Evergreen

by Cox, Matthew S.

  “He tried to hurt my sister and he hit my brother. I don’t like him anymore.”

  “It’s admirable of you to take pity on a kid with mental problems, but he could wind up hurting someone else if he’s not detained.” The bald guy took two steps in the direction she pointed. “Damn, that kid’s moving. Probably not gonna catch him before he’s past the town limit, but we should check anyway in case he tries to break in somewhere. And, he’s got no provisions. Better for him if we find him.”

  “Holy crap. Those kids are out here barefoot.” Dennis gestured at them. “We need to get ’em inside before they lose toes.”

  Fred gestured off at the woods. “Roy, you and Cliff go after Tyler. Dennis, try to find that kid he stabbed. I’ll head back and check with Anne-Marie, figure out which house he was in so we at least know where to start looking for the boy. Sound a three-blast if you locate the kid.”

  Dennis nodded.

  Fred looked at Harper. “You go on and take the kids inside before they get frostbite.”

  “And be more particular about boyfriends.” Roy, the bald cop, patted her on the arm. “Whole busload of teens came in last night. Hockey team or some such thing… and their cheerleaders. They got stranded on a class trip when the nukes went off. Plenty of boys around your age now.”

  Harper rolled her eyes, but also breathed a mental sigh of relief at not being in trouble for letting him go. “I’m not desperate for a boyfriend. I dunno why I even thought that way about Tyler. I’m way too messed up emotionally to even think about dating anyone right now.”

  “Broken rabbit,” muttered Madison between chattering teeth. “You always wanna fix the hurt animals. You knew he was hurt.”

  Cliff and Roy hurried off in the direction Tyler had gone. Dennis ran south, hunting for the boy Tyler supposedly stabbed. Fred grabbed Jonathan and Madison by a fistful of jacket and pushed them into Harper.

  “Your family is freezing. Get them inside. And get yourself inside. You’ve only got a T-shirt on.”

  Harper slung the shotgun over her shoulder. “Okay.”

  The cold finally hit her. She grabbed at Jonathan’s hand, but the kids hugging chest-to-chest inside her coat made it almost impossible to walk anywhere. She struggled to pick them up, but couldn’t—not both at once.

  Fred slung his hunting rifle. “I got ’em.”

  He scooped both kids up in his arms and carried them with Harper leading the way back home. Fred set them down near the house and jogged off down Hilltop Drive on his way to the mayor’s building to wake Anne-Marie up.

  Compared to the outside, the house still felt warm despite the fire having died down.

  “We’re all too cold. C’mon.” Harper shut the back door. “We gotta huddle together under blankets, quick.”

  The kids shed the coat and tossed it over a chair in the dining room. Harper headed to her room, gasping at the chill from the window still being open. Gritting her teeth, she walked into the frigid breeze and closed the window.

  Not at all caring that Jonathan stood nearby, she changed into her nightdress as fast as she could, then gathered her two siblings in bed, cuddling them close and shivering. The kids’ legs against hers felt like rubbery icicles.

  “Can you feel your toes?” whispered Harper.

  “Yeah, but they’re cold.” Madison huddled close on her left.

  Jonathan rested his head on her shoulder. “I still think you should’a at least hit him.”

  Harper chuckled. Yeah. No way am I sleeping tonight.

  Cold gradually warmed to cozy as they shared body heat under multiple layers of covers. Madison fell asleep first. Jonathan passed out soon after.

  Harper kept staring at the darkness since she couldn’t see the ceiling. Losing Tyler still somehow hurt, and she hated the world all over again for taking that away from her on top of everything else. She snuggled tighter with her siblings, begging the universe to leave them alone at least until they grew up.

  The back door creaked open a while later. Harper threaded her arm out from under the covers and grasped the shotgun leaning against the wall. Slow footsteps came down the wall, hovering outside her door. If Tommy’s head appeared, she’d blow it straight off.

  “If you’re awake,” whispered Cliff. “It’s just me.”

  She relaxed and eased the shotgun down, hastily yanking her arm back into the warm world under the covers. “Yeah. What happened?”

  Cliff peered around the doorjamb into the room, barely a silhouette she could perceive. “That boy’s quick. We didn’t catch him. If he comes back, we’ll give him a nice room at the sheriff’s old office.”

  “What about the boy?” whispered Harper.

  “Found him. Slice above the ear, lot of blood but not much of a threat.”

  She exhaled hard. “Nice.”

  “Oh, one more thing.” Cliff walked up beside the bed, evidently carrying something sizable.

  “What?” Harper strained to see what he had in his arms.

  “Someone wanted a sleep over.” He pivoted into the moonlight, revealing a sleeping Lorelei. So thin and frail, she looked like a large doll.

  “Aww…”

  Cliff pulled the covers up and set the girl down on top of Harper. “Gonna need to get a second bed in here.”

  “She’s staying?” whispered Harper, pulling the girl onto her chest.

  “Yeah. Can’t exactly leave her alone, can we? And the little bugger kinda likes you. Now, go to sleep, young lady.”

  Harper stuck out her tongue.

  “I saw that.”

  She pulled it back in and stifled a giggle.

  Epilogue

  Home

  Harper sat on the tiny concrete slab porch in front of her home, gazing off into a clear December sky. The shotgun across her lap didn’t even feel strange anymore.

  Something like two weeks had gone by since she’d told Tyler to run. The militia hadn’t seen him since, but at least the boy he attacked would be okay. Stitches and antiseptic, which the medical center still had, did the trick. Lorelei had gained a little weight, but still remained thinner than what Harper considered normal. Still, she improved. The girl settled in as a member of the family with eager smiles. She’d been sad over Tyler for a few days, but as far as she’d been told, he’d become too sick to take care of her. Thinking of ‘medicated Tyler,’ Harper explained that he loved her and hated having to leave, but he had a dangerous sickness that could hurt other people.

  Sharing a bed with a ten- and six-year-old (even an undersized one) redefined cozy. That room could accommodate two twin beds, but there wouldn’t be much space for anything else. Not like they needed a spot for a computer desk or TV. Much like the 1800s, they only went into the bedroom to sleep. For now, she didn’t mind the sharing. The same way Madison had become a sort of living teddy bear for her to cling to at night, her little sister had adopted Lorelei. Without the need to chase away frostbite, Jonathan happily returned to his own room, but he’d started asking Cliff when he’d be old enough to carry a handgun to protect his sisters.

  The militia went back to the Littleton Walmart twice more. Harper volunteered for the first trip, amazingly without a ton of protest from Madison beyond a ‘please be careful.’ She’d used her ‘looter’s privilege’ to fill two shopping bags with toothpaste and hygiene products, also grabbing some toys for the kids.

  Tommy had gone off the deep end, but his wrath didn’t focus on Harper. He’d stormed the militia HQ, demanding to know where they’d put his wife. Summer and Anne-Marie had evidently broken through to her and convinced her to leave him. Rachel refused to be anywhere near him, and in the ensuing meltdown, he’d pulled a gun. Walter took a bullet in the shoulder, which Doctor Khan removed. No one bothered extracting any bullets from Tommy’s corpse.

  That busload of teens Roy mentioned had been in Denver from Colorado Springs for a high school hockey game. The nuke went off not quite two hours before they would’ve left the hotel to go home. Their coa
ch randomly got the idea to head into the mountains thinking it safer from radiation, and they’d stumbled across Evergreen. A whole hockey team plus cheerleaders, two coaches, and two parent chaperones with nowhere else to go, decided to stay. At least Violet had some help now. One of the parents had been a math teacher, one coach a gym teacher, the other taught at the attached elementary. They might even split the kids into multiple classrooms. The students, a mix of juniors and seniors, wouldn’t be going to school anymore, except for one kid who might wind up apprenticing with the doctors.

  Christmas would come next Tuesday, but it still didn’t seem like anyone had any intention of noticing. For too many, it would remind them of family lost. Too soon for happy thoughts to intrude on the somberness of mourning. Harper sighed. Thinking of her parents hanging ornaments from years past didn’t make her cry. Their death had gone from intensely painful to a subdued but heavy sorrow she’d likely carry for the rest of her life.

  Crunching footsteps approached down Hilltop Drive.

  She looked up at Fred Mitchell lugging a bundle of pine branches stuffed in a coffee can to approximate the shape of a Christmas tree, decorated with blue and red smushed soda cans. He smiled and waved on the way by.

  A laugh started, but emerged as a wistful sigh. She returned his wave and smile, and resumed staring off into the clouds, reconsidering her opinion that no one would care about holidays anymore. Perhaps the gloominess came from her, not the world.

  “Hey… Dad, Mom?” whispered Harper. “I’m not sure if you’re out there in any sort of way, maybe watching us. You guys never believed in that stuff.” She let out a long sigh. “It’s so messed up. Months ago, I never would’ve imagined even punching someone. I’ve killed people. I’m so, so sorry I froze up and got you killed, Dad.”

  She sat there for a while, listening for an answer that wouldn’t come. The Dad she knew would forgive her for that, happy she’d kept herself and Madison alive.

  “I guess the world’s changed. It’s not coming back any time soon. I’ve changed, too. Mom, you always said ‘you can’t un-break eggs’ right? This is my world now. Our world. Me and Maddie’s… and Jon and Lorelei.” Harper brushed her hand over the shotgun. This is Dad’s legacy. All I’ve got left of him. “You’re still here, Dad. Still keeping us safe. I won’t give up without a fight, and I’m not gonna let anyone hurt us. I’m gonna give Maddie her Christmas present. I’m not gonna die.”

  Harper bowed her head and wiped a tear.

  “I’m not gonna die, Dad. I wish you were still here. Yeah, I know I’m still a kid. Ammo won’t last forever, but Cliff’s teaching me how to defend myself. He’s a Ranger, and I guess they’re kinda like badasses or something. And, honestly, this world isn’t all bad. The people here are pretty decent, even Mr. Rosales. He’s still whining about being useless since no one needs lawyers anymore. Even that celebrity guy Lucas is pretty cool. He finally got over losing all that money. You know he was a plumber before he became famous?”

  She leaned back, letting the breeze push her hair off her face. Having a day off felt strange. Nowhere to be, no school, no work, no worries—well no worries beyond watching over three kids. It had been months since she’d heard—or even thought about—music, but for no particular reason, she hummed Fight Song. With each note, an upwelling of confidence grew stronger. Harper squeezed the shotgun and smiled, firm in her decision to stay with the militia.

  Guess I’m not a mouse anymore. Heh. She hummed a few more notes from the song. No idea where it came from, but I’ve got a lot of fight left in me.

  “So, yeah, Mom… Dad… if you’re out there somewhere, I want you to know I’m okay. It’s primitive and weird, and sure the future’s kinda scary, but Evergreen is home.”

  Brett Cooper and his sister Nicole, the people who lived three houses away on the opposite side of the street, went by lugging a sad excuse for a decorated tree. Before everything went to pieces, Harper would’ve laughed at it, but now… it gave her a sense of hope.

  Her butt had gone numb from sitting on concrete.

  She stood, brushed off the seat of her pants, and turned to go inside.

  The front door opened fast. Madison, Jonathan, Lorelei, Becca, Christopher, and Mina ran outside, everyone—except Mina—waving at her as they rushed by to play in the front yard with a Frisbee. Mina had dialed back the eeriness and greeted her with an ‘oh hi there’ glance. Harper smiled and started to walk into the house, but froze halfway in the door at the sight of Madison’s iPhone on the coffee table.

  “Maddie?”

  Her sister looked over with a ‘hmm?’ expression.

  “You forgot your phone.”

  “Oh. It’s broken.” Madison shrugged. “No one has phones anymore. I don’t need it.”

  Harper covered her mouth and leaned against the doorjamb, speechless, watching Madison running after the Frisbee and laughing with her friends. She’d carried that stupid dead iPhone everywhere as if it were a precious infant for months. Perhaps Madison hadn’t been as broken as Harper feared. She glanced back at the abandoned phone. Part of her wanted to break down in tears again, but she didn’t.

  Hope, something she’d almost left behind in Lakewood, held them at bay.

  She stepped inside, pulled the storm door closed to keep the heat in, and gazed out the window past laughing children scattered around the front yard at the early afternoon sky.

  Maybe the future won’t totally suck after all.

  fin

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you for reading Evergreen!

  Additional thanks to Lee Hargrove for editing.

  Thanks to Alexandria Thompson for the cover design.

  Additional thanks to Alexandria Thompson for the cover art!

  About the Author

  Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the “Divergent Fates” world, in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, The Harmony Paradox, and the Daughter of Mars series take place. Along with editing for Curiosity Quills press, he has worked in IT and technical support.

  Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, developer of two custom RPG systems (paper & dice), and a fan of anime, British humour, and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.

  He is also fond of cats, presently living with two: Loki and Dorian.

  Visit me online at:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewSCoxAuthor

  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/matthewcox10420/

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7712730.Matthew_S_Cox

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/mscox_fiction

  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mscox.author/

  Email: mcox2112@gmail.com

  Other books by Matthew S. Cox

  Divergent Fates Universe Novels

  Division Zero series

  Division Zero

  Lex De Mortuis

  Thrall

  Guardian

  The Awakened series

  Prophet of the Badlands

  Archon’s Queen

  Grey Ronin

  Daughter of Ash

  Zero Rogue

  Angel Descended

  Daughter of Mars series

  The Hand of Raziel

  Araphel

  Ghost Black

  Virtual Immortality series

  Virtual Immortality

  The Harmony Paradox

  Divergent Fates Anthology

  (Fiction Novels - Adult)

  The Roadhouse Chronicles Series

  One More Run

  The Redeemed

  Dead Man’s Number

  Faded Skies series

  Heir Ascendant

  Ascendant Unrest

  Ascendant Revolution

  Temporal Armistice Series

  Nascent Shadow

 
The Shadow Collector

  The Gate to Oblivion

  Vampire Innocent series

  A Nighttime of Forever

  A Beginner’s Guide to Fangs

  The Artist of Ruin

  The Last Family Road Trip

  Standalones

  Wayfarer: AV494

  Axillon99

  Chiaroscuro: The Mouse and the Candle

  The Far Side of Promise anthology

  Operation: Chimera (with Tony Healey)

  The Dysfunctional Conspiracy (with Christopher Veltmann)

  Winter Solstice series (with J.R. Rain)

  Convergence

  Containment

  Catalyst

  Alexis Silver series (with J.R. Rain)

  Silver Light

  Deep Silver

  Samantha Moon Origins series (with J.R. Rain)

  New Moon Rising

  Moon Mourning

  Maddy Wimsey series (with J.R. Rain)

  The Devil’s Eye

  The Drifting Gloom

  Samantha Moon Case Files series (with J.R. Rain)

  Blood Moon

  Dead Moon

  Young Adult Novels

  Caller 107

  The Summer the World Ended

  Nine Candles of Deepest Black

  The Eldritch Heart

  The Forest Beyond the Earth

  Out of Sight