Against The Darkness (Cimmerian Moon) (17 page)

Stop.

I shake my
head and concentrate on picking my way through the merchandise, looking for
lightweight clothing, lighters, matches, flashlights, sleeping bags, flares, pocket
knives, toothbrush and toothpaste.

With hiking
backpacks filled with items dragging along the floor behind us, we finally make
our way to where the others are. There are weapons in piles on the floor. From
my guess everyone has claimed a pile. I count. There are nine piles, one for
each of us.

“That’s
yours,” Wade says from behind me. He’s pointing over my shoulder.

My eyes follow
to where he is pointing. The third group of weapons, a handgun with a case of
bullets and shoulder holster.

“Thanks,” I
reply, sounding not too impressed. Everyone else’s pile appears to have more
than mine.

“I got you
what you need, Sin,” Wade says.

I know that I
sound ungrateful and I wince. “Is that all that’s left?”

“There’s still
more. But you don’t want to take more than you can carry. That won’t do you any
good.”

So that’s why
I don’t really have anything. He doesn’t think I’m strong enough to carry
anything else. I straighten and square my shoulders.

“See?” Jason
says with a chuckle. “I told you she would have wanted the crossbow or even the
samurai sword.”

“Crossbow?” Wade
said. “You heard Captain Page, a crossbow wouldn’t do anything to stop an
alien.”

“He did not. A
crossbow has enough power to penetrate their skin and slow them down.”

I’m not sure
what a crossbow is but my interest is piqued. “Where is it?” I ask.

“Sin, you don’t
need a crossbow. Everything you need is right here,” Wade says. “That’s a high
powered Glock. That’ll stop the aliens in their tracks. I got you enough
bullets to last a while. You have your hunting knife, not for the aliens but
for food. You’re all set.”

“What are you?
Her dad?” Jason says, with a hint of amusement.

“From what I
can tell neither one of you is her father.” That came from Ken. He walks over
to us, looking not too happy. He’s holding a rifle in his hand and tosses it to
Wade. “Found this over near the back.”

Wade catches and
inspected it. “Thank you, sir.”

Ken gives a
short nod before turning to Jason. “Why are you two arguing over what she
needs? If she was half as worried about her safety as you both seem to be, she
would have been here when we were gathering the weapons that we wanted.”

“I…I was
packing a bag,” I stammer out.

He takes an
uninterested glimpse at my backpack. “Is anything in there going to keep you
alive?”

The fact that
I have to think on it makes him grunt and turn away. “This isn’t the minor
leagues, you’ll have to learn to get the essentials first and the luxury items
last. What if the aliens had come and we had to leave in a hurry? What would’ve
been in your have in your hands?”

“Clothes,” I’m
almost too embarrassed to admit.

“New clothes won’t
save your life,” he says, walking away.

He’s right.

I want that
crossbow and anything else I can get my hands on.

We’ve left the surplus store with all of our prizes and
found what’s left of a church. It reminds me of one of the death traps I was
thinking about earlier, but at least it’s warm and dry. I’m glad to be in here
rather than outside. I can hear the heavy rain beating down on the building and
the wind howling.

I didn’t get the crossbow, but I have the samurai sword,
another gun, more bullets and a gun belt that appears to be more of a harness.
But the samurai sword is what I like the best. It’s by my side in the sheath
next to my bag.

“I don’t think your father likes me,” I say.

“
Pft.
It has nothing to do with you.”

I’m sitting on my sleeping bag in the basement, eating what
Ms. Burgess calls dinner. She found and passed out some freeze-dried bags of
food, the same kind that hunters and campers use. They taste horrible, but have
enough calories and nutrients to keep a person alive. I’m munching on what’s
supposed to be scrambled eggs and bacon, but the taste isn’t anywhere near
that.

“Why do you say that?” I ask, between bites.

Jason shrugs. “He thinks I like you. He also thinks you’ll distract
me from following in his footsteps.”

My gaze shifts over to him. Someone like him could never be
interested in someone like me. Even dirty and holed up in a church, he appears
to come from a family of wealth. He has that teenage heartthrob hair style,
even though I’m sure it looks that way because he’s missed some barber
appointments. He’s muscular but lean, bigger than Ian, MJ and even Wade. Not
fat bigger, but like he’s got a man’s body, not a high school boy’s body.

He’s out of my league.

“Why would he think that?” I ask, trying to sound as
nonchalant as possible.

Jason lifts a shoulder. “He thinks I should be concentrating
on getting you guys to Ohio and not worry about any long-lasting friendships.”

“So you aren’t allowed friends? That kinda sucks.”

“He thinks I’m spending too much time with you. I don’t
know what he thinks we’re doing or talking about. It’s not like we have enough
time to chat about our lives or swap cookie recipes.”

I catch the humor in his voice and I smile, giggling just a
little.

“He thinks I should leave you alone to your bodyguard.”

I snort, which horrifies me because it does not sound cute
at all. “Wade is not my bodyguard.”

“How do you know I was even talking about him?”

“Because he’s always… He’s my friend.”

Jason chuckles low. “It’s cool though. He wants to protect
you and I see why.”

I don’t have to look to see that Jason has his eyes on me.
I feel it, heat boring into my skin, seeming to bore right through me. Feeling
uncomfortable, I stare down at my hands. I have the urge to do anything but
look up to him. I begin to pick at my nails, trying to distract myself.

“Why do you think that is?” I whisper.

“Because you’re sweet, special, innocent…all the reasons
why I want to also.”

My breath catches in my throat.

“It’s not that my dad doesn’t like you. His issue is with
me… He thinks that you’re someone that I could fall in love with.”

That isn’t what I’m expecting to hear. I’m sure by now I’m
so red that I look like a tomato. “That’s…that’s…crazy. Me and you? I can’t see
that happening.” I lie. I could see it happening.

He leans back on his elbows. “You’re right.”

And my heart seems to splinter in a million pieces.

“He’s just reading too much into everything,” he continues.
“I don’t have a little sister, but if I did I think she’d be a lot like you.”

Every ounce of my being screams out in horror.
Little
sister? Argh.

I don’t want him to know that my heart is seized in what
feels like a vice grip. I open my mouth to tell him that I see him as a big
brother, but what comes out is. “Yeah, he’s reading too much into everything.
It’s probably my fault. You and Ken came along and saved our lives and I’m…I’m
happy to have someone else to talk to.”

“Hmm.” He stares at me a long while and I get the same
uncomfortable vibration humming across my skin. Fine tingles travel up my spine
and around my neck to the back of my ears. “Do you think if none of this
happened that our paths would have crossed?”

“No. After I graduated college with a degree in political
science and journalism, I was going to travel the world, writing about
genocides, civil wars, forced sterilization and poverty.” I have no illusions
about that. We are from two entirely different worlds.

“Who knows? You may have covered my dad in office one day,
or even me.”

I laugh. “Maybe.”

“See. That right there…”

I glance up to him, our gazes lock. “What?”

“That’s why my dad thinks I can fall in love with you.”

“W…why?”

“Your smile.”

If I wasn’t red before, I know I definitely am now. I suppress
a stupid urge to giggle.

Jesus
.

“Then he would be wrong,” I say, when I’m sure I won’t
start giggling like an idiot. “But I get the feeling that your dad doesn’t
think he’s wrong about anything.”

I glance at Ken—the Senator. He’s studying a map and
plotting out our route with a pencil. If someone were to take a picture of him
now, they could post it in any magazine and label it “Senator Chamberlain Hard
at Work”. I get the feeling that he’s always “on”. That’s the same feeling I
used to get when my father came around. There was never an “off” switch with
him. Adam Sullivan
, Corporate Lawyer. Ken
Chamberlain had that same kind of air. An air of importance. I know the type
all too well.

Jason chuckles. “According to him he’s
never
wrong.”

“I know the type,” I add.

“Really? Your dad?”

“My dad,” I agree. “He doesn’t think he’s ever done a wrong
thing in his life, even with me staring him right in his face.”

Jason frowns. “What do you mean?”

I take a deep breath and find the courage to continue on.
“I’m his mistake.” Then, finding more courage, I add, “He got his mistress
pregnant.”

I’ve only told one other person in the world this and she’s
curled up in a sleeping bag. It just never seemed to be polite conversation and
not something that I even wanted to share with anyone else. But what the hell.
Aliens have waged war on Earth. I really doubt that because I’m a product of an
affair people will think less of me.

Jason whistles low. “Well…um…”

I raise an eyebrow, waiting to hear what he is struggling
to say.

“That’s not the worst thing in the world.”

“No. The worst thing in the world would be being separated
from my mom during an alien invasion. Now that’s the worst thing in the world.”

“Good point. The worst thing in the world is not knowing
whether my mother and little brother are still alive.”

I nod, agreeing with him. “My parentage registers this
much.” I press two of my fingers tight together. “In everyone’s lives right
now.”

He presses his fingers together as well. “And this is how
much anyone cares about me getting kicked out of the University of Texas.”

I feign surprise. “What you? Kicked out of school? No, you
don’t say.”

He opens up a small gap between his two fingers. “Aww, look
what you’ve gone and done.”

I giggle softly, not wanting to disturb anyone else, or
wake anyone who has already fallen asleep. “I’m sorry. It doesn’t mean anything
to me.”

“Even my dad stopped caring about that after the invasion.”

“I’m very interested to find out what it takes for a
Senator’s son to get kicked out of college.”

“A lot of things.”

I raise my eyebrow at that.

“Let’s see…” He tilts his head to the side as if in
thought.

“Wow, are you serious? You’ve done that many things?”

“It was a prank gone wrong that ended up being the last
straw.”

“Last straw?” I can’t imagine the idea of getting kicked
out of college.

“It had something to do with eggs and saran wrap.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. It’ll be a mess, but it’s
cleanable.”

“Not so easy when the saran wrap is wrapped around a car.”

“Huh?”

“On a hot day.”

“I don’t get it.”

“And the car happened to belong to the President of the
school.”

“Wait. What?”

“And it caused over ten-thousand dollars’ worth of damage.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“They were supposed to put the saran wrap on first and then
egg the car. Not the other way around.”

I frown. “And you actually participated in this?”

“No, I happened on the scene just before the President. But
it still was helluva funny.”

“I still don’t understand. Why would you get in trouble for
something someone else did?”

“It was my fraternity brothers. Someone ratted us out, but
the snitch couldn’t pinpoint who had actually done it. When I came on the
scene,” he raised a shoulder, “I was taken into custody.”

“But you told them you didn’t have anything to do with it
right?”

“I did, but it didn’t matter. The police wanted me to tell
them whose idea it was. They were going to get expelled.”

“And you didn’t?”

He frowned at that. “Of course not. I’m not a snitch.”

“But at least you could have stayed at school.”

“That’s what my father said. He was pretty pissed that he
had to come and get me.” Jason chuckles. His smile is bright and stretched
across his face, showing the dimples that I like so much. “He said my opponent
would bring this up when I’m running for some kind of political office.”

I glance over to Ken. He’s still busy studying the map, his
face set in determination.

“Jokes on him,” Jason adds. “I won’t be running for office
in this lifetime. I won’t be marrying a girl from a nice influential family and
I won’t be having model, pristine children.” He takes a look at his dad. “I won’t
have the perfect life he’s been grooming me for since I was born.”

“Yeah, this screwed up everything.”

“I don’t even think he’s accepted it…all this. He has some
crazy idea that when we get to D.C. there will be some kind of government. That
we’ll be able to beat back the aliens and all of this will be a distant
nightmare.”

“There’s nothing wrong with thinking that. I’m wishing for
the same thing.”

“But you’re a kid. You can think that way.”

Kid.

“I’m not delusional. I know Earth is pretty much ruined.
But there’s nothing wrong with me wanting to believe that this is all some kind
of bad dream and I’ll wake up at home, in my own bed with my mother making me
eggs and my dad giving me guilt money. That doesn’t make me a kid.”

He leans on me, pressing his shoulder against mine. “Hey, I’m
sorry. I didn’t have the right to say that to you.”

Wade rustles in his sleeping bag and turns our way. “You
okay, Sin?”

“Yeah, go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll
keep my voice down.”

Wade gives us one more up-and-down once over and, determining
that Jason isn’t about to hurt me in any way, he turns back around and settles
in his bag.

“See,” Jason whispers. “He protects you.”

Wade can protect me from some things, but not against
the
one thing I’ve always feared
.

A broken heart
.