Exodus

CHAPTER ELEVEN

By the time Emily and the children were halfway to the Jeffersons’ house, the sun had dropped closer to the crest of the valley’s ridge. In the rapidly dimming light, long shadows stretched through the woods, crisscrossing over the path ahead, and Emily was beginning to reconsider her decision to go look for Simon.

“I want my daddy,” said Ben for the umpteenth time since stepping outside. She couldn’t blame him, of course, but dear God, it was annoying.

“Shut it, dweeb,” his sister shot back.

Emily suppressed a smile. The banter between the kids was rather cute, she had to admit. The constant poking and prodding of egos that were as fragile and underdeveloped as the children themselves. That same malleability would ensure no damage was done…probably.

“Okay, you two. That’s enough. Let’s concentrate on where we’re going. This ground is pretty rough.” Emily clicked on her flashlight and shone it into the growing darkness ahead of them, highlighting the uneven ground and occasional rock that poked through the earth. “The last thing I need is for one of you guys to trip and break something. ’Kay?”

Both kids nodded back at her.

“All right. Stay close to me and Thor.”

Emily was surprised when she felt a small hand reach for her own free hand, clasping it tightly in its soft warmth. She looked down at Ben; his full-moon face looked up at her with such utter trust. Her heart missed a beat, and for a second, the pain and loss of an entire race that was carried within her softened. In the eyes of this little boy and his sister resided the hope of humanity. If there was to be a future, it would be through these kids. And, who could tell, but if this family had survived the red rain and carnage that followed, there must surely be more survivors. More kids. Hope.

A fighting chance. Maybe. If she managed to keep them all alive.

“Dweeb,” she heard his sister mutter under her breath. Emily sniffed back a tear and replaced it with a smile. The moment was about as emotionally poignant as she had ever experienced. Leave it to the kid to go and ruin it.

The moment gone, Emily concentrated on maneuvering the group along the path she’d walked earlier in the day.

With the dying sun now lost behind the far horizon, a three-quarter moon had peeked through a break in the clouds, saturating the forest in a dim silver light. At the duck pond, a white mist wafted off the water, coating the ground in an eerie fog that almost came up to Ben’s knees. The kid was fascinated by the shroud of water vapor as he moved his free hand through it.

“Pretty,” he whispered.

More like spooky, Emily thought. But then, at his age did he have any idea of just how much trouble they were all in? Of course not. Emily sensed Rhiannon step closer to her. The girl looked nervous. Good. She should be, and an extra pair of nervous eyes to add to her own and Thor’s could only be a good thing.

The ducks were nowhere to be seen. Probably huddled together deep in the reeds, if they had any sense. Even Thor was more subdued, pacing alongside Rhiannon’s right side, panting gently.

The path leading up to the Jefferson place was a lot easier to negotiate thanks to the moonlight lighting the way. As the house came into view, Emily felt her pulse begin thrumming in her wrists. What if Simon wasn’t there? Worse, what if something had found him before she did?

As they topped the steps, Emily saw Simon’s car parked off to the left of the house, just beyond the corner of the garage. So he had made it this far, at least.

A shape materialized just beyond the car, and Emily let out a sigh of relief as Simon stepped out of the shadows and onto the gravel path.

He was alive.