Red Sky - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel Read online

  Bronx tilted his head to the side and pushed his shoulders back. “You know this guy?”

  “I do… he’s my brother,” I said pressing my lips together.

  “How did you get here?” Bronx asked.

  “I’ll be glad to tell you all about it inside my sister’s apartment,” Nick said, looking anxiously over his shoulder. He held out his arms attempting to usher us inside.

  Blair and Maggie stood close to one another as they eyed Nick. Maggie looked at him suspiciously, but Blair’s expression turned into something that made me roll my eyes. The little curl to her lips and the batting eyelashes were sickening.

  I locked the door before introducing everyone to my brother. Nick looked at the backpacks and nodded approvingly.

  “Looks like you’re in good hands,” Nick said.

  “Do you know what’s going on out there?” I asked.

  Nick shook his head. “I had my scanner going, but they weren’t talking about it until it happened. Something in the air, a chemical of some kind. They sent out every officer, but they didn’t report back. Then everything went out. EMP or something I’m guessing.”

  “Some kind of poisonous attack and an EMP?” Bronx asked skeptically.

  “It seems that way, but I don’t know for sure. I’m not sure we’ll ever know.” Nick shook his head. “Depends on who’s still out there, and I can tell you, it’s not good.”

  My stomach twisted like someone was wringing it like it was a towel. I twisted my shaking fingers together hoping no one noticed how much I was shaking.

  “How widespread is this?” I asked.

  Nick sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “What does it look like out there? You didn’t get sick?” Bronx asked. He looked as though he was full of questions.

  “It’s not pretty,” Nick said scratching the side of his neck. “Bodies all over. Lots of people got sick. Lots of people died.”

  “And you?” Bronx asked again. “Did you get sick?”

  Nick studied me for a moment before nodding his head. “I did, but it’s gone. I’m fine. I’m not contagious.”

  “Well, you don’t know that,” I said before letting out a sigh. I pressed my fingertips to my temple. “We all were sick and got better. I can’t believe you’re here.”

  I gawked at him. It was strange having him inside of my apartment. I didn’t know what to do, say, or think. What he’d done to our family was still in my head, but it was nice to see a familiar face amid the chaos and confusion.

  “Can I have something to drink?” Nick asked pressing his hand to his throat. “I haven’t had anything in a while.”

  “Um, sure,” I said stepping around him and into my kitchen. I took one of the bottles out of the warm fridge. “Here.”

  “Thanks,” Nick said staring into my eyes. He lowered his voice. “Can we talk? Somewhere else?”

  I swallowed hard as my eyes darted around the room. It was one thing having him here with the others around but being alone with him was another story. I didn’t want to get into a conversation that was going to upset me. Or make me want to send him away. And it made me mad that I didn’t want to send him away.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I said.

  “Please?”

  “Fine. Make it quick.” I flicked my wrist toward my bedroom. “We’ll just be a minute,” I announced.

  Jamie and I locked eyes briefly as I led Nick to my room. I forced a smile in his direction, but Jamie didn’t give me one back.

  After I closed the door, Nick stepped forward and gave me a hug. It was stiff and awkward, but he didn’t seem to notice. He stepped back, and something that resembled fear filled his eyes.

  “I was so worried about you,” Nick.

  “Why?” I asked shaking my head.

  “Because you’re my sister.”

  I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling. “I guess there is a first time for everything.”

  It was a low blow, and it wasn’t exactly true. When we were younger, we were the best of friends. Unfortunately, as adults, things had changed.

  “Gwen, please. What happened… it’s done. Things have changed with me. It’s time for us to move on.”

  I almost choked as I blew out a heavy puff of air. “I’ll never be able to move on.”

  “We’re all we have left.”

  “That’s not true. We have grandma,” I said forcing my voice to hold steady.

  “Maybe.” Nick shrugged. “I mean I hope so, but the world out there has changed. I know you haven’t seen it, but I have. Nothing will ever be the same. We have to stay together.”

  I sighed and shook my head.

  “Gwen, seriously, I loved her too. She wasn’t just your mom, she was mine too.”

  “Then you should have acted that way when she was alive. You should have gone to her. You should have told her how you felt before she died,” I spat.

  Nick walked over to the window and peeked out of the blinds. He lowered his head.

  “I went to see her before it… I told her exactly how I felt. And how sorry I was. She knew. You can be angry, hate me, blame me, whatever. No one will ever be harder on me about what happened that I am.”

  He ran his hands through his hair. His eyes shifted up for a moment connecting with mine so quickly I wasn’t even sure it had happened.

  “It was better if I stayed away from you. You were all better off without me. After I lost my job on the force… none of you needed to see me like that.”

  “That’s just ridiculous. She would still be alive if you would have just—”

  “Gwen, she committed suicide. It wasn’t because I couldn’t stop using. She was sick.” My bed squeaked as he sat down heavily on the mattress. “She told me she wasn’t in there because of me. She said it wasn’t my fault. Of course, I don’t believe that, but it’s what she said. She told me she’d be fine.”

  I hadn’t realized it, but tears were streaming down my cheeks.

  “But I shouldn’t have left her that day. If I would have stayed at her side, she wouldn’t have been able to go through with it.” Nick lowered his head into his hands. His fingertips were tight against his scalp as his fingers tightened and pulled his hair at the roots. “They told me she would have just picked another day. She was depressed. The medicine wasn’t working… maybe it was making it worse.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “The nurses at the institution. I went back there and talked to them. Well, first I went there to yell, I made a pretty big scene, but they calmed me.” Nick glanced upward. “They didn’t want me to blame myself.”

  I shook my head. “She couldn’t stand what you were doing to yourself. To the family. We all wanted to help you, but you wouldn’t listen.”

  “I know that, Gwen. I know that. But I didn’t want help.” Nick stood abruptly holding out his arms. “I’m clean now. Been clean. I’ve been trying to find a way to come to talk to you, but I just hadn’t figured out how, or when.”

  “You’re only clean because you have no way of getting your fix with what’s going on out there.”

  “Probably easier to get a fix now than it was before. And far cheaper.” Nick shook his head. “I’ve been clean for six months.”

  “Ooh six months,” I said hating my tone. I should have been more supportive, but I still blamed him. And maybe I always would.

  “Look, if you want me to leave, I’ll go. I want to stay with you, but if you don’t want me here, I understand.” Nick stepped past me and put his hand on the doorknob. I could hear feet shuffling away on the other side of the door.

  “You don’t have to go,” I said, pressing my palm against the back of my head. He was my brother. Yes, I was still angry, but I couldn’t send him out there if everything were really as bad as he was making it seem. “I want to go to grandma. I need to make sure she’s okay.”

  Nick nodded. “Of course. I’ll go with you.” He pointed at the gun on his hip. “I’ll protect you.”
>
  “How likely is it we’ll need that?” I asked.

  “We will definitely need it.” Nick shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “When do we leave?”

  I let out a long sigh as I turned to face the door. For all I knew, the others all had someone they wanted to look for too.

  I wasn’t sure what to do, or how to tell the others. Before I decided, I needed to know more about what Nick had seen. “I’m not sure yet. Soon.”

  Nine

  We were all sitting in the living room, except for Nick who was standing in front of us with his hands behind his back. Jamie was next to me on the sofa, his hands tightly clasped in his lap.

  “There was so much devastation out there,” Nick said, shifting his gaze toward the window. “At times, I wasn’t even sure if I’d make it here alive.”

  Maggie hugged her knees to her chest and stared up at him. I hated the way both Blair and Maggie looked at him. They didn’t know what kind of man he was. They didn’t know he’d rather get high than come to his mom’s fiftieth birthday party.

  Of course, it was probably better they didn’t. Nick had told the others he used to be a cop, but what he didn’t tell them was that he got kicked off for doing drugs before, during, and after work. Drugs that he took from the station.

  He also didn’t tell them that he told our mom to go to fucking hell when she was crying and pleading for him to get help. Not long before she died.

  “There are so many bodies out there. The smell is something I can’t even describe. Rotting, diseased flesh,” Nick said swallowing hard. “But that’s not all.”

  Nick started to pace but then stopped abruptly. He turned to us again.

  “I saw a man shoot another for his wallet and a pack of fruit snacks.” Nick shook his head. “His wallet. Like with everything that’s going on out there, he was worried about money.”

  “That’s so scary,” Blair said softly.

  Nick nodded. “I could hear people crying… screaming out for help. But as far as I could tell, there is no help. No police. No military. No one is out there. Not even an ambitious security guard.”

  “There must be someone somewhere. Maybe they just haven’t made it this far yet,” Blair said.

  “Maybe,” Nick said. “But until they do, we’re all on our own.”

  “We’ll just stay here until help comes,” Maggie said with a half-shrug.

  Nick looked at me. He knew I wanted to go out there to make our way to our grandma’s farm. But I wasn’t about to mention it. At least not yet.

  “Help might not come,” Bronx said staring at Nick. “We won’t be able to stay here forever.”

  “But we can stay for a long time,” Maggie said. “There’s enough food here to last us weeks.”

  “We can stay for now,” Nick said with a single bob of his head. “We’ll have to come up with a plan.”

  Maggie sniffed hard. “What kind of plan?”

  “A way to get ourselves safe again,” Nick said.

  “We’re not safe here?” Maggie asked in a voice that was almost nonexistent.

  Nick knelt down in front of her and took her hand into his. “I honestly don’t know. It’s better in here than it is out there. We’ll figure this out. We’ll find a way to get help.”

  I watched Nick as he tried to comfort Maggie. He almost seemed as though he actually cared. His voice was fluffy and comforting, and it seemed to be working on Maggie.

  Nick patted the back of her hand and stood up again. “But even though I think we’re okay inside of Gwen’s apartment for now, doesn’t mean it will stay that way. I don’t want to get anyone a false sense of security. We need to be safe, smart… vigilant.”

  Bronx nodded along. At first he’d seemed skeptical of Nick, but the more he listened to my brother talk the more he seemed to like him.

  Nick continued talking about the town. How everything looked the same but soaked in red. There were no friendly faces. Death was everywhere.

  Blair had asked how many people he’d seen in all, but it had only been a handful in a city of a couple million. That was a shock to all of us.

  Nick talked for hours, occasionally interrupted by a question from one of the others. He wouldn’t ever admit it, but I could tell he was enjoying every second. I wondered if it reminded him of when he’d been a police officer.

  It was probably around dinner time when I stood up and walked to the kitchen. The only two people that seemed to notice was Jamie and Nick. Nick kept talking and enjoyed being the center of attention, but Jamie followed me.

  “You okay?” he asked softly as I took out a box of cereal and started munching on it.

  “Yeah,” I said forcing a smile that wrinkled my brow, as I tipped the box in Jamie’s direction.

  He took a handful and poured a few pieces into his mouth. “Are you sure about that?”

  “No, yeah, I am. It’s just I’m still tired. You know, probably from what our bodies had gone through,” I said unable to stop my eyes from moving away from Jamie’s intense blue eyes and setting them on his chest.

  “Yeah, I understand. I still kind of feel like I’m recovering from being hit by a truck.”

  I nodded and shoveled more cereal into my mouth. It wasn’t like I could tell Jamie but having everyone around was getting to me. My skin was starting to crawl having everyone around twenty-four-seven. It just wasn’t something I was used to.

  I was about to excuse myself to my bedroom when there was a noise at the window. My eyes locked with Jamie’s and Nick stopped talking.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked.

  Jamie nodded. His lips pressed tightly together as if he didn’t want to make a sound.

  Nick held up his palm, and my apartment was once again that eerie, absolute silence I’d only ever heard during a thunderstorm when all the power went out.

  After about a minute it happened again. A sharp ping against the window.

  “Hey,” a voice called out. It was faint, but I could tell by the looks on the other’s faces that they’d heard it too.

  I took small steps as I walked over to the window. It looked like Nick wanted me to stop, to ignore it, but I couldn’t.

  When I got to the window, a hand grabbed mine, just as I reached out to the curtain. Nick was standing next to me, slowly shaking his head from side to side.

  My eyes filled with a red anger that matched the outside sky and Nick reluctantly let go of my hand.

  We both jumped when something pinged against the window again.

  “God dammit,” Nick whispered.

  I eased my body closer, keeping it pressed tightly to the wall. My breathing steady as I looked out of the small space between the window and the curtain.

  There was a man out there, staring up at the window. He knelt down and picked up a small stone.

  “Someone’s out there,” I said quietly without turning away. “He’s throwing rocks at the windows.”

  “Why?” Blair asked quietly.

  I ignored her question, not because I wanted to, but because I didn’t have the answer.

  Nick carefully inched over to the other side and peeked out. “Jesus.”

  It was just the one man, and for some reason, he was mostly concentrating his efforts on my window. He threw another pebble.

  “Please! Someone! Help me!” he shouted.

  The man didn’t appear to be well. Somehow, he was standing out there, but even from the second floor, I could see the sores on his face. Most of his hair had fallen out, but there were patches of it left in various spots on his head. It was like he’d managed to fight off the illness but not after it had damaged him.

  “I see the light,” the man shouted. “I know you’re in there. Please!”

  “We can’t let him in,” Nick said.

  I could see the man’s lips moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He ran his hands through what was left of his hair, and when he pulled his hand away, there were clumps stuck between his fingers. The
man looked horrified and shook his hand as if it were covered in bugs.

  “The door downstairs is broken,” Bronx said. “He could just walk in, come up to the room.”

  Nick’s hand hovered over his gun.

  “Nick,” I said. “He’s just trying to survive like we all are.”

  “We can’t help him. What if he’s still sick? He could get us all sick again. We don’t know him, and we can’t trust him,” Nick said.

  “There has to be something we can do to help,” I said chewing my cheek as I looked back out at the suffering man.

  Several men stepped out from behind a building and started approaching the man. Each one of them carried a large gun and wore gas masks that hid their faces.

  “Shit,” Nick said. “Blow out the candle.”

  Maggie dashed across the living room and blew out the candle that was giving off a small glow on the kitchen table. My eyes were glued to the people on the ground below.

  It appeared as though they were talking to the man. They kept their distance, but occasionally they would nod. After several minutes, the man pointed up toward my window

  Nick and I both sharply moved back at nearly the same time. I sighed and shook my head.

  “They can’t see us,” I whispered.

  “You sure about that?” Nick asked cocking his head to the side.

  I blew out a breath. “Sure enough.”

  I leaned forward and watched as the group of men led the sick man away.

  “They’re leaving,” I said swallowing hard, watching as they disappeared from view.

  I stepped to the side and pressed my palms against the wall. I sucked in a long breath as if I’d been rescued from drowning.

  My eyes shifted over to Nick’s. His shoulders were tensed up toward his ears. Just as his arms started to relax, the pop of a gun ripped through the air.

  “Oh my God!” Maggie said.

  “Jesus Christ,” Nick said inside of his inhale.

  “What did they do? What did they do to him?” Maggie asked, desperate for answers I didn’t have. Her whole body was shaking, and she looked as though she might scream.

  Bronx grabbed her shoulders and held her tightly as he looked into her eyes. “Stay calm. It’s okay.”