Counting Down (13 page)

The old man looked Kyle up and down, probably trying to access whether or not Kyle was a rich man.
After a long moment the man finally lowered the rifle to the floor, leaning it against the row of coolers.

“Sounds fine.” The old mad smiled, showing yellowing teeth. “And I’ll take that jacket you’re wearin’ too.”

“Okay that’s good. Sounds like a fair trade to me.” Kyle carefully set down his bags and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He found two hundred dollars within the folds of black leather and handed it to the man. The older man inched closer and snatched the money from Kyle like the bills were a steak and he was a starving dog. But he wasn’t fast enough.

Kyle took a hold of the man’s upper arm and dragged him away from the gun easily, slamming his back into the wall with a thud. The old man’s reflexes were no match for someone at least
thirty
years younger. Kyle looked down at his assailant with a disapproving glance before walking over to grab the rifle. He popped the barrel open, saw that it was loaded, and slammed it closed again.

“Sorry buddy, but I’m going to take your gun. You can have the money and this too.” Kyle slipped his jacket off and tossed it. “But I’m not going to let you shoot someone in the face over a bottle of apple juice and a box of saltines.” With that Kyle wandered out of the grocery store carrying a full bag in each hand and a loaded shotgun slung over his back.

“If this place has a basement, get in it and stay there!” Kyle yelled over his shoulder before stepping away to let the automatic doors close behind him.

Well that was interesting, he thought to himself. Just a few more stops and then back to the farm before lunch time.
He was counting on
the morning
being productive
for his three companions and
that
all the preparations were complete. He was hoping the time they had left above ground would be mostly free of work. He had no intention of spending his last days of normalcy moving supplies into a bomb shelter.

Wednesday, December 19th 2012, 11:47am

A
bby had been
in a foul mood
all morning, snapping one minute and silently pouting the next.
Jim had noticed her unpredictable temperament
and politely given her some space. Alex, on the other hand, was looking for a good fight.

“What’s the matter Abbs?” Alex stacked boxes of MREs on the back bunks of the sleeping area as he taunted her. “New guy couldn’t do it for you last night? Didn’t he measure up, push all the right buttons?”

His grin was crude, making Abby want to punch him in the face until his perfect nose flattened out. Instead she simply unleashed some well deserved venom on him.

“Actually Alex, I’m just feeling a little worn out today.” She tried to make her voice sound chipper. “New Guy, as you so cleverly called him, is a real champion in the sack.”

Alex’s grin faded. “You’re so full of shit.”

“Okay then. Just thought you’d be interested in hearing about the best
time
I’ve ever had in my entire life. It was amazing. I can barely function today. I’m not upset in the least. Just can’t stop thinking about that huge…”

“Enough.” Alex put up his hand. “I’m good. Don’t need to hear another word.”

“Fine.” The forced glee left her voice. “Then get back to work and for the love of everything that is holy please shut your mouth. If you don’t I’ll let Jimmy wrap that roll of duct tape around your head and shut it for you.”

Alex glanced behind him, through the open curtain and into the living area where Abby’s uncle was inspecting the sink pipes. Jim tossed a roll of duct tape between his hands and raised an eyebrow. As Alex looked the older man in the eye, Jim twirled the silver tape around his fingers and nodded seriously.

“Great. Just my luck to get stuck in an underground chamber with a couple of crazy Connelly’s. You Irish people should really learn to relax more. Drink some whiskey or eat a potato or something.”

The loud sound of duct tape being pulled from the roll echoed through the bunker making Alex jump. “Okay okay. I’m done. I’ll shut up.”

But he wasn’t done.
Alex gestured to Abby to come with him to the far corner of the bunk area. He kept his voice low. “Seriously, just answer a few questions for me.”

Abby sighed heavily. “I’m not going to go in to detail for you Alex.
What I do is none of your
business.”

He gestured for her to be quiet. “Stop. I’m trying to be your friend here. Sorry I was an ass. I don’t have to like that we’re no longer a couple, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about you. I’m just trying to understand what’s going on between you and the farmer.” His face held genuine concern. “Why are you so upset? Really?”

Abby felt the tension in her muscles relax a little and her shoulders fell. It was then that it all came out. Words gushed from her mouth like a raging river until she was close to tears.

“Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You knew him in a past life? And you know this because you had a vision – a shared vision? With him?”

Abby nodded sadly. “We were together then and I was so… in love with him.”

Alex looked at the wall in thought. “Huh. This all makes so much more sense now.”

“What are you talking about?”

He almost laughed. “You’ve known each other for like a day but I never had a chance anyway. This thing between you and what’s-his-face is apparently a whole lot bigger than I thought.” His laughter came then. “I thought you were trying to get back at me by screwing around with him.”

“No.
I wouldn’t do that.” She stopped, considering the thought. “Well I
might
, but there’s a lot more than physical attraction at work here.”

“I should hope so.” She glared and he continued. “Seriously Abbs.
What’s
with those eyebrows? If we make it through to Christmas he’s getting some tweezers in his stocking.”

“Just because you don’t go anywhere without hair product…”

“That’s another thing. He should really do something about that hair. He just lets it lay there on top of his head…”

“
Sheesh,
you’ve been spending a whole lot of time looking at the guy.
Do you want to date him?
”

Alex scoffed. “I was just sizing up my competition, that’s all.”

“Well it’s like you said. You never had a chance.” She sighed. “I’ve never felt anything like this before in my life.”

“He’s your strawberry sauce.” He continued when Abby sent him a questioning glance. “It’s not a boy meets girl thing. It’s a boy finds girl again after a really long time apart. Then boom. Love at first sight.”

Abby looked at him, shock registering on her face. She had never heard Alex talk that way before and the sudden romantic standing before her was someone new.

Alex appeared almost serene.
“Don’t you see what this means? All that stuff is real. It’s not just fairy tales and movies. It’s actually a reality.”

“Wait, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Yes, I feel something for him, something… well fierce, but that doesn’t mean I’m planning on walking down the aisle any time soon. Past lives of not. The present is still the present.”

“Yeah, but there’s hope now.” His voice softened. “Hope for everyone else and maybe even for guys like me.”

Abby let his words sink in and felt a rush of realization. The hope Alex spoke of filled old voids inside of her, tucked its way into places she had never known were empty.

He touched her arm. “I won’t get in the way anymore. I’m here for you.” An impish smile crossed his lips. “Just don’t lose my number in case it doesn’t work out between you two.”

She punched his shoulder companionably. “Very funny. By the way, when did we become girlfriends? You’re the last person I would’ve thought I’d be talking about guys with.” He smiled.

“Somewhere between a purple bra and the end of the world.”

S
he returned his smile and the conversation ended as the sound of a car door slamming came from above ground. The three of them made their way to the surface to see Kyle walking towards the bunker.

At the sight of him Abby felt
her stomach do a somersault
and her hands began to tremble ever so slightly. She could barely stand to be near him, to look at him at all. It was like staring into the sun. How long could she stand it before she went blind or got burned? The better question was whether or not she was willing to risk it.

On one hand she was completely overcome with emotions that made her want to leap into his arms and go to bed with him. No, it was more than that, she reminded herself. It was more than attraction. On the other hand, she wanted to beat his ass for pretending like she didn’t mean anything to him when she knew damn well that she did. She had seen that he cared for her, felt it in the vision. For a split second she considered trying to hunt down her prescription. She was feeling a touch bi-polar and numbness was starting to sound pretty good.

“Find some good stuff in town?” Jim called out as Kyle approached.

“Yeah, not bad. There were still some things left at the grocery store, though it was well guarded. I managed to get some goodies and walk away with a shot gun all for two hundred bucks.”

Jim managed a smile. “Sounds like an interesting day. You’ll have to tell me the details later.”

Abby stood in place quietly examining her hands. The awkward silence was thick enough to touch. She could feel Kyle’s eyes on her. And Alex’s too.

Jim broke the silence. “Well we took care of the list and I can’t think of much else that needs doing in the bunker.”

“Okay that’s great. I have a couple more projects to take care of today but you guys should grab some lunch and relax.”

“Are you sure?
If you need a hand or something I don’t mind.”

“No, really. I can handle it. Take some time to yourself. Watch a movie, play with Bo and Daisy or whatever makes you happy. I’ve got it under control.”

* * *

After a sparse lunch of an apple and a
glass of milk, Abby wandered into Kyle’s living room. His books lined the shelves along the back wall, a mix of old literature, poetry, and modern paperbacks. As she checked the spines she realized she had read next to none of them. There were volumes by Joyce, Keats, Yeats, Kerouac, Poe; all alphabetized in perfect order.

She found The Poems of Oscar Wilde on the coffee table, absorbed a page, put it down again. She was too anxious to read. She was an artist and when artists needed a quick outlet they picked up the nearest drawing utensil. So she sat down on the porch of the Blue House with a diet coke and her trusty sketch book.

She could see the Yellow House from her spot on Kyle’s porch and watched as her uncle ran around with the dogs in the yard, tossing a tennis ball in the grass for each of them. Alex was nowhere to be seen and was most likely sitting inside watching anything he could get to come in on the television and sucking down a cold beer.

Abby could also see Kyle, at least when he wasn’t working inside the barn. She could hear the horses from where she was and the cluck of the chickens in their coop. Every now and again the sound of muffled hammering came from inside the barn. She had no idea what Kyle was doing in there but she was sure he had his reasons. Just like he had his reasons for avoiding her and for pretending like she didn’t exist.

When she had walked into the kitchen that morning to see him shirtless and drinking coffee, she had hoped his attitude from the night before had only been because he was in pain. She had
expected
he would see that the two of their destinies were connected, that their souls were linked in a way that was bigger than them both. Was it so much to ask for him to acknowledge that? She wasn’t asking for him to profess his undying love or anything. Their present situation was not the same. They were different people, but once upon a time they had been in love. He knew it and it drove her to the point of insane that he pretended he didn’t.