35. Chapter 35
Chapter thirty-five
Shelby
Once they’re gone, Amanda and Zoey disappear upstairs while Nate and Lance wander off on the property somewhere. With nothing to do myself, I head back inside and pause beside Harry, sitting in his chair by the window.
“How are you, Harry?” I ask and his eyes roll before he looks at me.
“There you are,” he says.
“Yep, I’m right here,” I say, easing around the couch before sitting down.
“I miss you.” When tears fill his eyes, I bow my head. It’s both a blessing and a curse looking so much like his granddaughter because maybe I’m giving him the smallest slice of comfort but it’s also supremely uncomfortable to know that he’s so out of it he doesn’t know the difference.
“No,” he says, reaching for me and when I take his hand, he sags back to the chair before looking out the window. It’s quiet but for the gentle whoosh of his breathing and I relax beside him, admiring the view that he’s had for years.
“Judy,” he whispers after a moment, and I frown. Who’s Judy? “I think she’s trying to kill me.”
“Harry,” Lottie says from the doorway, and I jump before turning around. “Don’t scare the poor girl.”
When I meet her gaze she sighs and says, “Sorry. Harry’s gotten a little paranoid. They said it would happen eventually, but . . . ”
Pity fills my soul at her words, and I ignore the way her lip quivers, as I stand. There’s nothing I can say to make this better, so I merely smile and mumble, “It’s okay. I understand.”
“Thanks dear,” she says, patting my arm. “Some days, I don’t understand myself. I should get him ready for bed.”
“Of course,” I say, stepping back. While she maneuvers him in the chair, I look out the window and touch my wrist.
Perhaps she goes by a nickname. Maybe Harry’s just confused. I don’t know but I can’t help saying, “Lottie?”
“Yes, child?” she says, pausing in the hall.
When she looks over her shoulder, I ask, “Who’s Judy?”
A beat of silence falls between us before her mouth stretches into a smile and she says, “Oh, that was Harry’s first wife.”
While Lottie tends to Harry, I move through the back door and out into the moonlight. The stars shine brightly overhead as I make my way to the garden, where I pause when one shoots across the sky.
It’s foolish to still believe in miracles but I make a wish, hoping that Cason finds the peace he so desperately seems to crave.
At the edge of the garden, I look out over the rows of newly turned earth, envisioning the seeds that will go into the ground before blooming into berries or the stalks of corn seeking the light, their silky hair protecting the hardy vegetables.
The thought gives me hope for a new beginning and although I’m still learning the ins and outs of all this, I think the garden might be my favorite.
Besides, I can practically taste the berries bursting on my tongue with their sweetness. Lottie says it’s too soon for them to bloom but that doesn’t stop me from rooting through the leaves in the hopes of eating a few before bed.
When the light in the window above the stairs where the girls are sleeping blinks off, I push to my feet.
I’ve been out here longer than intended. Now that we spend our days working from sunup to sundown, most of us are in bed shortly after.
While I want to stay up until our group returns, I’d rather do that within the house now that it’s getting progressively darker.
With that in mind, I’m just turning when Lottie appears from the darkness, and says, “Shelby, dear?”
Startled, I grab my chest and say, “Oh, uh hey, how’s Harry?”
“Fine, fine,” she says. “Can you help me with something?”
Her blue eyes, darker beneath the light of the moon, study me intently and I hesitate when a sliver of awareness tingles along my skin.
“Where’re Nate and Lance?” I ask and she waves her hand behind her.
“Those two lovebirds went off for some time alone,” she says.
Lovebirds? Huh?
Although the darkness makes me uneasy, especially knowing what might be lurking in the shadows, I can’t deny Lottie’s request. This is her home after all, and she’s graciously invited us to stay when she could just as easily have asked us to move on.
However, as Lottie precedes me across the grass, I slow when the doors of the barn come into view. It’s really freaking dark inside that building, and I didn’t bring a flashlight.
As if reading my thoughts, Lottie raises her hand and I stare at the flashlight she’s holding while she waves to the door, and says, “After you, dear.”
Reluctantly I follow, stopping beside her as she opens the door. As I knew it would be, it’s pitch-black inside.
A gust of wind blows through the trees causing them to whistle and moan. When a shadow passes over the moon, I look up with a shiver before whispering, “Maybe—”
“It’s just inside, dear,” Lottie says, aiming the beam of the flashlight at my face. “Go on now.”
Although a shudder rolls through me at the command, I step inside before I realize what I’m doing. Too late, I turn back just as total darkness consumes me and I cry, “Wait!”
The door closes with a resounding click and I grab for the knob only to find that it’s locked. What’s happening? Maybe a gust of wind forced the door closed?
“Lottie?” I say, pressing my hands against it. That’s not possible considering the door opens from the inside and when there’s no response, I pound my fist against it and cry, “Lottie? Lottie!”
Sobs grow in my throat as I tug on the knob once more while kicking frantically but the industrial door doesn’t move.
I’m fucking stuck. Now what?
I’m not ashamed to say that I have a healthy fear of the dark, compounded by the undead now walking the earth and when I can’t see a fucking thing before me, I press against the wood.
I’ve only been in here twice and images of the detritus of fifty plus years cross my vision while I consider my options. I think there’s another door on the other end, but God knows what’s in between it.
Lottie took the only flashlight which I’m sure was by design. Why am I here? Clearly, I pissed her off, but why? Was it Harry’s words earlier?
Who is Judy and how does the broach found on the man in the woods relate to what I saw on the wall in Lottie and Harry’s living room?
Lost to my thoughts, I look up, even though I can’t see a fucking thing when I hear a strange squealing noise. The faint shuffle that follows raises all the hair on my nape and I slide to the right, banging my knee on something dense and fucking sharp.
“Oof,” I mutter, and the same squealing sound follows although this time, I think it might be the doors on the opposite side of the barn.
Why would Lottie open those doors or did she?
“Nate?” I whisper. “Lance?”
When no one answers I pick my way across the floor a few feet. Is that . . . ?
The slow whoosh of something gliding across the concrete makes me pause and I search the darkness, my throat swollen with terror.
What is that?
Touching my pulse, I back away, wincing when I bump something and it falls to the floor. The resultant groan from somewhere in the darkness presses at my lungs and I shake my head.
No. No fucking way. She wouldn’t do that, would she?
“Unh.” The animalistic sound cascades over my skin like ice and I suck in a breath.
Whatever is in here with me bumbles around thankfully no more able to see me than I but it’s only a matter of time in this confined space before it finds me.
Think, Shelby. Think.
I’m trying to but it’s hard when I can’t fucking breathe and I keep bumping into shit with each step I take which is like ringing the proverbial fucking dinner bell.
I’m locked inside.
I don’t have a weapon.
I’m royally fucked.
Time has no meaning behind a blanket of darkness. I finally stopped moving around like a total moron but with each thunk, bang or scrape, the capacity to breathe escapes me.
I’ve tried the door three more times but it’s not budging. I did find a weapon. I have no idea what it is, but it fits in the palm of my hand and weighs enough to have an impact.
My pulse thumps while I search the dark fruitlessly and hope that Cason and the others come home soon. Maybe the meeting will end early. Maybe they’ll hate the others on sight.
Maybe he’ll decide he loves me and rush home to tell me. I don’t fucking care what it is but I’m praying to a god that I don’t believe in for them to fucking hurry.
Are the others in danger? Or just me?
Shit, I hope it's just me. I left Amanda and Zoey alone in that house with her. I don’t know where Nate and Lance got off to, but it can’t be good that they were gone at just the right time for her to lead me into a trap.
Of course, I obeyed when she ordered me inside and now, I’m paying the price for my weakness once again.
“Bitch,” I mutter before sucking in a breath when the thing shuffles dangerously close to me.
Why didn’t I bring Bo? Instead, I sent him upstairs with the girls. I’m well and truly on my own.
I’m familiar with the experience but I can’t say that I like it very much as I inch toward the wall and slide away.
Sweat slicks my back and I switch the weapon between my hands before rubbing my slick palms down my jeans. I can’t help my smile when I hear the faint low of an animal outside and I tip my head, wondering if it’s crying out in warning or perhaps signaling a mating call.
Foolish thoughts but that’s all I have. I’m going to die if someone doesn’t find me and as that thing gets closer, my time grows thinner.
I’m going to be eaten in the dark, alone with one of those things and I have to wonder if my friends will even be all that sad.
It’s not like I contributed anything to the end of the world. Frankly they’re better off without me and I’d like to say that this eases some of my fear but nope, I’m still selfish enough to wish that someone would open the fucking door.