Apocalypse Journeys (Book 2): Finding AJ

by Melrose, Russ

  When they reached Caleb, he lay quietly on his stomach. Rusty was licking Caleb's ear and Caleb moaned.

  At first, Jules couldn't see an exit wound. When they turned him over, she noticed an exit wound under his arm pit. The bullet had entered in the soft pocket of his left shoulder in front. Jules guessed Caleb had ducked and turned at the same time. It was a clean through and through. It didn't appear to be a serious wound.

  "Caleb," she said loudly as if he were deaf. She had a hold of his arm.

  He sighed and the sighing seemed to take some effort on his part. His eyes fluttered open. "Just resting," he said. "I'm all right. It was Dallin. After we killed the alphas, the son of a bitch tried to kill me."

  He looked at Jules. "He was the one, wasn't he?"

  "Yes. He's dead now," Jules told him. "Cole shot him."

  Caleb looked at Cole who looked away, embarrassed.

  "We better get you to the cabin," Jules said.

  Epilogue

  The four of them stood behind Caleb in the midst of a grove of elm trees. Jules, Addy, Cole, and Josh. It was a remarkably quiet morning. Cole stood off to Caleb's right, fidgeting with his Raiders' cap and chewing on his lip nervously as he studied the ground in front of him. Josh stood like a silent sentinel behind them.

  The previous afternoon, Jules had asked Cole and Josh to see if they could find AJ's grave. Jules didn't doubt what Dallin had told her, but she didn't want to mention anything to Caleb till she knew for certain there really was a grave.

  Josh had arrived midday yesterday. He'd found his way to the cabin by following the Gideon side of the river past the dam and through the canyon. He drove the SUV to the mouth of the canyon, then went on foot. Once he was past the canyon, he crossed the river to the valley side.

  Jules hardly recognized Caleb. The beard was gone and his hair had been neatly trimmed. Angela had helped tidy him up after she'd cleaned his wound and fixed a sling for his arm. He looked clean cut and considerably younger.

  A sacrosanct stillness filled the grove and the surrounding woods. The world seemed to rotate in utter silence. It was a windless day as if the wind too were paying its respects to Caleb and AJ. The four of them stood silently.

  Thin rays of morning sunshine angled through the trees and brightened the ground around them.

  The grave was nearly four feet deep. Next to the collection of bones were AJ's boots and what was left of her dress. Her dress was neatly folded as it was with the other victims. From the arrangement of her bones, it appeared Dallin had buried her in the fetal position.

  Caleb was kneeling at the foot of AJ's grave, Rusty lying next to him. Caleb wept unabashedly and his shoulders shook from the weeping. The sound of his weeping pierced the morning calm as if nothing else existed in those woods. He reached into the grave with a trembling hand and softly stroked his daughter's skull. He picked up a radial bone and held it delicately as if it were the most precious thing in the world. And then, with the utmost care and gentleness, he began to brush the dirt off of it.

  Jules was unconsciously toying with the thread on her finger. When she became aware of what she was doing, she worked the thread off and let it drop to the ground.

  Caleb's pain penetrated her as if it were her own. She couldn't escape it. She let it in. She shuddered and the tears began to flood her eyes. Jules stepped forward and knelt behind Caleb and placed her hand on the back of his shoulder to give him what comfort she could.

  From the Author

  Thank you for reading Finding AJ! If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on Amazon. I'd love to hear what you think. Please post a brief review here. Just a sentence or two is fine. Thanks again!

  And if you haven't had a chance to read the first novel in the "Apocalypse Journeys" series, Jacob's Odyssey, check it out on Amazon here.

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