Apokalypsis | Book 5 | Apokalypsis 5

by Morris, Kate

  She shuddered, and Avery wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Then she rose and extended a hand. Avery led her to Kaia’s bathroom and made her sit on the closed commode seat. The girl had a lot of hair, she had lived in hideous conditions, and Avery didn’t want her to get sick, too, so she used the blow-dryer on her wet hair. Perhaps that girl who died had transferred her illness to Remmie. Avery wasn’t sure what was and wasn’t contagious. Maybe pneumonia wasn’t what she had. Either way, she didn’t want to take any chances.

  It took a while, but she finally got Remmie’s hair completely dried and was surprised that it was a lighter color than she’d thought it was in the dirty basement. She finished just in time, too, because the power went out again. Remmie’s hair was really lovely with the dark and light streaks woven throughout to give it the appearance of professionally highlighted dark blonde hair, although she doubted it was colored. She didn’t have dark roots, and not a single hair salon had been in business for months. This girl liked being outside, or probably used to.

  A faint bruise on the crest of her cheekbone was visible but fading. She had full lips and big brown eyes and was probably very pretty if she weren’t so emaciated thin. And she was tall, probably around five-nine. Something maternal exploded in her chest the moment she’d seen this poor girl chained to the wall.

  “There, better?” she asked and got a nod. “Would you like me to braid it or anything?”

  Remmie shook her head.

  “What happened to the other girl? You said there were six of you?”

  “Seven. There were seven, not counting Maddie, who they killed, and Lillian, who got away. But two others were sold, including my sister. Three were in the other room, and one was…” she shivered and rubbed her thin arms. “She didn’t submit. She was tough, tougher than the rest of us. She was older, too, maybe twenty. They beat her up badly, used her. She never stopped fighting them. One of the other girls that got the virus told me they took her outside and shot her because she bit Jeff on the cheek. I guess it was really bad, really gushing blood.”

  “Dear Lord,” she whispered. “When did that happen?”

  “About a week ago. I think. I don’t know. I was losing track of the days. Is today Saturday?”

  “No, dear, it’s Tuesday. That’s okay,” Avery soothed her and led her to the bedroom again where they sat on the bed. “Don’t worry about the time. You’ll get in synch again. Continue on. Tell me what happened.”

  “They took my sister away, too. Then it was just me after the others died. I thought they were going to leave me there to starve. I tried to get loose.”

  She pushed up her sleeves slightly to reveal terrible rings of bruising around her tiny wrists.

  “I have a good salve for that. It’ll soothe the pain and bruising,” Avery said.

  A soft knock on the partially open door drew their attention.

  Kaia asked, “Ave, should we wait for dinner? The guys aren’t back yet, but the kids are hungry.”

  “Let’s eat. I’m sure Remmie would like that. We’ll be right there, darling.”

  Kaia offered an awkward nod and ducked out of the room.

  “The man that my fiancée killed in the yard, was he the one who brought you food?”

  She nodded. “I think he lived close to there. He was trading his help taking care of us for food and alcohol. Sometimes he wouldn’t come for a full day but never three. I think he drank too much and passed out and forgot about us.”

  “You poor dear,” she said and cupped her cheek softly. Avery sighed and suggested, “Let’s go eat. You can meet my little brothers and Renee, my friend.”

  She looked reticent to follow when Avery stood.

  “You’re safe here. Nobody would hurt you here. This is my family. It can be your family, too, now. We’ll find you a place to sleep and get you settled later. How’s that sound?”

  She sat there a moment. Then she rose and threw herself against Avery.

  “Thank you, Avery.”

  She didn’t have the words to respond. This frail kid needed them. She had no intention of letting her come to danger again. Evil men had sex trafficked her to other equally evil sick bastards. When Tristan came home, she was going to talk to him about finding Remmie’s sister and possibly the others who were sold.

  When she got to the kitchen with her, the electricity flickered back on for a moment before going out again. It was becoming habitual, and they all did what they had to do and found the candles and the two oil lamps they owned. It wasn’t much, but it was all they had for these times. They needed a generator, but then they’d need extra fuel for that, and Tristan said they were loud. Nothing was a simple solution anymore.

  “Great,” Kaia complained.

  “At least the food’s ready,” Ephraim said, his bird perched on his forearm. She was glad the kids weren’t making a big deal of their new guest, which she was sure Kaia explained to them.

  “To the atrium, young man,” Avery ordered.

  “I know, I know. I’m going. Oh, hey, I’m Ephraim,” he said, extending his free hand to Remmie. She shook it, barely making contact with his fingertips, though, and introduced herself. “Wanna’ see where Mr. Gray hangs out?”

  “S-sure,” Remington replied and followed after Avery gave her an encouraging nod.

  In the kitchen, she helped Kaia pull together the pot of Italian soup they’d prepared earlier. It contained potatoes, garlic, the last of the fresh lettuce before the snowfall hit, and spicy ground sausage. Her mother used to make this with her father’s favorite dumplings, but Avery didn’t know how to make them. This would have to do.

  Kaia asked her in a low pitch, “Is she gonna be okay?”

  Avery touched her little sister’s shoulder and replied, “Someday maybe. She’s been through a lot. I’ll explain later in private.”

  Kaia looked at her and said, “I don’t think you need to. I think I can guess.”

  They placed a pitcher of water on the table, along with the leftover dinner rolls from yesterday and the soup pot, and took their seats. Her little brother returned with Remmie as Finn came into the room. She introduced him, too. Most of their windows were boarded up, but she could still tell it was getting dark out.

  “Remmie, you can sit over here by me,” she offered, knowing Kaia usually sat there and would adjust more easily than moving Finn, who was customarily stuck to her like glue. “Where’s Abraham? I didn’t see him yet.”

  Renee came into the kitchen sweaty, probably from working out in the basement on the equipment her father used to use. They were all trying to stay in shape. Renee warned everyone that being fit and healthy was going to be better than being weak and out of shape right now to fight off infections, the common cold, or running for your life if the situation arose. Avery hoped her friend was wrong about the last part. She’d never been much of a runner.

  “Went to check on the chickens,” Kaia answered. “He’ll be back in a minute. He’s been tinkering in the barn all day. You know him.”

  “We’ll ladle out the soup,” she said and began without her little brother while simultaneously worrying about where Tristan was and what was taking him so long to get back.

  The front door opened, and Remmie jumped.

  “It’s okay,” Kaia told her. “Just Abraham, one of our brothers. Abraham, get your culo in here. I’m starving!”

  “No swearing, young lady. Even in Spanish.”

  “Coming!” he called back.

  Avery kept after Kaia, “You’re going to teach Finnegan that swearing in another language is suitable. I expect you to lead by example.”

  “Merde,” she retorted.

  Avery shot her an unamused expression. “Or French.”

  She rolled her eyes and took a big bite of her roll, likely to stifle her rebellious response.

  Ephraim yelled, “Hurry up!”

  “Sorry, Remmie,” Avery apologized. “This is a loud household.”

  She just nodded nervously and tri
ed to offer a smile.

  Abraham joined them after washing his hands.

  “Hey, we need to be careful with the water,” she warned. “Electric’s out.”

  “Uh…” he said, looking at Remmie.

  “Oh, Abraham, this is Remington, Remmie for short. Sorry, you were up in the barn earlier when she arrived.” Avery was thankful for that because the girl had been in her underwear. This girl had been through quite enough without more humiliation. “She’ll be staying with us,” she explained and left it at that. He didn’t argue or question her but extended his hand as she knew he would. Their parents would be so proud.

  “Abraham Andersson,” he said to the girl, who looked like she’d rather do anything but touch his hand.

  “Remmie Voight,” she answered shyly.

  Without missing a beat, he took his seat and said, “Nice to meet you. I’m starving. Where’s Tristan?”

  “I’m not sure. Hopefully, on his way home,” she worried and looked at the front door again. Then she rose to lock it when the children all began tearing into their food. It was definitely dark outside, and she hated to lock him out, but this was just how it was now. She had to keep the kids safe in case he didn’t come home. Avery sighed and turned the second deadbolt, as well.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Elijah

  “Where are they?” he asked rhetorically for the tenth time.

  Wren answered anyway, “Don’t worry. Even if they don’t come back tonight, it doesn’t mean they won’t be coming back ever. Let’s just keep going.”

  They were helping Roman and Jane nail up boards against the windows. When Jane had come back with just Spencer on the four-wheeler, his heart had stopped. He wanted to go out into the storm after Wren, but Spencer assured him they weren’t far behind them. It had still been the longest thirty minutes of his life waiting for her to come into view.

  “That smells good, Mr. Livingston,” Roman said over his shoulder to Gyles, Jane’s father, who was cooking them deer meat and whatever else he was putting together. Elijah was glad her dad was finally feeling better and seemed to be getting around well. She was still hovering over him in the kitchen.

  “Noah, hand me another piece of wood,” Elijah asked the dude who seemed wazzed out of his mind or something. “Noah.”

  “Hey, wake up, zombie,” Stephanie snapped her fingers and slapped his shoulder. “Jesus, go help in the kitchen.”

  He did as she said and meandered slowly away.

  “What’s his deal?” Elijah asked her when he left and took the wood from her outstretched hand.

  “Broke his vagina,” she said and handed him wood.

  “Steph, damnit. Cut it out. C’mon,” Roman chewed her out in a hushed tone. Elijah was coming to understand their arguing was the norm around here. “Try to be a little sympathetic. He’s been through a lot.”

  “So have I. So have you. We aren’t being babies about it.”

  Jane came into the room and said softly so that Noah wouldn’t hear, “Not everyone deals with things the same way.”

  Stephanie snorted, “Yeah, some people just duck their heads and block everyone out.”

  “Steph,” Roman warned in a more severe tone. Elijah figured there was something she was getting at that Roman didn’t appreciate, something in their shared history. Then Roman quietly explained what Noah had gone through, which was traumatic.

  “This should help with your security,” Elijah pointed out, changing the subject. “We did this at our house in the city. Kept ‘em out for the most part. We’re part of the way done with this at the farm, too.”

  “Good. We need all the help we can get around here. Obviously, after this morning,” Roman said.

  “Yeah, a dozen? That ain’t right, man,” he agreed. “That’s a lot to handle.” He looked at Wren, who quickly looked away. “Glad you guys are okay.”

  Jane said, “I feel like this will be good, although it does block out most of the natural lighting.”

  “You have those two skylights in the living room,” he pointed out as Dixie padded into the room from the kitchen where he was pretty sure Jane’s dad was giving both dogs scraps of deer meat. “That’ll help. We don’t have that at the farmhouse. Once we get it all boarded up, it’s going to be really dark.”

  “We don’t have a whole lot for lighting other than electricity,” Roman added.

  “Yeah, we gotta figure something out,” he agreed.

  “I think the boards are a good security measure,” Jane started and paused a moment to consider, “but what about the outside? We need some sort of protection out there. Those things were close. They came from somewhere close. They had to have. It’s not like they walked from the city and just arrived here this morning. They might be from the city, but they’ve been here at least a few days, maybe longer.”

  “I agree. We need outside security,” Elijah said. “People can walk right up to your house, ours, too. Tristan’s place seems a lot more secure.”

  “Yeah, well, Avery said her father wanted it that way. He was a stickler for security even before this happened because he traveled a lot and left his wife and kids behind all alone. My parents did the same, but we lived in a gated community, not way out here in the boonies. Although they’ve had them on their property, too,” Roman said. “Tristan and I have been talking a lot. Maybe if we even just set up some trip wires or something, anything that would make noise or even explode. We can’t do this. This just doesn’t work.”

  “Yes,” Jane agreed. “We’re sitting ducks.”

  Stephanie scoffed. “Hell, I thought when we pulled down your crazy ass driveway a few months ago that nobody’d ever find this place.”

  “They wouldn’t normally,” Jane said. “But the infected people don’t exactly stick to the roads and driveways.”

  “Right, as a matter of fact, they tend to go straight for the woods. Instinct, probably,” Roman added.

  “Man, I feel bad I can’t help you guys,” Spencer complained, his arm in a sling her father had made. It was also being held still by pieces of metal pipe from her father’s workshop and a lot of duct tape and padding. Without proper casting supplies, it was going to be this or go to a hospital.

  “I can help you,” Stephanie said with a wink. “I’ve got some shit that will make you feel no pain. No pain at all.”

  “I’m in pain, but I want you to save that stuff in case one of the kids gets hurt.”

  “You’re hurt,” Jane reminded him. “Really, Spencer, one pain pill isn’t going to cut our supplies down that much. We have a lot.”

  Stephanie jumped in to say, “At least take one for the road. That arm is going to hurt tonight when you’re trying to sleep.”

  “Okay, yeah, maybe I’ll take one for later,” he agreed and followed her to the basement.

  Jane’s dog woofed softly and wagged its tail. Dixie, however, growled low in her throat. Elijah rushed to the front door and peeked out.

  “They’re here!” he called to the others. “They’re back.”

  He spotted the truck as it was parking. Then his brother and Tristan came inside, dusting their snow-covered clothing and boots on the porch first.

  “Everything okay around here?” Tristan asked.

  “Not exactly,” Roman spoke up and explained their situation.

  “Broke his arm?” he asked after his friend and got a nod. “Damn.”

  “My father set it in a sling for now, but I don’t know how severe it is or if we should take him to a hospital.”

  “Okay, I’ll take a look at it. Where is he?”

  “Basement,” Jane told him. “Getting some pain pills from Stephanie, our resident pharmacist.”

  Tristan chuckled, but Roman laughed loudly. Jane blushed. Elijah could tell that she was a really shy girl. He was pretty sure he’d seen her somewhere before, too, but couldn’t place it. Maybe Lila had shown him a picture of her on her phone or something since they both worked at the same restaurant. Or maybe at a
football game in the stands or the mall or a million places they could’ve run into each other in Canton or Massillon before this all started. She seemed nice but guarded. And Roman was head over heels for her. He didn’t even try to hide it.

  He asked, “How’d the search go?”

  Tristan proceeded to tell them about the girl, of which he did not know a whole lot, and that they took her home and went off again with Alex. That made Elijah nervous, that his brother went with just Tristan on a search for supplies.

  Alex said, “Yeah, we’ve got good news.”

  “Really? We could use some, brother.”

  “Yeah, we found a big wreck, I mean big. Like six or eight semis and a crapload of cars piled up on the state route near town. We’re going back in the morning to search it all.”

  “It looked recent, too,” Tristan broke in to say. “Maybe early this morning or last night. All the vehicles were abandoned. Not like a wrecker was going to be able to be called out to deal with it. No cops around. Nobody at all around. I don’t think anyone’s even noticed it yet.”

  Elijah nodded. “Probably the storms. I think most people who are still around this area are just trying to stay safe and keep their homes warm without power.”

  “True,” Alex agreed.

  “I’ll go with you guys tomorrow and help,” Wren put in and got a nod from Tristan.

  Alex said, “I think we should take two vehicles in case we find a lot. I’m hopeful. Maybe those semis have supplies we could use. They’re box trailers, not flatbeds. They gotta have stuff that would be getting shipped somewhere like a temporary military camp or something. Just like Elijah and Wren found at the train wreck.”

  Elijah said, “That’s weird, though. I mean, the traffic up north wasn’t really moving much anymore.”

  “That’s what we were thinking, too,” Tristan agreed. “Maybe it was a convoy taking supplies to one of those temporary camps or a blue zone or something.” He shrugged. “Don’t know, but maybe they’ll have CB radios. If that’s all we get, I’ll be happy with that.”