Burning Eden (5 page)

Chapter 13

             
We were greeted with hugs and kisses from everyone as well as the “we’re so happy you’re here” lines. I was so very relieved that my family was ok. After we finally calmed down my aunt asked the one question I knew was coming and I hoped wouldn’t send my mother back into the shell she was just now beginning to come out of.

             
“Where’s Phil?” my aunt asked no one in particular. The silence told her none of us really wanted to say so she went to my mom and hugged her tightly. “I’m so sorry, sis,” she whispered and my mom just nodded her head as a few tears slid down her cheeks. The rest of us looked away or stared at our feet.

             
“Well, would you like to see your accommodations?” my uncle’s deep voice boomed out as he put his big burly arm around me. When I was a kid I secretly thought he was Santa Claus in disguise, now that his hair and beard were mostly gray he truly resembled him, and he often had the same cheery disposition.

             
“Of course, Uncle Dave,” I answered happily as we walked into the house. Their house wasn’t that big so I was certain some of us would be pulling up a couch or a floor.

             
“Kairo and Maddie can stay in my room,” Hannah spoke up from behind us.

             
“Cool, you guys still have electricity,” Kairo said following Hannah into her room and immediately turned on the TV to find all the channels were nothing but “please standby.” “What the hell? No news? Not even on one station?”

             
“Yeah, it’s been that way ever since this morning. The news anchor said that the station was signing off for now but I have a strange feeling it’s not ever coming back on. Anyway, wanna play me in a game of Madden?” Hannah asked Kairo as she tossed him a controller, which he caught with one hand.

             
“Hell yeah I do,” he answered.

             
“I get to play winner!” Maddie exclaimed as she plopped down in between Hannah and Kairo on the bed.

             
“Guess that’s settled then,” Uncle Dave said smiling. “Now about you and Cain.”

             
“We’ll sleep anywhere,” I said. “I’m just happy we got out of our neighborhood and made it here alive. The cops have quarantined everything and they aren’t letting anyone in or out. People are basically stuck in death traps. We got lucky that they let us leave. Cain talked the cop into letting us out.”

             
“I always knew there was a reason I liked you,” Uncle Dave said giving Cain a huge grin.

             
“Glad someone does,” Cain replied jokingly.

             
“So, I was thinking you and Cain could stay out in the RV, it’s hooked up to a separate generator so it’s got electricity and it would give you all some privacy,” he said.

             
“That’s very nice of you; Uncle Dave but we don’t need special accommodations. We can sleep in the living room if need be.”

             
“Oh no you don’t, Edie, you and Cain stay in the RV. Relax a little; I’m sure you all have been through quite a bit to get here. Besides, Lucy will probably take up the couch and the only thing sleeping on the floor in my house is the dogs. Don’t you even think about arguing with me,” he said giving me a stern look. I knew it best to simply accept the comfort of his luxury RV.

             
“Thank you, Uncle Dave,” I said and gave him a big hug.

             
“No need to thank me, honey. Now who wants a drink?”

             
“Oh, I’ll have a few,” Cain said and my Uncle chuckled and clapped him on the back.

             
“You got it buddy,” Uncle Dave said as they headed off into the kitchen. “You coming, Edie?”

             
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute,” I answered. The kids were in Hannah’s room, my mom and Aunt Peggy were quietly talking on the porch about Phil, and I breathed a deep sigh of relief for finally getting a moment to myself. I sat down on the edge of the dark brown couch for a second trying to wrap my head around all the stuff that had happened. Yes we were safe and with family but the world around us would never be the same. I hoped we would all be able to cope with things and survive. More than anything I really wanted to talk to Jesse yet I had no way of getting in touch with him. All I could do was secretly pray he was safe and he would one day show up here.

Chapter 14

             
“So have you guys seen any of those things out this way?” Kairo asked as we all sat at the large dining room table getting ready to eat dinner.

             
“We’ve seen a few,” Hannah answered him. “They didn’t last very long.”

             
“What do you mean?” my mother asked innocently.

             
“I mean I shot them Aunt Lucy, on my watch, and then daddy burned the bodies in the fire pit out by the barn. Some of them were our neighbors some of them were people I had never seen before,” Hannah said rather matter-of-factly which disturbed me a bit.

Hannah had just recently graduated from high school, she had her whole life full of possibilities ahead of her, and instead of being sullen and wondering why all this had happened she seemed to have embraced killing the raging diseased people and then watching her daddy burn the bodies. I supposed I should take on a similar attitude if I was going to survive this strange new world. I needed to shake off the shock and realize no matter how much I wanted this to be a bad dream, it wasn’t. This was how things were going to be and it was time for me to wake up and get with the program. I had let my fighting motherly instincts kick in at the gas station bathroom and perhaps like Hannah it was time for me to embrace that. We were on our own.
No help would be showing up, it had really become an “every man for himself” type of world and Hannah had already bravely accepted it. Well good for her, I smiled over at her and she returned the smile brightly.

             
“Wait, you said you shot them on your watch? What do you mean watch?” I asked curiously.

             
“Oh, daddy and I take turns sitting on the porch and walking around the grounds, you know to be on the look-out, make sure everything is safe…you get it…watch,” she said still smiling.

             
“Right…watch. Good idea, Uncle Dave,” I said softly.

             
“Can’t nothing sneak up on ya if you’re watching out for it,” he boomed making us all laugh.

             
“I like watch so I do it most of the time while daddy takes care of the farm and momma takes care of the house,” Hannah said proudly.

             
“I’ll help with watch,” Kairo busted out.

             
“Me too!” exclaimed Maddie.

             
“I don’t know about that, Maddie,” I said.

             
“Why mom?” she whined.

             
“Watch sounds a bit dangerous and you don’t even know how to shoot a gun,” I answered sternly.

             
“But mom, Hannah said she would teach me,” she continued whining.

             
“And I won’t let her go on watch alone. I’ll be with her the whole time,” Hannah spoke up for her offering me a wink.

             
“All right Maddie but you stay with Hannah at all times, you hear me?”

             
“Yes, mom,” she beamed. I couldn’t believe she was happy about learning to shoot a gun and possibly killing those things that used to be people but again this was a different world now I guess she should learn how to protect herself.

             
“And I’ll help out with the farm, Dave. If you don’t mind,” Cain spoke up.

             
“Hell son of course I don’t mind. I’ll be thankful for the extra help. All the farm hands started showing up less and less after all this started and then they didn’t show up at all. Be mighty happy to have some help, Cain,” Uncle Dave said happily. Cain simply nodded his head and went back to nursing his drink.

             
“I’ll help here at the house,” my mom spoke up.

             
“Me too,” I added. “Anything you need Aunt Peggy, just ask.”

             
“Well ok then, now that that’s settled, let’s eat,” Uncle Dave said excitedly which made us all smile. Uncle Dave was always happy when it came to food.

Chapter 15

             
A few days later everyone had already settled in to their everyday routines. Cain and Uncle Dave got up early in the morning to take care of the farm the best that they could; rarely did they come back in before dinner which was usually ready by about seven. Aunt Peggy and I would pack them a lunch to take with them the night before so they could continue to work throughout the day. They both came in every night very hungry, very dirty, and very tired. This wasn’t a huge farm but it wasn’t small either. They were short about three men to make the farm run smoothly. I had a huge amount of respect for both of them as they were basically breaking their backs to keep things going. I would try to show Cain that when he would finally come in after a hard day but he would just shoo me away and tell me I was being silly, he was doing what a man is supposed to do. I usually left him alone after that with his drink and he seemed quite content with that.

             
The kids would take turns making their way around the grounds looking for any of the diseased. Luckily they hadn’t found any so far and I hoped that would be the continuing theme. They also took turns teaching Maddie how to shoot. She caught on pretty swiftly which didn’t surprise me much given that Cain was her father. All three of them embraced their new position in this fucked up world. Maddie and Kairo took up Hannah’s attitude and the three of them pretty much became inseparable.

             
My mom, Aunt, and I did the housework. Cooked the meals, cleaned the house, and washed the clothes. It struck me how ironic it was that when this world turned in on itself we all went back to the way things used to be. The men did the manly things, the women took care of home, and the children were the foolish brave.

             
One late afternoon I was sitting on the porch peeling potatoes watching Wiley run after Tom and Gerry when I noticed an SUV coming down the dirt road kicking up a huge dust cloud behind it as it turned into my Aunt’s long drive-way. My heart dropped to my stomach and then it began to speed up. Could it be? Please say it was. I stood slowly letting the potato I was peeling and the peeler fall from my lap to the porch with a small thud. I began to quickly walk across the porch as I was almost down to the last step I saw Hannah, Maddie, and Kairo come from behind the house with their guns raised at the mysterious SUV. I then ran towards them, at the same time I saw Uncle Dave and Cain ride up on their horses, their guns also pointed at the SUV. The SUV finally stopped at the top of the drive-way and sat there quietly. I was still running across the yard trying to get to the SUV before it turned nasty. I finally made it and stood in front of the SUV. I looked over my shoulder through the windshield and saw the face I had been longing to see.

             
“Don’t shoot guys! It’s ok,” I say breathing hard. All three kids immediately put their guns away. Uncle Dave pointed his towards the ground but Cain continued to aim his at the SUV. “Cain, I said it’s ok, I know who these people are,” I yelled out now that I have caught my breath.

             
“Well who they hell are they?” he asked.

             
“It’s Jesse and his family.”

Chapter 16

             
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

             
“It’s ok, Cain. I invited them here. They didn’t have anywhere else to go. Please, put down the gun,” I pleaded and he finally lowered his gun as he and my Uncle got down off their horses. Cain came to stand close beside me while my Uncle moved past me to meet up with Jesse as he slowly got out of the car. I knew he was scared and my heart broke. I had wanted him and his family to come here for safety, not to live in fear of my family. I took a step away from Cain.

             
“Well hello son, I’m Dave. That there is Kai, Maddie, and Hannah,” my Uncle said pointing out all the kids as he spoke their names. They all smiled and gave a small nod of their heads. Jesse beamed a huge, beautiful smile back at them and I gasped quietly hoping Cain hadn’t heard me. “You know Edie, of course, and beside her is her husband Cain. Those two beauties making their way over are my wife, Peggy and Edie’s mom, Lucy. Now that you know who everyone is all I have to say is any friend of Edie’s is a friend of ours, isn’t that right, Cain?” Uncle Dave asked giving a Cain a serious look.

             
“Sure,” Cain replied and the coolness in his voice whispered on my spine. Did he sense something between Jesse and me already? I looked over at Carrie, Jesse’s wife, noticing that she didn’t seem too thrilled to be here either. We locked eyes for a split second and I saw nothing but hatred in them so I quickly looked away. I glanced past her and saw the most beautiful little boy I had ever seen and my heart melted. Jonni, all my worries fell away at that moment. It didn’t matter if Cain suspected something. It didn’t matter if Carrie hated my guts. All that truly mattered was that Jonni was safe, that he was taken care of, and that here he would be both. Looking at Jonni’s golden hair and bright blue eyes of innocence still not lost brought me some hope for a future. Seeing him gave me the extra courage I needed to step up to the passenger side car door and open it. Carrie looked at me quite shocked as I offered her my hand.

             
“Hi, I’m Edie. I’m glad you guys made it safely. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

             
“Uh, I’m Carrie. Thanks for offering us a place to stay,” she said as she softly shook my hand. I took a step back so she could get out of the car and I glanced over at Jesse for a second, as out gazes locked it felt as if time was standing still and I was happy for it.

             
“This is Jonni,” Carrie said ending my bliss quickly. She was holding Jonni’s hand and he beamed up at me. He looked so much like his father that I found myself in another kind of bliss.

             
“Hi, Jonni. I’m Edie, are you hungry?” I asked knowing they had traveled far and I had no idea when was the last time they had had a chance to eat. Jonni nodded his head slowly and I felt tears sting my eyes.

             
“We’ll take him inside and make him something to eat,” Maddie spoke up.

             
“Would that be ok with you guys?” I made a point of asking Carrie.

             
“Sure,” she said quietly. “We haven’t eaten anything in a while.”

             
She let go of his hand reluctantly as Kairo walked over and stretched out his big palm to Jonni.

             
“Hi, I’m Kairo. You like video games?” Kairo asked and Jonni’s smile grew bigger and nodded his head emphatically.

“Well then, you are going to love it here. Tons of video games to play and all the food you can eat,” Hannah said coming up to stand behind Kairo.
Jonni then hurriedly placed his small hand inside Kairo’s large one and all four of them headed off towards the house.

“
Thank you,” Carrie said, smiling softly.

“You’re very welcome, my dear,” my Uncle answered for me coming around to the passenger’s side of the car and then placing his big arm around Jesse’s shoulder. I smiled shyly at Jesse and when he returned the smile I felt myself starting to blush so I stared at the ground. “How about we get some drinks and I show you guys around the place.”

“That sounds great,” Jesse said. “Right, Carrie?”

“Um…yeah…great,” she said as they started making their own way towards the house. I began to walk slowly
behind them but Cain stopped me abruptly by stepping in front of me and slightly grabbing my wrist.

“I need to talk to you,” he spoke sternly and mad
e his way to the RV. I sighed heavily. He turned around once he had reached the front door of the RV and looked at me coolly. “Now, Edie.”