Break Free The Night (Book 2): Loss of Light (14 page)

              Kaylee had asked Rose about it, her voice soft as they were setting up lunch, a stew that Rose concocted with minced venison and onions. They still had some fresh vegetables growing, managed only in the improvised greenhouse that Rose confided they had built somewhere in the surrounding meadow. Apparently the soil directly around The Mill wasn't good enough for anything but a few raised garden beds.

              "The fence?" She asked conversationally. "Yes, the old crow." She sniffed as Kaylee grinned. Marsden was making his way through the kitchen now, ignoring both as he stomped through. Paul had asked to take Andrew and Emma to the other garden beds, after they had offered to weed and tend to them.

              Whether through spoken plan or not, none of the group had been left alone. If Emma got up and walked out of an area, her Dad or Andrew were quick to follow. Kaylee had a constant shadow of Jack. Bill and Anna hadn't been seen since the morning, but again, they were together.

              "He thinks he's so clever," Rose continued, not even bothering to lower her voice. "He's the only one who can shut off the fence, the only one who knows how to run the turbines. He doesn't even let any of us other folks downstairs into the basement to mess with the generators or equipment. No one except Danny. And let's face it, Danny is just not the brightest. You could hand that boy instructions in clear English on how to keep this place running and he'd still not get it. Mario would understand better than he would."

              "You're being mean," Maggie reproached from her perch at the nearest table. Jack sat with her, cleaning and slicing the pile of wild mushrooms that had been collected. Cynthia had dropped them off earlier. The outer fences must have their own electric switch, allowing her to exit as she pleased from the fenced area across the dam. Either that or she radioed Marsden somehow. "He keeps his secrets close, who doesn't?"

              "The rest of us don't
have
secrets to keep close," Rose snorted. "We can all see how to wrangle those chicks, and my cooking isn't so much of a secret as a God given talent." Maggie rolled her eyes over a grin and Rose smirked.

              "He's given us shelter and lots of safety," Maggie continued, obviously pressing her point. "That's all I'm saying."

              "Hmm," Rose said, her voice dropping now. "But at a price."

              Kaylee saw Jack's mouth open and then close again quickly when Cynthia bustled through the back door, asking for her lunch.

              They didn't see Bill or Anna until dinner. They entered the yard looking exhausted. Danny went straight to the kitchen, seating himself at the table and serving himself a plateful of food. Marsden and Cynthia were already eating.

              "How'd it go?" Kaylee asked, eyeing Anna. She shrugged, but the look that lingered in her eyes suggested her day was anything but easy.

              "It's not great, we know," came Paul's voice. Kaylee hadn't even heard him come up behind them. Mario was at his elbow. Even though his voice was soft, he gestured grandly as he spoke, Mario nodding along. "But it keeps us all safe. Better to deal with the biters once they're strung on the line, rather than in our beds."

              Mario murmured comfortingly to Anna, putting his arm around her shoulders and steering her towards dinner. They all followed in slow succession.

              "It was that bad?" Andrew murmured to his dad.

              "It wasn't good," Bill answered gruffly. "But they're right. Definitely better than the alternative. Hard work though. The bodies are heavy."

              "Any sign of-" Jack started but cut off as Bill nodded.

              "Found me when I was taking a..." he cleared his throat, glancing towards Kaylee. "Yeah, he found me. Told him what you said, he agrees. He'll keep an eye out. Signal each night though, just like you have been."

              Jack nodded in agreement.

              They wouldn't have long, that's all Kaylee knew, Jack wouldn't be able to manage much longer with Quinton on his own in the woods. It didn't make much sense, she thought. Why keep Quinton out? Even if it was unsafe sleeping so close to Marsden, wouldn't it be better to have more on their side inside the fence? But Jack and Quinton obviously didn't feel that way. And they had survived together until now.

              Dinner that evening was quiet. After the washing had been done, most of the group gathered in the great room again, but instead of television, they unplugged the electronics and sat together in small groups. Mario and Anna chatted quietly in unobtrusive Spanish. Mario gestured along for the benefit of Paul, who seemed to find it amusing that their roles had reversed. Jack pulled out a worn deck of cards and Rose joined him for a few rounds of poker, surprising him with how well she played. He offered to teach her a new game, the one he had taught to Kaylee, Emma, and Andrew that night in the firehouse. She took to it surprising well. Emma still seemed to keep her upper hand and without Kaylee playing, it was now Andrew who lost almost every time. He took it much better than he had in the past, not nearly as surly as he was weeks ago. Kaylee sat on her own for a while, watching from afar and catching snippets of conversation as the words floated gently around her. Marsden sat apart as well, still eyeing everyone and still gripping his rifle.

              It was eerie, the way he watched them all. His eyes would flit between them, categorizing, taking inventory. His gaze was less predatory, Kaylee thought, and more greedy. It was a subtle difference. She couldn't decide if it was because he wanted so desperately to be one of them, to belong in a way that wasn't solely because he was the only one able to run the place, or because he felt that they already belonged to him. That because he lead The Mill meant the others were his property, like the bizarre electric trophies he displayed.

              His eyes dart to Kaylee and she jerked her gaze away, unnerved that she was caught staring. He didn't look away though, she could feel his eyes pinning her to the spot.

              Maybe it was a mix of both.

              She pulled herself up from the comfy leather arm chair she was sunk into, murmuring to Jack that she would be right back. She walked the length of the room, pushing open the door that led to the kitchen, the long hallway of books before her.

              She didn't read often, not as often as her sister anyway, but a book would keep her eyes away from Marsden, allow her some escapism. Maggie was in front of her, down at the other end of the hallway. She was perched on the top step of a short ladder, reaching for a volume just at the end of her grasp.

              "Need any help?" Kaylee asked, smiling. Maggie jumped a little, a nervous smile twitching into life.

              "That's okay," she answered in a small voice, her finger nudging up under the spine of the book and pulling it forward. It tipped from it's place into her waiting hands. She smiled more fully then, shyly showing Kaylee the cover.

              Pride and Prejudice. Kaylee smiled back. When life had been normal, she had been assigned that book in school. She had read it while Andrew groaned about having to read it and eventually coaxed her into renting the movie.

              "One of my favorites," Maggie confided. "Keeps me company."

              Kaylee nodded, understanding easily. "Has it mostly just been you all here? Have there been many to come through?"

              "There has been a few," Maggie answered, averting her eyes. "But most of them come and then go."

              Kaylee was surprised. Yes, her group had a plan. And there were enough of them that it was relatively safe to travel, as long as they had armored vehicles and plenty of weapons, which they did. But if it had been just she, her sister, and her dad and they had stumbled into this place, there was no way they would leave. No matter how unpleasant Marsden could be, it was undeniable that the safety he offered more than made up for it.

              "Was it large groups then?"

              "Oh no," Maggie answered dismissively. "Mostly just one or two people."

              "And they left? Back out there all alone?"

              Maggie frowned, her mouth falling open and then snapping shut. She nodded. "Aren't you leaving?"

              Kaylee paused, not sure how to answer, not sure if they really would go after all. If Jack and Quinton thought it unsafe, they probably would. She knew the goal was Alaska. Her father would want to keep going, knowing that no one here could help develop a cure, none of them would have the ability. So telling them about Emma wouldn't be an option. And isn't that why he agreed to leave their city in the first place?

              "Anyway, even if you did go," Maggie continued in Kaylee's pause, "maybe you'd come back."

              "Have the others?"

              Maggie frowned, her eyes skipping from her book cover and to the door that led to the kitchen.

              "Have any of the others ever come back?"

              "No," she answered eventually. She didn't meet Kaylee's eye as she murmured her excuse and slipped out to the kitchen. Kaylee heard the outside door open and shut.

              "It's not you, just in case you're wondering."

              Kaylee jumped, her hand flying to her throat. Paul came up behind her, his eyes towards the kitchen.

              "Maggie is still not over Charles. He came and went, said he'd be back, but..." Paul trailed off with a shrug. "I'm grabbing some water, need anything?"

              She shook her head no, murmuring her thanks. She chose a book at random and left the little hallway full of books for the large, brightly lit great room. The crane that hung from the ceiling was a great, dark blot against the otherwise lit ceiling. Jack caught her eye as soon as she entered, his gaze drifting over her. She nodded to him, grimacing through a smile, before he turned back to his game. She opened her book, staring down at the title page.

              She tried but she couldn't focus on the words. Her conversation with Maggie was stuck on replay in her head.

             
None of the others came back?

             
That couldn't be right. It made no sense. Unless something prevented them from coming back, something dangerous that they couldn't escape.

              "Rose?" Kaylee started, waiting for the older women to hum her acknowledgement. "Other than that hospital you mentioned, are there a lot of highly populated areas around here?"

              "Around here?" she asked, distracted by the card game. "No, not really. Kinda out in the sticks, if you know what I mean."

              Kaylee hummed, turning back to her book. The words blurred together. Maybe it wasn't something dangerous that held them away, but something better.

              "What about other survivors? Other groups of people?" Kaylee pressed, leaning forward out of her seat.

              "Eh?" Rose grunted, her eyes darting from Emma to Andrew. "Nothing but some stragglers that come and go. Hey now!"

              Emma, Andrew, and Jack had all slammed their thumbs down on the table. Rose missed the cue. "See now I've lost my turn!"

              "Sorry," Kaylee said through a smile. Jack turned to look at her, his gaze quizzical. "It's nothing, just Maggie mentioned some people that have come and gone and I wondered why none ever came back."

              "Oh that old pity case," Cynthia sneered, she was just walking in from the hall. Kaylee looked up at her, startled. "Whining about Charlie again, isn't she?"

              "Now, Cyn," Marsden drawled, his eyes darting to her in warning.

              "I can say what I want," she shot back, dropping herself into a chair behind her mother. Rose placed her cards down with a sigh. "It's his own fault he left. Probably dead or a biter by now."