Counting Down (35 page)

“You’re responsibility is in that house,” Jim replied. “You belong in there with her. Let me take care of this. You’ve done enough.”

Slowly Kyle lowered the weapon. After a long moment of hesitation he gave it to his friend.

“Go to her,” Jim said. “She needs you.”

Kyle turned and walked away without another word. He was half way through the yard when he heard the shot. He flinched but he didn’t look back.

His legs were numb and heavy as he crossed the threshold of the house.
When he got to Abby she was lying on the bed and the color had returned to her cheeks. He nodded to the other people in the room, felt the heat hit him as he stepped in.

“Thank you,” he said. “Could you give us a minute?”

The room cleared and Kyle went to Abby. He pulled her into his arms gently, careful of her shoulder.

Her eyes flew open, her good arm wrapping around him. “Oh god Kyle. I heard the shot…”

“I’m here. It’s okay now. It’s over.”

Tears came from her then and Kyle held her, feeling his own eyes begin to well up with water.

“He almost…,” Abby said.

“I know. Everything’s going to be alright now. He can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

Her arm tightened on him. “There’s something I should show you.” With a breath she passed on the memory of David threatening her in the bunker, relaying every minute in exact detail. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you then. We might’ve seen this coming.”

Kyle laid her back again gently, moved her arm and positioned himself over her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter.” Blue light shimmered forth from his hand. “I understand.” He smiled. “I guess we’re even now.”

He helped her to sit up, propped himself behind her. “That better?” he asked.

Abby nodded. “Can we make a promise?” He only nodded and she continued. “No more secrets, no matter how noble we think we’re trying to be. We tell each other everything, especially if we think someone’s trying to kill us.”

A weak smile bent his lips. “Okay. No more secrets.” He leaned down, pressed his mouth to hers. Emotion emptied from him, passed between them. “I love you Abby.”

She touched his cheek, a sigh passing through her lips. “I thought that word was too small.”

“It still is.” He wrapped his arms around her,
held her tight to him
. “You’re a part of me. I’ve always loved you.”

Abby pulled his face down to hers, tenderly kissed him for a long moment. “It’s always been you I was looking for. I’ve never loved anyone else.”

The Journal of Abigail Connelly, August 25th 2013

L
ife on the farm has slowly starting resembling normalcy since we surfaced for good this spring.
The weather has become more reasonable over the past few months with the sun now breaking through the clouds more regularly. Crops are even beginning to spring up in the fields without the help of Growers.

It took some time to rebuild the houses and make all the repairs, but a new group of Movers from Iowa sped that process up exponentially. The Yellow House and the Blue House are back in one piece, along with a couple other new additions to the property.

Thanks to Hanna and the rest of the Healers, the livestock are reproducing again. We found cows, pigs, sh
eep, more
chickens, and various other animals on the surrounding farms. The populations are now starting to flourish with little help from humans. The Healers even managed to bring old Bucky and his mare back to life. Kyle quickly resumed his nightly habit of sneaking them treats.

While the blue light seems to work on animals, no one has yet been able to figure out how to bring a person back from the dead. Some think it’s because the human brain is too complex. Others talk of the balance of nature, and how humanity was nearly destroyed for a reason.

Gleamers are coming in from all over the country to join our little community, beckoned by what they call the light of the Eternals. I guess that means me and Kyle. He thinks it hilarious but fitting and says he couldn’t have named us better himself.

Evie finally succumbed to Alex’s charms and by last summer they were talking about building their own house on the farm. It’s now commonly referred to as the Red House by everyone.

Sam and Hanna are finally getting more serious after a long courtship. Kyle thinks there will be red headed little ones running around the corn by next summer. It’s lovely to think the laughter of children will soon fill the air.

Jake has his eyes on a few of the newcomers, though he seems to favor the Thermal girls. (Kyle’s name for the red Gleamers.) They like to play hard to get and that satisfies Jake’s playful spirit nicely.

And Jimmy… well Jimmy is just Jimmy. I’m not sure he’ll ever find someone, but that doesn’t stop anyone from trying to play matchmaker. There are several good candidates currently staying in the Yellow House. We all have our fingers crossed.

We still aren’t sure what the woman with the violet light can do and her teenage son possesses an orange light that is equally confusing.
Kyle is sure their abilities will present themselves when they’re needed, though the mystery seems to bother him. Sometimes I catch him shifting his light to orange or violet, trying to work out the ability attached to the colors. Until we come to some conclusions, both of them are already valuable members of our society who work hard and contribute eagerly.

We’ve talked about creating laws, tried to form committees, and hold regular meetings. So far, we haven’t had any need for rules. Everyone who’s joined us seems happy here, content to be alive. But it’s most likely something we’ll have to deal with eventually. Hopefully much later than sooner.

I’m not sure what the future holds for humanity. We have the right tools, the best intentions, and the biggest hearts. Hopefully that’s enough. Right now, it’s enough for me.

I’ve never known what it meant to be happy and I’ve never known what it was like to be in love.
I had no idea it would take the end of the world for me to finally learn about hope, love, and the courage it takes to not only try to survive, but to want to survive.

I have faith now and I believe in what humanity can accomplish. We can build a better future by learning from our past. We’ve been given a second chance to do it right and I can’t wait to see what we make of it.

Abby set down her pen and closed her eyes with a smile of satisfaction. She could hear Kyle working upstairs, finishing repairs in the bedroom like he’d done for the past month. He hammered in his usual focused way, the sound competing with the
sounds of children playing outside. She knew she should leave him to his work undistracted,
but climbed the stairs anyway.

She watched him from the doorway, noticed the sweat dripping down his bare arms and over his back and couldn’t help but
sigh contentedly at the sight
. She
let herself imagine the two of them in bed, allowed herself to go through every motion, and felt the deep passionate fire swell within her.
With one thought she sent all of her feelings and images to his mind in stark detail.

His shoulders tightened mid hammer swing and he straightened to his full height. He turned on his heels, looked her in the eye. His face was serious, his eyes hooded as he glanced up from beneath his lashes. That was Abby’s favorite look.

She smiled, walked into the room towards him. “Sorry. I know how you feel about distractions.”

A sound that was part growl, part laugh left his throat as he lunged at her, threw them both to the springy mattress below.

His mouth was on her in seconds, owning her under him. “I’m counting on you to distract me for the rest of my life.”

“In this life and every one after.” She kissed him, clutched him to her. She would never let him go. “No returns, no trade-ins. Just you and me forever.”