The UnNameables

Chapter 10

         When Jamie stepped out of the dark building and into the light, he felt himself relax. He hadn't seen the sun for who knows how long, and the smell of dead nature was way better than the putrid stench of mold and age-old blood. "Freedom," he breathed. "I could kiss the ground! If it wasn't dead."

"Well, if you're still in the kissing mood, you've always got Freya," Jackson smirked.

"Well that's rich coming from our resident baby daddy."

"So now what?" Jamie asked, gazing around at the dead, empty forest around him. "We're out in the middle of nowhere with no means of communication with anyone. How did you guys get here, anyway?"

"We drove," Martin frowned. "But Maria blew up the car."

Jamie blinked, "Oh. Well, crap."

"Let's start walking. I want to get out of this cursed place," Freya half-limped, half-walked ahead, expecting the others to follow. Martin, Sophie, and Jackson, holding baby Daniel, walked after her. Jamie ran to catch up with Freya.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay enough to walk on your own? Do you need to sit down and rest a bit?"

"I didn't turn into a wimp, Jamie. You're such a... gallant idiot."

"Really? Well, I suppose that's better than just 'idiot.'"

Freya laughed and stopped, turning to Jamie. "Just shut up," she grabbed his shirt, pulled him closer and kissed him full on the mouth. Jamie, pleasantly surprised, wrapped his hands around her waist and drew her to him. He didn't even care that she was bloodied and bruised.

Suddenly, her whole body relaxed into his as behind them, the asylum began to slowly crumble to the ground and was set aflame. The old medicines and chemicals caught on fire and blew the place to pieces. It was a shower of ash, smoke and red-hot light that shook the ground. Martin, Jackson, and Sophie watched in awe and terror as the blaze burned. The light reflected off of Daniel's wide, wondering eyes. He was too caught up in the horrific beauty to even think of crying.

Suddenly, the terrain around them began to change. Freya and Jamie pulled apart and watched in wonder as the asylum burned and the dead forest around them started to come alive. Buds sprouted from dead limbs, and dead grass was pushed aside by new, green shoots. Even the trees above their heads seemed to grow tall again, pulling away from each other and letting the sun shine through. "Why do I feel like I've suddenly been transported into a Disney movie?" Jamie said, looking around him at the flourishing landscape. "This is unreal."

"Well, the evil stepmother is dead. But the girl never rescues the guy in fairy tales."

"Maybe in mine they do," Jamie grinned.

Freya grimaced, "Too far! Nope, not happening."

"All in good time."

"Shut up you idiot. You've been demoted. Too much sappiness."

Jamie looked over at Martin and the others. "I keep telling her that I'm sappy. It's not going to change. When will she learn?"

"Maybe you can teach her," Martin said, slapping his grandson on the back. "Jamie 101."

Freya pretended she didn't hear them, "Nearest town is pretty far away. We'd better stop talking about irrelevant stuff and walk."

Daniel, who had been returned to his mother, couldn't tear his eyes away from the beauty of nature around him. He took it all in. Jamie imagined he hadn't seen sunlight until now. He watched as Sophie plucked a flower from the ground and gave it to Daniel, who clenched it in his fist and immediately began to drool over it happily.