“Simon, stick with Tessa,” Alice said, even though there was no reason to. Simon was already moving to sit beside the girl. Alice found it strange to see her little brother so obviously in love. It made her wonder what else she would find different about him.
Simon watched as Dodge and the men disappeared around the corner. Alice stood talking in low tones with an older man. Beside them, Red and Tyson were hovering around Grace, making quiet conversation in an effort to keep her conscious. The rest of the kids stood around looking somewhere between shell-shocked and bored. They were dirty, tired, and had never looked more like scared children. Simon wondered if he looked as rough as the rest of them.
Simon turned his attention to Tessa. He sat holding her hand and enjoying the feel of the cool breeze and sunshine on his face. If he shut his eyes he could pretend he was out in the field, lying on his rock without a care in the world. If he shut his eyes he could pretend he wasn’t surrounded by dead zombies.
Tessa squeezed his hand and he opened his eyes, jerking to look down at her. Tessa smiled up at him softly, squinting a little in the sun. “Hey,” she croaked, wincing at the sound of her own voice. “Is it over?”
“Yeah.” Simon’s eyes filled with tears again. “Are you okay?”
“My head hurts,” Tessa answered. “And I don’t think I could stand up right now.”
“That’s okay, you don’t need to,” Simon assured her. He leaned over and spontaneously kissed her forehead, not caring who saw or what she thought of it. “You got hit pretty hard in the head a couple times.”
“A couple times?” Tessa smiled. “That sucks.” Simon heard the rumble of engines and hoped they would hurry. With Tessa injured they needed to get to the other base as soon as possible. He hoped they had a doctor there. Tessa shut her eyes again.
“Hey!” Simon panicked, thinking that she was losing consciousness again.
“Huh?” Tessa opened her eyes.
“You gotta stay awake,” Simon said. The first truck pulled onto the street, crushing the zombies beneath its wheels until it came to a stop beside Simon. Cale climbed out and ran over to Simon. Two more trucks pulled up alongside the first truck.
“Is she awake?” Cale asked. He saw Tessa looking up at him and smiled. “You’re awake.”
“Yep.” Tessa nodded, and then winced at the pain.
“Try not to move too much,” Cale advised. “Simon, go ahead and hop into the back of the truck. I’ll lift her up beside you.”
Simon nodded and scrambled up into the wide open bed of the truck, sitting against the cab. He watched as Cale somehow managed to climb into the truck without dropping Tessa. Cale walked over and set Tessa down beside Simon. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Next, Cale helped Red and Tyson get Grace up onto the bed of the truck. The boys scrambled up after her. With the two injured on board, more people quickly climbed in until there was no more room.
“Simon,” Alice called from beside the truck. Simon turned to look over the edge at her. “Cale’s going to go ahead and start out so Tessa and Grace can see the doctor. We’ll be right behind you with the machine, okay?”
“Okay.” Simon nodded. “Thanks Alice.”
“I missed you, Simon.” Alice ruffled his hair.
“I missed you too,” Simon answered with a smile, surprised to feel like he meant it. “See you soon.”
“Yeah.” Alice backed away and the truck took off.
Simon cradled Tessa’s head as they bounced over the bodies of the fallen zombies and out the front gate. After they had driven down the road a couple miles, the bumps stopped and Tessa leaned her head back on Simon’s shoulder. He laced his fingers through hers and gently rested his head on her head.
35
New Hope, Iowa
Six Months Later....
Simon ran down the dirt road, glad the snow had finally melted away. The spring sun beat down overhead, lighting up the day and lifting his spirits. On either side of the road, fields which would soon be tall with crops were still bare and expectant. The winter had been hard on everyone, but with spring in full swing, things were starting to look up.
Less than a mile separated the house Simon lived in with Alice and Zero from the house Cale shared with Tessa, after taking her in. In only another mile or so in each direction Simon could find Red and Tyson with Grace and Quigley, or Tech and Dodge. None of the other survivors were too far away. Simon would often see people from either Haven or Coda.
They had stayed at Coda only long enough to make sure the wounded could be moved. They left with no destination, looking for a better place to settle. It had taken a bit of effort to convince Gabe to leave with them. Even after seeing how the zombies outside the base dropped dead, he had his doubts about the machine. Eventually, even he gave in, not wanting to be left alone. Once they proved what the machine could do, they had no trouble being accepted by a small group of survivors in a farming community. They were given homes and promises of help in the coming spring.
It had taken them some time to get used to life together. Luckily, the long winter gave them plenty of time to get to know each other again and provided plenty of work to keep them from being bored. Things between Simon and Alice had never been better. In a way, Simon didn’t miss his life from before. He was happy to be attending a school with only twenty other kids and learning only what those around them had to offer in way of lessons. Maybe Adam’s dad had been right after all, maybe this was the next step in God’s plan.
Simon turned up the long driveway that led to Tessa’s house. Happiness swelled in his chest as he thought of seeing her. Cale and Tessa would just be getting back from scavenging in the city for supplies. Tessa almost always managed to bring home a music player of some sort after the trips, and she and Simon looked forward to them. Simon put on an extra burst of speed as the house came into view.
He knocked on the door, breathing heavily as he waited. Footsteps echoed in the house and Tessa threw the door open, a smile lit her face when she saw him. As always, he couldn’t do much but give her a goofy grin in return. Her hair had grown out over the winter until it hung past her shoulders. It was a deeper red, but she assured him a few days in the sun would lighten it again. Simon had grown over the winter, only about an inch, but it had put him at eye level with her at least.
“Hey,” Tessa said.
“Hey. Did you get anything?”
“Yeah.” Tessa held out a bulky, square device and a set of headphones. “Cale says he thinks it’s an original I-pod, but it’s in good shape and still has half a charge.”
“Great.” Simon took the I-pod carefully. It was about four times the size of some of the players she brought home, but half a charge was a good find. Sometimes the players only lasted a song or two.
“Cale, I’m going out with Simon,” Tessa called into the house.
“Where?” Simon saw Cale step into the hallway behind Tessa, drying his hands on a towel. “Hey Simon.”
“Hey.” Simon waved.
“Just out in the fields. We’ll be back in a couple hours,” Tessa answered. Cale nodded and waved them out the door.
Tessa shut the door and grabbed Simon’s hand, pulling him off the porch. They ran around the back of the house into a field still overgrown with long brown grass. Simon pushed to keep up, tired from the run to her house, but happy to be out and enjoying the warm weather. After a few minutes, Tessa tumbled to the ground. She rolled onto her back and shut her eyes, smiling happily. Simon dropped down beside her. He handed her the I-pod.
“Here.” Tessa gave him one headphone and slid the other into her ear as he lay down beside her. He entwined her fingers with his. “Ready?”
Simon nodded and the music began, filling his head deliciously. He let his eyes shut and turned his face to the sun, enjoying the warmth on his skin and the music that filled his head. In these moments with Tessa, it almost felt like everything had been worth it, that no one’s life had been wasted and everything was exactly how
it should be.
About the author:
Writing has always been a part of Samantha's life from the short stories she wrote as a child to the fan-fiction she wrote in college but it's only recently that she began writing original work. Aside from her debut book Morning Rising, her short stories have been featured in various websites and books, and she was the co-winner of the 2010 Textnovel.com online writing contest.
When not writing, she's usually found with a glass of red wine in her hand and a cat on her lap. If she's lucky, she'll find some space for a book in there too.
To learn more visit www.SamanthaBoyette.com
Also available for the Kindle:
Guardian of Morning Book 1: Morning Rising- In the ever present dusk of Inbetween, Kara Hart wakes up dirty and alone with the memory of a girl named Dylan. She remembers meeting Dylan and how her heart beat when Dylan touched her face, but nothing else. When Kara is sent to Demitar, the evil ruler of Inbetween, the truth is revealed. She is Dylan’s Guardian and neither of them are who they thought they were.
Guardian of Morning Book 2: Darkness of Morning- Picking up shortly after the events in Morning Rising, Darkness of Morning finds Kara and Dylan drawn back into the world of Inbetween in hopes of stopping Alster and the new King. Though they believe Alster is planning an assault on the Daylands, bringing Dylan over to his side is his true goal. As the girls and their friends plot to bring down Alster, Dylan's moods shift dangerously testing both her relationship with Kara and her commitment to saving the Daylands.
Voodoo- It starts with a car crash. Alyssa Jacobs wakes up in another world, lost and disoriented. When she meets Stephen she learns she's in Crescent, a mysterious world of nightlife, mobsters, and magic. The two band together in hopes of finding their sisters and a way back to the real world they only vaguely remember. Inspired by the CD Voodoo by Alexz Johnson, this young adult novella is a quick romp through adventure and mystery.
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