“Is it? Never really thought about it, but after that big stink they made about it on the news, you’re probably right.”
“Ok. Here.” He leaned far forward without taking a step and held his breath as he handed me back my papers. “Come see us at headquarters when you’re ready to sign up. And, you really shouldn’t be out and about with that contagious stuff, ya know. You’ll make everyone sick.”
“Solid advice. Thank you, sir. I’ll come see you tomorrow.”
“No! I mean, give it a few days. Ya know, just take care of your girl a bit, then come see me.”
Bingo! Poor sap.
“Ok. Sounds good. Nice to meet you...”
“Enforcer Billings.”
“Enforcer Billings. Have a nice night.”
And then I heard a terrible screech, like a dying animal. We were both still standing in the street, hadn’t moved to our vehicles yet and I felt my heart slam down in my chest. I knew this sound.
When Sherry and I had been chased to the caves.
A Marker.
The man was muttering something about ‘what was that- crazy owl’ and looking around the darkness like he could see anything. The flashlight went up and I knew it a split second just in time that I needed to move.
I grabbed his shirt back as he turned and jerked him to the ground. He groaned and complained and then started cursing me. I told him to shut up, be quiet as we lay on the warm asphalt. He apparently hadn’t seen what I’d seen in that flashlight beam. The Marker made a swoop for him and was now just waiting for his next chance.
The idiot was still squirming to get up. How could I explain what was after us?
“Shut up,” I hissed. “There’s something after us. You didn’t see it?”
“No! Get off me!” he yelled making me want to just let the Marker have him.
“SHHH! Idiot!” I whispered.
Then we heard the screech again and the idiot went still.
“What is that? Sounds like a...”
“I know what it is, but trust me, you wouldn’t believe me. If you want to make it, just stay quiet and do what I tell you. Hear me?”
“What are you talking about?”
I decide. I’m probably already gonna die or jump in my truck and hope that’s good enough to save me. No point in letting him die too- without the truth.
“Listen.” I whispered quickly. “Listen good. Your friends, your savior, the dark haired guys all around. They are not your friends. That thing in the sky is not your friend either, he’s theirs. Keepers are not the enemy. I live with some. A bunch in fact. We have a bunker not far from here with a butt load of people in it. The dark haired guys are called Lighters. They are here to take over, not help us.”
It was still pitch black, except for his flashlight beam, pointed the other way on the asphalt a little ways away from us. I couldn’t see his face but I heard his still breaths and the silence spoke volumes.
“Ok, son. So what you’re telling me is, that you are confessing to being a part of the resistance?”
“Of everything I just said, that’s the part you remember? I hate that word by the way, resistance. It makes us sound so hokey,” I spouted sarcastically and was stunned when he actually answered me.
“The official enforcer word is traitor.”
“Much better,” I said with sarcastic enthusiasm and waited for his next move.
We heard the screech and I knew it was close, it swooped and I screamed for him to roll. Anywhere just roll. We did. I felt the wind from the beast as he fanned by and missed me with his wing by mere inches. Missed me anyway. I said the enforcer’s name.
“Billings?”
“I’m here.”
“We gotta move. These things don’t give up. Listen, they’re fast and usually come with more than one. We gotta grab that flashlight fast and see about making a get away in our cars. I don’t think he can hurt you in there anyway.”
“Ok. I’m ready. Why don’t you jump in my car with me. It’ll be faster that way,” he said and I knew.
“So you can take me downtown faster you mean?”
“Well. You did just confess to being a traitor.”
“No. I confessed to knowing the truth. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you the rest of it. You can see it all firsthand and hear what’s really been going on. There’s a lot to know.”
“Hmm. Ok sure.”
Too easy. Dang. Why did I think he would listen to me in the first place?
“Ha. You almost had me,” I say shaking my finger at him. “Looks like we’re splitting ways after all.” I remembered he’d seen my face and knew my name. There went my in-town cover. “Ok. Go. Quickly and quietly. Do not stand up.”
I heard the shuffling of him crawling towards the flashlight. I had no idea which way my vehicle was or how far because we were all turned around. I realized he was probably still gonna try to play cop and arrest me even with the thing after us. Or at least not help me get in my truck. Why had I turned the lights off?
I saw the light picked up and turned my way. It’s stayed on me for a few seconds, memorizing my face probably for future line ups, and then started to sweep the area for our vehicles. He must have found them because I hear a grunt, I turn to follow the light and see that they are a little ways away. We had crossed the four lane road somehow and we’re almost in the other side ditch.
Crap.
I start to move that way. Then a multitude of screeching ensues and beating of wings. Sounds like chopper blades. Way one than one Marker. Crap!
I yell for Billings to stay down and go fast. I started moving but the flashlight beam jumped so much I couldn’t see the truck anymore. We bumped into each other and he yelped.
“It’s me. Listen, we gotta-”
Then an explosion lit up the sky and when we looked up I saw the beast for my first time. My first real look of what they look like instead of just hearing them and glimpses. They were hideous. Half man half bird half dragon. I don’t know. No faces, yellow eyes with black bodies and wings but feet and legs. And claws. And like I thought, there was a ton of them. They were close and they were everywhere.
Billings began to whimper and when I looked over, he was scared stiff looking at them. The fire blaze gave us enough light to look around a little. My truck!
“My truck!” I repeated outloud. “What the hell happened to my truck!”
It was in blazes and pieces, and so, unfortunately, was Billings piece of crap car. They both exploded. What the...
“I tagged it,” he answered. “I knew that story was fake, so I got you to get out of the car and painted it. I was going to arrest you and they were going to destroy your truck. We were supposed to be long gone by now.”
“You painted it? With a tracker? Why? Why destroy the truck?” I fumed not following his logic.
Painted it means marking it with laser or tracker for a missile to follow so it knows exactly where to hit. So if I had somehow taken off in my truck, it would still have got me. I couldn’t have gotten away. I’m almost thankful for the Markers now. He failed to mention the part where he was he trying to kill me, he doesn’t know I was in the Marines. Wow, the enforcers are not playing around.
“Well, it’s a tactic we use. If you’re missing, we hope they’ll come out to find you. So we destroy the vehicles so they won’t see it somewhere and know we have you locked up. Plus, it would have killed you and the truck if you had somehow evaded me,” he said calmly.
“That is some crazy logic, you know that? You idiots got the military involved?”
“Of course. Where do you think our base of operations is?”
Dang it.
“Look at what you did? You blew up your car too, idiot!” I yelled over the screeches. “Now we’re gonna die! There’s no where to go way out here! Do you understand that? Your military won’t save you.” I let out an exasperated breath. “Did you see them?”
“Yes,” he answered softly. “I saw them. I...can’t be
lieve it. I...I have a feeling you weren’t lying about knowing what they were. I thought it was an owl and you were trying to scare me with your story.”
“An owl?” I blew other exasperated breath in utter disbelief that they could recruit this fool and arm him with weapons. “Give me the light.”
He did. I, still laying on my stomach tried to survey the land beyond what the blaze was illuminating.
“Roll! Roll!” I heard Billings yell.
I rolled into him as we both rolled inward towards each other and felt the cold air of wings across my face. It was freakish that they were such cold things when it was so hot outside, especially with the blaze of the cars going.
“That’s it. We gotta get away from the fire before they explode.”
“They already did.”
“No idiot! They are on fire. The gas tanks haven’t lit yet,” I said and continued to look around and wonder what we were gonna do. I started crawling away and he followed. We went into the ditch further away and I laid on my back and thought. Thought hard, pulling from training and ops and years of playing predator in the woods behind me house with the neighbor kids. It was only about six o’clock at night by now. We had a long wait until the light of morning.
I thought as fast as my brain would let me about how in the heck we were gonna get out of this.
Surprise! Surprise!
Chapter 30 - Sherry
“Surprise!” we all yelled and Calvin looked liked he just seen a ghost.
“Aw. You guys,” he crooned and blushed redder than a fire hydrant.
Lana signed to Calvin ‘Are you surprised?’ He signed back ‘Yes!’ and he let her hug him, in front of all of us. Such a sweet guy.
We’d planned, that night after supper, to lure him into the training room for ‘extra training’. It was pretty comical how Ryan had insisted that Calvin go and you could tell Calvin was trying his hardest not to be peeved. Because it was Ryan and it’s impossible to be mad at him, but he really didn’t want to do any extra training.
I made cupcakes with no icing, because we didn’t have any. So muffins really, I guess. We have no presents except things people made and came up with. Lana sewed him a clothe sign for his door, out of scrap pieces of fabric and old clothes laying around, patchwork and needlework that said ‘Calvin and Frank’s Base of Ops.’ It was cute and he made a huge fuss over it.
Miguel gifted Calvin with a gun shooting lesson, to my utter shock, Lana was thrilled about. Even though guns don’t kill the Lighters, it appears we have a new enemy, the enforcers. Humans. She didn’t want him to be helpless, didn’t want him to be under anyone’s thumb, didn’t want him to not know how to defend himself and those he loves. I understand that completely.
After a while, we, well I, cleaned up and he thanked everyone for the little things we were able to scrounge up to give him.
I had just carried all the dishes to the quiet deserted kitchen and was putting them in the deep sink when I felt hands on my waist. I gasp, immediately bristled and swung around expecting nothing else but Phillip himself ready to attack me once more.
It was Calvin.
“Sorry, Sherry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Oh. Calvin. It’s ok.” I glanced over to see Merrick leaning on the counter and watching me, lips pursed. “I’m ok, just tired. What’s up birthday man.”
“Um, my mom told me most of this was your idea. I just wanted to say thanks. It was fun. The muffins were really good.”
“Your mom helped me. We all did it together.”
“Sure, Sherry. Sure.”
I laughed out loud at him and his sarcasm. He was growing up way too fast for my taste.
“I’m glad you had fun. Next year, we’ll have real cake.”
“You don’t have to lie to me, Sherry. I know things aren’t going to get better. It’s ok though. It’s the thought that counts right?” he said and his tone wasn’t bitter, he was stating facts.
“Yes. That’s right.”
He hugged me tightly around my shoulders, because he was now as tall as I was and still growing. Ugh. I’m as short as a twelve year old.
He left bopping happily. Merrick walked over to stand right in front of me, looking down on me like the tower he was.
“You ok?”
“Yeah.”
“Why are you so jumpy?”
“I’m not.”
“Liar.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You’re not gonna tell me?”
“What?”
“Why you got so freaked out?”
“I didn’t.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not!”
“Are.”
“Merrick.”
“Sherry.”
I blew out a loud fast breath.
“I just had a little flashback from Phillip. That’s all. It was silly and I overreacted.”
He grabbed my hands.
“It wasn’t silly. Why didn’t you just tell me when I asked you? Why do I have to play twenty questions with you? You remember I told you once you didn’t have to be a stone around me. I still mean that. When I ask you something, I want the truth. Don’t play coy with me when I know there’s something going on. I know you, remember? Plus, you are an appalling liar. You know all this,” he chided, trying to be half playful half serious.
“Ok. Ok. Sorry. I just don’t want you to add anything to that very long list of things you worry about for me.”
He twisted his lips and looked contemplative.
“It is a long list.”
I poked his ribs and he bent over slightly laughing and grabbed me around my waist as I tried to bolt from the tickle fest I knew I was about to be a victim of. He swung me around in a circle, a tight grip on my waist from behind.
“Come on now, if you run away, you can’t have your present,” he said in a sing-song voice.
That stopped me.
“Present?”
“Sherry Elizabeth. Did you really think after all these years I’d forget your birthday?”
Dang.
“No, but I hoped,” I thought.
“What was that?” he said cracking a smile.
“Did I say that out loud?”
He laughed.
“Yeah, honey. That was out loud. What? You thought you could make Calvin’s party be on your birthday and work out this whole plot because we needed to surprise Calvin and the rest of us would be too busy to notice that you were trying to escape your own birthday?”
I couldn’t lie. I was bad at it. It was proved to me over and over. Plus he knew me. And he knew I hated to be celebrated and called attention to.
“Yes.”
He smiled wider and shook his head, amused and pulled a box out of his pocket. He held it up to me wordlessly.
I blinked. Blinked some more. He wasn’t joking. He bought me a present. How? What? I took it from him slowly and looked at it. He wrapped it in a magazine page. Captain Jack Sparrow peaked out at me from one of the seams of the ad he used as wrapping paper and tied to together with a hair ribbon.
I looked up to his face. He was watching, waiting. He wasn’t anxious or bubbling like he thought I’d be excited about whatever was in that little box. He just watched me. Knowing me. Waiting patiently. Always about me. Never about him. Always.
“What do you get a girl who already has everything she wants?” I asked and he smiled shyly.
I thought about what it could be and wanted to cry before I even put my finger under the crease to ease the paper away. It tore easily and what I saw inside did bring tears. Big fat grateful loving tears.
It was a silver heart charm. I immediately knew that it would fit around the charm already on my necklace. That his charm would surround the other two silver hearts around my neck and they would all fit together. And that he meant it to be that way. It was perfect.
“How?” I asked looking down at it in awe and felt him swipe at a tear on my chin with his finger.
“Cain and Pap helped me make and solder it. I made it out of a soda can.” He chuckled sadly, like he should be ashamed of that fact. “We melted it down and shaped it and... anyway. I had no idea what to do for you. Once again I feel the need to apologize for my inability to buy you real jewelry-”
I cut him off with a kiss. I’m talking about a kiss. I kissed him like there was not another second left to live. I can’t believe him. How did he come up with that idea? He’s just so...gosh darn sweet. I’m shocked at my ability to still be surprised and also Merrick’s ability to always be thoughtful. Always planning, always thinking. About me.
He broke away from the kiss and laughed breathlessly, placing his forehead against mine.
“I take it you like it then?”
“I love it. You couldn’t have gotten me anything else to make me more happy.”
“I just wanted you to have something that went along with what you already are. You love that necklace and I’m not trying to impose on it-”
I cut him off again, this time with my fingers on his lips.
“No, Merrick. You belong here.” I grabbed my necklace and rubbed it between my fingers with my free hand. “This is all I have left of my family. You’re my family now. I love it,” I reiterated firmly.
He kissed my fingers and hugged me, picking me up off the floor as I held the box in my hand over our heads where my arms rested, like the precious object it was.
“Thank you,” I whispered in his ear.
“You’re welcome, baby. I’m glad you like it.”
I pulled back to look at him.
“So, you remembered, but at least Danny didn’t.”
He grimaced.
“Don’t count on it,” he muttered.
Ugh.
Danny, in fact, kept his part mellow and low key.
Birthdays were always the weirdest things in my family. The things that we always made a big deal about. Always at the lake, rain or shine, always under the willow tree, always useless odd gifts, always organic cake bought from the completely vegan organic place on the other side of town, way out of the way, but they were in the same book club as my mom. Hippie book club.