“Jenna?” I said popping out of bed.
I bolted down the stairs. Jenna was on the sofa, her legs wide as she held her stomach and howled.
Allie paced frantically, hesitating when she saw me. “I think she’s in labor.”
17
Adam
I followed Eli to a door at the back of the kitchen. He pulled open the door and gestured at the stairs.
“You want me to go down?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Eli said.
“Okay,” I said sucking in a breath as I turned my back to Eli.
Eli was a big guy. He was tall and cleanly shaved. Eli was half college professor and half lumberjack and fully intimidating.
There was a hum that grew louder as I descended the stairs. It wasn’t dark… there was a slight glow. I turned the corner and entered Eli’s spectacular bunker.
“Holy crap,” I said. The lights flickered and grew brighter, illuminating the entire room. “Lights?”
“Generator,” Eli said his lips curling at the ends.
“Why don’t you stay down here?” I asked.
Eli shifted his weight. “This is just for an emergency.”
I was tempted to ask what he considered what had happened to be. If the world we were living in wasn’t an emergency situation, I didn’t know what was. But I kept my mouth shut.
“Don’t tell my niece but I think things will get worse,” Eli said. “Humanity will destroy itself but I’m not going to go down with it.”
“So, what’s your plan?” I asked.
“We’ll wait it out,” Eli said as if the answer was obvious. “Eventually, years from now, perhaps it will be safe again. You know what it’s like out there, tell me I’m wrong.”
I couldn’t. “Have you been out at all?”
“No,” Eli said laughing. “I’m not an idiot. No offense.”
“None taken,” I said as my eyes scanned the underground house. “If I would have had a choice, I wouldn’t have gone out either.”
“I didn’t bring you down here to talk about what’s going on out there,” Eli said.
I cocked my head. “Why did you bring me down here?”
“I wanted to talk to you about the weapons the two of you are carrying,” Eli said. “I don’t particularly feel safe for my niece or myself with the two of you carrying.”
“I don’t know how safe I feel without it,” I said raising a brow. “No offense. I appreciate you letting us stay here but I don’t know you. Other than what Heather has told us.”
Eli smirked. “What has she told you?”
“Not a lot,” I admitted.
“Follow me,” Eli said. He opened a closet and took out a metal case. “I wonder if you’d be willing to keep your guns here. It’s not locked and you’ll know exactly where they are. You aren’t going to need them while you’re at my house.”
“If it’s all the same, I’d like to keep my girlfriend and me safe,” I said.
Eli exhaled, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s not all the same. Here’s the thing, if anyone comes close to the cabin, I’ll know about it. There are booby-traps and cameras at various locations. I keep that powered twenty-four-seven.”
“You saw us coming.” My thought leaked out.
“I did,” Eli said.
“How the hell did we avoid your traps?” I asked.
Eli rolled his shoulders. “I deactivated them… for my niece. Look, Adam, let me take the guns. If you want to leave, you can take them back. I don’t need your guns, I have plenty of my own.”
I drew in a breath that vibrated my chest. Did I even have a choice in the matter? If we stayed, which we needed to do because of Leah’s injury, I had to give them up. If I didn’t give them up, we’d have to leave and Leah definitely wasn’t in any condition for that.
“Fine,” I said. “And you’ll leave them right here?”
“I will,” Eli said holding up the case.
I placed my gun inside even though I knew it was going to upset Leah. I ran my hand down my face and groaned.
“I need your girlfriend’s gun too,” Eli said. “Why don’t you go on and get it while I wait.”
I turned and went up the stairs, already regretting that I’d made the decision without talking to Leah first. She wasn’t going to be happy.
“Are you nuts?” she asked when I asked for her gun.
I closed the door and tapped my index finger on my lips. “You need to heal. We won’t make it far with your injured leg. I don’t like it any more than you do but we need a break.”
“What if he won’t give them back?” Leah asked.
“Maybe we won’t need them back,” I said pressing my hands against my face. “I’m sorry, I screwed up. I didn’t know what else to do. What should I have done?”
Leah's shoulders fell. Her eyes darted around, eventually settling on a spot on the floor.
“I don’t know,” Leah said. She came over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m being so hard on you.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “This isn’t easy.”
“You’ve been nothing but perfect to me,” she said. “I’m the jerk. Can you forgive me?”
I looked lazily into her eyes. “Already done. I know you’re just looking out for us.”
“I should tell you, though,” I said pulling back slightly. I lowered my voice. “Eli has a massive gun collection down there.”
“I’m worried that this was a mistake,” Leah said.
“We’ll figure something out,” I said placing a kiss on her forehead.
Leah sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. “Those guns were all we had keeping us safe.”
“We can collect them and leave when you’re healed,” I said swallowing down a yawn. “And after I’ve gotten some sleep. I’m not at the top of my game.”
“I know,” Leah said twisting her fingers into my hair.
“I really don’t think he’ll keep our guns,” I said. “He has no use for them. He could supply a small army with what he has down there.”
Leah’s head bobbed. “What’s it like down there?”
“It’s truly unbelievable.” I smiled. “It’s like, down there, nothing changed. Of course, you can’t ever leave or you’d know the truth.”
“There is one good thing that came out of all of this,” Leah said.
“There is?”
She pressed her warm lips to mine. I should have thrown her down on the bed but I forced myself to gently pull away.
“Mmm,” I said brushing my thumb along Leah’s lower lip. “I don’t want to leave but if I don’t bring your gun down to him, he’ll probably come knocking.”
Leah pressed her lips together and turned away. “We don’t want that, do we?”
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said pulling up her pant leg. She frowned at her injury. “I should probably have Heather take another look. It looks worse.”
“Yeah, maybe you should,” I said. “Wish I could help but I don’t have the supplies. I’ll see what Eli has when I bring him your gun.”
I left the room, heading back down to the bunker. Eli was standing in the same spot, impatience wrinkled his brow.
“That took a while,” Eli said. “I want to make sure I start dinner on time.”
“Sorry,” I said. “Do you have anything for treating a wound?”
“What kind of wound?” Eli asked.
“A deep cut,” I said. “Leah slipped and cut herself on a piece of metal.”
Eli stroked his chin. “Is it infected?”
“I hope not,” I said.
“I'll take a look,” Eli said. “Then, dinner.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Eli narrowed his eyes.
“With dinner.”
“My supplies are my business,” Eli said. “You eat what I make. That’s the deal.”
He shook his head as he pointed to the stairs. “I don’t need help. Go.”
18
Stevie
We hid in a house for the night. I didn’t know how close to the town we were but we needed to rest before even attempting to go near it. We’d need to be ready for anything, especially when only one of us was armed.
As we cautiously approached the town, keeping ourselves as hidden as possible, doubt started to bubble in my stomach. How big of a mistake was I making?
The buildings at the edge of town seemed empty. There weren’t a lot of hiding places but we stayed close to the house as we moved deeper into the town.
It wasn’t a place I was familiar with but it was likely the pharmacy would be closer to downtown. We hid behind a tree trunk when we heard voices.
Three men walked by without noticing us. They entered a building at nearly the same moment another man exited a building down the road.
“Half of them are armed,” Shawn said.
“I noticed.” I gestured around the area. “It seems as though they’re all staying around here.”
We weren’t far from the edge of town. For whatever reason, the men occupied a grouping of houses in what used to be a gated community.
“Maybe we can get to the pharmacy without being seen,” I said.
“But which way?” Shawn asked.
“Not sure,” I said studying our surroundings.
I watched the men move from building to building. I had no idea what they were doing but I tried to count them. It was hard but an estimation of how many people lived in the area seemed like something that would be good to know.
Of course, there could be people in the buildings that weren’t coming out. The best I could do was estimate.
“How many people you think are living there?” I asked.
“More than twenty,” Shawn said.
I nodded. “Less than fifty?”
“Yeah,” Shawn said. “I agree with that.”
“Maybe this will be easier than I thought,” I said jerking my chin to the left.
We headed closer to town and away from the community. Shawn kept the gun ready.
Shawn and I carefully weaved our way through the streets. The town, however, was too big. We had no idea which way to go.
“Maybe we should leave and come back after we talk to Jake,” Shawn suggested. “We’re just running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Every minute we stay puts us more at risk.”
“Gage will never let us come back,” I said pointing at another street.
I shook my head with frustration. The town wasn’t nearly as big as I had thought. Before we knew it, we were on the opposite side of where the men were staying.
“Let’s go back,” I said.
Shawn grabbed my arm. “Stevie, no.”
“What do you mean, no? We’re so close,” I said.
“We’ll get the information we need and come back,” Shawn said. “And we can be more prepared when we do.”
I closed my eyes and let out a heavy breath. “One more look, okay?”
“Let’s just get out while we can and come up with a plan,” Shawn said.
“But we’re right here,” I said throwing my hands in the air. “How can we just leave?”
“We’ll figure out a way, okay?” Shawn said pleading with his slanted eyebrows. “I promise we’ll come back and we’ll get Jake’s medicine.”
I shook my head. “This is ridiculous. He needs it now, not days from now.”
“Shh!” Shawn said aggressively tapping his finger to his lips. “I trusted you and came here. Now it’s time you trust me. It’s time to leave.”
On some level, I knew he was right but I didn’t like it. I desperately wanted to have the medicine when we returned.
“Fine,” I said unable to stop my shoulders from dropping. I felt as though I’d been in a boxing match and had lost.
We left the town, heading south around the outskirts. I stopped and turned back, looking at the town as if maybe there would be a flashing neon light in the sky, directing me to the pharmacy.
I sighed and turned back, noticing that Shawn hadn’t realized I’d stopped walking. I took several quick steps to catch back up to him but suddenly, the world whooshed past my face.
Everything spun and twisted. My stomach felt like it went from my feet to my throat and then back again. I wasn’t sure what had happened as my body bobbed up and down before settling to a gentle swinging motion.
It was as though I’d fallen through the earth. Everything was upside down. My eyes frantically darted around and my head tingled as I searched to find Shawn in the falling rain.
“Shawn,” I whispered as I noticed the faint sounds of a bell.
I tried to reach up but I didn’t have the strength to grab the rope twisted around my ankle. My eyes finally locked with Shawn’s below.
“Get me down,” I said.
Our bag was hanging off my back awkwardly. I couldn’t remember if we’d taken anything sharp that he could use to cut me down.
“Throw down the bag,” Shawn said.
I could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t know what we had either. What I did know was that he didn’t have anything other than the gun. Shooting me down wasn’t an option.
The sounds of the bell didn’t get louder but each ring pierced my ears. I hurried as I shrugged my shoulders to get the bag to slide off my arms.
It plopped down in the mud only seconds before I heard voices. Shawn’s eyes widened. He had heard them too.
“You have to go,” I said.
“No,” Shawn said stubbornly. “I’m not leaving you.”
The tingling in my brain grew stronger. “Please, Shawn. Go. If you don’t, you won’t be able to help me. You can’t get caught.”
“I can’t,” Shawn said between heavy, fear-filled breaths.
“Please,” I begged. “Go.”
Shawn ran his hands through his hair. He raised the gun as if he was going to fight. He must have seen something that changed his mind.
Shawn picked up the bag and flung it over his shoulder. “I’ll be back, okay? I’ll be back for you. I promise.”
“Okay,” I said. “Run. Before they see you.”
Shawn took a step and stopped. He looked at me over his shoulder. “I love you.”
I bit my cheek to stop myself from crying. Watching him run away from me was incredibly painful. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to endure.
My eyes closed as I tried to telepathically send him a message. “I love you too.”
19
Joss
My brow wrinkled as I knelt down on the floor next to Jenna’s leg. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I’m not in labor,” Jenna said her voice a bit lower than usual. “It’s just the pains again.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “This seems different.”
“No, no,” Jenna said.
Her breaths started to come quicker. She leaned forward and shouted as she held her stomach.
I glanced at Allie over my shoulder. It was apparent by her tightly pressed together lips and wide eyes she was thinking the same thing I was… the baby was coming.
“Can you help me?” I asked looking into Allie’s eyes.
“There’s nothing to help with,” Jenna said.
Allie nodded.
“Stop it, you two,” Jenna said sucking in quick breaths. “It’s too early. At least I think it’s too early.”
“Wouldn’t you rather we were ready just in case?” I asked.
“You have no idea how to deliver a baby,” Jenna said reminding me of something I was fully aware of.
I crossed my arms. “Fine. Good luck.”
“No, wait!” Jenna said leaning forward. “Fine, prepare yourself but I’m telling you this is going to pass.”
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br /> “What do we do?” Allie asked.
“Oh, God. I’m going to die, aren’t I?” Jenna asked staring up at the ceiling. Her hands clenched into fists as she started cursing. “What the hell are you waiting for!”
Allie’s brow squished together. “Pain medicine?”
“I don’t know if she can have it.” I frowned as I twisted my fingers. “Okay, um, let’s get towels and blankets. Clean ones only.”
“Water?” Allie asked.
I nodded. “The boiled water.”
“What else?” Allie asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said shaking my head. “Let’s just get that collected first.”
“And hurry!” Jenna shouted as we left the room.
I bolted up the stairs to the linen closet. I was terrified something was going to go wrong but somehow, I was managing to keep it together.
If I freaked out… Jenna would freak out. We couldn’t have that. We all just needed to stay calm.
I put the pillows on the floor, along with the sofa cushions and several musty smelling blankets that probably hadn’t been used in years. Hopefully, they would be clean enough for Jenna to lie on.
Allie and I helped her to the floor only seconds before the next contraction. They were coming fast. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that the baby was coming.
“I can’t do this,” Jenna said grabbing my hand. “I’m not going to make it. I’m not strong enough.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Yes, you can. You’re going to do great.”
“I don’t know what made me think I could do this,” Jenna said. “I thought I’d have more time.”
Her eyes squeezed together and her teeth clenched as another contraction found her. Allie and I held her hands as she leaned forward, her legs wide as if they already knew what they’d have to do.
“Okay,” I said after she relaxed and leaned back into the pillows. “You’re going to have to take your pants off.”
“Buy me dinner first,” Jenna growled.
“I don’t want to do this anymore than you do,” I said.
Allie helped her out of her clothing and covered her with a sheet. I kneeled between her legs.
The Reset Series | Book 6 | Striking Page 8
