by Maira Dawn
Dylan ddin’t know how he was going to keep his promise to her day, short of tying the woman up, and he didn‘t figure her father would want him to go that far. Dylan looked at Skye and saw the distress on her face. Maybe when you’re raised by parents that actually care for you, this is how you feel, willing to do anything for them.
I shouldn’t have taken that obligation. I only did it cause I thought— Don't matter what I thought.
That promise and the one he’d made Skye would haunt him. Dylan always kept his word, and now he’d broke it with two people.
Foolish, naïve, cantankerous, mule-headed woman. She won’t listen to one word of reason.
Dylan raised his hand and hit the table with his palm. Jesse jumped, but Wade just looked away. She will die out there.
Dylan picked up some breakfast dishes and took them to the sink. As he did so, he caught his reflection in the mirror. He looked at himself the way he imagined she saw him, calling himself the names others had often called him. Dirty redneck, hillbilly idiot, son of an abuser.
He'd figured out a long time ago that he wasn't high on any woman's Man List. He didn't know why he‘d reckoned any different now.
A flash of anger shot through Dylan, and he slammed the stack of plates in the sink, ignoring the crack of the dishes as they hit the stainless steel. "I ain't gonna be any part of this. Sendin her off like I don't mind it a bit.” Dylan’s words ground against the back of his throat.
He crossed the room, grabbing his filled backpack and took to his refuge, the forest.
19
You Never Know
Jesse was not happy. He sat on the living room couch his hands shoved deep into his pockets and kept quiet. When adults were fighting, he knew it was best to keep his mouth shut.
He listened to the back and forth between Skye and Dylan as it got angrier and angrier. Jesse wanted to stay here. It had been good here, better than he had ever remembered, and he didn't want that to change. Going somewhere else, anywhere else made him nervous. You never know how people are gonna to be.
He didn't know Skye's dad. He was probably a good guy since she was good, but you never know. Sometimes even good people have bad parents. What if he was a bad one?
What if her dad doesn't like me? Tells Skye not to keep me? It's not like she has to, she didn't adopt me or anything. It can be hard to have a kid. That's what they always tell me. He might tell her to take me back, or just leave me on the side of the road.
Jesse shook his head. He knew Skye wouldn't leave him beside the road, but she might find another home for him. He didn't want another place. Jesse wanted this one, with Skye, Wade, and Dylan. He liked Wade and Dylan. They understood him, and he understood them. It was like they all spoke the same language or something. He didn't have that with many people. And Skye knew more about him than any other person alive. She accepted the way his past made him act, that it made him, him.
But if Skye’s dad died, Jesse didn’t want that either. It seemed easy enough to drive up there, spend the night, and bring the old man back down here. Skye’s done a lot for me, I can do this for her.
Jesse got a funny feeling in his stomach as he watched Skye walk out of the house. He turned to Dylan and saw the pained look on his face. Jesse kicked the leg of the kitchen chair in anger then growled in pain. Now angry at himself and them, he ran outside.
Seeing a good-sized stick on the ground, Jesse walked over and picked it up, then hit the biggest tree in the yard with it.
After a few good, hard whacks, Jesse felt a little better, but when he saw Dylan cross the yard to the woods with his backpack, he started hitting the tree again.
Why do people have to be like this?
The sharp crack of wood against wood continued. Whack, whack, whack. The sound was familiar to him.
“Jesse.” Skye’s voice floated to him, soft as a late spring breeze, managing to be heard through the loud thumps and his hot anger. “Jesse. I’m sorry.”
He turned to the sound. Skye stood there with her hands out to him, tears on her face. Jesse dropped the thick piece of wood and ran to her.
He jerked to a stop just before he reached her arms and shouted, “Why do you have to yell?”
“I’m sorry, Jesse. I didn’t think about how it would upset you. You’re right, it’s not a good thing to do.”
Jesse stared at her for a moment, a fierce frown on his face. As much as he wanted to stay angry, the red-hot feeling was melting away with the sight of her sad face.
Jesse took a small step toward her outstretched arms. “Don’t leave me.”
“Jesse!” Skye closed the gap between them and tightly wrapped him in her arms. “Never!” She pulled back and brought her face to his. “I will never leave you. Never. If I’m ever gone, you come and get me, because I’m somewhere I don’t want to be. Do you understand?”
Jesse nodded.
Skye had tears in her eyes.“Do you understand?”
Jesse sobbed his answer. “Yes.”
Skye pulled him close again. “It’s you and me, kid. You got it? You’re not getting rid of me, like ever.”
Jesse scrubbed at his eyes, but put one arm around Skye, for once enjoying the affection. “Not ever.”
Skye smoothed Jesse’s hair back from his forehead. She shouldn’t have done stormed out. Of course, it would have this effect on him. Skye’s heart hung heavy that the poor boy would still find it hard to believe she would want him. She kissed the top of his head and resolved to reinforce her feelings for him until he understood them.
Skye had watched Dylan stomp across the yard so he wouldn’t be coming back tonight. She sighed as she and Jesse made their way back to the house. Wade stood watching them pack as if he wasn’t sure what to do until Skye nervously asked about Dylan.
“Well now, he took off for the woods. I don’t spect he’ll be back until you’re gone.”
She hugged a sweater she was in the middle of folding. “Wade, he is that upset?”
“Sometimes, for someone who’s supposed to calm people, you sure do get them riled up, and I reckon—well, I know, I thought somethin might have been starting up between you two. Dylan took it as a personal insult you didn’t want us around on your little trip. Can’t say I liked it much either.”
She pinked and stammered. “I didn’t say—I didn’t mean, you couldn’t. I just—it’s not your obligation to come. I only know I have to go.” Skye waved an entreating hand toward Wade. “I am coming back, you know.”
“He don’t think you’re coming back, and I reckon neither do I.” Skye tried to cut in, but Wade continued, “You’ll settle there or find somewhere better than here before you get back. Why would ya come back here to us?”
“Because I want to! I want to, Wade. Right here, with you and Dylan. That is what I said I would do, and I will do it.”
Wade stood, as unyielding as a statue, with his arms crossed.
Skye put a hand on his forearm. “Come with me then.” She smiled. “Make sure I come back. Will you help me, or am I doing this alone?”
Wade’s stern face melted, and he grabbed her up in a big bear hug. Skye suffered through the almost-suffocation of his happy embrace. When he let go, she ran her hand across her ribs to make certain they were still intact.
Wade started to throw some of his and Dylan’s things in a bag when a sharp knock at the door startled them all. Skye shot a surprised glance at Wade, and he waved her back. Guests didn’t show up often at the Cole residence.
Wade looked out the window and pulled open the door then stepped out. Skye heard the rumble of male voices. When Wade returned alone, Skye gave him a questioning look.
He shook his head. “Looks like one of the families have taken sick. More’n that, they’re well into it, and their neighbors need some help gettin them down the mountain before they roam around.”
“How sad.”
“I’ll get Dylan, and we’ll go over and help them tonight. Should be done by mornin.”
Wade ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “You could get started. Go slow, we won’t be far behind.”
He got out a map and marked the best route, then he helped Skye and Jesse pack up what they needed. Every so often, Wade sent a troubled look over to the forest trail where his brother had disappeared. “I keep hopin to see him standing there,” he said. “I’m worried about finding him, he can lose himself in there.”
“You’ll find him, Wade. He always seems to be there when we need him.”
After Wade helped Skye get everything ready, the two set up a system since they were splitting up. If someone ended up back at the cabin, but needed to move on, they should leave a note. If the Infected, Sick or other troublemakers compromised the cabin, Wade picked a second and third location to meet or leave word.
That night, Skye and Jesse tried to sleep despite their nervousness. With Wade helping the neighbors and unaware if he’d found Dylan it seemed like a long night. Skye could only hope that the men completed everything in time to go with them in the morning, and that Dylan had settled down now he and Wade would join her and Jesse.
Still, there was the chance the men wouldn’t finish in time and that she and Jesse would start off alone. If something happened, and they didn’t find each other, it may be a little while before she was back. She took a few minutes during the dark, restless night to write the Cole brothers a note.
Once the sun came up, Skye and a sad Jesse were in the car waving goodbye through hazy car windows to the empty cabin that had been home for the last three days.
Skye bit the inside of her lip and ignored the waves of uneasiness. The men hadn’t come home last night. She could only stick with the plan she and Wade devised the evening before and pray that Wade and Dylan would be behind them.
As crazy as it was to make this trip, it was unthinkable not to do so. What if her brother never made it home? Skye choked back a sob. Bobby and her niece might already be dead. Dad, and perhaps Charlotte’s, only real chance of survival rested with her. It wouldn’t take long for the quiet, friendly suburb they lived in to turn into something else even if they managed to escape any infection.
What Dylan and Wade had taught her and Jesse would be of enormous help. She had a lot to learn yet, but she didn’t have time to wait until she was proficient in everything.
In the moments she was honest with herself, it terrified her to be doing this alone. Her hand went to the steering wheel, and she clenched it tight enough to cause the leather to squeak. Her left leg started to bounce. She looked into the rearview mirror again.
Skye repeated to herself the assurances she’d given the men. She didn’t have to get out of the car. She would be careful. Glancing over at Jesse, she kept her face calm. She hadn’t let the men see her concern, and she wouldn’t let Jesse see it now. She had to stand on her own two feet.
Jesse stared forlornly out the window.
Skye squeezed his arm. “It’s just for a little bit, Jesse. I promise.”
“I like them. They keep the bad guys away. I wish they woulda got done sooner.” He breathed out a sigh.
“Me too.” She remembered all the long hours of sentry duty the men had done. “I’ll drive slow. I’m sure we’ll see them in no time.”
Skye set a leisurely pace. It’d take an hour to get down this mountain to Colton, maybe by then Wade and Dylan would have caught up.
20
The Town
Welcome to Colton. Skye’s heart started a slow thump as she eyed the decorative sign. She pulled in a quick breath of air as she turned down the street and took in the surreal scene around her.
A month ago these sidewalks bustled with people heading off to work or the store, children riding their bikes or coming home from school. Now they were empty except for bits of garbage chased by the wind.
Most of the once-cherished homes stood vacant. Many with doors and windows opened to the outdoors, curtains billowing in and out of the casements. Skye scanned the area, searching for some sign of life, but she was hard-pressed to find any. Were Tom and Tricia the only ones left living here?
The front door of the Dollar Store lay smashed, the shelves bare except for a few scattered, torn items. Bits of glass and wood from the broken door littered the entryway. They reflected the early morning sun rays and threw the light in rainbows across her windshield.
The breeze pushed at an empty garbage can rolling it in front of Skye's car. She quickly pressed the brakes then tracked the can as it slowed near the back wheel of a deserted tricycle sitting on the street. It hit the little bike a couple of times and stopped.
Skye stared at the trash bin for a moment, her heart heavy. This was like a scene out of a movie. And even though it surrounded her, she had trouble grasping the reality of what she saw. Her beautiful little village was now a ghost town.
Had all towns suffered this kind of loss, and if they had, what were the cities like? If cities and towns across the world had lost this many people, how many were left? Her hands turned clammy. How would they live like this?
Dylan had warned her, told her life would be different now. But snuggled up in that welcoming little cabin for the past few days, she had been entirely oblivious to the changes going on in the cold world around her. But now, seeing it almost took her breath away, and not in a good way. How would any of them survive?
Jesse‘s fingers gripped the window sill of the car as he stared wide-eyed at the surrounding scene. “Looks like everyone keeps house the way Dad does now.”
Skye ran her hand through his hair and let a finger caress the side of his face as she said, "It will be okay, buddy."
Jesse raised an eyebrow at her. Neither of them believed that.
Skye looked him over. The boy was less shaken by the scene than she was, but he’d seen this kind of mess his whole life. It was normal to him. What wasn’t natural was that the entire town was that way.
Jesse set his chin on the window sill. “It’s kinda spooky with no one bein out there and all.”
“Well, at least that means no Sick or Infected either.”
“We should check out your house.”
Skye winced. It’d been on her mind to do that, but she almost hated to see what had become of it. “Okay.”
She swung a left at the next intersection and made her way to her little lane. There was a clear division between the first three houses on the street and the rest. The first houses were burned to the ground. Her house was the fourth, and it was fine.
When her eyes landed on her large, country home, she blew out a sigh of relief. Why she didn’t know, it wasn’t like she would live here anytime soon again. But even so, it was nice to see the wide porch with her red cushioned furniture almost untouched.
Garbage had made its way into her yard and driveway, but her windows and doors remained shut tight. This must have been where Tom and his deputies caught up with the Infected and pushed them out.
Skye looked at Jesse, a smile on her face. “I wish we had time to go inside, but we don’t, and perhaps we should wait for Wade and Dylan to do that, anyway.”
Skye bit her lip. Should she check on Tom and Tricia while she was in town? As of a few days ago, they were still here. But seeing Colton like this strengthened her resolve to go to her dad. Tom would, no doubt, give her yet another lecture on her unwise decisions. No, better to visit them on the way back. Then Dad, and maybe Charlotte and the others would get to visit too. Perhaps a text. But when she checked for a signal, there was none. If anything was still operating, she would be getting a signal here.
Guess phones are just about worthless now. A little niggle of uneasiness went through her. She stared at her phone trying to remember when she hadn't relied on it for something. Anna Lynn said it would be old school from here on out. I guess this is the first step. Skye still
couldn’t stop herself from tucking it back in her pocket. Old habits died hard.
On the main road through town, Skye spotted movement up ahead. She drove closer and saw her neighbor, sweet old Mrs. McCleary. Memories came flooding back. Mrs. McCleary making sure Skye was settled in her house okay and bringing over baked goods warm from the oven.
What was the elderly lady doing out here by herself? Skye gasped when she took in the woman's condition.
Confusion covered the old woman's face as she turned this way and that as if trying to get her bearings. She held one arm stiff by her side, and the other flailed around seemingly without direction. Her mid-length white hair tumbled in a dirty snarl over her shoulders. Her usual pristine clothing full of holes and soiled with dirt streaks.
“Oh, no!” Skye slowed and pulled up beside the woman. There was no recognition in Mrs. McCleary's eyes as she shied away from the vehicle. Once the Sick were at this stage, sudden noises disturbed them.
Skye was close to the road leading to Emergency Services. She did an abrupt U-turn and pointed the car in that direction praying she could find some aid. On arriving, Skye and Jesse saw only an empty building with a large note on the front of the door telling everyone to go to Fenton for help.
Just as I suspected. Fat chance of that happening. Fenton is in ruins.
Skye glanced at the office again and wondered if Doctor Kinder and his family made it out of Fenton. She ran a hand through her hair. Skye didn’t want to leave Mrs. McCleary by herself in her condition but what else could she do.
She turned and drove slowly out of town. A town that that took her in, a town where everyone helped everyone else. It pained her she was leaving someone in need. It could have just as likely been Skye wandering around on that road. It almost was her.
Her mind flashed back to the day she and Dylan were scavenging. He’d told her he helped the Sick by giving them water and food. He left it in their path with the hope they knew what to do with it.
