unwanted

chapter five

unwoven

The next day they spent getting Julian's car free from the deep rut that Jess buried it in. It wasn't easy, but Julian had made up his mind and he was relentless about it. By the time it came free Jess was ready to cipher the gas out of it, dose it, and set it on fire.

The wasted day was worth it to see the look on Julian's face as they cruise back to town. She was kind enough not to mention they had less than half a tank and wouldn't be driving far in it.

If Mr. Denton was glad to see them it didn't show. He put Julian to work chopping firewood. When he learned they might not be coming back he suggested Julian better start working harder.

Jess was sitting on the porch in the chair next to Mr. Denton, watching Julian work. Bet Mr. Denton wasn't admiring the boy being shirtless, muscles straining. Watching someone heaving a heavy ax could be entertaining.

She should feel guilty that he was slaving, and she was relaxing but she didn't. She had volunteered to help but he'd looked terrified of the thought of her anywhere near an ax.

Sending him a dirty look, she'd gotten comfortable and sat back to watch the show. She had to hand it to her guy, he wasn't slacking in the hot as hell category.

Once again it wasn't her guilt she felt. What was Kellum doing?

"Storm's coming."

Realizing her fist were so tight that her hands hurt, she released her grip and looked at the old man.

"It's going to be a bad one. Maybe if you leave early enough you can get out ahead of it."

"Come with us."

He was silent for so long she thought he hadn't heard her, but then he pointed at the post office. "I remember when that was just a room on the back of the police station. I can tell you how long it took to build the school. I've been here longer than all of this. In that cemetery, I've buried a wife and two sons. I reckoned my place is here. Ole Beau's here. He's lost too much for his mind to be clear. Reckon I'll keep my eye on him."

He might appear senile always staring up into the clouds but when he looked at her, his eyes were sharp. "Are they really aliens?"

"Yes."

"You live long enough; you see it all."

Tell her about it.

"Why are you just sitting around? Get on inside and shuck that corn. Nobody likes idle hands."

She wondered how many times he'd told her that in the fifth grade. Thousands? In fifth grade, she'd stuck her tongue out every time. She caught herself before she could this time. Knowing she'd probably never see him again, she got up. Guess she was about to learn how to shuck corn.

They did leave early the next day, but the storm still caught up with them. They also ran out of gas and was on foot. By day two it wasn't just dark skies and rain. Wind howled from all directions.

It would have been nice to get in from the rain, but first they had to find a place they could hide out in. When they finally caught sight of a small town up ahead, Jess was too wet and tired to be overjoyed.

Damn it, she missed the way it used to be. When you drove where you wanted to be, and nothing was ever too far away. She missed phones and tv's with the weather channel. Warm baths and air conditioning.

She hadn't known how good she had it. A mom. Family. Food whenever she wanted it. The biggest problem in her life was the big test on Friday.

She'd been a brat. A troublemaker. She could have tried harder. Or tried any.

Feeling the tears on her face, she bit her bottom lip. Yes, this suck hairy butt but she wasn't one to cry. "So, suck it up, assface. Have some pride. Julian's not acting like a baby. He's not acting like the world is ending."

She rolled her eyes to herself. In her defense, the world was ending.

Jess raised her head for a moment to make sure she was still headed in the right direction. Pushing wet, tangled hair out of her face until she could see. Yes, town. Small. Only a few stores. Still a good distance away. She must be moving slow because Julian was a good distance ahead of her. He knew how much she detested all this exercise, so he always stayed ahead of her, knowing it pushed her to keep up.

Ducking her head, she started back off.

The pain in her arm had her screaming out and reaching for it. Seeing that her arm was unhurt didn't help in the least. It felt crushed. Kellum. That thought was enough to overwhelm her but was nothing compared to the tidal wave of grief that washed over her. With a long moan, she let it devour her. It might destroy her, but it was as close as she could get to Kell because he was somewhere wrapped in this pain as well.