Against The Darkness (Cimmerian Moon) (22 page)

I pull my
brows together. “Help me understand what you find interesting about him. You
just met him.”

She shrugs, as
if that doesn’t matter. “He’s cute. He obviously knows how to survive. I’m a
newly single woman and I don’t know how to survive.” She lets out a
half-chuckle. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have let Robbie leave me in that rat trap.”

I turn away
from her and speed up my steps. “I think we have more important things to worry
about right now then trying to hook up.”

“Quite the
opposite,” she says, matching my pace. “This is the time where all smart women
should find their mate and stake their claim.”

I raise an
eyebrow.

“So this is where
I’m staking mine,” she adds.

* * * * *

Georgetown, Ohio

April 28, Day 37

“This is it,”
Ken announces.

I just
finished rolling up my sleeping bag and am stuffing it back into my backpack.
Although we woke up about forty-five minutes ago, Ken hadn’t seemed in a rush
to break camp. Mia and I popped a couple of our food pellets and she even had a
chance to put my hair in a French braid. Usually Ken wants us up and gone
within minutes of waking, forcing us to eat and, for me, twist my hair into
some kind of bun while walking.

Ms. Burgess
gets up and stretches. “What’s it?”

“This is where
Jason and I part ways with you all.” Jason pauses the conversation he is having
with Jim and Ian to listen to what Ken is saying. “We’ll have to go through West
Virginia to get to D.C. and you all will need to keep traveling through Ohio to
reach Michigan.”

We’re
splitting up.

“I’m going
with you and Jason,” Jasmine declares. Grabbing her bag she trots to where
Jason is. Normally, that move right there would have been enough to send me
over the edge, but I’m still in too much shock to force any other emotion into
my psyche.

“So am I,” Jim
adds.

Ms. Burgess’
jaw has dropped and color seems to have left her face.

“We’ll be
fine, Ms. B,” Wade says, in a reassuring tone. “We were fine before we hooked
up with them. We’ll be fine now.”

She was
about to get raped,
is what I want to scream.

I knew Ken and
Jason were going to leave, but this… has me completely speechless. But while I
can't find the words, I seem to be the only one, everyone begins talking at
once.

Ken puts up
his hands. “Calm down. Keep your smarts and wits about you and you’ll all be
fine.”

He goes rambling
on about how he’s not going to worry about us and how our parents will be so
happy to see us and how, when he helps to bring back the government, he’s going
to mention us and make sure everyone knows how brave we are.

I don’t even
know if he actually believes what he’s saying. Because I don’t.

“I’m not
going,” Jason says, interrupting Ken.

“What did you
say?” Ken asks, obviously dumbfounded.

“I’m not
leaving them. I can’t.”

As everyone stops
talking to listen to what Jason has to say, a thick silence falls over us.

“I have to
make sure they make it home,” he continues, with all eyes on him. “You can’t
expect Ms. Burgess to do this on her own. My conscience won’t let me leave them
to fend for themselves. I’ll always be wondering if they made it or if…”

“Ms. Burgess isn’t
alone. She has Ian, Wade and MJ. They’re all men; they aren’t kids anymore.”
Ken scoffs. “Besides, what about your mother? Your brother?”

“I’ll see them
again. I won’t stay in Michigan forever. You tell them that I love them and I’ll
see them soon.”

A shock of
crimson spreads across Ken’s face. “You are not staying with them!” he says,
stabbing his finger at Jason. “You have responsibilities.”

Jason flicks
his hand though the air. “What responsibilities? What are you talking about?”

Ken takes a
deep breath and squares his shoulders. “As the son of a Senator it’s expected
that you’ll follow in my footsteps. People are expecting you to help rebuild
America.”

Jason’s head goes back and he erupts
with mocking laughter. “Are you serious?” He puts up his arms. “This—all
of this—is in ruins. Look around. How many people do you see? There’s no
one! Do you even know how many people are left on the planet?” He closes the
distance between himself and Ken. “Dad, you always talked about making a difference
and serving your people and about how you want me to continue your legacy. Well,
that’s what I’m doing. It starts here.” He turns around to give us a quick
glance before he faces his dad again. “It starts with getting these people home
safely, so that one day we can rebuild. But in order to start the rebuild, we
have to have people left to do it. And I’m not just talking about people in the
government. I’m talking about real people, like them.”

Ms. Burgess interrupts
by clearing her throat. “I for one will be eternally grateful if you would come
with us.” She looks over at Ken. “I’m sorry, but I’d feel better if he came. We’ll
take care of him. I’ll take care of him as if he were my son.”

“No,” Ken states,
glaring at Jason. “I knew this would happen, the way you were watching her that
first night. I knew it.” He turns his glare my way and then back to Jason.
“This is just like Lisa. You’re letting another girl deter you from the path
you’re supposed to be on. You could have gone to Brown. You could have had a
future in the government, but you chose to throw it away. And for what? To
follow some hussy to Texas? And what good did that get you? She slept around on
you and, instead of cutting your losses and transferring to where you belonged,
you stayed to prove a point and got kicked out of school. No. Now the past is
literally wiped clean. You can still make something of yourself. Don’t let
yourself get distracted.”

There it is.
The reason Ken wanted Jason to stay away from me. He didn’t want me to distract
him for his duties. I should feel ashamed. Maybe? Not so much. Jason is taking
us home and I just found out he has the same feelings for me that I have for
him.

Jason doesn’t
cower under the look his dad is giving him. “I’m grown Dad. You can’t tell me
no.” Jason reaches out to hold Ken’s arms. “This is not about one person. Can't
you see? This is something that I need to do. My conscience isn’t going to let
this go down any other of way. Dad. Come with me to see them home and then we
can both go to D.C. together.”

This is not
about one person.

The words
sting, I can't deny. The elation of having his dad point something out and then
for him to crush it a second later has me on an emotionally rollercoaster. But
this is where I’ll have to swallow my pride. Jason is going to help us get
home, he doesn’t need to like me to do that.

“I can't go
any farther. It’s time for me to get to my wife and son.”

“I
understand.”

“You're my
son,” Ken whispers. His facial features go from hard and stern to hurt and fearful,
just as he says the words.

Jason goes in
and hugs his dad, wrapping him tight. “I’ll be safe.”

Ken pats his
back. “I know you will.”

Jason pulls
away. “This isn’t goodbye. This is ‘see you later’.”

Ken wipes the
tears from his eyes. ”You remember my favorite diner?”

Jason nods and
it seems to take everything I have in me to keep my feet rooted in place. I
want to hug him, hold him and let him know that everything will be fine.

“When you get
to D.C., check there first. I’ll find a way to leave word about where we are.”

Ken picks up
his backpack and swings it over his shoulder. “Let’s get going,” he said to Jim
and Jasmine.

“I…I changed
my mind. I’m going to Michigan too,” Jasmine says.

Ken rolls his
eyes at her. “Figures.”

Before Ken leaves,
he glances back at Jason. “Find your way back to me safely.”

“I will, dad.”

I have no idea
what to say to Jason. I should say something. But what?

I want to let
him know that his actions were more valiant than any fictional hero, and that I
am eternally grateful to him for helping us get home. Of course a thank you is
in order. Is that all? He said he wasn’t staying because of me, so, despite
what feelings Ken thinks Jason is harboring for me, that’s clearly not an
issue.

It was stupid
to think that he had anyway.

Whatever the
case, by staying with us he’s making a sacrifice. Guilt seems to cut through me
like a knife. I honestly don’t think I would ever willingly separate from my
mother or even my father during a time like this.

I’m wearing my
harness and every compartment is filled with some kind of weapon. The only
thing that doesn’t fit in it is my sword. I have the sheath tied to a string
around my waist. And every time I take a step, it slaps against my thigh,
reassuring me that in less than two seconds I can have the hilt in my hand and,
shortly thereafter, be beheading an alien.

The sword has
provided me with confidence I never knew I had. Even now I’m walking with my
back straighter and my steps surer. I’ve lost a friend, but I’ve gained
strength.

Mia has her
rifle in a holster that’s slung across her shoulder. I hear the faint clang of
it hitting the metal rim of her backpack as she walks.

Wade steps to
my side. I give him a nod as he does. Wade looks at Jason and then leans in to
whisper to me. “Can you believe what Ken said?”

“Which part?”

“The part about
Jason liking you.”

I roll my
eyes. Everyone heard him say it and everyone heard Jason’s reply. “Yeah, but he
didn’t want Jason to leave. He was grasping for straws—saying anything.”

Wade’s gaze
lingers on me, assessing me.

“What? Why are
you looking at me like that?”

“I saw the
look in your eyes when Jason said he wasn’t doing this for one person.”

“Wade—”

“You’re falling for him. I thought
you were smarter than that.”

“Where is this conversation coming
from? You aren’t my dad. I’m not your responsibility,” I whisper harshly.

He thrusts his hand through his hair.
“I just… I think you can do better.”

“We can end this conversation now. I
don’t need you watching out for my heart. I can take care of myself.”

“Sinta, I’m not like Jason. I’m not
sexy or charismatic. I don’t always know the right words to say or the right
time to say them.”

I stumble but regain my footing. “Why…why
are you telling me all of this?”

“I wanted you to know that I care for
you. And, if you let me, I would take care of your heart.”

Wow.
“Wade, don’t—“

“I’m different than he is in more
ways than one.” He settles his eyes on mine. “I have never broken a heart and I
would never break yours.”

Speechless.

He doesn’t
wait for me to answer but drops to the back of the line. I glance up at Jason.
He’s out in front, leading the way, taking the place of his dad, and Jasmine is
behind him, practically on his heels. So much so that I think she’s stepped on
him twice.

Jasmine has
already made herself clear. She wants Jason. Every time she watches him she
gets this faraway look in her eyes. It’s not love. But it reminds me of someone
who wants to be saved and who has just found their savior. I have no stake in
Jason. This is something I’ve told her and Mia. Jasmine is free to walk on his
heels and watch him any way that she wants.

And then
there’s Wade. He’s also made himself clear.

But my heart
belongs to someone else. To someone who doesn’t see me the same way. If I was
smart I would give Wade a chance. But apparently I’m not as smart as I thought.
Jason is not mine. I had an opportunity to claim him if I wanted to and I
missed it.

But knowing
that does nothing to stop the heat that boils inside of me as I watch Jasmine
following behind him.

Xenia, Ohio

April 28
^th
, 2012: Day 37

Or calm the
urges that I have to chop off her hand whenever she touches him.

DeGraff, Ohio

April 29
^th
, 2012: Day 38

Or dampen the
desires I have to stuff her mouth full of dirt whenever she giggles at
something he says.

Findlay, Ohio

April 30
^th
, 2012: Day 39

By now I’m so obsessed
with watching Jasmine and Jason that it feels as if I’m painted green with
envy. He’s thrown himself into getting us to Michigan and, staying true to what
he told his dad, he’s not really paying that much attention to me. I take it
all in stride, pretending his cold shoulder means nothing to me. Wade is also
steering clear of me. He said what he had to say and put the ball in my court. I
have no idea where we stand…where our friendship stands right now. But today
I’ve decided to do what they are both doing to me, leave them alone and focus
on getting home.

For miles and
miles, everyone walks in silence. We don’t run into a soul. We find ourselves
on a road with mostly cornfields and what appears to be abandoned farmhouses.
As we pass a barn, where the chickens are running wild and pigs have taken over
one of the fields, I scan the area for anything out of place. Anyone who was
living there seems to have gone or was taken a long time ago, but someone is watching
after the animals. They’ve strayed, but not off the property.

“Do you think
anyone still lives there?” I ask Mia.

She looks over
at the barn and assesses it as I have. After a moment she shakes her head. “No,
can’t be. It would be stupid to stay there with all those animals bringing
attention to you.”

She’s right.
The animals would be loud, attracting the lizards. “But why haven’t the animals
left? Wouldn’t they have run away?” We’ve passed plenty of barns and, while the
property isn’t maintained, the animals have obviously been kept around by some
force.

Mia shrugs.
“Maybe they recognize this as home.”

“Uh-huh.”

We pass the
property, keeping off the dirt road and walking just on the inside of a
cornfield. Off in the distance, I hear the shriek in the air. By now we’re pros
at this. Without speaking, we fade into the cornfield, stepping away from each
other so as to easily blend in. Dropping to the ground, we let the long stalks
of corn cover us from above.

I press against
a stalk. My feet cradle the root and my knees hold it between my legs. The
oversized, floppy leaves shield me, as the ship cuts through the air above us.
Panic doesn’t allow me to watch it. I never do. I feel like a child with a “If
I can’t see you, you can’t see me” mentality. Mia has her eyes shut so tight I
can see fine wrinkles around them from her efforts. MJ has his head cocked back,
looking up at the sky. It almost appears as though he’s challenging the aliens
to spot him. Ms. Burgess is silently counting. Her lips move with each number.
Jasmine, like MJ, is looking up, but unlike him she’s leaning back on her
hands, the tips of her hair brushing against the ground. And Jason…he is watching
at me.

“Are you okay?”
he mouths.

“Of course,” I
mouth back.

I think this
is the first time he’s personally addressed me in days or have even acknowledged
my presence. My pride is urging me to turn away and ignore him, but my heart is
tripping with glee.

Pride wins
over. I peel my eyes away and, just as I do, I spot something from the corner
of my eye. Whatever it is, it isn’t big enough to be a lizard, but was
something smaller. But still the hairs on my neck stand on end. To get up and
shout, or even run, would bring attention to us. The ship isn’t too so far away
that our movements in the cornfield would go unnoticed. Rats, raccoons, possums
or other woodland animals were abundant and we had run into many during our
travels. There was no way to avoid them when we kept to the trees, as we did.

I put my hand
on the hilt of my sword. I didn’t want to kill anything, but rats are not my
favorite animals and they’re scavengers, just like us. Since humans are
becoming scarce, the rats are becoming bolder in where they go and who they
mess with. I wrap a hand around the hilt. The thought, “rats will not inherit
the Earth”, crosses my mind.

Then, as I
slowly began to unsheathe my sword, I see brown, fur-covered paws crawling my
way. Right after the paws is a black nose, a long snout and then peering dark
eyes.

A dog
.

We’ve passed
some dogs, not many. They seemed to want to stay out of sight, just as humans do.
They run in packs, like us, finding safety in small numbers. They don’t bother
us and they don’t hunt us down or try to bite us. There are too many unattended
farm animals for them to want us.

But here one is,
a German Shepherd. I peer past him, searching for another one. He’s alone. He keeps
crawling toward me. His snout is close to the ground, like a stealth predator,
but I understand that I’m not his prey.

I look around
me, at the others. “Do you see him?” I want to ask, but no one is watching me
or him. Jason has long since turned his head upward, along with everyone else,
trying to guess how far the ship has gone and if it would come around again.
Once or twice is common, three times and we can guess that it spotted us and running
is our only option.

The dog inches
forward until he’s at my leg. When he stops he glances up at me. Even in the
glimmer of light I can see how sad his eyes are. “He needs me”, is the first
thought that comes to mind.

I never had a
dog before. My mom never bought me one and I, frankly, have never been a dog
person. Not knowing what else to do, I put out my hand. I remember reading
somewhere, or seeing it on TV that I was supposed to give a strange dog my
hand, so it could smell it and know my intentions.

I put my palm
on the ground in front of his nose. He sniffs and sniffs and, apparently deciding
that my intentions are good, not to cause him harm, he licks me. Wet and warm,
his tongue glides roughly over my skin, not once but three times before the
tickling makes me pull away. With the cessation of contact he creeps closer and
presses his soft body against my leg. I can’t help but to rest my hand in his
hair, and I begin to stroke the top of his head and his back. He’s filthy,
sticky and has burrs entangled in him, but I pet him just the same. His ribs
protrude from his torso. Poor thing has probably been starving.

As the noise
of the ship becomes softer and softer, we stand, understanding it’s not coming
back.

“Where did he
come from?” Ian asks.

I wipe the dirt
from my butt. “I don’t know. But I think this is where he lives. He must’ve
been keeping the animals here.”

“Send him away,”
Jasmine says. “We can’t keep him.”

“And you’re
saying this because…?”

I bend,
feeling around his red collar, grasping the two metal tags. One is round and has
“Rabies shot, 01-DEC-2011” stamped on it. The other has “Winston Duglan” with a
phone number printed under it.

“Tell her,”
Jasmine says to Jason. “A dog will get us caught.”

I feel heat
rising in my chest. Who the hell is she? “If you don’t like him, you can always
take off, Jasmine.”

“I think she
may have a point,” Ian says. “What if he barks at the wrong time?”

I swing my
gaze to Ian, peering at him through the slits of my eyes. “Did you hear him bark?
Did you hear him at all? He crept to me. He knows he has to be quiet.”

Ian puts up
his hands in defeat. I swung my piercing glare back to Jasmine. She has taken a
step closer Jason. I was heated before, but now it’s intensified.

“He might not
even want to stay with us. He might just being saying hi,” Jason offers.

“And if it
doesn’t? If it wants to stay?” Jasmine asks.

“Then you can
leave,” I state.

Ms. Burgess clears
her throat. “Ladies, please. Sinta, the dog is your responsibility but, just so
you know, we come before he does, so if he can’t keep quiet while the aliens are
around I’ll trust you’ll do the smart thing. Jasmine, you’re more than welcome
to stay with us, but I wouldn’t try to divide the group if I were you. Everyone
here has gone through a lot together.”

Jasmine’s gaze
sweeps over not only me but everyone else, as if she just realized she is the
newcomer to our closely knitted group. I get the feeling she’s used to playing
the part of damsel in distress and enjoyed having everything her way.

That act
isn’t going to work here.

Her gaze
shifts from me to the dog. Honestly, I don’t know if the dog will want to stay with
me or if he is just stopping by to say “hi” as Jason said. But whatever the
case is, it was for me and my friends to decide. Not Jasmine, the outsider.