“I’m just saying.” I shrugged, doing my best to act like I knew nothing. He could probably see right through me. “Sometimes things happen that you don’t want to share. Especially with strangers who make you feel threatened.”
“I make him feel threatened?” He chuckled, his brown eyes twinkling.
“Please.” I rolled my eyes. “You know you do.”
Kellan tightened his grip on me, and I leaned my head against his chest again. “Yeah, but he doesn’t need to be. I’m only trying to get us home.”
“And doing a good job.”
“Maybe,” was all he said in reply.
We lapsed into silence, watching the people on shore as they went about their business. Since I didn’t want to continue discussing the situation and risk giving away Beth’s secrets, I embraced the quiet.
We got lucky that whoever the captain had been meeting was waiting for him, and less than three hours after docking, we were ready to continue our journey.
By then, the sky had darkened in the distance, storm clouds gathering and making it seem as if the boat was sailing toward something ominous rather than something hopeful. The air had cooled, too, so much that I found myself shivering as Kellan and I headed to the bar that evening for dinner.
He put his arm around me. “Cold?”
“A little.”
I eyed the distant clouds, which looked closer and closer with each passing second. Not only were we sailing toward the storm, but it was moving toward us as well. It wouldn’t be long before it hit, and I had to remind myself this wasn’t Oklahoma. Then again, I couldn’t remember which other parts of the country Tornado Alley had extended to.
We hadn’t even made it to the bar when the sky opened. The rain came in big drops that thudded against the sides of the boat and deck. The wind had picked up, too, making the water rough, and I nearly lost my balance as the boat rocked. Kellan had his arm around my waist, which helped keep me on my feet.
“I hope no one gets seasick,” he said as he moved faster.
There was an overhang above us, but drops of water still pinged against our legs, and my pants were already soaked.
“Seriously.”
We ducked into the bar only a few seconds before it really started coming down. People rushed in behind us and began wringing out shirts and hair. Droplets of water hit me when a man waved his hands, shaking away the rain clinging to his skin, but overall, I’d gotten off easily. A few seconds later, and we would have gotten soaked.
I watched the storm through the window for a moment, marveling at how dark it had suddenly gotten. The shore wasn’t even visible through the thick rain, and it looked like night was closing in even though we should have had a couple more hours of daylight left. The violence and suddenness with which it had sprung up made me shiver.
“It’s just a little rain,” Kellan said from behind me, as if he knew I would be thinking about the tornado.
“I know.” I turned to face him, forcing out a smile. “Let’s grab something to eat so we can get back to our room. There’s something about rain that makes me want to curl up in bed.”
He grinned and shot me a wink. “That sounds like a great idea.”
11
I stood on the veranda, staring out into the darkness as the rain pounded down on us. Lightning flashed, illuminating not just the sky, but the shore as well. Trees, which had been invisible mere seconds ago, jumped from the darkness, their limbs swaying violently, and thunder rumbled seconds later.
“That was close,” Kellan said from behind me, looking up like he would be able to see something through the black night.
It was unlikely. Even if it hadn’t been late, the sky was clogged with dark clouds, blocking out what little light the stars and moon would have provided. The world in front of me, which had seemed so promising and almost achingly beautiful that first day on the boat, now felt black and ominous.
A strong wind swept across the deck, lifting my hair and making me shiver, and the boat swayed. Another shiver moved through me, only this time it had nothing to do with the sudden chill in the air. It was the rocking of the boat.
Maybe this thing wasn’t quite as safe as I’d thought it was...
“We’re okay on here, aren’t we?” I asked, looking over the railing at the river.
Over the howl of the wind and the roar of the motor, the lapping of the water as it slammed against the hull was barely audible. Even so, I could tell it was louder than it had been, and more frequent.
“This boat is huge,” Kellan said. “Don’t worry.”
I nodded, and my gaze was still fixed on the darkness below when another bolt of lightning struck. Like before, it seemed to light up the dark night, giving me the opportunity to glimpse the violent swell of the river as it slammed against the side of the boat. I hugged myself tighter when a second later thunder rumbled again. This time it seemed to go on and on, rolling across the sky and reminding me of something my father had said when I was little.
“God is moving his furniture around,” I mumbled.
“What?” Kellan asked.
He’d moved so he was standing beside me, and I tore my gaze from the darkness and focused on him. “It’s what my dad used to say when there were big storms. That God and his angels were just redecorating. Moving the furniture around.”
Kellan grinned, his eyes sparkling. “And you bought that?”
“I was a stupid kid,” I murmured, not feeling the least bit amused as my gaze once again moved to the dark water below.
“Hey,” Kellan took my chin in his hand and turned my face toward his, “it’s okay. It’s just a little storm.”
As if on cue, a bolt of lightning slashed across the sky, branching off in streaks of electricity that illuminated the bank, as well as the river, and even the boat. It started pouring then, the rain falling in sheets. The wind had picked up as well, and I opened my mouth to tell Kellan we should probably head back inside when yet another bolt of lightning appeared. It cut across the darkness, hitting a tree on the bank, and sparks of light and fire burst through the air. I cried out and ducked while Kellan’s body seemed to curl around me. We were on a boat in the water, but even so, I’d felt the impact. It was like a bomb going off. The boom of the bolt slamming into the ground, the burst of flames and the echo of the impact vibrating through the ground and air, and even the water. It seemed to shake everything around us.
“Holy shit,” Kellan said, his face pressed close to mine as he tried to shield me.
I untangled myself from his grasp and looked back. We’d drifted farther down the river, leaving the tree behind, but I could still see where the bolt had struck the trunk. It wasn’t on fire—the rain was too thick for that—but red and orange sizzled through the darkness where the fire would have been if not for the water pouring from the sky.
“We should go inside,” Kellan called.
I nodded, finding words difficult, and allowed him to pull me into our room.
Even with the door shut, the sound of the storm couldn’t be blocked out. I stayed where I was for the time being, looking out through the window at the storm as I remembered the day Kellan and I had huddled together in the basement as a tornado ripped through the farmhouse above us. I wasn’t sure if I had a little PTSD thanks to that storm or if I was being paranoid, I just knew I wasn’t thrilled about being on the boat in the middle of a raging river right now.
“Do you think they have life jackets on board?” I asked, turning to face Kellan.
His eyebrows lifted, for once not getting lost under wisps of hair thanks to the haircut I’d given him. “Life jackets?”
“You know,” I nodded to the door at my back, “in case something happens.”
“Nothing is going to happen,” he said, putting his hands on my shoulders and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “We’re safe.”
“We can never be sure of that,” I said, knowing our conversation had veered away from the weather and was now once again in
Andrew territory. I couldn’t wait until we were rid of him for good. I was tired of that man controlling my life and haunting my dreams.
“I’m going to make certain,” Kellan said, pulling me against him.
With his arms around me, I tried to relax. Tried to forget Andrew and the storm beating against the boat, tried to imagine there were no zombies, and no danger could penetrate the walls surrounding us. It was, as always, impossible. Not only that, it would have been stupid. Ignoring the bad things didn’t make them go away. All it did was make you vulnerable, and that was something I wouldn’t let happen.
Even after we turned in for the night, I couldn’t get my brain to shut off. The storm sounded louder than before, the rain pounding against the exterior of the boat and pinging against the windows, making it impossible to think about anything else. Even more disturbing was the way the boat rocked. It was twice as hard as it had been before, rolling over the water like we were in the ocean, not the Arkansas River.
Kellan didn’t seem to notice, and within minutes, he was out cold. How he could sleep through it was beyond me, because even with the pillow over my head, I couldn’t block out the sounds from the storm or tune it out. Eventually, after what felt like hours of lying awake, I gave up and slid out of bed. Kellan might have been out cold, but as long as the rain slammed into the boat the way it was, there was no way I’d be able to relax.
Maybe a drink would calm me down.
I pulled my boots on after getting dressed and grabbed my knife out of habit. There wasn’t really a need for it on the boat, but I’d long ago gotten used to carrying a weapon with me everywhere I went, so I barely noticed the weight on my hip as I headed out.
The room we’d been given on deck three had the balcony outside while the front door led to an interior hallway, but there were lots of different rooms. Some were interior only—they didn’t even have windows—while others opened to an outside walkway and had no interior doors at all. It didn’t seem to matter where I went, because every hall and walkway I turned down buzzed with activity despite the late hour. It seemed I wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping through the storm.
I headed to the bar on deck five. I wasn’t sure if anyone else from our little group would be awake, but it didn’t really matter since Logan had gotten everything settled for us. Even by myself, I would be able to get a drink, which was what I’d need if I was ever going to settle down enough to sleep.
Like the hallways and walkways I’d passed through on the way here, the bar was buzzing despite the hour. The sounds of the storm were muffled by the walls, giving me a little bit of relief, but the boat still rocked with every gust of wind, still swayed with the swell of the waves as it sailed upriver.
One glance around the room told me some of the people taking shelter in the bar weren’t just having trouble sleeping but were also feeling more than a little under the weather thanks to the constant rocking of the boat. A woman sat at a table, her face in her hands as she let out a little moan with each howl of the wind. Two tables over, a man who looked a little greener than was normal sat with an expression of agony on his face. It wasn’t bothering me that way, but I understood. The constant rocking was disorienting and jarring. I was more than a little thankful I didn’t get motion sickness.
Just inside the door, I stopped and scanned the room, but only halfheartedly. What were the odds anyone I knew would be here? The ship was huge. Even if someone else was up, they could be anywhere.
When my gaze landed on Ash, who was leaning against the bar talking, I blinked, thinking I was seeing things. When I realized he was talking to Ava, I did another double take.
Brady had told us she’d moved into her own room, and I couldn’t help wondering if he had any idea she was roaming the boat in the middle of the night with a teenage boy who was so clearly drooling over her.
I headed their way, swaying with the boat when it rocked and more than once having to brace myself on tables as I went. Ash saw me first and grinned, and a second later Ava turned to investigate. She, too, smiled when she saw me.
“You sneak out?” I asked when I stopped beside them.
I wasn’t much older than they were, but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel a little responsible. They were still teenagers, after all.
“Sneak out?” Ash snorted. “Exactly who would I be sneaking away from?”
I lifted my eyebrows, giving him a pointed look. He was a nice kid, but he was more than a little dense if he thought I was asking him.
“She means me,” Ava said, once again sounding several years older than her age. “And no. I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk. I told Brady.”
“Does he know who you’re with?”
Ava rolled her eyes, flushing a little, while at her side Ash’s smile grew bigger.
I couldn’t hold in my laugh.
“I’m not going to be a tattletale.” My eyes narrowed on Ash. “But you better behave yourself.”
He lifted his hands, his eyes wide. “I’m a gentleman.”
“Sure,” I said, turning to the bar.
It took me a couple minutes to catch the bartender’s eye—he was busy and alone behind the counter—but when I finally did, he came over. “Drink?”
“Please.”
Even though I’d had more than one drink since arriving on the boat, the sudden memory of drinking with Kellan in Altus popped into my head. I’d felt pretty miserable the next day, but that wasn’t what I was thinking about when a smile curled up my lips. It was the moment on the street when he’d almost kissed me. My brain had been fuzzy with alcohol, and the next day I’d pretty much convinced myself I’d imagined it, but thinking back now, I realized I hadn’t. The attraction I’d felt toward him at the time had been mutual.
The bartender returned with my drink, setting it down in front of me just as the boat rocked. I managed to get my hand on the glass before it slid down the counter, but someone on the other side of the room must not have been so lucky because the crash of shattering glass followed the swaying of the boat.
“Shit,” the bartender grumbled. “That’s the fifth one tonight.”
He headed off—to clean up the mess, most likely—mumbling under his breath about the damn weather.
Next to me, Ash leaned his hip against the counter, his smile gone and a frown on his lips that looked out of place. “This is a hell of a storm.”
“No kidding,” I mumbled as I took a sip of my drink.
The liquid was less shocking than it had been the other night, but I let out a little cough when it scorched its way down my throat.
“Most of the time, I like living on a boat,” Ava said, “but it’s times like this when I really start to miss land.”
“Where are you from originally?” I asked her, partly to keep my mind off the storm.
“California,” she replied, “San Francisco.”
“Wow.” Ash let out a low whistle. “That’s nuts. I’m from California, too, but farther south. Bakersfield, to be exact.”
Ava shrugged and shook her head at the same time. “I don’t remember it much. We weren’t there for very long once the virus hit. We got out of there as soon as the zombies showed up.”
“Where’d you go from there?” I asked as I lifted my glass to take a second sip.
“The Mojave Desert, of all places.” Ava rolled her eyes. “I was little, but I remember it pretty clearly. It’s hard to forget a luxury underground shelter.”
I swallowed my drink too fast, nearly choking on the liquid and coughing it up. It sprayed all over my hand when I tried to cover my mouth, and I couldn’t stop coughing. Ash took my glass from me and set it on the counter while Ava patted my back. Nearly everyone in the bar was staring at me, but I didn’t care. She hadn’t just said what I thought she did. I had to have heard her wrong. What if I hadn’t? Could she have lived in a shelter like ours? No. It didn’t make sense, and it was way too much of a coincidence to believe.
“A luxury shelter?” I
managed to get out after over a minute of coughing.
My eyes had watered, and I had to wipe the moisture away so I could see her, but when Ava’s face finally came into focus, she was nodding.
“Yeah. It should have been a dream come true. I mean, the place was amazing, but we had a run-in with some really bad people, and they destroyed it.”
“Was it an old missile silo?” I asked.
The teenager frowned, her dark eyes narrowing as she studied me. “Yeah, I think so. Like I said, I was little, but that sounds right.”
“Holy shit,” I muttered. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe what?” Ash asked.
I looked his way for a second before focusing on Ava again. “We live in a shelter just like the one you’re describing, only ours is in Oklahoma.”
Ava’s mouth fell open, but no words came out.
“Wait,” Ash shook his head like he didn’t understand, and his shaggy hair bounced around his head, “are you telling me you live in a luxury underground bunker?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe it,” Ava said, mimicking the words I’d just uttered. “We heard there were other shelters, but their locations were secret, so we never tried to find one after ours was destroyed.”‘
“I don’t get how it was destroyed.” As crazy as the coincidence was, I couldn’t help focusing on that part of the story. “The security is pretty high tech. How would anyone override it?”
“It’s a long story,” she said, “but basically, one of the men in the shelter left our group and took up with these assholes in Vegas. He had the code.”
Vegas.
A memory surfaced that had nothing to do with the place I’d called home for the last nine years, but with Andrew. He’d mentioned Vegas on more than one occasion, and another shelter, too. Had he been with the group that destroyed Ava’s home?
I couldn’t remember all the details of what he’d said, but I didn’t have to recall everything, because one specific part of his story had stuck with me.
“Was Hadley Lucas with you?”
Ava’s frown deepened, but before she could reply, Ash said, “The actress?”
The Oklahoma Wastelands Series Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 68
