At first, it looked as though Erik hadn’t understood a word he had said, but then Nick pulled him away from the door. He looked into his eyes for a second before they both needed to take cover again.
“Don’t break it,” Nick said letting him go with a little shove when the wind let up.
“Sorry,” Erik said sounding as though he were out of breath.
“What are we going to do?” Molly asked in a high-pitched voice. “We need to get inside.”
Tom stepped up to the door shoving Bronx out of the way slightly. “We’re going to have to break it. It’ll still be better in there than it will be out here.”
“The wind is blowing this way,” Bronx shouted.
“We’ll be able to close it enough,” Tom said.
“How can you be so sure?” Bronx said. “If you fuck it up, our situation won’t be any better, maybe even worse.”
“Wait!” I said just as Tom was about to kick the door near the doorknob.
They all turned to me but quickly had to duck back down at another gust of wind.
“Let’s just break the window, then just that room will be off limits,” I said pointing to the window at the side of the building.
Bronx grabbed Tom’s shoulder and squeezed him. It was a threat to not kick down the door… at least not yet.
He made his way over and looked inside the window. “It’s a small bedroom,” Bronx said one second before throwing his wrapped up elbow into the window. He knocked the shards away and gave me a boost inside. “Who’s next?”
“What about the supplies?” Tom asked.
“We’ll have to leave them outside,” I heard Bronx said. “They’re covered in that shit.”
I helped Molly inside and saw Nick and Tom moving the tarp close to the front door. Molly grabbed my elbow and looked into my eyes. Her shoulders bobbed rapidly. “How’s my face?”
I shook my head.
“I know I got some on my head but how’s my face?” she asked again and I finally understood what she was asking. She wanted to know if her face was going to be red and blistered like Blair’s.
“It looks fine,” I said reaching out of the window to help Milo inside.
“Your’s is okay too,” Molly said stepping back away from the window. “It sure stings like hell though.”
“You can say that again,” I said covering Milo’s ears.
He squeezed his eyebrows together as he looked up at me. “Mom and dad say hell all the time. Like the fire at your grandma’s… when dad knocked the candle over, he said dammit to hell. Mom said it was hot as hell before we got out.”
I stared at Milo for several minutes. The room started to spin. Tom knocked over a candle? What the… hell? What was I hearing?
“A little help here please?” Renee asked as Bronx was practically throwing the short woman inside the room.
“Oh, sorry,” I said as the room jerked to a sudden stop. I grabbed Renee’s arm and yanked her inside.
I was still trying to make sense of the words that had come out of Milo’s mouth. Could Tom have really started the fire? Had it been an accident? If so, wouldn’t he have owned up to it?
Everyone took off their wrappings as Nick and Tom hung a blanket in front of the broken window in an attempt to block as much of the powder from coming in as they could. We gathered in the other room, but I couldn’t think about anything as Milo’s words played over and over again in my head.
“Hey,” Bronx said as Timothy shut the bedroom door. “What’s going on with you?”
“Um, nothing,” I said but I could he didn’t believe me. He looked around at the others as if he could find the real answer to his question.
I forced a smile, but it only made Bronx narrow his eyes more. He leaned in close. “Tell me later?”
I nodded. I would definitely tell him what Milo had said. In fact, I’d tell him before I told Nick and Blair. I needed a second opinion.
Nick walked over to Molly who was leaning against the wall with her thin arms wrapped around her skinny body. He leaned back next to her, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
Nick wore a small, smile as he lightly tapped his elbow into Molly. “You okay? Did you get hurt out there?”
“I’m good, thanks. You?” Molly asked flashing him a smile before she bit the side of her lip.
“I’m all good,” Nick answered.
A loud noise erupted from behind me, and I spun on my heel, tightening my hands into fists. My fingers relaxed when I saw the pieces of the broken vase on the floor at Blair’s feet.
She was drawing in deep breaths as her fiery eyes moved away from Nick. Blair was irate. And I didn’t blame her.
She looked like she was about to erupt, but after a moment she was like a balloon that was slowly deflating. Her eyes shifted up to Nick for a split-second as her fingertips lightly touched the bandage on her cheek.
“Oops,” Blair muttered as she dropped to her knees and started picking up the large pieces. “Ouch! Shit!”
She shook her hand vigorously and looked at a small cut on the side of her finger. Blair squeezed her finger with her other hand.
I lowered myself down next to her. “Are you—”
“I’m fine,” Blair answered quickly. “It’s fine.”
“Let me help you clean this up,” I said as Bronx instantly joined in.
We dropped the pieces of the ceramic vase into the smelly trash. I found a broom to sweep up the smaller pieces.
Blair watched me before she shook her head and left the room. Bronx caught my eye for a moment before going after her.
I set the broom against the wall and glared at Nick who was talking with Molly, seemingly unaware of what he was doing to Blair.
I walked right up to him and pushed my palm into his shoulder. “You’re an asshole.”
I wanted to tell him to go fix things. To make things right with Blair. And maybe I should have, but I didn’t. I left him standing there staring at me as I chased after Bronx and Blair.
I wanted Nick to see that if I was going to pick sides, I wasn’t going to pick his. Not after how he was treating her after she’d been injured by the white dust.
Eighteen
When I walked into the bathroom, Blair was on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest. She looked up at me with bright red eyes.
“What do you want?” she asked scrunching up her nose.
“Nothing,” I said shaking my head. There was nothing in her eyes but coldness. I felt like turning on my heel and leaving the room, but I didn’t. “I just don’t want to be out there.”
Blair studied me for a long, hard moment. “Your brother is a dick.”
“Yes, yes he is, and I’m really sorry about that. I should have warned you,” I said shaking my head. “I just didn’t know anything would ever—”
“You weren’t there when it did,” Blair said. There was a long pause before she opened her mouth again. “I wouldn’t have listened to you anyway.”
Blair’s shoulders softened, and she looked down at her feet. I lowered myself down on the floor across from her.
“He wasn’t a good person before all this. I thought he’d changed,” I said. “But after this I know he hasn’t.”
“I dated a lot of guys like him,” Blair said with a snort. “Not even sure why I thought this would be different.”
“He was an addict, and he let down a lot of people,” I said.
Blair shook her head and pointed to her cheek. “If this wouldn’t have happened, nothing would have changed. But that girl is so perfect.”
I didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t want to think that it had to do with her wound, but there was a chance that it did. There was also a chance he was just bored. Molly was new, and she was very beautiful. Nick hadn’t ever been able to resist a gorgeous woman.
“Try not to think about him or her,” Bronx said putting down the toilet seat lid and sitting on it with his legs spread wide. I had to bite my cheek, so I di
dn’t laugh. It was super inappropriate timing, but the way he was sitting there just struck me funny.
Apparently, Blair had thought so too. Her lips curled up on one side, and she jerked her chin toward him. “Want some privacy?”
“What?” Bronx said squeezing his eyebrows together. He looked down and shook his head, but he didn’t budge. “Resting my legs.”
Blair shook her head, and the sadness reappeared on her face. “You guys don’t have to sit in the bathroom with me. I just really want to be alone anyway.”
“We don’t want you to be alone,” Bronx said. “Because you’re not alone.”
“I know,” she said forcing a tight-lipped smile in his direction. I could tell she was refusing to meet his eyes. “Just let me freshen up, and I’ll come back out there. We can’t sit in here all day hogging in the bathroom.”
Bronx touched her shoulder lightly. “Are you sure? It’s not like we have anywhere to be.”
“Yeah, better in here than out there to be honest,” I said.
“No, I’m sure. I just need a little time,” Blair said watching us carefully as Bronx and I shared a glance. “Please?”
“Okay, but first can I tell you guys something,” I said, my brow wrinkling.
Bronx cocked his head to the side. “Is this about whatever was bothering you before?”
“Yeah,” I said. The inside of my cheek was raw from how much I’d been chewing on it. “It’s something that Milo said.”
“What did he say?” Blair asked looking interested for the first time since her injury.
“It’s about the fire at my grandma’s. He… he said his dad knocked over a candle,” I said wincing at the sourness of the words.
“Are you sure that’s what he said?” Bronx asked.
I nodded. “I’m positive. I couldn’t ask more because everyone was trying to get inside through the window.”
“Do you really think he could have done that?” Blair asked.
“Maybe it was an accident?” Bronx asked less than a second after.
I shook my head. “I have no idea, but if it had been an accident wouldn’t he have told us?”
“Maybe,” Bronx said with a shrug. “But maybe not. He knows you hate him. Maybe he assumed you’d think it was something sinister?”
“Well I do now,” I said pushing myself to my feet. “I don’t know. I don’t really know what to think about it right now.”
“You have to ask him,” Blair said.
I snorted. “How do I do that? Just come out and ask him if he intentionally burned down my grandma’s house? It’s not like he’d tell the truth.”
“We have to tell Nick,” Bronx said.
“What we have to do is get out of here. Break off on our own, we’ve put it off for far too long,” I said placing my hands on my hips. “Maybe it’s better I don’t know the truth because I don’t really want to strangle that man in front of his son.”
“I’ll talk with Nick,” Bronx said gesturing for me to follow him. “For now, no strangling.”
I shrugged. “I promise nothing.”
Bronx patted my shoulder and turned back to Blair. “Come out soon, okay?”
“I will,” she said pressing her palm to her forehead. “Hey,” she said looking up at us, “thanks, guys.”
“Yeah, of course,” Bronx said, and I offered her a smile that she saw for a second before looking back down at the floor.
Bronx and I reluctantly left her alone. He must have sensed that I didn’t want to talk to Nick because he turned to me before we joined the others.
“I’ll tell Nick what you told us in there,” he said. “Go rest, or get something to eat. I’ll update you after I talk to him.”
I nodded and joined the others who were sitting around and talking about their old lives. They sounded as if they’d been so happy. I couldn’t quite understand considering the miserable life of death, doom, and despair I had led. Maybe was still leading. There was a chance I’d died back from the red sky along with everyone else, and this was my purgatory.
Timothy and Renee started laughing at something Erik had said. It had been so funny that Renee had rolled over onto her side.
But they all stopped laughing when a loud boom echoed through the room. My eyes darted around stopping at Nick’s red face. His fists were balled up, and he was marching toward Tom.
Oh shit.
I stood, but it was too late. Nick had twisted his shirt into his fist and lifted him off of the ground.
Even though Tom was taller, his legs were kicking around to find their footing. They didn’t find it before Nick threw his fist into Tom’s face.
“Daddy!” Milo shouted. He tried to take a step toward his dad, but Nina quickly grabbed him and pulled him back.
“What are you doing?” Nina screamed.
Everyone was on their feet looking at one another. They all wanted to do something, but no one knew what to do.
“You’re a piece of shit,” Nick said between his teeth before he threw his fist at Tom’s jaw. Tom’s head jerk to the side when Nick’s hand made contact.
“What? Stop,” Tom said as blood leaked out of his popped lower lip.
“We know all about the candle,” Nick said, his ears so red they looked they were going to pop right off of his head.
Tom held up a shaking palm. “What candle?”
“Don’t play stupid,” Nick said spitting out the words.
Tom’s hand moved fast down to his hip. He raised up the gun.
“Get the fuck back!” Tom said with a calmness I couldn’t comprehend.
Nick didn’t move. He started going for the gun.
Tom didn’t hesitate. He pulled the trigger. The loud pop echoed in the small room almost as loud as the scream that came out of someone behind me.
Nick’s eyes widened. He seemed to instantly awake from his rage and fear set in. Nick dropped to his knees. I didn’t know… I couldn’t tell… if he’d been hit.
Nineteen
“I told you to stay back,” Tom said, his eyes darting around the room.
“Okay, okay, I’m back,” Nick said. I looked his body over, waiting for blood to pool out of a wound, but it didn’t happen. It appeared as though Tom had missed… this time. And I’m not sure he had meant to.
Tom held the gun steady aimed at Nick’s abdomen. If he took another shot, he wouldn’t miss.
“Why did you do it, Tom?” Nick asked. “You had a place to stay. You had food and water. Your family was safe.”
“It was an accident. I knew none of you would believe me,” Tom said.
Nick snorted. “Bull shit! Did you want to kill us all or just my sister?”
Tom’s eyes met mine for a second. “I didn’t want to kill anyone. You were going to send me and my family away. We all need to work together.”
“So, you wanted to trick us into staying with you?” I asked.
“It’s not like that,” Nina said standing in front of Milo. “He’s a good man. He’s trying to protect us all.”
“By starting fires? Forcing us to leave safety? Losing loads of supplies?” I screeched. “That’s quite possibly the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Tom shook his head. “You aren’t looking at the big picture. None of you are.”
“I don’t care about the fucking big picture,” Nick said, his anger starting to return. “You almost killed my sister.”
Nick took a step forward, and Tom’s finger twitched. I was angry at my brother, but I had to do something.
I dove forward and tackled Tom. When the gunshot rang out, I was sure it had gone through my middle, but I didn’t stop pounding my fists into Tom wherever I could land a hit.
“Gwen!” someone called out. I heard my name, but I couldn’t quite place the voice. There was far too much ringing in my ears to put the pieces together.
I pulled my fist back, but before I could thrust it into Tom’s face, both of his hands flew toward me knocking me off balance. My body flo
pped to the side, and I tried to reach out to stop my fall, but I wasn’t fast enough. My head hit something, and my vision turned into a fuzzy channel that wasn’t coming in no matter how hard I tried to tune into my surroundings.
Someone was moving next to me, and I forced my eyes to open and close. And again. This time when they opened, I caught a glimpse of the gun. It must have fallen out of Tom’s hand, and it was only about a foot out of my reach.
I started to move at the same time someone next to me moved. Tom.
I reached out grabbing the gun seconds before his hand shot out. He growled as he scrambled toward me, but he didn’t get close. Someone yanked him back as I pointed the gun at him.
“Mommy! Do something!” Milo said. I heard his voice above all the other gasps and cries and hollers.
“She’s not going to do anything,” Tom said as Bronx pulled his arm behind his back roughly. I could tell by Tom’s pinched up expression that he was hurt. “Don’t worry, Son.”
A drop of fresh blood dripped out of his mouth and down onto his shirt. Milo sniffed hard.
“He’s right, Milo,” I said. “I’m not going to do anything unless I have to. Hopefully, your dad won’t do anything stupid.”
Tom grinned at me with blood stained teeth. He kept his voice low. “Do you know how to use that?”
“Not well,” I said jerking my head toward Nick. “But he does.”
Nick stepped up next to me, and I didn’t lower the gun to pass it to him.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I said letting out a heavy breath. “We’re leaving. We’re done with you. I don’t care where you go or what you do.” I pointed to me, Nick and Bronx. “But we’re gone.”
“If you follow us, I will use this,” Nick said, cocking his head to the side. “And I don’t care if your son has to see it. I don’t want him to of course, but I’ll do what I have to do.”
“As soon as the wind dies down, we’re out of here,” I said.
Timothy was shaking his head. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but are you sure? I mean, we’re going somewhere safe. Don’t you want to find the real world again?”
“Of course,” I said shaking my head, “but it’s not out there.”
White Dust - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (The Red Sky Series Book 4) Page 9
