I move to him and pat his shoulder. “They got him stitched quickly. Michael knows what he’s doing. He’s going to make it.”
He nods, but doesn’t look hopeful. “I saw what happened. I know the chances…but I appreciate you trying to make me feel better. You and I both know his chances are slim.”
I turn to watch the night with him, not denying his statement. He’s right. We both know his chances are not good. “I’ll go with you. Let’s get our gear first. If it’s as big as you say, we’ll need to clean it there and bring back what we want.”
Deagon turns to me, appreciation replacing his forlorn expression. Keeping him occupied for the next few hours is the least I can do. “Thank you. I’ll go get my things.”
We returned to the main cave, retrieving our supplies. After checking on Lillie, I stopped in to check on James as well, to let him know where I’ll be in case anyone asks. Luckily, he went to tend to the firewood during the meeting. He’d only heard the commotion after we’d taken Quinn to his room. Even though he said he was fine after his brush with death, I didn’t want this to cause any sort of PTSD.
“Knock, knock,” I announce before entering his room.
Mason is fast asleep on his own mattress, while James stares up at the ceiling, only glancing at me when I come in.
“I’m fine, Ian,” he says, but doesn’t sound as fine as he’d like me to believe.
“Are you sure?” The question is pointless. I can tell he’s not fine.
He breathes out heavily and sits up. We don’t worry about waking Mason, because he can usually sleep through a freight train crashing through a wall. “What’s the point of all this?” He waves his hand around, his emotions reading defeat. “This world is going to pick us off one by one, and there’s nothing we can do about it. If the infected don’t attack, the wildlife will, or diseases.” He flops back down.
“Get your stuff. Come with me.”
He springs up out of bed as the last word leaves my lips, needing this escape as much as Deagon. He rushes around the room, knocking Mason in the side of the head with a boot as he sits down to tie them. Mason mumbles and continues to sleep on, causing both James and me to laugh quietly. Once he’s ready, we hurry to catch up with Deagon, who I’m sure is raring to go. When we reach the exit, Deagon turns, about to tell me off for being so late, when he notices James. He nods his agreement and we set off. No words are spoken as we follow Deagon into the night.
The wind is cold. Not just a chill cold, but winter cold. Winter in the caves is the best place if you’re in the mountains during the coldest time of year. With the hot water pumping through the caves, it’s the only place for miles that you’ll find any form of warmth. We add the barrels of fire, and it almost becomes spring again. It’s warm enough in our hideaway to melt snow off the roof at times. Once the snow falls, there’s nowhere to hide outside, the cold seeks you out and seeps into your bones. Lasting overnight in these mountains without shelter or warmth is a slim bet.
Deagon begins to slow, pulling me from my thoughts of an icy winter. The brush is hiding the damage well, but the closer we get, the signs of a struggle are evident. Branches are broken and the ground is littered with crushed vegetation, confirmation of Quinn’s battle.
“Here. This is where it happened. We’ll only have the moon for a short time. I don’t want to start a fire unless we really have to. It’ll only attracted more attention. We should hurry and track the bear down.” He’s already watching the ground, finding the direction of the animal.
Blackish liquid points to ground zero and we go from there. Following the trail for only a short distance proves fruitful, when we discover the downed bear. It’s no longer breathing, dead from the injuries Quinn was able to inflict. Massive in size, I can’t believe Quinn would risk himself to go after a creature of this stature.
“Is he insane?” I mutter to myself.
Deagon laughs and responds anyway. “I’m going to vote, yes.”
James joins in when he chuckles.
“Let’s drag it into the clearing, we’ll have better light.” The bear is a giant. We exert all our strength in pulling it a few feet into a well-lit area. “We take what we can. By morning, the wild will have finished what we leave.”
They nod and get to work.
Skinning and cleaning the bear takes hours, especially in the dark. We lose our small amount of light several times from cloud coverage, forcing us to delay our cutting so there’s no accidental slip-ups. Finally, in an effort to save time, Deagon builds a small fire for light, which proves positive when we fly through the rest of our skinning. James spends part of the time building a sled we can pull the meat and fur back on.
When we hear the first wolves howl, we know it’s time for us to take our leave. The predators of the night want their fill. Working faster with the flames as our guide, we finish and fill our packs. Deagon rolls up the hide and straps it to the top of his pack. Granted, we all have blood pooling at our backs, soaking our shirts, but it’s a small price to pay for the amount of meat we’ll enjoy over the next couple months. The weight of the meat hoisted onto our backs pulls us down, not to mention the sled we’ll alternate pulling. The miles we’ll have to hike back to the cave is going to drain us.
After packing most of the meat into our coolest room and removing a small amount to dry over the fire for tomorrow, I wash up in the pool. My skin is still cool from the waters touch when I slide into bed next to Lillie. Even though my touch is freezing, she snuggles against me. Taking a deep breath in, my muscles begin to relax. The thought of Quinn dying from his wounds is horrible. In the short time since they’ve arrived, he’s become a vital part of our family. Not to mention, he’s a great friend. Someone you always want at your back.
I fall asleep at some point, only to be woken later to soft steps outside our door. The curtain moves aside slowly, and Sophie peers inside.
“Hey, Soph. Is everything okay?” I ask, sitting up.
“Yes. Azami wanted to come back early.” She pulls the curtain completely to the side to reveal my daughter in her arms.
I smile as I rise to my feet to collect her. “Thank you. I hope she wasn’t too much trouble for you.”
Sophie laughs, then yawns. “None at all. See you in the morning.” She closes the curtain and retreats back to her own room.
I lay Azami in her bed, and watch her fall asleep before I head back to my own. Lillie’s continued sadness and confusion waft from her as she sleeps, but I figure as long as she’s not flailing around, I’d leave her to rest. Crawling back into bed with her, I realize tonight’s sleep is a lost cause. Her emotions run on highs and lows the entire night, making me curious as to what she’s dreaming. With recent events, her emotions are completely understandable. If I could read my own, they’d play a similar tune.
A short while later, Azami announces the morning with a big yawn that I can hear across the room. I tilt my head up to watch her stretch her little arms and legs in every direction. She’s really enjoying her own space. Her eyes meet mine a moment later, and her lips break into a large smile. She scurries from her bed and slides into ours, cuddling up to my chest, causing my heart to expand at the simple action.
“Morning, Daddy,” she mumbles, rubbing her eyes.
“Morning, pumpkin. How’s my girl this morning?”
“Sweepy. Mommy had bad dweams adain.” She reaches over to pat her mother’s shoulder, only to linger. Her eyebrows crunch down in confusion.
“What’re you hearing?” I ask, curious. Lillie hasn’t made any other distressful noises during the night, which makes me wonder what Azami is listening to.
“Mommy’s weawy sad.” She rubs her hand over her mother’s in an attempt to comfort her. “She’s otay, but I tink she’s sad betuz someone dies again.” Her last words are a whisper.
“Dies? Do you know who she’s seeing?” I shouldn’t encourage her to look into this further. She’s too young to see and hear things related to death.
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“No.” She says quietly, as she pulls her hand away. “She doesn’t know. She can’t see them.”
Azami’s words only confuse me more. Instead of waiting for Lillie to wake up on her own, I nudge her. She doesn’t need to constantly dream of death, destruction, or kidnappings. “Lil, wake up.” I kiss the side of her head, hoping to pull her from her dreams. “Come on, baby. No more bad dreams. Wake up for me.”
She finally moans and buries her face in my neck. Her emotions shift from scared and sad to love and safety, signaling that she’s back with me.
Azami giggles at her mother’s burrowing. “Tome on, Mommy. Wate up, sweepy head.” She repeats the words her mother says to her most mornings.
This draws the smile I’ve waited for onto Lillie’s lips. Her eyes open slowly, taking us both in. “Good morning, my two favorite people.” She pulls away from us for a moment to stretch awake.
“Good morning.” Azami and I say together.
Before I can ask her about her dreams, Azami pipes in and asks her, “Mommy, why are you sad when you dweam?”
Lillie’s smile fades and her face loses some of its pink tint, leaving her pale. Her eyes search the room, attempting to find something.
“Someone’s going to die.”
Chapter 20
Lillie
“Someone’s going to die,” I say.
I dreamt of Quinn and his injuries. He was laid out, his wounds looking angry against his pale skin. In my dream, I stood over him, not able to do anything to assist in his recovery. A moment later, I’m standing over the river, watching a pallet floating downstream. The ground’s sprinkled with snow, too solid to dig into, leaving them with no choice but to float the dead down river. I try to communicate, figure out who passed. Surveying my surrounding revealed no one. I stood alone. My heart pounded with frustration. Not knowing weighed heavily on me. Which of our friends were lost to us now? Again, the dream shifted, pulling me from the cold and into our caves. Azami and I walked down the tunnel, heading for a bath. Both of our emotions were heavy, perhaps from the death.
Suddenly, I’m tugging Azami into a dark crevice, covering her mouth with my palm. “Shh…don’t make a sound.” My heart raced, matching the heaving of my chest. Who’s coming? But I already knew. The infected had found us.
A soft voice rang through my mind, encouraging me to wake from the torment. Even in my sleep, I’d know him. Ian’s words slid over me like a soft blanket, protecting me from my distress. Slowly, my consciousness return, and I’d snuggle into Ian, taking comfort in his warm arms.
Ian supports me all morning by not asking many questions, other than if I’m all right. I appreciated his digression, giving me time to process the dream on my own before sharing it with him. The information relayed to me in my dreams serve a purpose, but without understanding the scenes, figuring out the reasons why behind them prove impossible.
The day moves about heavily. Quinn’s still unconscious, pale, almost green in skin color. The flesh next to the wound is fire red and raw, a different kind of infected. Michael continues to give him antibiotics, hoping to clear up the septic area. Azami spends some of her day with Sarah, baking, giving Ian and me time alone.
“Are you ready to talk about what happened in your dream?”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be keeping them to myself. The dreams may hold vital information. They scare me…and I hope that none of them come true.” Glancing over at Ian, he’s staring at me intently.
“I’ll never let anything happen to you. You know that, right?” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I know. But what if there’s nothing you can do? What happens if they get Azami and we can’t get to her in time? I’ve only allowed her to continue her cooking classes because she loves them so much. I’m getting to the point where I’m not going to let her out of my sight.”
Ian nods. “I agree. Most of the winter prep is done. Gardening is slowing down these colder months, and we have enough firewood to last us months. You should stay with her from now on, just in case.”
Breathing heavily again, I agree. “Okay. I think that’s a good idea.”
We walk to the middle garden and sit with all the greenery. Others bustle around us, doing small chores for the day. We find a place to sit, and I tell Ian about my dream. By the time I finish, Ian has his hip connected to mine, and his arm wrapped around my waist. “Any suggestions? My nights reveal little, only enough to torture me. Never enough to hint at what’s to come.” I’m whining at this point.
“Simmer down. Your dreams tell us plenty. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t know that the infected are plotting entrance to this cave. We know someone is going to pass, even if we don’t want to face that fact. They’ve also informed us that the infected will gain entrance at some point. They only problems we have to decipher are when are these events going to happen, and how are we going to stop them?”
“That’s just it, I don’t know if we can stop them. What if this is destiny? Fates fucked up way of playing with us before it takes us out for good?”
“Look at me.” Ian commands, taking my chin with his fingers, tilting my face to his. He touches his lips softly to mine. “We’ve made it this far. It’s going to take an army of infected to keep me from you. They can come, but we’ll be ready. We already know they’re coming. We have the advantage.”
His words calm me somewhat, but a niggling feeling still twists in my gut. “I want so badly to believe you,” I whisper.
He remains quiet, searching my eyes, as if remembering every colored speck that reflects back to him. “I’ll keep you safe. I swear.” His lips press softly to mine, making this tragic world stop for a moment.
“I know you will,” I say, even though I know he can’t promise something like that.
“I will.” He repeats with more conviction. My emotions are tattling on me again.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Azami squeals as she runs toward us.
Her high-pitched voice has me on full alert, jumping to my feet. Ian smiles and stands next to me, whispering in my ear. “She’s only excited. Nothing to worry about.”
I find myself relaxing again by the time she makes it to us. “Did you see? It’s snowing outside!” She claps her hands, showing just how much she enjoys the snow.
Ian and I look toward the cracks in the ceiling and sure enough, soft snow flurries trickle down to us, coming through the small slits left open for light. A giggle springs up my throat. Now that we have a warm solid place for the winter, the snow returns to its radiant beauty, instead of its cold fist of suffering. This will be the first year that we can actually enjoy the snow instead of hiding from it.
“It’s pwetty,” Azami states, taking the words from my mouth.
“Yes, baby, it is.” I take her hand in mine. “Did you have fun cooking?”
“Yes. Sawa let me make wittle tiny balls for soup.” She looks so proud of herself.
“That’s great! I can’t wait to try some.” I pick her up and place her on my hip. Her hair is getting too long, reaching the top of her bottom. She’s never had a haircut. I’m scared I may repeat the finger chopping incident when I last cut mine. “Ian, do we have scissors around here?”
“Sure.” He eyes me curiously. “What do you need them for?”
“I thought it was about time our girl had her first haircut, and when she’s done, I was hoping that you’d do me.”
“You better believe I’ll do you.” His cocky grin pushes up on one side.
I roll my eyes and push his shoulder. “Lead the way.” I redirect his dirty mind.
“Are you ready for your first ever haircut?” he asks Azami excitedly.
“Yes!” She runs across the room to James, who just came in from the bathing tunnel. “Untle Dames! Daddy’s gonna tut my hair!”
He picks her up and says, “Really! That’s going to be fun! Are you going to get a Mohawk?”
She looks at him quizzically. “What�
�s dat?”
“Here, look.” He places her hand on his cheek, telling her to see the visual through his mind.
Her eyes go wide as saucers and her lips pout out. She turns to look at us as we approach. “Daddy, I don’t want a mowhawt.”
He laughs. “Az, Uncle James is only playing. We wouldn’t cut your hair like that.”
She turns back to James. “Dat’s not funny, Untle Dames,” she says seriously. The girl does love her hair.
“Where are you coming back from?” Ian asks James.
“The pool room. Dane wanted me to double check the security of the perimeter in there. He seems especially worried about that room. It’s more vulnerable than the rest of the caves, but he has me checking it twice a day, and that doesn’t include the normal perimeter patrols that also get checked several times a day.”
Ian looks at me, worried. “He’s only being thorough. Better safe than sorry.”
James nods, but appears deep in thought.
“Something bothering you?” I ask him. I know that look.
He slowly shakes his head. “No. I guess not. There’s just something off about him lately.”
His words have Ian and me looking at one another again. We decide silently that we should include him in Dane’s recent relationship troubles.
Once we tell him what we know, he looks shocked, but relieved to finally know. “That makes sense, but I really hope everything works out for them. I’d hate to see them split after so many years.”
“You and me both, brother. Now, we’re going to go cut this little princesses hair. You want to tag along?”
James’s worry is replaced with a large smile. “I would love to. Hopefully, they don’t mess up and have to shave you bald.”
Azami’s face turns to shock.
I reassure her again before she can ask. “He’s only teasing. Right, Uncle James? How about if we mess up your hair, we get to mess up Uncle James’s. Since he’s being a turkey butt about teasing you.”
Flash Series (Book 2): Immune Page 15
