Page 13 of Bound in Ashes

“Jack, why don’t you go check on the others?” I suggested, keeping my voice light but knowing Jack was smart enough to know an order when he got one.

Question was, would he follow it?

Jack scowled, and I prepared myself for an argument.

It didn’t come.

Instead, Jack gave me a sharp nod and marched away, looking slightly annoyed but no worse for the wear, even after what had just happened.

Uncle Levi watched him as he left, then looked at me.

“I’m glad you’re all right, baby girl,” he said, squeezing my hand.

“You, too, old man.”

He gave me a fleeting smile, no doubt remembering when I’d said those same words with everything but love.

Then he sobered. “Who is he, really?”

“He’s the only reason I’m still alive.” It was true, but it wasn’t the whole story. “And he helped me get here.”

“In exchange for what?” Uncle Levi asked, reminding me that despite his own kindness, he always preached that nothing in this world was free.

“Nothing,” I said. Then I realized how defensive, how naive, I sounded. I hated that word, but there wasn’t another to replace it.

Jack wouldn’t even say he’d done this for nothing, and Uncle Levi wouldn’t buy that, even though I was the one selling.

“Well,” I cleared my throat, “he needs to get home. To Nebraska. I told him you might be able to help with that, but I didn’t make any promises.”

Uncle Levi looked to his front porch, where Jack disappeared inside. “He doesn’t look like the type where promises matter much.”

“He’s been good to me.” I didn’t necessarily want to defend Jack but realized I had to.

The way Uncle Levi looked at me told me he thought my judgement was compromised, but he didn’t belabor the point. “We’ll see. But things being what they are, don’t know what I can spare,” he said.

Not a promise, which I knew did matter to Uncle Levi, but I let the subject drop. We needed to focus on more important things first.

I turned away from the porch and looked out over the land.

“How are you in terms of resources?”

“Lost some livestock, but the farm is still running, and you know your auntie kept this place stocked like she was waiting on the rapture.” His voice caught like it always did when he mentioned my aunt, but he moved on. “How many others in your group?”

“Five,” I responded.

“A lot of extra mouths, but extra hands will make lighter work of this mess out here.”

It would, but there were other pressing matters to consider. I stared at the bodies in the grass and then looked at Uncle Levi. “How many of those things have you seen?”

“Not many so far. At first, I thought it was all bullshit, but then I saw some up close and personal. You know they’re dead, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they are.”

“How many have you seen?” he asked.

I sighed, memories of all we’d seen in Atlanta and on the way here flashing through my head. “Too many. And way too close.”

His eyes took on a wistfulness, and he shook his head.