by Mathews,Mark
Kayleigh was sitting off to one side by herself, head down, hands together, eyes closed. It was pretty obvious she was praying for Nat’s safety. Ever since she’d shot and killed her abusive husband, she’d fallen back into a shell of herself. Her thoughts and feelings seemed to be muted, and when she was engaged in conversation, her sentences were disjointed and it was often hard to understand her. Unless she was talking to her son. Then she came back to life. It was hard to figure out why she’d lost a part of herself, and everyone had their own theories, but she never denied nor confirmed any of them. It could have been because she’d taken a human life. Or maybe because now that he was gone, she didn’t know how to handle life. He’d always been in charge before and made sure everything was taken care of, so she had no idea how to do it for herself. Maybe she beat herself up for taking the father away from her son. Granted, he was a very flawed father, but he was still the father.
Wren was standing guard near the door so she could hear any tampering. She’d been checking the lock, both inside and out, to make sure no one was messing with it, but it was so corroded that there was no way it could be opened, except with bolt cutters. That wasn’t to say that no one could get bolt cutters, but if they did and they tried coming in, the noise would reverberate off the factory walls and ceiling and she would know far in advance. She’d been doing what she could to take over the leadership role from Garrett while he was down, but she constantly second-guessed herself, wondering if she was doing it the way that he would have, or if there was some better way of doing things. She didn’t want to plague him with all of her questions, so she did it all as she felt it should be done, and hoped for the best. She was looking up at the night sky through the glass panels of the factory roof, wondering how Nat’s mission was going, when the lights came on suddenly. They blinded her for a moment or two, disorienting her. She blinked rapidly, trying to make out what the others were doing. Excited cries met her ears, and she thought that maybe this EMP attack finally was going to be over. After all, they had power! The excitement was contagious, and she felt it rush through her. She couldn’t help but grin at the others. Garrett! He didn’t know! He was sleeping in a windowless room with the door shut. She had to tell him. Maybe life would go back to normal now. She ran through the factory, for once not having to feel her way around.
“Garrett! Wake up! You’re not going to believe this!”
She burst through the door. Looking down at the bed, she saw that it was empty. Her heart plummeted. Something was wrong. Garret was gone. Her common sense kicked in. The power was on. Garrett was gone. He must have been the one to turn the power back on. Well, then she was going to sit down and wait for him to come back so she could congratulate him. Time went by. A lone figure came toward them from what looked like a back boiler room. Wren smiled, getting up so she could run into Garrett’s arms. Once he stepped into the light, she saw that it was Ben. He’d been the one to get the lights on. He was grinning at her, with his hands out in a “What do you think?” pose. Everyone came to crowd around him, the past forgotten.
“How did you get the lights back on?” And if he could do it, why had they gone so long without the lights after the attack had happened? Had there never been a thought about that before? Or had everyone just assumed it wouldn’t work, so no one had tried it?
“When did you come back?” Questions spilled out from everyone, and Ben chuckled at them. He explained that there was an industrial-sized generator around the back of the factory, and it had taken him ages to get the stupid thing working.
“Well, then I think we need to celebrate.” It was the first clear statement that Kayleigh had made all day, and everyone stared at her. She pulled out a bottle of champagne from behind her back.
“I found this on the third day we were here. I thought we should save it for something special.” While everyone else brought glasses over and Kayleigh poured, Wren pulled Ben aside.
“Is Garrett coming back soon?” He gave her a confused look.
“He was working with you to get the lights on, right?” She wondered if he was okay. It might have taken more out of him than he had to give right now, because he couldn’t use his body the way he needed to do.
“No. I haven’t seen him at all.” Panic flooded through her. Where was he? Was he alright? Ben’s face suddenly contorted with panic as well. He’d been looking at Wren, but as she started looking around for Garrett, he’d caught sight of the window behind her, and it was pitch black.
“It’s night? I was working on it longer than I thought! We’ve got to get the power off now!”
He turned around and ran back the way he’d come. Everyone stood around in silence until Ben came back, stumbling as he went. The lights were out, and no one wanted to move for fear they would fall over something.
“Why did you turn on the lights just to turn them back off?” It was Jenny who had asked, but everyone was thinking the same thing. What was the point if it was going to be that short-lived?
“It’s nighttime, and that means the factory was lit up. Something this big will draw the attention of everyone who sees it because it can be seen from miles around. It’s already going to draw people, so we need to be ready for intruders to come snooping.” A strangled sound escaped Kayleigh’s throat, and Brooke caught her before she slumped to the floor.
“Nat! Oh my God, Nat! He’s on his way into town! The gang is going to come here looking to see what happened to turn on the lights, and they’re going to see him! He only got lucky the first time around. He can’t defend himself!” She burst out in tears. Brooke held her awkwardly until Wren could come over and hold Kayleigh instead. She was relieved to pass off the hysterical woman. At fifteen, that wasn’t a job she wanted.
“Everything is going to be just fine. Nat is a smart boy, and nothing happened to him the last time. It wasn’t dumb luck, it was because he knew what to do.”
She almost added that she was sure Garrett had gone with him, but she kept that information to herself. She didn’t want the girls to panic either. The more she thought about it, the more she felt in her heart that she was right. Garrett had gone with Nat to save Alice. Resentment boiled inside her, and she started wondering what exactly that action meant for her and Garrett as a couple. She tried to push the unpleasant thoughts aside, but she wasn’t sure she could. They stabbed at her heart and ate at her mind. She was only so strong, and she couldn’t endure much more of the second-guessing that she was doing.
Garrett was risking his life to save Alice, even though he was still very badly hurt. That had to mean he still had feelings for her, right? Not too long ago, Garrett had taken a bullet for Wren. But did that mean he cared about her? Or was it just instinct? She didn’t know how he felt about her, because she’d been too afraid to ask him and hear the wrong answer. She’d figured out for herself how she felt about him. When he’d taken that bullet, she’d realized she was in love with him. If, for some reason, he didn’t feel the same way about her, then she would have to leave. No matter what the smart idea would be to survive, she would have to leave. There was no way she was going to stick around and watch as he started a relationship with someone else. Yes, he’d told her that he’d chosen her over Alice, but actions always spoke louder than words. Where was he now? On his way to her. To Alice. Wren shook her head. She felt completely stupid and utterly used. A sharp, stabbing pain started throbbing in her chest, and she thought for a moment that her heart possibly really had broken. Before she could dwell on that too much, Ben clapped his hands for attention.
“Alright, everyone listen up! The wrong sort of people are on their way to us. We have to organize ourselves into a defensive team so we’re ready for their arrival. There isn’t much that we can use in the way of weapons in here, but if we cover the most likely exits and lay in wait, we should be able to take them out one at a time. Don’t leave any alive.”
The moon was shining through the glass ceiling parts and the windows. It was just enough light to sh
ow them the crazed gleam in his eyes. A collective shudder went through the group. They were afraid of how Ben was looking, but they were more afraid not to do what he was telling them. Even though he was looking like he would lose his grip on reality at any moment, this was what he was good at, and so they did as he said anyway.
Wren was a little worried about the level of aggression that Ben was starting to portray, and it made her worry for him as well as the rest of the group. He was completely stuck on this beating the gang that had murdered his wife, and he wasn’t going to let anyone survive. He had a bit of a scorched earth attitude, and he only was going to start healing after he’d killed every last one of them. Wren was worried what that might mean for the rest of the group, but she had to look at it from every angle. If Ben ended up showing them how to defend themselves and keep themselves safe, then did it really matter what his motives behind it were?
Wren decided to go with what Ben had told them. Her first priority was the family she now was leading in place of Garrett. If it meant taking Ben’s advice and direction to do that, then so be it. She felt like she was adrift in a raft, and the paddles she needed were back on the shore. Yes, she’d had some experience with running a family, but times had been different then. Now, there was no way of knowing where food was going to come from, or who was going to be after them. There was no way of knowing what was going to happen from day to day, but she was going to do what she could to protect those she was responsible for.
Chapter Seven
Garrett had wanted to go right back to the factory, but something in his gut wouldn’t let him. Something told him there still could be someone here, afraid or hurt and needing help. He pulled himself back onto his bicycle and did his best to pedal all through the town. The pain came back, but he pushed on. His eyes started to get heavy, and a few times he found himself nodding off as he rode. Maybe getting off the bike and sitting down for a minute or two to rest would help him in the long run.
There was a small municipal park on the next street over, and it had a ring of benches around a beautiful fountain with a mermaid centerpiece. Garrett wearily pedaled over to it, doing a double take when he saw the fountain. The electricity didn’t cycle the water through the fountain anymore, and it was stagnant, teeming with mosquitos. That was something Garrett absolutely hated. Yes, it was summer. So, yes, the little suckers had to be around, but he always had done everything he could to keep them away. A crawling sensation wiggled over his skin, and he couldn’t approach the fountain. The mermaid was green with mold that no one had bothered to clean off, and it looked more like a drowned gravestone than a fountain. He pedaled a little way up the trail to a bench that wasn’t so close to the mosquitoes. There, he leaned his bike against the back and made his way around the front to sit down.
Garrett stretched his limbs, trying to will away the cramps and the pain, but they had sapped so much of his energy he knew it was a good thing he was sitting down now before he fell down later. He leaned against the back of the bench, trying to stretch out muscles that he hadn’t used in who knows how long. His eyes caught the night sky. It really was beautiful. He remembered back to a night he and Brooke had spent together before the divorce. She’d had some kind of lesson on astronomy in science, and he’d decided to make a father-daughter date to show her some of the constellations she was learning about. She’d been right by his side, wide-eyed, and hanging on every word he’d said. He smiled, looking for some of the constellations that he’d pointed out to her that night. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.
Garrett hadn’t been asleep for very long when the far-off sound of gunfire startled him awake. He sat up quickly, in a panic, then bit down on a scream. That sudden motion ripped into him with such pain that he got dizzy, and almost lost what he’d eaten for dinner. Fear and panic didn’t dilute quite so easily as pain, however, and his eyes darted around him fast as lightning, trying to see if there was any immediate danger to him. He closed his eyes and perked up his ears. He slowly revolved in place until he thought he was facing the direction of the shots. He opened his eyes. His heart sank and his breath caught in his throat. The shots were coming from the direction of the factory. He swore under his breath. Why had he stayed in this God forsaken town? His girls were in trouble. They needed him and he wasn’t there to protect them. Garrett clamored back onto his bike. He had no idea what he was going to do yet, but he would figure that out on the way. Right now, he just had to get there.
“Garrett?” The voice was soft and warm, and yet it froze him in his tracks as if someone had put a knife to his throat.
He looked around until he saw a shadow emerge from one of the houses bordering the little park. The figure walked toward him, agonizingly slowly, until it was out from under the cover of the buildings and in the light of the moon. It was Alice. She stood there, with little Seth clutched to her chest, fast asleep and oblivious to the world around him. He was shocked. Surely he was still asleep and this was all just a dream, brought on by the frustrations that he felt because he had no idea where to start looking for them. Nothing in the world was going right, and yet, here they were in front of him. No, it was too unreal.
“Alice.” The whisper escaped him before he could stop himself. She smiled at him and pressed herself against his chest. His arms went up automatically to hold her, staying conscious of the fact that Seth now was between them, and they didn’t want to crush the little tyke. Feeling them in his arms assured him that they were, indeed, real. He thanked his lucky stars that this chance had brought them back together. For a moment or two, he simply lost himself in their reunion. He didn’t want to let them go, because he was now of the mind that the second he let go, something bad would happen. His shirt started to feel wet, and with a start he realized Alice was crying. He wiped her tears and held her, waiting for her shuddering but silent sobs to abate.
“What happened?” He had to put his hands gently on her shoulders and push her back from himself to get her to focus.
“The gang. The one that’s been hassling us since we came to live with Austin. They attacked. Some of Austin’s men ran out to try stopping them, but they were mowed down. Austin put us in the house for safekeeping, then left to go help his men.” Tears had started to choke her voice, and Garrett pulled her back into his calming embrace. He held her for a few minutes, then had to ask the question that was plaguing his mind.
“What happened to Austin?” His voice was steely, and it made Alice stiffen. Whether it was in defense of Austin, anger in general, or just a reaction to the harshness of his voice, he didn’t know, and he didn’t think he wanted to know.
“I don’t know. After he put us in that house, I never saw him again. At first, when I saw someone over here, I thought it was him coming back for us. Then I saw that it was you.”
He didn’t know how he felt about her hoping Austin was the one coming back, but he told himself it was natural for her to be looking for Austin because he was the one who put them in the safety of that house and the one who had been providing for her and her son for the last few days. A chill ran down Garrett’s spine, and he got the awful sensation that Austin was somewhere nearby, watching them. He needed to get them all out of there.
“Alice, we need to find a police car and get out of this town.”
She instantly sobered up and he recognized her no nonsense face. Once she had made up her mind to do something, she always followed through. She had a mission, now, and that mission was to get her and her child out of harm’s way, as well as staying out of Austin’s clutches. All of her focus went to that.
“Come with me. I think I know where we can find one that still has the keys in the ignition.”
Good. It looked like some of his preparations and ways of thinking had rubbed off on her after all. This couldn’t be a better time for it. She started to lead the way away from the park, and Garrett followed her as quickly as he could. His body was now stiff from sitting on the bench as well as wracked with pain because o
f his injuries, which he still hadn’t recovered from. Garrett expected to be assaulted by either Austin or the gang members at every turn, but they made it without incident to the parking area that held all the police cars.
“That went surprisingly well, I think.” He was trying to lighten the mood, because the tension was getting so thick.
Alice opened the passenger door for him and helped him in as best she could. Once he was situated, she handed him the sleeping baby. Garrett looked down into that little peaceful face and pure love welled up in him. That little boy had no idea what was going on in the world around him, and if Garrett had anything to do with it, he never would.
“I think I should drive. You look like you could pass out at any moment. Why would you come after us in the condition that you’re in? You could have died.”
It was a gentle rebuke, not really a scolding, and Garrett sighed heavily. It was true. He shouldn’t be driving right now, especially since it was taking everything he had in him to stay conscious, but he didn’t want her to be treating him like a child, either. She was a mother, yes, but she wasn’t his mother. That meant she didn’t get to tell him what to do. He was the leader of their group, and he knew what had to be done. Granted, he also knew when he was overdoing it, so he decided to let her drive.
“I couldn’t leave you somewhere that I didn’t know was one hundred percent safe and prepared to keep you alive.”
He looked up and their eyes locked. Both of them melted a little as they looked at each other, then Alice quickly looked away, closing the door and starting the car. She’d thought she would be okay with him belonging to Wren now, but she didn’t know if that was the whole truth anymore. Garrett was feeling torn now as well, and neither one of them wanted to admit it to the other.
