Red Hill

  My heart nearly exploded when I lost sight of them, but I continued to put down anything that tried to follow. A horrible, suffering scream made me search the area frantically through my scope. I settled on Bryce, fighting off shufflers in front of him, but being attacked from behind. From point-blank range, Miranda shot Bryce's attacker in the temple, and then fell with her boyfriend to the ground. I couldn't tell where he was wounded, but they were both covered in Bryce's blood.

  I pulled my chin away from my rifle, and then forced myself to reload and search for them again. Miranda was scooting backward, pulling Bryce with one hand, shooting with the other.

  "No!" she cried, aiming at the shufflers closing in on her. "Help us!"

  I shot one after another. Skeeter did, too, but Miranda only managed to get off two more shots before half a dozen monsters obscured her from view and then began to feed. When her screams of pure anguish filled the air, I closed my eyes tight. Skeeter's rifle popped. Even after Skeeter ended her suffering, the echoes of her screams lingered in the surrounding wheat fields for a few moments.

  I looked up, seeing Nathan, Jenna, and Halle emerge from the field and then run across the road and toward the porch. I watched the girls until Ashley corralled them into the safety of the house, and then I looked through the scope again. Nathan ran toward the herd with my hatchet to help his brother-in-law. As much as I wanted to go inside the house and hug my babies, I knew none of us was safe until the last of the herd was taken down.

  In one moment, it was as if they were endless, and in the next there were only a few left. I shot, Skeeter shot, and Nathan hurled the hatchet. Bodies lay all over the road and in the ditches. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie; a massacre. Nathan and Skeeter didn't return to the house, instead they stood over the bodies of Miranda and Bryce. They were lying together, chewed and bloody. Skeeter pulled out a handgun, and shot Bryce in the head. He'd already made sure Miranda wouldn't come back. Spending another bullet wasn't necessary.

  I climbed down the ladder, and stood in shock as I watched Jenna and Halle push through the screen door and bury their faces against me. I wasn't sure if I collapsed, or if they did, but all three of us were sitting in a sobbing mess on the porch.

  Ashley stood over us for a moment, and then began running toward the road. Her wails were the background music to my reunion with my children. Elleny and Zoe stood in the doorway in shock, neither of them seeming to be able to make sense of what had just happened, nor of the scene on the porch. It seemed like everyone was crying, both happy and sad tears.

  Night was falling, and Skeeter and Nathan guided Ashley back to the house. She was sobbing, fighting to stay with her sister. Skeeter had to force her the rest of the way into the house.

  Nathan watched Ashley and Skeeter until they disappeared behind the door, and then looked down at my family, offering a small smile. "You have some incredible kids there."

  "Miranda?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

  He sighed. "Bryce was attacked. She tried to save him. I couldn't get to them in time."

  Halle's face was buried under my arm, and her dirty fingernails dug into my skin. I kissed her head. "Come on, girls. I've got you. Let's go inside."

  Nathan helped us up, and we walked inside together. The girls were filthy, and I couldn't be sure, but I thought they were still wearing the same clothes they put on the last morning I saw them.

  I couldn't stop staring or smiling at them. It almost didn't seem real.

  "We saw your message," Jenna said, trying not to cry.

  I shook my head. "Where's your dad?"

  "He was bit," Halle said in her small voice.

  "He made us leave him," Jenna said, her voice quivering. "He made us."

  "Ssh ssh," I said, hugging them both. "How long have you been alone?" I didn't know why I was asking. I wasn't sure I wanted to know, or that it mattered.

  "I don't know," Jenna said. "A week? I think."

  "Wow," Skeeter said. "Tough like their mama."

  Jenna smiled and nodded, and leaned her head against my chest. "That's what Dad said, too, when we left him. He said we could do it because we were tough like you."

  I looked at Nathan, who was holding Zoe and Elleny close. It made me sick to think my sweet little girls had been alone that long, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know what they had gone through during that time.

  "If you hadn't cleared the way for them, it would have been tough for them to make it past Shallot alone, if not impossible," Nathan said. "You were right. It wasn't for nothing."

  I nodded, and hugged my girls again. "Come on, babies. Let's get you cleaned up." Halle whined, but I kissed her hair. "You're safe now." I looked to Jenna. "When is the last time you've eaten? Or slept?"

  Her eyebrows pulled in. "It's been a while."

  I pulled her into my chest. "Okay. Okay, that's all over, now. Nathan?"

  "I'm on it," he said, going straight into the kitchen.

  I helped the girls wash, and brushed their hair. It was so surreal, doing something so mundane while listening to their terrifying journey. I sat with them at the table and watched them shovel food into their mouths, and once their bellies were full, I walked them into Bryce and Miranda's bedroom, and tucked them in.

  In the other room, I could hear Nathan humming to Zoe and Elleny.

  Halle gripped her fingers around my wrist, tight. "Don't leave, Mommy."

  I shook my head, brought her hand to my mouth, and gave it a kiss. "We'll never be apart again."

  "You promise?"

  "I promise. You are so brave," I said, kissing Halle's forehead, and then looking into Jenna's eyes and touching her cheek. "So brave."

  The girls settled in, and within ten minutes they were both in a deep sleep. Nathan came in and watched them for a moment with a smile. "They're beautiful."

  "Thank you," I said, sucking in a sharp breath to hold back the sob in my throat.

  "You're sleeping in here?" he asked.

  I nodded. "In the chair. So I can be here when they wake up. They'll probably forget where they are."

  Nathan kneeled down beside me and kissed the tender skin just below my ear.

  I leaned into him. "Where is Ashley?"

  "Skeeter is with her. She's feeling pretty alone."

  "I imagine." I sighed.

  "They've both lost the loves of their lives. They have that one awful thing in common, and they can help each other get through it."

  We hugged for a while, watching my babies sleep. Jenna jerked a few times, unable to escape the struggle to survive, even in her sleep. I hoped that as time passed, she could rest easy again--that we all could.

  "I can't stop staring at them," I whispered. "A part of me is afraid that if I look away or fall asleep that they'll disappear."

  "Trust me, they're here. They're safe, and we'll keep them that way."

  I looked to him, touched his face, and pressed my lips against his. "I didn't really understand when you said the end of the world was the best thing to have happened to you, and how it was so close to perfect. But now that everyone in our family is here . . . and safe . . . I get it."

  "Our family, huh?" he smiled.

  "They're finally here," I said, shaking my head in disbelief. I smirked when a random thought popped into my head. "Four girls. You're outnumbered."

  "I think I can handle it."

  I laughed once. "I love you."

  His eyebrows pulled in, and he smiled like those words made him so happy that it hurt. "Now it's perfect."

  Epilogue

  Scarlet

  JENNA WAS FOCUSED, IGNORING THE sweat dripping into her big brown eyes. She rested the butt of the rifle against her shoulder. It was her fifteenth birthday, and Skeeter would call her at any moment to walk with him into the field. For whatever reason, he'd decided that on everyone's birthday, he would challenge them to a shoot-off. The winner would get a can of peaches, a delicacy we saved for special occasions. Somehow, even though Skee
ter could beat any one of us on his birthday, he always seemed to lose by a hair on everybody else's.

  "I'm going to beat him for real this year, Mom."

  "Oh, yeah?" I said, glancing around the perimeter. It was my turn on watch, even though it had been over a year since the outbreak and the few teds that stumbled by were so far decayed that we didn't need to make much effort to put them down. Shoving them to the ground and stomping their heads usually did the trick. The act was a lot like crushing an empty soda can; their insides were mush. Even Elleny had put a few down that way.

  We still took turns, though, on top of the roof of the farmhouse. A surprise attack was still dangerous, especially on a day like today when everyone would be running around, celebrating, forgetting to be careful.

  I glanced down at the crosses under the oak tree. The soil on the graves now had grass growing from the settled mounds.

  Ashley stepped off the porch and looked up at Jenna and me, holding her hand over her eyes to shield them from the glare. "Are you coming or what?" she said, smiling.

  Jenna managed a half-smile. "Just getting my sights lined out."

  "You're going to surprise him," I said, nudging her arm.

  "I'm going to surprise everyone."

  With that, Jenna crawled to the ladder carefully and climbed down to the porch. She caught up with Elleny, and they interlocked arms. Over the last year, they had bonded and become best friends, both bearing a truth no child their age should carry. Elleny, with the nightmares she endured from Kevin, and Jenna, with the guilt of leaving her father to die. Except for that first night, she didn't sleep through the night for months, tortured by the last moments she'd spent with her father. Elleny understood her pain in a way no one could, and they'd become inseparable.

  "Mommy!" Halle called, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "You comin' down?"

  "No, ma'am. I'm on watch."

  "Aw," she whined, kicking at the dirt.

  Nathan stepped off the porch carrying Zoe in one arm, and scooped up Halle with the other. He kissed Halle's cheek. "I'll walk you, baby doll." Nathan glanced up at me and winked, and then followed Elleny and Jenna to the open field.

  I glanced around the perimeter, checking hard to see places through my scope, and then turned to watch my happy family marching to the place Skeeter had set up for the challenge.

  Ashley had stayed behind, standing over the graves of her father, her sister, Bryce, and Cooper. She stared at the crosses she had painstakingly made for them, mouthing words I couldn't hear. Finally, the front door slammed and Skeeter appeared. He walked up behind Ashley and put his arm tenderly around her waist. They stood there for a moment, with Ashley leaning back against his chest. Skeeter leaned forward to kiss her cheek and then took her hand, leading her away.

  Skeeter and Ashley had leaned on each other for support for a long time after we lost everyone. Their friendship turning into something more wasn't really a surprise, but it was interesting watching them love each other while still mourning and loving Jill and Cooper. We lived in a strange new world, where even relationships required a new understanding.

  As everyone I loved walked hand in hand or in someone's arms, a familiar and yet strange sound echoed in the distance. As soon as I heard the sound, I knew what it was, but it had been so long since we'd heard or even seen an airplane, it was easy to believe it could be my imagination.

  I stood up on the roof, trying to discern from which direction the muted, swirling sound of air was coming from. I turned, holding my hand over my eyes to block out the glaring sun. The sound of the planes' engines was present, but the planes themselves were not. Nathan, the girls, Ashley, and Skeeter stood in the field, every one of their faces tilted to the sky.

  The sound grew closer, and just before it was on top of us, two fighter jets soared over side by side, heading northeast.

  Instinctively, I called out to Jenna, and also instinctively, she pulled Halle from Nathan's arms and ran toward the house. Everyone hurried toward the porch, talking at the same time in excited tones.

  "Where do you think they're going?" Ashley asked loudly, most likely directed at me.

  "Wichita, looks like. It's about an hour and a half that way, right?" I answered.

  Jenna encouraged Halle up the ladder, where they both sat close to me. The planes were out of sight, but we kept our eyes on the horizon.

  Nathan set Zoe on her feet. "At those speeds, you'd think they'd be there by now."

  Just as Nathan finished his sentence, a bright light outshone the sun, and then a mushroom cloud formed, climbing miles into the sky. Every one of us stared in disbelief. I remembered seeing mushroom clouds on television, but in person . . . it didn't seem real.

  "What is that?" Halle asked, finally breaking the silence.

  "Is that a nuclear bomb?" Ashley said, her tone signaling her impending panic.

  "'Bout how far away are we from Wichita? In miles." Skeeter asked.

  Nathan shrugged. "Right at seventy, I bet."

  "We should get inside. I don't know what kind of bomb that is, but . . ."

  "Oh my God," I said, seeing a wave of dust rising above the horizon. It was heading our way. "Go, Jenna! Go!"

  Nathan and I helped the girls climb down the ladder, and I climbed down a few rungs, jumping the rest of the way when I saw the cloud was coming up fast. "Get inside!" I screamed. I closed the door and ran to get towels to stuff under it. Ashley and Skeeter were pulling up the blankets we used to cover the windows at night, and Nathan was shoving towels under the back door.

  We stood in the living room, panting and staring at each other. I shook my head at Nathan, at a loss for what else to do. A roar welled up outside. Jenna, Halle, and Elleny ran to me, and I hugged them all, watching Nathan do the same with Zoe.

  Ashley ducked under Skeeter's arm and looked up at him. "What do we do?"

  Skeeter scanned the room as the roaring got louder. "Everyone get down on the ground."

  We huddled together, waiting until the wave was upon us. The wood frame of the farmhouse creaked against the blast, and the dirt popped against the outer north wall. The three windows on that side burst, throwing glass all over the dining room table and the floor. I kept the girls' heads down, praying that would be the extent of it.

  As soon as the wave hit, it was gone. We all slowly looked up at one another, wondering what to do next.

  Ashley sniffed. "Are we far enough away, if there's radiation?"

  "I can't believe it," Nathan said. "I can't believe they bombed the city. A year after this all started? That doesn't make any sense."

  "Maybe the cities are lost, and this is their way of cleanin' up?" Skeeter said. "They can eliminate a lot of teds that way."

  "So does that mean there's not a cure?" Elleny said.

  "We don't know anything, yet," I said. Halle was curled into a ball in my lap, shaking. "Sssh, baby. It's going to be all right."

  "Will they bomb us?" Jenna asked.

  "No," I said. "We're so far removed from everything--"

  "But what about Shallot?" Elleny asked. "It was full of teds. What if they drop a bomb that close to us?"

  I shook my head. "I don't think they will, honey. Most of the teds there have wandered off. Probably to Wichita."

  "I hope there weren't any survivors left," Ashley said. "To make it this long and then have that happen. How awful."

  "I don't think anyone would survive long in the cities," Skeeter said. "I think we should all stay inside for now. Wait till the air clears. We'll watch to see how Butch acts the next couple of days, watch for fallout. I don't see why they'd risk dropping a nuclear bomb. A regular one'd do the trick."

  Nathan nodded. "I agree. No sense in getting all worked up."

  "Okay," I said. I stood up and pulled the girls with me. "Did you hear that? Birthday party has been brought inside."

  Jenna's mouth pulled to the side. I cupped her face in my hands. "First thing's first. There is a can of peaches with
your name on it."

  "Can I have one, Jenna? Pleeeeease?" Halle begged.

  I left them for the basement, searching through the pantry. Nathan followed me down. I pulled the can off the shelf and looked up at him from under my brow. "We didn't make it this long just to die of radiation poisoning, right? You weren't just saying that to make us feel better?"

  Nathan shook his head and pulled me into his arms. "No, love. Skeeter's right. What point would there be to using a radioactive bomb? Unless they had a specific reason to use it, I don't think it makes much sense."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  I took a deep breath and squeezed him tight, and then followed him up the stairs. Even with his promise, a suffocating sense of dread consumed me. Jenna and Elleny crawled to the window and pulled back the blanket.

  "Mom! Is that snow?"

  I stood up and walked over to the window, peeking through a crack between the boards. "No," I said softly, watching the fluffy, dark pieces float to the ground.

  "That's fallout, ain't it?" Skeeter asked.

  Nathan leaned down to get a better look through the largest crack. "Fallout isn't radioactive in itself. It could just be dust and debris from the blast that was shot into the air."

  Everyone brought blankets and pillows to the basement that night, hoping that putting one more level between us and the ash covering the grass outside would provide a little more protection. By nightfall, enough of it had accumulated on the ground to look like a blanket of dirty wool.

  After the children fell asleep, Skeeter and Nathan discussed what the fallout--radioactive or not--might do to our water supply, and other frightening things, until Ashley asked them to stop. It was too late, though; even after we settled in and tried to get some sleep, I found myself staring at the ceiling, worrying.

  Nathan kissed my temple. "I think it's going to be okay, Scarlet. I really do."

  "But what if it's not? How can I save our kids from this?"

  Nathan didn't answer, which scared me even more.

  My eyes were just getting heavy enough to stay closed when Skeeter scrambled over to one of the small windows that ran along the top of the east wall. He stood up on the tips of his toes, and could barely get a glimpse.