“We’re getting the hell out of here. If you and Jen want to come, you’re welcome.”
Erin stared out to sea, her expression unreadable. “I love the sea,” she said. “But then I never had anything else in my life worth a damn.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Wherever you go, I’ll come too.”
Bruce grinned and squeezed her hand. “Jen, what about you?”
She wiped tears from her eyes and coughed to clear her throat. “There’s nothing left here for me now.”
“Jack, that okay with you?”
Jack looked at Jen and Erin and smiled. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Bruce turned. “You take care, Brad.”
Brad nodded. “You too.”
Bruce looked across at the fire where Rocky stood with his arm around Sara. He waved. Bruce and Jack waved back.
“Is there anything anyone wants to take?” Bruce asked.
“I just want to get away,” Jen said.
Bruce knew how she felt. He put the car in gear and made to drive off when Jack said, “Hold on. There’s something I’ve got to do.”
Bruce looked in the rear-view mirror and frowned. Without offering any explanation, Jack jumped out of the car and ran across to the bar. He reappeared a few minutes later with Graham’s cat in his arms.
“Don’t know what Shazam will think, but I couldn’t leave it behind,” he said when he reached the car.
Bruce smiled. “Come on, get in.”
Jack clambered in and Shazam sniffed at the cat, then licked it on the head. The cat ran its paw over where the dog had licked as though disgusted.
Bruce laughed to himself. They had arrived in the village as a widowed father, an errant teenager and a dog. Now as he threaded his way along the street, careful to avoid the bodies, they were a family.
Outside the village, Bruce stopped the car and turned to stare at the sea. He watched the destroyer sail towards the horizon, and heard the muffled thump of the depth charges she cast into the ocean.
The wedding ring on his finger glinted in the pale morning light. Bruce twisted it off to reveal a white band on his finger that would fade in time. He put the ring in his pocket.
Erin put her hand on top of his and squeezed
He noticed his son staring at him in the rear-view mirror. “Forget Tenerife, remember Mulberry,” Jack said.
Bruce stared at the sea–a shroud for the denizens of the deep; then he focused on the road ahead and started driving. “Let’s go home.”
About the author:
Shaun Jeffrey was brought up in a house in a cemetery, so it was only natural for his prose to stray towards the dark side when he started writing. He has had five novels published, ’The Kult’, ‘Killers’, ’Deadfall’, ‘Fangtooth’ and ’Evilution’, and two collections of short stories, ’Voyeurs of Death’ and ‘The Mutilation Machination’. Among his other writing credits are short stories published in Cemetery Dance, Surreal Magazine, Dark Discoveries and Shadowed Realms. The Kult was optioned for film by Gharial Productions and is awaiting release.
Visit the author’s site at: http://www.shaunjeffrey.com.
Copyright
Published by Deshca Press
Copyright © 2011 by Shaun Jeffrey
First published by Dark Regions Press
Edited by Stacey Turner
Cover by Karri Klawiter
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.