Page 58 of Resistant

The houses are more neglected than the others and the Gray increases the creepy factor. Doors hang crookedly on hinges, and the whole street has an emptiness to it.

The absence of souls feels thick, I know that there are no people here. The familiar buzz of energy from other people is missing. Declan slows and looks around. I slow and stick to his side. I’m looking in front of me because the street is pitted and cracked. I’m a klutz, I don’t need help falling.

I look over at Declan to read his expression, this place is eerie. Is he as creeped out as I am? I feel a stinging sensation on my shoulder, and I slap at it.

“Ow! Something bit me!”

Declan turns to look at my shoulder. And he’s scanning the ground around my feet.

“What are you looking for? Stupid bug. That really hurt.”

Declan leans forward and picks something up between his forefinger and thumb. It looks tiny.

“Is that the bug that bit me? How come it’s not squashed?

“Angel, you squashed it, but it’s harder to squish metal than a natural bug.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are no mosquitoes, it’s the only positive effect of the nuclear winter. The mosquitoes were wiped out. This is not a real mosquito. It’s a bug. A spy bug, like a drone. But made to look like a mosquito. This little fucker might have some of your DNA on board as well. So, we’ll have to take him back with us and see what we can find out. I’m pretty sure his camera is broken, so nothing is being recorded. But somewhere, his pilot is extremely pissed off.”

Declan smiles at me. He pulls a handkerchief from his pocket.Who has handkerchiefs, does he always carry one? How did I not know this? He wraps up our little drone bug and tucks it back in his pocket.

“Do you always carry one of those?”

“When I can, yeah.”

I shake my head at him and push off at a slow jog. He easily catches up. I can feel him staring at me, but I don’t look over at him. I feel like today has been full of realizations and I need more time in my head to process. We are silent until we get back to the bungalow.

Declan removes the spy bug from his pocket and places it on his desk.

“I need something to magnify this. Let’s go talk to Riesa, see if she can help.”

Declan looks up at me, his expression is troubling, and I shiver in response. The hair on the back of my neck stands up and I’m struck silent for a moment.

“Okay. Do you know where she lives?”

“No, but we’ll stop by Rick the Dick’s house and find out.” He smiles at me and squeezes my shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay, Brynn.”

I nod and turn my head away. Things are becoming more real again, and I’m not sure how I feel about that, other than wary. Declan wraps up the spy bug and puts it back in his pocket.

“C’mon Angel. Let’s get this over with.”

The Past that Creeps Back

Declan

I knock on the flimsy screen door two times, and Brynn hops from foot to foot behind me. She’s anxious, and I resist the urge to grab her hip and pull her into me.

The door squeaks open and I see a flash of dark hair and a hazel eye peer through a crack in the door. The door swings wide and Riesa leans her hip against the door jamb.

“Brynn, Doc. What can I do you for?”

I smirk at her double entendre. I can feel Brynn’s eyes boring a hole in the back of my head and I mentally flinch at the title. Princess is beside herself that Riesa called me Doc. I guess that conversation about the past is coming sooner than I expected.

I flash Riesa my charming smile.

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