Eden's Promise (27 page)

Hawkins watched the gas gauge every two minutes or so. Geoff, Christine and Aaron rode in the bed, guns at the ready in case they were pursued. Only the occasional snufflings of the baby interrupted the silence. Hawkins glanced at the baby between inspections of the gas gauge. Uneasiness rode in Eden’s belly when she remembered his earlier interest in the baby. Would he use Annie and the baby to get back in the good graces of Wayne?

Was Wayne still alive? Both Bill and Christine had seen him go down, but had said he was conscious as his men helped him to the trucks. Would he come after them? Would he take retribution on Bill and Nancy? On Hawkins for helping them? She almost wished he would come after them, so this would be done once and for all.

She met Aaron’s gaze through the back windshield. He looked like hell, one side of his face bruised and battered, but he offered her a small smile and turned his attention to the road behind them.

They hadn’t been alone since they reunited at the refugee camp. They’d barely exchanged a dozen words, but he’d come back for her. The joy when she’d seen him pushing his way through the crowd to her, when he’d taken her in his arms, had been like nothing she’d felt since the world went to hell. All she wanted was to curl up in his arms and reassure herself this wasn’t a dream. They were together, and they were safe.

Suddenly, Hawkins pulled the truck off the road, put it in park and shut it off. “Everybody out.”

The three women looked at him in disbelief, and no one moved.
 

“You heard me. I said everybody out.”

The truck bounced as Aaron hopped out of the bed and walked around to the driver’s side window. Hawkins popped the door open.
 

“What’s going on?” Aaron asked.

“This is as far as I can go and still have fuel to get back.”

Aaron looked around, at the whole lot of nothing that surrounded them. “Are you kidding me? You’d just leave us?”

“I need to be able to get back to my warehouse, and if I go one mile farther, it won’t happen. It’s maybe a day’s walk to the coast from here. You can make it.”

Aaron looked like he wanted to argue. He looked down the road behind them, then stepped back. “Everybody out. You’ve done enough, Hawk. More than I could ever repay.”

“We’re brothers,” Hawk said. “And if I could, I’d take you farther.”

“But you have to look out for yourself, right?” Eden said bitterly, gathering her pack. A thought struck her, and she reached for her gun, and held it to the back of his neck. “What if we leave you here, and take your truck?”

“Eden!” Kelly gasped.

Hawkins met her gaze in the rear view mirror, and she thought she caught a glimpse of admiration in his eyes. “Is that thing even loaded, after your gun battle?”

“In fact it is. Want to chance it?”

“Eden,” Aaron said softly from the door. “He’s done enough. Get out of the truck.”

Exhaustion pulled at her. She couldn’t imagine walking the distance to the coast, couldn’t imagine what dangers they’d encounter, especially this time of night. This whole trip was only supposed to be a week. God knew how long a day’s walk would take.

But she lowered her gun and registered the disappointment in Hawkins’s eyes as she put it away and climbed out after her sister.

She wanted to collapse in the middle of the road when he drove away, back the way he came.

“I hope he gets a flat tire,” Kelly muttered. “Two, even.”

Aaron said nothing, but led the way down the hill in the dark.

The air held a chill, but there was a heaviness, a dampness. The rain started before they reached the bottom of the hill, a mist at first, then a solid, soaking rain. Annie cradled the baby closer, under her coat, something new, probably from Nancy, and they hurried along, keeping under the trees that grew along the side of the road, though that was little help.

Eden called Hawkins every vile name she could think of under her breath, and Aaron chuckled at her interesting combinations.
 

“How can you laugh? He was supposed to be your friend, and he just leaves us out here like this?”

“He has good reason.”

“Yes, his own self-interest.”

“He has people depending on him, too, Eden.”

“He’s a mercenary.”

“Who came to our aid when we needed him. We don’t need him now.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he was right. They didn’t need him. “I’d prefer not to owe him any favors anyway,” she muttered. “What did you do for him that he was willing to help you? Was that why you have matching tattoos?”

His expression closed off then. “I pulled his ass out of a fire, just like he did mine today. That’s all.”

She knew that wasn’t all, but he wasn’t going to tell her now. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it now anyway, and feel sympathy for the ass.

“What’s that?” Geoff blurted several minutes later, pointing.
 

Eden squinted through the rain and the early morning gloom to see a hulking shape on the other side of the road.
 

“Truck stop!” Aaron said. “You all wait here and I’ll go make sure it’s safe.”

“I don’t even care if it’s safe as long as it’s dry,” Christine muttered.

He ignored her and moved across the street while the rest of them huddled under the trees, water dripping from their hair, down their faces, soaking their clothes. Eden shifted from one foot to another, waiting for Aaron to come back. She hated letting him out of her sight, and kept her gaze riveted to the truck stop, as if she could see through the walls.
 

Then he stepped out the door and relief ran through her like water. She didn’t wait for him to cross to her, but ushered everyone across the street, into the shelter of the diner.

The place was a mess—they were clearly not the first people to take shelter here, and no one had worried about keeping it clean. Some of the windows were broken, some of the booths slashed, but it was dry. They stripped off their wet outer layers and hung them over the booths to dry, and Kelly went into the attached convenience store and gathered up souvenir T-shirts for them to wear. Eden gasped when Aaron stripped off his shirt to reveal angry bruises along his left side. He shot her a quelling glance and pulled the brightly colored T-shirt over his head.

Then Christine and Kelly located brooms to clean up detritus left behind by previous travelers. Eden checked out the kitchen and convenience store to find the food stores had been depleted and the cooler doors smashed, the shelves turned over. Aaron explored the showers in the back to see if he could get them to work.

He came out shaking his head, which disappointed Eden, but the water would have been cold anyway, with no electric water heater. When they returned to the dining room, the others had set up pallets. Eden’s legs wobbled with exhaustion, but Aaron would want to keep watch, and she wouldn’t sleep until he did.

Annie approached. “I’ll keep watch,” she said. “You two get some sleep.”

Aaron opened his mouth to protest, but she held a hand up.

“I slept in the truck. I slept last night in a bed. I’m the reason you’re having all this trouble. I’ll keep watch.”

Aaron considered, then nodded, took Eden’s hand and led her toward the convenience store part of the building.

“Where are you going?” Kelly called.
 

“Looking for some privacy,” he said, and tugged Eden’s hand so she’d follow.

She did, feeling a little guilty. She’d fought for weeks to get to her sister, but now that she’d found her, now that she was safe, Eden wanted time alone with Aaron after what they’d endured. She was relieved he wanted it, too.

She arranged the fleeces into a bed and sat in the middle of them to take off her shoes. He lowered himself behind her with a groan.

“Can’t wait to be home in my own bed,” he said, unlacing his shoes.
 

“Just a few days.”

He grunted and she turned to him and curved her hand over the side of his face so she could look into his eyes.
 

“How bad did they hurt you?”

“Couple of bruised ribs and a hell of a headache. Nothing broken, I don’t think.” He placed the boots away and stretched out, reaching for her. “I wish I knew how bad he was hurt.”

She snuggled against him, careful of his injuries. “He’ll come after us as soon as he’s able.”

“Let’s hope we’re long gone.”

She shifted to look up at him. “Thank you. I know we never would have found Kelly without you, without your determination and courage. Thank you.”

He said nothing, just cupped his hand around the back of her head and kissed her.

“Go to sleep,” he said, and closed his eyes.

***

The rain stopped before noon, and they moved out as quickly as they could. Eden was as anxious as Aaron to get home, to get to her mother, to get away from this godforsaken place. She wished her father was alive so she could thank him for preparing their town so well.

Her senses went on alert as they entered the city proper. She had thought it would be better to enter at night, but Aaron wanted to use the gloomy light of day to find their way through to the docks. She remembered the sounds they’d heard in Tacoma, what seemed like months ago, and she knew the dangers they faced from anyone who remained. They kept to the shadows of the buildings, guns at the ready, fully loaded. The city wasn’t as damaged as she thought, but the stores they passed had grates in front of doors and windows to keep looters out. She wasn’t sure if people lurked behind those doors, or if the city had been abandoned. Her heart pounded in her throat as they walked up one hill and down the next, feet and thighs aching with the effort, attention swinging from side to side, looking for any movement. But whoever remained in the city was as determined to stay hidden as her group was to remain unseen.

Eden smelled the ocean before she saw it and had to stop herself from running ahead to see it, to believe they had finally made it. She had lived on the island her whole life and felt connected to the water, to the rhythm. Just the scent gave her a renewed energy.

The closer they got to the marina, the more damage they saw. The tourist shops along the wharf had sustained a lot of damage, with broken windows and inventory dragged out in the street. A couple of bodegas stood with their doors hanging open. She resisted the urge to check inside for supplies. Their goal was to get a boat and get home. They were too close now to delay.

They stopped on the hill over the marina and Kelly gasped. Many boats were gone, and many of the ones that remained were listing in their slips. Kelly’s stomach dropped to her boots. They had to find a seaworthy boat. They just had to. But it looked like a lot of other people had had the same idea.

Aaron started forward, his face grim, his shoulders set. The others followed because, well, what choice did they have?

“Stay here,” he told them when they reached the clubhouse looking over the marina. “Go in there and see if there’s anything we can use. I’m going to find us a boat.”

Eden scrambled after him as he marched down to the marina.

His stride was determined as he moved up one row and down the next, dismissing motor boats out of hand. They needed a sailboat.

And then he stopped. “There she is,” he said, his voice reverent. “Let’s see if she’ll hold us.”

***

Aaron moved around the sailboat, checking belowdecks to see if there was any rotten wood, checking the lines and ropes and sails. Every moment he was out in the open set his nerves on edge. He wanted to double check below the waterline but Jesus, it was cold. And damn it, he’d just dried off from the rainshowers. This was the biggest and soundest sailboat he was able to find, but it wouldn’t do them any good if they sank.

He sent Eden to the other boats in the marina to get as many life jackets as she could find. She returned, excited, with a canvas bag full of canned goods and bottled water. He gave her a kiss and sent her to stash it below. Once they were out of the harbor, where no one could attack them, they’d have a feast.
 

Then, just because he had to make sure, he stripped down to his skivvies an dove into the water to ensure the hull was sound.
 

The water off the coast of northern California was icy in the summer. In the fall, it was downright frigid. He’d barely reached the bow of the boat before his fingers grew numb. He surfaced for a moment, waves slapping him in the face before hitting the hull. He dove again, eyes burning, ears freezing, and swam the length of the boat. The boat looked fairly sound. He surfaced near the dock and Eden was picking his clothes off the dock, but his fingers weren’t quite working. Eden stepped forward, holding out a fleece, filthy now after their journey. But he let her wrap it around him, feeling the lint adhere to his skin, but at least it absorbed most of the water, and protected him against the wind.
 

She wrapped her arms around him, holding his arms to his sides, and nestled her head under his chin.