27. Taryn #2
“Why are you staring?” Wren narrowed her eyes at me. “You think you’re the only one that can get a little yum-yum apocalypse-style?”
“Yum-yum?” Lucas mouthed at me in confusion.
I just shrugged. Nothing Wren said should surprise any of us.
“We need to find my mommy.” Rory turned and walked toward Finley. “She hates storms.”
We all exchanged uncomfortable glances. This precious child had lost something irreplaceable, a loss she was too young to comprehend. And in this new world, she would face it again and again.
I surveyed the faces that had become so dear to me, and in that moment, I swore to live each day to the fullest and protect them as best I could.
No matter what I had to do.
We all gathered our belongings and checked the place for anything we could use. There wasn’t much: a small tin container that would be handy for boiling water, and a roll of baling twine.
Finley hadn’t said a word to any of us. I knew it must be killing him to leave without knowing where Harper was. I’d hate to know that someone I loved was wandering around as a rotter.
We started making our way back to Gideon’s town, hoping to track down the warehouse where he was supposedly staying.
Lila was still out there with guys ruthless enough to trade gas for women, and we needed to get her back before heading to the farmhouse. I’d gut Gideon like a fish if he didn’t tell us exactly where she was.
Suddenly, Max stopped abruptly, and his entire body went rigid. A long, low growl rumbled from his chest.
Every single one of us stopped dead.
Max stared toward the field, beyond the trees, and I followed his gaze.
At first, I didn’t see anything, then something moved.
A woman.
I could see her walking slowly through the grass. When she came a little closer, I felt my stomach drop.
Finley made a sound like a wounded animal.
Rory gave an excited squeal. “Mommy?”
Wren grabbed her when she started to dart forward.
Harper lifted her head, and even from a distance, I could see the difference from last night.
There was nothing left.
Her skin had turned gray, and blood stained the front of her shirt from something she’d eaten recently… hopefully an animal of some sort.
Harper’s movements were jerky and wrong. And her eyes—
God.
Her eyes were empty of anything that made her human.
Last night, there had been something… a flicker…recognition. Enough of Harper left to tell Rory to run.
That was gone now.
She spotted us, and her mouth opened. Then she came toward us.
Beck raised his gun, but Finley stepped in front of him. “No.”
“Finley, you can’t leave her like that,” Beck reasoned with him.
Harper was closing in fast, and Rory was struggling to get out of Wren’s hold.
Finley reached for the knife at his belt, and my chest tightened as we all realized what he intended.
“You don’t have to do this.” I walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “We can do it for you.”
He looked at me and said, “Yes, I do,” his voice steady.
Wren gently moved Rory aside, shielding her from the sight, while Colson stepped forward and stood firmly in front of them both, blocking their view.
Finley walked into the field alone.
Harper snarled and began to move faster. Finley stopped and waited, the tears on his face visible to us all.
Twenty feet.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Lucas gently took my right hand, intertwining his fingers with mine, as Adrian mirrored the gesture on my left. Beck stepped close behind me, his hands resting on my shoulders with a soft touch.
Five.
Harper lunged as Finley stepped aside. His hand caught the back of her neck, and he drove the knife into her temple.
She went still.
Then her body collapsed against him, and Finley caught her. For one horrible second, it looked like he was holding her… not an infected. Just the woman he loved, as I’m sure he’d done a thousand times before.
Finley sank to his knees with her in his arms.
No one moved… I wasn’t even sure we were breathing at this point. The birds kept singing, and the sky kept shining, and I hated them for it.
Finley pressed his forehead against hers and whispered something in her ear. I couldn’t hear what he said, even with my enhanced abilities, and I was glad.
Rory was inconsolable and crying for her mommy, while Wren and Colson did what they could to console her.
I turned my head and kissed one of Beck’s hands even as I squeezed Adrian and Lucas’ fingers tighter in mine.
With great care, Finley laid Harper down in the grass before sitting beside her. We gave him time, even though we knew it wouldn't be enough.
Beck and Colson dug the grave. The storm had softened the ground, but it still took a while.
Adrian and Lucas watched the tree-line as Rory, Wren, and I picked tiny yellow flowers from the edge of the field.
When the hole was finally deep enough, Finley lifted Harper himself, refusing any offers of help as he lowered her into the earth.
“Is Mommy happy now?” Rory clutched the flowers tightly in her small hand.
I didn't know who she was asking, but I answered. “Yes, baby, she is.”
“Is she going to miss me?” She spoke so softly that I almost missed it.
“More than anything,” Finley answered. “But she knows I’m going to take good care of you.”
“How does she know?” Rory wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Because I told her so.” Finley walked over, took her hand, and helped the child place the flowers in the hole so they rested on Harper’s chest.
“Is she going to stay dead now?” Rory looked down at Harper’s body as a tear slid down her face and landed on her mother’s cheek.
Finley closed his eyes. “Yes.”
Rory nodded. “Good. My mommy wouldn’t want to be one of those things.”
Something shattered across Finley’s face, but only for a second. Then he pulled Rory into his arms. “You’re right, baby. She wouldn’t.”
The little girl buried her face in his neck as we covered Harper’s body with dirt. When we were finished, Finley and Rory stood over the mound of earth for a long time.
Then he picked up his binder and gear.
“You ready?” Adrian asked as we slipped our backpacks over our shoulders.
He stared at the grave a moment longer, then adjusted the straps of his pack. “Let’s go.”
The sun climbed higher as we left Harper beneath the trees.
It ought to have been raining, with a blackened sky overhead. Thunder should have rumbled so deeply that it shook the earth, acknowledging that something had been lost.
Instead, birds sang.
Water glittered on the leaves.
The world was fucking beautiful.
Finley walked ahead with Rory’s small hand wrapped in his. Wren and Colson followed behind him with Max on their heels.
Lucas’s fingers found mine.
The woman Finley loved was gone, and I had three men in my life whom I loved.
The world was cold and unfair… and as we walked away, none of us looked back.