Ethan grinned and stared at the man for several moments before shaking his head. “That’s not going to happen.”
Percy frowned. His fingers twisted against the clasp again as he scrunched up his nose.
“Maybe you should take me, Miss Kate? Ain’t nobody better than you at killing those Unholy creatures,” Percy said with wide eyes. “It’s just that this garden would keep folks out of trouble and give us fresh produce. Could be real good for all of us.”
Kate hadn’t needed convincing on the garden part, but maybe Percy’s idea wasn’t that bad. She hadn’t been outside the fence in a while, and things inside had been going rather smoothly. They definitely wouldn’t miss her for a few hours.
“I’ll take you,” Kate said.
Percy’s fingers stopped moving. “That would be real kind of you, Miss Kate. Real kind.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ethan asked, his voice low as he took a step closer to Kate.
“It’s thirty miles. Won’t take much time. You can handle things around here while I’m gone,” Kate said, leaning back in her chair.
Ethan’s head moved up and down as his lip curled up at the end. “I could, but I won’t be able to because I’ll be driving.”
“That’s not necessary,” Kate said holding up her palm. “I need you to stay here.”
“Can you give us a moment, please?” Ethan asked barely glancing in Percy’s direction.
Percy lowered his head. “Not a problem, I’ll wait outside.”
The second the door closed, Ethan crossed his arms and stared into Kate’s eyes. “I’m coming along. This is not something I’m going to negotiate.”
Kate blinked. “Oh, please.”
“If you’re going, then I’m going.”
It would be better for everyone if y—”
“Tommy and Wayne can manage just fine without us for a couple of hours,” Ethan said taking another step closer. His jaw was stiff, and his eyes were glued to Kate’s as he approached.
The chair squeaked as Kate moved it back. She stood, and they were face to face with only inches between them. Kate could tell Ethan wasn’t going to back down, or away, even if it meant he’d run after them and jump into the bed of the truck.
Kate stepped away from him and looked out of the window. She knew it wasn’t a battle she was going to win. She sighed as she studied the nearby building.
Ethan stepped up behind her, and she sensed that he was inside her space again. Kate didn’t turn around to verify that she was right.
“I know you can take care of yourself, but Percy can’t. He never took the training, and now he wants to go out there… It’s just better to have someone watching his back,” Ethan said placing his hand on Kate’s shoulder. She ignored the warmth that radiated out from his touch.
“I can watch his back.”
“Then I’ll watch yours.”
Kate rolled her eyes and smirked. “If it makes you happy you can tag along.”
Ethan chuckled. He looked down at his feet for a moment, but when his eyes shifted up to meet hers, he was wearing a smile that heated her body just as much as his touch had.
Kate forced herself to look away. She cleared her throat and straightened her spine.
“It makes me happy,” Ethan whispered close to her ear.
Kate let out a breath and walked across the room. She stopped at the door and placed her hand on the knob. She turned halfway and looked over her shoulder in Ethan’s direction.
“Go tell Tommy and Wayne they’re in charge, and I’ll tell Percy the good news,” Kate said. She started to open the door, but Ethan’s hand clamped down on hers. Kate turned and looked up into his dark brown eyes.
He shook his head. “Nice try, Kate. Let’s tell them together.”
Chapter 2
Kate climbed into the truck and slid in close to Ethan, making sure to give Percy enough space. Percy was a thin, older man, but she still felt squished between the two men.
“Ready?” Ethan said inserting the keys into the ignition.
“Yep,” Kate said, but noticed Percy twitching out of the corner of her eye. She turned to him, her eyes narrowed.
“My son,” Percy said jerking his thumb back.
Kate looked over her shoulder just as a man who looked like a thirty-year-old version of Percy climbed into the back of the truck. He waved and smiled at Kate before sitting down with his back against the side of the truck bed.
“You didn’t mention anything about your son,” Kate said, her eyebrows squeezed tightly together.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I… I didn’t think it would be a problem,” Percy said as he adjusted the brim of his hat. “I can tell him to skidattle if you’d like. He always helped me on the farm… knows it like the back of his hand.”
Kate glanced at Ethan, and he shrugged. She forced a smile at the man in the back of the truck, and he tipped his hat in her direction.
“What is your son's name?” Kate asked.
“Robby, er, well, I guess he likes to be called Rob now, but it’s been thirty-two years, and I haven’t been able to stop calling him Robby yet.” Percy shook his head as he laughed at himself. Probably reminiscing about a time when things had been different with his family.
Ethan shifted the truck into drive, slowly making his way to the gate. The guard swiftly opened it and saluted as Ethan drove by.
“Haven’t been out of that town since the day we arrived,” Percy said looking out at the horizon. “It’s much the same only different.”
“How long had you been there?” Kate asked too curious to keep her mouth closed.
“Oh, not long after those things started roaming the countryside,” Percy said pressing his lips together tightly. “Robby helped Simon build and set up the town.”
Ethan stretched his arm out on the back of the seat behind Kate. She stared at the dusty dashboard pretending not to notice.
“They were there even before I arrived,” Ethan said glancing in Percy’s direction. “Didn’t you say you used to attend that church before everything happened?”
“Sure did. Marge and I drove into town every Sunday. Course, back then mass was led by Father Cyrus, not Simon. He was a good man. Those were the days.” Percy gripped his hands together tightly, making his knobby knuckles even more noticeable. Kate figured the condition of his hands was probably due to years and years of working on a farm. “Yep, yep, yep, I’d give anything to go back in time even if it were just for a day.”
Kate smiled, but she didn’t agree with the man, and oddly, neither had Ethan. She didn’t want to go back to her life before… answering phones so she could live paycheck to paycheck. Although she did miss movies. And electricity. Indoor plumbing. Running water. What she wouldn’t give for a warm shower.
“Which way?” Ethan asked as he approached an intersection.
“Oh, that’s right.” Percy chuckled. “Suppose you don’t know the way. Take a left. It’ll be a solid twenty before we need to worry about the next turn.”
The road was clear for as far as Kate could see. If there were any Unholy in the area, they kept themselves well-hidden which was a good thing. The further they stayed away from Percy and Robby the easier their adventure would be.
Ethan made his way down the road, slowing to go around a large tree branch that stretched out into the road like a gnarled finger. Percy seemed far too interested in the scenery to even notice. Kate wondered if in his mind, he was seeing things as they’d been before the outbreak.
Over her shoulder, she could see Robby staring out down the road behind them. Like father, like son. When she turned forward again, she caught Ethan glancing in her direction out of the corner of her eye.
Kate was suddenly more aware of his arm stretched out behind her. She swallowed and turned toward him. When their eyes locked her insides warmed. It felt like tiny fireworks going off inside her stomach.
Ethan’s chest rose as his eyes moved down to her lips. After a far too long
glance, he turned back toward the road, but only for a second before looking into her eyes again.
The air between them felt tight, like a stretched-out rubber band. Kate’s heart began to pound like a bass drum as she stared back into his deep brown eyes.
“Turn right,” Percy said, and Kate practically jumped out of her skin as the rubber band snapped. Kate’s head was out of the clouds and her surroundings cleared.
Down the road, Kate could see a large farm with an overgrown yard and fields covered in dead weeds. Percy started shifting in his seat.
“It used to be something else.” Percy’s voice cracked. He lightly elbowed Kate and gestured at the yard with his chin. “You would have loved it, Miss Kate.”
“I’m sure I would have,” Kate said with a tight-lipped smile.
The truck bounced up and down as Ethan drove down the bumpy driveway. He parked near the house, and Robby was out of the back of the truck before Ethan cut the engine.
Kate followed Ethan out of the driver’s side of the truck while Percy took his time getting out of the passenger side. When she looked up, Ethan was standing inches from her looking down into her eyes. Her breath felt like it was stuck in her throat.
“Be alert,” Ethan said before stepping away from her and shoving the keys to the truck into his front pocket.
Kate breathed deeply, noticing both the stillness and the staleness of the air. She scanned the area for wandering Unholy, but there wasn’t any movement for as far as she could see.
Ethan pulled out his blade as he nervously looked around. She couldn’t help but notice his shoulders were tensed.
“We keep the seeds in the basement,” Robby said as he walked past Ethan heading toward the house.
“Hold up,” Ethan said jogging to get ahead of Robby. “Let me check it out first, just in case one of those things is hanging around inside.”
“Be my guest,” Robby said bowing his head slightly as he waved his hand toward the door.
Kate slowed her pace to walk at Percy’s side. He adjusted the brim of his hat with his shaking fingers as he looked out toward the fields.
Ethan slowly opened the front door and looked inside the house. His knees were slightly bent, and he gripped his blade tightly holding it up as though he expected The Unholy to launch themselves at him. He relaxed slightly as he stepped into the home.
Robby was at his heels. The screen door slammed shut before Kate, and Percy even reached the porch.
“Miss Kate?” Percy said stopping abruptly. The man’s hands sounded like sandpaper as he rubbed them together briskly.
“Yes?” Kate asked narrowing her eyes.
Percy let out a heavy breath and refused to look at her. “I think you’re doing a great job with the town. Just wanted you to know that.”
“Okay, thanks,” Kate said shifting her weight from one foot to the other. It was almost as if Percy’s nervousness was contagious. “Everything all right?”
“Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Being back here is just, well, I don’t know. I don’t have the words to describe it.” His head bobbed as he started to walk toward what had once been his home.
Kate followed Percy up the creaky stairs and into the house where Robby and Ethan were waiting. Ethan’s eyes moved from wall to wall as he checked out the dusty, rustic decor.
“Any day now, dad,” Robby said groaning immaturely.
“You know I’m not as spry as I once was,” Percy said, scratching his head with his middle finger.
Robby elbowed Ethan and gestured at the hallway. “That way.”
Ethan nodded and headed down the hall slowly checking every room as he walked by. Before he reached the end of the hallway, Robby cleared his throat.
“Door on your left,” Robby said.
As Ethan made his way slowly down the stairs with Kate a couple steps behind, she could hear Robby whispering something to Percy. She glanced back just as Robby stepped out with a big smile on his face.
“Dad’s going to wait upstairs. Is it safe down there?” Robby asked.
Kate stared at him noticing something about Robby that she couldn’t quite place. There was something about his smile that reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on who it might be.
“All clear,” Ethan called out.
Kate moved down the stairs looking around the dank, mildew-scented basement. There was junk, and soggy boxes stacked in every corner and against every wall. A pair of old rusted shovels leaned against a utility sink that was covered in several layers of grime and filth.
She thought she saw something small moving in the corner behind a broken, stained recliner that hadn’t been used in years.
“Where are the seeds?” Ethan asked as he turned around in a slow circle.
“Oh, over there,” Robby said, pointing to the shelf against the wall opposite the stairway. He stopped and looked into the sink and scrunched up his nose.
Kate followed Ethan to the back wall. Both of them scanned the shelf, looking for packets of seeds. There was a loud clanking noise behind them, and Kate turned sharply.
“What was that?” Kate asked.
Robby smiled and shook his head. His hands were behind his back. “Knocked something over.”
Kate looked him up and down before turning back to the shelf. She reached out and moved things around, but she couldn’t find anything that even slightly resembled seeds.
“Might need to get your dad to come down here after all,” Ethan said. “I have no idea what I’m looking for.”
“Oh, we don’t need to trouble him. That’s what I’m here for. I can help,” Robby said, Kate could hear his feet tapping on the floor as he made his way closer.
Kate leaned to the side and pulled a box off of the shelf. She took off the lid, but there wasn’t anything inside but some old pictures. Kate placed the box back on the shelf, and as she turned toward Ethan and Robby, a thud, followed by a metallic rattling noise filled the air.
She didn’t realize what had happened until Ethan’s eyes rolled back and he dropped to the ground. Robby was standing there with the rusty shovel in hand.
“What did you do?” Kate said taking a step back as she reached for her gun.
She didn’t get to it quick enough. Robby had been too fast. The last thing she saw before the world turned black was the back side of the shovel coming toward her head.
Chapter 3
Kate faded in and out of consciousness. She couldn’t focus on anything, but she could feel something tugging at her hands.
“Hurry up, boy,” a raspy, older voice said. It was familiar, but it sounded so far away that Kate couldn’t place it. Her head ached and pounded so badly that she felt as though she was surrounded by a thick fog. Everything started to fade away to blackness, stopping only when someone spoke. Kate grabbed on to the voice.
“He’d want me to kill them, dad,” the voice said, as something tightened around her ankles. Someone was there. Someone was with her.
She felt limp. Her limbs were like that of a rag doll as someone yanked and tugged and her feet. Kate could feel a tingling numbness in her hands and feet, but she couldn’t do anything to move the life back into them.
“You’re not going to shoot them. Not in my house,” the raspy voice scolded. “It’s not like you’ll need to. They’ll find them and finish them off.”
The man close to her chuckled.
Fingers grabbed her chin and held her lethargic face in place. She could see a faded outline of a person looking at her. She tried to blink… to focus, but her eyelids were too heavy.
“I wish I could kill you myself. I really owe it to him after everything he’s done for me. Well,I guess it’s your lucky day because my dad’s here, so I’ll do what he says.” The fingers loosened, and her head dropped to the side. “Oh, and thanks for the truck.”
She heard the taps on the floor as the person walked away. Creaks, followed by squeaks. And then… silence.
Kate couldn’t hold on
any longer. Once again, everything turned black.
“Kate!”
Her eyes watered as she blinked repeatedly. She was desperate to grab onto the familiar voice and come out of the darkness.
“Kate! Come on, wake up!” Ethan said.
“Ethan?” Kate’s voice scratched the back of her throat.
The room started to come into focus, and the sharper her surroundings became, the quicker her memories returned. Percy’s basement. Her head… she’d been hit.
Kate tried to move her arms but she couldn’t, they were tied behind her back. She started to move her legs but when they didn’t move either, her eyes caught the rope tied at her ankles.
Her eyes felt dry, and her eyelids scratched as panic set in. She couldn’t move.
“Kate,” Ethan said, the calmness of his voice didn’t ease her mind. “Are you all right?”
She looked down at her body expecting to see herself covered in blood, but there wasn’t anything there. Her eyes jerked to the corner of the room where something seemed to have moved. She recoiled, but the wall behind her stopped her from going anywhere.
“I… I don’t know,” Kate answered as her eyes darted around the room eventually settling on Ethan.
He was at least four feet from her with his back against the wall. His wrists were raw from trying to get himself free.
“They took our weapons,” Ethan said. His eyes shifted to whatever moved in the corner of the room.
“Okay,” Kate finally said taking in a deep breath. “Are you sure?”
She instinctively wanted to feel her hip, but her arms wouldn’t move close enough. Her eyes moved around the room stopping when she saw the shovel near the sink.
“If I can get over there,” Kate said wincing at the pain that throbbed at the side of her skull. She couldn’t finish her thought as she used the small amount of energy she could muster to wiggle her way toward the shovel.
All she needed to do was cut her way through the rope. Ethan continued to struggle against his ropes as he kept his eyes on her.
She looked up the stairs and noticed that Percy and Robby hadn’t bothered to close the door. Kate bounced again moving less than an inch each time she tried to propel herself closer to the shovel.
Falling Darkness Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller - Books 1-3 Page 19
