Counting Down (20 page)

Abby wiped the sweat from her brow as the group of nine people and two dogs made their way to the bunker. Like the rest of them, the lower half of her face was covered with a strip of fabric to keep the ash from entering her lungs. Even the dogs had pillow cases lightly placed over their heads as they were carried to the shelter by Jim and Kyle.

After being shown the accommodations of the underground bunker, the group had gone above for a few more quiet pleasures like hot showers and indulgently huge chocolate sundaes with all the fixings provided by Kyle.

Daisy let out a soft whine prompting Kyle to pat her head through the cloth. “It’s okay girl. Almost there now.”

His voice was muffled through the steel grey strip of tee shirt wrapped around his face, leaving only the top half exposed to the early night air. Sweat dripped down his forehead and into his eyes, making him squint as he struggled with the light weight yet cumbersome animal in his arms.

Evie and Hanna were the first to get down into the bunker. The men turned to Abby next, as if to say women and children first, but one look from her and an emphatic shake of her head had them lowering the two hounds down next.

It was then that Abby saw the flashlights. Elevated voices followed, screaming above each other like a deranged choir.

“Connelly!
We know you have that old bomb shelter on this farm and you’re gonna let us in it.”

“Shit. Here they come.” Kyle’s head popped up quickly, his eyes wide. “Everyone in the bunker now!”

Kyle grabbed Abby’s arm but she shrugged him off. He latched on again, this time with more strength. “Get in the god damn bunker Abby.”

Abby heard the fear in his voice but resisted anyway. She couldn’t shake off his grip this time, but fixed her eyes to his with a determined stare. “Let go Kyle. I’ll go when you go.”

He shook his head, looked up at the mob that was closing in on them fast. “Don’t do this Abby. I can’t protect you up here. I won’t risk your life again.”

“What about you?”

Kyle met her gaze with sadness buried behind his eyes. He pulled the cloth from
both of their faces
and kissed her hard, lingering for only a moment with his hands gripping her
cheeks
. Then all at once he shoved her towards Alex and Jim.

He pulled his mask up again. “Get her in and keep her there. And lock up the hatch tight.”

Suddenly he was gone, crossing the distance to the big red barn without looking back.

Abby couldn’t fight the two men holding her, though she tried like hell. “Kyle!”

She turned desperate eyes on her uncle. “Where
is he
going? No. Don’t. Let go of me. We have to help him. How will he get in with us if it’s locked?
How will we know when to open it for him?”
Neither of the men spoke, just worked together to pull her down into to the bunker like she was a ragdoll. “Jimmy, please. We have to help him.”

Abby turned her body and flailed wildly, striking Alex in the face before she brought her heel down on her uncle’s toes. Their grips loosened just enough for her to squeeze away.

Once free she began to run towards the barn. Looking up she saw Kyle, glowing in the ash like a flaming beacon on a dark, desolate shore. She stopped in the layer of soot, watching as the mob broke windows out of her uncle’s house. The beams from their flashlights shot out into the night and Abby was certain she noticed the glint of a gun barrel.

One of the pillagers caught sight of her and yelled towards the others. “Hey, over there! There’s one of them.”

Abby looked again to Kyle. His eyes bore straight through her as he held a shotgun in one hand and a lantern in the other. For an instant he was Callum, standing on the hill, her priest and her husband. He held the stare for a long moment and Abby sensed he was trying to tell her something, could almost hear him whispering to her. But his voice stayed out of range; too faint for her mind to grab onto.

He removed the cloth from his face again to reveal a faint smile. It was a smile for her benefit, meant to reassure her, but it didn’t touch his eyes.

With a final look he held the lantern high in the air. “This way everyone! Follow me. The shelter is over here!”

“Oh my god.”
She took a step to start running only to be stopped by Alex’s body falling over top of her in a messy tackle. His stocky frame pressed down on her hard making it difficult to raise her head to see Kyle. The mob was moving towards him now, running for their very lives to seek the safety of the imaginary shelter he promised them.

Before she could see anything else Alex dragged her off the ground and slung her over his shoulder. Her arms and legs flailed wildly, kicking into his stomach and beating his back with balled up fists.

“Stop it Abby.”
Alex
spoke between his teeth, holding her feet down with his arms.

“Why are you doing this Alex? Put me down and go help him.”

Abby was half way down the hatch of the bunker when she heard the first shot. More shots followed, one on top of the other. The echoes invaded her ears with a painful sharpness, stabbing into her like the tips of burning hot blades. She flung her limbs around again, screaming and beating into Alex’s back with renewed force.

He threw her down hard as they reached the floor of the bunker, leaving the beginnings of a fresh bruise on her tailbone. She stood up quickly despite the pain in her backside and made a move towards the door. Her uncle quickly blocked her path with Alex stepping in beside him to create a firm wall between her and the way to the surface.

She felt the sting of panic in her chest, the first welling of tears behind her eyes. “Why is he doing this?
How will he get in the shelter?
How could you leave him out there to fend for himself?”

Alex spoke first. His eyes were stern while he rubbed his gut where she had kicked him. “Because he told us to.”

“What?” Abby looked up confused, salty tears running down her cheeks. “I don’t understand. What do you mean he told you to? Why would he do that?”

Jim looked to the other five people, gestured for them to go into the sleeping area. When they were gone he gripped his niece’s shoulders to look her in the eye, took a breath to gather the right words.

“He knew something was going to happen, knew we’d never be able to support all of those people in here. There’s not enough food, especially after we took on the others.” When she continued to stare blankly he continued. “Those people were fighting for their lives. They would’ve killed us to get in here. Kyle sacrificed himself to save us.”

Abby allowed herself to be led to a bench behind one of the tables, sunk down into the seat with a sob on her lips. She was in shock but definitely not numb. The weight of a two ton brick pressed in on her chest. She swallowed the ball of panic in her throat, bit her lip to keep from screaming.

Jim continued. His voice was strained with grief. “He warned us ahead of time that you were going to fight, that you wouldn’t go quietly into the shelter without him. He told us you went where he went.” Jim smiled, rubbed the back of Abby’s hand softly. “And that we would have to restrain you, force you underground to protect you.”

“But he can’t make it up there alone, not against what’s coming.”
She made a move to stand up again but her uncle held her in her seat. She looked at him with complete desperation. “Please. We have to help him. Damn it. He won’t survive.”

Alex shook his head, looked down at Abby with something like tenderness. “He made us swear not to let you leave and he made us swear not to come out of the shelter to help him. Not under any circumstances.”

“And you’re just going to listen to him? Why? He might glow and have visions of the future but he’s not super human. He needs saving sometimes too.”

“He made us swear Abby,” Alex repeated. “He made us swear on our lives. He’s the one who knew what was coming. He’s the one who knew about all of this before any of us did. There is no reason not to trust him.”

Jim rotated in the bench. “We did trust him Abby. We believed in him and the things he knew. And now we have to believe in you. It’s your gifts that are going to get us through the days to come.”

“No.” Abby set her jaw, looked at the both of them defiantly. “He’s coming back. Kyle will find a way.”

Jim and Alex looked at each other in silent communication. It was Alex who drew the short straw and bent down to take on the task of telling Abby the last of the brutal truth. “No he’s not honey.” He took a deep breath and continued softly. “He’s never coming back and he knew it.”

“I don’t believe that. He would’ve made more time for us. He would’ve…” Her sobs came then, choking her words.

After a sea of tears and lots of arguing Abby finally allowed herself to be led to her bunk. She cuddled up her tired body within freshly washed blankets and closed her eyes. As she drifted off she heard Alex say something about keeping an eye on her, and making sure sharp objects were out of her reach.

“I don’t trust that she won’t do something stupid.” Alex stood by the sink, staring up at one of the control panels on the opposite wall.

“You really think so?” Jim joined him by the sink, keeping his voice low. “They didn’t really know each other that long, barely had time to get cozy or anything.”

Alex sent the older man a look that said he was completely oblivious. “Didn’t she tell you about the visions, about the connection they shared, the past life thing?” Jim shook his head and Alex went on. “She’s completely in love with him. Believe me, I know. She never looked at me the way she looked at him. He was her one and he’s gone now. Who knows how she’s going to react to something like that?”

Jim exhaled heavily. “Where have I been the last few days? I thought they were just falling victim to unusual and dramatic circumstances, letting their hormones get the best of them.”

Alex huffed a laugh. “No, that’s something I’m familiar with, especially when it comes to your niece.”

Jim shot the younger man a look of warning.

“Sorry, but it’s a fact. With me it was hormones and a certain kind of desperate need for connection. Everything about her was different. There were no real emotions, nothing you could really call love. At least not on her end.”

“You loved her.” It was a statement instead of a question.

Alex
nodded with a touch of sadness and
dropped his head. “Still do I guess. But I was okay with Kyle. Not at first, of course. I thought maybe she’d come around to me again, realize that we could be good together, especially since she’d stopped taking her pills.”

Jim tilted his head in question. “Pills? Is she sick or something?”

“Not really sick, just diagnosed seriously depressed. She’s been taking them for years, since right about the time she left your house and came to live in New York.” Alex crossed his arms over his chest. “I knew about her taking them, but she has never given me the details as to why she took them or told me what led her to being medicated.” Alex glanced toward the curtained door of the sleeping area and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Though I’ve seen her naked, and not that you want the details, but she has a nasty scar along the inside of her right thigh, right were that big artery would be.”

Jim’s eyes widened. “You think she tried to kill herself? No, that’s not possible. Not Abby.”

Alex held up his hand with a hush, glanced again towards the curtain. “Well, what would your guess be? It’s either that or she was in a really bad accident no one knows about and she sustained no other injury.”

“I can’t believe that. Why wouldn’t she talk to me, come home or something? I would’ve been there for her. She knows that.”

“I don’t know. She never talks about it, but I’m pretty sure her mother’s death affected her more than she lets on. That and she didn’t seem to function well before she took the pills. From what I’ve heard from
some older aquaintances
, she did little more than sit around her apartment watching television and waiting for work to come to her. She barely painted, barely did anything besides go out and drink every weekend.”

Jim pursed his lips, let out a heavy sigh. “She was born a melancholy child. Since the day she came into the world it seemed like some part of her was missing and she was constantly searching for it. She was always more emotional, always quietly discontented with life. Losing her mother too soon didn’t help.” He crossed to the table and sat. “We’ll take turns watching her, work as a team. The next few days are probably going to tell us whether or not we really have to worry.”