The Aging: A Novel

by Jack Hunt

  “So we can’t trust anyone?”

  “No.”

  “But you trusted him.”

  “Because I know what he looks like.”

  “But you said you haven’t seen him in ten years?”

  “I haven’t. In person. But… well…”

  “You looked him up on social media, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  Josh laid back down and folded his arms behind his head and looked up at the barn roof, thinking about the period in his life when he was curious about his father. Where he’d gone. Why he’d gone. All he could remember was he was there one day and gone the next. His mother had told him that he had to move out. That they were separating for a while. He never questioned it. He was too young. After several years he kind of figured it was permanent. Curious, as anyone would be, he asked his mother if he could call him but she always gave some excuse. He was working. He was out of town. She lost his number. Eventually, he found out the truth for himself when he checked his mother’s computer history. There were articles, lots of them about his father, about charges involving an alleged sexual assault of one of his students. He couldn’t believe it. His father? Why would he do that? Josh pitied his mother. How humiliated she must have felt being dragged through it. Having those she knew question her husband’s integrity. Right then and there he dismissed his father. Anyone that would do that, didn’t deserve his time. His mother, on the other hand, he placed on a pedestal, at least until he became a teenager and his hormones went out of whack. It was a different story then.

  “So Ryan doesn’t have the aging?”

  “Oh, he’s old. He’s just not getting old fast enough,” he replied, chuckling to himself.

  “But is he my dad?”

  There it was, the big question. She’d never brought it up before and Josh had never thought to ask his mother. He just assumed it was Ryan and that she’d told her. Now he wondered if she’d withheld it to protect her from the same disappointment that he felt. Still, she deserved to know. There was always the potential that his mother had a one-night stand as some kind of rebound but if she did, he never saw any guys come home with her.

  “I don’t know, Bean.”

  Lily plumped her jacket pillow and curled up in a ball trying to go to sleep. Josh lifted his head and took his jacket and wrapped it around her. It was hard enough for him to come to terms with who his father was but she was still in the dark. He remained awake for an unknown amount of time listening to the cacophony of night sounds. Mostly cicadas chirping.

  How many minutes or hours passed he wasn’t sure.

  In the dead of night, the sound of a branch breaking was akin to a crash. But it wasn’t a branch, it was someone trying to break into the barn. Josh bolted upright, his heart hammering against his chest. There was another shake, this time louder, distinct from the kind created by the wind. It was followed by another crash. Then silence.

  “Josh?” Lily asked.

  “Shh,” he replied.

  He quietly shifted one of the bales of hay that surrounded them to the side and crawled over to the edge of the second floor. Without light, it was hard to see but as his eyes adjusted, he saw two strapping individuals step into the barn. Were they the owners? Had they seen them enter earlier? Was it cops? Quickly, Josh crawled back over, bringing a finger up to his lips. Lily looked as if she was about to cry. There was only one ladder up and down. The other exit would have been to go through the upper barn door but that was a good ten-foot drop. He could lower her but she still might injure her legs.

  Fearful, Josh knew he couldn’t get her out of the barn but he could hide her. She was small and there were enough haystacks that she could stay out of sight. “Get into here,” he said, pointing to a gap between the stacks. She followed his directions like her life depended on it. “I’ll be back.”

  “Josh, don’t leave me.”

  “I won’t.”

  Tears fell from her cheeks.

  “Bean. I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered.

  She scurried backward into her hole and tucked her body into a fetal position while Josh quietly stacked a few more hay bales on top, in front and around her. Satisfied, he withdrew the Glock from his bag and made his way back to the edge. The two strangers didn’t say a word but moved down either side of the barn, opening the horse stalls and looking inside. One disappeared into a stall only to emerge and let out a low whistle. His partner joined him and looked inside. They’d found the bike. Josh kept a firm grip on the gun. He considered opening fire but if there was a chance they could make it out of this without killing anyone, he would take that option. He hadn’t killed anyone so far. At least not that he knew of. The old man he’d shot was still alive when he left. Still, if it came down to Lily or these strangers, he wouldn’t hesitate.

  He heard them talking in a low voice.

  It was a male and a female.

  They exited the stall and he pulled back from the edge.

  Had they seen him?

  His throat was dry. His pulse beating fast.

  He listened intently as they did the rounds through the rest of the stalls. The hinges on the doors alerted him to where they were without him looking.

  Then he heard what he hoped he wouldn’t — boots on the rungs of the ladder, making their way up. Laying on his belly, he brought the sight up and waited until he saw a head. Instead of shooting whoever it was in cold blood, he fired a warning shot, just slightly off to the side. It worked. The guy dropped from that ladder so fast. He swore he must have broken a leg. “The next one goes in your head.”

  He waited for a reply but didn’t get one. It wasn’t the owners. They would have been shouting bloody murder and cursing up a storm and telling him to get the hell off their property. Not these two. They were silent. Determined. He wanted to look over. Get a bead on where they were, but he figured they were armed and might not extend the courtesy he gave.

  The sound of fast footfalls followed.

  A moment later he heard the door close on the barn.

  Then silence fell.

  Josh waited to be sure there was no one there before he crawled over to the edge and took a look. Nothing. No movement. But that didn’t mean they were gone. He wasn’t stupid. If they had the pathogen, they were desperate and would wait him out even if it meant staying there until morning, or until they fell asleep, whatever came first.

  Damn it.

  They now knew where he was.

  Was one of them in a stall below while the other was outside? He couldn’t risk checking. If anything happened to him, Lily wouldn’t be able to survive. He was beginning to think that maybe Ryan was right. Perhaps he should have stayed the night. It was a long way to St. George Island, at least seven hundred miles. They’d barely made it a couple of miles.

  He was about to check on Lily when he heard a splash, then another. As he tilted his head to make out what it was, he wondered if the strangers had continued through the brush as there was a stream nearby.

  Josh had taken a few steps toward the edge when he heard a familiar crackling sound, then a whoosh. It was the amber light that gave it away. “Shit! Lily.” They’d set the side of the barn on fire. If they couldn’t get them down, they’d smoke them out or let them die trying to escape. An old dry barn like this would go up in no time.

  He moved fast, hauling bales of hay out of the way to get at her. Clasping her hand, and grabbing his bag, he raced over to the ladder only to see the fire blocking the second exit.

  Those bastards. They were herding them toward one exit.

  Was one of them down below? Just waiting for them to hit the ground and then they would spread the pathogen to them? Moving fast to the upper doors, where hay bales were inserted, Josh pushed them wide only to be driven back by a gunshot.

  “Sonofabitch!”

  By now the fire was raging, licking up to the top of the eastern side of the barn.

  They were screwed if they went out and
damned to hellfire if they didn’t.

  He’d rather take his chances with a pathogen that could be passed on to others than burn to death. Lily was holding his hand tight, tears streaming down her face. “Listen to me, Lily. When we get outside, I want you to run into the woods. You hear me?”

  “What about you?”

  “You don’t worry about me. Do you understand? You get far away from here. Head that way.” He pointed. “Toward Jasper. Do you think you can find your way back to Ryan?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  He clenched his eyes tight and began coughing hard. The air inside was turning black. If they didn’t leave now, they would die of smoke inhalation. One half of the barn was an inferno. They hurried to the ladder and he went down first, gun at the ready, expecting one of the strangers to lunge out at him. They never did.

  “All right. Hurry up,” he said, scanning the barn as he beckoned her down.

  That’s when two rounds erupted. They were shooting at him. Josh dropped. Staying low, he guided Lily along the far stalls toward the doorway on the western side, preparing to burst out and open fire on the first person he saw while Lily fled.

  Instead, the door at the far end opened. “Josh. Lily!”

  “Ryan?”

  A face emerged, a rifle in hand. “C’mon. Let’s go!”

  He urged them out as they raced toward him. Then Josh remembered.

  “My motorcycle.”

  “There’s no time.”

  The intensity of the fire and smoke was overwhelming. He wasn’t leaving his motorcycle there. That was their ticket out of here. Josh turned and ran back just as a large section of the barn collapsed in on itself, covering the area where his bike was. A huge gust of black smoke billowed toward him. He coughed hard, arm raised as the heat intensified.

  Ryan grabbed him by the collar and hauled him out of there, dragging him away from the barn. As he did, they passed by the strangers now lying on the ground, dead.

  Chapter Eight

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Ryan bellowed before scanning the trees for more threats. He loomed over him, a figure larger than life, facing him at an angle, rifle in hand. His dark silhouette sliced into the orange blaze behind him. Josh could feel the heat coming off the roaring inferno as it chewed its way through what remained. The second half of the barn collapsed inward, sending a plume of smoke high into the starry sky. It hissed, crackled, and popped. The glow of the fire arced over the forest. Birds broke away from the trees, flying in the opposite direction.

  “The bike was a gift from my mother.”

  “Yeah, and had I not pulled you back, you would have joined her.”

  He turned away from Josh to check on Lily. “You okay, sweetheart?”

  She was coughing but nodded. “Here, drink this,” he said, taking out a bottle of water from a backpack nearby.

  Leaning back on the ground, also coughing, Josh asked, “Were you stalking us?”

  “I told you it was dangerous out here,” Ryan replied, stabbing a finger at the ground.

  “That doesn’t answer the question.”

  “But it proves my point, right?”

  “Whatever, man.”

  He got up and brushed himself off.

  “Look, I was making sure you and Lily were safe. Okay?”

  “What, by following us?”

  “If that’s what it takes.”

  “Well, you can stop. I told you. I don’t need you.”

  “You might not, but she does. And I’m her father.”

  Lily stared at them both, speechless.

  “So grab your bag and let’s go.”

  “We’re not going with you.”

  “No? What are you going to do, Josh? Walk to Florida?”

  “If that’s what it takes.”

  “Don’t be stupid.”

  Josh grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He reached into his pocket, took out a pack of cigarettes, and tapped one out, staring back at Ryan as if he couldn’t do a damn thing. He lit the end and blew smoke his way. “Thanks for the save, man, but as I said, we can take care of ourselves.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Let’s go, Lily.”

  Ryan snatched the cigarette out of Josh’s mouth and stomped on it. “Nice try, bud, but you’re not taking her. You had your chance. You screwed up. She’s going with me and if you want to walk so be it, but we’re heading back to the truck.”

  Ryan strolled past him.

  “What the hell is your problem, man?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing. Come on, Lily,” Ryan said, extending his hand. She clasped it but Josh didn’t let go of her other hand.

  “My problem is you, man. You. If you think you can waltz on in here after ten years and tell us what to do, you are out of your mind. We don’t even know you.”

  “Well, you will by the time we make it to Florida.”

  “We’re not going with you!” He tugged on Lily but Ryan didn’t let go.

  “Yeah, you are.”

  “Lily, tell him. Tell him you’re not going with him. Remember what I said about people.”

  “We can’t trust them,” she said.

  “That’s right.”

  She looked up at Ryan. He still had his steely gaze fixed on Josh. “You done bellyaching?”

  “Lily.” Josh pleaded with her.

  “I… Um..”

  “Josh. Don’t do this. Don’t make her choose a side, that’s not your place.”

  “Of course it is. I’ve earned that right unlike you.”

  Ryan was beginning to lose his cool. “You are not putting her life in danger again. Now you can hate me all you want, you can tell Lily to hate me but—”

  “I don’t hate you,” Lily interjected.

  Josh looked at her as Ryan narrowed his eyes. “But you are not going to drag her down with you. Lily is going with me to Florida just as your mother requested. She’s my daughter. And that’s final.”

  “Screw you, man. Screw you!”

  Josh released his grip on Lily, picked up his bag, and went to walk past him when Ryan grabbed him. He tried to pull away but Ryan held tight. “Look. I know you and I don’t see eye to eye right now and that’s perfectly fine. But for the sake of Lily and until we reach Florida, I would appreciate it if you show me some damn respect. I’m still your father after all. That means no swearing at me. No smoking. And no pills. Yeah, I saw them in your bag. Now you may still hate me by the time we reach Florida but it’s what your mother wanted and I am going to do what she asked come hell or high water. So shelve the attitude and go get in the truck.”

  Josh sneered. “I hate you.”

  “Welcome to the club. I hated my father too.”

  In the truck with the window down, Josh slapped a mosquito on his neck. It was humid and hot and the night was alive with them. Brooding, he stared off into the distance, not looking once at him. The journey back to his house was tense. When they arrived, Lily was the first in the door. She looked pleased to be somewhere safe, anywhere was better than that old barn. He hated to admit to it, but for her sake he was glad. But he wasn’t telling Ryan that. Once inside, Ryan set his rifle down and motioned to the back room. “You can sleep in here tonight, Lily,” he said, turning on the light.

  Josh stood at the door as Ryan collected some bedding from the closet and Lily looked around at some of the toys. They were for a kid younger than her, a boy. The wallpaper was old. Dated. There was a small TV, a radio and a computer. It was tidy. The whole room looked like it was frozen in time. “Whose room is this?” she asked as Ryan made the bed.

  “It was meant for Josh but he never got to see it.”

  Ryan looked at him for a second and Josh looked away. He walked off into the living room, chewing over what he’d said. He paced for a moment and then stopped in front of a fireplace mantel and noticed several photos. He hadn’t seen them. Josh picked one up. They were from when he was five or six. A couple of him and Ryan to
gether. He was all smiles. There was one of them together by a beach. The memories were there, vague but buried far back in his mind.

  Beside those were a few others of his father dressed in army gear. Holding a rifle alongside some other military guys.

  Josh took a seat in a recliner chair and kicked off his boots and felt himself sink. It felt good to be out of that godforsaken barn. Lily came out and put her arms around Josh’s neck, still coughing a little. “Night, Josh.”

  “Night, Bean. Sleep well.”

  “I’m glad we came back.” She paused. “Are you?”

  She only ever wanted to please him.

  His lip curled. “If you are. That’s enough for me.”

  She beamed.

  It was happiness he hadn’t seen since leaving.

  She wasn’t a kid to wallow in self-pity or hold a grudge like him. He could hear her talking with Ryan as he tucked her into bed. “Will it be safe on the boat?”

  “You ever been on one?”

  “Only a small one. Josh took me fishing a few times.”

  “Let me guess, you caught a fish this big.”

  She laughed. “No. Not that big. Maybe this size.”

  “Ah, like a tadpole.”

  She laughed again. There was more conversation, then he asked about the butterflies on her T-shirt. Lily had always loved butterflies.

  “So do I call you dad now?”

  Josh waited for a response. There was a pause. A little hesitation.

  Ryan replied. “You can call me whatever is comfortable for you.”

  “Um. Uh, I guess, Ryan for now?”

  “That’s good too.”

  “Night, Ryan.”

  “Night, Lily.”

  The door closed and Ryan joined Josh in the living room. “You want a drink?”

  “I’ll take a beer or whiskey if you have one.”

  Ryan’s eyebrows raised. “How’s water sound?”

  Josh shrugged. “Sure.”

  A moment later he returned with a bottle and handed it to him. He unscrewed the cap and chugged it like he was putting out a fire. The smoke had gotten into his throat and given him a dry cough. “You can use my room if you like.”