While flustering to figure out how to start the bike, I responded, “You can call the cops if you want. Oh wait, the phones don’t work. Haven’t you noticed that no phones are working, not even cells? Something is happening right now that even I can’t explain, but I can tell you something for sure,” I motioned my hand to all the broken shops in the lot, “all this was not caused by a tornado.” I found the kick start on the bike and bit down hard with my heel. The bike roared at first, humming as it went into idle. I raised my voice over the sound of the motor. “There is something bad, all around. They’ll kill you if you confront them. I have seen it happen. You need to get your little girl home now and hide!”
She shook her head in disagreement. “You’re crazy,” she shouted over the engine. “I don’t believe you. Criminals will say anything to get away.” She was right. It did sound crazy, especially when I said it aloud.
I pulled the bike forward at a crawling pace until I had gotten it out to the lot, the woman following. “I don’t have time to sit here and convince you, and I don’t know much about it myself, but I can tell you this. It isn’t safe at night.” And with that I sped off, weaving and wobbling as I took the exit back to the interstate. I was relieved to find that there was at least a half tank of gas in the bike. These bikes had been known to get lots of miles to the gallon, and it would be enough to get me to Blaine’s for sure. It was getting dark, and I needed to find a place to sit for the night.
Chapter 19
Making the decision to get off of the interstate and take the back roads was the best idea I’d had yet. There were houses, stores, and shelters of all sorts, along the side of the road. On the horizon, the sun threatened to touch the earth, so I pulled over to evaluate my surroundings. There was a gas station about a half mile up the road, a diner directly to its right, and an abandoned shack about halfway between me and them. I opted for the shack. Remembering the night at the diner, how the intruders took supplies from the freezer, I figured an empty place would be the safest at night. Luckily, it was just big enough for me to bring the bike inside with me. Sitting on the weed overgrown, dirt, floor of the hand built shed, I pulled my bag onto my lap. Slipping the letter, that Blaine had written me, out of the side pocket, I let my eyes adjust to the dim light of the sun setting and read it again.
Kara, I love you...I can only wait...three days...do whatever it takes...Blaine.
His words bounced around in my head like a psychotic pinball machine. Blaine loved me. He wanted to protect me. We had kissed, and I had no memory of it. The idea of what I didn’t understand, what kept me in the dark all this time, was mentally draining. I laid my head back against the rotting plank wall of the shed-like shack and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 20
I awoke, later, to the sound of tires screeching. No, not tires. It was far off in the distance. The wind carried the sound to me in bursts. It wasn’t tires, sirens maybe? No, that’s not it. And then, with sudden realization, it hit me. Oh God, that’s somebody screaming. Almost as quickly as it took me to discover the sound, it stopped. There was a huge crashing sound, glass shattering, and what sounded like tin cans being thrown out into a driveway. I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my head in them. There was nothing in my little shed that should attract anyone, but I wasn’t sure who these people were or what they wanted. All I knew was I didn’t want to end up like the diner guy.
In my head, I counted to a hundred. I heard footsteps in the grass outside; they surrounded me. I held my breath and felt a tear run down my cheek. There was muffled conversation, but they didn’t come close enough. I couldn’t make out their words. Terrified, I prayed they would leave. They shuffled around some more, said something I couldn’t understand, and then, finally, I heard their footsteps heading away.
I let out a huge breath, slowly. This was my second night of being in danger, and I was doing it alone. It felt like I was the only person on earth. I had one more day to go. If I didn’t get to Blaine in time, I didn’t know how I would be able to face this entirely on my own. That was the only thing keeping me grounded the idea that when I got to him, Blaine would be there to protect me. Until then, I had to keep myself alive. Blaine loved me.
I didn’t sleep the rest of the night, even though I needed it badly. When the sun started to peer over the horizon, I began to fish through my bag. I had one bottle of water left and a stick of beef jerky. Breakfast. Thankfully, the small quantity wasn’t a problem due to my lack of appetite. It’s amazing how little food you crave after fearing for your life each night.
Capping off the bottle of water, I stuffed it back into my bag. Slowly, I pushed open the door to the shed, flipped the kick stand up on the bike, and pushed it out into the open grass. Mounting the bike, I pulled the helmet over my head and slipped my shoulders into the straps of my bag. I was so close to Blaine, I could feel it. It was like a force was pulling me in his direction.
The rest of the trip was a blur. I decided to get back on the interstate, fearful of the gruesome scenes I might encounter on the back roads. Today, I was more at ease on the dirt bike. Not like my wobbly self, yesterday. I welcomed the quick breeze that blew through my sweatshirt as I sped down the interstate. As I traveled farther and farther, I began to notice more vehicles on the side of the road. Abandoned with, I had assumed empty gas tanks. The sun was higher in the sky by the time I neared Blaine’s town. Almost there, I told myself. Pulling into town, I passed Lingo’s. In a quick glance, I saw it had been pulverized. An instant memory of the diner owner, from two nights ago, flashed through my mind. I pushed the memory to the back of my thoughts, hoping that the owner of Lingo’s had not suffered the same fate.
Rounding the corner onto Blaine’s street, my heart began to race. Every house in the neighborhood looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. All the windows were busted out, doors ripped off their hinges, and garage doors looked like they had been driven into head on. Instantly, I knew. This street had been hit by the Intruders. No, Blaine!
Increasing my speed, I passed my old house, and pulled into Blaine’s driveway. Removing my helmet, I noticed his truck was not there, and there were no other cars parked in the driveway. Panicking, I jumped over the crumbled threshold, and ran throughout Blaine’s house, calling, “Blaine! I’m here. Hello?! I got your letter, I’m here.” I searched every room, but there was no answer, the house was empty. With the awareness that I would continue to be alone, I sank down against the wall at my back and cried.
Chapter 21
I cried until my eyes ran dry before picking myself up off of the floor. The silence in the room made my ears hurt. And then I heard it, the sound of several feet shuffling over broken glass. Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe, my stomach was in my throat. Footsteps were moving through the house, slowly, above my head. I remembered where I heard footwork like that before, the Intruders. On the brink of hyperventilating, I searched the room for a place to hide. To my right, on the wall, there was a door to a tiny closet. Hitting the floor, I crawled into the closet and folded myself into a ball at the back corner after quietly closing the door. There was absolutely nothing for me to hide behind. I could only pray that the Intruders would get discouraged before deciding to look inside. It was then that I remembered I had left my backpack right outside the door. STUPID! There was no time to go back out and grab it as I heard the padding of footsteps coming down the stairs into the family room next door. Don’t notice the bag, don’t notice the bag! There was a gap under the door of the closet that let the sunlight shine through, allowing me to see shadows moving along the floor.
When the shadow of two legs eclipsed the light in front of me, I held my breath. My hands were shaking now, and my knees were getting weaker. Mentally, I ran through different ways to defend myself in the event that the Intruders would find me. Not one of them seemed practical. Suddenly, a shadow stopped directly in front of the closet door, stopping my heart. I heard the click of a gun’s hammer being set. Instantly, I
was overcome with anger rather than panic. If they had a gun, there was a very real possibility that I was going to die. And if I was going to die, I wasn’t going to die without a fight. A surge of adrenaline coursed through me, and I ignored my heart’s dangerously quick pace. My knees near buckling, I stood slowly, and crouched enough to leap at my attacker. I saw the doorknob begin to turn, and I squeezed my eyes shut tight. It was the longest three seconds of my life before the door flew open, and I held my ground.
Chapter 22
I felt an arm grab the shoulder of my shirt, pulling me out into the open. I kept my eyes shut, screaming, while the Intruder was wrapping their arms around me in restraint. My arms were pinned. With my back to them, I kicked in protest, my legs flailing in vain.
“Kara?” Jared’s voice cut through my screeching, and I silenced myself, opening my eyes. Covered in sweat, with my hair matted to my face, I looked at Jared through the strands. Panting from my fit, I managed to choke out, “Jared?”
He smiled, and lowered his hands, one of them gripping a small gun. With a half-hearted laugh, he said, “Holy crap, Kara! I could have shot you! What were you doing in the closet?” He sounded irritated.
Relief washed over me like a rain storm. Someone I knew! I didn’t care what happened. I wasn’t going to be alone anymore. Staring, I took in every detail of his appearance. He had lost weight since I last saw him, cut his hair in a way that reminded me of a popular vampire heart throb. He looked almost handsome! I wanted to run up to him and give him a huge hug, but something held me back. It was then that I remembered I was still being restrained! I tried to wiggle free, with no luck. Jared could see my frustration, then looked behind me and said, “Okay, dude, let her go.”
My captor leaned in close enough for me to feel his breath on my ear, and replied in a low, hushed, tone, “Only if you promise not to toss me around like a rag doll.” My whole body went rigid, Blaine.
I spun around so fast I was still dizzy when I locked my eyes on him. Like Jared, Blaine’s appearance had noticeable changes. He was leaner, muscular, and had gone through a growth spurt since the last time I had seen him. Now he was at least a foot taller than me as I strained my neck to look up at his face. His eyes were the same deep brown I had always remembered, but appeared more troubled, aged. He had a shadow of facial hair like it had been a couple of days since his last shave. And that made me instantly aware that it had been that many days since I had showered. His eyes lit up, and with a lazy grin, he said, “Well, Laquin, it took you long enough.” And with that, I wrapped my arms around him so tight it would have taken a crowbar to pry me off of him. Burying my face into his chest, I breathed him in and sighed. Refusing to let go, I pulled my head off of his chest and looked up, smiling. He wiped the hair off of my face and held my head between his two palms.
“You said three days. I’m half a day early,” I retaliated, still shaking from my almost near-death experience.
“In my opinion, you couldn’t have come soon enough. If I had to go one more hour listening to Blaine blubber on and on about ‘Kara, this, Kara, that,’ I would have used this gun on myself,” Jared interjected, a hint of annoyance in his tone. “Now that you’re here, alive, maybe he will stop talking about it at night, and I can get some sleep!”
The idea that Blaine had been thinking about me, worrying about me, made me blush. He pulled me into his chest and rested his chin atop my head. I could stay like this forever, in the safety of his embrace, the soft beating of his heart thumping in my ear. He still smelled amazing, like fresh air and pines. Blaine ignored Jared’s comment and whispered, “Thank God you are all right. I am so sorry for hurting you.”
I couldn’t speak, move, or even blink. I just stood there, inhaling his scent deeply and sighed. And just like that, all was forgiven.
Chapter 23
It was a short reunion, not much else was said. As soon as I was able to calm myself and stop shaking, we noticed the sun was lower in the sky. Blaine led the way into the garage, where a free-standing tornado shelter stood in the back corner. Shelves, and their contents, lay surrounding it on the floor. The garage had been demolished, by the Intruders no doubt. Standing in front of the storm shelter, he pulled the latch to open the thick, steel door. “Hop in,” he said, motioning with his thumb.
Was he kidding?! This thing wasn’t large enough to hold his body alone, if he thought all three of us were going to fit inside it, he must have been crazy. Seeing the apprehension in my stance, Jared leaned in, pulling up on the small rug lining the bottom of the shelter and yanked on a metal loop. I watched in amazement as he opened a trapped door. By the look of strain on Jared’s face, it must have been made of steel and concrete. Reaching up on a shelf near the ceiling of the shelter, he grabbed a small kerosene lantern. Once the lantern was lit, he proceeded to step down into the hole. It took him six steps before I couldn’t see his head anymore. My jaw was on the floor, giving Blaine a look of astonishment. He smiled and jerked his head in the direction of the door. “Go on, get movin’,” he coaxed.
Feeling blind in my new surroundings, Jared grabbed my hand to help me down off of the last step. Blaine followed behind me, closing the storm room’s door along with the hatch. Once we were locked in, he grabbed the lantern from Jared and crossed the room. When he lit the second lantern, I was able to get a better look at the space around me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We were standing in a large cement room that had to be about ten by twenty feet, at my best guess. On one end, there were two deep holes in the wall, resembling bunk beds. They were lined with carpet inside, and a thin mattress covered the bottom of each. At the other end of the room there was a wall, covered entirely by shelves, which contained items including food and other supplies. At one end of the longest wall, there was a shower curtain hung and tied back on one side. It concealed a recess in the wall equipped with a toilet. The bathroom, I thought.
Aware that my mouth was gaping, I composed myself and quipped, “Um, you forgot the kitchen sink.”
In response to my antics, Jared began to laugh hysterically, then lifted the lantern in the direction of the opposite corner from where we were standing, illuminating a large basin sink. I couldn’t help but join in as the boys snorted and snickered in laughter. It felt good to finally laugh again. It had been nearly two years since the last time I remembered laughing so hard.
We caught our breath as Blaine pulled a chair out from the table and offered me a seat. He and Jared then sat opposite of me at the table. Blaine spoke first. “So, what do you think?”
“I think you’ve been busy.” I smirked, looking around the room. “This must have taken you a while to build.”
With that, Jared let out a snort of amusement. Not getting the joke, bewilderment struck my expression.
“What? This? I didn’t build this,” he chortled, “this house was built in the sixties, back when everyone thought the U.S. was gonna get nuked. Lots of people had these shelters built into their homes. I just put the tornado shelter over it last year for more protection.”
Knowing exactly what he was referring to, I added, “From the Intruders.”
Then Jared exploded into a burst of laughter again. He was laughing so forcefully, he couldn’t speak. His eyes watered while he struggled to catch a breath. He gasped, “Leave it to a chick to assign those freaks a name!”
Blaine just smiled and kept his eyes on mine while he replied to Jared, “Chill, dude. At least she came up with something to call them. All you’ve done is pee your pants every time they come around.”
It was as if Blaine had hit a switch. Instantly, Jared stopped mid chuckle. “Not cool,” was all he had in reply. And then he proceeded to climb into one of the bunks and sulk. I glanced over in his direction in sympathy.
Blaine continued, “It took a lot of argument, but I finally convinced my mom to let me install one.” I noticed with the mention of his mother, his expression looked sorrowful. Hearing him mention his mother made me realize
that his parents were not around when I had arrived, and I thought the worst.
“Speaking of your mom, where are your parents?” I interrupted, cautiously.
He broke eye contact and began fidgeting with a loose strand on the end of his sleeve. “That’s the thing. I don’t know. I tried to tell them everything in the weeks leading up to the incident. They just brushed it off as if it were one of my jokes. They didn’t believe me at all. I had to be careful what I said, afraid that they would have me committed or something. They were headed out, last night, to a bed and breakfast somewhere out of state. I have no idea if they survived the last two nights with the Intruders all around.”
He looked as though on the verge of tears, clenching his jaw tighter and swallowing hard. He paused for a moment while the sound of Jared, lightly snoring, in the background broke the silence. Then, he continued, “I can’t see their future, Kara. I can see some of yours, your parents, Jared’s, and even Crystal’s. But not my parents’, not even mine. You have no idea how frustrating that is, knowing what is going to happen but having no way of seeing how it will affect yourself. Well, at least you don’t know anymore.”