Counting Down (28 page)

“Don’t look at me,” David said as he stepped into the room. “I don’t care if he’s alive, dead, or somewhere in between.”

“We weren’t planning on bugging you Dave.” Alex sneered.

“We’re wasting too much time. We have to go now.” Abby raised her hand over the lever again. “Those of you who are staying get in the back and don’t move until we return.”

She waited for them to move, flipped the lever, and moved up the stairs with the four men behind her.

Once they reached the surface they all realized quickly that none of them had thought the operation through. It was winter and the ash cloud still hung in the sky, obstructing any heat from the sun. Instantly they were freezing.

Abby clenched her fists at her sides and listened to her teeth chatter. Her breath was visible in front of her. “We have to run.”

The five of them sprinted through the ash, slugging along where it was especially thick as though they were running on loose sand. Abby kept up pace with the men, pushing her shorter legs to their limits. As the icy wind bit into her flesh and her legs burned beneath her, she kept her mind centered on Kyle. It was that blinders-on focus that made her the first to enter the barn.

All five of them stopped once under the roof, looked around while they caught their breath.

“Oh no Bucky,” Jim said.

“Don’t Jimmy,” Abby said. “You don’t want to see. Just help me find the way in.”

Abby tried to discern where the hatch would be, thinking back to her vision. She ran to the third stall and started kicking around the hay. Her toe hit metal right away but her feet were too cold to feel the pain.

“It’s here!” she called. “Help me.”

Jim moved in beside her to sweep off the layer of hay and horse feed until the hatch was completely exposed.

“How will we get it open?” Alex asked. “It locks from the inside.”

“Give me a second,” Abby replied before slipping back into her projected sight.

She was next to Kyle with a thought. “Kyle. Please Kyle you need to get up. We can’t get you out unless you open the hatch.”

He didn’t show any signs of hearing her and Abby was sure his breathing had become slower.

“Kyle!” She screamed into his face, willing him to hear her. “Callum, get up!”

When he didn’t move a wave of panic landed on top of Abby. There had to be another way. Just as quickly as she had slipped in, she slipped out of the vision and back to the frozen barn.

“Anything?” Jimmy asked beside her.

“Shush. I need to think.”

Abby searching her mind for a solution. She was not going to let him die on her. Not again. In a fit of frustration she smacked the side of the stall and watched wood chips fly to reveal a hole the size of her fist. It wasn’t just her hand that had hit the wood. It was the ability to throw off a force with only her mind.

“How’d you do that?” Alex asked. “Were you using the yellow light?”

“No I wasn’t.” She pointed to Sam and Jake. “You two. Put a hand on my shoulders.”

The brothers stared, stunned.

“Do it
now
!”

They flinched but moved to stand beside her as she faced the shelter entrance. Each of them rested one hand on Abby and waited.

“Now help me move the lever inside the hatch. Lend me some of your abilities. I’ve never tried to use two at once before. I’m not even sure it’s possible.”

“We’ll try,” Jake said.

“Thanks,” she said before her vision zipped back into the bunker below.

This time she appeared before the lever. She looked back at Kyle for a moment then channeled her strength into moving the red handle with her mind. She could feel the energy of Jake and Sam, soaking into her like warm water to a sponge.

The lever quivered for an instant then was still again. She took a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and pushed again. With a sudden jerk the lever flipped and Abby dropped to her knees. Once again her consciousness was above ground.

“Go,” she gasped. “It’s open.”

Jake flicked his hand and the hatch popped up easily. “Come on Abby.” He smiled down on her. “Let’s go do some rescuing.”

Abby stood and allowed Jake to help her down the narrow stairwell. The other three men were already at Kyle’s bedside.

“What’s wrong with him?” She heard the panic in her own voice, felt it like a row of rubber bands around her chest. As she approached she read the look in Alex’s eyes and she almost fell to her knees again.

Jim had pulled the blankets back to expose Kyle’s lifeless body. His lower half was covered in a pair of flannel sleeping pants, one leg of fabric cut off at the thigh.

Abby covered her mouth, let out a suffocated wail, as her eyes fell on the bandages wrapped around his leg. Dried blood caked the outside, having soaked through the layers of wrappings.

“Infection,” Jim said. “I’m not sure there’s anything we can do. He’s… I don’t think he’s breathing.”

A sound issued forth from deep within her, sorrow bouncing off the walls with a hollow echo.

Jake’s arm was still under her for support. He tilted to look at her and spoke in a near whisper. “You can heal him.”

“But he’s…”

“You have to try.”

She lifted her head, straightened her back then shrugged off the arm around her and stood beside Kyle’s bed.

One breath was all she needed to transition to the healing, blue light that always resided within her. She felt weak, already sapped from her previous effort as she watched her hands tremble. Hovering both palms over the wound, she poured everything she had into him.

His eyes flew open immediately, staring but not seeing. In the next instant he was squeezing them shut again while his body convulsed as though being tortured. His face contorted in agony and he reached for his leg. It took all four of the other men to hold him down while Abby continued to work.

She glanced at his face, read the searing pain in his wide, watery eyes and concentrated with all her power. Her vision started to blur. Images began to swim through her mind as she fought to stay on her feet. The past began to mingle with the present and she saw Callum standing on the shore as a boy with a wide innocent smiled fixed to his lips. Then time moved forward and he was standing next to the other priests as a young man, calling down the blessings of the gods and lighting the ritual fire.

One knee gave out and she dropped, keeping her hands over Kyle. She barely noticed the blood that dripped from her nose and over her lips.

She heard Kyle as though he were miles away. “Abby stop.” His raspy voice grew louder. “Stop.”

She ignored him, continued her efforts in desperation. She shoved all her strength into his leg, willing him to heal, to live. Until her body collapsed onto the cold floor.

Saturday, January 19th 2013, 3:28am

W
hen Abby opened her eyes again there was only darkness surrounding her. The damp smell of concrete reminded her that she was in her bunk, exactly where she had been for nearly the past month. She was freezing. Her skin felt like she had been dunked in ice water and stored in a human sized cooler. A shudder rippled through her body as she leaned up on her elbows.

Instantly she noticed the throbbing pain in her head and the tightness in her limbs. Out of habit she lifted an arm to wave some light in front of her eyes. Sucking in her breath she stared at her fingers, turning her hand over and back again. The white light that usually surrounded her was nearly gone, faded to a weak glow she could only make out around her fingernails.

Memories flooded back; Kyle’s bunker, his wounded leg, the terrible pain that distorted his features, how badly she had wanted that pain to stop.

She flung open her curtain, squinted in the pale light floating in from the living area, before rolling out of her bed. And landing right on Alex.

She tripped, fell forward, catching herself on the bunk across the way. Alex grunted under her knees.

“Whoa, watch those little feet.” He stood up, gripped his gut. “I need that part.”

She tried to steady herself, felt the weakness in her bones. “Why are you sleeping on the floor?”

“We were worried. It’s my watch.”He gripped her arm, helped her to straighten to her feet.

She regained her balance, pushed the hair from her face. “So…” She glanced down at the floor. “I’m not crazy?”

“No. You were never crazy.”

Abby released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Her chest heaved with the effort and her knees buckled underneath her weight.

Alex’s grip tightened on her arm. He was quiet while she breathed. “He’s out there.” He gestured towards the main room with a tilt of his head.

She looked up into his face, tears already forming at the edge of her lashes. “Is he…”

Alex didn’t need her to finish.
“I’ll get him.” He pushed through the curtain, letting light and hushed voices in as he left her.

Her hands shook. She looked down, pressed them together, leaning into the double fist to alleviate the pressure in her chest. Her numb legs took her to the back of the bunk space and she propped herself on the edge of a bed, waiting. She examined her unfinished painting, studying the lines of color to distract her from the ball of anxiety hanging in her throat.

Light filled the room as he stepped past the curtain. She breathed, willing air into her swollen throat. Her eyes remained downcast, almost afraid to look at him; afraid he might disappear again.

She felt him standing beside her, saw the shimmer of light playing off his bare feet. Finally she turned, drew her gaze up him from his toes, over his body until she reached his face. She continued to avoid his eyes, instead wandering over the rest of his features.

After a moment she stood, finally met his gaze as her lips trembled and a small sob trickled from her throat. She blinked back immanent tears
and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest
.
There was no anger in her words when she finally spoke.
“How could you do that to me? How could you let me think you were dead?”

He spoke softly
, gently rubbing her hair
. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.”

She reached up, gingerly brought a hand to his freshly shaven cheek, and felt the spark she remembered from his touch. He caught her hand, brought it between them as he wrapped her in his arms.

A downpour of tears streamed over her cheeks as he cradled her head tightl
y into his chest. “I’m so sorry,
”
he whispered.

She let her tears fall, losing herself in his arms, listening to his heart beat against her cheek. He was warm and breathing. He was alive. Thank you, Abby thought, not knowing who or what she was indebted to.

When she could breathe again, she pushed away
tenderly
and looked up at his face. “
Tell me what happened
.”

He nodded as he sat on the edge of the bunk. Abby did the same on the opposite side, watching as he eyed her. He looked tired, weak. Dark circles encompassed his eyes, his cheeks sunken just noticeably. He leaned forward, rubbed his palms up and down the top of his thighs once before speaking.

“The night we went to the meteor, my vision was different than the one you had. I saw the people coming, saw them forcing their way into the bunker. There was shooting. You and a few of the others were hit. The last thing I saw was you lying in the ash. Bleeding. Dying. I couldn’t allow that to happen.” He paused, watched her face. “So when we got back to the house I wrote you the letter, told Alex and Jim what they needed to know, and went to sleep beside you with a plan forming in my head.”

Abby took a second to absorb his story. “
I wish you would’ve told
me what you saw. I could’ve helped you.”