by Siara Brandt
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked her.
Like she’d run into a train but she wasn’t about to tell him that. Instead she said, “Much better after a night of rest.”
But when his eyes lowered to the discoloration on her jaw that she was sure was there, his frown deepened. He abruptly turned and walked to the window where he stood looking out.
After a few silent moments, he turned back to the room and asked, “So what are your plans from here?”
A man who got right to the point.
“Well, if my house hasn’t burned to the ground, I plan on going home.”
He had already put the pieces together and knew that the fire had driven them out last night.
“You and your group weren’t the only ones trying to escape the fire last night,” he told her. “The woods were thick with the undead.” That’s what he called them. She might have another word for them. Everybody seemed to have a different name.
“I heard them last night,” she said, visibly shuddering when she recalled the unholy shrieks that had echoed through the darkness.
“Just how far is home?” he asked.
“Not far. Just east of here.”
He nodded without comment. Stepping closer to the bed, he studied her face through narrowed eyes. She knew he was staring at her jaw and self-consciously brought her hand to her face. Only then did she realize just how swollen and painful it still was.
Guilt had washed over Jes anew when he saw the dark purple bruise on her cheek. He felt even worse when she brought her hand to her face and she could barely suppress a whimper. Here she was, the very woman he had worried about so many times these past few months, but he hadn’t thought the danger would come from him.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what happened last night,” he told her. “I wasn’t expecting you to come through that door.”
She was able to manage a faint smile. “I wasn’t expecting you, either. I guess that makes us even.”
“Uh uh. We’re not anywhere near even. I could have done some permanent damage.”
“But you didn’t. You couldn’t know what you were dealing with in the dark. The same as me.”
She thought he actually cringed when he looked at the bruise again. Was it that bad? He looked so remorseful that she pointed to her face and added, “This is a lot better than what might have happened.”
“I’ve never hit a woman before.”
“I’m just glad it was you in that room and not another zombie.”
“So am I,” he murmured. “I see you don’t carry any weapons with you.”
“I didn’t have any when this all started.”
“Weapons are kind of a necessity these days,” he pointed out.
She nodded. He was right, of course.
She glanced towards the window. “I take it the fire has stayed out.”
“It has. The rain was a lucky break.”
“Just like running into you last night,” she said. “I’m glad you were there.”
“Too bad the rest of your family doesn’t share that sentiment.”
She raised a curious brow.
“I get the distinct impression they were hoping I’d be gone by now.”
“You have as much right to be here as we do,” she told him. “Did someone say something to you?”
“Not exactly. But last night they made me a little- nervous. They kept whispering among themselves so I wasn’t sure they weren’t planning something. There’s no telling what people might do these days if they’re scared enough.”
Lise ran her gaze over his various weapons. Of course they would have looked at him with suspicion. She didn’t tell him that, however. “I’m sure they understood the situation.”
There he had to disagree with her. “The worst thing for anyone to do would have been to leave the house. I wanted everyone to stay put, so I, uh, did the only thing I could think of to make sure no one did anything stupid.”
“Which was?”
“I had to threaten them with my gun.”
She blinked, stared back at him. She hadn’t been expecting that.
“Between the two of us, I wouldn’t have used it,” he went on. “I just wanted them to realize that I meant what I said and that I would force them to stay if I had to.”
As she envisioned it all, her gaze roved over him once again. “They’re not used to people with guns,” she told him.
“I get that. I’m surprised they haven’t re-adjusted their opinion after everything that’s happened.”
“It must have been a long night,” Lise finally said.
“Long. That’s one word for it. They had gathered all the food they could find and they kept watching me like they were expecting to have to fight me for it. Only- ”
“Only?”
“They forgot all about me after a while. The boy had hidden a stash of snacks. He tried to keep anyone else from finding out what he’d found, but they heard him eating in the dark.”
He shook his head slowly and said, “After listening to them argue for a good half hour over how the food should be divided up, I had to confiscate all the food. I gave it back to them this morning, but they’re still watching me like I’m the Big Bad Wolf.”
She actually laughed. It had been a long, long time since she had laughed like that. After a while, Jes couldn’t help laughing with her.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am about hitting you last night,” he said, growing sober again. “The least I can do is to fix you some breakfast.”
He surprised her there. No one had ever offered to cook for her before. She felt a little flustered by the offer. “It really isn’t necessary.”
“Maybe not necessary, but it’ll make me feel better.”
Actually she was starving. And who was she to stop him from feeling better?
He stopped in the doorway on his way out and turned. “You probably don’t remember my name.”
“I remember. It’s Jes,” she said.
“And you’re, uh, Lise.”
Chapter 14
Lise looked up when Mirin appeared in the doorway. “What did he have to say?” she wanted to know.
“About what?”
“About what he’s planning on doing.”
“About what?” Lise asked again.
Mirin huffed out an impatient sigh. “Don’t be so dense, Lise. Do you know that he took all of our food away from us last night? He’s going through everything downstairs right now.”
Lise shrugged. “There’s no reason why he shouldn’t. It’s not our house.”
“The food belongs to us. We were here first.”
“Technically, he was here first,” Lise corrected her.
“What are you talking about?”
“He was already in the house when I got here.”
Apparently Mirin hadn’t known that, or maybe it made no difference to her. “I don’t trust him,” she said. “Why are you defending him?”
“Why are you so suspicious?”
“You weren’t there last night,” Mirin said with sudden heated indignation. “He actually held us at gunpoint.”
“He told me he was trying to keep everyone safe.”
“He thought threatening us would keep us safe?” Mirin scoffed.
“He saved my life at the funeral home, Mirin. And last night he did the same thing. None of us could have handled those things like he did.”
“He was saving himself, too,” she reminded Lise.
“That doesn’t change things. He’s been caught up in all of this, just like we all have.”
“So were the people who ambushed and then robbed us. Look what they were capable of.”
“That doesn’t mean everyone is untrustworthy. He worked for the FBI, Mirin.”
“So he says.”
“Faith, bravery, integrity. I think he’s demonstrated all of those things.”
“Well, I don’t trust him. Neither does Von. Not after what he did to y
ou.” She stared pointedly at the bruise on Lise’s face.
“He apologized for that.”
“Sure, after the fact. All I can say,” Mirin went on. “Is that it’s a good thing he doesn’t know where we live. We would have to worry about him showing up there and taking everything we have. Did you see how many weapons he has strapped to his body?”
“Yes. I, for one, am glad he has them.”
“What do you think they’re really for?” Mirin challenged her.
“Protection?”
“Weapons aren’t always used for protection,” Mirin said as if Lise should have figured that out already.
“He’s been nothing but helpful,” Lise continued to argue.
“When he isn’t threatening us with a gun, you mean. Have you considered that there’s a reason for that?”
“A reason for what?”
“For him acting helpful. Maybe he’s trying to get us to put our guard down. If he can get us to trust him, he’ll have the advantage.”
“Maybe we have no choice but to trust him,” Lise countered.
Mirin rolled her eyes. “Did he say when he was leaving?”
“I’ll ask him when he comes back with my breakfast,” Lise couldn’t help saying. The startled look on Mirin’s face was worth it.
“You mean you’re actually letting him make food for you? What if he poisons you?”
“Why would he do that? And where would he get poison?”
“He could have it hidden somewhere on his body along with all his other weapons.”
“But what exactly would he gain by poisoning me? After he saved my life.”
“Who knows what else a man like that is capable of?” Mirin wanted to know. She lowered her voice. “We’re all in danger as long as he’s in this house. You’ve always been so naïve, Lise. You trusted Doug, too.”
It was just like Mirin to bring her ex-husband up.
Both of them stopped when they heard the creak of heavy footsteps on the stairs. Mirin stood up as soon as the topic of their conversation appeared in the doorway. She didn’t say a word. She simply brushed past the man and left the room, but it was very clear to Lise that, for whatever reason, Mirin had already decided she didn’t like Jes Rawlins.
Jes set the tray of food on the bed and then he ran his hand over the lower part of his face as if he was carefully weighing his words while she ate. “You’ll be heading out soon, I take it?”
When Lise realized it was a question, she nodded. Then she asked a question of her own. “How did you manage to cook this?”
“You learn fast how to improvise in this world,” he said with a one-sided smile that showed off a dimple very nicely.
While she ate, she watched as he paced slowly across the room and then back again. Lise had the distinct impression he wanted to say something but was hesitating for some reason.
“You can tell me whatever it is,” she said as she looked up at him from beneath her dark lashes.
She was direct. He had to give her that. It was a quality he had always admired.
“I was wondering how you were going to safely get where you’re going. You’re not armed and, like I said, the woods were thick with the undead last night. I have no reason to think it’s any different this morning. Sometimes there’s safety in numbers,” he went on. “On the other hand,” he said with a fleeting glance at the door. “Sometimes there’s not.”
She had been thinking about their trip home as well. After everything she had seen, and heard, last night, she didn’t relish the thought of dragging everyone back through the woods where they would be completely defenseless and exposed.
“Pardon me for saying this, but your group doesn’t seem like the kind of people you should trust having your back.”
She didn’t argue with him, didn’t try to correct him in any way. He didn’t know how true his words were.
“Gillie’s reliable,” she said, thinking out loud.
“But he’s unarmed, too,” Jes pointed out. “Of course, what you do is your business, but I’d feel a whole lot better if I knew that you’d made it home safe and sound. I think you, at least, would agree with me that weapons are a necessity in this world. My weapons have saved my life more times than I can count. I probably don’t have to tell you this, but it’s not just the undead you have to worry about,” he added.
He paused, still frowning, and then he came right out and said it. “If you don’t mind, I’ll tag along with you until you’re safely home.”
“Like an armed guard?” she asked, strangely touched by the offer.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Jes didn’t see a ring on her finger, but he didn’t want to overstep any boundaries here. Everybody had someone they’d lost. A lot of people, most people, were stilling looking for those who were missing.
“Maybe there’s more to your group- ”
“You’ve met them all,” she informed him.
He nodded silently, wondering why her answer should make him feel so relieved.
“What about your plans?” she asked. “You must be headed somewhere.”
“I’m supposed to meet up with a friend of mine.”
“Your friend must be worried about you.” Lise couldn’t help wondering if it was a male or a female friend.
“I’m sure he is. Bron probably thinks I’m still trapped in the city.”
“I know Bron,” she said, eyes widening with surprise.
“Then maybe you already know that he saw this coming.”
“Yes, we’ve talked. Does that mean you both knew about this?”
“Just guesses,” he replied. “Guesses we both wish were wrong. So, what’s your decision on the body guard?”
“I admit I would feel a lot better knowing you were with us.”
He nodded. “All right. Then that’s what we’ll do.”
She was surprised at just how relieved that made her feel. He had already proven last night that he could efficiently take out any threats. Not a single person in her family, herself included, had had to do that yet.
Chapter 15
Things had changed dramatically in the past two weeks. Because of Jes Rawlins. He had given Lise several guns that they had found in abandoned houses and saw to it that she knew how to use them. He had greatly improved their security in other ways, too. He taught her about perimeters and saw to it that existing fences ad barricades were reinforced to keep out any threats.
Right now he was talking to Bayley. “The fences will only work if you keep the gate closed,” she heard. “I found it wide open this morning. That can’t happen again.”
Bayley stood there sullenly resentful of being told what to do. He didn’t like having to do any kind of work in the first place and being accused of leaving the gate open, even if it was only an implied accusation, Lise could see, wasn’t sitting well with him.
“I fixed lunch,” she said.
“We’ll be in soon,” Jes told her.
As she headed back to the house, she heard him say behind her, “We’ll get this section of fence secure first. It won’t take long. Then later, we’ll chop some more wood. You’ll be glad you don’t have to do it when winter comes.”
Bayley must have muttered some kind of protest because she heard Jes say, “No, we’ll finish this first.”
Lise had to smile. Jes had gotten more work out of Bayley in a couple of weeks than she had gotten out of him in months. In the old world, you would have said that Jes Rawlins had leadership qualities. He got things done. He got along fine with Gillie. Linwood had never had to do much physical work in his entire life, but he tried. Vonley? Lise liked to think there was still hope for him.
Mirin was standing on the porch glaring in the man’s direction. Then, without saying anything, she huffed and disappeared inside the house. She reappeared with Floris. Together they were bringing food out from the kitchen because it was warm inside the kitchen and they had decided to eat on the porch.
Lise knew
that Mirin was still stewing over the fact that their mother had told her that she thought Vonley needed to make more of an effort to help out. “I know he’s used to sitting behind a desk, Mirin, but all that money doesn’t mean anything anymore. He can’t expect the women around here to figure everything out. He’s got to step up to the plate.”
It just added to Mirin’s bad mood. She took it as a personal attack.
Bayley soon came back complaining about a blister on his hand. Mirin stopped everything and made a great deal of fuss over it, even went inside to get the medical kit.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Lise said to Jes as he washed his hands in the basin on the porch.
“I’m starving,” he said. “Especially if Mom made her chicken casserole.”
Her mother twittered cheerfully and said that she had indeed made her chicken casserole. She set an empty plate in front of him and then brought the casserole dish over to him personally.
“I used to be a good cook,” she informed him.
“Lucky for us that hasn’t changed,” Jes said as he spooned a generous portion of chicken casserole onto his plate.
Pleased at the complement, her mother said, “As hard as you work around here, the least we can do is to feed you.”
That got a dark look from Mirin.
“If that’s the case, I might have to find some other projects to do around here,” Jes teased, flashing a lethal dimple.
Her mother laughed again as she poured him a glassful of lemonade.
Unknown to everyone, it was really Lise who had all of Jes’ attention. He should have moved on by now but he wanted to do all he could to insure her safety first. He had invited her to join him at Bron’s and while she hadn’t exactly agreed, she hadn’t said no, either. As for the others, he realized they were a package deal. She wouldn’t abandon them.
She had her hands full, had guts for sticking it out here. He hadn’t decided yet whether Bayley was just careless or deliberately sabotaging things around here, which nowadays could very quickly mean the difference between surviving and disaster. There was always the chance of a place being overrun. He had seen it happen before. Teaching her to use a gun was a beginning, but it wasn’t enough. He had offered to teach the others, too, but aside from Gillie, they hadn’t shown much interest in self-defense. It amazed him to find there were still die-hard anti-gun people around, especially after all that had happened when they had made their way back here. There had been some close calls and he considered them lucky to have gotten back in one piece.
