Naomi put her weapon aside and went for the desk. Dean helped her carry it. Allen set down the lantern on the bed and headed for the barred window. “They assumed we’ve been hiding up here.” He grabbed the metal bars and began to loosen them.
Dean grabbed a chair and put it on top of the desk.
“Seen Cathleen?” He asked Naomi. “She ran in when the wall caught fire.”
“I’ve not seen her.” Naomi picked up her shotgun. “Calvin? Conner?”
Dean pursed his lips and shook his head. “Never made it inside.”
There was movement in the floor below them.
Allen removed the metal bars. He lifted up the window, sending his hair and beard waving in the wind.
Naomi heard boots coming up the stairs. “Kill the light.”
Allen turned to her. “No. It’s bait. We want them coming here.”
Naomi’s mouth fell open.
Allen stuck his upper half out the window. He leaned back in and called to Dean. “Come with me. Naomi, stay put. Keep the light on. Don’t clear that barricade under any circumstance. Understand? Better yet, wait in the bathroom.”
Allen stomped his feet loudly, making as much noise as possible. He twisted back and squeezed out of the window, vanishing from sight.
Dean followed after. “Shut the window,” he commanded.
He dropped out of sight. Naomi stood motionless. She watched the two men slide down the side of the house and land on the ground. They split up, one going to the front of the house and the other going to the back.
Naomi heard movement outside of the door. She quietly closed the window and put the bars back in place.
The doorknob jiggled. Voices whispered.
She recognized one of them as Lance, the man who held her at gunpoint.
Boom!
A shotgun slug blowing a hole through the door and dresser.
Naomi took cover behind the bed and aimed.
Boom!
Along slug blew through the dresser, causing it to wobble.
Someone kicked the door. The dresser tattered.
“Carl, help me with this thing,” Lance commanded.
They pushed against the dresser. It fell into the desk, revealing the top two feet of the doorway.
Staying low, Naomi moved to the bathroom.
“The stairs!” someone shouted.
Suddenly, rapid fire blitzed through the upstairs.
Screams followed.
Bodies thumped.
Sudden quiet.
Blood pooled out from under the dresser.
In less than twenty seconds, it was over.
“Allen? Dean?” Naomi asked, sheepishly.
Someone neared the tipped dresser. Allen’s spoke. “We have them on the run. Stay hidden until we get back.”
“But--”
“Don’t leave this room.”
And he was gone.
Naomi moved into the bathroom and waited. After a few long moments, gunfire echoed in the woods.
She shut her eyes. Every part of her wanted to rush to Trinity, but she knew it would be stupid to unlock the storeroom until the coast was clear.
Time passed.
The shooting grew farther away and snowfall increased, snuffing the outside fires.
Naomi sat still on the uncomfortable lip of the tub.
She rubbed the back of her neck and brought her hand back covered in Cathleen’s blood.
She felt woozy.
The house was dead silent.
She longed to be with her daughter.
“Don’t be stupid,” she mumbled to herself. “Just wait. That’s all you need to do. Wait.”
The darkness left her with her thoughts. She watched the bathroom door. She couldn’t sleep, nor could she stay fully awake.
Eventually, morning sunlight breached the window.
Allen hadn’t returned.
Naomi grabbed her shotgun and got up. Her joints were as stiff as a rusted gate. She reached into her pocket and paused. Her heart skipped a beat. She pulled out the few remaining slugs and let it fall into the side. She reached back in. Empty. Panicked, she checked her other pocket and found the Rover key. She put it back and patted down her pant pocket. Empty.
“Oh, no-no-no,” she said, patting herself down. Her voice cracked. “Where is it?”
She looked around the bathroom.
The sun was still early. She couldn’t see the floor very well.
She got to her hands and knees and felt around.
No luck.
No keys to the basement.
They could’ve fallen out of her pocket anytime.
She got up and took a breath, resolute to break down the basement door if she must.
Re-equipping the shotgun, she opened the bathroom door and stepped into Allen’s bedroom. She looked out the window as the sliver of sun appeared over the horizon, slowly giving vibrant color to the sky and silhouetted trees.
Naomi turned back to the barricaded door. She peeked out of the small gap, seeing the bodies strewn across the floor. She quickly looked away and mustered enough courage to call. “Hello?”
Her voice was lost in the silent house.
After a moment, Naomi pushed aside the desk and let the dresser fall on its face. She quickly took aim and slipped out of the foot and half-wide gap in the door. Keeping her eyes forward, she stepped over cold blood and bullet-riddled bodies.
She moved to the stairs, tracking bloody footprints in her wake. Step-by-step, she descended into the first floor.
Snow pilled a few feet inside of the kicked in front door. Naomi moved through the first floor. No signs of life, friendly or hostile.
Not finding the keys, she tried the knob to the basement, just to be sure.
Unlocked.
Naomi quickly drew back her hand as if touching something hot.
Steeling herself, she twisted the knob.
With a long creeaak, the door opened.
The locks were partly closed but none had been set.
Naomi looked down into the storage area. “Trinity? Becca? It’s me, Naomi. You can come out now.”
She descended into the darkness.
There was a small candle light at the far back corner of the shelves of supplies. Some of them had been knocked over. Tin cans and broken mason jars littered across the floor.
Heart racing, Naomi reached the source of the light. The candle was nothing but a small in a pool of liquid wax. Next to it was a few strands of Trinity’s hair, signs of struggle, and blood.
Naomi felt her world spin.
Someone had taken her daughter.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story!
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Book 2 is out now- Click Here
Deadly winter winds howl through the Shenandoah Valley. Amidst the miles of snow-drenched wilderness, driven psychologist Naomi Baxter hunts the lawless savages who took her daughter. Working alongside a group of unexpected allies, Naomi brings the fight to those who robbed her, destroyed her home, and broke her family, all while trying to keep her humanity intact.
Book 2 is out now- Click Here
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Donovan, J.S., Aftermath (Book 1): Aftermath
Aftermath (Book 1): Aftermath Page 16
