Apokalypsis | Book 5 | Apokalypsis 5

by Morris, Kate

  “You’re even worse than me,” Renee said behind her. “C’mon. Let’s go sit a while.”

  She followed Avery and Renee into the living room where the fire was going strong and offered warmth and ambiance and, more importantly, lighting. Kaia and Elijah were already there chatting, but Wren was sitting in the corner curled up on a leather chair that looked like something from Sweden or some other Nordic country. Most of the Andersson furniture was like that. Unusual and foreign, but of good, high-quality materials.

  Avery poured everyone hot tea and offered the sweetening options and a plate of cookies. She was a polite hostess and made everyone feel comfortable.

  Ephraim, Connor, and Finnegan were in the basement building a fort out of blankets and chairs. Jane was just glad he was able to be a kid for a few hours.

  “Why don’t we all tell each other a little bit about ourselves?” Avery suggested. “We don’t know a lot about each other. We’re neighbors and friends now. Seems to me like we should know more about our friends and neighbors, especially in light of current circumstances.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Elijah said.

  “I’ll go first,” Avery put in.

  She told them in more detail about her other siblings, how they died, and that her parents were also dead from the virus. It was sad, but then she told them nice things about her family, too, like how they used to take ski trips and vacations to beach destinations. She also said her father was a brilliant scientist who traveled a lot to give lectures and had written a lot of books. When she spoke of her mother, Jane could tell how much she loved her.

  “What about your mother, Jane? You said you weren’t close?”

  “Um,” she stuttered, almost choking on her tea. “Yeah, you could say that.”

  Jane told them that she was living in the farmhouse down the road and that she didn’t really want her father to allow Maureen to live with them. She hoped he wouldn’t renege, but her mother was relentless when she wanted her way. She was also very manipulative.

  “Wow, that’s just crazy,” Renee said after she told them Maureen had been in prison. “For what?”

  “Renee,” Avery scolded softly.

  “No, it’s okay,” Jane conceded. “Uh…where to start. My mother was very bad at picking boyfriends. Except for my dad, of course, which is probably why they didn’t stay married. One of her boyfriends wigged out. They fought. He threatened us. She shot and killed him. That’s what she went to prison for, short version.”

  “Really crazy,” Renee reiterated.

  “I was really close with my grandmother, though. That’s where I was sent to stay after Maureen was arrested. My dad got full custody, and I lived with my grandmother for the last four years. Nana Peaches. She was great.”

  A frog caught in her throat, and she had to clear her voice.

  “Tell us about her,” Avery encouraged.

  It was hard, but Jane managed to tell them a lot about her grandmother. How they’d harvest and sell apples, sell honey, how she’d gone up and retrieved the hives with Roman, Brian, and Stephanie.

  “I’ll give you guys some,” she offered. “We have so many jars. It’s not pasteurized or anything, so…”

  “Great. Even better,” Renee commented.

  “Why don’t you share with us now, Renee?” Avery suggested.

  “Hm, okay. Here goes,” she said and told them about her parents and their farm, which sounded a lot like Mrs. Goddard’s riding academy. Her parents were also gone, but she didn’t have siblings. It was the reason she was living with Spencer in Avery’s old apartment. “What about you, Wren?”

  “Huh? No, thanks,” Wren said and rose to leave. “I need to use the bathroom.”

  When she was gone, Elijah said, “She’s been through a lot. Her uncle was her only family left. It’s hit her hard.”

  Jane nodded with sympathy.

  “Where’s she from, Elijah?” Avery asked. “Not here, obviously. She tries to hide her accent, but we’re used to accents around here. Both our parents had accents.”

  “Um, Australia. She’s a very secretive person, though, so we shouldn’t push.”

  “No kidding. She’s like the Fort Knox of people,” Renee joked.

  Avery smiled and said, “And you, Elijah? We know you’re a football star. What else is there?”

  He grinned lopsidedly and told them about his parents and his little brother, all dead, but not from the virus. He’d had a tragic life even before the virus hit. Elijah was probably more used to loss than the rest of them were since he’d already lived through those three deaths in his immediate family.

  “But, hey, I’ve got Alex. We’re close. Always have been,” he told them and took a sip.

  “That’s great, Elijah. I’m so glad you have him,” Renee said and patted his leg next to her.

  Wren finally returned and sat. Nobody bothered her about sharing again, and she looked relieved.

  “Anyone want to play cards?” Avery asked.

  They agreed to a card game at the table, and Avery even managed to entice Remmie to join them. The girl was shy and exhausted. She only played one round and went to bed. When Jane consulted the wall clock, another import, no doubt, she was surprised it was after midnight already.

  “It won’t make them come back faster,” Renee told her and touched her hand.

  “Right,” Jane agreed with a frown.

  They played a few more hands, and then Renee said she was also going to bed.

  “Jane, I can show you where you can sleep,” Avery offered.

  Kaia came into the room again from wherever she’d gone and said, “She can sleep in the girls’ room. I think Renee’s crashing back there.”

  “I’ve got Remmie in there, darling,” Avery said.

  “I’m fine with just hanging out. I can snooze on the sofa if that’s okay,” she said.

  Elijah said, “I can, too. I’m not picky.”

  “No, Elijah,” Avery said. “Kaia, show him the boys’ room. You can sleep in there. Don’t worry. Everything’s clean and sanitized. You’ll rest better there anyway.”

  And soon, it was just Avery and her. They took the tray of tea and treats to the kitchen and packed away the leftovers.

  Afterward, Avery said, “I’m going to go up and shower. I’ll come back down and take the other sofa.”

  “No, please,” Jane said. “I’m fine. I’ll sleep here alone. You should rest. Get some real sleep in your actual bed.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

  “You did so much today for everyone,” she said. “You must be so tired.”

  “Yes, I suppose I am.”

  When Avery hesitated, Jane repeated, “I’ll be fine.”

  “Alright then,” she said. “In the cupboards near the fireplace, you’ll find pillows and blankets.” Avery paused as if she were still unsure. Then she said, “Goodnight, Jane. If you need anything, come and get me or Kaia.”

  “Yes, I will.”

  And then it was just her.

  Jane wandered around the living room and kitchen, put away a few more items so Avery wouldn’t have to do it tomorrow, and even tidied up the dining and living rooms. After some searching, she finally found the built-in cupboard that held the blankets and pillows. The house had a ton of built-ins that took up entire walls, all the way down the hallways, and in each room. It was definitely an efficient design.

  Jane set up her little “bed” on the sofa before perusing the bookcases, where she found a few thick books with the name of Avery’s father on the spines. The back cover author picture matched the ones on their walls of family photos. He must’ve been a very important man.

  However, Jane flipped through and was lost on page two. She returned it to a shelf and chose another book instead. It was something she’d read before; Little Dorrit, a novel by Charles Dickens, one of her favorite authors. She took a seat near the fire and pulled a blanket over her lap.

  Even Little Dorrit’s adventures gro
wing up in a debtor’s prison couldn’t keep her mind away from her own woes. Jane shut the book after trying for a third time to concentrate on it. She rose and paced, peeking out the wooden slats covering the windows. It was unsettling not being able just to look out a window now, but it was also a necessary feature that was keeping them safe.

  Just before she was about to turn back to her bed, a shadowy flash caught in her peripheral vision, and Jane jerked back to look harder out into all that darkness. Maybe it was just a deer. She wasn’t sure. It was quiet out there. Those things weren’t necessarily very quiet most of the time.

  Then she saw it again, that shadow. Then another and another. It wasn’t the things, the night crawlers. The shadows were dogs, and they were moving out fast across the backyard of Avery’s property. They all jumped the fence and kept going.

  “Poor things. It’s so cold out tonight,” Jane whispered, feeling sorry for the dogs. She hoped they found shelter. “Poor babies.”

  Then she jumped. She actually jumped back and bumped into the back of a chair. Her heart hammered, and her hands instantly grew hot and sweaty. Jane inched closer to the slit in the wood again. One of those things screeched loudly as it pursued those poor helpless dogs. Her hand came up to cover her mouth as she watched one grab a particularly small mutt before it could make it back over the fence toward Avery’s house again. It was in the field beyond, the field that belonged to Alex and Elijah. The dog yelped, and the night crawler disappeared into the night beyond.

  They weren’t running from the snowstorm or the cold or the wind. They were running for their lives.

  She sat back down and extinguished the only candle that was lit. It felt safer to sit in the dark by the dim fire. She had no plans of stoking it. She wished she’d gone home with her dad, but she hadn’t wanted to leave, knowing Roman would be coming back to Avery’s with Tristan when they were done. She wanted him home now.

  Jane knew she’d never sleep now. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chest and hugged them tightly. Tears plopped onto her jeans and created wet spots as she thought of that small dog being captured. She had no doubt what that thing’s plans were for it, and that scared her even more. What would they do when they ran out of people’s pets, livestock, or deer?

  It would be days before she and the dog got to their destination. After the attack the other night with those other kids her age, she’d barely made it out before the place was overrun with night crawlers. She’d holed up in an abandoned McDonald’s restaurant and hid with the dog. At daybreak, they’d begun their march south. She wasn’t even sure if the people she was going to find would remember her. Her great-aunties lived about fifty miles south of where she was, so it was the only thing she had left to look forward to. Edda Mae and Bess were her only living relatives. They had a brother named Willie, but she’d never met him before. For all she knew, they were dead. But if they were still living in that tiny town on that little farm, she had somewhere to go. It was better than staying in a new, usually unsafe place each night with the dog.

  Putting one foot in front of the other, she held tightly to her mutt’s leash and plodded on through the snow. She’d decided to travel at night to avoid being robbed. That seemed to be a prevalent thing now, which was sad. Nobody had much to steal, but that wasn’t stopping people from doing it anyway. It was going to be a long trip, especially on foot and only being able to move at night.