The Returners (10 page)

Keeping her eyes on the figure as it continued to come closer she reached for the ax they kept for splitting wood. Her grip tightened around it as the figure continued to approach. Her grip lessened when she was able to finally make out what it was, realizing it was Joe. Where was her father and the others? That question was going through her mind as she called out to him quietly.

"Joe. What are you doing? Where's everyone else?"

Joe put his fingers to his lips for her to be silent as he moved the last few yards to the steps. Briella put down the ax and met him and was taken aback when Joe grabbed her hand and led her inside.

"Listen, I don't have a lot of time to explain everything to you right now." He looked down at the floor as he spoke, he couldn't look into her eyes. "Myself and the others have done some bad things...we...we were all scared of your father and what he would do to us if we didn't listen to him." He paused for a moment thinking about what to say next.

Briella didn't say anything and waited for him to finish, still holding onto his hand.

"We went to a cabin we thought might have supplies we could use. There was a man, woman and young girl there. Your father had every intention of killing those people, he's done it before. Easier than negotiating with them or bringing more mouths to feed back here." He looked back up at Briella as he felt her grip tighten on his hand.

"I couldn't do it. I had stayed back and was supposed to provide cover for them. Things went bad and the family defended themselves. Your dad was the only one left, he was going to kill those people and I couldn't let him do that." He paused again, before finishing his sentence. "I shot him and killed him." 

Briella didn't say anything, didn't show any emotion at all. She didn't grieve for her father or the others that died with him. Somehow she had known all along what was going on, but had blocked it out. Deep inside she felt a sense of relief as she looked into Joe's eyes and knew they were free. A single tear rolled down her cheek, not from sadness, but joy

"Joe I don't blame you. You did what you thought was right. My father was an evil man. I've always known this, you've set me free." She pulled Joe closer and kissed his cheek before stepping back away from him. "Thank you."

Joe was a caught off guard by all of this. This wasn't the reaction he had expected. He knew Briella and her father were at odds, but didn't realize until this very moment how bad it actually was. It took a few moments for him to gather his composure and speak again.

"Listen, the people who live at the cabin have offered for you and I to go with them. Jacob has a plan and they are good people. He could have killed me at anytime, but didn't. There's something about him that makes me believe this is what we should do. I know I don't want to stay here anymore, I don't feel like I belong and I know you don't either.”

Briella nodded her head, but didn't say anything. It was a lot to take in and she was trying to absorb what Joe was telling her. Having her father gone was one thing, but leaving this place and its safety was something entirely different.

“Things probably won’t change with Chris in charge either. When the group doesn't come back, you know he'll have people out searching for them. Once they figure out what’s happened no one will be safe, especially us. We can't chance staying here, will you come with us? I'll understand if you don't." Joe hoped Briella would come with them. He watched her face and could tell she was contemplating everything he'd just said.

Briella knew what Joe had just said was right, she had no reason to stay here. It was now or never if she was ever going to get away. Maybe, just maybe this was the new beginning she had longed for for so long.

"Yes, just let me grab a few things, I won’t be long," Briella said as she let go of Joe's hand.

Briella disappeared into her room and returned a few minutes later, a hiking pack already slung across her back. Joe stood looking out the kitchen window making sure there wasn't anyone outside that might see them leave. He didn't see anyone, it was still early enough that everyone was probably still sleeping. The few people who would be on guard shouldn't see them if they moved quickly in between the camps.

"I'm ready," Briella said as she walked towards him.

Jacob turned away from the window at the sound of her voice. "We need to be quick and quiet, stay close and follow me."

Joe exited the cabin with Briella right behind him. They moved between the camps until they got to an open space just on the edge of the forest. They stopped and scanned the area, making sure they hadn't been seen. When they were sure it was safe they made the dash across the open space into the woods.

It had been less than forty minutes since Joe had left him on the ridge overlooking the pond. The sky was beginning to show signs of daylight as it began the slow transition from complete darkness to a light bluish-gray. Jacob sat patiently listening to his surroundings and scanning the area around him. The last thing he needed was to be snuck up on by either Returners or humans. His shotgun lay across his lap, ready to go at a moments notice.

Emily and Jessica were constantly on his mind, he wondered if they were okay. The sight of the young girl in tears when he left was still burned into his mind. Even though they had only been together a short time his feelings for both Jessica and her daughter were strong. It had been a long time since he'd let himself feel a connection with other people. The thought of anything bad happened to either of them made his stomach turn. He would do anything and everything he could do to keep them safe.

His mind wandered for a moment, trying to figure out what their next step would be. Obviously they weren't safe staying at the cabin anymore and needed to go somewhere else, but where? He feared people more than the Returners at this point. He was originally headed to Greenstone when he'd met up with Jessica and Emily. Maybe that was still the best bet for them, at least for the immediate future. They needed more supplies and to get as far away as possible from the group at the pond.

The sound of footsteps coming through the woods caught his attention, bringing him out of his momentary lapse into deep thought. Two figures moved through the woods towards him. Unable to make out who it was he got into a crouching position and got his shotgun ready, just in-case. He continued to watch until he could see that it was Joe and a woman who must be Briella. Lowering his shotgun and standing up, they soon were standing next to him.

"Jacob this is Briella. Briella this is Jacob," Joe said introducing them to each other.

"Nice to meet you Briella. Listen Joe I don't mean to be rude, but we can make small talk later. We really need to get back to the cabin and figure out what we're doing."

Joe and Briella both nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'll take the lead, you and Briella follow me," Jacob said.

The three of them headed back to the cabin. Each of them thinking about what  had happened and the difficult choices they would soon be forced to make.

Jessica and Emily had finished getting supplies ready. Only taking necessary items like survival tools, a few changes of clothes and some food. It would be enough to get them by for a few days if necessary. They knew they would have to travel light if they were forced to leave. Something that was looking like more of a possibility with each passing moment.

Early morning had arrived and daylight was beginning to shine through the small openings in the windows. Jessica hadn't gone outside yet to see the aftermath of last night, concerned more about getting everything ready in-case they had to leave. Emily was asleep in a chair by the fireplace. The intensity of the whole situation had taken its toll and exhaustion had finally overtaken her. Jessica herself was running on fumes, her whole body felt like it was moving in slow motion right now, but she continued to push herself so they would be ready.

When she was sure everything was set she moved to the door and opened it, stepping outside to assess what had happened last night. Carefully shutting the door so she wouldn't wake Emily. The carnage of last night now confronted her head on, the body of the old man lay just feet from the cabin. A large pool of blood had formed underneath him. She didn't see a second body, but could see a pool of blood in front of where she stood and a trail leading away from the cabin.

The realization hit her, if another of the men had been shot he probably had reanimated. If the bullet hadn't struck him in the head he would have come back by now. When someone died of a head wound they didn't come back, which explained why the old man hadn't reanimated. Had the other two men who had been shot done the same? She hadn't seen where she'd hit them, the only thing she saw was them fall to the ground.

Standing still she listened for any out of the ordinary noises, but heard nothing that would be cause for alarm. Her eyes looked for movement, but she saw none. Often when a body returned it would just wander off. She wondered why they hadn't heard the movement and noise in the cabin? Maybe Jacob and Joe had taken care of them, it didn't matter at this point, they were gone.

Noticing her 9mm sitting on the ground she picked it up and dusted it off. It was out of bullets and wouldn’t do her much good until she reloaded. Holstering it she went back inside.

Jessica stepped outside a few minutes later with an old blanket in her arms to place over the old mans body. It wasn't that she felt bad for this man, but her daughter had been traumatized enough from this event and didn't need to see this again. Kneeling down beside the body she took the old man's gun from his hands. Checking the chamber, It was still loaded with only one round fired.

She searched him for anything else that might be useful and found a full box of ammo in the leg pocket of his pants. There was also a large hunting knife on his side as well as a holster for the revolver. She took both, replacing the spent shell before putting the gun in its holster. Laying the items on the ground she grabbed the blanket and threw it over the corpse.

Taking one last look around and grabbing the items from the ground she stood up and walked back inside. Pausing for a moment before shutting the door, hoping she would see or hear Jacob coming back. To her disappointment she heard nothing but the sounds of nature.

Briella, Joe and Jacob made their way through the forest with little problem. They were almost to the spring when a thought hit Joe. He put his hand on Jacob's shoulder and they all stopped.

"Listen Briella, you're probably going to see some things from everything that happened here last night. Do you want us to go ahead and cover up the bodies so you don't have to see them? Especially, you know...your dad?" Joe said. The last thing he wanted Briella to do was freak out at the sight of her father's corpse. Better to give her some warning in advance to try and avoid that situation.

Briella thought hard about it, even though she hated her father and all he had put her through, she wasn't so sure she was prepared to see his body. On the other hand it might give her some sort of closure. It was a conundrum she quickly resolved.

"No, not like this is the first time I've ever seen a body before. I'm a big girl, I can handle it." Her voice was confident, but underneath that confidence Joe could sense a hint of doubt.

Both men looked at each other surprised by her response. It wasn't the one either of them had been expecting.

"Well then, let’s go, no point in standing here enjoying the scenery," Jacob said as he once again began moving.

Briella thought about what she was about to see as they walked the last hundred yards or so towards the cabin. The only thing she could think about was retrieving her mother's wedding ring. Her father wore it around his neck, and never went anywhere without it on him. 

Joe and Briella continued to follow behind Jacob. As they approached the cabin Jacob could see Ray's body had been covered up by either Emily or Jessica. The second body was gone, and that worried him.

"Be careful the second body's gone, it's probably returned. Keep your eyes open while you’re outside the cabin." Jacob felt like a complete idiot for not checking and making sure they were put down last night after the fight.

"Shit, I can't believe neither of us thought of that," Joe said.

"There was a lot going on last night and this morning, but still it was a stupid mistake on our part. Something we should always have in the back of our mind you know?"

"Agreed," Joe said as he turned his attention to Briella.

Briella was looking down at the covered body. Wondering to herself if she was really ready to see her father’s body or not.

"Is that my father?" Briella asked as the two men finished up talking to one another.

"Yes," Joe replied.

Briella knelt down beside the corpse. Joe put his hand on her shoulder.

"There's something I need to do. Can I have a moment alone." She knew he was only trying to help, but this was something she had to do alone.

Joe took his hand off her shoulder and could see Jacob looking back at them. He walked to Jacob’s side while Briella continued to kneel next to the corpse of her father. 

"Joe, let’s go inside." Jacob knocked on the door to the cabin, no response. Looking at the window, he knocked a second time hoping to see either Emily or Jessica looking out.

"Jessica, Emily it’s me." He was starting to get nervous, but was relieved when Jessica's face appear. A second later the door unlocked and both he and Joe entered.

Briella waited until both Joe and Jacob entered the cabin. She wanted to be alone for this in case she got emotional, even though she doubted she would. Once the two men had stepped inside she pulled the covering back. Staring at the body for a moment, she reached down and unclasp the necklace.

She pulled the necklace off and looked at it for a moment, her eyes fixated upon the ring that dangled from it. It was the one thing her father had that she wanted, more to remember her mother than her father. It was something that had been passed down through her family for four generations. The stories her mother used to tell of how her great, great grandfather sold his prized workhorse to get it. How that was the only way he could afford a ring for her great, great grandmother.

The love those two shared was something truly special, her mother always wanted her to know how amazing it was. Their love was the backbone for their whole family. That story had gotten them through countless hard times. Briella was almost able to hear her mother's voice telling her the story of the ring as she gazed upon it. A single tear ran down her cheek.

That story and the ring was probably why her mother had put up with her father's abuse for all those years. Some odd sense of loyalty to family, that you stood by your spouse no matter how bad it got, or how badly they treated you. Quickly wiping the tear away and regaining her composer she put the necklace around her neck. Covering the body back up she stood and entered the cabin.

Jessica was about to fall asleep when she heard the knock at the door. It took a second to process what was going on as she lay there. The throbbing in her head had started to subside, but was still present. Emily was still curled up in a chair next to the fireplace sound asleep. Her heart began to race as she got up and slowly made her way to the door. When she peered out the window relief hit her.

Jacob had made it back to them safe, knowing he was okay made the knot in her stomach instantly go away. She didn't know who the man was with him, but she guessed it was the one her daughter had told her about. She could also see a pretty younger woman kneeling beside the covered up corpse. Unlatching the door, she immediately threw her arms around Jacob when it opened.

"I'm so glad your alright, I've been worried sick," Jessica said as she hugged him.

"I'm just glad your okay. You were out and I wasn't sure what was going on when I left. How's Emily?" He had been as concerned for Emily as he had Jessica and wanted to be sure both of them were alright.

"She's exhausted and drained, but okay." It made her feel good to know Jacob was concerned for Emily enough to ask how she was doing.

"Good, I'm glad you're both alright."

Jessica let go of him and stepped away as Joe stepped into the cabin. She looked at the young man standing behind Jacob. He didn't look to be much older than Emily, maybe sixteen or seventeen. Joe extended his hand to her, but Jessica was hesitant to take it.

"My name’s Joe ma'am. The young lady outside is Briella. I'm real sorry about what happened here. I understand if you've got some reservations about me and Briella being here." He pulled his hand back as it was obvious she wasn't going to take it.

Jessica continued to look at him inquisitively, as if trying to get a read on him and his sincerity.

"Everything okay? Is it alright for me to come in?" Briella asked from the doorway.

Jacob spoke up. "Yeah it’s fine Briella. This is Jessica and that's her daughter Emily over there asleep in the chair.”

"Nice to meet you, sorry it's not under better circumstances. Is it alright if I sit down?" Briella could sense the tension in the room. 

"Sure, that's fine, grab a seat as well Joe if you want. I need to step outside and talk to Jacob for a minute." Jessica's eyes were now fixed on Jacob.

Both Joe and Briella sat down at the table as Jessica grabbed Jacob's hand and led him outside. She looked back at Joe and Briella unsure if she wanted to close the door with her daughter still inside, but she did. She had to trust Jacob's intuition about them was right. They walked all the way to the woodpile before she began to speak.

"Listen Jacob, I don't know exactly what's going on right now or fully understand what happened last night, but I know it’s not a good situation. All I need to know is can we trust these two?"

Jacob could hear the apprehension and fear in Jessica's voice. He understood where it was coming from, everything had been turned upside down in a short period of time and she had every reason to be suspicious about trusting these two.

"Well, Joe's the reason that either of us are still alive. After the old man hit you he had me on the ground, his boot on my neck suffocating me. Emily killed the guy who went into the cabin, and was standing in the doorway. The old man was going to kill Emily, but Joe shot him before he could. Briella's his daughter, that's who we went back for. I don't know her whole story, but Joe seems like a stand up kid who got mixed up in a messed up situation. He kept telling me over and over how he needed to get Briella out of there. My gut told me I could trust him, so I followed it and here we are. I'm sorry if that isn't the best description of what led to this, but everything's happened so fast."

He paused trying to think of something else to say. Feeling he owed her a better explanation than what he'd just given her.

Jessica put her a finger on his lips telling him he didn't need to say anything else. Leaning in she kissed him and took his hand in her's. "That's all I needed to hear, I trust your judgment."

She started heading back to the cabin, but Jacob pulled her back towards him.

"We can't stay here, there's a whole bunch of people where those men, Joe and Briella came from. From what Joe said they don't know what happened, but when people don't come back they are bound to come looking. How long before they make it here?" He paused for a moment Jessica's hand still in his. "We're going to have to move on from here, away from those people. I think we need to go to Greenstone." His eyes focused on her, waiting to see what her reaction would be to that suggestion.

Jessica cringed when he said the name Greenstone. She really didn't want to go back there, but if what he was saying was true they were no longer safe here. 

"When do we go?" Her response was hesitant, the apprehension in her voice obvious.

Jacob could tell she wasn't thrilled about the idea, but at least she had agreed.  "As soon as possible, but everyone needs to rest up for a few hours. We need to travel light and only take what we need with us."

Jessica kissed him. "Emily and I already started to pack just in case you didn't come back." Her voice filled with sadness at that though, even though he stood before her right now. "We should get inside and get some rest if we're going to do that."

Jacob couldn't believe how strong this woman was as he pulled her close, their lips meeting passionately. Despite all they had been through, everything that had happened, both of them couldn't help but smile as the embrace they shared ended.