Page 24 of Before Their After

So I refused to pry my nose where it didn’t belong. Perhaps she was protecting herself and her own mental being. She was my sister, and keeping her safe was my responsibility. I couldn’t do that if my questioning sent her into a frantic spiral. Her emotions had been all over the place as of late. Asking the wrong question on the wrong day had resulted in weeks of setbacks heading back north. It would be better this way—to let her work through whatever happened back home at her own pace.

Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to our family. To our home. Giving up on Hunter being okay meant giving up on our family. I felt him out there, knew in my soul he was alright. A twin would know if their other half was gone. That’s what people always said,right?Hunter was tough as nails. A skilled outdoors man. Surely he’d made his way northeast as planned.

A creak sounded on the wooden steps of a long abandoned cabin we’d found on a back road. With the boarded-up windows, I couldn’t see shit outside, but the horses were quiet. I peered back at Reina still asleep on the couch, brushing off the noise as mother nature at work. Having enhanced senses had its perks, but I would never miss the quiet of the past. Before my body had changed, before I could hear everything from everyone and everywhere. At least listening to the inner thoughts of the surrounding people took significant effort. It was hard to do without people sensing I was there. It’d been a shock when it first happened, a shout within Reina’s mind when I’d thought the worst had happened and she’d answered back.

A storm was brewing. The wind had picked up on the ride here. There was a chance it would pass over. If not, then we’d be stuck here for God knew how long. With only the supplies we’d managed to frantically toss in a pack, we’d taken advantage of the world around us before depleting our resources. When dawn broke, I’d have to check on the traps before Reina woke up.

The horses shuffled near the tree we’d tied them to for the night. I stiffened, listening for any disturbance in the area. Before things had changed, our father had taught us to use the forest as a tell for danger. If the world went silent, then it was time to get the hell out. That wasn’t the case anymore. The colder it got, the fewer critters and nature we found around.

Still, I could listen for the trees. A snapping of a twig. Maybe the bristling of leaves. Or the clicks and groans of the decaying remains of what were once people. My fingers clamped around the barrel of my gun. We were down to our last rounds of ammo. Even with the conservative use of what we had, it hadn’t last us long at all. One would have thought such a commodity would be easy to find around these parts. It appeared everyone else had thought the same. While food and clothing were plenty to find and left for the next, weapons were not.

A higher-pitched groan came from the east of the cabin near the horses. They whinnied with fear. Glancing at my still sleeping sister, I pushed to my feet and made my way to the door. Two zombies were on me at the quiet clasp of the door. They latched down with their teeth, finding nothing but hide and layers of fur to clamp onto. The hunger in their movements shook the rifle from my hand.

Pain seared through my head as their uncoordinated weight slammed me into the door, my temple exploding with flashes of white stars. The door opened, Reina’s terrified scream on the other side. Attention on me was abandoned as zombies entered the room. There were more than I initially assessed, following after my sister. Reina scrambled behind the couch, searching for one of the few arrows she’d carved out until falling victim to sleep. They were on her before she had a chance.

A hard, cold body fell atop me. I pushed up in an attempt to create some distance. Shrill screams rang out from across the room. Terrified. My sister sounded terrified, but it went furtherthan that. Her cry for help was filled with the dread of death. And I’d be damned if that happened under my watch.

Kicking out, my boot collided with the chest of the zombie still trying to claw its way through my face. It reared into the wall with a thud. The hard impact did nothing to stop it from resetting for another attack. I glanced around the room for a weapon. Anything I could use to my benefit. Locking onto the lamp on the table next to the couch, I swung down. Sticky, tar colored blood splattered across my face at the connection to its skull.

Its body dragged with the effort it took to pull free from its head. Reina’s panicked, tear-filled stare met mine in between the heads of three remaining zombies. She shook her hands to find no relief. Her magic would not answer her call. When I lost sight of her under the zombies, the only thing I saw was red and black.

Launching myself at the undead, I grabbed the nearest one’s head and twisted with full force. Its bones crunched under my grip. With a fierce slam, I drove its head into the wall and watched as it crumpled with a lifeless thud.

“Behind me, Reina.” I offered a hand to my sister, who stared up at me with wide blue eyes. Moore eyes. Possibly the only Moore left. “I got you.”

My sister straightened against the blood stained wall, her hands trembling as she passed an arrow to me. I took it, my hands slick with gore, and aimed for the eye socket of the next zombie. It broke with the pull out and left me defenseless against the final one gnawing in our direction. My fists pounded into rotting, cold gray flesh. Rage surged through my veins—a searing, stinging feeling that was all too familiar. I would protect my sister, no matter the costs.

Pinky

REINA

“Easy, breathe.”

I huffed in annoyance. “I could close my eyes and make this shot.” We’d spent the last week making our way through Yellowstone. Headed nowhere yet somewhere at the same time.

“I know, but something about how easy it is to piss you off made me want to comment, anyway.”

His husky laugh made me grin from ear to ear. I kept my eyes on my brother as I fired, the deer three-hundred yards away going down silently and I winked. The past few months on the road had brought us closer than ever. We’d had no choice but to trust each other blindly, putting the fate of the other into each other’s hands. He’d saved me more times than I could count, and I’d saved him a few times myself—though he’d never admit it out loud.

We made a quick fire, cooking the meat to a safe temperature, then took off. Never staying in one spot too long made sure we gave ourselves enough time to get out of dodge and find another place to eat and sleep. I’d taken to dousing ourfire pit with my water magic, wanting to keep the remnants of a cooked meal and signs of life minimal. It’d come in handy back on the ranch once I’d accepted it wasn’t an accident and no, I wasn’t hallucinating. I still lacked control with my gifts—I could either douse things slightly and take forever to do so, or create a potential flash flood. There was no in between.

Seth’s hide poncho brushed against my shoulder, providing extra warmth and encouraging me to scoot closer in the depths of the cave. There hadn’t been any cabins nearby, which didn’t matter much since it’d only make us a target out in Yellowstone. A feral scream rang out, followed by the sound of what was surely someone dying. It was close. Not directly in front of our cave, but close enough to hear them being ripped to pieces.Alive.

“Do you remember that time James convinced you that you were adopted?” He wrapped his arm around my body, pulling me closer.

I peered up at him, taking the bait and offering a huffed laugh. “Yeah. I literally cried so loud mom came out in a towel, pissed. She could hear the commotion from the shower. Hadn’t even washed all Nessie’s birthing gook out of her hair yet.”

One of the horses had gone into labor that morning. The birth had been difficult, but she’d managed to save both the momma and her calf.

“She looked like a damn zombie herself,” Seth teased.

Silent laughs shook our bodies at the memory.

“Hunter waslividwhen he got home from the fair.”

He nodded his head, the movement pulling at the strands of my hair. “Well, if you were adopted, then that meant he was too.” Silence took back over at the thought.

Hunter and I didn’t resemble the rest of our family. We’d all shared our father’s eyes, but Seth and James had taken after our father and his red hair. Our mother’s kind eyes were brown,glimmering, resembling pieces of gold against her tan skin and blonde hair. Hunter and I favored our maternal grandfather. The Italian blood ran victorious against the Irish. Our dark features stood out against our pale skin and bright eyes.

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