Chapter Twenty
Tyler
I ’m dead.
But dead people aren’t aware that they’re dead, right?
So maybe I’m not dead…
A raspy groan escapes me as I try to make sense of my surroundings. It’s warm—no, hot. Really hot. Like standing too close to a campfire and the heat singes your eyebrows off kind of hot.
Why is it so hot?
I blink away the dazed cloud inside my brain but still can’t see. We were in the store, an earthquake struck, and then a deafening boom.
Around me, I can hear loud popping and crackling sounds as a fire burns out of control. Unfortunately for me, I’m in it. Or near it.
I painfully turn my head to the right and the glowing orange of the inferno lights up my vision. I’m definitely on the ground. I can smell the earthy dirt my cheek is pressed against. Did I escape in time?
An attempt to crawl away from the heat is put on hold when I realize I can’t move. My legs are pinned beneath something heavy. A beam of wood or some other piece of the building.
Did everyone else make it out? My brothers? Kellen?
Panic sets in as I start clawing at the dirt. Whatever has me pinned is keeping the flames off me, but it’s still hot as fuck. If I don’t get out of here soon, I’ll cook to death.
“Help,” I croak out, praying those still in the truck can hear me.
My voice is worthless, though, and barely carries above the crackling fire. I grunt and dig my fingers deep into the ground, hoping to pull myself out of this mess I’m in.
Nothing.
As hysteria infects my every cell, I clear my throat and put all my energy into yelling for help. My view ahead is smokey, but if I had to guess, I’m somewhere on the backside of the building since I was standing near the back of the store at the time of the explosion.
They have to hear me.
“Help! Kellen! Aaron! Jesse!”
When no one immediately shows up in my vicinity, I let out a resigned howl. What if everyone’s dead, including those in the truck? What if I’m the only survivor?
The weight of that lonely thought is much heavier than the building trapping me in its fiery clutches. Tears from both smoke and despair fall freely, soaking the ground beneath me.
I try to fill my last thoughts of childhood memories of me and my brothers. I even think of Kellen, handsome in his outdoor gear. It’s all gone.
“There!”
The shout nearby snaps me out of my despondency. I start hollering, hoping whoever it is will find me. Seconds later, someone falls to the ground on their knees in front of me.
“He’s alive but stuck!” Kellen yells. “Help me get him out of here!”
Aaron and Jesse both arrive, talking over each other at how happy they are to see me.
Kellen and Aaron both grab under my armpits, tugging with all their might at the same time. All it does is feel as though I’m going to be ripped in two.
“Ahhh!” I cry out. “It’s not working!”
Aaron curses.
Kellen strokes his fingers through my hair, calming me. “It will work. We’ll get you out of here.”
Jesse runs off and then appears a moment later with a large broken tree branch. The three men grunt and plan. I’m beginning to lose hope when the earth grumbles again as another quake makes an appearance.
The guys shove the branch under the structure where I’m pinned, scraping my pants along the way.
“Pull him and the second there’s any give, get him out of here,” Aaron barks out. “Come on, Jesse. Put your weight on it.”
Just when I’m about to give up on their plan, I feel the weight on me lift slightly. Kellen groans as he yanks on my arms. I manage to free one of my legs and use the sole of my boot to shove against the thing holding me captive. With a little more wiggling on both my part and my brothers with the tree branch, I finally break free.
Then it’s a flurry as the three of them drag me away from the fire and into the cool grass where it’s safe. The ground continues to tremble, but at least we’re no longer at risk of burning to death.
Aaron hauls me into a seated position and then hugs me so hard I think my ribs might crack. Jesse joins in on the crushing. I let the tears of relief fall, thankful to have survived the explosion along with my three favorite people left on this earth.
“Are you hurt?” Kellen asks when my brothers release me from their hold. He squats in front of me, narrowed gaze inspecting my legs.
I move my feet and wriggle my toes. “My calves are bruised all to hell, but nothing’s broken.”
“Lucky sonofabitch,” Kellen says with a brilliant grin. “Come on, man, let’s get the hell out of here.”
He helps me to my feet and wraps a comforting arm around me. I could probably walk unassisted on my own, but I sure as hell don’t want to.
Kellen holding me feels pretty damn good.
The earthquakes have stopped for the moment, or maybe we’re traveling too fast for me to notice. Regardless, despite the cold wind whipping at my face, I finally feel safe. It helps that I have Aaron sitting on my right and Kellen sitting on my left.
We’re headed for the mountains. It’s our hope that if we can make it there, we’ll be safe from tsunamis, earthquakes, and redneck kidnappers. The cold, though, is another story. The temperature keeps dropping. While it feels amazing on the parts of my arms that were a little burned during the fire, it makes me nervous.
I pull my jacket tighter around me and suppress a shiver. Even if we almost died in the process, it was wise for us to take the risk to get the jackets. Jesse didn’t waste any time hunting for sizes while in the store earlier. He’d managed to grab all the large and extra-large sizes. Wayne’s jacket was a tight fit and Silas’s swallowed him, but the important thing was that we all got one and had a few to spare, which we’re using for blankets.
“How much farther?” I ask, leaning into Kellen’s warmth.
“We have to be close,” he says with a grunt. “How are you feeling?”
The truck hits a bump hard enough my teeth clang together. I work my jaw before answering. “The burns hurt, but the ointment you applied helps. I’ll add more when we stop.” I shudder when a blast of wind sends prickles of icy rain spattering across my face. “Why is it so damn cold?”
Kellen huffs out a white cloud. “I don’t know, but it’s starting to freak me out. It’s not even dark yet, but when the sun fully sets, it’s only going to get colder.”
Knowing I’m not alone with my worry, I relax and lean my head against his shoulder. His hand slides under the coat on my lap and he threads his fingers with mine. Despite the chill, his hands are surprisingly warm. I cover our joined hands with my other one, greedily seeking out his warmth.
We travel for another half hour or so before Wayne begins to slow down the truck. When he stops, we all stand in the truck to stretch our legs and see what the holdup is.
“End of the line,” Wayne states in a gruff tone, gesturing at the massive tree blocking the roadway. “If the mountains are where we want to be, then it looks like we’re on foot from here on out.”
Elise points past the tree. “The map says we’re near Yosemite Valley. Maybe we can find somewhere safe to stay. A lodge or something. There could be people who could help us.”
Everyone nods, but the tension is thick. Our last encounter with people wasn’t a good one.
“We’ll need to pack up everything,” Kellen says, gesturing at the stacks of supplies loaded in the truck. “Try to fit anything you can into your packs without making it too heavy to carry.”
“Bring the camping gear, too,” Aaron adds. “Just in case lodging isn’t an option.”
He shares a dark look with Hope, who nods. Elise frowns at them before peering past the felled tree as if to see friendly people just waiting to help us. We spend the next twenty minutes snacking on some food and then packing up before we head out.
Aaron has taken the map from Elise and leads our group with Hope at his side. Elise trails behind them with everyone else following. This time, me and Kellen take up the rear. Our group is quiet as we all take turns climbing over the tree so we can continue our trek.
As the sun dips below the horizon behind us, the chill in the air becomes more profound. I drive my hands into my jacket pockets and brace against the bitter wind at my back. Thankfully, the jackets have hoods and we all don them, hoping to at least keep our heads warm. It could be worse. We could be facing the wind that whistles sharply through the mountain valley.
“Look, there’s a small town up ahead,” Elise calls out, skipping past Aaron and Hope. “They’ll help us. You’ll see!”
Everyone picks up the pace, infected by her optimism. But when she stops in front of an eighteen-wheeler parked in the road, blocking our path, she screeches to a halt. Someone has sprayed the outside of the trailer with red paint.
No supplies. No food. No lodging.
Keep moving through or we’ll make you.
The chill that skitters down my spine this time has nothing to do with the cold. These people are protecting their small mountain town. From kidnappers? Crazed moonies?
Aaron turns around to meet my gaze. “Looks like we can follow the base of the mountains around the town, hike through the forest until we reach Tioga Road, and then follow that road through the mountains until we reach the next town at the base on the other side.”
“How far is that?” Kyle asks, irritation in his tone. “Some of us are cold as fuck.”
“It’s quite a hike,” Aaron admits with a grimace. “Probably seventeen hours on foot from here to Lee Vining.”
The group bursts out into active chatter, everyone voicing their opinions all at once. Finally, Kellen whistles, earning everyone’s attention.
“We’ve been through worse than a cold hike,” he barks out. “If we find someplace safe along the way, we’ll camp out. However, turning around isn’t an option and neither is stopping in town. So let’s get past this town and regroup. Complaining about it doesn’t change the fact that we need to get through these mountains. Eventually, we’ll run into the National Guard or the American Red Cross. Someone will help us. We just have to get there.”
Kellen’s voice is confident and brooks no room for argument. He almost has me convinced what he says is true. That we’ll get over the mountains and be welcomed by the military or some other government agency. That potentially in a day or two, we could be safe, warm, and back to some semblance of a normal life.
It’s Kellen’s furrowed brow and the nervous glint in his eyes that allows me to see this for what it is. He’s rallying our troops for the next leg of our journey, but it’s not at all going to be as easy as he wants everyone to believe.
We’re still in survival mode and we’ll be smart to remember that.
The group starts walking again, Aaron leading. I nudge my shoulder with Kellen’s and lift a brow at him. He gives me a grim smile before taking hold of my hand once more. As we trail after the others, I can almost pretend I’m on a hiking date with a hot, older guy.
Another tremble of the earth shakes its way up my legs and makes my entire body quiver.
Definitely not a date.
I can daydream later. Now is certainly not the time.