by Fitch, E. M.
“I’m sorry, Kay,”Emma had said, sitting by her side, the mattress dipping slightly at her weight. Kaylee had not responded but Emma continued anyway.“I know that’s not how you would have wanted things. I know it’s shitty.”
“Watch your mouth,”Kaylee had chastised through her tears, lifting her face to attempt a smile at her sister. She failed, though she had thought Emma understood.
“It’s shitty,”she had continued,“but it’s not that horrible. They’re not talking about tonight; they’re talking eventually. Bill just really wants a way to convince Dad we have to leave. And, besides, there are worse things out there than Andrew. He’ll treat you right. He’s a good guy.”
Her calm sensibility had reeled Kaylee in. She had sat with her the rest of the night, gently teasing and bolstering her mood; by morning she had felt less wretched, just naïve and silly for not seeing it before. She had a nagging suspicion that Emma had not been all that shocked, that she had understood far before she did.
But even though she was slowly accepting it, she still didn’t like it. Kaylee grit her teeth through a frown as she wandered to the end of the row of corn. The stalks were high now, heavy and thick with produce. She could no longer see her sister, though she knew she’d be safe in the fenced area. The sun was less than a sliver on the horizon and the sky overhead was dusky purple marked with the appearance of silver stars. Kaylee threw the wicker basket in the middle of the row and bent to examine the silky strands protruding from the largest ears of corn. Picking only those with a dark, full nest of silk, Kaylee began to rip the husks from the stalks.
The light was nearly gone and her basket was half full when a rustling to her left made Kaylee stiffen.
“Em?”
The only answer came from the wind, which had picked up, making the stalks tremble. Kaylee turned to find a dark figure looming closer, the last vestiges of sunlight illuminating its’back and making all features indistinguishable. But there was something she could see; this was a man and most definitely wasn’t her sister.
He moved towards her with the speed of a newly infected, reaching out to her and panic buzzed in her ears, the moans and rustling and clinking of the fence in the wind all fused together, causing an unnatural buzz to block other sounds from her mind. All she could hear clearly was her heartbeat accelerating, thumping out a tune.
Get away. Get away. Get away.
Kaylee spun on her heel to run, yelling to her sister as she did, warning her. But he lunged, grabbed at her arm. She screamed as his fingers dug into her flesh, thrashed against his hold. His hand slipped and she turned, using one closed fist to hit his jaw as hard as she could. He stumbled, groaning at the contact, his voice harsh and garbled. She yanked her hand, desperate to be free, to find Emma and run for the protection of her father and Andrew; but his grip was strong and as she pulled and twisted and his fingers slackened, she flew to the ground, landing face down in the dirt.
Crack!
Warmth, liquid and terrifying, coat her stomach, her head spun from the contact with the earth as pinpoints of light erupted inside her eyelids, but for one moment her head cleared of buzzing.
“Wait!”
A voice, one she had never heard before, rung in her newly freed ears. She froze on the ground, her arms tense as they held her upper body in a push-up position, ready to spring, and threw her gaze over her shoulder to see a boy. He was breathing heavily from their fight, blood dripping to his chin from a split lip, the sun now completely set behind him. He smiled and bent to help her up.
“Oof!”There was a grunt of pain and a shriek as a figure much smaller than he hurtled out of the darkness of the corn and tackled him to the ground. Kaylee’s head spun towards them, just barely registering the pain as she twist her torso, a gasp making its’way out of her mouth without her permission.
Her sister was sitting astride the boy, a rock in one hand, perched and ready to strike.
“Em, don’t!”
In that split second that Kaylee had distracted her, in the moment Emma had looked to her sister, the stranger had flipped their positions, knocking the weapon from Emma’s hand and pushing her to the ground.
“I’m human,”he said, looking from Emma to Kaylee. Emma struggled against him and he added,“it’s dark now, see?”
And it was, the silver of the moon was the brightest shine in the sky and Kaylee went to reassure her sister but as she opened her mouth, the warmth that was steadily coating her stomach turned to pain, it twisted and shot straight through her chest and she groaned instead. She pressed a hand to her belly and was shocked to find it wet.
“Kay? What happened? Are you okay?”Emma crawled over to her, scurrying over the stranger as she did.
“Let me see.”His voice was deep and sure and his movements brokered no argument. Emma knelt to the side as he approached, her eyes scanning Kaylee’s face.
“Did you hit your head?”
“My head?”Kaylee asked, confused, because surely the knife that seemed stuck in her stomach was a bigger concern. But then again, maybe she had. The stars seemed hazier than before and she blinked, attempting to focus as the stranger hovered over her.
His fingers were warm and gentle as they found the hem of her shirt and Kaylee’s head spun as he lifted it from her skin.
“Hey,”she protested, attempting feebly to pull the fabric back down.
“Not now Kay,”Emma said, pulling her fingers away and holding her hands to her chest. Kaylee let her head fall back to the hard dirt, sucking in air and attempting to focus on the blurring stars lighting the sky. The stranger’s neck was bent now; his face so close to her skin that she could feel his breath warm her.
“She’s got a pretty deep cut here,”he said, his eyes traveling over her before looking down the row of dirt in which they were laying. His hand reached out and he dragged a jagged rock closer, the sharp tip of which was coated in a thick, dark substance.“Must’ve fallen on this rock. I could stitch it here—”
“We have a nurse,”Emma interrupted, her voice cold.“Though we wouldn’t need that at all if you hadn’t been sneaking up on people!”
“I said hello! Wanted to be sure she wasn’t infected,”he countered, his face screwed up as he glared at Emma.“She must not have heard me.”
The stranger threw the rock into the cornfield and Kaylee snorted. But a groan quickly took her as her head throbbed at the action.
“Hold on a minute,”he instructed, swinging a backpack off his back and extracting a package of gauze. He lifted her shirt again, higher this time and Kaylee mumbled a protest. The stranger frowned.“Can you sit up?”
Kaylee grit her teeth as she pushed against the ground, ignoring the pain as she got into position.
“Here, lean against your friend. You hold her arms up,”he directed Emma, concentrating on the blood seeping from Kaylee.“And this,”he added, yanking the bloodstained shirt up to her chin. Emma did as she was asked without a word, but Kaylee knew her expression would be less than obliging.
He pressed a thick square of scratchy gauze to her cut and grimaced at the quick breath of air Kaylee inhaled. With gentle fingers he took the roll of gauze and began to wrap it around her, leaning close as the roll disappeared behind her back. The scruff of his dark hair shifted against his neck and the stubble on his cheeks scratched her raised arm lightly.
“Sorry,”he mumbled.
Kaylee frowned against the blush she knew was spreading from her chest to her cheeks. She hated feeling exposed. And this complete stranger, the same person who had caused her injury in the first place, had now seen more of her than anyone other than her sister ever had.
“How far?”he asked, lowering her shirt gently as he finished and snaking his arms underneath her. Kaylee’s brow furrowed.
“Hmm?”she asked, not liking how flustered she had become and getting quite angry about it.
“The nurse?”
“Not so far that I can’t walk,”she said, though even she could hear how groggy her v
oice was. She heard Emma protest but the stranger righted her on her feet.
“If you think so,”he said, stooping to pull the large backpack onto his shoulder. The contents rattled as he settled it and he looked down at the girls, ready to follow. Kaylee felt a ripple of agitation wash through her. Andrew would have refused to let her walk, would have insisted he carry her. Could she even walk? She wasn’t sure. She glanced up at him.
He was attractive. Even through the pain and dimming light she could tell that. He was tall and fit, his arms and shoulders evidencing strength that came from hard work. His skin and hair were dark, or maybe that was the effect of the light and her head pain; she suddenly realized she couldn’t be too sure.
She scrunched up her eyes as she took her first step, realizing belatedly that with movement, the blood seeping from her wound flowed faster. Her head spun and she felt Emma take hold of one of her arms before she felt her feet being knocked out from under her.
She was in his arms now and she closed her eyes against the stars and his impossibly dark eyes as they swirled together.
“What’s your name?”she asked into the darkness.
“Jack,”he answered. He moved forward and Kaylee tucked herself more firmly into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder and inhaling. His was an unfamiliar scent, not the musky aroma of her father or the soapy smell Andrew always had after his showers. He smelt of firewood and clean air, rain and pine trees. Kaylee felt her fingers curl into the folds of his jacket, the pads of her fingertips warming. It felt nice.
“Are you alone?”came Emma’s tentative question from ahead. Kaylee bit her lip, her eyes still shut against the spinning of the cornstalks.
“No,”he said, his tone conversational now.“My friend Quinton’s with me, he’s searching some of the pharmacies while I was looking for food. I saw this field and couldn’t resist. It’s been a while since I’ve had fresh corn.”
“Where did you come from?”Emma continued, stopping at the gate to undo the lock and chain.“And how did you get in here, the gate was fine.”
“Yeah, sorry, hopped the fence. I wasn’t sure how long this had been growing here, whether or not I was taking from anyone, but as we haven’t seen a soul for nearly a year and a half—”
“A year and a half? It’s been over two years for us,”Kaylee murmured, feeling quite warm now and distinctly comfortable as she burrowed deeper into Jack’s shoulder. She felt his rumbled chuckle through her cheek.
“How hard did she hit her head?”came Emma’s voice through a haze and Kaylee realized, belatedly, that maybe cuddling up to this stranger was not the most appropriate thing she had ever done. She pulled away from his shoulder and blinked, trying to clear her vision. But her world tilted as he adjusted her in his arms, encouraging her to use him as a pillow.
“Not sure exactly,”he replied brightly.“But I’m not complaining if she wants to cuddle. It’s just beyond unbelievable to find others. We’ve been everywhere, started in Georgia and we’ve been pretty much making our way across the states. We came here because supplies are running low. Sure glad we did too.”
“Georgia?”Kaylee asked, her brow scrunching up. It wasn’t right somehow. He wasn’t from Georgia, though why she knew this, she couldn’t be sure.“You’re not from there.”
“No, I’m not,”he said and Kaylee looked up at him at his tone of surprise.“And you’re not as out of it as I thought you were.”
“S’not true,”Kaylee slurred, closing her eyes again as she heard her sister call out. Jack chuckled and Kaylee heard a yell from her father and the tones mixed and blurred before silencing altogether.
~
The light was clear and strong when Kaylee blinked her way back into consciousness.
This is not my room.
The bed was completely wrong, facing the opposite way, and the covers were somewhat scratchy. She focused her attention on the closest wall, brow scrunching as she tried to place it. And as her vision cleared, she realized: the infirmary.
That’s what Anna called her room. Whenever anyone had taken too seriously ill, she had encouraged they spend the night with her. Kaylee shifted her gaze across the space and, sure enough, there was Anna, huddled under a mound of blankets on a cot in the corner.
Kaylee realized it must still be very early. Through the soft, sleepy noises Anna was making, she could hear the roaming of the infected: trashcans getting kicked over, locked doors being banged through, remaining windows shattering, the moans and shrieks and gnashing of teeth. Kaylee felt her face scrunch up as she sunk lower into her covers, wanting to block the noise out with the pile of cotton and rough wool. But it wasn’t doing any good. She was awake now and could never fall back to sleep once she heard their commotion. As though in confirmation, her stomach growled.
Kaylee sighed and pushed her covers off only to pull them back up as she realize her shirt had been cut off and she had laid there all night long in just her bra. There was now a neat line of stitches just under her breastbone, about three inches long and accompanied by a litany of scratches and two or three bruises. Kaylee placed her fingers over the area gingerly, noting the soreness but pleased to find the area only slightly pink and not red and infected looking. Remembering how groggy and confused she had become her hand shot to her head and immediately found a large, tender lump. She winced as she pulled her fingers away.
“Still hurt?”
Kaylee gasped as she drew her bedcovers up to her chin, glaring at the doorway and her intruder. Jack was leaning against the doorframe, chewing the large bite of apple he had just taken despite his lower lip being red and puffy from where Kaylee’s fist had connected. His eyes never left her.
“Your lot sleeps late,”he continued, strolling into the room, apparently at ease and oblivious to the glares Kaylee was still shooting his way.“We’re usually up and moving by now. Bill was explaining it all to me; I guess I understand it. But I never could get used to sleeping through the day. Much rather be awake myself. So, does it still hurt?”
“What?”Kaylee hissed, the covers still clutched to her chest.“You can’t just come in here! I’m not even dressed!”
Jack snorted before taking a second bite of his apple.“Saw just as much last night anyway,”he said with a shrug. Kaylee was displeased to note there was amusement glittering in his eyes.“And I wanted to check on you. I am really sorry about scaring you like I did.”
Kaylee frowned, unsure of what to make of him. He was so unlike the men she had been cooped up with for the past year. Andrew, Bill, and her father were respectful and kind, giving the girls privacy and becoming their protectors. Kaylee was coming to realize that Jack was something else altogether.
“I’m fine,”she replied stiffly, shifting on the bed as he stood over her.
“Well, good! So get up then and let’s get a real breakfast. Or, you could show me around. Last night you caused a big stir with your little fall and we didn’t get to—”
“Little fall?”Kaylee hissed, her jaw set as irritation flowed through her at his insinuation that shewould be making his breakfast.“I have seven stitches, my head is killing me, I’m bruised all over—”
“Yeah, yeah,”he interrupted, grinning down at her.“You had an I.V. in your arm too. And my split lip is killing me. C’mon, let’s go whine together in the kitchen.”
“Split lip,”Kaylee scoffed but she felt her brow wrinkle in confusion and she brought her arm out, letting her covers fall just a bit in the process.“I had an I.V.?”she asked, examining the crook of her arm for puncture marks.
“Sure, for the blood loss. Anna drained half a bag into you and it seems to have done you some good.”His grin was maddening and he kept it up, his eyes twinkling in her direction.“Though I’m not sure I prefer you this way. Last night you were more…affectionate?”he added, his head tilting as though in question as to whether or not that was the most appropriate term. He seemed satisfied enough though at her outraged expression. Kaylee felt her cheeks flar
e and her gaze darted to the bed.
I did make a fool of myself last night.
She licked her lips and brought her eyes to the window where the sun was shining far brighter than she had been awake to see in some time. She remembered hitting her head and the strange warmth flowing over her stomach and the splitting headache and fuzzy vision that followed. She also remembered tucking herself into Jack’s arms, cuddling into him, inhaling his unique, clean scent…
She brought a hand up over her eyes and groaned.
“What’s wrong?”he asked, and his voice was finally infused with a hint of caring.
“Nothing,”she grit out.“Could you please leave now?”
“Are you going to get up?”
“Fine, just get out so I can get dressed.”She heard him take one last bite of his apple before his mumbled,“I’ll be right outside.”
Kaylee groaned again as she heard the door shut. She let the covers drop and glanced down at her stomach again.
