Against The Darkness (Cimmerian Moon) (23 page)

“I don’t mind
the dog,” Mia says, taking my side. And if it didn’t look childish I would give
her a high-five. “What’s his name?”

“Winston,” I
say.

“I don’t care
either way,” MJ adds.

“Well, that’s
settled,” Jason says.

“But…” Jasmine
whimpers, her mouth set in a pout.

Score one
for Sinta
.

Jason looks up
at the sky. The space ship is gone but the contrail it left is still there. “Let’s
get further away from the road.”

We follow him
deeper into the cornfield. We move single file along the path that the neatly
planted corn provided, and Winston takes his place, following behind me. Every
now and then I turn to make sure he’s still there and every time I’m surprised
that he is. He’s so quiet, much quieter than we are. His tongue hangs out of
his mouth, lolling to the side. Each time I glance at him, he looks up to me
with big brown eyes. His eyes seem to say “I’m still here. We’re in this
together” and I like that.

He’s a pretty
dog. If he hadn’t worn a collar with his name on it, I would have assumed he
was a police dog. He looks just like one, regal and strong. I would’ve bet he
had taken down plenty of bad guys. Have sniffed out drugs. Or maybe that he was
a search and rescue dog.

We move
silently through the miles of cornfields until we reach another wooded area.
There we only allow ourselves an hour’s rest to eat and drink. I share my water
with Winston, pouring some of it into the tin cup that had come with the
backpack and I had never used. He laps it up and, when done, sits patiently,
waiting for more. I can’t resist, so I gave him a little more. Stuffed into my
backpack are six more water bottles, plenty to share with him even if we don’t stop
to replenish my stash.

I don’t have a
lot of food that would be considered edible for a dog, and since I don’t know
if the pellets are suitable for him, I don’t want to risk it. I have a couple
of candy bars and cookies that I got from the Quickie Mart, but I also have
three bags of beef jerky I can give to him. I rummage through my bag, searching
past everything else until I find them. I have two bags of plain and one spicy.
Deciding that the spicy might just upset Winston’s stomach, I give him three
pieces of the regular jerky. As I hold it in my outstretched hand he sniffs it
and, using his nose, pushes it around, as if considering whether it is safe to
eat or not. “It’s the end of the world,” I say to him. “No need to be picky.”

Then he glances
up to me with those beautiful eyes and, as if in agreement, he sticks out his
tongue and laps it all into his mouth.

“Good, boy.” I
pet the top of his head. “You are such a good boy.”

“What’s your
mom going to say when you bring home a dog?” Mia says, as she plops down next
to me.

“Hopefully she’ll
be so happy to see you that she won’t care what you have on your heels.”

I look up to
see the speaker. Jason.

“That’s the
idea,” I say.

He sits down as
well. Winston regards him with a wag of his tail. Jason give him his hand and
receives a lick. For the first time in a long while, Jason smiles and I see his
dimples again.
Don’t you dare swoon,
I threaten myself.

“You are a
good boy, aren’t you?” he says to Winston.

“Where’s your
shadow?” Mia asks.

Jason inhales
a deep breath and the smile instantly drops from his face. He continues to pet
Winston and Winston continues to enjoy it. His tongue hangs from the side of
his mouth. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Denial. That
works out well for so many people,” I say under my breath.

He shoots me a
look. “I don’t need mess. Not right now.”

I give Mia a
sideways glance and, taking her cue, she gets up. Winston regards her as she
walks by him and away, as if deciding whether he should go with her, but as she
goes to sit with MJ, Winston slides to lie down by my side.

“Sorry for
what I said.”

He starts to
pick at the grass in front of him. “Doesn’t matter.”

I watch him as
he picks away, making a pile, and suddenly all the anger I had pent up seems to
slowly seep out of my pores, leaving me to appreciate what he’s done for us. “I
wanted to talk to you before… I know how hard it must have been for you to
leave your dad. To not see your mom and little brother. It was a sacrifice to
come with us…to make sure we get home safely…when you don’t even know about
your own family.”

His head drops
and he keeps picking, faster and harder. The pile of grass grows higher and
higher, as I find the courage to continue.

“I wanted to tell
you that you’re the best.” Giving into the urge to touch him, I place my hand
over his. At first he doesn’t stop picking at the grass, so my hand follows
along with his. Then he stops and, when he does, I curl my hand around his. His
hand is a little rough. It isn’t so rough that it’s uncomfortable, nothing like
that. It’s rough from hard work and survival.

It’s also
warm.

Strong.

Comforting.

I think I hear
him sniffle, so I grow silent. I shift to sit beside him and wrap my free arm
around his shoulder and lean onto him. He’s taking deep controlled breaths.

“It was hard,”
he finally says.

“I can only
imagine.”

“But I kept
thinking about how they almost took you in their ship, and seeing Shayla’s dead
body.”

Only then do I
feel his breath hitch.

“We had to
bury her.”

What he said
surprises me. I didn’t know what happened to her body. I only assumed they left
her where she was. We had seen so many dead bodies on our journey that burying
the dead seemed almost like a foreign concept. “I’m glad you guys did. She can
be at rest. At peace.”

“All I kept
thinking about was that it could have been you too. We could have been wrapping
two bodies in a tarp. Two bodies in that shallow grave. Two people we had to
tell goodbye. And I knew then that I couldn’t leave you. Not until I got you to
your mom safely.”

If my heart
could dance it would be doing the jitter-bug.

“But you told
your dad that you weren’t doing this for only me.”

“I was lying
to him and to myself.” He looks up at me with longing and wanting in his eyes.

The familiar
flicker begins in my chest. I have the overwhelming urge to kiss him, to feel
his lips on mine. “I…we,” I stutter, trying to find the words that elude me.

“I tried to
keep how I felt a secret. I tried not to think about it. This isn’t the time or
the place. You are like a sister to me. I know I shouldn’t be feeling this way.”

“Why not? I
have feelings for you too.” I want to scream it for everyone to hear—even
the aliens.

He whistles
low. “This…what we’re feeling. We can't act on it.
I
can't act on it.”

I bite on my trembling
lower lip.

He brushes his
thumb against my lip. “Sin, the feelings I have for you are so deep. Sometimes
it hurts to think about them. But I can't act on them. You're vulnerable and I
don’t want to take advantage of you or of this situation that we’re both in.”

I will not
cry. I will not cry.

My heart. My
poor heart will never recover.

“I won’t hurt
you.”

You already
have
.

Toledo, Ohio

May 1
^st
, 2012: Day 40

Jason stops
abruptly and turns in a tight circle. His eyes scan the outline of trees and
then he glances up to the sky. “Let’s make our camp here.”

“But we’re so
close to Michigan,” I say. “We can keep pushing through.”

“I’m
exhausted,” Mia says. She lets her bag slip from her back and fall with a thud
to the ground.

Wade fishes
for his map from his back pocket. “US 23 is just up ahead. We can use that as
our guide to get to Ann Arbor.”

I adjust my
bag on my back. “Great. Let’s get going.”

“I’m with
Mia,” Ms. Burgess says. She drops her back pack and sits on it. “It’s almost
ten p.m. and I’m beat.”

“But we’re so
close,” I blurt out, trying to convince them to get up so we can keep moving.

“We’re still
about forty miles from Ann Arbor.” Jason folds up the map he has. “We wouldn’t
make it to your house tonight anyway. Let’s get some rest and start bright and
early. It should take us eleven or twelve hours, tops.”

“But—”

“Jason’s
right,” Wade says, cutting me off. “Following US 23 is going to be dangerous.
We’ll need to be alert and, the way we’re looking right now, I don’t trust any
of us.” He raises his brows, as his eyes settle on me. “Including you.”

MJ puts his
bag down by Mia. “Come on, man,” he says to Ian. “Let’s do a perimeter check.”

I watch as Ian
follows MJ through the trees. It’s not that I don’t think this area is safe. It’s
well hidden and thick with trees that are lush with leaves. The ships won’t be
able to detect us easily. There’s enough room to scatter our sleeping spots
within the bushes and underbrush so that, if foot patrols are out, we won’t be
seen. It’s that I’m so close to home that I can taste it.

Forty miles
between me and my mom. Forty miles more miles and I’ll be able to put this all
behind me, all this walking and my fiasco with Jason and awkwardness between
Wade and me.

Urgh
.

This doesn’t
need to drag on any longer. I’m embarrassed and crushed and feeling guilty
because I’ve somehow led Wade on and I’ve hurt him. If he’s feeling half the
hurt that Jason has caused me then I know he’s dying just a little bit inside.

Hurting him does
not sit well with me.

I’m not a
heartbreaker.

Jason comes up
behind me and tugs my pack off. “Get some rest.”

“I don’t think
I’ll be able to sleep a wink. I’m too anxious.” I end my sentence with a yawn.

“Do you want
me to help you find a rest spot?”

I shake my
head. “I’ll let Winston do it. He has a knack for picking out sleeping holes
for us.”

Jason leans
down and gives Winston a pat on the head. “That’s because he’s such a good
dog.”

Winston
answers with a “
hrumph
”.

“Come on
buddy, it looks like they’re forcing us to sleep.”

Smart as ever,
and understanding what I meant, Winston trots off, sniffing bushes along the
way.

“Night,” Mia
says as I’m walking away.

I lift up my
hand in response. They may need to rest, but I don’t. I wasn’t kidding when I
told Jason I would be too anxious to sleep. When Winston finds a spot where he
wants us to bed down for the night, he paws the ground to draw my attention to
it. When I’m by his side, he crawls under the bush, expecting me to follow, and
I do. It’s enough room for us to both fit under it comfortably. I wrap my arm
around his furry body and peer out to watch as the others find spots where they
will sleep for the night.

The outlines
of their bodies becomes shadows, until finally all I see is darkness.

* * * * *

May 1
^st
, 2012: Day 40

Early the next
morning, we find US 23, or what used to be US 23 without a problem. Pavement
from the four lane highway is uprooted from bomb blasts. Cars and trucks appear
as if they had been thrown about by an angry child. And I immediately remember
why we had stopped following main highways.

Yes, the
threat of the aliens scouting them for people is great, but the death and
carnage is also overwhelming. The people in these vehicles were the ones trying
to evacuate. There had been families trying to flee to safety. I assume the
passengers had escaped from the vehicles that are empty. It gives me hope that
they are still out there, like us, trying to survive. Or maybe they are more
fortunate than us—they have found their hideaways. The other
vehicles—the ones with bodies hanging out of them or smells emanating
from them—are the ones that send me into a depression. I pull my scarf up
over my nose. It doesn’t seem to work, as the smell permeates through it.

Welcome to Michigan

Although the sign
is tilted on its side and a piece of it is missing, I’m elated.

We made it.

My heart kicks
up a notch, I’m so happy. But the feeling is short-lived. It’s hard to be happy
when I’m forced to witness death for the next thirty miles. Nothing but destruction.
More than once I want to leave the highway and take another route. But this is
the easiest and the quickest way home.

Even though we
aren’t on the highway itself, but keeping to the outlying land, we still come
across cars that had been thrown by blasts or the person who, having survived
the mayhem on the highway, had dragged their dying body into the fields hoping
to escape, only to breathe their last breath and end up as food for the
predators that have fed off of them. What’s left is horrifying. The flies
circle the carcasses, the flesh seems to move, as maggots thrive within, and I
clamp down on the vomit that wants to rise.

I can always
tell when we’re about to encounter a dead body. Winston lets out a small
whimper, the only sound he ever usually makes. And when we hear it, it sends a
depressive ripple over all of us. The only thing we can do is brace ourselves
for what we are about to stumble upon.

The air
becomes thicker as we continue on, stepping over and around bodies, weaving
through cars. We pass through Dundee and I feel my chest become tighter and
tighter with the feeling of dread. The other cities and towns we passed through
were in different states, not Michigan, so it was easy to not become attached
to what I saw. But here we are in my backyard.

It’s not
right. It’s not real.

The whiz of a
space ship cutting through the air can be heard in the distance.

This is not
what I expect to hear here. I know it’s stupid to think that way. To believe
the aliens have invaded everywhere but Michigan, but I had. I don’t believe
that I’m the only one who held onto false hopes. No one talks except when
necessary. Jason and Jasmine, the two people who don’t have a sentimental view
of my home state, thankfully are respecting the state of shock we are in.

Tears begin to
stream down my eyes as we pass through Milan.

My hands begin
to shake as we pass through Ypsilanti.

I can’t draw
enough air into my lungs when we reach Ann Arbor.

There’s nobody
around. I know that everyone has left the populated areas to hide, but I
thought we would have encountered someone by now. We haven’t seen a soul all
day long.

“Are you going
to be okay?” Wade asks.

Since I
basically turned him down, he’s been keeping his distance from me. Which makes
me feel like the biggest ass of all. He’s been a good friend and I want us to
go back to the way we were.

“I will
be…when I get to my mother.”

He nods. “It’ll
all work out.” He begins to speed up, to go ahead of us, but I pull on his
sleeve, keeping him with me.

“I’m sorry
about before.”

“It’s no
problem,” he says, brushing me off.

“Yes, it is.
You’ve done nothing but be a good friend and I can’t even—”

“Stop. We’re
still friends. I can't force you to like me. You don’t feel the same way,
that’s fine. I don’t hold that against you. I’m not a dick.”

I slip my arm
around his. “Friends again?”

“Of course.”

Great, because
I needed him as my friend again.

I glance
around us and shake my head. “I really wasn’t expecting this.”

“I don’t think
anyone was.”

He’s right. Everyone
has that glazed-over look in their eyes.

“We’ll be
fine,” I say with confidence.

“We’re strong.
We’ll be able to handle anything that comes our way.”

I lean on him.
“We will.”

We continue
on, making small talk. But when we reach a sheltered area off of the highway, he
stops us. “We need to come up with a game plan. Since Mia lives off of Geddes
Road, I think we should stay on US 23 until we get there.” He pulls out his map
and flips it open. “Now hear me out before anyone says anything. It’s getting
dark, and as much as I would like to go to each and everyone’s house to check
on family, we can’t all do it together.”

I’m the first
one to try to interrupt, but he silences me with a hand. “Let me finish, Sinta.
We can’t possibly get to everyone’s house, inspect it and meet up with family
tonight. And, let’s be honest, I for one want to be able to see what’s going on
with my house when I get there.”

“I don’t like
the idea of us splitting up. We’ve come this far together I think we should
stay together,” Ms. Burgess says.

“I think Wade’s
been thinking on this a while,” Jason says. “I think it’s only fair that we
hear what he’s come up with.”

Wade nods at
Jason. “Like I was saying, we’ll get to Mia’s house first. We can all check it
out. Hopefully reunite her with her parents.”

I look at Mia
just in time to see her face fall. “It’s going to be okay,” I say, slipping away
from Wade’s side to Mia.

From her other
side, Ian wraps his arm around her neck. “They’ll be fine.”

She sniffles
and nods. “All of our parents are. Everyone else in the city might have left
but not our parents. They’ll be waiting for us to get back.”

“And so will
the parents of the students that didn’t make it.” We all turn to MJ. He’s got
tears running fast down his face. “They’ll be waiting too.”

“I’m sorry, man,”
Ian says, letting go of Mia. He’s on MJ, wrapping him in a bear hug.

“We’ll take
Mia home first,” Wade continues. “Then we’ll split up from there. Since MJ, Ms.
Burgess and I live in the same direction, we’ll go together.” He has his finger
on a place on the map. “We’ll get to MJ’s place on Green Road first, so he won’t
have to be alone when he meets up with Shayla’s mom. Then go to Ms. Burgess’
house and then to my house. While we’re doing that, Ian and Sinta, since you two
live in the same area, you can go together.” He looks up at Jason and Jasmine.
“I was thinking that you two could go with them.”

“You got it,”
Jason replies.

“But how will
we know if everyone has reunited with their family? With the exception of Mia,
we won’t. I can’t agree on that plan,” Ms. Burgess says, with a shake of her
head.

“I have that
covered,” Wade says confidently. “We’ll meet up at my house later. I have a farm,
it’s on Warrant Road, north of everyone else’s house. We have a lot of land
there. Bring whatever you can carry. I’m sure my parents won’t mind the extra
company, considering everything we’ve all been through.”

“Sounds good
to me,” I say.

While everyone
is an agreement, Jason hands Wade his map. Wade marks the spot where we’ll find
his house.

“Come on,” Mia
says. “I’m ready to see my parents.”

* * * * *

“This can’t be
right. My house…my house…it’s gone.”

Mia is
standing on her once perfectly manicured front yard. I remember her dad
spending all of his free time taking care of it. On Saturday mornings, he would
jump on his riding mower and, when that was done, he would water the grass. He
would trim the bushes and replace the mulch around them at the start of every
summer. The flowers had been vibrant and plentiful, with the flower beds
meticulously weeded.

Now there’s a
large, dark hole where her new house had once stood, with singed grass
surrounding it. Dirt and other debris covered what was left of the once-trimmed
bushes. Household articles, such as pieces of furniture and clothing, were
charred and lying about.

But no bodies.

“They’re
safe,” I say, wanting to believe it’s true for her. “They got away as soon as
the aliens came. They’re alive somewhere, trying to figure out how to get to
you.”

She turns to
me. Her skin color has a gray cast, her pupils appear dilated and her eyes are wide.
She’s in shock. “They…they left me?” Her voice is soft and childlike.