Page 24 of Resistant

“Lily, good girl! Lily get David!”

She jumps and turns, leading me farther into the darkness. Her tail wagging madly. I stumble after her as quickly as I can. I trip on a rock and fall forward scraping my cheek.

Lily comes back for me, licking my face. She sniffs all over me and I feel her jaw clamp down on my jeans. She drags me for a hundred yards or so, and I feel hands running over my torso and legs.

“Mama, are you okay?”

“Yes baby, get the first aid kit, I need to wrap my ankle. Pretty sure I’ve sprained it badly. I need water David, get me two bottles.”

David skids on his knees next to me with a bottle in each fist.

“Nathan?”

“They took him love. They didn’t hurt him, he has few scrapes for sure, but he stopped fighting. I think he was afraid they would kill me.”

I drink the entire bottle in one go and I pull up my pants leg and hiss. My ankle looks nasty. Somewhere along the way I’ve cut it as well. I take the other bottle of water and pour it over my ankle. The blood washes away and the deep gash I see makes me swoon. I take a deep breath.

“I need butterfly bandages honey.” The stinging pain radiates, and I clutch my leg and breathe deeply.

David’s fingers tender as he places the bandages over my cut. I look, it’s not perfect but it will do for now until the swelling goes down. David hands me stretchy medical gauze and helps me wrap my ankle. He carefully takes off my shoes and slides off his boots.

“These will be a little bit big Mama, but it will feel good on your ankle.” He slides my sneakers on his feet and helps me put on his boots.My kiddo is going to have monster sized feet when he’s grown.

“Let’s rest a minute and we’ll go get in the truck and leave.”

“Lily, Watch.” Lily sits in front of us and looks around in the darkness. She’s silent.

She will wake David by licking his face if she hears or smells anything. David curls up at my side and holds on to me.

I lay back and close my eyes.

I wake sometime later; the moon is high in the sky, and I realize I’ve been asleep on the ground with David for hours. Lily still sits at my feet.

“David,” I gently shake him. “C’mon kiddo, let’s get to the house.” He helps me stand; I wince but it’s bearable.

David hands me a granola bar and hoists our emergency shelter pack on his shoulder. Lily heels next to him and follows his every move silently.

By the time we reach the house, the darkness is thick, and it’s deadly quiet. We slip inside, I keep the lights off and we stumble a little in the darkness loading our gear into the truck. I fix several sandwiches and we eat in silence.

“Are we going to go get Nathan Mama?”

“I don’t know where to look, honey. We’ll go find Daddy and figure it out together. I’m sure they are taking him to get trained for service. Let’s make sure we are packed and ready to leave.”

I’m checking the basement and the power blips on, and the TV comes to life. The news broadcaster is showing the aftermath of a fight between New Reform soldiers and the Resistance.

He’s reporting that the loss of life in this battle is staggering. The camera pans and shows the devastation, the town is decimated, and bodies are in the street. The faces of the dead are blurred out.

The camera zooms in and the breath leaves my body. I crumble to the floor and whimper as pain shoots through my ankle. It doesn’t compare to the pain I feel in my heart.

I see a tattoo I know well, starting with the date of my wedding. I can’t read the tattoo, but I know without a doubt it’s my husband. Wyatt, my Wyatt is lying dead in the street somewhere.

David’s hands are on my cheeks and his mouth is moving but I can’t hear him. There is a buzzing in my head that drowns everything else out. My heart is beating wildly in my chest.

I look him in the eye, and he says “Mama” and I fight against the darkness closing in and fail.

David is sitting next to me, holding my hand.

“Mama, wake up, it’s okay. You fainted. Mama. Please wake up.” I hear desperation in his voice.

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