The Aliveagainers

23 - Wake

Let's go away. Tomorrow. Why not today? Ok, today, let's go. How about now? No, not now. A little later. It's too cold outside, and it's too warm in here with you. Ok, so we'll go later. But today. Yes today. We'll go together though, and we'll go forever. Yes, ever 'n' ever.

Kayla.

I hear a crunchin' noise, a scrunch of static, and it makes me stir. It's dark, but a dim light claws at the window, perhaps that low light before dawn. Késhaun is with me, curled up in front of me, his little body like a furnace. I feel him and he's normal, he ain't got any more fever.

My arm burns with a steady throbbin' pain and I peer at the bandages. Even in the gloom I can see them dark with crusted blood. I feel a different kinda pain now too, not just the searin' one but somethin' deeper. I wonder if there's a first aid kit somewhere in this cabin. Caleb found some hooch so hopefully whoever ran the place was at least organised enough to have a kit.

"Kayla!" comes a voice and I look up.

Jamie's sittin' there starin' at me, crouchin' halfway.

"We should go," he half whispers, half moves his mouth.

I look over to the window and I can see Caleb silhouetted, sittin' in the chair, snorin' quietly. The empty bottle at the foot of the chair weakly reflects the light. Movin' across the room I can see Micah curled up, his legs drawn up near his chest. He breathes big and slow.

"Come on," says Jamie and he stands slowly. He's got his shoes off, held in his hands and he walks slowly towards the door, motionin' to me to wake Késhaun. I sit up, rubbin' one hand slowly across the boy's shoulder. I feel him, so slight and frail, and he stirs a little. I hate the idea of takin' him out there, but I know we can't stay with Caleb.

I lean in close and put one finger the boy's lips, gently, and he moves to swat me away but I keep pushin' on his shoulder and he opens his eyes. He takes a moment of starin' before he looks me in the eye.

"We gotta go," I say without speakin'.

He nods and slowly sits up. I reach down and grab at my shoes beside me. He grabs his too and we slowly stand up. The snow outside seems to have stopped but there's still a bit of a wind out there and it helps mask the sound as we make our way over to the doorway.

Jamie's waitin' for us and has his hands on the lock. Even though it's just a simple latched deadbolt I find myself tensin' up. He waits a moment, till the wind picks up and then he turns it slowly. I can just about make out the click and I breathe again.

We move up close, and I know the blast of cold wind's probably gonna do more to wake the guys than the lock itself. I put Késhaun in front of me, and Jamie seems to understand. He positions himself behind me, spreadin' his legs out, and then we open the door.

Snow on the deck spills in a little where the doorframe meets the floor but other than that the wind don't whip in too much and we all slip out as quick as we can. I reach back and shut the door slowly, makin' sure it clicks into place.

And with that we make a move. But as we step out I realise we ain't gonna be drivin'.

The snow must have swept down all night, non-stop. It covers everythin', all around us. There's a good few inches on the handrail around the cabin and a foot or more on the ground. I can just about see the car, half covered, ahead of us. We might be able to dig it out but there's no way we can drive in this.

"We're gonna have to go on foot," I say and Jamie nods.

"Where we gonna go?" asks Késhaun, his voice soft and his teeth chatterin'.

I reach him close and pull him near and even though my arm burns I let him clutch at me tight. I wish we had some better gear.

"I checked out the map before I went to sleep. There's a lot of fancy homes along the lake to the east and there's some islands in the lake and some of them have cottages."

"That's where we'll go," I say, thinkin' how lucky we are. A cottage on an island is probably the best place to be right about now.

We set out and crunch through the snow. It's hard goin' but as we get out of the open and under the tree cover it thins out a bit and it's easier for us to walk.

It's deathly quiet. The ground tumbles down beside us, rough and jagged, clothed with big ol' trees and huge rocks and boulders half buried in ice.

I notice out to my left that I can see the lake. From up here it ain't even look real at all. The surface is perfectly still and through the dark lines of the trees I see the world reflected, from the dark trees linin' its edges to the sky above, bleedin' into dawn.

And the stars.

Oh, and the stars.

Above the lake I see a million stars, more than I ever seen in my life. I gasp and think I hear Jamie say somethin' but I can't turn away. All I can see is them stars, all cast out above us like diamonds thrown out in the night.

Some burn brighter than others and I realise I don't know any of their names. I ain't never known them and now probably never will. These stars were shinin' long before anyone gave 'em any names and it seems they'll shine on still.

"Come on Kayla" urges Jamie.

We walk onwards and the silence directs me to the sound of crunchin' snow and the crispness in the air. There's a scent that's so fresh and clean, tinged with pine and icy cold to touch.

My mind travels as we walk and I think about the fire we saw last night. I think of the people there and what might've come on to them. No doubt it was terrible, but, somehow, here, out in the quiet and the peace, I find myself optimistic for the first time in a long time. Perhaps things will work out.

"Do you smell that?" asks Jamie.

I freeze up, open my mouth, waitin' for that taste. But it's somethin' else.

"Smoke," he says.

Then there's a voice back from where we came, harsh and gratin'.

"Can't say I'm surprised, Kayla! Ain't never no honour amongst thieves!"