Mirage

Chapter 2

A few months later

The sound of children's laughter filled the front yard as Mai Takoda Lamb and Carmina Rye rushed towards one another, squealing with joy at the sight of the other. Kim Rye followed behind Carmina as they approached the Lamb residence. The girls chased each other around the yard as Nayeli stood watchfully over them from the porch.

"Kim, thank God. I have no idea what to do."

The former deputy of Hope County ushered in one the few remaining survivors she had known prior to the Collapse. The worried mother directed Kim to the bench that sat on the porch; the same bench she used to sit on with Pratt as teenagers. The topic of today's subject was less about the newest rumor at the high school and more about what was weighing on Nayeli's mind.

"Sorry, it took so long to get her Nay. I had to convince Hudson to let me take one of the cars to get here. Trying to keep down on ethanol consumption." Kim spoke as she sat down.

Nayeli shook her head, "No apologies needed, I'm just glad you were able to come. I tried speaking to Jacob but-"

The lamb shutdown as took up the spot beside her friend, having the look of someone who had just seen a ghost; her palms were profusely sweating as she rubbed them against her pants like a nervous tick. Kim watched with concern holding a hand out, placing it on Nayeli's shoulder.

"What's going on, Nay? You look like a wreck."

Nay began to laugh sarcastically, as she held her hands up to her face, "I don't know what to do. Mai-Mai keeps saying that she sees her daddy when she comes outside to play sometimes. "

This was not the first time Mai had claimed to see someone from Nayeli's past that was not there. Just a few months ago she found Mai claiming to have been speaking with an angel. Nayeli summed it up to the fact that the Collapse and bliss interacting may have put something out in the air, but it was a troubling coincidence to say the least. Her current predicament however was much more unsettling.

Nayeli pulled her hands away from her face, seeing Kim's face drop. It had been over a and a half since Nayeli had staged her and Mai's escape from Dutch's bunker, the home that she had to share with one Joseph Seed. It was a difficult transition, that was for sure, as Mai would constantly cry out for her the man that she knew as her father for the first five years of her life. Though she understood Jacob as her "real" father, they could not get her to differentiate one "father" from the other. She knew it upset Jacob to hear, but what else was she to do? Mai was still so young, it would take time to truly comprehend what had occurred in that bunker.

At this point, everyone within her close circle of allies knew about the events she had to endure while in the bunker with the man known as The Father. She had killed Joseph after he made an attempt on Mai's life, and now it seemed that his ghost was haunting them long after. It was a long few minutes before Kim could respond; tragically, it began with words that Nayeli did not have the heart to hear.

"Nayeli, I don't think Mai is making it up."

Nayeli's chest tightened as Kim continued. "There's something I need to tell you."

-----

"Nay! Nayeli!" Kim shouted from the porch as Nayeli scooped up Mai from the yard and began storming back towards the house.

"No, there's no way." Nayeli shook her head as she attempted to get inside.

Kim blocked her path, holding her hands out in a pleading manner, "Nayeli, we don't know for sure if it's him or not. You said it yourself, you watched him die."