The Dark Days: Dark Beginnings - Episode 4 Read online

  “Yes, but the town is small and already low on supplies. They’ve been able to hold their own so far against the lumber district.”

  “Lumber district?” Ben and I ask at the same time.

  “Sorry, that’s what they call Georgetown now,” Kane explains.

  Edgar walks behind Skipper’s cart. “They could use our help though. They’re wearing down.” He wipes the remaining blood from his hatchet.

  Chapter 5

  We navigate south through the mountain forest, taking a longer route in order to get the carts through. To our west, Clear Creek Lake’s crystal water reflects the sun, and the day is a much warmer than it has been.

  We approach Georgetown and spread out to observe. Below, I can see the entrance ramp from the highway is blocked by armed guards.

  Watching through the protection of the forest from the eastern mountains, I scan the town for any weak spots where we might sneak in and grab at least a gallon of gasoline. The carts are running on fumes. Strange, I don’t see a soul.

  Any other time, the sparse-placed houses in the snow might remind me of something out a Norman Rockwell painting, but now it’s eerie. It has become a ghost town. The scattered older mountain houses are painted in storybook color—blue with red window frames or green with yellow doors. No smoke rises from the chimneys.

  An old cobblestone church stands prestigious beside the creek. It looks like it leaped off the page of a fairytale with its tower steeple.

  Pug points to a small building with a red roof.

  Conoco.

  “I can get gas there. I don’t see anyone,” he says.

  “No! It’s too dangerous. You know those men are there somewhere,” I say and I can feel it in my gut. They are definitely somewhere.

  “I agree. It’s empty or they’re hiding. They wouldn’t leave something so valuable unattended,” Ben says.

  “We have to push to Silver Plume. It’s not even five miles,” Masaru urges again.

  “We can always come back for the carts if we’re that close.” Skipper drives forward. “Onward.”

  Ben steps into the driver seat of another cart. “Are you coming, Claudia?”

  “You all keep going.”

  “Are you okay?” Kane places his hand on my shoulder.

  “Nature.” I shrug my shoulders. “I’m fine, you go with Ben. I’ll catch up.” I don’t wait for a response before walking toward the trees.

  “We can wait.” Ben sounds adamant.

  “Can’t a girl get some privacy?” I need a minute alone.

  Ben and Kane stare at me. Neither of them speaks a word.

  “I’ll be fine,” I say disappearing behind the trees. I feel bad for snapping at Ben, but to say the silent minute alone was needed would be a huge understatement. I can’t comprehend what has happened in the past twelve hours. I know in my heart that Aden would have killed Kane. Still, I can’t digest the fact that I have taken someone’s last breath.

  I start back toward the trail and along the way I spot a pair of bear cubs. One of them is slightly bigger and rolls its sibling cub over on its back. Then, the smaller cub jumps up with its claws on the other one’s shoulders and they tumble over each other again. They’re so cute that they manage to steal my tormented mind for a second.

  For a quick second. Time to get out of here!

  I haven’t returned to the trail of tire tracks for more than a few yards when I hear it.

  Ca-click! I know that sound well now-a gun being readied.

  “Hold it right there.” I turn my head to look behind me, but I’m stopped by a shove of something pointed in my back. How many more times am I going to find myself at gunpoint-today?

  I turn my head again and hardly get a glimpse of the bad guy when I see her standing directly in the path behind him. Momma bear has come for her cubs. They watch from a safe distance behind.

  I slowly move forward, away from the man who still has his gun in my back.

  “I said hold it right the-” He is interrupted by a snort from the bear.

  His next move will be his last. Wanting to see what made the noise, he turns too quickly and startles the bear. She charges toward us.

  I’m already five paces ahead when the bear lunges for my gunman. He fires a shot but misses her completely. His gun tumbles to the side.

  My brain wants to grab it because we can always use more weapons, but my instinct will not let me get that close to the blood-splattering mauling that is taking place.

  The shooter screams for his life with no chance to be saved. I hear him gurgle, still trying to call out for help, then silence.

  I take a few more steps backward, slowly. The bear is safely occupied, so I take off as fast as I can move my legs.

  It seems like forever, running, listening for heavy paws behind me, yet it’s probably less than ten minutes before I catch up to Kane and Ben. They trail behind the rest of the group, driving along in silence.

  “Hey.” I’m out of breath and only a raspy whisper comes out. “Hey!” I try again to get their attention.

  I bend over, bracing my weight upon my knees.

  Ben stops the cart and immediately comes over to my rescue. “Are you okay?” he asks, placing his arm around my back.

  I am still speechless. So far today, I’ve killed a man and watched one as he was ripped to shreds by a bear. Oh, and there was that severed hand lying on the ground, too.

  “Claudia?” Kane’s voice brings me back.

  “I’m okay. I just need to breathe for a second. There was a shooter-”

  I can’t get all of my words out before Janie turns around in her seat. “Is he still following you?”

  “No. He’s dead.”

  “Did you?” Ben imitates a gun with his fingers.

  “No! It was a bear.”

  I look around at the empty houses. “Where are all the people?”

  “They vacated the southern edge of town and took possession of the all the food and supplies.” Elsie points toward the ghost town. She wears a medallion-sized emerald ring on her finger. It shimmers from the sun. She must have pulled that treasure from her old trunk because I’ve never noticed it before.

  “Yeah, from what we could tell, they forced everyone into the center of town and only the high-ups in Aden’s army were given their own living residences.”

  “You mean Dorian’s army.” I’m not sure I’ve ever felt anger as intense as I feel right now.

  We drive along the tracks of the tourist train that run between Georgetown and Silver Plume. It provides a great trail for the carts and no one appears to be watching it—no need since the train isn’t running.

  We get to the end of the Georgetown Loop and as we approach the town, I see Jay patrolling along the southern boundary. He waves to me and then motions to someone else to his right. I follow his attention and spot Jay pacing back and forth, holding his rifle so it rests on his shoulder.

  They greet us with smiles and head in our direction. Jay motions to another large and stout man farther down, also patrolling.

  We drive the carts over to where the three men stand, parking them to the side. We pile out to be polite and introduce ourselves.

  “Welcome to Silver Plume.” Jay exchanges man-hugs with Skipper and then Pug.

  Brody hugs Pug, then Skipper and then Jay. “Glad to see you’re still in one piece,” Brody says. “Doesn’t look so good for that guy.” He points to Crepp, who has plopped down on a large tree stump. Masaru stands close by, holding onto the rope that has the nervous guy’s hands tied behind his back.

  “He tried to kill us,” Ben states matter of fact and sticks his hand out. “Hello. I’m Ben. Ben Willoby.”

  Brody shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ben. I’m Brody. This is Jay.”

  Jay steps forward, offering his hand to Ben. As they shake, the tall, burly man steps up from behind Brody.

  “Well, who’ve you got here?” he says with a chuckle.

  “These are our friends,”
Brody says. “Claudia, Kane, Ben, Pug-”

  Elsie interrupts, “Elsie and this is Edgar.” She looks like a dwarf compared to the burly man. “And who might you be?” She squeezes his bicep.

  He looks down at her with a friendly grin. “The name’s Tiny.”

  Janie giggles. “Not so tiny, Tiny. I’m Janie and this is Skippy.” She waves from behind the rest of us.

  Finch steps forward. “Tiny, thanks for the kind welcome. I’m Finch.”

  Tiny points to Crepp. “What happened to him?” His expression is laced with skepticism.

  “He shouldn’t play with sharp objects,” Ben replies, looking over the top rim of his glasses.

  Tiny raises a brow and then pats Ben shoulder with a chuckle. “Get your carts and follow us. Looks like you could use something to eat.”

  “I could eat a horse,” Pug says and Skipper smacks him on the arm.

  “Anything you could spare would be great. I know your supplies are running low.” Skipper is more courteous.

  “We’ll make it through winter. Wouldn’t be right to let our guests starve today.”

  A squeaky noise draws my attention to a metal street sign “Woodward St” that hangs vertically by one nail. A strong gust of wind causes it to swing.

  We follow Tiny north toward Main Street. A chill has formed in the air with the sun starting to set.

  “There’s a row of houses up there…on Silver Street. Once you get beyond the church with the carved wooden door, you will see a two-story wooden building on your left. Pass that and turn left. That’s the road. Then you’ll see a white house with purple shutters. There’s a pretty blue one next to it.” He points us east. “You and your friends can take those. Should be plenty of room. Oh, the electricity is out, but I assume you already know that.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you,” Ben says.

  “Four walls and a roof? I must be in heaven,” Janie says popping a bubble and sneaking off toward the blue house.

  “Go on and get yourselves settled. Come back to the Silver Plume House, it’s the one next to the old caboose we passed on our way here. We have our meals there.”

  Masaru hands the rope attached to nervous, jerky-stealing, tobacco guy to Finch. “I’m the chef.” He grins with the same expression he had the first time I saw him in the Cantina at DIA. He waves as he follows Tiny up the street.

  Ben approaches the two-story white house with the purple shutters. “Claudia, how’s this one?”

  “That one is perfect, Ben.” I send a quick smile to Kane and walk toward the small porch of the house. It’s charming with its white picket fence.

  “He can come, too.” Ben nods his head toward Kane as he walks inside. The rusty hinge squeaks as the screen door slams shut.

  Skipper heads over to the blue house. Pug shakes his head and follows.

  “I’m going to help Finch with these two,” Kane says. He takes the rope from Finch so he can help Crepp to the house, since he is weak from the loss of blood.

  “We’ll take them to that cabin over there.” Finch motions toward a two-story wooden house with green window frames across the way.

  “Elsie, come with us.” I wait for her on the porch.

  She hobbles over and her small wooden box clinks against some other charms I hadn’t noticed before. She has a crystal ball looking thing the size of a quarter, a compass that is slightly bigger, a few crystals. At least with all of it strapped to her, she won’t have any of it taken away. Not while she’s alive anyway. Bernie pokes her head out of Elsie’s coat.

  “Come on out. You’re safe now,” she says and strokes the pigeon’s head.

  The mountain house is cozy. The living area has one wall that has been carved into a bookshelf and it’s still lined with dusty books. The smell of the old paper reminds me of the library I used to go to when I was a kid.

  Ben wanders over to a tiny fireplace in the corner. He brushes the cobwebs out with a stick. “I’ll see if I can find some wood,” he says, walking toward the screen door.

  I search the kitchen, opening cabinets to see if there is anything here that could be useful. Looks like most of everything has been cleared out except for one cast iron skillet and a couple of forks and spoons.

  I see a bed through the doorway of one of the rooms. A bed! This will be only the second time I’ve slept in a bed since this whole disaster started. If I weren't starving, I’d throw off all of my clothes and crawl in now. I’d be asleep in a matter of seconds.

  I enter the room. It’s not only a bed; it’s a large, comfy bed you can sink into. Fluffy pillows with lavender satin pillowcases and a thick down comforter have been left behind.

  “I’ll take this one,” Elsie calls out from another room. “It has two beds so Ben can share it with me.”

  I hear the squeaky screen door opening, followed by a slam. I poke my head out the door and see Ben returning with an armload of firewood.

  I return to my scrounging, perusing the drawers of a small dresser. In the top smaller drawer, I find some ancient black and white photographs and a bunch of foreign coins. There’s also some old jewelry that has tarnished from the years. The next drawer is empty. The third drawer has a few pairs of socks.

  I hear the screen door open again.

  Slam. And it closes. It must be Kane this time. I can hear my father saying not to slam the door. I miss him and my mother and the pain suddenly squeezes my heart.

  I turn to look as Kane enters the bedroom.

  “Hi,” he says, more as if he’s asking me a question. He moves close and places his hands on my waist, touching his forehead to mine.

  “Are you okay, Claudia?” He runs his fingers through my hair. “What you’ve been through today could put anyone over the edge.”

  I lie through my teeth. “I’ll be fine.” I stare deep into his eyes. They are captivating—green with blue and gold specks sprinkled throughout.

  “So much has happened. It will be good to stop running and have a place to settle.”

  I hear a knock at the door. I peek around Kane’s shoulder and see Brody standing outside.

  Ben opens the door and Brody enters carrying a gallon of water.

  Kane holds me closer, drawing my attention back. He gently brushes my neck with his lips. Strangely, though I’ve dreamt of this since the night at the Brown Palace, I feel empty.

  My attention diverts to Brody and Ben. Maybe I’m just distracted.

  “You can use this to clean up a bit,” Brody says. “We have our baths down at the main center. We can fill you in on all of that later.”

  Community baths and meals? Beggars can’t complain.

  Kane presses his lips more deliberately into my neck and kisses me slowly until he reaches my lips.

  I pull away and feel awkward for doing so, but I can’t breathe. “Sounds like we better clean up and get ready for dinner.”

  Kane flashes me a warm grin. It kills me how charming he is. “Okay.” He chuckles. “Okay.”

  ***

  I walk out onto the porch and Jay and Brody are outside horse playing with Skipper and Pug. Janie stands on the opposite side, sipping from a bottle of strawberry soda.

  I lean down, resting my head in my hands with my elbows on the rail. There’s only a hint of a glow of the evening sun left.

  Ben steps out onto the porch. He hops up to sit on the top of the railing.

  “Claudia?”

  “Yeah, Ben?”

  He picks at a loose piece of paint. “It’s been nice having you here to go through all of this with.”

  There it goes—the tear. I swear I cry when the wind blows with the slightest hint of emotion.

  “You, too.” My voice cracks.

  “We’re family now, you and I.” He looks up from his paint peeling.

  I smile at him. He is my family. “I feel the same way, Ben. You’re the only one I really trust. I mean we’ve been together since day one.”

  “Since before day one,” he reminds me.

  �
��I don’t think I’ve ever said thank you. I might have given up otherwise, or sat in a corner, rotting as Dorian took advantage of the situation and everyone in it. But you gave me a passion to survive—the two of us. It has kept me going on my darkest days.” I can feel my throat tighten and a tear rolls off my cheek before I can wipe it away.

  “Thank you, too, Claudia. You know I will always be here for you.”

  Elsie is latched onto Kane’s arm when they join us on the porch. She has a goofy look on her face.

  “How adorable would they be?” Elsie asks with a twinkling glance to me.

  “I can smell the food from here,” I say, whiffing the air. How adorable would what be? Puppies? I hope she is talking about puppies and not lining me up to breed.

  Finch pokes his head out the door of the wooden house. “Crepp is weak, he needs to lie down. I’m going to stay…make sure nothing happens to him or us…keep an eye on Norton.

  “Who’s Norton?” Ben jumps down from the porch railing.

  “Oh, the other guy that’s with Crepp.”

  “Can’t you just tie him to a tree or something?” Pug snorts at his own joke. “The other guy isn’t going anywhere.”

  “You really want me to take that chance?”

  Lately, if bad things can find a way to happen, they do. “I’ll bring you all some food when we come back,” I offer quickly. I don’t want us to meet our new neighbors while leading our “stray dog” in by the neck, and we can’t really tie him to a tree.

  “Thanks, Claudia.” Finch smiles and disappears inside.

  As we approach the intersection of Main and Woodward, I hear voices coming from around the other side. We round the corner and there are at least fifty people congregating around the red caboose and sprawled out in small groups between there and the bridge.

  I’m overwhelmed at first by their welcomes, but it sure beats Dorian’s greetings by gunpoint.

  A small red-headed boy of about five chases a girl in long, twirling pigtails across the bridge toward us. She is easily a foot taller than him and her arms and legs are too long for the bright pink snowsuit she is wearing.

  “You’re not going to kiss me, Joey Tinker!” she taunts.