This confuses me. Why would they do this now and not during the harsher times of winter? “What’s the point of this?”
“The only other time I've seen them pack in food like this was before our last move.”
My heart drops to my stomach. “Move? We can’t move.” Ian’s supposed to come for me.
“I don’t think they’re going to give us the choice.” Asher nods toward a couple infected that are watching us and growling. None of them condone humans speaking to one another. The only reason they don’t approach is because Jeff is our keeper.
“How much snow is still outside?”
“Not sure. I haven’t been out of the cave for a while, not since the ambush. That was several days ago,” Asher says, looking confused. “Why?”
“My dreams tell me things,” I whisper. “They told me I’d be rescued when the flowers came.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “What haven’t you been telling me?” I’ve kept much of our family secrets, but Asher has been there for me. He has the right to know.
“My family and I have extra abilities since the Flash. We see and know things we shouldn’t. This is one of them. They’ve seen my rescue. Spring comes, flowers grow, and they find me,” I explain.
He swallows and looks away from me, sadness in his eyes. “Were you going to leave me?” His words are so quiet, I barely hear them.
When I realize what he said, I gasp. “How could you think that?” My words choke on emotion. “I would never…” I move over to him, holding my belly as I sit down. “You don’t really think I’d leave you, do you?” I touch the arm that’s resting on his leg.
He looks embarrassed when he turns back to me. “No, I’m only worried. I’ve moved with them a couple of times, but they’re rushed this time and I’m not sure why.” He trails off, watching the infected move in and out of the cave.
Worry fills my belly, making Sweet Pea do his exercises. I rest my hand on my belly, hoping to calm him. “I’ll see what I can find out from Jeff when he comes back. I don’t like this either. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Are you feeling well, dear?” Wendy stretches while watching me.
“Oh!” Her unexpected voice startles me.
She chuckles. “Sorry. You look worried. Nothing’s wrong with the baby, I hope.” She’s kind, reminding me of a grandmother.
“I’m okay.” Then I remember Wendy went out the other day. “Wendy, was there a lot of snow the last time you were out?”
She thinks about it for a minute before answering. “No, not a lot. There are still some areas the tree’s shade. They have a lot more snow, but most of it’s melting. The lake is unfreezing too, making fishing easier. Spring is on the horizon,” she giggles, excited about the warmer weather.
Her words mix excitement and anxiety into a toxic potion. Rescue is closer than it’s ever been, but the unknown is scarier than expected. I worry about the baby. What kind of world is he going to be born into? I can’t have him here with these infected. Depending on Jeff for survival is out of the question. Tears spring to my eyes as I place my face in my hands, trying to keep the emotions at bay, which is extremely hard to do at this stage in my pregnancy.
Asher doesn’t try to placate me, he just rubs small circles on my back. An unhappy grunt causes us both to look up. Jeff’s standing in the door watching us, anger carved into his sickly features, until he looks at my face. Concern melts the anger away in seconds. Shortly after, he’s standing next to me, his hand moving to my belly.
“Baby okay?” he asks silently.
I nod. “He’s fine.”
“Mine, okay?”
I bite my bottom lip to keep it from trembling. The rushed activities of this morning and the impending move is scaring me. Jeff’s attention makes my skin crawl, even after the months I’ve spent with him, but I also know I can use it to my advantage. I place my hand over his on my belly and choke down the vomit crawling up my throat. “What’s going on?” I ask out loud, but follow up with “I’m scared,” silently.
His eyes narrow on me instantly, always suspecting. After his perusal, he calms, and his hand starts to make small circles on my belly. His normal purring begins, drawing the attention of Abbey. She watches as he leans in and scents my neck. Her lip curls up in disgust, hatred shining in her eyes.
“No scared.” Jeff’s silent words startle me back to our conversation. “Mine. Baby. Safe. We go soon. When baby come, we go.”
It’s rare that I get so much out of him, so I press on. “Where are the other ones?” I nod my head in Abbey’s direction, meaning Big Bully and Farmer Joe.
His features harden again, signaling the topic is not open for discussion. Instead of pressing the subject, I ask about Becky. “Is Becky coming back for me? She doesn’t like me. I think she’ll hurt me and the baby.” Sounding scared isn’t hard to do, considering I am scared shitless.
He turns me toward our bedding, tucking me against his side. I’m about a foot shorter than him, so it’s easy to redirect me. “Mine. No worry. Keep safe.”
His words say one thing, but the vibration in his body is giving away an entirely different story. He’s nervous. No matter how hard I try, I can’t see inside his head unless he lets me, but something’s off. I can sense it.
Once he has me sitting, he grabs a few fish, cleans them, then tosses them in the fire to cook. Jeff points to Asher and then to the fish, grunting. Asher nods and scoots closer to the fire, grabbing his poking stick, stirring the coals for better heat.
“What did he say?” Asher asks after Jeff leaves.
“I asked about Big Bully and Farmer Joe, but he shut that down immediately. I mentioned Becky and that I’m scared she’ll come back and hurt me and the baby. He said we’re safe, not to worry.” I pause and confess my concern. “There’s something coming, though, I can feel it.” The same electric sensation is crawling across my skin that preludes my visions.
After rearranging the fish in the fire, Asher sets his stick down and comes to sit next to me. He lowers his voice when he asks, “Is there anything I can help with?”
“Me too, dear. I’m here for you if you need me,” Wendy says, reminding me she listens to every word.
My head shakes back and forth on its own accord, knowing the truth. Only I can help myself. Relaxing, I accept the fact that it’s going to begin again. The flashes of puzzles I can only hope to solve. There’s no fear this time, I’m ready. My Sweet Pea depends on me and I can’t let him down. “We’re not left to talk on our own much, but I think I’m going to start having visions. The last time, the same sensation crawled across my skin. It’s like it wants to overtake me.” I shake my head again. “It’s hard to explain, but we’ve got to figure out what the visions are telling us before it happens. The small clues build up to a conclusion, one I can never figure out until it’s too late. I can’t afford too late this time. None of us can.”
“Okay, I can help. What do we know now?”
“That’s part of the problem. We don’t know anything. These scenarios are all going to be educated guesses at best.”
“Okay. Tell me what your educated guesses are.” Asher smirks.
I laugh and push at his shoulder. “You’re an ass.”
“So I’ve heard.” Wendy and I laugh at his reply.
“Fuck!” Abbey sits up, glaring at us. “I hope you figure out a way to get out of here. Maybe then I’ll get some peace and fucking quiet.” She meets each of our eyes before turning back over.
We all share startled looks, wondering where her outburst came from. “Abbey, are you all right?” I ask.
She growls her annoyance. “I’m fine. Leave me out of your plotting. You’re lucky I don’t tell them what you’re planning.”
We all pull in deep breaths. “You wouldn’t do that,” Wendy says quietly.
Abbey sits up slowly, almost possessed. “Wouldn’t I?” Her eyebrow arcs, daring her. She whips her head in my direction. “Especially you.”
&n
bsp; My heart skips a beat with the hatred in her words. After a stretch of silence, she cackles and turns back over, mumbling incoherently.
Asher breaks the silence when he stands to shuffle the fish around. When he pulls them from the fire, he places several of them in front of me, taking two for himself. In return, I fill my container with snow and hand it over to him.
“Wendy, you got enough to eat over there?”
“Sure do,” she hums, biting into her fish.
He nods at her and looks toward Abbey. “Abbey, you hungry?”
“No,” she growls.
There’s more than enough for Jeff and me, so I pick one up and hand it to Asher. “Toss this over to her,” I whisper so she can’t hear me.
A small smile spreads on Asher’s lips when he takes the fish and tosses it over to her with little effort. The noise startles her. She sits up and looks at us, then down at the fish. Her expression softens as she picks it up.
A triumphant smile spreads across my lips. Asher sees it and bumps my shoulder with his, mentally high-fiving me. Sweet Pea is my main priority, but my plan is to get all the humans to safety, and that includes Abbey.
The rest of the day passes with little action. The unintelligent infected come and go randomly from the cave, but none seeming stressed or in any hurry. This helps calm my nerves. If we were moving immediately, Jeff would have them working around the clock, collecting the necessities. The anxiety surrounding me lessens enough to grow tired. I’d hoped that Jeff would return in time for me to clean up. It’s been several days since I had the chance to bathe, and the odor is beginning to get to me. The cave smells bad enough at times, but the heightened body odor from the excess work the infected are doing is pungent. Washing my skin is the only thing that makes me feel clean.
Since I don’t know when Jeff plans to return, I use a cloth and a small cup of our drinking water to wash my sore muscles. Normally, Jeff will bring me outside to wash in the snow or bring in enough water from the lake. Even though the water is icy, the sensation of being cleaner is calming, allowing Mr. Sandman to pull me deep into my dreams.
I’m breathing heavily, holding the underside of my belly as I run through the forest. The shoes on my feet are several sizes too big and flop with every step. There’s a sudden urgency to get away, to run as far as my swollen feet will carry me. I’m pushing through the tree’s scratchy branches, tearing at my hair and skin as I go.
A snap behind me signals someone is following me and keeping up with a steady pace. Chancing it, I turn to see who my pursuer is, and glimpse Asher. His face is stern, trying to hide the panic his eyes are expressing. “Keep going, they’re coming. I can hear them behind us.”
I continue running but look to the sky. Its coloring is odd—orange, pinks, purples, and blues fill the air, a living dream. It’s then I realize that I am dreaming. The vision’s already taking over my senses. I look in every direction, attempting to remember my surroundings for when reality catches up with me, but there’s nothing but trees in every direction.
“Asher, who’s after us?” I try to collect all the information I can but he doesn’t answer, not hearing my cognitive self. Even though these events happen in the future, they’ve already played out so I can’t add anything. My only hope is to learn something to help us when this occurs in real-time.
We turn past a thicket of trees and start heading up the mountain. Toward the top, I see them, the flowers that lead to my family. Covering the entire hillside of the mountain are little purple, pink, and yellow flowers. My intuition tells me these are the same flowers James saw in his vision. My steps falter and I trip when I’m almost to them. Before I hit the ground, large hands wrap around my waist, pulling me back to my feet tucking me against his body. My steps become his steps as he drags me forward, and we finish ascending the hillside.
When we reach the top, the sky blackens and churns with thunderclouds. The twisting in the air causes dizziness to overwhelm me. I stagger on my feet, falling against Asher. My body is becoming lighter, fluttering away on the breeze, but before consciousness drags me back to life, I hear him.
Ian, yelling my name.
I’m half awake, the stench in the room reminding me of my current reality. The hard forest floor is no longer beneath my feet or permeating the air with its pine scent. The premonitions have begun, and eventually, Ian will find me.
My lips stretch into a large smile.
Let the games begin.
Chapter 17
Ian
The trip home takes longer than we’d anticipated, because we stop several times along the way to allow Mason to get into the vehicle and warm up. Once his limbs function correctly, he helps me check on Luke and Quinn. We keep a close eye on Quinn’s chest, making sure the impact he suffered earlier didn’t cause any internal injuries. He’s still healing from the bear attack, and a hit that hard could easily reopen a previous wound. Luke took a nasty blow to the head and had to be woken several times throughout our drive. Unfortunately, that left Mason and me to drive both rigs the entire trip home.
By the time we arrive home at the caves, my eyelids have fifty-pound weights on them. I barely remember shutting the rig down. Leaning back in my seat, I release a relieved breath that the journey is over.
Seconds later, Mason is shaking me awake. “Ian. Wake up, man. We’re almost done.” My tired eyes meet his and they’re a reflection of my own. His face is pale, and his lips are blue from the cold drive.
“Sorry.” I unbuckle and open my door to get out. “Let’s get these two inside and with Michael first. Then we’ll grab others to help us unload.”
“Sounds good.” He nods and opens the passenger door. “Come, man, we’re home.” He helps Luke from the car. He’s been conscious for most of the ride, but I refuse his offers to help with the drive. Watching him exit the rig, still disorientated from the hit he took, I know I made the right decision.
Quinn is awake when I get him unbuckled. “Hey, how’s your chest doing? You think you can walk inside with just me to help?” Mason and I both loaded him into the rig when we left. I don’t know if he has enough balance.
“Yeah, I think I’m good.” He stands outside of the vehicle and steadies himself before we begin to move into the cave.
Loud voices of excitement can be heard down the hall in front of us, Mason and Luke making it back to the main cavern before us. Michael is already there, looking into his eyes with a small flashlight. I don’t catch Michael’s words, but he nods and pats Luke on the shoulder, signaling he’ll be all right. Mason points in our direction when we enter the main cavern.
Michael heads in our direction. “How is he?”
We finish moving him to the fire. “An infected hit him in the chest. The bruising is intense, but I don’t think there’s internal damage.”
“Lay him down flat on the ground.” Michael kneels next to Quinn’s body and lifts his shirt. A collective gasp rings out from those surrounding him. The area’s horribly black and blue, and the four vertical scars are swollen and irritated.
“That bad?” Quinn groans.
Michael doesn’t answer him. Instead, he touches his abdomen and checks his scars. When he’s satisfied with what he’s found, he responds, “You’re going to be fine. There’s no internal injuries and your scars are only aggravated. Their swelling will go down over the next day or so. Till then, relax. No working or roughhousing.”
Michael’s staring Quinn down, waiting for him to agree. “Got it. I won’t go volunteering for anything anytime soon.”
“Good.” Michael pats his shoulder. “Now for you two.” He stands and turns toward Mason and me. “How are you?”
“Good,” Mason says through his blue tinted lips.
“Tired,” I reply at the same time.
Michael chuckles. “I’ll bet. Let me check you both out real quick.”
While Michael is looking us over, Deagon gathers a group to unload all our bounty. We agree to place everything in our s
torage tunnel until tomorrow, giving us time to sleep before we organize and begin the next stage in our plan. We both receive a clean bill of health after a quick check. There were only a handful of people in the main cavern when we arrived, but word travels fast, and people begin to pour out of the kitchen to welcome us home.
“Daddy!” Azami squeals. Her little legs resemble the roadrunner’s, before she jumps into my arms. She kisses my cheek and wraps her arms tightly around my neck. “I missed you.”
I chuckle, kissing the top of her head and hugging her tight. “I missed you too, Pumpkin. Did you take care of James while I was away?” We were only gone a few days, but it feels like a lifetime.
She nods enthusiastically. “I did.” She squeezes me again and slides down, running over to meet James as he enters the main cave.
James takes her hand and walks over to me, only releasing her when he wraps his arms around me. “Glad you made it back in one piece.” Realization hits when he notices the shape Quinn and Luke are in. He looks back to me, questions in his stare.
“I’ll explain later.” He nods, understanding. We’ll speak about it when Azami isn’t present.
Quinn and Luke are both up on their feet, both sore in their movements, but doing better by the minute. “I’m starving. Let’s go eat something,” Luke says, heading toward the kitchen.
“I second that,” Quinn adds, causing everyone else to laugh.
“I can definitely eat,” Mason agrees.
“That’s what we were getting ready to do. Come on, let’s go. Sarah’s cooking up a mean meal this morning. Deagon killed a deer yesterday.”
After we eat, I head to bed, while Azami and James stay in the main cavern to help with the gardening. I curl up on my mattress after starting a fire, barely able to move through my fatigue. I stuff Lillie’s pillow against my face, her minute scent acting as a sleep aid.
My unconsciousness floats straight into Lillie’s dream, this time allowing us enough time to conversate and relay information. The baby is mine, and she hasn’t been harmed the way I’d feared. She’s piecing her rescue together as much as we are, and we’re going to beat these visions this time. Unfortunately, she was pulled from our time together far too soon, leaving me wide awake after only a few hours of sleep.
EVOLVED Page 17
