Johnny cleared his throat. “For starters, your name isn’t really Holly Andrews—it’s not your birth name anyway. You were born Marie Bauer and you’ve been missing for just over nineteen years. Your mother’s dying gift was to give you back the family you never knew you had.”
Nate turned to her on a pair of wobbly legs. All the blood had drained from his face. His jaw hung open, his mind a hurricane of thoughts and emotions. He’d thought there had been something familiar about her. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Across from him, Holly—Marie—was experiencing the same torrent of emotion.
Tears were streaming down the faces of friends and strangers alike. The two of them hugged and people spontaneously burst into applause. It was perhaps the most surreal moment either of them had ever experienced in their lives.
Still overcome by the news, Holly realized she should never have burnt that letter.
“But how can that be?” Amy asked, her face red and splotchy. “How could she not remember who she was?”
All eyes turned to Johnny. This time he looked rather somber. “Apparently, there was some kind of shooting accident that Marie—uh, Holly—felt was all her fault. Filled with despair, she went into the woods to end her life and very nearly succeeded, except the branch she swung the rope over must have snapped at the last minute. Gravely hurt, she stumbled onto a nearby road and was knocked into a ditch by the Andrews’ passing Winnebago. They thought they’d killed the poor girl and scooped up the body, terrified they’d go to jail for murder. Except, a hundred miles later, they discovered she wasn’t dead at all, just really badly hurt. And with part of the rope still around her neck, no less. Mrs. Andrews wasn’t sure why the young woman had tried to kill herself, but took it as her mission in life to help rehabilitate the girl and send her home as soon as she was better. Only she woke up not remembering who she was or what had happened. And without children of their own, it only made sense in their minds to keep her for just another week, which soon became months and then years. Being deeply religious folk, the Andrewses always wrestled with what they had done, never really certain whether it had been an act of grace or a terrible sin. It was even harder after they watched it on TV once the story made it onto the national news. Especially when the Bauer family came on pleading for her return. They looked nice enough, but how could the Andrewses take the chance of sending her back there? That was why Dolly Andrews wrote the letter explaining what had happened and asked you to hand-deliver it.”
Nate held both of Holly’s hands, studying them and the old gash on her forehead he now remembered her getting after falling off the swing set in the back yard.
“Whatever happened back then at the firing range when that boy was killed,” Nate told her, drawing her into a firm hug, “it wasn’t your fault.”
“I guess that’s one of the perks of amnesia,” Holly replied. “You don’t carry around every mistake you’ve ever made. My parents told me I’d been pretty banged up in a car accident. That it was the reason I couldn’t remember anything. I just took them at their word.”
They were still reeling with the sudden and unexpected revelation when Ash spoke up. “I hate to kill the mood, but I really wish you’d reconsider our offer,” he said to Nate.
“What offer?” Amy asked, sitting in a chair nearby with Clementine. Beside her was Dakota, fawning over the child like an older sister.
“To come back with us to the Citadel,” Ash replied. “But your man already said no.”
Amy threw him a piercing look. “Nathan T. Bauer, did you really just make a decision for our whole family on your own? Don’t forget we’ve got others to look after now besides ourselves.”
Walker, Brooks and Ash snickered.
“I know now what that T stands for,” Walker said, rubbing his hands together devilishly.
Brooks joined in. “Yeah, trouble.”
“So what do you say, Nate?” Ash said, prodding him. “The offer’s still open. We always have room for folks like yourself. People with a strong set of values.”
Nate nodded and shook hands with all three of them. “You heard the wife. Sounds like we don’t have a choice.” He caught the flash of sadness filling Dakota’s face. “Young lady, you’re coming with us whether you like it or not.”
The beaming smile that took over was yet another bright spot in a day of mixed emotions.
He next turned his attention to Holly or―“What do I even call you now?”
“Holly,” she said, matter-of-factly. “That’s the name I’ve had for as far back as I can remember.”
“I understand. So what do you say?”
“About what?”
“Will you and Dillon join us?”
She glanced down at her son, who seemed to be smiling for the first time in a long while. “How could I say no when we have so much catching up to do?”
Many of those heading to the Citadel were still gathering their things when Nate found Dakota still up on the mezzanine, leaning against a billboard for high-waisted jeans. She saw him coming and smiled. “So what do you suppose it’ll be like?”
“The Citadel?”
She nodded, folding her arms over her chest.
“Can’t be worse than living in a subway station.” His brow furrowed. “Why? Are you worried?”
She looked up at him, her large hazel eyes tinged with doubt. “Kinda. But I suppose I should be used to bouncing from one foster home to another.”
“This won’t be like those other times,” he said, trying to reassure her. “None of us can predict the future. Walker, Ash and Brooks may be a little rough around the edges, but they’re stand-up guys. If that’s any reflection on the rest of the folks waiting for us there, then we’ll be in good hands.”
She continued watching him and Nate could see she wanted so much to believe as he did.
Shadow appeared just then, nuzzling Dakota’s hand. She ran her fingers through his thick fur, her mind a million miles away.
Nate glanced down at the wolf. Shadow was a wild animal that hadn’t known them for much more than a week and yet he would give his life to save either of them. But Nate suspected―no, he knew―that he and Dakota would do the same. The three of them had formed the kind of unbreakable bond only pain and hardship could create. They’d been thrown into a meatgrinder, albeit a chilly one, and had come out the other end. Sure, they had plenty of bumps and bruises both inside and out, but they had survived and in a dangerous world, that was all that mattered. Nate also realized the Citadel and the folks living there might just be the country’s last chance for getting back on track.
Nate put a hand on Dakota’s shoulder. “There’s one major difference between your life in those foster homes and now.”
She glanced up without saying a word.
“You don’t need to keep searching for somewhere to call home,” he told her. “We’re family now.” Nate ruffled the fur on Shadow’s head. “And nothing out there in all that cold can ever change that.”
She hugged him, squeezing him tightly for a long time. Until finally she let go.
The others were slowly starting to assemble on the mezzanine with their things.
“You ready?” Nate asked Dakota.
She nodded.
Not long after they left the subway station, eager to find a place to settle down. A place where they could begin rebuilding the country. A place where they could fulfill the vision laid out by the Founding Fathers more than two centuries before.
And if you enjoyed America Offline, be sure to check out these other exciting stories by William H. Weber