The Dark Days: Dark Beginnings - Episode 4 Read online

  “Looks like we could enter here on Skyline Drive and stay well hidden,” I suggest.

  Ben shines the light close to the map, so the circle is small and highlights the street. “Good idea, Claudia. We’ll come in this way and go out this way.” He nods his head as he speaks.

  “Where is the holdup we think your friends are in?” Finch moves closer so that he can see.

  Kane points out the location. “Right in here, around 17th Street.”

  Ben taps the map with the light and removes his hand, leaving Kane holding it with the tip of his finger.

  Ben steps behind the first row of trees. Carving in and out of the tree line, he inspects the ground, shining his flashlight here and there, between this tree and that tree. He pulls on a branch just above his head, testing its support and it snaps. Piercing his lips, he tosses the branch aside and moves on.

  “We can cut in west through these trees,” Ben says from somewhere in the darkness.

  “Yep, that’s perfect,” Kane agrees. “We can stay hidden as we cut over to Sunburst. Hopefully, Sam, Molly and Jimbo will be there.”

  Finch rubs his chin. “How do we know that?”

  “We don’t, but it’s the place where they were being housed before. They didn’t seem to move people much once they put them in their cage. Ben? Mind tossing me the flashlight?”

  Ben tosses it long to Kane.

  The light is flying toward me so I reach out to catch it and Kane grabs it at the same time, wrapping his hand around mine. I roll my eyes up to look at him, smile and let go.

  Lowering his eyes to the map, Kane can’t stop the grin that forces its way out. He chuckles and then shines the light on the map. “There’s going to be an A-frame house up just northwest of where we are now…actually, there’s going to be a lot of A-frame houses, but this one is on Sunburst, right here.” He moves the light close, pointing out the location.

  “So, that’s where we’ll want to come out of the trees,” Finch says. “Looks like it backs right up to them if I’m looking at things right.”

  “It does,” Kane replies and adds, “which makes it perfect.”

  “Think we’ll be able to see any of them in the house tonight?” It would be horrible to go through all of this and they aren’t even there when we go to break them out.

  “It’s possible. There are a few large windows, or they could be outside on the deck. They allow people go out there because it’s closed in.”

  Allow. I shake my head. Dorian Lennox—devil.

  “Do we want to stay on this and move farther north before we cut over?” Finch runs his finger along the Skyline Drive route.

  “If I remember, there’s a house right there. I think it’s too close—could be dangerous.”

  “We should enter here where Ben did,” I suggest. “We’ll be hidden away early before anyone has a chance to see us and we have plenty of room to make an adjustment if we spot any of their guys.”

  Kane and Finch look at each other.

  “I agree,” Ben says, still hidden away in the trees.

  Kane moves a branch out of my way and motions with a quick nod of his head. “Ok, then we’ll have to hike northwest of here since we aren’t able to cut directly across due to the house. I agree with you and Ben, as well. We don’t want to risk it.”

  Finch and I follow Kane into the tall row of pines.

  We cross the wooded area to the tree line behind the house without any issues. I hear an owl hoot in the distance, breaking the silence of the otherwise quiet night. The air is cold and dry and the inside of my nose is raw and burns. I jump when I hear twigs snap in the trees behind us. My nerves calm when I see the raccoon scurry by.

  We move cautiously to the edge of the ridge.

  “It’s that one.” Kane draws my attention to a house down below the embankment to the right of us.

  Just then, Sam steps out onto the deck and Molly comes out right after.

  “There they are!” I whisper loudly. They are so close, if we weren’t on a spy mission, I could yell and wave my arms and get their attention.

  “Target located. Fantastic!” Finch says.

  Sam and Molly walk over to a far corner of the deck, staring almost in our direction. They appear deeply engaged in conversation when Jimbo steps out onto the deck and joins them.

  “They’re all there,” Kane says. “Oh and there’s a guard at the back door on the lower level. Looks like there’s still just the one. Let’s move out of here. We don’t want to be here any longer than we have to.”

  He grabs my hand and gives it a little squeeze. “We aren’t going to need as much manpower to get them out. You don’t have to come now.”

  He’s going to have to get over this ‘save the princess’ idea of his. “Forget it, Kane. I will be on this mission.”

  “She’s good enough to be there, Kane, trust me,” Ben says with a flash of a grin in my direction.

  “Yes, she is, Ben. Yes, she is.”

  I give Kane an ‘uh-huh see’ smile, and follow Ben into the trees.

  Finch slaps Kane on the back. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  We track along the top of the ridge and I stop behind everyone when I notice a house with a white picket fence. It seems so out of place in this prison district.

  Ben backtracks a few steps and stops to inspect what I’m looking at. “We could re-enter the town here. Use that house as our marker.”

  It’s abandoned and the streets are dark. “Yes, that seems like a good plan.”

  Kane doesn’t go far before turning back to us. “What are you guys thinking?”

  Ben pulls out the map again as Kane and Finch move in closer to see. “Looks like we are at 14th if we re-enter here,” Ben says pointing out our location.

  “You think we should go back into the town?” Finch is a great devil’s advocate. I appreciate having his second thoughts.

  “This older area of town is deserted. Look, there isn’t a soul.” Kane jumps on board with our plan.

  “We will be much faster on pavement. They should be on foot if they’ve chased us this far.” Ben takes a look behind him over each shoulder. He turns on the flashlight.

  Finch runs his finger down one of the narrow roads on the map toward the southern edge of the town. “If we can just get down to 3rd, we can drop back into the trees here and we should be in the clear.”

  “Okay, so that gets us out of there, but how are we going to get Sam, Molly and Jimbo out of that house?”

  My smile stretches so wide, it almost hurts. “Elsie, of course.”

  Chapter 7

  The rest of the week goes by in a blink and I am getting used to the routine. It actually feels good to have one again.

  Janie and I meet up on my front porch each morning. We walk up Main Street, grab a mini cup of coffee, our food rations, and then join Ruthie and a dozen other ladies down at Main and Woodward at the same house where the weekly baths are held. Mondays are an exception because the entire town joins with the farmers to prepare the land for spring planting. Now that gasoline is running low, they need extra hands.

  Tuesday and Thursday, we handle the laundry for the entire town. People are only allowed to bring laundry those two days and they can only bring six items each. We use old washboards and cold water from the creek. Though we have plenty of soap for now, we still ration because one day we won’t. It’s hard to believe because every house in town had its own box, and the local market was full too—more than plenty for the two hundred residents who lived here and many of them are gone now. Ruthie’s sister wasn’t the only one that lost her mind and headed into disaster.

  Wednesday is bath day. They tell Janie and me that we can go first, or we can wait until the end of the day after everyone else has been through. We choose to wait, so we don’t have to rush.

  We help with the constant heating of the water for the baths, boiling pot after pot of water from the creek. After only a couple of hours, my arms ache from carrying the pot
s from the house to the creek to fill them with water and then back to the fire pits. From there, we take them inside and pour them into one of the four wooden tubs, and then it’s back to the creek. Each person is allowed ten minutes, except for the bath maids, who are allowed twenty.

  When it’s finally my turn, I sink down into the tub and put my head under the water. It brings instant relief to my aches and pains. I can’t remember a bath ever feeling this good—it’s almost euphoric.

  I lather up a small amount of the bathing oil and it smells wonderful with gardenia essence. I rub my fingers through my toes and down the bottom of my feet, pressing hard into my arches to massage them. The muscles in my calves are sore—everything’s sore. Pressing my thumb into a pressure point on the inside of my bicep relieves the pain. The hot water feels amazing. I didn’t wait the usual five minutes to let it cool.

  Glancing over at Janie, I see her eyes are closed, but her smile is big. It’s the quietest I think she’s been since I met her.

  I think to say something, but decide to appreciate the silence and sink back into my tub. The water floods over my face when I dunk below the surface.

  As much as I’d love to crawl into my bed right away, we do have to wash out the tubs when we are through. I don’t really mind, it actually makes me feel better about the community bath thing.

  When I get home, I’m surprised to see the cottage empty. Or at least I think it’s empty. It’s pitch dark.

  I start toward the door to go back outside and look for the others when I see a flickering light coming from down the hall.

  Kane comes out of the bedroom with a lit candle and a bottle of wine.

  “Welcome home, Claudia.” He leans in and kisses my cheek and then carries the bottle of wine to the kitchen. When he sets the candle on the table, I notice it is set for dinner for two. There are some kind of puffs for appetizers, a small roasted chicken or duck maybe, corn on the cob, which I haven’t had forever, a mini chocolate cake and two crystal wine glasses.

  “But how did you do all this. What about the rations?” Is this our first real date? Butterflies flutter inside my stomach and I’m nervous but excited.

  He finds a wine opener in the drawer and opens the bottle. “May I pour you a glass of this fine Cabernet?”

  “Yes, please. That will be amazing after the hot bath I just had.”

  “I hope you were able to enjoy it.” He hands me my wine and pours himself a glass. “Cheers.” He holds his glass up to toast.

  “Cheers. Thank you for such a lovely surprise. I still don’t know where you got all of this food.”

  “I asked Tiny if I could give you a special night since everything’s been so crazy and you’re working so hard.”

  “We’re all working hard, Kane. I’m not doing anything different than anyone else.” I sip the wine which is smooth as silk. I’m no wine connoisseur, but I do know that this one is fine.

  “They aren’t all taking the risks that you are.”

  I set my glass down a little harder than I mean to. The crystal chimes as it vibrates. “Is this to try to talk me out of the rescue?”

  “No, no.” He laughs. “Although…would it have worked?”

  “No.” I shake my head at him and retrieve my wine from the table. “This food looks wonderful!”

  Kane pulls a chair out for me. “Madame?”

  “Thank you, sir.” I sit down in the chair and he takes his seat next to me.

  I suddenly notice something strange. “Do I get a fork and knife, too?” I raise one brow at him.

  “No.”

  “Kane, this is silly, you don’t need to feed me.”

  “Just humor me and let me treat you like a princess tonight.”

  I turn and look back over my shoulder. “Where’s Ben and Elsie?”

  “Ben went with Edgar, Jay and Finch to work on cutting the path for the rescue. Elsie is watching Norton and Crepp with Masaru, and Skipper is waiting for Janie to get back so they can have their own date.”

  “I knew it! She wouldn’t admit it, but I knew it!”

  Kane picks up a puff from the silver etched china dish. He went all out. “Are you going to let me pamper you?”

  I suddenly decide I would love to be a princess with Kane for the night. “Yes, you can pamper me, dear slave.”

  He brings the puff slowly to my lips. It’s still warm. I try to take a bite and he pulls it away so I miss.

  “No slave, feed me now.”

  He puts the puff on my lips again and this time I manage to get a small bite before he takes it away. The cream cheese and herbs melt in my mouth. I close my eyes to indulge in the flavor and the next thing I know, Kane has moved in for a kiss. A slow kiss covered in cream cheese. He stuffed the rest of the puff in his mouth.

  I can feel cheese on the outside of my lips, so I wipe it off with my finger and lick it before taking a sip of my wine. “Fabulous.”

  “My kiss?”

  “The puff.” I turn my head away, playfully snuffing him.

  “How about the corn?”

  “You can’t feed me the corn.” I’m adamant.

  “Come on.”

  “No, you can’t feed me that. The butter will drip all over me and the corn will get stuck in my teeth.”

  “It’s going to do that anyway.” I’m just going to hold it for you. Here, take a bite.”

  He holds the corn cob up to my mouth.

  I stare him down for a second and then take a bite of the grilled corn. He lets me get it this time and it’s amazing. Grilled has always been my favorite way to eat it.

  “I think I’m in heaven.”

  Kane takes a bite of the corn and then eats another puff. “I’ll say. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a nice dinner like this and even longer since it was with someone…”

  “Someone?”

  “Someone special, Claudia. I don’t know if it’s because I met you in chaos and life has been crazy ever since, but I hope you know how special you are to me.”

  “I feel the same about you, Kane.”

  “Do you? I thought you did after the Brown Palace but since we found each other again, I’m not so sure.”

  “Kane, I’m sor-”

  “Claudia, you have nothing to be sorry for. I know what you’ve been through. Do you think you still have any feelings left over from that night in Denver?”

  “Yes! Yes, I do. Of course, I do.” I do and for the first time since we’ve been back together, I feel how excited I am about them. I lean toward him and take his face in my hands and kiss him. “Yes, Kane, I do.”

  We kiss softly, sweet and wonderful. I wish we could escape like this forever or at least for more than a night.

  Kane sits back and sticks a bite size piece of meat with his fork. “Duck?”

  I can’t help but crack a small grin. “Okay.” I open my mouth wide and let him feed me. The duck is cooked perfectly, glazed with some sort of sweet sauce.

  We eat the rest of the corn, puffs and most of the chicken and finish the bottle of wine.

  “Dessert?” He holds up a bite of the chocolate cake.

  “You wouldn’t dare keep that away from me,” I warn and at this moment, I would lock him up and lose the key to get a bite of that cake.

  He taunts me several times with a small piece on the tip of the fork and then grabs it with his fingers and presses it into my lips. I can feel the chocolate all over my mouth.

  “Oh really?” I grab the rest of the mini cake and shove it into his face before I take off into the main room to get away.

  He chases me and tackles me and I scream and giggle as he presses his face into mine. We have chocolate all over. It’s absolutely everywhere. We both laugh hard and then it grows awkwardly silent.

  I loop deep into his green eyes and we’re both still, not moving a muscle. Slowly, I move in and kiss the chocolate from his lips. Then I spring from the floor and run to the bathroom to clean up.

  After we clean up the mess and ourselv
es, I put on my shorty pajamas that Kane gave me the first night I met him and climb in beneath the sheets. He crawls in next to me and I put my arms around him.

  “Nah-ah-ah, we aren’t done yet, princess.” He helps me rollover on my stomach. “It’s time for your massage.”

  Okay, it’s official. I am in heaven now. I lie down comfortably on my tummy and put my arms down to my sides.

  Kane tugs on the back of my shirt. “May I lift this up…just to your shoulder blades?”

  “Uh-huh,” I mumble into the pillow.

  Kane grabs a purple bottle from the nightstand that can only be Elsie’s. Is everyone in on our date?

  When he removes the cap from the bottle, I can smell the lavender and vanilla escape into the air. He pours a few drops into his palm and rubs his hands together.

  His touch is warm and feels amazing sliding over my back and up over my shoulders. He presses his thumbs into them, kneading gently but letting me know I desperately need this massage. He runs his thumbs up the muscles along both sides of my spine, and I can feel the cooped up bad energy moving out. Dorian.

  He massages me this way until my back is loose and then his touch becomes light and caressing. He pulls strands of my hair gently through his fingers. I’m dozing off, about to fall into a deep sleep. I feel his lips brush lightly on my shoulder in a kiss good night.

  I turn over and stare into his eyes that are jade even under the dim candle light. “Thank you, Kane. Thank you so much for doing this for me. It’s nice to feel special—and normal—even if it’s just for one night.”

  “There’ll be others, princess, don’t you worry. Many others.”

  He takes my arm and turns me so that he can nestle up behind me. I’m the happiest I’ve been since the world ended and I fall asleep in his arms.

  ***

  It’s dark and I’m running through the woods alone. The footsteps are louder, closing in fast behind me.

  Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! The leaves crush beneath their feet.

  “Claudia! You won’t get away this time!”