“He wouldn’t have allowed you either.” She said stroking Max. She laid her head down on her hand and before she knew it, she was asleep.
“Riley. Go lay down with Megan.” Utah said shaking Riley softly. “I’ll stay awake.” She sat down next to Max and looked over at a boxed puzzle sitting on the table. “Megan’s warm. She won’t mind if you curl up next to her.”
With tingling legs and hands, Riley moved to the couch letting Utah take over. Megan never stirred. Riley pushed her way in behind the little girl laying her head on a soft pillow. Her head ached and as fast as she fell asleep, someone was waking her.
“It’s light out.” Utah said.
The glow of morning filtered through the windows. In her fuzzy mind, she thought she heard a motorcycle, but she’d been dreaming. For the first time in over a year, nightmares had escaped her.
“You still stink,” Megan said already dressed. “You need a bath.”
“Okay then.” Riley looked at Megan, trying to focus. She was dressed in the brightest t-shirt and a neon green skirt. She had on a pair of purple tights and pink tennis shoes that glowed. Riley smiled.
“You like it?” She asked twirling around.
“Oh my, yes.” Riley said taming the grin stinging her face.
Pulling her hair away from her face, Riley grazed the wound on her cheek. Her entire body felt bruised.
“Who’s up for another bath?” Riley groaned grabbing up fresh clothes.
“I found these in one of the cupboards,” Utah handed me a black CD/DVD case.
“This is a great find.” Riley said thumbing through the case. The girls were excited because they knew there was a DVD player in both the truck and trailer. To sweeten the pot, Utah handed me a cup of coffee.
“Thank you.”
“I use to fix mama’s coffee for her.” She said.
“I tossed your jacket. The monster’s blood was all over it.”
“Well the good news is there’s a fresh lake, the bad news is we’ll have to go out on the sand to get there.” Riley waited. What kid didn’t like sand? Megan’s heart shaped lips formed into a smile.
“Can we take that black thing?” She pointed out the window. “Looks like a spider.”
“It’s a Wildcat.”
“Why is it wild?” she asked. “It looks like a spider”
Riley grinned seeing this going nowhere. The ride out on the sand would be a treat for the girls and for her. It was a chance to break up the monotony of so much bad. It had been a long time since Riley experienced fun. Stuffing a few chunks of jerky into her mouth and swallowing three more ibuprofens, Riley loaded the girls into the Wildcat.
“We don’t need this” Riley said taking off the orange safety flag that screamed, here I am.
There was no sign of life. There were no tracks in the sand or in the gravel. Riley gambled that the truck and trailer would be safe. Once they hit sand, she felt an incredible sensation of what used to be.
FOURTEEN
Jack felt Lynn’s body tremble under his hold. Warm tears spilled down her cheeks onto his t-shirt. When she pulled back, she dried her bruised eyes, and looked up at him. A deep seeded rage built inside of him. He wanted to kill someone. This was his family. They’d crossed the wrong man. Lynn winced in pain as she sat next to him. Jack had never seen his sister like this and it made him sick. His family was his first priority and he felt a deep guilt because his absence had compromised their safety.
Kneeling down next to her, he placed a hand on her knee. “How many?”
“Five, Ryan said he got three out of the five. Six?” Her voice trembled. “They wanted guns.”
“I should’ve been here.”
“You can’t be in two places at once.” She said. “You’re bleeding Jack.” She reached up and pulled back his shirt.
“I’m okay.”
“I got Lily into the safe room just in time.” She whispered. “Ryan.”
“Nick is with him.” He took her hand. “You need to be strong now, for Lily. She needs her mama. I need you. I brought a woman back with me. She’s been hurt pretty bad.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s with Pop.”
“Jesus Jack.” Lynn suddenly came alive. She sat up and started to stand. Jack saw the pain in her eyes. “Bring her to the main house. She can stay in the spare room.”
Jack nodded. “Okay. I need to see Ryan and Nick first. Will you be okay?”
“I’ll get the room ready.” She answered. Her words were coming in short sentences. “Ryan saved me from…...he saved my life.”
Jack stood up containing his anger. Nothing he could say would make either of them feel any better but he knew Lynn needed a distraction. He stopped at the doorway.
“Ryan stopped it.” She knew what he was going to ask. He nodded without looking back and left her.
The house was unusually quiet and the smell of alcohol and disinfectant filled every crevice. Nick glanced at Jack when he walked in his face drawn dark circles under his eyes. He dropped the blood-covered gauze he was holding into a bag.
Ryan lay quiet. The soft beep of his heartbeat broke the silence of the room.
“How is he?” Jack glimpsed down at his younger brother. His skin was pale even under his tanned skin.
“He’s stable. The bullet missed his heart but broke a piece of a rib, tearing his lung. He has some broken ribs and a gunshot wound to his right shoulder. He’ll have the chest tube for a few days. He was lucky. Dam lucky.” Nick took in a deep breath.
“Thank you,” Jack said. “I should’ve turned around and came back earlier. I had a feeling something was wrong.”
“You can’t know these things. We’ve taken a lot of precautions and they worked.” Nick replied.
“For how long?” Jack rubbed his chin.
“As long as it takes.”
“If they would’ve…...” Nick stopped Jack midsentence.
“She’s a Colton. Stronger than you or I know.” He said tossing another handful of bloody gauze into the trash can. “You’d better get used to it. There’s more riff raff than good out there. Whatever the Manic Shift was, it could happen again.” Nick picked up some instruments and set them in a box. “I need to stitch Lynn up.”
Jack moved towards his brother and then stopped. “I wish I’d been here.”
Nick patted Jack on the shoulder and sighed, “I wish I’d been here also.”
“I need an army to stop this.” Jack said. A vision of Lily popped into both of their heads.
“Don’t give up the fight because of this. We need you and this town needs you.” Nick said. “Build an army. If anyone can do it you can.”
“Thanks for the confidence Doc.”
“You’re welcome. Now, where is Lily Bean?” Nick asked changing the subject.
Something rustled behind him. When he turned, Lily had her finger on her lips. “Uncle Jack.” She rushed to him. Her arms flung out in front of her. She hugged him tightly. “There were bad men here and Ryan and mama got hurt.”
“It’s okay Lily. Your daddy fixed them all better.” Jack said winking at Nick.
Nick shuffled Lily to the door.
“Hey Doc, I have another patient for you. I’ll bring her over to the house after you’re done with Lynn.” Jack turned to Lily, brushing the tight curls away from her face. Her cheeks were puffed up in a pout but her small fingers wiped away a stain of blood he’d forgotten.
“You’re hurt too.” She said.
Nick turned to Jack. “I’ll see you shortly too.”
Jack smiled at Lily blowing her a kiss. She caught it and blew one back to him. Nick stepped out the door with the medical bag tucked under his arm and Lily at his side. After Jack watched them go, he glanced down at his brother who began to stir.
“I got all six of em,” Ryan whispered. “Pops?”
“Pop’s is more cantankerous than ever.” Jack said with a smile. “Rest up buddy. I need you back on your feet.”
“Pushy son of a bitch aren’t you?” Ryan grunted.
“Lynn?” Ryan asked.
“You saved her life.” Jack said and then Ryan fell asleep.
Ryan was the personality in the family. He was always witty and easily charming, but when the moment called for it, Ryan was dead on. He’d ended up being a better long distance shot than Jack. He had an unusual knack for taking on guys twice his size, but Ryan had never been this hurt.
Lynn caught Jack in the hallway motioning him into one of the guest bedrooms. When he slipped through the door, he saw the woman he’d brought home laying in the bed. Her face washed of all blood and dirt. There was a distinct expression of peace as she slept. She didn’t look like the person he’d found on the path. There were stitches in her lip and soft yellow bruises forming under darker ones.
Jack tossed a blanket on the chair next to the bed, drained and a little light headed. Between the dim light and the warmth, he felt some comfort.
The hot searing pain in his shoulder reminded him that Nick would be looking for him. He pulled off his bloodied shirt and replaced it, but that one too turned red. As he slipped down into the chair, he watched the woman sleep. For a moment, he forgot the pain. Not realizing just how much blood he had lost, he closed his eyes and fell into a sleep where often time’s dreams became nightmares.
FIFTEEN
Clean, recharged and ready to get the hell out of Oregon, Riley and the girls were back on the road by noon. A black bear and her cubs held up traffic (them) for a few minutes and there was a five-car pile-up in the northbound lane blocking the southbound lane. Riley played demolition derby until the road was clear which included ramming a Sheriff’s car. She silently apologized and finagled the truck and trailer through a small opening for passing. She did stop for a Fred Meyer’s truck and trailer lying on its side because there were mounds of items, water bottles included, scattered in heaps like yard debris.
Riley found the driver sprawled out in the center lane torso and limbs petrified to the pavement some body parts missing. Before Riley could find something to cover the man up with, Megan was a few feet from the dead man kneeling beside a box of toys, her back to his upturned face. She glanced back at him and then looked at me, no smile on her face. When she stood up, she held a Barbie doll in her hand for Riley to see. The sadness Riley felt was deep, but she washed it away and smiled at Megan’s prize. It was all in a day of survival.
The girls were resilient and if need be self-sufficient. They’d bounced back from their tragedies and it wasn’t Riley’s place to remind them of the losses. They knew.
With each town that appeared in front of them, Riley hoped for more life. The small, but once popular old town of Florence, usually bustling with locals and tourists, was still. Riley took the fork in the road that would take them toward the five where they’d be facing some of the bigger cities. So far, they hadn’t run into too much trouble but Riley was guessing that would change once they hit the freeway. This would be the last night on the Oregon coast. The days were getting colder and night temperatures sometimes dropped into the mid-thirties. They needed a place to stay, a place safe enough where they could all just rest. The propane for the trailer they needed to conserve for the longer sections of desolation between towns.
“Start looking for a road or lane.” Riley said.
“There.” Utah said.
Scraping the trailer up on overgrown limbs and brush made no difference to Riley. If the trailer got them half way there, she’d be surprised. The log home was ground level nestled the timberline. It had a two-door RV garage adjacent to the left side of the cabin. The yard was overgrown and the chimney bore no smoke.
“I need to check the house out. You two okay here?” Riley asked the girls. They nodded. Riley tucked her pistol into her holster and then reached for the shotgun, a few more shells, and a LED flashlight.
“We’ll honk if we see anything….monsters mostly,” Megan said. She climbed to her knees to see over the dashboard.
Riley grinned grateful for their company. “Lock the doors.”
It’d be dark soon and Riley wanted to secure the house as fast as possible. She moved from the garage to the side door. Nothing would open. Climbing over limbs and debris, she moved to the front steps of the house. The door was locked. Hidden key. Probing for fake rocks, she kicked a few over. Next planters and doormat, but she found nothing. Riley glanced back to check on the girls and Utah was pointing to the side of the house. A sign, held up by a single nail that read “Welcome.”
Leaning across unruly hedges, she lifted the sign. Hanging on the nail was a single key attached to some fishing line. How did she know?
It was getting dark, but the light from her flashlight lit up the foyer and surrounding rooms, and bounced a splash of light into the living room. There was a sense of planning and meticulous decorating in the floor plan as well as the furnishings. It smelled slightly dusty, but everything inside, that she could tell, had been untouched. It was definitely a vacation home, rarely used and often forgotten. There were three rooms, which included the master bedroom and two bathrooms. The kitchen, outfitted with the best appliances money could buy, was large and opened up into a modern dining room. There was a large stone fireplace and a large flat screen TV in front of a sectional couch that looked just as expensive as it did comfortable. There were no personal items, just towels, additional bedding, and a fully equipped kitchen. No one was here and no one was coming.
With plenty of wood already stacked inside the house, Riley started a fire. Finding keys, she headed out to the garage opening the RV door. A distinct and throaty grunt came from the line of growing shadows of the timber. This time she recognized the language. Off to the side of the garage somewhat hidden in heavy limbs were two black bears. The bigger of the two grunted. It swiped its paws against the ground then lifted its nose. The sow shifted and grunting a warning. The cubs, when they came into view, were Riley’s worst nightmare. Wore out and hungry, a chill worked through her layered clothing. She thought of the fire.
“Great.”
With her index finger on the trigger of her shotgun, she wondered if a warning shot might be enough to scare them away. Their coats plump with thick fat, the mama bear stood staring at Riley. When the truck door opened, Riley took her chances and scrambled forward.
The girls cheered her on. The bears watched but for one cub who bolted forward. Riley leapt like a ballerina, the shotgun pushed out in front of her for a fast door closure. There was a loud thud as the door shut and the cub connected. The truck rocked from side to side.
Riley started the diesel without waiting for the glow plug to warm. Frosted air billowed from the bears nostrils producing a circular pattern of fog on her window. “Is the wildlife getting bigger or is that my imagination?”
“That was close.” Utah said.
“Too close.”
“You should’ve seen your face.” Utah said. Megan stared at Riley with wide eyes.
“Scared huh?” Riley saw a flicker of a smile on Utah’s face and she nodded. The bears grew disinterested and moved back into the timberline. “Let’s go get warm.” Riley said after parking the hauler and truck.
Sometime in the night, Riley woke disoriented. Megan curled under her arms a few hours back and Max burrowed between them soon after. Although she felt relatively safe, her pistol was under the pillow and the shotgun next to the bed. Riley listened to Megan’s breathing and Max snoring. It was amazing, but she felt blessed. The girls were changing her, forcing her to rethink priorities. Mark had been a game changer when it came to having children. In the beginning, she was hoping someday to be a mother, but when she met the real Mark, she became dead set against it. Megan stirred under her arm. A small cry escaped her lips. Her legs jerked in slight movements as if trying to escape something in the darkness of her dreams. Riley was curious about their story, but she would leave it untouched until they were ready to tell it.
“It’s okay Meg
an.”
She stopped. Riley pressed her face closer to Megan’s curly dark hair and she closed her eyes. She tried to imagine what it’d be like to have her own child. She wanted to keep Megan and Utah, but if any relatives survived, she’d have no right. That very thought devastated Riley.
As if sensing her thoughts while sleeping, Utah moved a little closer to her pinning her into one spot. Riley felt this intense sense of security. For the first time in a very long time, she fell asleep feeling complete.
SIXTEEN
Jack woke to Lynn’s voice. The last thing he remembered was sitting in the chair next the woman’s bed. Now, he was in his own bed. Surrounded by pillows and warm to the core, but when he shifted, yesterday’s events reminded him, he was hurt.
“I didn’t want to wake you, but Nick said that you need to eat,” Lynn said, setting the tray on the nightstand. The aroma of bacon and coffee filled the room.
“I smell coffee. Bacon, eggs, and toast.”
“You’ve got a good nose on you Jack Colton.” She said, pushing the coffee closer to him. “At least that isn’t broken.”
“And you make a great nurse. Mom always said…” Lynn cut him off.
“I should’ve been a nurse.” She finished the sentence for him. “Well, I got a house full of patients to tend to now. She’s probably smiling down on me. She must be. The sun was out for the better part of the day.”
“How long was I asleep?” he turned toward the covered window. There was a deep glow filtering from the stove across from his bed, filling the room with warmth. “It’s still night.”
“Nick took the bullet out and put you back together. Then you slept through the night and all day. You’re not Superman Jack.”
Jack’s stomach growled and the smell of the food was making his mouth water. He used his good shoulder to prop himself upright. The bandages on his wound crinkled under the pressure and the surgical tape pulled on is skin.
Not Alone: The Beginning (The Fighter Series Book 1) Page 7
