“Then maybe you can tell me what his deal is.”
“His ‘deal’?” Her pale eyebrows raised in question.
I threw my hands up. “Why he dislikes me so much.”
Clara’s nose wrinkled with displeasure, and she looked briefly menacing before moving to fold some loose blankets that had been piled on the floor. “I’m not sure. He’s never really explained it to me, and I try not to pry.” She looked at me like I was a problem she had to fix. Warning duly noted.
“Got it.” I had the sudden urge to get as far away from her as possible. “I’m going to check on Harper. Please let me know if Tanya needs anything,” I grumbled, leaving Tanya in Clara’s care.
I headed down the hall to Harper’s room. His door was shut, and I hoped he was getting some rest, so I made my way toward the mess hall instead. At finding Sarah and Biggs locked in an embrace, moaning and groping, I made a quick exit. I did not want to watch them making out on a cafeteria table. No thanks.
I wanted to sketch and needed some fresh air to collect my thoughts. After stopping by my room to pick up my messenger bag of drawing supplies, I burst through the main doors out into the sunshine. The air was chilly, but my hair was pulled back into a ponytail, allowing the sun to kiss my face and the back of my neck, warming my skin. I squinted, basking in the rays. The old me would have grabbed some sunblock to prevent more freckles from dressing my cheeks, but the new me quickly dismissed such trivialities.
As I wandered beyond the yard surrounding the barracks, I stepped off the sidewalk toward a cluster of trees. I spotted a small pond with a few pine trees scattered around it, creating the perfect oasis for me to think.
Except…Jake sat under one of the evergreens, absentmindedly carving something on a stick. I wasn’t in the mood to argue with him, but Cooper’s head rose at the sound of a twig breaking beneath my shoe.
Jake looked up before I could sneak away. “Is everything okay?”
I brushed away the suggestion of concern, knowing the question had probably been asked out of politeness. “Yeah, just getting some fresh air.”
Standing a few yards from him, I debated what to do. My words came out before I could stop them. “What’s your problem with me?” I asked, sounding more pathetic than I’d intended. “It’d be nice to know what I did to make you so grumpy.”
Frowning, Jake stood. I’d never seen someone look so frustrated for no apparent reason.
When he said nothing, I continued, “I barely know you, but you’re always irritated around me. Like I’ve offended you or something.”
“It’s not personal,” he said, like that was all the explanation I needed. He was just like my stupid brother, detached and in control all the time.
My curiosity melted away, and irritation solidified in its place. “Right,” I said. “So I should just ignore your bad attitude whenever I’m around you? Try not to let it affect me?”
He ignored my sarcasm. “I’m leaving soon, so it won’t be a problem,” he said, turning away dismissively.
I threw my hands in the air. “Oh, great! Well, as long as you won’t be around for long, I think I can manage.” His calm, collected arrogance was infuriating.
I turned to leave, needing to get away from him before I embarrassed myself with an unflattering outburst. I started to walk away, vowing I’d never bother him again, but hesitated. “Do you have any idea what it feels like to know someone saved your life, then wonder if they wished they hadn’t?” Keeping my back to him, I continued quietly, “It feels like shit.” I hadn’t realized the truth in those words until I’d spoken them out loud. “Merry Christmas,” I mumbled bitterly, wondering how much worse the coming year would be.
As I walked away, I heard Jake mutter, “Dammit.”
27
DANI
“Cam, No!” I screamed as my dead boyfriend’s decomposing body lunged at me.
“You abandoned me!” he yelled. Bloody spittle sprayed from his decaying lips. “You said you’d stay with me! Why’d you leave? For him?” He was pointing at a man suddenly standing beside me—Jason.
Cam altered his trajectory, instead attacking Jason, who was utterly unaware of our presence. As Cam pulled him to the ground, he began taking huge bites out of Jason’s neck and face. Jason did nothing to defend himself.
“NO!” I leapt at Cam but couldn’t grasp any part of his melting skin. I gagged.
He lifted his face and swallowed. “I’ll make him part of me—you’ll see. Then you’ll have to love me again.”
I gathered my strength, preparing to attack the man I had loved with all of my heart. Suddenly, I was crouched alone on a featureless, ash-gray floor.
“I’d planned to be here sooner,” MG said above me. “Sorry.”
“Whatever,” I rasped, standing again. “Not your job to look after me in my demented mind. Don’t worry about it.” Swallowing roughly, I replayed the image of a rotting Cam consuming Jason’s flesh. It was a new twist on the nightmare and almost more than I could take.
MG smirked. “You know…I think I might love you.”
“You’ll get over it,” I told him. “I figured it out, by the way.”
He quirked his lips, “You figured—ah…so what can you do?”
Like he didn’t already know. I squinted my eyes, feigning deep thought. “Well…I can speak four languages, and I’m really good with computers. And I can solve a mean differential equation.”
“Dani—”
I swatted his arm and strutted away. “Calm down, MG. I’m kidding! It’s the animals.”
“Which means…?”
Still facing away, I said, “It means I can talk to them. And they can talk to me. Well, not out loud—in their minds.”
He looked amazed. “Both ways? I haven’t seen that yet. What about people? Can you do them too?”
With a hand on my hip, I turned. “Did you really just ask me that?”
He smiled wickedly. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah. And I have no idea. I haven’t exactly been surrounded by people lately.”
“But I thought there were others with you?”
“Why would you think that? Are you spying on me?” I stalked toward him.
He rolled his eyes. “Calm down, Beastmaster. I could feel their sleeping minds near yours. Kind of an amazing Ability,” he said, pointing to himself.
“Right…”
MG, without warning, was instantly gone. Around me, a familiar expanse of beach replaced the ashen surroundings. Feeling a warm breeze on my bare skin, I realized I was once again in my bikini and was looking out at the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The rhythmic movement of the water was hypnotic. At least, it had been before a certain unrequested dream visitor rose out of the swells and slowly made his way toward the beach.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I muttered. Wearing only swim trunks, MG glistened as water streamed down his upper body in rivulets. His pale, toned abdomen and shoulders drew my attention—no matter how hard I tried to ignore them.
MG drank in my reaction, stopping several feet away.
I blushed intensely and narrowed my eyes. “Seriously? This is just too ridiculous!”
He chuckled, the noise making me bristle even more.
“Who are you anyway?” I snapped.
“I’m the only person who can help you learn to use your special little skill,” he responded. “Now, tell me why you’re suddenly alone.”
For some reason, I wanted to tell him why I’d left—I just wanted to tell someone…anyone. I needed another human to listen, to understand, and to say I’d done the right thing.
As I sat down on the warm sand and hugged my knees to my chest, MG crouched next to me. The words tumbled around in my head chaotically until I opened my mouth and they spilled out. I couldn’t have stopped them if I’d wanted to. By the time I finished speaking, MG knew everything about the situation with Cece and my departure from Fort Bragg. He even knew a little bit about my unrequite
d feelings for Jason.
At the conclusion of my story he asked, “So Jason—was he the one in the other dream? The guy who called you ‘Red’?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, wondering if it had been mistake to include any details about my feelings for another man. MG was right—I did need him to help me understand my Ability, and I couldn’t risk driving him off with inopportune jealousy.
MG shook his head. “He’d better appreciate what you’ve done for him.” Combined with the glint of admiration in his eyes, his words implied approval. He thought I’d done the right thing.
“Thank you.”
“So…what’ll you do now? Stay where you are?”
“I really don’t know,” I confessed. I wondered why he hadn’t invited me to join him wherever he was, considering how much he seemed to like me.
“Whatever you do, you need to learn to control your Ability.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think it’ll be that difficult. Once I realized I wasn’t losing my mind, talking to Jack and Wings became pretty easy.”
“I’m assuming you’re referring to your dog and horse?” I nodded, and he continued, “You can communicate with them, but what about other animals? Do you have to know them? Do they have to be near you? Can you talk to more than one at the same time? And what about people?”
Staring at the ocean’s foamy edge, I responded, “I guess I don’t know as much as I thought I did.”
“Which is why you have me,” he said, draping his arm over my shoulders and pulling me closer. I leaned against his warm skin, reveling in the first human touch I’d experienced in days. It wasn’t real, but that didn’t matter.
“You need to practice.” MG told me. “Seek out random animals with your mind, and try to converse with them. Experiment with what you can do…maybe pick one type of animal—preferably a harmless one—and call as many to you as you can.”
I nodded slowly. “Okay, I’ll work on it. What about the people thing? Can’t I try it on you?” I asked, hopeful that he would agree. If I could learn to talk to people in their minds, I might be able to talk to Zoe!
“If, and it’s a big ‘if,’ your Ability works on humans too, I’m probably too far away.”
“How far? Where are you?” I pulled away and looked into his pale blue eyes.
Studying me, he ran a hand through his chin-length blonde hair—it was curling at the ends as it dried. With a deep breath, he answered, “Like I said, too far.”
“Do you know anything about the Colony?”
“Yeah, some.”
“Do you know if it’s safe?”
He frowned slightly. “I’m really not sure.”
“That’s where my group is headed, eventually,” I explained wistfully.
After a long hesitation, MG asked, “Will you follow them?”
I thought about his question for a while. “I don’t know.”
He seemed to consider my answer but didn’t respond. Instead he said, “I have to go.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll see you again soon.” And with that I was alone.
I woke in the late morning and spent several hours readying a stall for Wings and inventorying my meager belongings. My supply of food was almost expended, with only two packages of freeze-dried meals and a few cups of kibble for Jack. It was time for some scavenging. After checking the ranch’s main house—a post and beam building that had been used more as an office than as a home for nearly a decade and therefore held little of use, food-wise—I knew I’d have to head into town.
Leaning against the white-washed pasture fence near the stable, I watched the goats and horses graze peacefully. “Wings,” I called silently.
The graceful Paint trotted to the fence.
“Jack and I will be gone for a few hours. We’re going to look for food.”
“Apples?” she asked eagerly.
I laughed and spoke out loud even though I didn’t need to. “I’ll look for apples. Will you be okay here alone?”
She snorted. “Not alone. Many friends.” She was right—a small herd of friendly horses and goats were munching on grass in the pasture behind her.
Remembering MG’s suggestion, I decided it was the perfect time to practice using my Ability…to experiment, as he’d said. Hesitantly, I opened my mind, attempting to reach out to all of the horses and goats meandering within the pasture’s fences. “Come to me,” I projected, and the thought reverberated like a gong.
In a small stampede, every horse and goat began to purposefully move toward me.
“Mother!” Jack called with worry. “Look!”
“Shit!” I hissed. More than just the ranch animals had heard my call.
Hundreds of small critters, from birds to squirrels to skunks, were scurrying through the grassy fields all around me. They were heading straight for me. As the first few came close enough to touch, I worried they would try to climb up my legs or gnaw on my boots, but my worry proved unnecessary. Those who were close enough sniffed me and rubbed their faces against my legs; the rest babbled eagerly in my head while they chattered and chirped aloud.
Within minutes I was surrounded by a multitude of animals, and in the distance, more were approaching—there were a few llamas, several dozen deer, and a variety of potential predators. At the sight of a large bobcat, I began to panic.
I shooed the animals with my arms and exclaimed, “Go away!”
They continued advancing, amplifying my panic. What do I do? Oh crap…oh crap…
It was time for some straw-grasping—I concentrated and remembered how it had felt when I’d called them to me. A myriad of connections snapped into existence between my mind and those of each of the creatures huddling and scurrying around me.
“Leave me, please. I’m really sorry for interrupting your day,” I said. There’s no way this is going to work.
Luckily, I was wrong. Hundreds of greetings and farewells flitted through my mind as the small horde of woodland creatures dispersed. I sighed. Great, I’m an apocalyptic Disney princess. Zoe is going to laugh her ass off.
Both shaken and relieved, I gathered the one animal I did want as a companion—Jack—and headed toward town with a large, empty backpack. I patted my coat to reassure myself the pistol was still holstered underneath it. Thank you, Jason, I mused.
During the mile-long walk, I used the bushes and trees to conceal myself as best I could. My self-defense skills were far from perfect, but my stealth skills were razor-sharp from hundreds of high school nights spent sneaking out with Zoe.
I was just creeping between a ragged thicket of evergreens and a stagnant pond when I saw movement on the nearby road. I quickly slipped behind the thick trunk of one of the pines and peeked around it to watch two men pass. They were repulsively dirty and periodically shoved each other, laughing whenever one of them stumbled. Are they drunk? Or Crazies? It didn’t matter—either way, they were dangerous.
Once they were out of sight, I slinked to the next cluster of trees. Very cautiously, I made my way to Grams’s backyard. Her house seemed like the best place to start my scavenging, especially since I knew where everything was. She’d always been a big believer in stocking up for a rainy day, though I’d always wondered how much rain would justify twenty cases of water and dozens of flats of canned tuna.
Crossing the barren winter garden, moving between redwood planter boxes filled with rows and bunches of herbs, veggies, and dormant berry bushes, I froze. Someone had just passed by the dining room window—their outline showing faintly against the sage-green linen curtains. Somebody’s in my house! Dammit! But…could it be Grams?
Painfully slowly, I inched back to the planter box at the farthest edge of the property and ducked behind an enormous rosemary bush. Unable to resist, I poked my head above the shrubbery and watched the window. Luckily, my green, cable-knit cap blended in better with the surroundings than my crimson locks.
The shadow reappeared minutes later, but I couldn’t identify the f
igure through the curtain. Come on. Look outside. Let me see your face.
Suddenly, the curtain moved to the side, and a familiar, perplexed face looked out into the garden. Crap! Jason! Crap!
I huddled closer to the ground, afraid to move…afraid to breathe…afraid to even think.
Seconds later, the back door flung open, and heavy footsteps thudded down the deck stairs. “Dani! Where are you?” Jason called out. At hearing him, I squeezed my eyes shut and my heart skipped several beats.
More footsteps followed, along with Chris’s baffled voice. “Jason, what are you doing?”
Jason’s voice was rough and insistent, a combination that shredded my heart. “Dani…I thought I heard her. Did you? She told me to look outside.”
He heard me. Holy crap…it works on people!
Without my vehement command that he lay down and be quiet, Jack would have launched himself across several empty planter boxes and tackled first Jason, and then Chris. I was tempted to do the same thing. Fighting against my own desperate desires was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. It was a struggle just to keep my thoughts from calling out to my friends.
More voices and footsteps thumped onto the deck. Slowly, I found a sparse spot in my herbaceous shield and watched a nightmare play out.
Cece stood feet away from Jason, pointing at him. “You all heard him! He’s hearing voices. He’s a crazy freak just like everyone else we find. We can’t keep following someone who isn’t even sane.”
What are you doing in my house, bitch?
With a haughty sneer, Cece turned away to face the handful of men gathered behind her on the deck—her harem. “We need a new leader. Someone who won’t make us stay in some little shit-stained town just to look for one whiny little bitch.”
What the hell is she doing? She’s insane!
Everyone but Chris and Jason nodded in agreement.
Where are the others? Where’s Ky? Where’s Hunter?
“Good,” Cece said smugly. “Now we just need to dispose of you.” Turning back to Jason and Chris, she drew her sidearm and trained it on Zoe’s brother. Her followers did the same, half aiming at Chris and half at Jason. Both of my friends stood as motionless as statues.
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