by Dawn, M. K.
“This is about as low as I go.”
“Well, at least keep your head down.”
Axel ground his teeth. “I got it. Give me a second.”
Britney released the fence once he passed through and cocked her head. “You okay?”
He wrapped his arms around his bent knees. “Damn. That took more out of me than it should have.”
Britney jumped to her feet and dusted the dirt from her jeans. “You’re gettin’ old, babe.”
Axel stood and popped his back. “No shit. Pretty sure I’ve aged ten years in the past two.”
Britney knew the feeling all too well. This world had a way of scraping off the years a handful at a time.
“Any idea where we should start looking?” Axel asked.
“Actually, I do.” Britney headed off in the direction of the river, to the spot they’d hung out as kids. “There’s a tree house back here the neighbors built. I have no idea what sort of shape it’s in, but I think it’s a good place to start.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Britney’s heart ached at the thought of Nathaniel’s need to flee despite the danger he must have known was out here. “Nathaniel never struck me as the reckless type. Do you think he was depressed or somethin’?”
“Maybe.”
Britney led them deeper into the wooded area; the sound of rushing water told her they were close. She stared upward, her eyes scanning the unfamiliar canopy of branches and leaves. “It should be in one of these trees.”
“You don’t remember which?” Axel searched the area closer to the river.
“Sorry.” Britney turned her attention to the tree trunks, hoping to spot the wooden ladder. “It’s been a while, and this area has grown up a lot. Old man Peterson used to keep it trimmed up but stopped after his first heart attack.”
“Found it!” Axel called out.
Britney spun around in the direction of his voice. She hadn’t even noticed he walked so far away. “Where are you?”
“Over here.”
Britney didn’t remember the tree house being so far. “Are you sure—” Axel standing on the bottom step of the familiar ladder cut her off. “Nevermind.”
“You think it’s safe?” Axel bounced on the step. “Seems sturdy enough.”
“Maybe.”
Axel glanced upward. “I’m more worried about the tree house itself.”
Britney couldn’t be sure, but from where she stood, it appeared pretty stable. “The boards don’t look rotten.”
“Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”
She snorted. “I can go up first and take a look. I’m a lot lighter than you.”
“Right. Like I’m going to send the woman up and when she falls, look like the douchebag.”
A branch snapped behind her, and Britney drew her gun.
Axel opened his mouth to speak, but she signaled him to stay quiet.
The rustle of fallen leaves and hushed voices sent her hurrying up the tree behind Axel, who’d already made his way through the opening in the floor.
“What’s wrong?” Axel asked as she crept in beside him and closed the hatch. “Infested?”
“People,” Britney whispered as she navigated to the window.
“Are you sure?”
Britney pointed below where two men now stood at the base of the tree.
The older man with a white beard down to his chest spoke first. “What are we supposed to do now, Mateo? Go up and knock on the door?”
Britney’s heart raced. God, she hoped that wasn’t the plan.
“Nah,” the Hispanic man, Mateo said. “All we gotta do is call.”
Both laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.
“Kid!” Mateo yelled. “You there?”
Britney did what she could to keep from hyperventilating.
“Want me to climb up there and check things out?” the older man asked.
“Nah. The kid don’t come out here every day. Maybe once a week. Not the brightest light in the box, if you know what I mean.”
They both laughed again at the ridiculous metaphor.
“When’s the last time you got some info?” the other man asked.
Mateo shrugged. “A week?”
“That don’t worry the boss, none?”
“Guess not.” Mateo picked a long piece of grass and stuck it in his mouth. “He don’t expect a report often, and I’ve brought him some good shit the past month, so he trusts me.”
Month? The twins had only been there a few weeks so that ruled them out. That only left Nathaniel.
“We going to wait for the kid to show?”
Mateo tossed his weed and stretched. “Hell no. I don’t have time for that shit.”
“Time to head back, then?”
Mateo laughed and pointed up the river. “About a mile that way is the most perfect fishing hole I’ve ever seen. I got some poles hidden for times like this.”
The bearded man grinned. “What do we tell the boss?”
“That we hung around here and waited for the kid to show up.” Mateo got into the man’s face. “You good with that?”
“Hell yeah.”
The men headed off the same path they came down, laughing and cutting up.
Britney stared out the window, unable to speak, unable to move until she was certain they were gone.
Axel patted her knee, making her jump. “It’s okay.”
“What the hell is goin’ on here?”
“I don’t know.” Axel leaned against the wall. “But those are some backwoods hillbillies, if I’ve ever seen one.”
Britney got off her knees and took a seat. “Why would Nathaniel be helping them? How would he have even met them?”
“We don’t know for sure that they were waiting for Nathaniel.”
Britney closed her eyes, trying to recall every detail of the conversation they just overheard. “They said it’s been a month. Who else could it be?”
“The twins?”
Britney shook her head. “I thought the same, but they’ve only been here a few weeks.”
Axel holstered his gun. “There are a lot of other people on the farm.”
“You think others know about the opening in the fence? Others they would call a kid?”
“We haven’t found any proof that Nathaniel was ever here. Until then, I think we should give the kid the benefit of the doubt.”
Most of the time, Britney loved Axel’s optimistic attitude, but right now, it annoyed her to no end. “He was bitten by an infested. That didn’t happen inside the farm.”
Axel stood and offered to help her up. “Come on. We need to get back.”
Britney grabbed his hand, and he pulled her off the floor.
“You ready?”
“Give me a second.” Britney walked around the room, overturning items with her boot. “I need to be sure we haven’t missed anything.”
“Nothing we find here will change what happened.”
“I disagree.” Britney bent down and picked up an asthma inhaler.
Axel peeked over her shoulder. “What is it?”
Britney held the inhaler in her hand. “Nathaniel lost this a week and a half ago. Searched everywhere, nearly tore the barn apart.”
Axel wrapped her fingers around the found item. “He was a good kid, Britney, but he was just a kid. You remember all the stupid stuff you did when you were sixteen, don’t you? I sure as hell do.”
“I remember.” Britney stuffed the inhaler in her back pocket. “But the world is different. When we were young and sneaked out of the house, the worst thing we had to worry about was getting caught. Nathaniel snuck out and not only got himself killed but Gus, too.”
“I hate to break it to you,” Axel wrapped an arm around her waist, “but the world isn’t all that different than it was before. A buddy of mine in high school...he snuck out of the house to go to a party, like we all did that night. Except he and the three others in the car with him
never made it home. Car accident.”
“Jesus.” Britney dropped her head. “I’m so sorry.”
“Happened a long time ago.” Axel lifted her chin, so their eyes met. “The point is, everyone likes to think the world is so much worse now that there are actual monsters hiding in the shadows. But it’s not, not really. There have always been monsters; they’re just easier to spot.”
Britney buried her head into Axel’s chest.
“Come on, let’s go home.”
They walked in silence the entire way back, Axel’s words playing on repeat in her head. He was right about the monsters being easier to spot, but the infested weren’t the only monsters out there. There were others watching, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Hell, they might have struck already and they were too blind to notice.
Either way, they needed to start preparing for the worst. Because she feared what happened to Nathaniel was only the beginning.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sloan moved from window to window, drawing back the curtains, allowing the morning sun to shed light on the gloomy clinic. She usually didn’t open this early, but Rainey’s declining health required she come in for frequent check-ups and because she’d refused to step down from her role as school teacher, Rainey needed to come in before classes started.
“Morning,” Evelyn said as she came in, removing her jacket and hanging it on the coat rack next to the door.
“Good morning,” Sloan said through a yawn. “How are you?”
Evelyn opened the filing cabinet and retrieved Rainey’s file, even though Sloan was sure she had her stats memorized. “Fine. It’s a little chilly outside. Glad it’s warm in here.”
“A cold front blew in sometime last night. It won’t be long before we’ll need to light the corner wood stove. The building is pretty well insulated, but it won’t be enough when winter sets in.”
It was the same routine every morning. A polite greeting and small talk about something insignificant. Sloan couldn’t say she particularly liked the idle chatter, but Evelyn was no longer spending her days alone in her camper. If she was willing to make an effort to interact, Sloan would talk with her about whatever she wanted. Anything to keep Evelyn from retreating back into her isolated existence.
Evelyn took a seat behind the desk, pulled a paper clip from the drawer, and began twisting the metal into all sorts of shapes. Sloan has suggested the distraction after noticing Evelyn biting her fingernails—a disgusting habit with potentially life-threating consequences thanks to the lack of modern medicines. “I passed three armed guards on my way over here. Do you think something happened?”
Ever since Britney and Axel’s discovery at the tree house, the farm had been on high alert. “I’m sure nothing new has happened. They’re just being vigilant.”
“People are scared.” Evelyn’s fingers moved at a ridiculous speed. “And on edge. There’s no laughter, no fun. This is no way to live.”
Sloan didn’t like the panic in her friend’s voice. “We’ve talked about this. You want to help everyone, but you only need to worry about yourself. Things will settle. As for now, people are adjusting to the idea of others outside this community, and it’s frightening.”
“I don’t think that’s it. Nathaniel was meeting with these people. People want to know why. And what he was telling them.”
“Chances are, we’ll never know. We have to move on. There’s no point in worrying about things that we cannot change.” Even though the same questions had kept Sloan up many nights, she didn’t want to concern Evelyn about this stuff. The poor woman had enough on her plate. “Please, try not to think about it.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Evelyn jumped from her seat. “How can you be so calm all the time? People died a few weeks ago. One of them because he turned into an infested.”
Sloan reached out and grabbed her friend’s hand. “It’s terrifying to think we had an infested so close to us. And that Nathaniel snuck out and didn’t tell anyone that he’d been bitten. Distressing about it won’t change that. All we can do is learn from the mistakes we made and move on. That’s why there are so many guards. Plus, the fence has been fixed and checked thoroughly.”
“Did they find any more holes?”
Sloan shook her head. “They didn’t find any other issues.”
“That’s good.” Evelyn swallowed hard.
“Plus, Archer had the tree house burned, informing those who Nathaniel spoke with that the conversation has now ended.” Sloan wasn’t convinced that was the best course of action but had agreed that something needed to be done. “No one else has been spotted. We truly believe this is over.”
“What does Archer think?”
Archer tended to err on the side of caution. “He agrees that whatever Nathaniel was up to, we don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“You’re a horrible liar,” Evelyn said with a chuckle. “But I appreciate you trying to make me feel better.”
“I don’t want you to fret. You do enough of that as it is. We’re safe here. I really believe that. Whatever Nathaniel was doing doesn’t concern us. He was probably just being a typical curious kid. We should forget this even happened and move on with our lives.”
“It’s not that easy.” Evelyn rubbed at her eyes. “Everyone is scared that whoever’s out there might come back. Just like those people who stopped by when you were out on the supply run.”
“People we’ve not seen again.” Sloan reminded her. “We should get to work. I’m sure the clinic will be busy again today.”
Over the past few weeks, they’d seen an increase number of stress-related illnesses. Migraines, stomach aches, and exhaustion were the most common. And to be expected considering the current atmosphere.
“I’ll restock supplies for each of the exam carts,” Evelyn said.
“The supply closet may be running low. You might need to restock that as well.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened. “You mean from the supply barn? By myself?”
Her reaction came as no surprise. The poor woman was scared of everything these days. “No, not by yourself. I’m sure we can find someone to help. Mac is always a good person to call on for these sorts of things.”
Evelyn opened the cabinet doors. “We might need a wheelbarrow to haul the supplies back.”
“Make a list. I’ll track Mac down and see when he’s available.”
The concern in Evelyn’s eyes faded. “Great. I’ll get right on that.”
Evelyn always did better when given a task.
Sloan unlocked the medicine cabinet and frowned. She would need to make a list of her own, though they probably didn’t have anything they needed in the barn. They’d grown low on most everything. She had collected what they needed from the hospital. Sloan had no idea how they would restock now. The only other place she knew of that had a decent supply of medication was the med clinic in town, and they had wiped that clean six months ago.
The clinic door opened, and Rainey lumbered in, looking worse than she had a few days ago.
“Rainey?” Evelyn rushed to her side and helped her to one of the four exam tables.
Over the past couple of weeks, Rainey had lost a staggering ten pounds, a drastic number considering her already slim frame.
“How much pain are you in compared to a few days ago?”
Rainey forced a smile. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Lay back.” Evelyn grabbed a pillow. “You shouldn’t have to handle any. We can give you medication to manage it.”
Rainey waved her off. “There is no use wasting what little medication we have left on me.”
Evelyn glanced over her shoulder at Sloan. “We have plenty, right?”
Before Sloan could answer, Rainey said, “no, you don’t. I saw how bare those shelves are. You need to save what you have left for those who are going to live a long, healthy life. Not give it to someone who probably doesn’t have more than a few weeks left.”
Evelyn squeezed Rainey’s hand. “We don’t know that for sure. You could suffer for months in agonizing pain before the cancer takes you.”
Rainey’s eyes locked on Sloan. “You won’t let that happen, right?”
Evelyn whipped her head around. “What is she talking about?”
They had never actually discussed this option, but Sloan knew what Rainey wanted from her.
“I’ll help you in any way I can.” It was a promise Sloan intended to keep. She had watched the pain her mother suffered through during her final stages of cancer. And that was with some of the strongest pain killers possible. No one should ever have to go through that. Sloan couldn’t even imagine the pain Rainey would have to endure with the weak pain killers they had in stock.
Evelyn patted Rainey’s arm. “Give me a minute. I need to speak with Sloan in private.”
“Wait.” Rainey grasped Evelyn’s hand. “You don’t need to speak about this in private. I’ve already made up my mind. Either we do this medically or I do it myself.”
“Rainey.” Evelyn’s voice had a sternness to it that Sloan hadn’t heard before. “You’re scared and not thinking clearly. There are other ways.”
“You’re so sweet.” Rainey sighed. “But I’ve seen what this is going to do to me and don’t want any part of it.”
“But—”
Rainey cut her off. “I understand, as a doctor, it goes against everything you stand for, but there is nothing left you can do. Pain killers will only help so much. If I’m going to die, I want it to be on my terms. Now, no more arguing. It’s getting late, and I need to get to the schoolhouse a little earlier today. Shay has a lot to learn if she’s going to take over for me.”
“You found a replacement?” Last Sloan had heard, a decision hadn’t been made.
“Yes. She was in college working on her early childhood education degree when everything fell apart. Plus, she spends a lot of time helping out since her son is there and the kids love her. She’s the perfect choice.”
“That’s great.” Sloan knew how much this decision weighed on Rainey’s mind.
“It’s a huge relief.” Rainey smiled at Evelyn. “Do I need to undress?”
