Refuge Book 1 - Night of the Blood Sky (11 page)

“You stole something, you gonna have to answer to—”

“Leave him alone,” Lisa said. The words were quiet, but packed a punch.

Charley swiveled his head around, eyes widening for a moment, seeing Lisa and Avalon for the first time. “Look at you boy, locked up with a pair of sluts.” A lopsided grin pulled at one side of his face, revealing a missing tooth.

Avalon realized that Charley might pose a bigger threat than the monster he’d killed. If he decided to get violent with that shotgun, there was nothing they could do about it. She stood, trying to hide her fear, and approached the bars where he stood. He eyed her up and down. In his drunken state, he didn’t recognize her as the girl who’d grown up across the street. Or maybe he did and didn’t care. Didn’t matter. She gave him a look no man could turn from.

“I wouldn’t mind being shared,” she said, stopping at the bars.

He leaned forward with a drowsy look in his eyes and an expanding grin. “That right?”

She reached through the bars and ran her fingers through his greasy hair. The slick feeling between her fingers and the humid stench wafting off the dead monster nearly made her throw up in his face, but she fought her revulsion, grabbed the back of his head and yanked.

Charley’s skull played a tune on the cell bars as Avalon slammed him against the hard metal three times, stopping only when his body went slack. She let go of him, and he fell on top of the dead monster.

She expected Radar to yell at her, to be angry about what she did to his father, despite the man being an abusive prick. But he didn’t say anything. He just walked to the cell door, unlocked it and slid it open. Working in silence, the three of them dragged Charley into the cell and closed it behind them, locking him in.

Avalon recovered the shotgun, gave it a pump and headed for the front room. Radar and Lisa emerged behind her. “It’s quiet,” she noted. “The bell stopped.”

Radar moved around her and made for the wrecked front door. They had to climb over piles of debris, but quickly reached the exit and stepped out into a mid-afternoon day with a bright blue sky. They descended the steps, looking up.

Lisa smiled. “I think we’re back. I think we’re home.”

Avalon lowered her gaze and looked south, down Main Street. She shook her head. If the monster in the police station wasn’t bad enough, she now saw a landscape that shouldn’t exist. “Not even close,” she said before passing out.

19

Frost assessed herself quickly. She was shaky with adrenaline and horror, but unharmed. Her throat stung from sucking in deep breaths of hot, dry, desert air, but it was fading already. Winslow and Dodge crouched beside her, catching their breath. She spotted Griffin and Rule in front of the cruiser closest to the town’s border, which was now lush and green. She ignored that, though, and focused on her job.

Her thoughts were on Monty and the girls. They were, after all, who they’d all set out to rescue. If Monty and the girls weren’t okay, what was the point? She found them just a few feet away, leaning against one of the cruisers. Monty had a girl under each arm, protecting them like a bird might protect its young.

“Are you hurt?” she asked him. When he didn’t reply, she took his chin gently in her hand and lifted his gaze to her. “You’re safe now. The girls are with you. Are you hurt?”

Clarity slowly returned to his eyes. He blinked. “Hurt?” He glanced at his shoulder. Blood flowed from a straight slash, but it didn’t look profuse.

“Can you move it?” she asked. If the cut was deep and the muscle was cut, he either wouldn’t be able to move the limb or would cry out in pain from the attempt. He lifted the arm briefly. He sucked in a breath, but didn’t shout.

“It’s not bad,” he determined.

Frost looked at both girls. Both looked unharmed, but they’d need time to recover mentally. Probably years of counseling.

“Alice, Joy,” she said. “How would you two like some lollipops?”

Alice glanced up. As shook up as kids got, they almost always reacted to triggers that indicated things were back to normal. She reached into her pocket where she kept the candies—always on hand to promote good will with the next generation of Refuge residents. She handed one to Alice, who unwrapped it and placed it in her mouth. She held the other out to Joy. The girl stared at it for a moment, then reached out and took the candy. She didn’t unwrap it, though. She just held it close to her chest and mumbled, “Thank you,” in a soft, quiet voice that all but broke Frost’s heart.

“Frost.” It was Griffin. His voice sounded forced. In pain. Like someone who’d just woken up with a hangover. But then he said her name—shouted her name—and it was full of pain and desperation. “Frost!”

She got to her feet. Griffin was on his knees. Rule was beside him. She could only see Rule’s face. Her eyes were open. Her mouth was moving. Had something come through with them?

Then she saw tears in Griffin’s eyes, dripping from his eyes to Rule’s cheeks, and neither of them paid any attention to it. Frost rushed toward them. Griffin heard her coming and turned to her. His eyes were red and wet.

Rule reached up and pulled Griffin close. Her mouth moved quickly, whispering a message. Griffin nodded several times, saying, “I will. I will.” He leaned up and said, “Thank you,” as Frost arrived and rounded the front of the police car.

Frost gasped at what she found and stumbled back. She tripped over a thick, green plant and fell backwards. The ground beneath her was like a saturated sponge, leaching water into her clothes. But she paid the tall vegetation and wet landscape no attention as she scrambled back to the road, and her dying friend and mentor.

Rule had made it past the town border before the shift, but not all of her. She’d been cut in half. The wound had been cauterized, and though she wasn’t bleeding, the massive shock to the system and copious internal damage would soon stop her heart from beating. Rule knew this as well as anyone who saw her would. Time was short. Rule waved her down.

Frost, tears in her eyes, fell to her knees, oblivious to the pain of the pavement biting through her pant leg. Rule raised her hand and Frost took it. “You’ve been like a daughter,” Rule said.

A loud sob barked from Frost’s mouth, her sorrow fighting to get out. But she couldn’t do that to Rule. She couldn’t make the woman feel guilty for dying. So she swallowed her anguish and just nodded. Rule had more to say. Always did.

“Made me proud today. World went to hell, and you held it together. Got those girls to safety. Did the right thing.”

“I was just following you,” Frost said.

Rule shook her head and smiled. “Nah, that was you. Listen,” Rule said. She left go of Frost’s hand and took hold of the badge on her chest. She tried to unpin it, but her hands were shaking too much.

“Let me,” Griffin said, unpinning the badge.

“No,” Frost said, not wanting this to be reality. She shook her head. “No.”

“Ain’t no other way,” Rule said, her voice getting softer. She took the badge and placed it in Frost’s hand. Closed her fingers over the symbol for the law and order Sheriff Rebecca Rule had brought to Refuge, New Hampshire. “The town is yours now. Keep ’em safe.”

Frost nodded, straightened her spine and sniffed. With a nod, she said. “I will. I promise, I will.”

Rule gave a nod and said, “Get the Pastor.”

Griffin stood. “Dodge.” He waved the man over.

Pastor Dodge arrived a moment later, stopping in place when he saw the state of the former sheriff. “Dear Lord.” He was by her side a moment later, both of his hands wrapped around hers. He closed his eyes and began whispering—praying, Frost knew. “Amen,” he said.

“Will I see him?” Rule asked the pastor.

“Bernie was a believer,” Dodge said. “Like you were, before his passing.”

Frost flinched. The pastor wasn’t pulling his punches. She was about to object, but Rule gave a smile and nodded.

“Death can kill faith,” Rule said, glancing at Griffin.

“Only you and the Lord God knows what’s in your heart, Becky,” Dodge said. “But I’ve just petitioned Him on your behalf. He’s merciful.” He smiled, tears in his eyes. “He might even make an exception for a heathen like you.”

Rule laughed, which caused her obvious pain, but her smile never faded. She leaned her head up a little and nodded at Frost. “You give her the same respect you woulda given me. It’s the only way things’ll get done. Only way to keep our people safe.”

Dodge nodded. “You have my word.”

Satisfied, Rule leaned back and turned her eyes to Griffin.
As she moved, a white gold necklace slid out of her shirt, a tiny diamond dangling from the chain. Rule clutched at it, squeezing tightly, but didn’t seem conscious of the action. It was reflex. A nervous habit.
“Tell Avalon I love her. Get it done.”

And then, she was gone.

The sheriff was dead.

20

Griffin stood at the center of Main Street, looking south. It had been only an hour since Rule had left the world—whatever world this was now. The view was mostly green, a jungle as endless as the desert it replaced. A streak of dark blue cut across the horizon. A lake or an ocean reflecting the blue sky where the three-pronged, impossibly large obelisks had stood. If he hadn’t snapped a photo of the scene, he might not have believed it ever existed. He raised his phone and snapped a photo of this new world.

And that’s what it was. He had no doubt. The town—a perfect circle of Refuge and the surrounding forest—had been transported somewhere else. Another planet? Another dimension? Another time? Those possibilities were Winslow’s area of expertise. But there was no doubt in his mind that this was
not
Earth. At least as they knew it. Identical gravity and breathable air suggested it was, but he’d looked into the jungle before coming back to town with the others, all squished inside Frost’s cruiser. There wasn’t a single plant in the dense jungle that looked familiar. Everything was spongy, even the leaves. They were all designed to hold moisture, which might be why there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. The land here clung to its water, fighting evaporation.

It didn’t matter really. Their new surroundings were just a distraction from the pain he felt at Rule’s passing. She’d been one of his closest friends. He trusted her. Took comfort in her existence. But now... Refuge was a darker place without her.

Dodge was holding a prayer service in the church for the townspeople that had awoken to a new world. He promised to keep people calm. Winslow had returned to his observatory, eager to work out exactly where they were and how it happened. Monty and the girls were at the walk-in clinic on the north end of Main Street. It wasn’t open, but Frost had banged on the door of Janet Nikols—the only nurse who lived in town—until she answered. Frost then went back for Rule’s body. Took Walter with her. Griffin had objected. Said it should be him. But the badge now affixed permanently to his chest meant that she was now his superior. So he obeyed. If he didn’t listen to Frost, who would? She and Walter were armed to a T, wore flak jackets and carried stun grenades.

“Dad,” Avalon said. She’d snuck up behind him. Still looked a mess, but at least she wasn’t the only one now.

“Are they settled in?” he asked. Radar and Lisa were staying with him until this was all over. Charley would be released when he sobered up. He hadn’t committed a crime and had managed to win a few brownie points by saving three lives. But Griffin wasn’t about to leave Radar and Lisa under the man’s care while life unraveled around them. Who knew how the man would react. Didn’t take much to set him off.

“You know we have no power, right?” she asked.

“Cash can connect us to the grid,” Griffin said. He wasn’t sure if it was true, but Cash was a skilled electrician. If anyone in town could get it done, it was him. It’s not like they were about to get outside help.

He lifted his arm. An invitation.

She accepted, sliding under his arm. He pulled her close. “Glad you came back to town?”

“Honestly?” she said, and smiled. “Fuck, no.”

He managed to chuckle. “While I would do anything to get you out of here and back home, I’m glad to have you with me.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Was it really the last thing she said?”

He knew she was talking about Rule. He’d passed on her message. And while it wasn’t exactly the last thing she had said—the final message was for him and him alone—no one else needed to know that. He nodded. “Loved both of us and your mom.”

Avalon sniffed back a tear.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Like I need to get high,” she said. He didn’t like it, but appreciated the honesty. “Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s out of my system now. The fight’s in my brain now.”

“And I’m going to help you with that,” he said.

“Pretty sure I might be able to find a few things to distract me from the—”

The roar of a car engine climbing Main Street cut her off. Frost was returning. The cruiser pulled up to the sidewalk. Frost got out, frowning deeply. Griffin expected her to be upset. Rule’s body would be in the back seat...maybe the trunk, but Frost looked pissed more than anything.

She saw him and headed straight for him.

“Give us a minute,” he said to Avalon, and he kissed the top of her head.

She headed toward Memorial Park, which looked like it always did, chirping birds, bright flowers and all.

He turned to Frost as she arrived. “What’s wrong?”

The look in her eyes was pure rage, and he feared he’d somehow upset her. But instead of slugging him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and lowered her head to his shoulder.

“She’s gone,” Frost said.

“We put her in the car,” he said, surprised.

“I know.” She shook her head. “The door was open.”

“I hate to say this, but people in town need to start carrying weapons. Who knows what the hell is in that jungle or if any of those big assholes from the desert came along for the ride.” He was talking about the humanoid giants and the oversized flying creature they’d dragged out of the police station and put in Soucey’s freezer for later scrutiny.

He felt her nod on his shoulder.

She stopped and stayed quiet for a moment. Then asked, “What did she tell you?”

They separated.

“Kinda private,” he said.

She squinted at him. “Were you two...”

He smiled lightly. Rule would have gotten a kick out of that. Mostly she’d told him how much she cared about him. Told him to be strong. To watch out for Avalon. But she’d also given him permission...with Frost. He’d keep that to himself, but he couldn’t deny he needed to tell someone about the mission she’d given him. In part, because it was a heavy weight to carry alone, but also because he would need her help.

“She wanted you to protect the town.” He looked into her eyes and fought against the way they softened his heart. Turning toward the southern view and the endless jungle, he added, “She wanted me to avenge it.”

Just then, the church bell chimed.