Mike explained what Nelson had done and how he saved him after the house caught fire. He told them about the trip their and the detour to the airport, the boy who shot Jenna and the trip to the farm.
After the explanations Anne, Mary, and Tom, who claimed to be an excellent cook, started breakfast for everyone. Powdered eggs, dried fruit, and nuts were on the menu. Tom explained that he didn’t have access to his normal ingredients and he did the best he could, but nobody cared. It was the first hot meal any of them had in days.
When breakfast was over they did some rearranging. The cabin was built to only hold five and there were now eighteen of them. Mary, Nancy, Erin, Kalen, and Fay would crash in Kalen’s room. Nelson, Sean, Ulysses, and Freddy would stay in Ulysses’ room. Jung, Jenna, Jung Jr. and Claire would get Freddy’s room. Clarence, Tom, and Ray would be in the living room. Mike and Anne would stay in their room, which they tried to give up, but nobody would take.
It took most of the morning to get everyone situated and by the time they did it was lunchtime. They cracked open the canned food and had lunch outside. Mike noticed that Mary kept glancing at the smoke rising from the town. She caught him looking at her once and didn’t look back at the town again.
There were chores to get done, but Mike put them all off. He did nothing except be with his family. Everything that needed to be done he would put off until tomorrow. That was his gift to himself for making it this far.
The day went by fast. Everyone got along well enough. There were some awkward moments with everyone coming in and out of the outhouse, but for the most part it went smoothly.
That night Mike walked into his father’s room to tuck Freddy in. His son was in his sleeping bag on the ground. He watched Freddy’s smile as he ran his fingers through his son’s hair. He kissed his son’s forehead.
“I love you,” Mike said.
“I love you, too.”
Mike pulled the pocket watch out and set it down in Freddy’s hands. Freddy picked it up by its chain and it spun, sparkling in the candlelight.
“That was your grandfather’s. I want you to have it,” Mike said.
Freddy flipped the watch open. The hands ticked steadily forward. The time was in roman numerals.
“Thanks, Dad,” Freddy said.
When Mike walked to Kalen’s room the girls were settling in. Kalen had tried giving up the bed, but no one would take it. Mike looked at her like when she was a little girl, her hair messy and curly, looking up at him with her big brown eyes. He weaved in and out of the girls on the floor and made it to the side of her bed where he sat.
“I missed you, kiddo,” Mike said.
“I missed you too, Dad.”
Mike placed his hand over hers, which lay across her stomach. He rubbed her fingers in his rough hands and bent down and kissed her on the cheek.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” Mike said.
Ray, Tom, and Clarence were sprawled out in the living room. Ray on the couch, and Tom and Clarence on the floor.
“Night, guys,” Mike said walking down the hallway to his room.
“Night,” they said together.
Mike pushed the door to his room open. Candles flickered and Anne was laying across the bed, waiting for him. He lingered in the doorway for a moment looking at her. She wore an old T-shirt of his and her hair fell down to her shoulders. It was the most beautiful sight he’d ever laid eyes on. He shut the door behind him and crawled into bed next to her.
“Hey,” Mike said
“Hey.”
The light from the candles danced across their faces. They lay their holding each other until their lips met. Mike breathed deep the moment his lips hit hers. He pulled her closer, her body running the length of his.
Anne pulled herself back after a moment.
“What is it?” Mike asked.
“Mike, something happened on our way to the cabin.”
He noticed that her voice sounded scared.
“What?” Mike asked.
“We stopped halfway here. Freddy needed to go to the bathroom and couldn’t hold it, so your dad pulled over next to a wooded area.”
Mike’s heart pounded through his chest. His mind flashed back to the corpse he saw just beyond the Ohio borderline where they camped a few nights ago.
“She went into the woods and there was someone there,” Anne said.
Mike got out of bed. His adrenaline coursed through his veins.
“Your dad was able to get before anything happened, but she got beat up a little.”
“Someone tried to rape my daughter?”
“Honey, she’s okay. Your dad got to her in time.”
Mike fell back against the wall. He slid down to the floor across from the bed. He buried his face in his hands. He played the scenario over in his head: the man grabbing her from behind, tossing her to the ground, pulling a knife to her throat, ripping her clothes off.
Anne crawled out of bed and bent down to her husband. She took his hands off his face and held them in hers.
“My baby girl,” Mike said, his eyes watering with tears.
Anne cradled his head in her chest. He let himself go. His shoulders shook as the sobs left his body.
Mike slept well past sunrise into the next day. When he woke he stretched his neck, cracked his knuckles, wincing at the stiffness and pain throughout his body. He looked over and saw that Anne was already out of bed.
The living room and kitchen were buzzing with kids laughing chasing each other, Ulysses and Ray debating baseball statistics, Fay showing Mary and Kalen her tattoos, Jung and his children still yawning from waking up, Freddy eating a bowl of cereal complaining about the powdered milk with his hair sticking straight up and Anne trying to put it down.
Mike thought of all of the implications of having this group here. The shortage of food, water, medical supplies, the danger of being seen and heard, protecting them from danger, all of these things ran through his mind. He thought of the biker gang in the town a mile away who already murdered several people. As he glanced around the room and looked to each of them individually he wasn’t sure he could keep them alive until his eyes found his wife. She stood straight, her head held back with a smile in her eyes. He saw how strong she was, how she had held everyone together while he was gone. He could make it through this. They could all survive.
When the group noticed him standing quietly in the hallway, they all stopped what they were doing and watched him. They looked to him with the hope that he could keep them alive.
Day 8 (Katie)
When Katie turned onto 24th Street her jaw dropped. The cars along the streets were trashed with bullet holes and broken windows. The houses were violated by looters breaking in and stealing whatever they could find. A few trashcans smoldered from the remains of firs started, then left alone to burn out.
Sam walked behind her, his pistol at the ready, on alert for any signs of danger. When they walked past Mike’s house she covered her mouth. It was nothing more than a burnt pile of wreckage.
Katie looked at the two crosses sitting in the Beachum’s yard. The two mounds of dirt rising from the Earth caused her heart to sink in her stomach.
“Your house?” Sam asked.
“No.”
Katie pulled the front door to her own house open. The door creaked, as it swung open. She lingered there in the doorframe, afraid of what she’d find inside. When she finally crossed the threshold, she tiptoed gently.
Most of the house was intact. When Katie walked past the living room she stopped. All of the furniture was rearranged.
Sam stood patiently in the foyer, watching her examine the living room. He could see pictures of her family along the walls leading up the staircase.
The couch legs squeaked against the wooden floorboards when she pushed it aside, allowing herself into the circle of furniture. The empty space in the middle suggested there was something there before, but whatever Nelson and Sean had left her was gone.