Break Free The Night (Book 1) (32 page)

              Kaylee did
n’
t see a possible future in which the
y’
d have the time or resources to can and preserve their food. She doubted the road would be an accommodating place for such things. She shook her head. Emma shrugged in agreement before clicking the flashlight off and groping her way behind Kaylee out of the large closet.

Chapter Fourteen

             
“
Should
n’
t it look different
?”
Emma asked bluntly. Kayle
e’
s eyes were sweeping their bedroom. They had only really slept there a handful of nights, so it should
n’
t make so much of a difference that even though they had finished packing everything they would bring with them, it looked so empty and yet still so the same. But it did. Other that Kayle
e’
s photo frame, which she held in her hand, and the empty shelf by Ann
a’
s bed; everything else looked the same as it had days ago, right down to the pile of clothes Emma left strewn across her bed. There were no personal items missing, no posters or calendars, no pictures of friends, notebooks, post cards, or games, because there had
n’
t been any personal effects there to begin with. The girls simply did
n’
t own any, not really, not in two years. There was something wrong, almost sad, about that.

             
“
You do
n’
t want to put those somewhere
?”
Kaylee asked, gesturing to Emm
a’
s clothes. Emma shrugged.

             
“
I do
n’
t need them, w
e’
ll stop to raid that mall outside town when w
e’
re out.
I’
ll get more there
.
”

              Kaylee nodded. She knew that, Quinton had told them. But still, it seemed wrong to just leave them, abandoned, like that.

              Emma turned her back on the room and left. That night they were leaving, and while Kaylee had a moment to herself, rare in and of itself these last few days, there was something else she had to do before they left.

              It was raining. Just a light drizzle that misted Kayle
e’
s face as she slipped out to the roof. This would be her last time on the slate and tarpaper surface. She ate her last carrot from these rooftop gardens months ago and did
n’
t even know it. Now she would see her high rise and count the windows to her old room for the last time. And it would be the very last opportunity to say goodbye to her mother. Because sh
e’
d never see her again, despite what her father might think. This was the last time Kaylee, Emma, or Nick would ever see her, see Susan, see Mom.

              Raindrops spattered the glass of Kayle
e’
s picture frame. She pulled her hood up over her head, tucking her hair beneath its cover before squinting through rain. She wished she could have come at twilight when her mother would be slowing down, looking for all the world like she was merely resting on the curb, not growling like minutes before or face down in the gutter minutes later. But, she could
n’
t guarantee she would have the time. She had time now. So now it had to be.

              The night they had fled the high rise, Susan had been wearing red, a red shirt, plaid. It had bright red stripes and deep maroon contrasted against cream and white. She was wearing jeans and had pulled on a pair of Kayle
e’
s sneakers by mistake as they ran. And her Saint Jud
e’
s medal, of course, always that. She was so recognizable. Back when she was first bit Kaylee could have picked her out in an instant. Now it took time.

              Grey. It was all grey. The bright red, the maroon, the warm blue of faded denim, the white sneakers, even her skin, now all grey. Just like everyone else roaming with her.

              When Kaylee finally found her, her stomach gave the sick, little flip it always did and Kaylee convulsively gripped her picture frame a little tighter. Her eyes could only bare the sight for a minute before she had to turn away, the grey and the wet and the cold. Someplace inside her wanted to tell her mother everything that had happened. How Emma was bitten but okay, how Dad barely talked to them anymore, how Andrew hated her and Jack loved her and how she loved them both but differently. But the larger part of her needed to turn away. Her one-worded goodbye mumbled from between numb lips and then she was gone, eager to meet up with Jack so he could remind her why she was leaving in the first place.
 

             
She found him in the garage. Standing next to the reassembled and, honestly quite impressive looking, motor home. A large smiley face with a stick mouth and stick tongue hanging off it decorated the side.

              Andre
w’
s humor.

              Jack stood facing Kaylee, both arms behind his back, hands lowered behind his butt. He looked ridiculous.

             
“
What are you doing? And why ca
n’
t you do that in front of yourself
?”
she asked, laughing lightly as she peeked from around his Hummer. He looked up at her and grinned. She noticed his arms muscles clench and then he slowly brought his arms around to his front. In one hand he held what looked like pliers, though they were bulkier than any Kaylee had ever seen. In the other hand he held a small, long, shiny metal tube near the size of a pencil with a tightly wound, red rope dangling from one end.

             
“
Because these, smart mouth
,”
he started, laying the objects down on a nearby workbench; there were several other long, metal tubes lying there and a coil of the red rope
,“
are blasting caps. The
y’
re really useful. Come over here and
I’
ll show you how to set some up
.
”

              Kaylee did
n’
t know exactly what blasting caps were, or how they worked, but now that Jack had supplied the name, she could guess that the length of rope hanging from that one was a fuse
.“
These will be used tonight
?”
she asked, stalling her approach to the explosives.

             
“
Yup, tonight and any other time we need to blow something up. W
e’
ll be using ANFO, i
t’
s a relatively stable explosive, so it wo
n’
t go off unless you can set off a big enough boom before hand. Blasting caps will do that
.
”

             
“
The big boom part
?”
Kaylee asked, eyeing the metal tubes distrustfully.

             
“
Right, but we have to assemble them first. Quinton taught me how
,”
Jack said, reaching out and tugging Kaylee closer. He placed the tool in her hand
.“
These are crimpers. Once you line up the fuse
,”
Jack paused to neatly slip a blasting cap down over the length of fuse before handing it to her
,“
you place them just here, right near the top of the metal, and squeeze
.
”

              Kaylee placed the crimpers but before she could squeeze, Jack brought her hands, crimpers and blasting cap with them, behind her back. He nodded the go ahead. Kaylee squeezed. She felt the metal dent to hold the fuse firmly in place. Jack grinned at her.

             
“
Good. I did
n’
t tell you the tricky part though
.
”

             
“
Which is the reason
I’
m standing like an idiot with my hands behind my back
?”
Kaylee asked, raising her eyebrows at him as she brought her arms back around. He took the assembled blasting cap from her and nodded.

             
“
Yeah, see, if you set the crimpers too low, too far down the shaft of the cap, when you compress them, you could set off the explosive
.”
Jack answered, turning to put the explosive back on the table.

              Kaylee felt her jaw slacken at the revelation
.“
So I could hav
e
—”

             
“
I would
n’
t have let you
,”
Jack chided, shaking his head at her.

              Kaylee nodded before a look on confusion shadowed her face
.“
So why crimp it behind you? Why not see what yo
u’
re doing, so you do
n’
t make a mistake
.
”

             
“
I
t’
s precaution. Just in case I accidentally set it off
.”
Kayle
e’
s jaw dropped in a littl
e‘o’
of surprise
.“
Yeah
,”
Jack continued, rubbing the back of his neck
,“
i
t’
d be an embarrassing injury but
I’
d rather an injury there tha
n
…
”
Jack trailed off as his eyes traveled to the front of his jeans. He raised an eyebrow at Kaylee who belatedly realize her gaze had followed his. She felt her cheeks heat. He smirked.

             
“
I see
,”
she murmured her gaze now lowered to her shoes. Jack laughed and her head whipped up in a scowl.

             
“
Right, so anyway
,”
Jack continued, obviously taking pity on her as he coughed through a laugh
.“
The
y’
re pretty safe if handled correctly but some people make dumb mistakes. The
y’
ll drop them or mislay them.
I’
ve even heard stories of guys crimping them with their teeth. I
t’
s a pretty stupid thing to do, especially when crimpers are
n’
t hard to find, but you know how some people never learn
.
”

             
“
What happens
?
”

             
“
If you use your teeth? Well, if yo
u’
re really lucky, nothing. But if you bite too far down, yo
u’
ll set off the explosion. It could be fatal, it could not be, either way yo
u’
d be lucky if you could even drink from a straw after that
.
”

              Kaylee did
n’
t laugh at his weak joke.

             
“
But,
c’
mon
,”
he said gently, nodding to the workbench
.“
I have another set of crimpers and I still have a bunch to set up for tonight, you could help me
.
”

              Kaylee did. And the time flew by as she and Jack carefully assembled the explosive devices. As she crimped the very last one, Jack gallantly saving the last for her, she glanced up and around the crowded garage. Tomorrow it would be empty and only in some of the areas, like Emm
a’
s bed, would it even be obvious that they had ever existed at all. Kayle
e’
s eyes settled on Jack.

             
“
So this is it
,”
Kaylee murmured
.“
Really it
.
”

              Jack nodded, a glint of anticipation in his eye.