Haven's Army

Chapter 5

There was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" I shouted.

I opened it. It was James.

I grinned. "Hey!"

He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his pale eyes and his hair matted on one side.

"Hi," he replied. I hugged him quickly and he froze, a look of surprise plastered on his face.

I chuckled. "You okay?"

He nodded. Then he cleared his throat. "Fine," he stated.

"So what are you here for?" I asked.

He sighed and massaged his temples. "We need Katie's help. Everyone caught a minor sickness and I can't take care of all of them."

"I'll get her," I said. "Katie!" I yelled into the house. She came running down the stairs.

"Yes?"

I motioned for her to come and she hurried over. James explained the situation once more. She nodded grimly and left immediately.

"I hope I'll get to see you soon," James said to me with a sad smile as they left.

"You too," I replied, though I knew it wasn't likely.

I shut the door with a sigh.

Andrew walked into the room. He ran his fingers through his curls. "Have you seen Katie?" he asked.

"She just left with James," I said.

I could see his fist tighten slightly at James' name. He still didn't forgive James for what he did.

Katie came back on Sunday night, only three days later, but she looked exhausted. We were out on the deck when she arrived. She sat next to Andrew, who put his arm around her shoulders. Soon, they were both asleep, her head on his chest and his head on hers.

Behind her came Percy and Lloyd as escorts. They reunited with Dennis and for a while, nothing was heard over their chatting and laughter. Kathryn and I spoke separately in quieter voices since we had no idea what anyone was talking about in their separate conversations.

"Does anyone want to go to the park?"Amy asked abruptly. "We can see the stars."

Kathryn looked to Daniel. He took her by the hand and they stood.

"Let's do it," Nathan said. I was surprised to hear him agree to such a thing.

We walked to a nearby park. Amy and Daniel had flashlights until we got to a small, grassy hill. Then, they shut them off and the sky lit up. The moon shone like an orb in the sky and little glowing stars dotted everywhere, glittering like sequins.

I managed to tear my eyes away from the sky for a moment to look around. Nathan, who sat next to me in the wet grass, gazed up at the night sky in amazement. The stars reflected in his eyes as if his eyes themselves were universes. It was more mesmerizing than the sky itself.

He seemed to notice me watching and started to turn towards me so I looked back up at the sky.

"Ronnie used to tell me stories," Nathan told me, and I knew I'd been caught. "One of his favorite things was just watching the stars. Now I know why."

"I've heard it's better if you're not in the city," Amy said. "But I've never lived outside of this city so I wouldn't know."

"Billions of stars," Kathryn said in awe, "all looking down on us."