Kaia looked relieved to see us. I knew her brother’s hovering had been driving her nuts.
“You two look only slightly better than a drenched rat,” Kaia laughed.
“You’re welcome for your meal and the company,” I replied as I sat down in one of the chairs Billy had brought into the room.
“Sorry. I am grateful. You have no idea how eager I am to get out of this place.”
“Oh, trust me, I know.”
“Well, now I’m feeling rather hurt,” Billy said from the corner of the room. “Here I am with my two favourite patients of all time and they’re telling me that they didn’t enjoy their time spent in my wonderous presence.”
Kaia and I looked at each other, laughed, and then said at the same time, “No.”
“Well, I know when I’m not wanted,” Billy mock huffed off.
“He’s really letting you go tomorrow?” Jack asked.
“Yes, so long as I promise to come by once a day to let him check the wound, clean it and dress it,” she cringed. I’d never experienced a burn, but my brother had once burned his hand on a soldering iron, and I remembered it was not a fun recovery for him.
We ate our meals, enjoying the warm venison the kitchen had cooked up that night as Jack and I filled the kids in on the mundane goings on in the community that day. Jack looked out the window and blew out a breath of relief. “Well at least I won’t have to run these dishes back through pouring rain.”
“I’m just glad there was no thunder or lighting,” Charlie quivered beside his sister.
“I’m honestly a little disappointed. I’ve always loved a good storm.” Charlie looked at me like I was nuts.
Watching the rain and storm from the comfort of my covered deck tonight, would have been nice. Especially with Jack by my side.
Jack offered to take the dishes back so I could stay longer and visit with Kaia and her brother. Jack had only been gone a few minutes when my ears caught the first sound of a howl. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was barely six o’clock. We had cloud cover, but the rains should have kept the howls away for longer than this.
It was strange that we were hearing them at all. It had been two months since they’d even tested our boarders. Charlie cowered into his sister’s side. “They’re close.” Not that close, I thought. My eardrums weren’t hurting…yet. Something wasn’t right about this though.
“Billy,” Charlie cried out.
Billy rushed over to the room a moment later. “What’s wrong Charlie?”
“Can we lock the doors for the night please?” Charlie asked with a shaking lip.
Billy came to sit beside Charlie and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I promise you, we’re safe. We’ve got the walls, the moat, and fire too. They’re not getting in here.”
“But it rained,” Charlie insisted. “They won’t be able to light the torches.” Well, he had Billy with that one.
“Yes, but remember they hate the moat. They won’t attempt to swim through it. But don’t take my word for it. Tell him Summer. Tell him how safe we are here,” Billy encouraged.
I swallowed and then forced a smile on my face as I lied. “Absolutely. I’ve never felt safer in my life.”
Charlie bought it thankfully, but when I met Kaia’s eyes, I knew she saw my doubts and Billy looked at me with concern.
“I tell you what Charlie,” Billy said. “Once Jack and Summer leave, I’ll radio that we’re locking up early for the night. How does that sound?” Charlie nodded in nervous agreement. “Summer do you mind helping with some supplies?” I nodded, knowing full well it was just an excuse.
Billy led me towards the door and once he was sure the kids weren’t listening by the curtain to their room, he leaned in and whispered. “What are you thinking?”
“Something’s off Billy. I don’t know. It’s probably stupid. Probably just all the nightmares I’ve been having lately.”
“But your intuition is telling you something…isn’t it?”
“They don’t like the rain. We never hear them in the rain…but they came out right after the storm, and they’re close by.” As if to add to my fear, the howls started again and this time they were closer and more of them. I’d never been very good at determining the size of their hives. Hive was Andy’s word for their groups, but it fit how they operated. My guess was that there had to be at least a couple dozen in this one.
Jack came bursting through the door a moment later. A look of panic on his face. “What’s happening out there?” Billy asked, now looking equally as worried.
“They’re outside the gate…just out of range of our shooters. And they’re not alone,” Jack said looking into my eyes.
“Michelle,” I filled in the missing piece. She had promised her father that he would regret this.
“I didn’t get a good look at her. As soon as I saw how bad it was, I headed here. But she only looks a little wild. It’s like the logical part of her mind, still has some say. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s leading the attack.”
“What do we do?” I asked.
Jack rolled his eyes. “The commander has ordered everyone back to their cabins.”
“But there are no bunkers under the cabins…at least not most.” I knew the commander had one. But the main bunker was under the dining all. They could fit half the community in there. What was he thinking?
Jack pulled me into his embrace. “April will meet us here as soon as she’s gathered some supplies from their cabin. We’re staying here where it’s safe.” Just as he said that last word a loud explosion sounded from outside. It was so loud that it shook the clinic.
I moved towards the door, ready to dash outside to find April, but Jack pulled me back in. Billy moved towards the door and gave his brother a nod, like some silent understanding was happening between them.
“Jack, please I have to go get April.”
“I’m going to get April. You and Jack are going to take the kids down into the bunker after you lock the door behind me.”
“No,” I cried out. I couldn’t trust April’s safety to anyone else. She was the last of my family. I had to be with her.
Jack released me as his brother pulled me in for a hug. “Trust me Summer. I love April, I will not let anything happen to her.” A blood curdling scream from outside had Billy pushing me into Jack’s arms as Billy rushed out the door without a backward glance. Jack didn’t hesitate to close the door behind his brother and latch it closed tight. Jack pulled me into his arms as I let go of a shaking sob on his shoulder.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“What’s happening?” Kaia asked with her voice reaching an absurd pitch. Beside her, her brother Charlie was shaking and sobbing silently.
Neither Jack nor I answered them right away. Jack was busy getting the platform ready to lower into the ground. Kaia and Charlie were standing there, holding each other, when Jack began to lower it down. “We’ll meet you down in a minute,” I finally managed to say. “I promise we’ll talk then.”
Jack cranked the platform down as quickly as he could, but it wasn’t moving fast enough for my liking. Both he and I would be using the ladder this time. My heart pounded loudly in my chest as the sounds outside the door of the clinic grew wilder and more frantic.
The howling sounded like it was inside the village now. Though it was impossible for me to know for sure, until the tell tale screams of people began to accompany the monsters’ horrifying sounds.
I was tempted to cover my ears, but I knew that wouldn’t make it go away. I needed to focus. “Now you,” Jack said, as soon as the platform reached the bottom. I didn’t hesitate as I began descending the ladder. Jack was right behind me closing the latch and pushing some buttons that were attached to the ceiling. I hadn’t noticed them there the last time we were down in the bunker. But then we had others to latch the hatch from the outside that time.
I reached the bottom of the ladder just as the last of the locks clicked into place, sealing us s
afely inside the bunker. Charlie pounced on me the minute I was at the bottom. He was shaking so hard that my body shook from his embrace. I rubbed his shoulders gently, trying to reassure him the best that I could.
“Are they inside the village?” Kaia asked, barely above a whisper. Before either Jack or I could respond we heard loud banging coming from the direction of the front door. It sounded like something heavy was smashing against it. Charlie cried out beside me. As the howling turned into ear piercing shrieks that even the bunker couldn’t protect us from.
I covered my ears, motioning for Charlie and Kaia to do the same. Jack rushed towards one of the cabinets at the end of the room and came back with a couple pairs of noise blocking headphones, the kind that they used for construction.
“They only had two of them, but you and I can use these ear plugs,” he said pulling out a package of sealed spongey orange ear plugs. I quickly placed the noise cancelling headphones on Charlie’s ears as Jack handed the other pair to Kaia. As I ripped into the package of ear plugs, my eardrums felt like they might burst from the pressure if I didn’t get relief soon.
The last time I’d felt that level of pain, was when we’d be attacked at the store we were hiding out in with the couple we’d met on the road. I quickly pushed the plugs into my ears. The headphones would have been better, but Jack was right to give them to Kaia and Charlie. At least with the earplugs I didn’t feel like my eardrums would burst at any second. They didn’t take away the horrifying sound, it was only slightly dulled. It would have to do.
Jack led the kids over to two of the cots, which he maneuvered so they were side by side. He adjusted them so the kids wouldn’t have to lay flat on their backs. While he was busy doing that, I went and searched the cupboards for a couple of blankets. The whole time, the pounding upstairs grew more frantic, as did the screeching. Stay focused, I reminded myself. It helped that I had other people to stay calm for.
I’d always wondered how April and Andy always managed to stay so focused when the world outside was so terrifying. Now I knew it was because of me. They were hiding their fear because of me.
I brought the blankets over and wrapped one tightly around Charlie before handing the other off to Kaia. “Will they be able to break in?” Charlie asked rather louder than I was comfortable with. I pushed my finger over my lips to signal him to be quiet.
Really, our volume level wouldn’t matter much if they managed to break through the door. They would be able to scent us down here. We didn’t have time to throw off their scent trail. We could only hope that this bunker was built as sturdily as Jack believed it to be.
I squished in beside Charlie and softly said. “We are safe down here. No matter what, we are safe down here.”
“But what about Grandma?” Beside him Kaia sniffled.
I rubbed my hand through his hair gently. “Jack and I know how worried you are. We have family out there too. We just have to trust that they find shelter of their own. They wouldn’t want us to put ourselves in danger to find them.”
“Summer’s right. We just have to have a little faith. Now I know it’s not going to be easy, but I suggest you two try to shut your eyes and block it out as best you can. We all need to get some rest. It’s going to be a long night.”
And an even longer day ahead, I thought.
Jack stayed with the kids, trying to calm them some more, while I went and searched through our supplies. We had a decent amount of food and water down here, not that any of us felt the least bit hungry. There were also some spare scrubs down here so I asked Jack if he could have everyone turn around while I changed out of my wet jeans. I threw on the scrub top as well, for an extra layer of warmth.
When I came back towards the others, I noticed that Jack had placed another couple cots right up beside the ones that were occupied by Kaia and Charlie. He also had gathered more blankets and some pillows for us all. Jack placed himself beside Charlie, which I was grateful for. It was challenging enough trying to keep myself calm, let alone worrying about Charlie as well.
Kaia continued to softly cry into her pillow, with her head turned from the rest of us. I was sure she was reliving losing her parents. I wanted to comfort her, but I didn’t know how. How could I make what was happening any less scary for them? It was just something we were going to have to live through.
I’m not sure how long we had been down there before the banging on the door finally stopped. I mistakenly thought that we’d passed the worst of it. Only a few minutes later, the shattering of glass could be heard from above. It had taken them long enough to figure out the windows weren’t as secure as the door. We hadn’t even remembered to close the metal shutters, in our panic.
The screeching grew louder, and my earplugs were barely keeping the pain at bay as I used my pillow to try to drown out the sounds. We could hear them scratching at the latched door to our bunker, and I was amazed at how quiet Charlie managed to remain. When I looked over at him, I realized that he was asleep.
I almost laughed out loud. Jack just shrugged his shoulders at me as he looked at me. Poor Kaia continued to shake, and tears streamed down her face silently. I motioned with my finger for her to come join me. As quietly as she could she tip toed towards my cot. I scooted over towards Jack to make more room for Kaia who came to snuggle in beside me. I wrapped my arm around her as her head hit the pillow. I softly smoothed her knotted strands of hair out of her face. It reminded me a lot of what April used to do for me, to calm me at night on the road.
I’m not sure how, or even how long it took. But eventually we all managed to fall asleep. When Jack slowly roused us from our sleep, he showed me his watch and it was already past eight in the morning.
Chapter Thirty-Three
When dawn finally came, we’d all been awake for several hours. I don’t know about the others, but for me, I only slept in twenty or thirty-minute spurts. Between the screeching at our bunker door, and Charlie’s night terror’s, there wasn’t much to do about it.
Despite not having an appetite, Jack insisted that we all eat some of the rations. I knew what he was doing. He was making sure we were strong enough for the journey away from this place. It was clear now, that we wouldn’t be staying as long as Jack had originally wanted. I hoped we could convince Sofia and the kids to come with us, and anyone else who survived, though there was no way we could all squeeze into our six-seater truck.
Once we finally left our village, we’d have a two-hour hike to the truck, we needed to be strong enough for it.
Jack wouldn’t let me come out of the bunker with him to check on what remained of the village. He told me I needed to care for Kaia and Charlie. Really, he didn’t want to worry about me. I was too exhausted to protest, so I laid back down on my cot and tried to rest my eyes.
Jack closed the hatch behind him and made me lock it again from the inside. He had a walkie-talkie and he’d let me know when it was safe to open the hatch again. More than an hour passed by in agony, as we waited for his return. The three of us were silent. Poor Charlie had run out of tears half-way through the night, and Kaia looked a lot like April did when she first lost Andy. There was little emotion if any in her features. She was numb.
When Jack’s voice crackled through our walkie, I was so relieved that tears sprung down my face. Kaia rushed to the locking mechanism before I could. I climbed the ladder first as the kids got themselves on the platform to be raised up.
The first person I saw when I reached the top wasn’t Jack, it was April. She pulled me into her arms before I could even gain solid footing. “I was so worried about you,” she cried as she combed her fingers through my hair.
“Are you okay?” I asked her as Jack began to crank the platform up.
“Billy got to me in time. He made me come with him to the commander’s house. He had his own personal bunker there. It was just the two of us,” she cried. “Oh, Summer, I tried to convince him to bring me to you, but he promised you were safe, and he said…if I came after you
…”
“You would have been bitten,” I finished. She nodded as she sobbed into my shoulder. I was glad Billy was able to reason with her.
“The only reason I didn’t come try to find you was because Billy promised me that he wouldn’t let anything happen to you. He kept his promise.”
“He did,” she smiled. There was something in that smile, that reminded me of the old April. The way she used to be with Andy. It was almost like, just saying Billy’s name, made her happy.
“Where is he?” I looked around the clinic, finally seeing it for the first time. The windows had been smashed in on both sides. There were stray bunches of fur hanging off the broken glass. And everywhere I looked there were streaks of blood. So much blood.
April gently directed my face, so I was forced to look in her eyes. “Billy’s helping with the…clean up.”
Kaia and Charlie finally arrived at the top, breaking up my little family reunion. “Did you see our grandma? Is she okay?” Kaia asked hopefully.
April walked slowly towards Kaia and Charlie and pulled them into her arms, with an unusual measure of compassion. “I’m so sorry.”
Kaia tried to pull out of my sister’s arms. “No,” she cried. “She can’t be one of them.”
April held onto Kaia tighter as Jack unwrapped Charlie from April’s arms and pulled the sobbing child into his embrace.
“She’s not going to be one of them,” my sister soothed as she stroked Kaia’s long dark locks.
Kaia looked up through tear-filled eyes. “No, that’s not possible. She’s healthy.”
“She’s still awake, Billy’s going to bring her here, so you can talk.”
“Why can’t we go to her,” Charlie cried.
“Because you don’t want to see what’s out there,” Jack replied with a shaky voice.
I could see so much reflected in my husband’s eyes. Whatever he saw, was terrible. I’d never been a part of the refugee camps, but from what I’d been told, when they fell, it was a blood bath.
Seeking Hope: Book 2 in the Seeking Saga Page 30
