The Battles End (#wattys2016)

Chapter 10

   Chapter 10: Like Clockwork

I took in a deep breath, sitting on the floor in the hallway of the small middle school. The double doors I sat by led into the band room. We used the middle school as storage and a few other things. The band played in the middle of town every now and then. Several different bands practiced in that room. If I had to guess, right now it was the open 'concert' band. People of all ages learned how to play some instruments that were left behind. One of the double doors were open, so I could hear some of the types of instruments better. The soft entrance of the flutes, the persistence of the clarinets sound. I had asked the man who directed most of the groups that met here, Jim what they were playing. He told me it was American Elegy by Frank Ticheli. Jim had found books of music, and sheets in the offices that once belonged to the music teachers. I loved coming here and listening to them play. Hell, I always enjoyed the type of music they practiced. I remember trying once to get Angel to learn how to play the piano back at the farm, and here now that the twins were about to turn six. But I also had an idea CJ probably brought his sister here, them both trying to learn to play something. Most of the time I found myself here if I was stressed or bothered about something. So normally once a day, just to relax a little more. My six more attempts at radio resulted in nothing, and I was still wrapping my head around what little Preston told me. I felt a much smaller arm wrap around my own. Glancing over I saw dirty blond hair. Smiling, I put my arm around Angel, kissing the top of her head.
     "What'cha doin, baby girl?" I asked, pulling her closer to me.
     "CJ's out with Uncle Res." Preston hit it off with the twins since the moment we stopped talking so seriously at Bow's. "So I decided to come find you."
     "Hmmmm." I hummed.
     "What?" Angel asked innocently.
     "Just thinkin." I brushed my fingers though her dirty blond hair.
     "Thinkin bout what?"
     "About home."
     "But isn't here home?" Angel questioned.
     "Y..... Yeah.... But home is the place with the people you love. These people here are family. But I was thinking about real home. With your uncle Daryl and your father."
     "Oh."
     "One of these days, baby girl, one of these days we're gonna get there." I rested my cheek on the top Angel's head. "We're just one step closer to home."
~~

I sighed, setting the radio down. How many damn times had I tried this? Two hundred? Three? Four? Every single time there was no response. None. Not even damn static. Just...... nothing. Yet I still found myself here at radio trying my luck, even though the odds were just as equal to the chance they could have saved my left leg. Absolutely zero. And I knew I'd still find myself here tomorrow. A few days from now. Next month. It meant I was still trying right? That I hadn't given up?

Nothing hardly made sense anymore. But I still found myself dragging my ass back to Bow's for the night. Preston stays with Nate, on the other side of the small town. Nate and John had been telling me about the building they called "the underground", that was hidden in the thick woods in one of the corners of the fenced in place. Just stepping into the tree line was daring to get lost. The bad part was, those woods were right near the community garden. There were some plants there, but I guess it was just a space dedicated to being open, and another area to roam without buildings too close. Another building that seemed a bit far off from the rest was what we believed to have once been a plant of some kind. Maybe packaging, which was a little strange for a small town. The ever persistent town of EastHaven didn't seem to bother much with the unknown building. I knew they used it for training of certain things, like guns or defense. Mostly the guards or constables trained there, but that in itself seemed rare these days. They found their training grounds elsewhere.
Giving CJ and Angel each a kiss on the head, I went to my own room. Collapsing in my bed, I curled up under the covers. Closing my eyes I smiled, about to turn over and call for River to get up here with me. My smile fades before I open my eyes. God I missed that dog. Clutching the covers as if my life depended on it. I often wondered how the old blue heeler was, now with my brother as his new master. Then that question always led to the people I haven't seen in years. And before I knew it, I was drowned out by sleep....

The morning light shone through my blinds, as I rolled over, finding a small body next to me. Opening one eye, I discovered Angel had probably made her way in my room last night to sleep with me. I was slightly concerned, she was almost five. But, the fact that she still saw me as someone who could keep her safe, and stare down the monsters in the closet, -and the ones outside the wall- relieved me all in one. Then my thinking came to why, she was here. Wrapping my arms around her, and pulling her to me, I closed the one eye I had open. I set my chin on the top of her head.
    "Baby girl." My voice was still weighted by sleep. "What's wrong?" I opened my eyes, as Angel turned to look at me.
     "I had a bad dream." I was taken aback for a moment.
     "Hmmmm. I use to get those too." I told her.
     "Did you make them go away?" She asked.
     "They went away, yeah." Angel stayed wrapped up in my arms, resuming her original position.
     "How?"
     "Well, it's more a who. Your grandpa Luca. The day of my sixteenth birthday, the day I found him again, they seemed to have stopped."
     "Do you still have them?"
     "Yeah. Every once in awhile I have a bad dream.." I was trying to think of more to say, when Angel asked another question.
     "Mommy, what happened to Grandpa?"
     "He, uh.. He died trying to help me."
Silence engulfed the small bedroom. Angel left it at that, staying in my arms for a little while longer.

When I finally did get up. I got breakfast and dressed. Finding CJ's hat on the couch, I delivered it to his room before he left it somewhere else. Or flipped out about losing it, again.
And after countless failed attempts, I still found myself walking into radio. Like always I went towards the back, sitting in a hard, wooden chair. With my elbows on my knees I pressed the button.
     "Hello? Alexandria, come in. Calling Alexandria, please respond."
Please respond.
But no one did.

A/N
No not very much action, but trust me, this builds up to it. I swear! So, Sunny tries to Radio Alexandria and Bentford about four hundred times (no joke). All of which failed...... 401 times the charm right? Yeah no. I won't even go there right now.
  I made a small (and not professional style) mapping of EastHaven, that will come in handy for later chapters.. (Devilish smile)

When will Sunny stop trying to radio the two communities?
What did Res tell sunny?
Why so many secrets?

Please remember to vote comment (and check out my other book Every Last Breath).......... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnndddddddd find out in the next chapter!