “Shouldn’t you be resting? You have broken ribs and stuff.”

  He shrugged. “No, I’m used to injuries. Only the graze from that gunshot is still bothering me. We don’t think my ribs are cracked, just bruised. I’ve had that a lot in football.”

  “You were shot?” she asked a little too loudly as Stephanie came back upstairs.

  “Just a graze,” he insisted.

  “Maybe Stephanie can take a look at it while we’re gone. We have plenty of supplies now, thanks to you guys,” she said, looking at Spencer, who offered a smile.

  “Sure, I’ll check him out,” Stephanie said while perching on the table eating a dry pancake without butter or syrup, which was a crime in Jane’s book. Stephanie didn’t eat a lot, which was good for their group’s survival, but Jane also didn’t want her to become even thinner and get sick.

  Stephanie’s eyebrow shot up as if to insinuate more than the offer of medical assistance toward Elijah, and Jane tried not to cringe. Being the quarterback of such a prestigious team, she was quite sure Elijah Brannon had plenty of girls throw themselves at him over the years.

  “Keep it in your pants, Steph,” Roman warned crudely, which was unusual for him.

  She only laughed and went to the kitchen. Jane noticed the narrowing of Wren’s pale eyes on Stephanie’s back. In her defense, Stephanie was challenging to get along with on any given day.

  “Let’s get a move on,” Spencer reminded them.

  Outside were two ATV’s waiting for them.

  “Think we need them?” Roman asked. “I’ve spott
ed a lot of deer since we moved here.”

  “You’re the boss,” Spencer said. “You make the calls on this one. I’ll just follow your lead.”

  “Okay, well, I guess let’s take them and head down the road further toward where we’re keeping the horses,” Roman said with a nod. “I know I’ve seen deer and turkey, even a flock of pheasants in that field at dawn.”

  “Sounds good. Let’s mount up,” Spencer agreed.

  She rode behind Roman, and Wren took a seat behind Spencer, although she didn’t look too happy about it. Her dog jogged along beside them.

  The trip didn’t take long, and they cut the engines at the barn of the farm where they kept the horses, squatted them to be more precise.

  “Hey, guys,” Jane said to halt them. “I need to tell you all something.”

  Roman nodded for her to continue, already aware of the secret of Maureen being in the house. They were both astonished to hear of it.

  “I’ll just go up to the house and tell her what we’re doing here,” she said after explaining.

  “Sure, just be careful,” Spencer warned.

  He had no idea how much more dangerous Maureen could be than night crawlers.

  “I’ll go with ya’.”

  Roman walked beside her, took her hand in his, and together they trudged through the snow. However, her mother wasn’t in the house, and there wasn’t a note, either. The house was warm, and a plate was in the sink with what looked like breakfast remnants.

  “Where is she?” That’s weird,” he remarked. “When I came down last night, she was here. I showed her again how to feed the animals. This is odd.”

  “Not for her, it’s not,” she returned. “Let’s go back to the others.”

  “Let us feed the horses grain,” Roman said when they got there. “Her mother’s supposed to do it, but I’m not sure if she did. I think that’s what draws the deer in anyway. There are long black grain troughs in the pasture over there,” he pointed, “that we dump their feed into. Maybe the deer can smell it or something.”