I just want to be left alone.
I can’t be his cure any longer. I can’t pretend to be brave enough to save the world from death’s grasp. I only have enough courage left for me, and I’m going to use it to leave this farm…and Aiden…far behind.
December 17, 2019
Aiden is asleep.
Over the next five painstakingly slow minutes, I work my limbs and body out of the bed we share, careful not to wake him. I crawl on my hands and knees to the hallway, because the floor creaks when you walk on it, and I can distribute my weight more easily on all fours. I’ve been practicing for two weeks. The first two times, Aiden woke and caught me just before I made it to the bedroom door.
I pretended to be sleep walking…reliving the trauma from my time with Howard.
He believed me.
I was more careful each time after that.
Rehearsals are over. Tonight is the night. My heart is pounding, and I can feel a headache picking its way through my skull because of the pressure.
I can’t believe I’m going to do it.
I’m finally going to leave.
I clear the bedroom and crawl down the stairs, to the suite that belonged to Miss Ada and Fred before they were murdered for their property. Yesterday was the first time I had been in it since the morning after they died. I walk to their bathroom, where I throw on an outfit I stashed earlier and grab the suitcase from the shower stall. I’ve been packing it little by little every day, so Aiden doesn’t notice my things missing.
Or the medicine missing from the first aid supply.
I tiptoe out of the bedroom and walk to a door I’ve avoided for weeks. I lean the suitcase against the paneled wall. My heart beats wildly as I make my way down the dark stairs. It remembers what waits in the cage in the far corner of the large, unfinished basement.
I hear it moving in the darkness. It wants out. It wants to eat.
I’m going to help make its wish a reality.
The smell of the decaying Germ threatens to make me sick. I walk up to its cage, trying to look more confident than I feel, and for why? It’s not like Miss Ada’s dead son cares if I’m feeling courageous. It doesn’t care about anything anymore.
I reach out with a trembling hand and open the lock.
Its beady eyes stare at me through the darkness of the basement. It almost looks suspicious, like it’s searching for a trap, but I know it isn’t that smart. It’s just a Germ that needs to be put out of its misery.
But not tonight.
I take a nervous step backward, then another, until the Germ leaves its cage and follows me. I must be careful not to move too fast because the Germ is old and nearly starved at this point. Still, it follows me up the stairs, and through the house, out into the yard. Once outside, I walk a little faster to put some distance between us, but the suitcase is heavy, and I stumble a few times.
Finally, I’m standing beside one of the tents.
The Germ lumbers toward me, teeth gnashing, and arms raised.
Still hungry.
The men are asleep in their small tents, but they won’t be for long. They’ll realize they have company in short order. I unzip the flap of the tent and drag the sleeping man out by his legs. He’s heavy, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins gives me the strength I need to pull him out into the cold night. He wakes up, but it’s too late; his startled thrashing catches the Germ’s attention. I dart to the side and disappear into the night’s shadows, unfazed by his screams. I reach the driveway just as others begin screaming, and I swear I hear Aiden’s voice in the distance, calling my name.
I keep walking.
To where, I have no idea.
But I’m free, and that’s all that matters.
Part Three
Chapter Thirty-Two
Allyson
“So, there it is,” I say, once I’m finished. “Now you know everything.”
I’m watching Wayne closely, waiting for a reaction to the tale he just heard. It’s strange, because I should be scared…after all, the last people who knew about my immunity didn’t know whether to worship me or kill me…but all I can think about is the way his lips felt against mine.
I clear my throat. “So?” I ask, prompting him for an answer.
Wayne chews his lower lip, thinking. He’s obviously upset, even if it’s expressed in his subtle, stoic way. I draw in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. I wish I knew what he was thinking right now. He runs a hand over his face; when I gather the courage to look at him, I’m staring at a face marked with guilt, and I know he finally understands. The reality of what I wanted to tell them, but couldn’t, comes into sharp focus and he understands why I didn’t want to come back to the farm, regardless of its many amenities.
He lowers his head. “I should have listened to you. I brought you right back to the lion’s den.”
I nod, unable to speak.
He looks at me. “And you think this man…Aiden…is out there looking for you?” he asks.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“And you’re sure he’ll come back to the farm when he doesn’t find you?”
“Yes,” I whisper again.
I feel the color drain from my face. The thought of Aiden returning to the farm with the rest of the group freezes my chest with icy terror. He’ll hurt them. Even if he doesn’t outright kill them, he’ll find ways to make them suffer…if only to punish me for leaving, then having the audacity to return.
“Allyson?”
I look at Wayne. His face is so kind and beautiful…but in the not-so-distant past, I thought Aiden’s was, too. Before he grew cold and ugly. Will that happen to Wayne? Is that what people do now? Do we all gradually evolve into monsters who only care about ourselves at the expense of others?
I really hope not.
“Hey.” Wayne reaches out and takes my hand. “There’s something Aiden didn’t count on, Allyson,” he says.
“What’s that?”
“You.”
“Me?” I ask, surprised.
“Yes, you,” he says, squeezing my hand. “You’re stronger now. You thought you were running away, but you came back…on your own power.” He smiles. “And you brought back something deadly.”
“I did?”
He nods. “Me…after I’m done with Aiden, he’ll think he met the Devil himself.”
My heart shudders. This entire situation is frightening. Wayne is putting on a brave act for me, and I love him for that, but he won’t win in a fight against Aiden. He doesn’t know the things Aiden is capable of, because despite what I claimed earlier, I didn’t tell him everything about those last three months with Aiden. The months that began like all the others before but ended with me freeing Miss Ada’s son from his cage and running away into the dark night.
I shake my head. “No, Wayne. Don’t fight him. You’ll get hurt.”
He laughs. “I told you once, Allyson. You ain’t never seen a Tillis in a fight. No one messes with the people I love.”
I barely know Wayne, but the fact that he’s willing to risk his safety to protect me reminds me of all the good that existed in the world before darkness finally eclipsed the light. I lean in and press my lips against his.
“Are you sure you still want me?” I ask after I pull away.
He looks at me like I’ve sprouted an ear out of my forehead. “Do I look like the kind of man who’d let some scars scare me away?”
“They’re not ordinary scars, Wayne.”
He shrugs. “Scars are scars…don’t matter what left them there.”
I’m suddenly afraid it might all be too good to be true. “It’s just…I lied to you, and…”
“You didn’t know us,” he says. “You were protecting yourself. I don’t find fault in that.”
“Still, I…”
“Wayne!” Chloe’s frantic cries sever the moment like a sharp knife. She’s on the first floor of the barn, yelling up at us from the ladder.
Wayne walks to the ed
ge of the loft.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“It’s Erek,” Chloe calls up. “Something is wrong with him.”
I look at Wayne. There’s only one thing that would send Chloe running down here through the dark, terrible night alone…infection…and these days, an infection is as deadly as a bite.
* * *
Chloe
Wayne and Allyson follow me upstairs.
I’m terrified of what they’ll say once they see Erek. What if Wayne tells me Erek’s condition is too far gone? Is that possible…this soon? I feel like dying should take longer, but I trust Wayne’s ability to assess situations, and if he sees Erek and says it’s bad, I must believe it is. I feel sick on my stomach, just thinking about it.
We enter the bedroom. It smells like sweat and death. Wayne walks to the bed and looks down at his friend.
“He woke me up earlier, moaning,” I explain. “I thought he was dreaming.”
“How long’s it been since the injury?” Wayne asks Allyson.
She mentally calculates the time that has elapsed since the landmine blew. “Eleven hours, give or take.”
He lifts the blanket, examining Erek’s bandages. After a few minutes, he replaces the blanket. “They seem dry,” he says. “I’ll have to check the wounds again in the morning, but I don’t think it’s infection.”
“What else could it be?” Allyson asks.
He runs a hand over his beard, thinking. “I don’t have a clue,” he admits.
“Could it be tetanus?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “A little early for that.”
“Will…will he be okay?” I ask, wanting…no, needing…Wayne to say yes.
He doesn’t.
He just shrugs and stands. “I don’t know what to do about internal bleeding,” he says, not meeting my eyes. “If that’s even what this is.”
His words land somewhere between Allyson and me, and all the worries I’ve kept locked away since the explosion earlier today come rushing out of me like blood from a mortal wound. I put my hand over my mouth and sob. “Do you think that’s what’s happening? Oh God, he’s going to die.”
I feel like I might hyperventilate. Or vomit. Maybe both. This can’t be happening. I sit on the edge of the bed because my legs suddenly feel like they’ve been replaced with jelly. “He was fine,” I say. “He was sleeping, and everything was fine, and…”
“Chloe,” Wayne says, getting my attention. “I need you to be calm. Can you do that for me?”
I take a deep breath and nod, but I’m lying. I’m not sure I can stay calm. The truth is, I’m freaking out. Wayne doesn’t seem confident in his ability to heal Erek, and he was my best option…my only option. Erek is going to die because we didn’t have the good fortune of finding a doctor among the wayward souls we’ve collected since May.
“Erek needs you to be strong right now,” Wayne says.
I can only nod. I don’t trust myself to speak.
“Keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn’t get sick…like, throw-up sick,” he instructs. “If he does, we’ll need to figure something out sooner rather than later.” He points to the bedroom door. “I’ll sleep downstairs tonight. Come get me if anything changes.”
I nod again and close the door behind them. I turn and look at Erek. He’s so still. Is this what he’ll look like when he’s dead? I shake my head. I won’t think like that. I can’t think like that. I drop to my knees and lean against the old bed.
“God, please. I know I only come to you when I need something, but I could really use your help…”
* * *
Allyson
“Wayne, I…”
“I know,” he says, interrupting me. “You don’t have to say it.”
We’re standing in the living room. I don’t want to leave him, but I can’t spend another second in this house. He pulls me toward him. “I don’t like the idea of you being out there alone tonight,” he says, “but I hope you understand why I need to be close to the house tonight.”
I look up at him. “I do, Wayne. And that’s what I love about you. You’re so loyal…to a fault, maybe.”
He snorts. “You make it sound like a bad thing.”
I smile. “It’s a good fault to have, trust me.”
“Still, I don’t want you down at the barn tonight.”
“Wayne, I…”
“Would you settle for sleeping on the porch with me? I promise I’ll do whatever I can to keep you warm,” he says, squeezing my hand.
I shake my head and smile. “How could I resist an invitation like that?” I ask.
“I don’t want you out of my sight until I know you’re safe,” he says, growing serious.
“Are any of us really safe these days?”
“I won’t let you out of my sight as long as he’s out there and unaccounted for. How ‘bout that?”
I stand on my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck. I kiss him like it’s the last kiss I’ll ever enjoy under a blanket of mountain stars. I kiss him like I’m saying goodbye, and it hurts my heart so incredibly bad because he’s someone I never want to say goodbye to.
“Why don’t you find us some blankets,” I tell him. “I’ll go see what food I can scrounge up from the kitchen.”
“You’re hungry?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “But if I remember correctly, you promised me dinner.”
He smiles and kisses me again, tenderly. “Let’s go find blankets and food together, okay?”
I don’t deserve him. I don’t deserve this…this sense of renewal, like anything is possible; like I’m more than just a cure for a disease I don’t understand; like I’m more than some unwilling crusader in a war I didn’t ask for, fighting for people I’ve never met.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chloe
Erek survived the night.
I left Emily with him while I came downstairs for some fresh air. I feel so helpless, and all the worry and fear over Erek’s condition has my heart squeezed to the point of bursting.
I stare out across the front yard of the farm. Wayne is mending the fence at the edge of the property. He needed something constructive to do after burying Kate and Jax earlier this morning. Thinking about the tiny graves squeezes my heart a little tighter. I don’t know how much more sadness I can take. I watch Daniel hand Wayne a roll of barbed wire to stretch across the hole in the fence.
They work in silence…respecting one another’s need for quiet reflection.
I’m about to go back inside the house when I notice an older man standing at the gate, looking at the barn with an expression of awe mixed with wonder. I don’t understand what could be so interesting about a bunch of wood and hay until I realize he’s not looking at the barn.
He’s looking at Daniel.
I squint, trying to get a better look at the man.
I’ve never seen him before, so I know he’s not someone we knew before the world ended. Maybe he’s mistaken Daniel for someone else, someone he used to know. I call out to Wayne and Daniel; once I have their attention, I motion toward the man. They glance at the gate. Wayne seems wary of the unexpected guest, but I’m not watching his reaction…I’m looking at my brother, watching his reaction.
It’s obvious that he recognizes the man as well.
So, it’s not a coincidence or a case of mistaken identity, after all.
Daniel and Wayne drop their tools and walk to the gate. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but their body language says they’re not friends or acquaintances. They’re handling each other with guarded suspicion, at best. I stand and walk toward them. I want to know who this man is, and why my brother doesn’t trust him.
* * *
Daniel
I stop a few paces shy of the man. Standing this close I notice he’s younger than I originally thought, maybe early fifties, and he’s got that lean muscular build of a runner.
“You,” I say.
The man smiles. “I suppose I coul
d say the same.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask him. “This isn’t exactly a just-passing-by kind of place.”
“Something led me here,” he answers cryptically, glancing back down the driveway.
“What? Something back there? On the road?” I ask, following his glance.
“Maybe it was just a feeling? A sense that something I’ve been looking for might turn up here. Instinct?” he says, shrugging.
“So, you just felt a random pull to this random house on top of this random mountain?” I shake my head. “I’m not buying it. Are you following us?”
“It’s not random. Sound travels,” he says with a smile, “and you had quite the little blast yesterday, didn’t you?”
Chloe comes to a stop beside me. “Who is this, Daniel?”
“This must be your sister,” the man says.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask. “How do you know that?”
“The resemblance is uncanny, really. So, what blew up?” he asks, looking at the torn fence behind us.
“Our friend,” Wayne answers. “And, two children.”
“Pity.”
“Well, I suppose you can head back to wherever it is you came from,” I say. “There’s no Rev in striped pajamas here.”
A strange expression crosses his face, but he buries it quickly behind a mask of confusion. “I’m sorry?” he asks.
“I saw you in Eden. You were watching the line of Revs walking down the street.”
“Revs?” he asks.
“That’s what we call them.”
“I wasn’t looking at the Revs, as you call them,” he says. “I was only looking at you.”
I shake my head. “No, you weren’t. You were looking at them, and you were especially interested in Harlan Downs.”
Revenants Series (Book 2): Remnants Page 24