Cost of Survival
Page 37
Chapter 23
Rubbing my hands together, I huddled with Bodey and John in front of the old Chevelle. The separated hood protected us from the strongest gusts of the wind. We were too far from the center of the small town to hear any gun shots. While the Monaghans had a lot of people in their family, there weren’t so many members that it would take a long time to kill them all.
If the people killed the women.
My naiveté hadn’t lingered long enough with Mom’s experiences to believe men would simply kill women. Not when they could use them for other tasks.
“What are we going to do now?” My teeth chattered as I spoke and an involuntary shiver made me hunch my shoulders forward.
The stars disappeared and the moon faded in and out above us.
John squinted at the sky and around the yard. “To be honest, I’m hoping for rain. We’ll be safe and hopefully the soldiers will move on.”
“You saw soldiers? From who? Were they ours?” Bodey leaned forward, hands clenched at his sides.
John shook his head. “No, far as I could tell, they aren’t ours.”
“Does it matter whose they are?” I sighed. Everyone was bad by then. We were on our own. Good people were few and far between.
John nodded my way, stomping his feet. “You’re right, Kelly. I don’t think it does.” He leaned close to us, his face inches from ours. “I need to go help the Monaghans best I can. You two stay together. If I don’t come back—”
“What do you mean?” I broke in, a catch in my voice. If he didn’t come back? What was this? “You don’t have to go. Stay here.”
John held up his hands. “Listen, getting hurt is a possibility, always. So if I don’t make it back, you two need to get as close to Bayview as you can. They have a Naval submarine training site. There will be some serious militia men and they take protection very personally. You’ll be looking for a Captain Simon Phahn.”
He reached for both of us, gathering us into a tight embrace. A sinking feeling in my gut worried me I’d never see him again.
My brow furrowed and I clung a little longer than normal to him. He pulled back, winked at us and walked away, disappearing around a corner in the piles of junk all around us. I longed to chase him down, prevent something that I couldn’t understand.
Right then, the clouds opened and rain dropped around us.
On us.
Cool drops threatened to claim every last speck of warmth. John would be getting wet, too. He needed to come back to us.
“Let’s go.” Bodey yanked me into the car John assigned to him.
I tucked in beside him, bringing my legs up so I could warm my hands between my knees. Watching out the window in case John changed his mind, I bit my lip. “I don’t think I’m supposed to be in your car with you. I should probably be in my own car.” Blinking at him, I held my face straight, trying not to break into laughter – even worried about his dad I couldn’t help enjoying the time with him.
“I think Dad wasn’t planning on this. We need to stay warm. So come here.” He hauled me across his lap to land in his arms. He reached up and twirled my loose hair around his fingers. His voice husky, he watched me as he spoke. “I need to be distracted, Kelly. I’m worried about Dad. None of this is fun, you know? Besides being with you.” He lifted my hand and kissed the center of my palm, slow and warm.
He had so much of his own concerns, it wouldn’t be right for me to add to them. How did I tell him for the first time since Mom died, I really wanted to pray?
I wanted to pray because I didn’t have a good feeling about his dad going to help others.
My gut instinct wouldn’t reassure Bodey in any way.
So I kept my mouth shut and didn’t say anything as my stomach twisted and burned more with each passing heartbeat.