by Connor Mccoy
“I said my goodbyes,” she said with a wry smile. “Jacob and Domino are with them. I think they’ll make it to Fall Crossing.”
Alex sighed. “Those two will fit right in.” His voice was slightly groggy. It likely would get worse. “Did you tell them that Cramer is dead?”
“You bet. I’m sure they’ll sleep better tonight, thanks to you.”
“Me?”
“You did land the killing shot. I told you that earlier.”
Alex scowled. “How can you be sure? My gun, it was aimed—”
“At him.” Josephine reached down and took her brother by the arm. She dragged him to his feet and propped him against the tree. “You were aiming for him. Don’t you think any differently than that, you understand?”
Alex smiled. He couldn’t hold it, but it was there. “You are…as stubborn as ever.”
“Yeah, and I’m stubborn enough to try to save your life. Now let’s go. There’s a stream close by. I’m going to clean out your wounds again.” Josephine reached for his arm, but a cough briefly interrupted her. “Sorry.”
She had coughed up a little something into her palm. The moment she saw what it was, she flung it away.
A little blood. I hope he didn’t see that, Josephine thought.
She waited until Alex signalled he was strong enough to walk. With her help, the pair set off toward the stream.
“You sure…I was the one…who killed Cramer?” Alex asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
And no matter how many times Alex asked, Josephine made sure to answer the same way. It was the only answer he needed to know.
After a while of exploring the camp, Jacob and Jubilee finally encountered Greg. The man was leaning against a tree. “Hey,” Jacob said, “I was hoping I’d run into you.” Greg did not turn his head. “I wanted to thank you for saving me and my wife.” Jacob continued, “That was a very brave act. You rose to the occasion.”
Greg finally turned around, showing off an ashen face. “It’s been hard,” he said. “I mean, I never shot a man before. It’s been sticking with me a while.” He bowed his head. “I’ve been wrong about myself. I can’t be a good man for Krysta and the boys. She was right to run away from me. I don’t even think I should go back to Fall Crossing with you all.”
“Where would you go?” Jacob asked. “Skylar’s sacked. It might take days to find a viable town. You can’t stay out here by yourself.”
“Do you think I have a real shot back there? I messed up big time listening to Cramer’s B.S.”
“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I think you still may have a lot to prove to some people. But if you want to face it, learn from what you’ve done and try to do better. You’ll probably earn respect sooner than you think.”
Greg leaned against a nearby tree. “I wish I could have earned Krysta’s respect.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I’ll take you up on that. I’ll go with you, and I’ll see what I can contribute to the community.”
“It sounds like a good plan.” Jacob extended his right hand.
Greg took it. “Thanks, Jacob.”
Later that day, Jacob made his wish to leave known to the leaders of the Skylar survivors. Everyone packed up. By the afternoon, the caravan was ready to set out for Fall Crossing.
Jacob watched the men, women and children beginning their journey through the forest, leaving behind the campsite where they had taken refuge for the past few weeks. However, Jacob did not start the trek with them. Domino, Brandon, Jubilee, Sheryl, Courtney and Arnie waited by Jacob’s side.
“Dad?” Jubilee asked, “we don’t want to be left behind.”
Jacob felt rooted to his spot. He knew his property was a short hike behind them. “I know,” he said.
Domino grazed the back of Jacob’s neck. “Jay, it’s okay. We can go now.”
Jacob sighed. “Maybe we could camp out for the night. Go back in the morning, see what’s left. I mean, maybe there’s a chance to rebuild…”
Sheryl took Jacob by the arm. “I went back and looked at it. There’s nothing but a charred black frame and a bunch of dead bodies. The smell is horrible. I think Domino is right. It’s…it’s not home anymore.”
Jacob straightened out his shirt, pulling it taut underneath the straps of his pack. It was hard, but it was time to admit the truth. “Naaah. It’s hallowed ground. We shouldn’t try to live there again.” Jacob silently conceded that he probably never could be comfortable living somewhere where so many people had died in so violent a fashion. “All the men we took out, they won’t be around to hurt anyone ever again. We can live our lives in peace.”
The crowd of people nearly was thinned out. Only Mrs. Kennan remained, lagging a few feet away. “Hey! You don’t want to wait too long, or we’ll leave you behind!” She laughed. “You don’t want to be food for the bears, Jacob!”
Jacob took a step forward. “We’re on our way!” he said, with greater cheer than he imagined.
And so the Avery family, accompanied by Courtney and Arnie Lerner, started off into the forest, traveling farther and farther from the land they once had called home.
Chapter Twenty
Brandon gazed at the room with a smile. He felt great pride at its completion. The young lady beside him, however, offered a snicker. “So, this is your new lab?” she asked.
Brandon scratched his head. The sweat running down his face had inflamed his already itchy skin. Thanks to the coming of spring, he had developed a slight allergy that made him want to scratch his neck and upper arms until they were raw. “Well, you have to imagine it,” he said as he spread his arms. He sheepishly admitted to himself that he had overhyped his project. Courtney frequently would say that it was a habit persisting from when Brandon was a kid.
Brandon and Courtney were gazing at the room that Brandon just had finished building. The wooden posts and drywall appeared well suited to keeping out whatever Mother Nature felt like throwing at them. Brandon had planned to build a special lab to help them filter water to make it as clean as possible. But at the moment, the room was empty. It would take a lot more work to convert it into the facility that Brandon had been dreaming of for the past few years.
Courtney blew a stand of her long hair out of her face and onto the strap of her dirty denim overalls. Brandon turned his head toward Courtney, as he preferred the sight of her to just about anything. “I wanted to have this place ready before the celebration at Dad’s,” he said. “That way he won’t ask me about it again.”
“There’s going to be a ton of people there, right?” Courtney asked.
“Ten-year anniversary.” Brandon turned and started walking slowly through the hall. “Ten years since we reached Fall Crossing.” He ran a hand along the wall. “Yeah, I think it’s going to be packed.”
Courtney leaned in a little closer as the pair approached the doorway to Brandon’s bedroom. “So, what else are you going to add on here?”
“I don’t know. I was thinking of building a den like the one we had back at the old house,” Brandon said. “There’s plenty of room outside. I could add just about anything.”
Courtney cut in front of him. “Well, why not another bedroom? Is this house going to be your bachelor pad or something?”
Brandon came to a stop. “Well, I wasn’t planning on living alone for the rest of my life.”
He locked his gaze on Courtney. The young woman’s smile grew. Brandon wondered what she was thinking. The two of them since their late teens had grown closer, sharing a lot of time together, and even had exchanged a few kisses. Courtney also had helped Brandon in building this house. But were they truly a couple now? “And of course, two people can fit in that bedroom,” he quickly added.
“Well, two people sharing a bed can someday add up to three, and then four…” She took him by the shoulders. “It can fill up a house pretty quickly, don’t you think?”
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I could see that,” Brandon said with a bit of a stammer.
“How long until the celebration starts?” Courtney asked.
“Dad said he’ll open the house up sometime before noon.” Brandon noted the early morning sun shining through the window.
Courtney gripped the bedroom door handle. “Sounds like enough time, don’t you think?”
Brandon nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, it does.”
He allowed her to shut the door.
Jacob blinked his eyes, focusing the face that stared back at him from the mirror. If it wasn’t for the ten-year anniversary celebration he was participating in today, he wouldn’t have given the image a second thought. However, the impending party enticed a feeling of nostalgia, which made him pick over all the changes he noticed in himself since that time a decade ago.
He definitely did not have the black and white beard that he now sported. The line of white hair that traveled up his sideburns also was fairly new, first emerging about three years ago. His chin also had developed a little sag.
This is turning out to be a pleasant morning, he thought to himself. I get to note all the damage I’ve taken over the years.
He reached for the cane resting against his dresser. This was the most drastic change of all, as far as Jacob was concerned. He used his cane to steady himself as he put down his left foot. This cane was made of sturdy stuff. It had not once failed him.
Domino poked her head through the doorway. “Hey.” Her smile remained Jacob’s constant beacon of happiness. His wife barely had changed in the past decade, except for some wear on her skin due to the years of outdoor work. “I heard somebody coming for lunch.”
Jacob chuckled. “Thanks to the cane, I can’t quite sneak around.” He tapped the butt of the cane on the floor, producing a small squeak.
Jacob followed Domino toward the kitchen. “Hey, are you okay? You seem a little…I don’t know, off,” she said.
“I think I’m just finding things wrong with this place.” Jacob looked around the hall. “I know I shouldn’t compare it to our old home, but with the celebration coming up, I can’t stop thinking about the past.”
“I know.” Domino stretched her arms. “But Josephine’s old place has kept us going. It let us raise the kids, held Sheryl, Arnie and Courtney until we found places for them.” Domino glanced at the walls, adorned sporadically by Avery family photos that they had taken when they abandoned their old house.
Jacob approached her. “I’m not meaning to put Josephine’s house down. I’m glad the town let us live here. We were able to hit the ground running with our new life. I guess a part of me feels empty because this isn’t the house I built.”
“Is that why you’ve been pestering Brandon and Jubilee to work on their homes?” Domino patted Jacob on the stomach. “Someone wants to relive their glory days.”
Jacob eyed his cane. “I think my glory days are over with.” He thought back to the incident three years ago when his foot was struck with a heavy concrete block during a construction project. Jacob took a long time to convalesce and his foot never regained its original strength. Their life in Fall Crossing had been a happy one, but not without its challenges.
Under the beams of the noon sun, Brandon clutched Courtney’s hand tightly as they approached the front lawn of Jacob and Domino’s home. Brandon was startled how crowded the lawn was with party guests. “I wonder if some of these people were camped out here,” he said.
“They probably have heard about your dad’s barbecue,” Courtney said.
Brandon took a step onto the concrete walkway that led to the house. It would take some maneuvering to wind their way through the guests to the front door. “Or Mom’s potato salad,” Brandon replied.
“Brandon!”
Brandon came to a sudden stop. He knew that voice. He couldn’t even turn around to greet Arnie Lerner. The man rushed up to him like an eager puppy and grabbed Brandon in his arms.
“Hey.” Brandon struggled to breathe amid Arnie’s great strength. At least Brandon was big enough that Arnie could not lift him off the ground any longer.
“Arnie, heel!” piped up a young male voice.
Arnie released Brandon. “Thanks, Lee.” Brandon inhaled some fresh breaths. “Arnie’s younger brother to the rescue.”
Brandon and Courtney joined so they could greet Lee, as well as Ricky, the other boy who followed close behind him. Sheryl accompanied them along with her husband, Steve. “Hey, Aunt Sheryl.” Brandon straightened out his shirt.
“Ready for your dad’s barbecue chicken?” Sheryl asked.
Courtney chuckled. “I told you it was a big draw.”
Brandon laughed, knowing that Sheryl would show up in any case to see her brother. It was quite a sight to see Sheryl with her family. She had met Steve in Fall Crossing and married him within a year, then soon had Lee. Ricky was a boy orphaned in the aftermath of the EMP, so Sheryl and Steve adopted him. And, of course, Sheryl had taken Arnie in as well.
“Actually, I’m glad I ran into you before you met up with your dad.” Sheryl pointed off to the side.
Brandon followed Sheryl’s direction to the east side of the yard. Jubilee was standing there with her husband Brian. Jubilee waved to Brandon.
“She has something she wants to tell you,” Sheryl said.
Jacob couldn’t stop laughing. “It’s true,” said Jamie, taking care not to bump his head against Jacob’s. “Ford didn’t know the pressure had built up on the line until the whole thing sprayed all over him.”
Ford, standing beside Jamie, rolled his eyes. “It’s my fault for stuffing the pipes so well.”
“Yeah, you might want to be careful next time you try to pressurize a septic line,” Jamie said.
Domino shook her head. “Good Lord. Was your mom around when that happened?”
“No,” Ford replied, “But she wishes to God that she had been.”
“I am so glad there was a river a few blocks away,” Jamie said. “There is no way Mom would have let me back in the house unless I cleaned most of it off.”
Domino tugged at Jacob’s arm. “You see, Jay? Other people have had worse plumbing problems than you.”
Before Jacob could say anything more, someone approached him, a face that seemed familiar. It took a moment for Jacob to place him. “Hey, Greg, is that you?”
Jamie and Ford spun around. “Holy cow!” Jamie said, “It is Mr. Greg!”
Greg chuckled. “Good to see your eyesight’s not going, Jacob!”
Jacob laughed with Greg as the man hugged Jamie and Ford. Who could blame Jacob for not recognizing Greg? Over the years, the man had rapidly lost a lot of hair and now had a large bald spot on the top of his head, plus his existing hair had turned white. And with the beard that poured from his face like a fountain, he resembled a skinnier Santa Claus.
“Looks like I came back just in time!” Greg said as he shook Jacob’s hand. “I had arrived in town two days before, but I was so exhausted I just collapsed and took a long nap out in the woods!”
“You didn’t keep the squirrels up with your snoring, did you?” Ford asked.
Greg laughed. “Hell, I probably irritated the raccoons, the bears, the birds…” He looked around. “Say, boys, where’s your mom? I just wanted to see how she was doing. I was —”
His voice trailed off as Krysta approached him. Greg stood at attention, his voice suddenly cutting out. Jacob knew Greg was happy to see Krysta again, but judging from the lady’s well-styled hair,, Krysta’s beauty was no doubt entrancing the man as well.
“Hi Greg,” she said, “I’m glad to see you’ve come home.”
“Thanks. It’s good to know I’m missed.” Greg chuckled a little. “Every time I take a trip, I expect them to lock the town gates behind me.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Jacob said. In truth, the years had turned Greg into a much better man. It was hard to imagine him as the insecure yet bullheaded man who once had allied with the fearsome Ray Cramer.
“Actually, I wanted to show you so
mething.” Greg dug into the left pocket of his jacket. “You’re going to want to see this.” He pulled out a folded piece of paper. “It’s from Josephine.”
“Josephine? You mean Alex Cowell’s sister?” Jacob asked.
“That’d be her.” Greg handed it to Domino. “I met a man in a small town a few days from here who held it. Once I spilled my story, he put two and two together and figured the Josephine he met was the same one I had had my run ins with.”
“Then she’s alive?” Krysta asked.
Greg lowered his head. “I’m afraid the news wasn’t that good.”
Domino unfolded the paper. It was a bit yellowish, indicating that it was old. She quickly scanned the writing on the sheet. “This is from her. She talks about what happened after she left us.” Domino skimmed the writing again. “She says she hopes this gets back to her friends in Fall Crossing someday. She was able to find a new home. But the injuries she suffered from the battle with Cramer took their toll. Alex, he…” Domino shook her head. “He didn’t last very long.”
Jacob had wondered what became of Alex since that shootout with Cramer. The news did not come as a shock.
Domino continued. “She says even though life now is harder for her, her days have been happy. She’s not sure what the future holds, or if she can come back to Fall Crossing. She expects she probably won’t.” Domino looked up, her eyes meeting Krysta’s, before continuing. “But if this is how it ends, she’s happy. Best wishes to all who crossed her path in Fall Crossing and everywhere else.”
“That man said he went back once more to visit Josephine. Instead, he found a farmer, about forty. He was shoveling a small plot on his land. He looked like he had had a hard time. He just said Josephine wasn’t there anymore. He wouldn’t talk about how he knew her.”
Jacob took the letter from Domino. “This could have been written not long after we left for Fall Crossing.” He looked up. “It’s a shame we never saw her again, but it sounded as though she found a peaceful ending. I guess that’s all we can hope for.”