Escaping Darkness (Book 6): The Shadows

by Richards, E. S.

  Striding in the direction of their makeshift hospital wing, Jackson rolled up his sleeves and began thinking about the mass evacuation. The injured people would be the most difficult to transport up and out of the building, but he refused to leave anyone behind. He doubted whether the Authority would look at an already injured rebel and consider nursing them back to health just to lock them away. No—anyone who was left behind was surely condemned to death and so to Jackson, that meant everyone was getting evacuated, whether they could walk or not.

  “How’s it going in here, Lorna?” he asked the woman who had taken charge of the sick area, looking beyond her at the various bodies that were laid out across the floor.

  “We’re getting by,” Lorna replied, “though a couple of the guys could use some higher-grade painkillers. How’s everything else?”

  “We’re planning to evacuate,” Jackson explained, getting straight to the point and waiting for Lorna’s reaction. She had been with his rebel group from the start, her two young children taken by the Authority and her husband killed in the process. Her story was very similar to Jackson’s, which had allowed them to bond at some level, though neither liked talking about what they had lost. Thankfully Lorna had gotten both her children back, the two preteens currently sitting drawing pictures in one corner of the room.

  “Oh? How?”

  “Via the roof,” Jackson continued. “We need to get everyone up to the top floor as soon as possible and I’ve been assured there’s a walkway over to the next building so we can get down to the street and away from here.”

  Lorna nodded, considering what Jackson was saying for a moment, knowing he would rely on her opinion on whether everyone in her care could travel. “Okay,” she clicked her tongue against her teeth inside her mouth, a trait she often did when thinking to herself. “We should only need one stretcher. Sammy was shot in the thigh and she can’t really walk; everyone else can make it. It’ll be slow going for most of them, but we’ll get there. We have to.”

  “Great,” Jackson breathed a sigh of relief, encouraged by Lorna’s confidence. “I’ll get a stretcher arranged for Sammy. Thanks, Lorna.”

  “No problem,” the nurse smiled. “Where are we moving to afterwards? Is it far?”

  “About thirty minutes from here on foot,” Jackson answered, planning to take his rebel faction to the high tech campus his wife had worked at. There were several high-rise office buildings there too, but what he was more excited about was the data bunker fortified to store military projects. Naturally none of the equipment would work anymore. Even so, an underground bunker was the perfect place for his group to expand and develop their plans. If they could get there without the Authority tracking them that would be perfect; Jackson knew keeping it hidden from them would be the biggest challenge. “The Stanley Johnson tech campus, if you’ve heard of it?”

  Lorna shook her head, “I haven’t, although it sounds okay to me. Thirty minutes should be fine. Have we got enough breathing masks for everyone?”

  “Probably not, unfortunately. Some people will have to make do with cloths and scarves like the good old days,” Jackson tried to make a joke, thinking how far they’d come already since the first day of the eruption, the day when their lives all changed forever. “Don’t worry,” he continued, “I’ll make sure all the injured, old, and underage are properly protected. Here,” he tugged a couple of the spare masks he wore attached to his belt off and handed them over to Lorna. “Give these to your kids.”

  “Thank you,” Lorna accepted the masks gratefully, smiling up at Jackson and meaning her thanks to be not only for the masks, but also for everything he had done for her, her children, and the city. “I’ll get everyone sorted and up to the roof. We’ll see you up there?”

  “You can count on it,” Jackson nodded, pleased that Lorna was able to take control of the injured and leave him to concentrate on other things. Walking away, he felt confident that his group would be able to make their escape. Already people were gathering their things and starting to head upstairs, Joel and Rylan clearly spreading the message quickly and efficiently. No one stopped to ask him questions as they passed him, all simply heading toward the stairs with their heads down and determined looks on their faces. They knew this needed to be done and everyone was willing to pull their own weight.

  By the time Jackson himself made it up to the top floor nearly an hour later, almost everyone was gathered by the roof access doors, waiting for him. Six of his most trusted and loyal men and women had stayed down below, walking around and making noise so the Authority didn’t suspect they were all leaving. They had the most important and most dangerous job. If anything went wrong, they could well be sacrificing their lives by staying below. It was a sacrifice that Jackson didn’t take lightly and was incredibly grateful for. If there was any other way then he would’ve stayed down there with them, but he knew he was needed more leading the charge. Sometimes leaders had to make difficult decisions; it was how they reacted to them and how they progressed that showed what kind of a leader they were. Either Jackson would worry and wait for the people downstairs, or he could trust his team and move on with the next stage of their plan. The evacuation needed to happen, and that was what he was now on the roof to put into motion.

  “Okay,” he started to speak, everyone immediately falling silent and turning to look in his direction. It the respect he commanded was incredible, even the youngest children putting down their toys and listening for what he was about to say. “Thank you all for getting up here so quickly. I’m sure you’re already aware of what we’re about to do. This isn’t going to be easy and we are at risk of being spotted. It’s our only option and we need to get out of here. It’s either over the roof or down to our deaths—there is no other choice.”

  His words were serious and sullen, perhaps words that would’ve been better suited to an entirely adult audience, but despite this people only reacted with nods and murmurs of agreement. Everyone knew Jackson was thinking of the group and the city before himself and as a result they were content to follow his orders. Their lives had been at risk since the day Yellowstone erupted; climbing out onto a walkway wasn’t going to make anyone run away scared.

  “Once we’re across, we’re heading for the tech village about thirty minutes northwest of here,” Jackson continued, sharing the new location with everyone. “I want everyone to wait on the top floor of that building so we can check it out first. Then we’ll move over together. If something goes wrong, that’s where you should aim for. Make sure you’re with at least one person who knows the way. Most of these guys,” Jackson paused and pointed to some of his closest allies within the faction, “have already been briefed, so they know the way.”

  More murmurs and nods of agreement rippled through the crowd, once again no questions or disagreements emerging. In the disaster situation, almost everyone was happy to be told what to do. It made their lives easier and took away the element of risk or threat. They still weren’t completely safe, but as a unit they stood a much larger chance than they did as individuals.

  “All right,” Jackson clapped his hands together. “Get yourselves into roughly even groups of ten: old, young, all alike, then let’s get going. First group, you’re with Kenny. I’ll bring up the rear.”

  At the end of his speech, everyone sprang into action. There was no pause for applause or for people to ask questions; Jackson had explained everything they needed to know for now and all that was left was to do it. The rebel faction was united by a hatred for the Authority and a love for their city. They were the ones who had fought to get their children back and to reclaim their homes. They had no time for squabbling or complaining, everyone banding together and demonstrating that even in times of complete peril, humanity still existed and could still achieve wondrous things.

  “You guys get over with Kenny,” Jackson spoke in a lower voice to Rylan, Joel, and his mom and sister, the four of them hovering nearby. “He knows where to go and he’ll make sure t
o take care of you. Go and get in his group. Now.”

  Joel and his family didn’t need to be told twice, marching over in Kenny’s direction, the former Marine and close friend of Jackson’s already waiting for their arrival. Rylan hung back however, loitering next to his father.

  “I want to stay with you, Dad,” he spoke out, trying not to sound like a needy teenager, but instead someone who was able to offer help and support.

  “I’ll be okay, Rylan,” Jackson replied, urging his son to leave. “You should get across quickly and make sure you’re safe on the other side.”

  “I don’t think we should split up again,” came the reply, Rylan already having thought this through and prepared what he was going to say. He trusted his father completely, but after losing his mom and seeing Mike return to the pit, he didn’t want to be apart from his father when he absolutely didn’t need to be. “I can take care of myself,” he continued. “I still want to go across with you. It makes no difference to anything else. Please just let me do it.”

  Jackson looked down at his son and read the teenager’s expression, impressed to see determination and courage coupled with an absence of fear. Rylan didn’t want to stay behind because he was scared of what might happen to him if he went, he wanted to stay because it was the right thing to do and because he could be an asset to his father. Seeing that in his youngest son, Jackson smiled and felt a sense of pride welling up inside of him.

  “Okay,” he answered, looking up at Kenny and nodding, giving his friend the signal to leave Rylan behind and start moving. “You’re with me, son. Let’s put an end to all this madness, eh? Let’s get our home back.”

  Chapter 16

  Linda sat comfortably in the den with Chase and Riley huddled against her on either side, both of them half-dozing in and out of sleep. It was a moment that Linda knew she should be enjoying for what it was: her grandchildren were back in her arms safely, both wearing a smile on their faces. Yet despite how much she tried to make herself feel happiness over the situation or be thankful for what she had, Linda couldn’t get the image of her dead husband out of her head.

  Every time she closed her eyes, Linda saw Jerry. She saw him lying on the rug in the front room, his face pale and his eyes still open, staring blankly up toward the ceiling as the life left his body. She didn’t see him as she wished to remember him, with a grin on his face and spring in his step. Linda couldn’t remember her husband for the man he had been no matter how hard she tried. All she saw when she closed her eyes was his death, and it haunted her.

  Two days had passed since the burial, the mound of dirt that covered her husband once again firm and frozen by ice and snow. They had erected a headstone upon the grave that morning, Chase having chiseled a few words into a large slate brick from the floor of the barn. The cows didn’t live there anymore and everything they had once stored in the building had been brought into the main farmhouse. Like many other things, the barn no longer had any use to the Clarke family and so repurposing its materials for Jerry’s grave made perfect sense. Into the stone he had carved nothing more than Jerry’s name, the years he had lived, and the words Never Forgotten.

  The words had been true when the gravestone was placed in the ground and Linda knew they would be true forevermore. As long as her family lived, they would remember Jerry, the things he had done for them unforgettable.

  “Hey, Mom,” Mia poked her head around the door to the den, finding her mother tucked up underneath a blanket on the couch with her grandchildren. “Are you okay?”

  Linda nodded, trying not to move too much so she didn’t disturb either of the children. “Yes, dear,” she replied, “is everything all right?”

  “Oh yeah,” Mia answered quickly, not wanting her mother to worry about anything unnecessarily. “I was just checking in. Can I get you anything? I was just thinking about a cup of cocoa.”

  “That would be lovely,” Linda smiled. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  “No problem, Mom,” Mia returned the smile, desperate to make her mother forget about what had happened even if just for a split second. “I’ll bring it up for you.”

  Ducking back around the door, Mia pulled it closed behind her quietly to keep the heat inside and padded downstairs. She planned to get herself a seat on that couch with her family too once she’d made them all a warm drink, yearning for some family time. In the days since her father’s death, Mia had caught up on all the details regarding Chase and Riley’s adventures around Houston, and ever since she had just wanted to wrap her arms around the pair of them and keep them safe. She was frightened about the reach the Authority seemed to have across the state and feared the day when they came knocking on their door. She knew they would have to prepare for that possibility, but before that happened, she wanted just a few days of relative peace with her loved ones.

  “Hey, Mia,” Jadon called over to her as she entered the kitchen, he, Jesse, and Marcus all sitting in the front room in front of the fire. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” Mia replied as Jadon stood up and walked over to her, leaving his friends behind. “How are you three doing?” Since arriving at the farmhouse, Mia had barely had time to speak to the three boys she had been so preoccupied with other things. They had all been so incredibly supportive and understanding of everything though, helping to fix up Riley’s bedroom, which was where the three of them had been sleeping—Mia moving into the spare room with the thirteen year old—and assisting with odd jobs around the house. They knew when to keep to themselves and give the Clarke family time to be alone though, the three of them gathering in the front room as it was too difficult for Linda to spend any time in there anymore.

  “Not bad, thanks,” Jadon nodded. “We’ve actually got something we need to talk to you about?”

  “Oh?” Mia raised her eyebrows as she finished filling the kettle with water and put the lid on, starting to walk into the front room so she could place it over the fire to boil. “What’s up?”

  “There isn’t any easy way to say this,” Jadon started, following Mia into the room to rejoin his friends.

  “And we don’t want you to take it the wrong way,” Jesse added, curling his legs under his body so Mia could walk over to the fire and place the kettle onto its makeshift stand within it.

  “We think it’s time to head back to Philly,” Marcus finally finished the sentence, dropping the information like a bombshell. “Tomorrow morning.”

  Mia looked at the three young men for a second, moving her gaze across each of them in turn. She had known they weren’t going to stay at the farmhouse together—that had never been part of their plan—but even though she was spending less time with them now, she still knew she would miss them being around a lot. She couldn’t hold it against them; they all had family to return to and now that Jesse’s shoulder was recovering nicely from the bullet wound, it made sense for them to be on their way. Marcus had an unborn child out there somewhere, and Mia didn’t want to keep him from that for any longer.

  “All right,” she sighed, “I know I can’t keep you here forever,” she added with a smile. “I’ll miss you guys though.”

  “We’ll miss you too,” Jadon announced for all of them. “Are you guys going to be all right here?”

  Mia leaned over and nudged the kettle on the fire slightly, making sure it was being properly heated by the flames. “We’ll be fine,” she nodded. “Honest. It’ll be nice to just lay low for a while and not have to worry about anything. You shouldn’t be concerned about us.”

  “What about the Authority?” Marcus pointed out, reminding them all about the mysterious organization that was trying to take control of Houston and that had kidnapped both Chase and Riley during their time in the city. “Aren’t you scared they’re going to come out here looking for you?”

  Mia paused and considered the question for a moment. She was apprehensive about the Authority, although she truly doubted whether they would be looking for them. If they came out to the farmhouse it would
be completely by chance and hopefully it wouldn’t be for some time, allowing her and her family to prepare for that eventuality. “It might happen,” she shrugged, “but I’m not going to keep running. This is my home and if they want to come here, they can. That doesn’t mean they’re going to get what they came for.”

  Marcus looked to his friends and let a smile creep over his face. That was exactly what he’d expected Mia to say; she had been dead set on getting home since the day he’d met her and she hadn’t let anything stand in her way. Now even though she was home, none of that passion or determination had left her. She was still standing up for what she believed in: her family. It was a trait Marcus admired tremendously and hoped he could emulate himself when he finally became a father.

  “True,” he answered with a knowing smile, any worries he had about leaving Mia and her family behind quickly fading away. “I hope we’ll see you again one day.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Mia agreed, hoping that somehow they could find each other again once everything was over, even as she knew how unlikely it was. “So, tomorrow morning?”

  The three former college students nodded as the kettle started to whistle above the fire, signaling that the water inside had boiled and was ready to use. No one really knew what more they should say on the matter, the three boys determined to leave in the morning and Mia unable or unwilling to try and stop them. It was the right thing for everyone but that didn’t make it any less sad. So many people had already been lost, Mia couldn’t even begin to name everyone she had parted ways with since her journey home from Yellowstone began. Some had been harder to say goodbye to than others, but all of them hurt just the same. Parting ways from Jadon, Jesse, and Marcus would be no different. It was something that had to be done and something she just had to make her peace with.