Counting Down (27 page)

That thought reminded Abby that she had more new abilities to test out. Staring at her water bottle she imagined yellow light all around her, felt the change in energy. With one swift motion she released her fingers from around the plastic and watched it hover in front of her.

She waved her hand and sent the bottle flying towards Alex, stopping it right under his nose. “Thirsty Alex?” Abby laughed out loud and brought the bottle back to herself with a cocky, come-hither flick of her finger.

Abby heard Evie’s quiet laughter and sent a smile in the other woman’s direction. “Should I do the fruit thing now?”

Evie smiled back. “Definitely. I could use some rehydrated bananas anyway.” She gestured towards the opened bag of banana chips on the counter.

Abby snatched up the bag and emptied it onto the table where Hanna and the two brothers sat. She took a breath, shifted her light until she could see the green hue along her fingers. With another deep breath she forced out energy through her hands and into the fruit before her.

The slices of banana filled with moisture, grew from thin chips into thick, juicy chunks before their eyes.
The room was full of the freshly peeled scent when Abby stepped back, slipping her energy to its normal white shine with a shake of her head.

“Sweet,” Jake said. “I was craving something besides petrified Salisbury steak today.”

Kyle’s voice entered Abby again, abruptly enough to make her jump. “So.” He pushed out a hard sigh, coughed twice. “We’ve got a Healer, a Grower, and three Movers.” Another cough. “If we can do everything they can do, what does that make us?”

Her eyebrows came together in confusion. His question didn’t register at first. All Abby wanted to know was why an imaginary person would be coughing.

“I don’t know.” She answered him in her normal voice, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “You’re the one who likes naming things.”

Abby didn’t care if they thought she was nuts anymore. She had proven her worth. She was confident in her methods, regardless of how unconventional they may be.

Alex came up behind Abby, stood close. “The voice is back.”

His voice sounded ominous, but she didn’t react. “Yes.” Her eyes met those of the four glowing individuals in the room. “But I think the time has come to accept it. I may be crazy, but apparently crazy pays off. If it weren’t for this voice we might never have discovered these talents – talents that will keep us alive above ground.”

She received nods from the brothers, a wide open grin from Hanna, and a look laced with pity from Evie.

“You’ll get no complaints out of me,” Jake finally said. “You could see dancing dragons on the ceiling for all I care just so long as you keep getting those gut feelings and I still get to play catch with Sam.” He leaned back against the wall, locked his hands behind his head. “No hands of course.”

Sam nodded in agreement.

Abby’s face softened until the corners of her mouth lifted. “Play all the no hands catch you like Jake. Just stop trying to pull my curtain open while I’m changing.”

Jake’s eyes grew big and he quickly pointed to his brother. “I swear it wasn’t me.”

“Yeah, that’s gotta stop boys,” Hanna said.

“Uh huh. We’ve noticed our curtains slipping open every now and again too,” Evie added.

A laugh slipped from Abby as she shifted on her heels to return to her bunk. “I’ll see you all later. Think about the missing colors for me in the meantime.” With that she left them to return to her painting.

Friday, January 18th 2013, 9:42pm

F
riday nights had become the designated time to hold ritualized poker parties in the bunker.
For the first time Abby felt like participating, even though she was a terrible bluffer.

Sam tossed his wager into the center of the table. “I’ll bet one spaghetti and meatballs MRE.”

Alex was up next. “I’ll see your MRE, but this one’s uh…” He stopped to read the label. “…beef stew. And I’ll raise you two cups of ramen noodles.”

Oohs and ahs echoed through the bunker. Ramen noodles were prized among the rations and sometimes fought over like precious jewels.

“Too rich for me.” Jake folded his cards in front of him.

“I’m in,” Abby said. “I’ve got another beef stew and I’ll see your ramen raise.”

“Okay then,” Alex said. “Let’s see what everyone’s got?” He threw down a pair of tens and waited.

Sam placed his cards down with flair one at a time to reveal a flush. Abby flopped down a pair of kings with a playful huff.

“Winner, winner, ramen noodle dinner,” Jake said clasping his brother on the back of the neck. “

“Aw,
I thought I had that one,” Abby said. “I haven’t won a single hand. I officially suck at this game.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll share my beef stew with you,” Sam said. “I know it’s your favorite.”

“Don’t listen to him Abbs.” Alex shuffled the cards noisily. “He’s just trying to get on your good side.”

“That and your bunk,” Sam added. Abby huffed a laugh. “Well he might have a shot.
Fossilized beef stew
is the way to this girl’s heart.”

She was enjoying watching the boys bicker and barter over their food wagers when Kyle’s voice came to her for the first time in five days.

“Abby.” She could barely hear him. “I…”

“Hush.” She craned her head, listened. “Everybody be quiet.”

“What’s going on?” Alex asked, pausing in the deal.

“I’m hearing him… it again, but the voice is barely a whisper.”

They all sat in quiet as Abby looked off into space anticipating her imaginary version of Kyle to speak to her.

It was the coughing she heard first followed by Kyle’s weak words. “I need you to listen to me. I need your help.”

“With what? I don’t understand.” “Just listen. I need you to come to me.”

Her head trembled back and forth. “What are you saying?” Was her delusional mind asking her to kill herself now?

He continued. “I think you can withstand the radiation for a while. The levels are almost normal now.”

“Where am I going?” She shifted her eyes between the others in the room, noted the way they gawked at her.

“There’s another shelter… under the barn. Please.” The coughing started again, this time going on for a bit before he could speak. “Use your vision. I’m here… I’m not dead.”

Abby flinched. Her body tightened. Cards and food packages stirred as she fought to hold on to the edge of the table while the wind came back into her lungs.

“Abby!” Alex moved around the table to grab her shoulders. “What’s happening?”

It took a moment for her to find her voice. When she finally did her words came out in a burst. “He said he’s in another shelter under the barn. He said…” She gulped in air. “He’s not dead.”

“Jim!” Alex yelled over his shoulder, then back to Abby, “Just hold on. We’ll figure this out.”

Jim was padding into the main room in seconds. The two hounds followed, nails clicking on the linoleum. “What’s all the fuss? Is someone dying?”

Two crevices appeared between Abby’s brows. She bit her lip and choked on the knot that had formed in her throat.

Alex spoke for her, raised his eyebrows high. “Kyle’s voice just told Abby that he’s not dead and we need to come get him out of a second bomb shelter under the barn.”

Jim almost laughed, but one look at Abby’s face held him back. “That’s not possible. He would’ve mentioned something like that.”

Abby swallowed the lump and made her voice box work again. “He said I could use my vision to see for myself.”

Jim paced a few times, chewing unconsciously on his thumbnail. “Okay, let’s say he is alive and you’ve been hearing his voice this whole time. Why wouldn’t he have suggested using your ability to prove he was alright from the start instead of letting you think you were going crazy?”

“I don’t know Jimmy.” Her breathing started to calm. “If he is alive, I’m sure he’ll be willing to explain. Right now I need to find out the truth.”

Abby didn’t need to close her eyes to use her abilities anymore.
She left them open wide, staring past the faces in front of her until her vision vibrated out of focus.

It only took a short time for something to happen. Abby felt as though an electric current were stretching from her body, up and out into the world above, and straight towards the barn.

She refused to look around the grounds of the farm as it blurred by. The barn was her focal point. She didn’t want to catch a glimpse of anything resembling death and destruction; no dead horses, no bloated chickens, and certainly no bodiless work boots lying under rubble.

She entered the barn doors, glancing around in her mind’s eye to see nothing with the exception of decaying horses and a mess of debris. So much for trying to get out of seeing the death, she thought trying not to let the bile rise in her throat. Thank goodness she couldn’t see their faces. Bucky’s gorgeous brown eyes, vacant and sunken into his head, was not something she needed to witness.

Ash was everywhere. The right half of the roof had collapsed onto the barn floor leaving a mess of timbres and shingles. Random tools scattered over the ground; spades, rakes, saddles and other tack. Piles of hay were still miraculously stacked in the back corner, somehow having been missed by the falling roof.

She forced her vision down in to the earth under the barn, through the rich soil and roots until she hit a cement wall.

“Oh god.” A mixture of fear and hope punctured her heart. The little ember of a wish she had foolishly held on to was beginning to grow inside of her, sparking up into a weak flame.

“What?” She heard Jimmy’s voice like it was far away.

“It’s here. There’s something here.”

Abby focused with renewed force and shoved her sight down further until the darkness of the earth opened up into a dimly lit room.

She didn’t have to go far once inside. She heard his labored breathing and swung her head to the left. There, on a single bunk in the back corner of the tiny shelter, lay Kyle’s motionless body.

Her vision floated closer until she was right beside him. There was weeks of
beard
on his chin, his
dark hair
was slick with sweat, stuck to his forehead
in little
waves
. He was trembling with cold as more sweat beaded up along his brow and dripped down onto the pillow.

“He’s alive.” She said,
trying to restrain
the joy
in
her voice. There was no time for celebration.

With one more look at Kyle she snapped her vision back to the bunker on the other side of the farm. Seven worried faces peered back at her.

“I have to move fast,” she said. “I don’t know how much time he has left.”

Jim was at her side immediately. “What did you see? What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know but he’s not conscious.” She rubbed her hand along the back of her neck. “It doesn’t matter. I have to go now.”

“Wait Abby,” Jim began. “The levels outside aren’t low enough yet.”

Abby met his eyes defiantly.
“Are they close enough for Hanna to heal me if I’m affected?”

“Probably. The radiation is below deadly, but you could still get seriously sick.” He looked back at Hanna. “What do you think?”

“I could try.” Hanna tucked her curly red hair behind her ears. “I mean, I’m sure I could do it.”

Abby took a step towards the release lever. “That settles it then.”

“Wait Abby.” Alex pinched the back collar of her shirt. “I’m coming with you.”

“So am I,” Jim said. “I’m not sending you up there alone.”

“Us too,” Jake said, his brother beside him.