Free (Book 2)What Remains by Nathan Barnes Page B

a castle to my little
princess.
    “Soon, baby girl. Don’t worry about it for now,
Mommy and I will figure it out. For now spend some time with your
big brother - the monsters don’t stand a chance when he’s
around.”
    Maddox beamed with pride. He had already settled
with a book to read her, a silly story about a little girl who ate
so many pink things she turned pink herself.
    “Are the monsters going to keep us from having
our Thanksgiving dinner?” Calise asked.
    With all of the commotion in the morning I’d
completely forgot the significance of the day.
    “Yes, love,” Sarah said, “we’ll still have a
special dinner. I’m not letting all of the food go to waste!
We just might have to scale it down a little bit since using the
grill is probably a bad idea with the monsters in the area.”
    I forced a smile then followed it with a kiss on
Calise’s soft mess of hair. Satisfied, she bounced down to the side
of her big brother bodyguard to hear the story of the pink culinary
disaster. Sarah eased the pull-down ladder into its extended
position then guided me away from the kids.
    “I’ll go first. Let’s give the dynamic duo some
time to unwind.”

1735 hours:
    In a small house privacy was difficult to obtain
under normal circumstances; add the ever-present fear of every
whisper alerting the unholy drones outside the walls and privacy
became a fairytale. Sarah and I sat facing each other in our
bedroom shower. The shower was built with two seats that typically
served as a resting place for a dozen partial bottles of body wash
and shampoo. Between the pipes, tiles and construction innards that
filled the inside of the walls, we figured any sounds would have a
harder time making it to undead ears.
    “The car is still packed,” Sarah said directly.
“We can hold them off long enough for everyone to make it to the
driveway and then we need to be out of here.”
    I agreed with her but the fear of putting my
family in danger was still too much, especially after the ordeal we
had just gone through.
    “What about the roads?” I asked. “It took me
days to make it here from the police station. We will be lucky if
we can make the drive to my parents’ house in a week.”
    “ Nathan ,” her volume elevated for a
minute before she regained her composure. “Nathan, we could all be dead in a week if we stay here. We don’t know what will be
waiting for us on the road but at least we can see it through as a
team.”
    She was right. As much as I hated the reality of
what she was saying I couldn’t deny that she was absolutely right.
The group of us would be far from useless. Sarah was a good shot
and could get the kids out of harm’s way if something were to
happen to me. Maddox had the eagerness of an eight-year-old with an
analytical mind that would rival most adults’. Calise was another
set of eyes and was obedient enough to stick close to her guardian
of a brother. Together we were stronger.
    I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly
through my nostrils. The pain in my ribs had faded to a dull
aching. “Okay, baby. You’re right. Do you think we’re ready enough
to leave tomorrow or should we wait another day?”
    “The car is packed. We were ready to jump into
it if we had to come get you.” I glared at her. “Oh calm down. That
night you left for work we agreed that I’d get out of the area if
things got bad and you couldn’t make it home right away. I don’t
give a crap about what we agreed on then because you know
what happened after that? The world fucking ended , Nathan.
Did you really think I would abandon my husband in those
circumstances? We were ready to come get you then go to your
parents’ farm. Huff and puff all you want because I know you would
have done the same thing.”
    “I would have ended the world if it meant
getting to you.” Time slowed to an eternal crawl. I looked right at
her when she spoke but my mind saw something else….
    The air currents bit at my damaged skin