Something was wrong!
“Please God, don’t let him be dead!” she whispered.
Angie noticed her disappointment and put an arm around her, offering a little comfort. It didn’t help. The boat docked, and the men walked closer. Monica trailed behind.
Cam looked to Angie and Jess, seemingly at a loss for words.
Jack pulled Jessica into his arms and squeezed her tight, breathing in the sweet smell of her hair. She clutched him tightly and felt tears forming in her eyes. She wanted to ask, but the lump in her throat refused to budge. Jean finally spoke up.
“Well, where is the old boy?” she asked, less acerbically than usual.
Cam dropped his ruck on the grass and looked down for a moment. “Let’s all go get cleaned up first, then we’ll talk.”
Jessica felt a peculiar buzzing in her head. Her vision felt fuzzy, and she couldn’t speak.
The last thing she saw was the ground rushing up to meet her.
Cam
Cam watched in shock as Jessica fainted, falling forward. Jack hurriedly grabbed for her and caught her in his arms.
“Get her inside!” Cam said, rushing ahead to open the door to the houseboat.
He followed Jack in and watched him lay her gently on the bed. Her face was pale.
“What’s wrong with her?” Jack asked him in a growing panic.
Angie pushed into the room and leaned down, feeling her head.
“She was sick yesterday, so I made her rest. She said she was fine this morning though, and she spent the day sorting through the supplies. Maybe it’s the heat? She probably did too much.”
Cam nodded. “Go get her some water and something with electrolytes… and a cool cloth for her head,” he added.
He crossed his arms and watched as Jack sat on the edge of her bed.
“Jess, baby? Jess, wake up,” Jack said, brushing her hair back.
Angie returned and it was several more minutes before Jessica began to move. Cam crouched next to her bed as she opened her eyes. She looked confused for a moment.
“What happened?” she asked, looking to Jack.
“You fainted. Just lie still for a few minutes,” Cam said.
He took her wrist and felt for a pulse. It was strong and fast. Her skin was cool to the touch, so she didn’t have a fever.
“How do you feel?” Jack asked.
“Dizzy and weak,” she said, closing her eyes. “and sick!” she added, clutching her stomach.
Cam looked back toward Angie. “Quick, grab something!”
Angie ran back in with a small trashcan and Jessica heaved into it for several minutes before collapsing back on the bed.
“You want me to go get Bradley?” Angie asked worriedly.
“Let’s wait and see how she is in a little bit,” Jack said.
“I feel better now,” she said tiredly, laying her hand on his thigh.
Jack gently wiped her face with the cloth while she rested. Cam motioned for Angie to leave them alone.
“What did she eat? Could it be food poisoning?” he asked her.
“Maybe. We had chicken salad yesterday and pasta today. Nobody else is sick though,” she said puzzled.
“She doesn’t have a fever,” Cam added.
“She’s pregnant!” a voice said from behind, startling them.
Cam turned as Angie whirled around.
“It’s as plain as day. That gal is going to have a baby!” Jean said, raising her eyebrows. “Why, back in my day…” Angie stopped her.
“Pregnant. Of course! Geez, what was she thinking?!” Angie said.
“I suspect they both got carried away,” Cam said drily.
“I warned her!” Jean said. Her eyes widened and she grinned toothily. “I’m going to be a granny!” she crowed.
They needed to verify what Jean said was true first, then they needed to figure out how to tell her.
◆◆◆
The evening sun lowered in the sky, and they all gathered on the top deck of the houseboat.
Cam sure was going to miss this, but he suspected they would be plenty grateful for the cabin’s wood burning fireplaces come winter.
He sipped his drink, wincing at the bite of the amber liquid. This one was a little harsh.
“All right. We’re all here. Let’s talk,” Jim said, beginning the conversation.
Cam nodded but glanced over at Jessica. She was sitting next to Jack with her head on his shoulder. She still didn’t look so great. Angie was going to talk to her after the meeting, let her in on their suspicions.
She wanted to do it before Jean lost her patience and announced it to everyone…probably in some graphic and unnecessary way too.
“We think Ed’s in trouble,” Cam said. “We saw some strange vehicles in town, and some evidence that a group has been in the area.”
He deliberately avoided mentioning the sign. Angie didn’t need to be reminded of it ever again.
“I don’t think it’s a good group either. Angie, I think it may have something to do with that gang running the prison a couple of hours away.”
“You mean the one those people over at the fairground mentioned?” she asked.
“Yep,” Cam said.
Some of the others looked puzzled.
“What do you mean?” Jean asked sharply.
“Well, we didn’t mention it. I didn’t think it would affect us much down here. That group we met at the fairgrounds said they knew of a gang that had taken over a prison. They apparently were taking survivors there and forcing them to work and do other stuff.”
Cam left out the grislier details.
“Oh my word!” Jean said, holding her hand to her chest. “And you think they took Ed?”
“I do,” Cam said solemnly.
He turned toward them then, a fierce light gleamed in his eyes, promising action. “And I’m going to get him back,” he vowed. “…if I have to take it apart, brick by brick…”
Epilogue
Angie
After Cam’s shocking pronouncement, the meeting dissolved.
Some gathered around, making preliminary plans for Ed’s rescue. She wanted to be in on that, but she needed to talk to Jess first.
Jessica went down to her room and Angie knew she was crying. She loved Ed like a grandfather. Angie liked Ed too and knew that Cam would do whatever it took to get him back.
“Jess?” Angie called out, knocking on the cabin door.
“Go away, please,” Jessica said, voice thick with emotion and muffled through the door.
“Listen, I need to talk to you about something. It’s important,” Angie said.
“Come in,” Jess said eventually.
Angie walked in and sat down next to Jessica, who sat up as she came in. She had a balled-up tissue in her hand. Angie nervously cleared her throat.
How the hell was she supposed to even begin to tell someone they were probably pregnant?
She started at the logical place.
“I noticed that you and Jack are getting pretty close,” she said, easing into the topic.
Jess nodded. “Yeah. Why?”
“Well…I just…there’s…” she stopped again.
“What is it?” Jessica asked, confused.
This was out of character for them.
“Well, I think I may know why you’re sick,” she finally said.
“Aaaannd?”
“I think you might be pregnant!” Angie said suddenly, finally coming out with it.
Jessica stared at her in shock, mouth hanging open.
“Oh my God!” Jess said finally, hands settling on her stomach. She looked down, and then back up to Angie.
“What have I done?!”
Angie patted her hand. She didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t exactly news to celebrate these days.
“Please! Please don’t tell Jack! He’ll be so upset. Please, let me tell him after I’m sure. Okay?” she asked frantically, clutching Angie’s hand.
Angie
frowned. “He really should know soon,” she said.
“Please, Angie!” Jessica pleaded.
Angie closed her eyes, then finally nodded. “Okay.”
Jack walked in then and looked curiously at them both.
“What’s going on?” he asked Jessica.
“Nothing. I’m just upset about Ed,” she said, wiping her face.
Angie left them alone. She had done what she set out to do, now it was up to Jessica. Jack was going to be a father again.
She hoped Jess told him soon…
Epilogue: Part Two
Killer
Killer walked slowly among the fallen branches and rustling underbrush of the woods. He knew his prey was hiding among the rotting logs, and he was determined to find it. He sniffed the dirt and crouched, waiting for the fearful creature to attempt an escape.
There!
A small nose peeked out from under the wood, making every effort to find the location of its death-dealing nemesis.
Killer waited. It was too soon. He moved not one inch. He stifled the urge to swish his tail back and forth.
When the great wind and water from the sky had fallen onto the land, he had taken refuge in a small den in the woods. Aside from the dirt, he had found it very much to his liking. Killer made it his home.
This morning, he had seen breakfast squeak by and couldn’t resist following. So now he sat, waiting to eat. If only the little beast would see fit to leave its safe little sanctuary. It had to come out sometime.
“Killer!” a human voice cried out.
Suddenly, his prey was gone, and the familiar scent of his human surrounded him.
Damn it, he was so close.
He wasn’t sure what the hell was wrong with this other species, but they had no instincts whatsoever, not that Killer had ever seen…
He yawned.
Well, at least he would get some free food out of the deal, and maybe he could take a nap on that fluffy surface that didn’t belong to nature. He really enjoyed that. Eh…he supposed this one wasn’t so bad.
Thanks for reading Book Two in the Refuge from the Dead Series!
Dead Fall is complete and will be available for purchase soon. In the meantime, check out my current series The Salvation Plague- Keep reading below for a sneak peek of book one, The Turning!
Join my mailing list here for updates on new releases! I won’t annoy you with a lot of marketing emails. Promise.
Email me at [email protected] with any questions or comments.
Check out my website at the link below for a complete list of books and contact details.
A.L. Masters- Author
Acknowledgement
This book is for all my readers. I was surprised and delighted at the amount of positive feedback and emails from you all. I have endeavored to answer them all promptly and will continue to do so. Thank you for being so kind and welcoming to a new author!
~A.L. Masters
Chapter One
Just a Normal Day
The overwhelming stench pervaded the freezing air of the office. Anna pulled her cardigan up to cover her nose as best she could, but it made no real difference. The stink still lingered.
Darla had burned her popcorn…again.
Not even the smell of Juan’s wife’s homemade quesadillas that were warming in the microwave could cover the charred, acrid odor of burned chemical butter and cheap, substandard corn kernels. Anna tapped out her report, thinking of all the ways she could murder Darla with the available office equipment.
Pencil to the throat. Stapler to the eyes. Steamrolled by an office chair bearing Donnie’s three-hundred-and-fifty-pound load.
Bingo.
“You’re doing it again, aren’t you?” Jared whispered to her from his cubicle next door. “I can tell by the way you’re typing. It has a murderous edge to it.”
“Am not!” Anna hissed back.
Okay, she totally was. She knew it was probably against all rules of moral decency to plot the death of a coworker with such vehemence and with such strange and unusual methods…but she was at her wit’s end with the blasted burnt popcorn.
A few minutes passed and she heard nothing from Jared’s cubicle. She assumed that he had given up teasing her. She flipped through a few pages of the logs and started on the previous week’s backorders.
“Are too,” he said when she had finally let her guard down.
She threw a paperclip over the top of the partition. She grinned when a stick of gum flew back. It was her favorite kind. Jared bought it and kept it in his desk for her, even though he hated that flavor. He doled it out on occasion.
“You need some funky beats to chill you out,” he said, popping his handsome head around the side for a moment. His green eyes gleamed.
“Jared, no!” she whisper-yelled.
She was too late; he was already gone.
Every once in a while, Jared managed to clandestinely hijack the office’s speaker system and play the most random, crazy music imaginable. She had no idea how he did it, and she had no idea how he didn’t get caught. Mr. Hubbard even threatened to fire whoever it was that kept doing it. She didn’t want Jared to get fired.
She gripped her mouse tightly and waited for the music to start.
Maybe he wouldn’t do it this time?
She made sure she looked industrious just in case someone walked by. Technically she was an accessory to it, right?
She heard a beat and the tinny sound of hybrid funky-jazz, disco music as it blared out overhead. She cringed. She lowered her head to her arm and closed her eyes. It sounded like music from a Seventies Japanese martial arts movie. The badly dubbed kind.
Just once could he choose something normal?
Jared was her best friend, which was kind of sad because they only talked at work. She was pretty much a hermit and never left her apartment when she didn’t have to. She preferred to stay home and read, or binge watch her shows instead of going out with the girls. Well, she didn’t have any girls to go out with, but if she did, she would still prefer to stay home. Probably.
This was her life. Her lonely apartment and her small plain cubicle that shared a wall with the only person here that she genuinely liked. She preferred it that way. Kind of.
She looked at the sandy colored makeup that marked her sleeve. Great. She pulled out a compact. She wasn’t ugly, but she didn’t think she was beautiful either. In fact, she was kind of average overall. It was probably why she didn’t get much attention. Her compelling personality —ha ha— and great sense of humor weren’t exactly apparent right off…except maybe to Jared. She was probably a little weird too. At least she wasn’t alone in that. Jared got pretty far out there sometimes.
Not tall, but not short. Not thin, but not overweight either. She had invested in a treadmill and an elliptical and kept in shape. Last summer she had noticed her shorts weren’t quite as flattering anymore and she panicked.
At least she got a good deal on the equipment.
When she had first started doing cardio, she wanted to quit the first five minutes. Only the image of her lumpy butt in the mirror, which had started to spring up out of nowhere, kept her going. Twenty-five would quickly become thirty-five, and she wanted to take care of herself as best she could.
Her secret fear was dying of cancer like her mother.
So, she exercised. Now, she was kind of addicted to the feeling she got after a good session. Plus, she could read or watch T.V. while doing it and that made the time fly. It was neat to think that she could run several miles without even really getting winded.
She flipped her hair back over her shoulder again, wishing she had worn it up today instead of down. She eyed the rubber bands in their little plastic holder but decided against it. The last time she had used a rubber band in her hair it had been a disaster of epic proportions and she had to get a bowl cut.
Okay, she had been five at the time and her slightly drunken father was the cutter, but still. The image of tha
t goofy ass haircut haunted her, especially since her mother had taken pictures of it. She couldn’t bring herself to give the rubber bands another shot. She also couldn’t bring herself to get rid of the embarrassing pictures from the photo album because her mother had put them there.
She tapped her fingers on the desk as she waited for Mr. Hubbard’s outburst.
She jumped as the branch manager shouted over the music to the full office. “All right everyone, we’re going in for the weekly sales meeting now. Anna, I want you and Jared to continue with those sales reports. Anna, when you are finished, I want you to type up tomorrow’s agenda and get a memo sent out to the right people. Okay?”
It wasn’t a question. “Yes, Mr. Hubbard.”
“And someone turned that blasted music off!”
Well, that was surprisingly succinct. He must be running behind schedule today.
Anna looked around at the rapidly clearing office. The sales and customer service reps were following Mr. Hubbard into the back conference room. She heard the squeaking of Jared’s desk chair and looked over at the end of their partition.
His right arm came into view first. His muscular forearm rested on the armrest and his hand gripped the end. The right side of his body and face came next. His eyes were serious in the large, newly vacated office. His look promised excitement.
He didn’t move a muscle aside from the rapid pushing of his feet against the mat which were propelling him at a steady rate out of his cubicle. She bit her lips to keep from laughing out loud, and potentially disrupting the start of the meeting.
As he continued to scoot his chair out from behind the wall, she caught a glimpse of the keyring in his left hand.
Yesss!
“It begins,” he said as he jingled the keys.
He jumped up with a sudden burst of energy and looked around the office over the top of the cubicles. He motioned for her to wait.
Refuge From The Dead | Book 2 | Dead Summer Page 26
