Darkness upon the Land

Alexia had hoped her mom would feel recovered enough to finally be able to travel to Mass Sunday, but Mѐre seemed content to give herself more time to heal. It was almost six weeks since she was shot, and although the wound appeared healed, the pain and discomfort continued.

After Mass, while people were rambling around visiting, she and Reuben eventually walked out to their bikes. She spied a young man with his own bicycle conversing with a couple of other parishioners at the edge of the parking lot, and it took a couple of seconds to recognize Baron. This time he was dressed in clean jeans and a navy blue tee shirt, and he had stubble that wasn’t there the night of the battle. He waved as they walked by, then came striding toward them, pushing his conveyance, when they reached their immediate destination.

“Hey, Alexia! Good to see you out and about.”

She smiled. “It’s good to see you, too. What brings you out here?”

“Oh, I was passing by and saw Therese.” He nodded toward the couple walking away from the church. “Didn’t know I was going to see you two walk by. Hey there, Reuben, have you salted anything yet?”

“Some open wounds. What about you?”

Baron grinned. “I may start putting it on my desserts.” His attention shifted to her. “I haven’t seen you since the battle. How’re things going with your mom? I heard about her on the expedition.”

“Still healing, just not as fast as she wants.”

“Shame what happened to her. It’s incredible what people will do.” He shook his head. “With how quickly all the shooting got started, it’s no surprise how most people are still carrying firearms. It’s sort of like the old western movies around here.”

“Yeah,” Reuben muttered, “only without the right infrastructure they had back then.”

He nodded and regarded her again. “I’ve got a little shoulder holster, so that’s easy to carry. You have hide yours behind your back like he does?”

“Well, no, as far as pistols we’ve only got the one.”

“Better than nothing.” He grinned. “Pretty soon all the ladies will be toting derringers and the men will have guns on their hips and jingle when they walk. Well, I don’t want to hold you up, but it was good to see you again. Take care!”

As he hopped on his bike and rode away, Reuben stood beside his own bicycle and watched the man’s withdrawal. She was still pondering what he was waiting for when the hint of a scowl fell over his face.

“That was an unusual conversation.”

She regarded him curiously. “How so?”

“He asked about our firearms.”

“Well, he told us about his.”

“Yeah.” He stared after Baron for a few more seconds, and then began walking away from the bike. “So would I.”

His last comment sent a shiver down her spine, and she wasn’t entirely sure why. She quickly caught up to his stride even though she had no idea where he was going.

“What’d you mean by that?”

“It’s just if I wanted to engage in some subterfuge to determine my enemy’s resources, I would act like I was sharing information to gain his trust.”

The night Mѐre regained consciousness surfaced in her memory, and she recalled the woman’s words when she told him about Brent Rayburn.

He reminded me of you, only not as dark.

“You don’t think that’s him, do you?” She hissed.

“I dunno. Maybe him. Maybe another one of his cronies. Maybe it’s nothing. I’m gonna catch up to those folks and see just how well they know him.”

Reuben’s stride was long and quick, and her legs had to move very rapidly to keep up with him. When they reached the couple that had spoken with Baron, he excused his intrusion before introducing himself, and immediately asked how they knew the man.

The woman, Therese, looked a little baffled. “I recognize him more than I know him. We both worked at the retirement center, except I was a clerk and he was on staff in the kitchen. He was kind of a new guy, started just a few weeks before the power went out. Why do you ask?”

“Just checking his credentials,” he replied. “You have any general observations about him?”

“I dunno … always seemed like a nice guy.”

Reuben thanked them and turned back toward the church.

She found him a little easier to keep up with this time. “This might sound weird, but the fact she said he seemed like a nice guy kind of worries me.”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

She drew a deep breath. “So now what?”

He didn’t respond for a couple of seconds. “I don’t like this tickle. Maybe we should talk with Father Nick.”

They found the priest just getting ready to head back into the church as the last parishioners were leaving. Reuben explained everything that had happened, and their confidant looked thoughtful throughout the exchange.

“Yes, I can see your concern.” Father Nick nodded. “Although it is the sort of thing you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for it. It’s probably best to err on the side of caution, though. We could round up two or three armed people to accompany you home.”

Reuben frowned. “That’ll take time. What if he takes this opportunity to head to the house and take on Liana?”

The jolt of panic that shot through her made Alexia have to take a deep breath. She was overwhelmed with the desire to race home and secure Mѐre’s safety.

“Then we’ll split the difference.” The priest replied. “You can start heading home, but I’ll get some people to follow you as quickly as I can.”

He nodded. “We appreciate it, Father. I feel a little better, although I apologize if they waste time over something that turns out to be nothing. I’d still rather nobody get hurt.”

“Trust me, they’d rather help out over nothing than do nothing when help was needed. I’ll start tracking people down, but you might still consider making your trip back a bit leisurely.”

Although she understood the priest’s suggestion, she found it difficult not to push the bike to a faster pace as they headed back. They passed through the battle-scarred neighborhood; they passed through the thinning lines of houses beyond the town; they passed by fields of sugar cane and houses became scarcer.

She realized Reuben had started to slow because she began to pass him on his right, and then he stated “Hold up.”

Alexia braked to a stop and he coasted just beyond her. “What is it?”

He set his feet on the ground, gazed ahead, and then looked down at the front wheel of his bike. “That’s the Carvel house up ahead.”

Yes, it was. The slightly ramshackle dwelling over a hundred yards ahead squatted near the right side of the highway. The building was completely quiet.

Her heart fluttered slightly. “But Jake and Hooter are dead. And Jake’s mom … wait, you don’t think he would’ve got her involved, do you?”

“I don’t know what to think.” He glanced up at the house, and then back down at the wheel. “I just know … that tickle becomes more of a clawing the closer we get to that place.”

A couple of months ago she would have called his comment crazy talk and headed on without him. But she had learned to appreciate – and heed – his uncanny intuition over the last few weeks.

“So do we turn back?”

“I don’t see that we have much choice –”

The instant Alexia heard the rifle crack she saw Reuben plummet to the asphalt and take the bicycle with him.