Come Into The Light (6 page)

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When his shoulder was shaken by the rough thrust of a hand he sat up abruptly, not aware that he had fallen asleep. He was stiff and his whole side ached from sleeping on the wooden floor but there looming over him and retrieving her hand from his shoulder was a girl lit by candlelight. Her alarming blue eyes and starkly contained features were as real as the fragrant breath lighting on his face. She was offering him a steaming cup of chicken noodle soup and as he blinked and tried to adjust to this new, unexpected development he realized just how hungry he was, grabbing at the soup with mumbled apologies and gobbling it down, noodles and all. Taking in its aroma and salty, brothy flavor. It tasted so wonderful that he had to force himself to slow down or else most of the soup would end up on his chin or stain his shirt.

As he observed the girl through the steam coming up out of the cup she avoided his gaze before proceeding to examine his head wound and his bandaged arm with deft fingers, retreating swiftly. She was made uncomfortable by the touch, and he found this curious.

She took the cup away before he could lap up every drop on his tongue and for a moment he was bewildered, astonished, and then he saw how she was frowning at him. There was something childish, almost comical in her frown. What did she expect? He hadn’t even considered the soup possibly drugged or poisoned, that’s how hungry he was.

Where had he seen her before? She looked familiar somehow. The blue eyes, the short blond hair, the boyish features. That’s it! She was on the other side of the street across from the bar that time he-

“It’s you!”

She took umbrage at the way he shouted but he hadn’t meant to shout and the uneaten noodle that shot out of his mouth was a further sign of his shame.

When she got up to leave he grabbed hold of her wrist and she was startled.

“It is you, isn’t it? I know you.”

She had this wild look and it all centered on his grasp, on the hand that hooked her wrist. She was angry, wanting her hand freed, yet he pleaded for her to stay and talk to him.

She shook her head and ordered him to let go of her. When he did as she asked she seemed to change her mind, backing away from him instead of fleeing.

“I appreciate you taking care of me but I don’t know you and I don’t know why I am here.”

She searched his face as if he was attempting to make a joke and he was made angry by the insolent gesture in her expression.

“I’m being serious.”

There was the click of a door opening that had them both turning to look.

“Amy! Are you in here?”

Harold recognized the low, honeyed voice.

“Seth, is that you?”

“Harold? It couldn’t be. My God.”

There was a careful quickness in his step before Seth appeared out of the shadowy rows of books closest to them with a puzzled smile on his face. He had a long scar on his cheek and looked older but he otherwise appeared healthy. Harold was so taken, so overcome with emotion at seeing Seth in the flesh that he jumped at the chance to hug him.

“Well, that’s something. Damn, Harold, I thought you were dead. This is one big surprise. It’s most definitely made my day.”

“I’m so glad to see you.”

“The feeling is mutual. I didn’t know it was you she brought here. Amy is not one to talk much and I try not to pressure her but man…this is great news.”

“Didn’t I tell you he was affectionate?” He said, turning to Amy.

Amy kept her usual silence but inside she was boiling. She didn’t need another reminder of Harold. It was hard enough having him near. She didn’t know how to act from one moment to the next and he had already showed her just how base and stupid he was. She didn’t know what possessed her to help him. She knew it would be a mistake but she did it anyway. She must be losing her mind. And on top of all that she had to watch this hugging ritual. What was it that drove people to hug like that? It was so icky.

When the hugging ended there was a few slaps on the back.

“You can thank Amy here for saving your ass, Harold. She helped me too. I don’t know what I would have done without her. There’s no one but you and her now. Everything has gone to shit I’m afraid but I’m not going to dwell on that, not now with you here. Amy, you think you can indulge us with a little of that champagne you’ve been hiding?”

Amy twisted her lip at the request then rolled her eyes in mild irritation before leaving to get the champagne.

“She really is quite lovely, though not much of a talker.”

“I don’t know if I’ve seen the lovely part.”

Seth laughed. He seemed to find it good to laugh.

Harold hoped John and Rosa would be with Seth. It would have made everything perfect. Yet Seth rid him of that fantasy.

“I don’t know where they are, Harry, I wished I did. Now tell me what you’ve been up to and don’t leave out the details. Details are what make life interesting.”

CHAPTER 9

Over the next couple of days Harold eat what they brought him and exercised and soon he was back to his old self. Having Seth around to talk to and to joke with had made all the difference and although the lingering effects of his withdrawal had vanished the headaches were coming back with a vengeance, yet Seth had a solution.

“Amy got me those inhibitors John spoke of. They’re effective just like John said they would be in getting that sun monster out of your head, but I’ve had memory problems on occasion so I use them sparingly. I think it is because I have an old brain. You know, memory can be a problem anyway for older people. They might work just fine for you.”

“Or the memory problem is a dangerous side effect.”

“I think it’s worth the risk if we can get pass the borders of the city without experiencing the kind of headaches that thing can devise that make migraines appear like child’s play, don’t you?”

“How was she able to get the inhibitors? We haven’t been-

Seth interrupted him smiling like a contented father, “Do you remember what John said about autistics, how their brains are different from normal brains. I don’t know what part of the brain it is that controls emotion but theirs is underdeveloped in that area and maybe that is the key to why that thing can’t get into her head. She told me they already tried to change her and it didn’t work. Anyway she is able to travel unhindered. She’s been outside the city.”

Harold was astonished. It didn’t seem possible anyone could do that. He probably would have reacted the same way if Seth told him Amy had a third eye.

“I gave her John’s directions for the Edwards Research Laboratory south of here and she said it was basically a cinch getting in. There were no guards and the security alarms and cameras weren’t functioning and she found the codes to the backup lock mechanisms.”

“She couldn’t have walked there. It has got to be what… twenty miles.”

Seth shook his head. His smile growing even wider, “She is full of lots of talent, Harry. Her father was a mechanic and a master criminal on the side. He taught her how to start vehicles without a key or key fob. She talks about him as if he was a hero to her. He glows in her presence. She said he didn’t treat her like any dumb girl, that he respected her. It is one of the few times she has spoken more than a sentence to me and with such enthusiasm you wouldn’t know it was her speaking. Anyway, it turns out a lot of people have abandoned their vehicles with a full or half tank of gas in them. She’s had her pick throughout the city. I guess religious freaks don’t have much use for transportation or gas once they’ve been reborn. Did you notice you don’t hear many planes or helicopters flying overhead?”

“I don’t think I’d fly if I knew that thing was up there.”

“That’s a point I hadn’t considered.”

“But if she can drive away from here free and clear why doesn’t she do that? What’s keeping her here…you?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. She has been roaming in and out long before we met.”

“Then what is it? I know if I could be gone, I’d be gone.”

“I can’t say, and there’s no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth. She’s here to help us. We can get out of this city and I think now is the time we did that.”

“You mean she’s willing to help you. All this was planned before I came, wasn’t it?”

“It doesn’t matter. The point is you’re here and now all three of us can go together.”

“You sound like you wish we’d left yesterday.”

“I wouldn’t have thought that a week ago but events have changed. There isn’t as much noise out there and the word is Jacob’s armed revolution is faltering. I still have old friends in among his group who update me now and again. Morale is bad and there have been desertions. The sunbies will have control of the city soon, you can bet on that. Most everyone is dead or changed. We might not have the choice to leave if we don’t do it soon.”

“But there might be others we can take with us. There’s John and Rosa for one. I think I should try to find them.”

“I thought you’d say that. You’re a good lad, Harry.”

“Just give me a little time. Two days maybe.”

“You have my blessing, but any more time than that would be dangerous. Amy can be ready in hours supplying us with a fully loaded vehicle. Food, water, a first aid kit, weapons which I’m not happy about but she insists on, medicine, the whole shebang. All we got to do is be there.”

“Alright, I getcha’, two days. I’m as ready to get out of this city as you are. Now where are those inhibitors?”

“It’s getting bad, huh?”

“Bad is not the word. I never knew how easy I had it before.”

“That stuff is addictive, Harry. Jacob should have never allowed for its usage. You can’t just blur the edges of the intrusion you have to wipe it out entirely.”

“Do they know about the inhibitors?”

Seth sighed, “I’ve thought about that but there isn’t enough. I wish there was.”

During the time Harold was recovering and Seth and he were becoming reacquainted Amy had stayed in the background keeping her covert status while eyeing Seth with respect and Harold with trepidation. Harold, though, learned to like the awkward way she spoke and the way she hid from him. There was something very curious about Amy and something loveable in the way she spurted about. She was like a firefly, lighting here and there, and her unease made him chuckle.

Harold bet that she probably liked bopping him over the head and she would probably bop him over the head again if he tried anything, yet he was intrigued.

He wondered if she knew how pretty she was, how charming her laugh was on those rare occasions when he could get her to laugh. In some odd sense he missed her when she wasn’t around. She was different from any girl he has known and he knew she was attracted to him. That lack of eye contact and the blushing were clear signs. She was like a little girl unable to express her feelings.

Like Seth said she’s autistic so Harold had to be careful with her.

He has never known anyone who was autistic. John told him about how the mind of autistics worked to varying degrees so her behavior toward him made sense. She was the complete opposite to Sara. Someone more in league with him.

It’s weird how quickly things could change, but he wanted to know her and he meant really know her. It wasn’t just her proximity or her strange idiosyncrasies that attracted him, it was something more and he need to know what that something was. It couldn’t be that he was in love with her. No, he had to put that thought right out of his mind if that was the case, that was crazy, just plain crazy.

Colder Avenue had suffered from the after effects of the fighting. There was debris and devastation, broken windows, shattered pavements, rattled houses, and pools of blood and clothing everywhere. An avenue pitched into the hell of warfare. Yet among the devastation you could see a few courageous souls surveying the damage with heavy hearts. Among these courageous souls there was Adam with a rifle slung to his back looking dirty and worn and weighted down with a responsibility he probably never imagined, yet when he glimpsed Harold eyeing him from a few feet away he smiled in his old churlish way like a boy grown too old too fast.

“Good old Harry. The guy with nine lives.”

“I’m using them up quickly. How about you?”

“I’ve had the singular honor of becoming our group’s new leader.”

He didn’t seem too happy to say this.

“Jacob never survived the blast. I guess you have a right to know. We did everything we could. I’ve had to improve morale. It’s not easy.”

Hearing the news only confirmed what Harold feared was true.

“Now don’t take what I’m saying the wrong way. I’m not blaming you.”

“I never liked the guy but I think I might have judged him too quickly.”

“We all have our demons.”

“Yes we do, and on that note do you think you might visit your father? He misses you.”

Adam’s face broke out in an astonishment that quickly faded, “I knew you two would hook up somehow. You don’t have to tell me how this happened. It’s probably better I don’t know. I don’t think he wants to see me. Besides, there’s too much to do.”

Harold saw the ring on his left hand and felt a stab of despair rise up in him as he thought of Sara. The ring shined amid all the dirt and the scattered damage to Adam’s skin.

“You two got married I see?”

Adam brought up his hand and danced his fingers with pride before Harold’s face. The ring glowed in the wave of his movement and the glow had the effect of dispelling all his grief as he grinned with the undying bliss of someone in love, “She consented. It was a short ceremony but a memorable one. We took a lot of flak for wanting to be married, but whatever happens happens, right? We’ll still have each other.”

Like someone blindly snatched into the throes of love he was unaware of the effect he was having on Harold.

“So, there’s no end to your betrayal.”

Adam darted his eyes at his old friend in a tumult of confusion that turned to anger, “I didn’t betray anyone, least of all you. This was for the good of all of us. I can’t help it if you’re too thick-headed to understand that.”