Free Tainted Future (The Rememdium Series Book 3) by Ashley Fontainne Page B

loved Turner.”
    “I never said you didn’t. I said you failed him. Had you taken a softer touch, made yourself more accessible to him, he woulda paid more attention and learned rather than mimicked your actions. And I wouldn’t be so freakin’ terrified, knowin’ my son almost died today. Not only that, but he’s now basically immobile durin’ the middle of the end of civilized society . What happens if we have to flee here? Or one of those movin’ corpses finds its way to the cave?”
    “That’s what guns are for, Martha. And since we’re discussin’ the well-being of our son, recall you were goin’ to leave without him before. Why are you so freaked out now?”
    Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Martha’s face turned bright red as tears filled her eyes. “You best leave me be, Walter, and let me cool off before I say somethin’ I regret. I’m thinkin’ you need to keep your distance, at least until our son can walk again. I’ll be busy takin’ care of him, like I always have.”
    “Martha Louise, that ain’t fair. Okay, I’ll give you the fact I wasn’t the greatest father. I tried my best. Truly. However, what happened today wasn’t because I didn’t love our son enough. It happened because he did use the skills I taught him and caught somethin’ I missed. Of course, that’s when your genes kicked in and his balance failed him. You can be mad at me all you want, but considerin’ the way things are now, I don’t think that’s such a grand idea. Aren’t you the one who said we should all stand together, keep each other safe, and pull together as a unit?”
    “Don’t you dare try and use my words against me.”
    “Why? You’re willin’ to use my actions, or lack of, against me.”
    For a split second, Walt thought Martha was going to hit him. So many emotions blazed across her face, he felt dizzy. Instead of balling up her fist and letting him have it, Martha dropped her head. Her shoulders bounced up and down as quiet sobs wracked her body.
    Martha Louise Addison rarely cried. Walter tried, yet couldn’t remember, the last time he’d seen her fall apart. Seeing her so distraught made tears of his own swell. Pulling her to his chest, he whispered, “Oh, lover. Turner’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay. I swear.”
    “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Walter,” Martha whispered in between sobs. “Just…don’t.”
    Something inside Walt’s mind broke free. If they were all going to make it, and keep each other safe, there could be no secrets between them. They’d all have to open up and expose true thoughts, worries, feelings, and any information they’d been hiding, in order to function as one unit.
    Walter had been hiding what he’d seen in the woods, and the fact he’d followed Jesse and Shaun. Now, he needed to come clean, stop pretending that he could handle things covertly, on his own, without sharing with the rest of the group. He also needed to confront Jesse about the drugs, and the reaction of Kevin Warton when he thought she’d taken some.
    Inside the dimly lit cave, while the rest of the group huddled around Turner’s cot, Walt clung to his wife, offering Martha all he had, which was only his love. “You know me, lover. I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”
    Martha pulled away and wiped her tear-stained face on his sleeve. “And I don’t cry over nothin’. I’m scared, Walter. Scared.”
    “Me, too, so we’ll just use the fear as fuel to make ourselves stronger, okay?”
    Martha nodded.
    “Now, about that order to stay away?”
    “I didn’t mean it. You know how I get when mad.”
    “Good. Because I’ve lived my whole adult life by your side, Martha Louise. Don’t intend on livin’ out the remainder of it shut away from you. We need each other. More than ever.”
    “I know. I was just blowin’ off steam.”
    Walter leaned down and kissed Martha, long and hard. She returned the kiss with passion, so Walt had to