The Way Back (Book 2): The Way Back, Part II

by Giancioppo, Danny

  Snow was visibly shaking by that point, and could very clearly not take anymore questioning. Chris just deflated a little, and held his hands up in defense.

  “Okay, no more questions,” Luke said. “Snow you keep eating; everyone else, start prepping supplies– at least two bags. Chris you head up to the tower.”

  “I… Okay,” Chris said, getting up to go, disappointed in himself for causing a scene. It wasn’t his intention, Nolan was sure of that, he just lost sight of who he was talking to; the situation just got to him in the wrong way.

  “Good. Now, Adam and Cody, why don’t you guys…” Luke trailed off, “You guys g…” The others all looked at him, confused as to what was happening. His eyes got a glossy, silvery-blue hue over the shining silver, and his stance grew wobbly. Chris, noticing as well, stopped his exit from the room and returned.

  “Luke?” Adam asked, walking toward him. “Luke you okay, man?” Luke didn’t respond, and instead just looked over at him, and fell backwards.

  Cody lunged forward and caught him before he hit anything, then helping him over to the couch in the living room. The others haphazardly followed behind him, grabbing pillows from other seats and throwing them over to the couch for Luke’s head to be propped upon.

  “Luke, can you hear us?” Jeremy asked, waving his hand in front of Luke’s face. “Can you see us?” Nothing.

  “I don’t think so…” Cody muttered. “I think he’s going into another uh, what is it… another episode here.”

  “But that’s never happened when he was wide-awake before, right?” Chris asked.

  “Well it’s happening right now, asshole!” Adam barked. Cody put a cautionary hand on his shoulder. Adam noticed. “Sorry, just… it means it’s getting worse. That going blue thing probably didn’t help, whatever it is.”

  Nolan knelt down next to Luke’s face, and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. If this really was another episode, that meant Luke was probably going to end up shouting again. If that happened, Nolan was their best bet at calming him– for whatever reason that was.

  Snow curiously made her way into the living room and over to the couch to watch Luke, curious over the other’s concern.

  “What’s wrong with him?” she asked, confused, though not terribly worried.

  “He… Something went in his head a few years ago, something called a Chirper. Ever since he has these moments where he slips into… he basically really bad dreams, we think. He’s never been awake before though…” Cody half-heartedly explained to her, his main focus on Luke.

  “Nuhh…” Luke groaned. “No…No…!”

  “Luke, come back to us man, we’re all right here with you.” Chris said. He spoke loud, but still tried to sound as calm as possible.

  “Please…! Listen, listen to me!” Luke shouted, his face contorting, looking much more strained and frustrated than before.

  “We are man, you need to listen to us,” Derrick replied. “We’re all here; you’re home!”

  “Nolan, stop!” Luke yelled out. The others all glanced at one another, confused, and Nolan just shifted closer to his best friend.

  “Luke, listen, I’m…I’m right here,” he pleaded. “Please, just come back to us man. I’m right here.”

  Snow ran upstairs suddenly. Adam was the only one to notice, but he didn’t know what to say, so he just let her go.

  “Nolan…! Nolan put…put down the gun!” Luke cried out. Everyone looked at Nolan strangely, unsure why Luke had said that. Nolan’s eyes went wide.

  He stared at Luke with a new sense of dread and pain, and at long last, he believed he understood what it was that Luke was going through. What he was living through in these debilitating night terrors of his.

  “He’s…He’s reliving that night…” Nolan said, though he too now getting wrapped back into his own mind. “That night after Foxtale, at the rest stop, when it was just me and…and him…”

  “You mean…You mean he could see us– hear us, but he couldn’t–?” Chris asked, horrified.

  “He couldn’t move, or speak…” Adam muttered, finishing Chris’s thought.

  “God, Nolan! Listen to me! Stop it! I’m right here!” Luke yelled, his eyes still clenched shut, his body writhing in pain.

  Nolan teared up, unable to look away. He felt a seemingly insurmountable level of guilt washing over him as he realized how close he was to killing his friend, and just how terrified it must have made him.

  Snow awkwardly hustled back down the stairs, now holding Luke’s guitar in her arms. As she got to the last stair, she tripped, and the guitar slammed to the ground, smashing apart. The crash was so lou, everyone in the room jumped.

  Suddenly, Luke stopped screaming. His eyes fluttered, and slowly, they opened again.

  “Oh, you broke his guitar!” Chris scolded. Snow just stared at it, saddened. “He only had that one!”

  “Dude, relax, it’s just a guitar,” Jeremy hushed, seeing the tears welling in her eyes.

  “Luke?” Adam asked, being the first of the group to notice his friend coming to.

  “Yeah… What happened…?” Luke asked. Everyone turned back to him. “Why…Why am I on the couch?” The others just stared at him, unsure what to say.

  “You uh… You had another episode, pal,” Jeremy explained. “We moved you over here so you could lay down, and then Snow knocked over that CD rack, and now…” he trailed off as he finished, starting to realize exactly what just did happen.

  “Now you’re awake,” Cody marvelled. “When Snow dropped the guitar, it crashed, real loud.”

  “She dropped my guitar?” Luke asked, sitting up a bit to see the shattered instrument at the bottom of the staircase. Snow looked just about ready to cry.

  “I…I didn’t mean to…!” she whimpered.

  Cody moved over to her quickly, and crouched down to her level. He smiled, and tried his best to look her in the eyes as she stared down at the ground, ashamed.

  “Hey, it’s alright,” he said, rubbing her arm with his hand. “It’s just a guitar, it’s not the end of the world.”

  “I liked it when Luke played it though!” Snow said, turning to Luke, still on the couch. “I jus’ wanted to get it, so maybe you’d be better.” Luke smirked. Cody stood up, patting her on the head gently.

  “I’m sure we can find another one soon,” Luke said, catching his breath. “It’s okay Snow, you didn’t… you didn’t do anything wrong. You tried to help me.”

  “So… did we just find out how to stop it– the night terrors?” Derrick asked, moving on. The others shrugged; no one sure enough to answer.

  “Well I mean, that’s great! Isn’t it…?” Luke asked, noticing the still very solemn expressions on his friend’s faces. “What else happened?” he asked, seeing there was clearly something they weren’t telling him.

  “We think… I think…” Nolan said, looking directly into Luke’s shining silver eyes. “I think that… you’re reliving–”

  Before Nolan could finish however, there was a large bang from outside, and everyone’s gaze shot to the window. Derrick ran to it, and noticed a small trail of smoke leading up in front of their door, past the wall.

  Not that the smoke mattered, the sounds was unmistakable anyway. It was a gunshot.

  “Someone’s out there,” he announced. “And that was most definitely a gunshot.” Snow cowered, afraid her captors caught up to her. Nolan quickly got up and grabbed her, lifting her into his arms to carry her off.

  “I’ll go downstairs with Snow,” he decided.

  “Grab a gun, just in case,” Adam cautioned. Nolan nodded, and made his way to the armory before heading into the basement.

  “Okay, well what do the rest of us do?” Chris asked, he now more on edge than before. Luke rose from the couch and walked toward the window. He turned to look around at the others. They all gazed at him, rather surprised he was up again so soon.

  “Chris, you and Cody make your way up to the watchtower; the ladder’
s on our side, so if you’re quiet, whoever it is hopefully won’t see you. Hide there and try to get a good shot, but don’t peek out unless you have to,” he directed. “Adam, you and I are going to the front gate and see who it is, and what they want.”

  “Are you sure you can make that trip? You just had another… moment,” Adam said.

  It was a good point, if Luke wasn’t doing so hot then it probably wasn’t best for him to go face-to-face with a possibly very dangerous threat.

  “If you help me walk there, I’ll stand my ground,” he decided. “That leaves Jer and Derry here. You two make sure nobody comes into this house. If you see anyone sneaking around out back– if anyone makes their way in uninvited– you take them out.”

  “You got it, boss,” Jeremy replied, making his way to the armory himself to grab a combat knife. Derrick just nodded.

  “Alright everyone, this may be nothing, so don’t get trigger-happy, but remember we have to be on our toes here; we don’t know who or what we’re dealing with, so let’s play it smart,” Luke finished. Everyone agreed, and moved out.

  Adam and Luke put on jackets and boots to make their way through the snow, and carried both pistols and knives on them as they walked. Unlike the others, Luke wanted his and Adam’s weapons to be seen, just so their visitors knew they were armed and ready.

  “You think this is them?” Adam asked, Luke’s arm slung across his shoulders. Luke limped a bit, still trying to both mentally and physically recover from his latest episode, but he would, he had faith in that. His breathing was still heavy, but he caught it, slowly.

  “I don’t know who else it could be,” Luke said. “I guess it’s time we see what they’re made of.”

  After a few more silent moments, the pair made it to the front gate, and prepared to open up their door, Luke standing on his own now as to not look in anyway impaired. It was a double-door locked in numerous places, but was made only of thick wood, so were things to get hairy, it wasn’t the perfect means of defense. They only opened one door, and left the other bolted where it was.

  As they slowly moved it open, Adam and Luke were greeted by three grown men standing on the other side. Two at the front door, and one standing a ways behind them… with a child by his side. A boy.

  Luke knew he had to be fast in his analysis of these visitors, but luckily for him, he always had a knack for reading people.

  The man on the right was older, probably mid to late forties. Dirty blonde hair, short cut, and a five o’clock shadow. He was big– maybe a bit out of shape– but still built large, which meant he was strong. He had a pistol by his waist, and a rifle slung across his back. His expression was firm, and though he gave off a light smile, Luke could see the impatience and frustration in his eyes. They must have been searching for a while.

  The second man was similar in build and even more so in expression, though with less of a smile. He had a mullet, with a balding upper head. A fairly thick black and grey beard, and a good couple scars across his face– not unlike Derricks. He had a shotgun on hand, but seemingly no other weapons. His eyes were bloodshot, so Luke assumed he didn’t get very much sleep either; even more evidence they had been on the move for quite some time.

  The third man was hard for Luke to see– though he was by far the largest of the three– and seemed almost solely focused on the child he held with a rope, rather than on Luke and Adam. It made Luke angry, but he knew that things would get very ugly very fast if he allowed that to come out in full-force.

  “Hello,” the first man introduced. “My name’s Jonah.”

  “Hugh,” the second man said. The third man said nothing.

  “I’m Adam,” Adam reciprocated, giving a light smile. He had his hand down by his side, tapping it against his leg three times in a few intervals so that the guys in the watchtower could get an idea of how many of them they were faced with. Luke assumed that based on how close these people were to the front door, mixed with how high the walls were, Cody and Chris probably couldn’t get a very good shot on them from, but he appreciated Adam’s choice to play it safe.

  “I’m Luke,” Luke said, though he remained as stoic as possible, which he was quite good at with strangers.

  Jonah leaned forward a bit and looked at Luke, somewhat perplexed, and then grinned as he pulled back

  “Your eyes… they’re silver; almost a glowing silver,” he remarked. “How is that?” Adam said nothing, and looked over at his friend, allowing him to take the reins on what to say next.

  “Long story,” Luke finally said. “Head injury, I suppose you could say.”

  “Hmm,” Jonah admired. “Well, it looks… unique. I could certainly pick you out in a crowd.”

  “So, you fired a gun off, right? Right in front of our home?” Adam asked, he too becoming less friendly.

  “Yeah, that was us,” Hugh confessed, raising his hand a little. “We didn’t know how else to get your attention. Knocking seemed like it would be for nothing.”

  “Well, that sounds like an incredibly stupid plan, but you got our attention alright,” Adam criticized, looking Jonah and Hugh for a follow-up.

  Jonah, however, just kept inspecting Adam and Luke. It didn’t seem as though he checked them for any weapons– as Luke had intended they were very blatantly visible; it seemed instead he looked at their features, like he almost thought he knew them.

  “Are you two brothers?” he asked, still sounding friendly.

  “No, we’re not,” Luke said.

  “Friends? Or, are you like… boyfriends?” he pried.

  “What!? No. No, no, no, we’re...we’re just friends,” Adam corrected. “We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

  “Like brothers. Just friends,” Luke said, staring Jonah down. He didn’t mean to come across so cold, but he couldn’t help but despise the look of these people.

  “I see,” Jonah said. “So, despite the thick beards– which, I admire by the way– you two seem pretty young, but you’re the ones that came to the door. I assume that means that your parents aren’t here? You’re alone?”

  “As far as family goes, yes. All our families are… gone,” Luke said, Adam wincing the slightest bit. Jonah grimaced.

  “I’m sorry,” he condoled, and that was all he said. Luke imagined he had lost his fair share of people as well, by the sound of it.

  “Why are you here?” Luke questioned, tired of small-talk.

  “Right. We’re looking for somebody; someone in our camp that ran away. She’s a little girl, and I can’t imagine that she can make it very long on her own. She’s just a kid,” Jonah said.

  “You’d be surprised how long kids can make it out here,” Adam said.

  “Where is your camp?” Luke asked. “If you came here during with all this snow around it can’t be too far, right?”

  “By car, no, but now…” Jonah responded, gesturing around him, “It’s a good eight or nine hour walk, and even then that’s not counting all the places we’ve gone to search or rest. We’re located in Gilead. It’s a small town north of here, just off of the U.S. Highway Two?” Adam and Luke glanced at each other, confirming their earlier suspicions.

  “Yeah, we know the place,” Luke said. “Pretty small town, right?”

  “It was, now it’s hardly even a town,” Jonah described. “It’s been turned into a base of sorts, really. Towers and walls and whatnot. Sort of like this, but bigger–”

  “Jonah,” Hugh muttered, getting him back on task.

  “Right, sorry. Look the thing is, she left with a few other people, all kids ranging from probably fifteen to six. We’ve gotten some of them back, the others… didn’t seem to make it. Now we’re just looking for this one. She’s about eight, ginger hair, kind of scrappy. She hasn’t passed by, has she?”

  Luke stood silent, and weighed out his options, as he was sure Adam did just as well. They weren’t going to sell her out, but even if they said they had no idea, these people were probably going to try to come inside
. And to Luke anyway, that was a definite no-go.

  On the other hand, Jonah seemed at least somewhat reasonable– so far he was more humane than Luke had expected– but still, if what Snow said about these people was true, and he had nothing else concrete to go on, then he had to assume it was an act; and Luke really didn’t like being toyed with by someone putting on an act. He had been played with that way too much already.

  Still, they had to say something, and fast. Whatever it was would decide where and how these two groups’ paths would cross next; Luke knew that much for certain. The longer he waited, the worse things would get.

  “No, I haven’t,” Luke said. “I don’t think any of us have.”

  “How many of you are there, here, exactly?” Hugh asked, peering into the doorway to see if anyone else was beyond it.

  “Enough to survive. Enough to fight, when we have to,” Adam replied, not willing to share anymore information. Hugh scoffed, and nodded, satisfied.

  “Is that one of the kids right there?” Luke asked, motioning to the boy with the third man, behind Hugh and Jonah.

  “Y-Yes, it is,” Jonah said.

  “What’s his name?” Luke questioned. The third man made his way forward a bit with the boy; he looked like he was one of the older ones, maybe fifteen or fourteen years old.

  The three men looked around at each other, unsure what to say.

  “We uh… We don’t know,” Jonah confessed. Luke and Adam once again shared a glance, this time a bit more concerned. “We just don’t have the time to get to know everyone, and he won’t really talk to any of us– he will with me a little, but not enough to get a name– so we’ve just never gotten the chance, that’s all. Abraham knows them all.”

  “Abraham?” Luke asked.

  “My–” Jonah said.

  “He runs the place,” Hugh interjected. “Knows everything about everyone; kids included.”

  Luke stared at Jonah skeptically, and then gazed back at the boy.

  He was black, his hair buzzed short, and his build rather skinny. He wasn’t very tall, and his chin was scuffed up. Not to mention the rope he had tied around his wrists that the third man was holding. He looked cold. Freezing, really. Luke softened his expression.