The Dark Days: Dark Beginnings - Episode 4 by Ginger Gelsheimer & Taylor Anderson

Author:Ginger Gelsheimer & Taylor Anderson [Gelsheimer, Ginger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: GK Publishing
Published: 2014-09-29T18:00:00+00:00

***

I walk out onto the porch and Jay and Brody are outside horse playing with Skipper and Pug. Janie stands on the opposite side, sipping from a bottle of strawberry soda.

I lean down, resting my head in my hands with my elbows on the rail. There’s only a hint of a glow of the evening sun left.

Ben steps out onto the porch. He hops up to sit on the top of the railing.

“Claudia?”

“Yeah, Ben?”

He picks at a loose piece of paint. “It’s been nice having you here to go through all of this with.”

There it goes—the tear. I swear I cry when the wind blows with the slightest hint of emotion.

“You, too.” My voice cracks.

“We’re family now, you and I.” He looks up from his paint peeling.

I smile at him. He is my family. “I feel the same way, Ben. You’re the only one I really trust. I mean we’ve been together since day one.”

“Since before day one,” he reminds me.

“I don’t think I’ve ever said thank you. I might have given up otherwise, or sat in a corner, rotting as Dorian took advantage of the situation and everyone in it. But you gave me a passion to survive—the two of us. It has kept me going on my darkest days.” I can feel my throat tighten and a tear rolls off my cheek before I can wipe it away.

“Thank you, too, Claudia. You know I will always be here for you.”

Elsie is latched onto Kane’s arm when they join us on the porch. She has a goofy look on her face.

“How adorable would they be?” Elsie asks with a twinkling glance to me.

“I can smell the food from here,” I say, whiffing the air. How adorable would what be? Puppies? I hope she is talking about puppies and not lining me up to breed.

Finch pokes his head out the door of the wooden house. “Crepp is weak, he needs to lie down. I’m going to stay…make sure nothing happens to him or us…keep an eye on Norton.

“Who’s Norton?” Ben jumps down from the porch railing.

“Oh, the other guy that’s with Crepp.”

“Can’t you just tie him to a tree or something?” Pug snorts at his own joke. “The other guy isn’t going anywhere.”

“You really want me to take that chance?”

Lately, if bad things can find a way to happen, they do. “I’ll bring you all some food when we come back,” I offer quickly. I don’t want us to meet our new neighbors while leading our “stray dog” in by the neck, and we can’t really tie him to a tree.

“Thanks, Claudia.” Finch smiles and disappears inside.

As we approach the intersection of Main and Woodward, I hear voices coming from around the other side. We round the corner and there are at least fifty people congregating around the red caboose and sprawled out in small groups between there and the bridge.

I’m overwhelmed at first by their welcomes, but it sure beats Dorian’s greetings by gunpoint.

A small red-headed boy of about five chases a girl in long, twirling pigtails across the bridge toward us.

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