Break Free The Night (Book 2): Loss of Light (30 page)

              "Yes, other than that," he continued, his own voice deeper. "I look for beauty."

              "Excuse me?" Kaylee said, her head shooting up from his shoulder. She fixed him with an amused look, a grin sparking on her lips. Jack nodded.

              "I know, I sound like a Hallmark card," he acknowledged, smiling at her. "My mom used to say that to me though."

              Kaylee rest her head back on his shoulder, turning a bit to let her grinning lips press to his chest. "Does it work?" she mumbled.

              "Absolutely," he nodded, she could feel the movement of his head from his shoulder. "Got me through some bad nights, even some of the recent ones."

              "What did you look for?"

              "Well, when I was a kid, it was simple things. The sky, tall trees, snowy afternoons. Fun things too, like football or ice cream."

              "Ice cream?"

              "There's nothing in this world that can't be fixed with a good bowl of ice cream," Jack said to Kaylee's unending amusement. "Of course, there's no ice cream now. And this attic is pretty dingy. But there's you."

              "Me?" she asked, her smile lighting up. She glanced up and just caught the smirk he sent her way.

              "Sure, and, let's see. That spider," he continued, pointing off to a corner near them. She stiffened at once and pulled a face.

              "Thanks a lot!"

              "No, look at it," Jack insisted, nudging her with his shoulder. "It's gotten knocked down, seven, eight times. I've been watching. But it's still there, struggling to get his web slung. He doesn't know the world ended. To him, he's finally found a peaceful little attic to set up his home. He couldn't care less that there are infected roaming around and there is no more ice cream. Life goes on, you know?"

              She did know. She wished that he hadn't used a spider to make his point, but she understood. Life does go on. It would for them, too. Without her parents, without his, without some of the wonderful friends they made along the way, life would happen whether they were ready for it or not.

              "You could head out for a bit, if you wanted," Jack said, his voice low and suddenly tired.

              "You sound exhausted," Kaylee observed, her fingers moving over the skin of his neck automatically, checking for any signs of a fever. He caught her fingers and kissed the tips.

              "I'll be okay."

              "If Andrew comes back..."

              "I'll watch out for her," Jack said, his eyes flitting over Emma's sleeping form.

              So, Jack had noticed too.

              Kaylee thanked him with a kiss, heat rushed through her even at that simple contact and she pulled back faster than she would have liked. She set him up with a blanket and cushion, propped the now half full bottle of vodka next to her sister, and climbed down the ladder.

~

              She saw only two infected people on her way to the nearby stream. Andrew had found it after their first night and they had been using it for bathing and drinking water since. She walked quietly, skirting around the car in which two infected people, a man and a women, clawed at the windows. She wondered how long they had been in there, definitely not since the beginning. They could have been trapped in there, chasing a squirrel, or maybe they were newly infected. Maybe they had been alive and well and something got them just as they were heading out on the road. Either way, Kaylee avoided their line of sight, ducked behind bushes and edged around a garage to avoid them.

              She bathed, taking her time, even though the water was freezing. It still felt good to rinse clean. She didn't hurry back either, hiking past two houses on her way back and raiding whatever food she could scrounge up.

             
It's the first moment I've been alone since...
She paused, the thought rocketing around her head,
since before the infection started, really.

             
The sun wasn't yet set, it was probably close to dinner time, when Kaylee came back towards the brick house. Emma's naps were getting more and more sporadic. Kaylee thought she may just be developing a tolerance for the booze Anna plied her with. And some solid food, even if it did come from a can, would be good for her. She pushed through the open porch door, took the stairs two at a time. It wasn't until she got to the landing, just under the pull down hatch that led to the attic, that she paused.

              Something caught her attention. It was subtle, hard to pinpoint. Mixed in with the birdsong and the wind that whistled gently through the broken glass of the windows, a new sound rose. Soft claps fell against the crumbling asphalt and the sound of laughter broke free.

              Male laughter. Something in Kaylee's chest tightened and she dropped the armful of cans she was holding. She pressed herself down to the dusty, mauve carpet. The hatch to the attic was cracked, the string hanging down in the hallway, swaying lightly in the breeze. She couldn't hear Jack or Emma. But the men outside were getting louder.

              "This must be it," one said. Kaylee shifted along the floor, inhaling dust as she moved. She inched until her back was against the wall, just next to the window. Her paranoia was hard to define, but something in her gut wanted her to stay hidden. A horse neighed as she slid up the wall. She was just able to see. A dozen men on horses circled three standing figures on the lawn. The horses were restless, snorting and kicking up clouds of dust and leaves. They churned the soft lawn under hoof and spilled off into the street before being reined back.

              "What else you got in there, lovely?"

              Kaylee clenched her jaw and inhaled sharply. Anna, Bill, and Andrew stood with their backs to each other. Blood dripped from Andrew's nose and a cut was open under Bill's eye.

              "Nothing," Bill answered. "Just passing through."

              "We told that arrogant prick that this town was off limits!" It was the same man that spoke. Kaylee couldn't see his features under the baseball hat he wore. His plaid shirt was worn but clean. They must have a base camp somewhere. Though the horses were saddled, they were traveling light.

              "We don't know-"

              Another man, directly across from Andrew, pulled out his rifle and pointed the long barrel at his chest. Andrew stopped speaking.

              "One more word blondie and I'll leave you here bleeding out," the first man said. He held his hand up towards the man with the rifle, his eyes trained on the three people standing in front of him.

              "Andrew," Bill muttered. He was warning him, telling him to keep quiet.

              "Your boy?" the man asked. Bill nodded. "And her?"

              One of other men wolf whistled. The leader tipped his hat back and Kaylee could just make out a smirk from her position in the broken window.

              "Mine, too," Bill grunted, standing his ground. The man leaned forward, staring Bill down.

              "Is that so?" he murmured. He made a show of looking Anna up and down. "She don't look much like you. So my guess is she's not your daughter. And she's missing a ring. Unless you got a brand on her somewhere, who says she's yours?"

              "I do," Anna spoke up in a shaky voice. From her position, Kaylee couldn't see Anna's face. But her stance had shifted. She moved closer to Bill, turning slightly to face the man, her chin lifting. A low murmur of laughter ran through the group of men and Kaylee's stomach turned.

              "The last time Richardson sent a team out this way, we were courteous enough to send one back," the man in plaid said, ignoring Anna. "We thought our message was clear."

              "We don't know anything about that. Just passing through," Bill said again.

              "Headed where?"

              "Nowhere special, looking for survivors, some place to last out the winter."

              "Well, then isn't this lucky?" the man boomed, his horses neighed restlessly and shifted back. "You found us! John, get those three in the cab of this nice truck they've got all ready for us. We'll take them in, let Riley decide."

              A man dismounted, moved towards Anna. A dozen guns sat on restless knees, pointing vaguely in her direction. Kaylee saw Anna's head whip towards the trees, her stance tense.

              "Think about running and I'll shoot you in the back." It was said without menace, just cold and hard fact. Which made it worse, in Kaylee's opinion. A man reached for Anna's hands, pulled a zip tie around her wrists. She tensed, but didn't fight.

              "Hey, Larry, there's six sleeping bags in the bed here."

              "Expecting to find other people so quickly?" the man in plaid, Larry, asked. He tipped his hat back and Kaylee ducked just in time as his eyes swiveled towards the house. "Or do you have a couple more wives and kids in there? Sweep it."

              Kaylee moved quickly, scraping the cans she had dropped together and pulling the ladder to the attic down. She scrambled up, dropped the food, and then pulled the ladder and the hatch door up with her. A thin line of light from the hall could be seen all around the hatch. Her fingers fumbled for the knot in the string that hung down into the hall and she pulled it up, hopefully out of sight for whoever was coming to search the house.

              Jack came and crouched beside her, he dropped a kiss on her shoulder and she turned. She eyed him in the dark space and he nodded, relief and fear warring on his face. He was listening as well then, didn't realize she wasn't with the rest until now.

              "They're taking them," she whispered. He nodded again. His features taunt with worry. "I have to go."

              He shook his head vigorously and she used the hand that wasn't keeping the string pulled up to reached out and caress his cheek. "It has to be me." Her breath came out in a low rush, the words just decipherable. "You can't run. She can't move. Stay, please. Take care of her."

              Emma lay silent, passed out, not far from the hatch. Kaylee let her eyes flit over her sister, refusing to believe it might be the last time she would see her.

              "I need the gun," she whispered, her eyes moving back to Jack. He was staring at her, not moving. Her head tilt, a small smile flitting over her lips. "There's no other choice, Jack. You know it."

              His expression was unreadable. Fear, anger, doubt, that seemed to be most of it, contort his features and froze his expression. She nodded towards her sister, in the direction of the black Glock that had once been Quinto
n’
s and that her sister kept tucked under a jacket at the foot of the trunk. He moved back, his limbs jerky and slow, retrieved the weapon and then slid towards Kaylee. Just underneath, right below the hatch, she heard the heavy footfalls of the man sent to search the house. She froze, even her breath stalling in her lungs. Jack did the same, his eyes never leaving hers. She had only moments left. As soon as he was gone, as soon as she heard his shouted report to Larry, she'd have to be down the stairs and out the back door, sprinting after the horses.

              The footfalls faded away and she could hear as his boot went from dusty carpet to the worn wood of the staircase.

              "Kay," Jack whispered, an urgency in his tone. She turned to look at him and he caught her face in his hands, pressed his mouth to hers with a fierceness that was unsettling. But she matched every bit of his intensity, one hand on the smooth grip of the gun and the other on the string of the hatch.

              "I love you," he whispered against her lips as he released her. "Be safe."