A Whisper in the Flame (The Ragers Series Book 1) Read online

  Someone crouches over top of me from behind, Mr. Baseball cap. He hovers inches above my body, his breath hot in my ear.

  “Honey, there isn’t anyone good left in this world,” he taunts, brushing his dry, cracked lips against my ear. He flips me over on to my back with a twisted grin spreading across his evil face.

  “No. Get off me! GET OFF!” I scream through tears. I jerk my knee up with all of my might, nailing him in the crotch.

  “Ow,” he yelps, falling off me to the side, “You stupid bitch!”

  I jump up, leaving him to wither on the ground, as I make my escape. “HELP!” I call.

  Please, please, let them hear me!

  The first man slams into my back, pushing me against a large tree trunk. He shoves my face into the rough, dry tree bark and pushes his body hard up against mine.

  I feel completely sick, horrified, irresponsible for even walking this far away. I know what these men are going to do to me. And there is nothing I can do to stop them.

  The man turns me around and smashes his body into mine again, behind him I can see his friend walking up. Anger is darkening his pale features, casting shadows through his tightly woven brows that pull into the center of his face. If they weren’t before, now they’ll leave me for dead once they’re done with me.

  My body just stops. Stops responding, stops fighting, my arms drop to my side and my eyes close, letting the tears fall quietly down my face.

  “FUCK!” I hear Mr. Baseball Cap shout.

  My eye flicker wide-open just in time to see a flash of a tree tattoo in front of my eyes, pounding into the man’s head who seconds before had his mouth on my neck. The man plummets to the ground, sprawled out cold in front of me.

  Jake’s hand slowly reaches for my forehead, softly wiping away the blood on my temple. His angry face turns soft and cautious as I tremble beneath his hand. I don’t want to pull away from him, but my body reacts before my brain can.

  Behind him, I see Kye’s body bend to the side as his leg kicks into the air and snaps Baseball Cap right underneath his chin. The man’s head flies backwards and his whole body falls to the ground like he meant to do a trust fall but no one was there to catch him. Kye pounces, yanking the man’s arm to flip him onto his stomach and slamming his hands behind his back.

  I quiver into my body; relief, and disgust both fighting to take over. As I sink to the ground Jamie catches me.

  “Emma!” she cries, tightening her arms around me. The pressure of arms, safely squeezing me, letting me know I’m okay, brings me more peace than I could have imagined as I collapse into tears on her shoulder.

  “Okay, Jiu-Jitsu Kye,” Jake says sarcastically, and I feel myself tremble, wanting to laugh but not being able to. “Is yours KO’d?”

  “Yep. What do you think, should we tie these assholes up and leave them out here?”

  “No, let’s put them in the church, that way when they wake up, they have to face Him for their actions.”

  “Poetic, I like it.” Kye mulls.

  Even though I feel unwarranted shame, hurt, and a million other emotions coursing through my body right now, a part of me feels a small bit of hope.

  Mr. Baseball Cap was wrong. There are still good people left in this world.

  Chapter 24

  The next week passes in a slow blur. My mind keeps taking me back to the cemetery. The men creep all over me in my nightmares and their faces still follow me into the daylight. I swear I can still feel Mr. Baseball Cap’s hot, sickening breath on my neck as he slithers up me. My skin crawls and I jump anytime someone touches me, even if only by accident.

  “Sorry! It’s just me,” Jamie says drawing back her hand in a flash.

  I jump and turn around to her, clutching my chest.

  “No, no, sorry. That was my fault. I’ve, I’ve just got to work past this a bit.”

  “You know what might help?” she asks, a slight smile spreading into her eyes.

  “Uh, do I want to know? Your smile is very misleading at the moment.”

  “You should let Kye train you. Wait, before you give me that look—” she cuts off the words I was about to say. “It will make you feel more confident in yourself. You’ll have an idea of how to protect yourself.”

  “I don’t know, Jamie,” I say, brushing past her to slide on my shoes. “Do you think the tomatoes are ready to take out to the garden?”

  “Uh huh… I was actually coming to ask if you’d help me carry them out to the garden. Nice change of subject by the way.”

  Within twenty minutes, we are approaching our little garden. The collard greens and lettuce are flourishing, with a healthy range of light to dark greens present in its growth.

  The heat cranks up high during the daylight hours of the early May afternoons. Out in the sunshine with no shade, it’s downright hot. But here in the shade of the large pine trees, it is close to perfection. The produce has a standing chance of surviving into the hottest months of the year here. Even our late planted tomatoes and little carrots.

  Still though, shade or not, the humidity saturates my skin as we dig holes in the damp soil, transplant the tomato stalks, and work to build a wire cage around them. By the time we’re through, I feel like I’ll need to drink ten cups of ice-cold water to keep my insides from feeling like jelly.

  “Hey,” Jamie wipes sweat and dirt from her brow, pausing from harvesting some of the collards. “I think after we finish the rest of the chores today, we should come back out here to the river for a swim.”

  I glance at the river, taking in the gleam from the sun it is getting beyond the shade of the trees. It looks beautiful. Gentle ripples shake across its surface and I feel a wistful pull in my chest towards the water.

  “Do you think it will be warm enough?” I ask.

  “Oh, it will definitely feel chilly at first, but we’ll warm up fast, I promise. Plus, it will be such a nice break from this stupid heat and humidity.” She shoves the last bit of harvested greens into her basket and stands, dusting her hands off.

  “Ready to head back? These things are super dirty, I’m going to be cleaning them for at least thirty minutes before we can cook them for lunch.”

  After enjoying a rather delicious lunch of collard greens and baked fish, we spend the rest of the day washing and hanging laundry, counting inventory after bringing some food from the cellar into the house, and gathering the trash to carry to the next town over’s dump.

  When we are finished with all of the chores, Jamie leads the way back to the river. Kye and Jamie chat animatedly together, holding hands and giggling. Kye is carrying a bag with some clothes and a net over his right shoulder, squeezing Jamie's hand tightly with his left.

  I smile as I walk quietly behind them, happy they found each other again along with this little sanctuary of land. I can’t even be jealous of it anymore like I was before. They have been incredibly generous to share it with me.

  We walk lazily through the forest; past our garden and areas of overgrown grass. I let my hands graze over the grass, feeling the cool tickle on my palm as it slides across.

  Kye holds out his hand for both of us, helping us past the little gully and onto the banks of the river. His skin has become an even deeper shade of olive bronze with the sun tanning his skin. He barely has a touch of redness, where I would be blistering without some type of shade and sunblock.

  The river sprawls out in front of us, sparkling beautifully in the sun. We take extra care to watch our step on the big and small rocks of the sandy shore. We set our belongings on one of the largest boulders.

  "I can't believe Jake backed out and stayed at the trailer instead of coming out with us," Kye says, shaking his head as he slips off his t-shirt and tosses it to the bag.

  "Well at least he'll have dinner ready for us when we get back!" Jamie says, folding her shirt and shorts into a neat stack, along with Kye’s, placing them in the bag fully.

  She sticks her toe tentatively into the water, assessing the temperat
ure. Her tanned skin reflects the sun bouncing off the surface of the water and she flips her golden blonde hair over, pulling it into a tight ponytail.

  “Alright, here goes nothing,” Jamie says, taking a sure step into the water. After a step or two she pushes herself up into a mini jump before sinking completely under the water.

  When she comes back up, water spills off of her face and hair, she smiles and plops backwards again, thoroughly enjoying herself.

  "You coming?" she asks, turning to face me.

  "Yes," I say, smiling in return. I pull the hot t-shirt over my head and unbutton my jeans, slipping them off and setting both on top of a second big rock near the river's edge. I step my foot in without thinking about what the temperature of the water might be.

  "Oh my God, it is so cold!" I shriek a little. I try to go in far enough, quick enough, to have water cover my entire body.

  "Only for a second," Jamie laughs, laying backwards into a carefree float.

  She is right of course; the water is only cold for a moment before feeling amazing on my skin. I dunk my head under to help wash away the sweat and dirt from the day and come up feeling refreshed as water rolls down my face. We swim languidly for a while as Kye sits on the side messing with strings on his fishing net.

  When our skin is pruned from the water, Kye finally decides to jump into the river with us.

  "Stay very still," Kye commands me quietly, taking slow steps in the water and dragging the net slowly behind him.

  Suddenly, I feel something scaly glide over the top of my feet. Immediately I cry out, kicking backwards and reaching out for the river's edge.

  "Dammit!" Kye yells and Jamie laughs loudly.

  "I'm so sorry, Kye!" I try to apologize but Jamie cuts across me.

  "Do you hear that?" she asks. I don’t hear anything but Kye does.

  "Shit, let's go." They are both launching towards me and towards the river's edge. Jamie pulls me out of the water and tosses me a towel from the bag.

  "Let's GO!" Kye screams at us, picking up the bag immediately and reaching out for Jamie's hands. Shaking, I turn to grab my clothes but accidently knock them into the water instead.

  "Forget them!" Jamie yells as they run into the trees. I race into the woods after them, afraid to be separated and afraid of what they hear. We run fast and hard before I start to hear it too. It sounds like a small airplane.

  How?! And why?! I push harder, confused by it all. They are scared, so I am scared.

  When we reach the clearing where the trailer is Jamie begins calling out.

  "Jake! JAKE!!"

  "Over here, let's go!" he yells out to us. He is standing near the bunker some thirty feet away from us. We run towards him as the sound of the plane becomes louder and louder.

  "Get in now!" he yells at us as we draw closer to him. Jamie is in first, then Kye. I climb in behind them before Jake jumps down the first few steps, slamming the opening closed and spinning the metal wheel closed to lock us inside. I walk towards the back wall where Kye and Jamie are huddled together on the couch.

  "What the hell was that!?" I turn to face Jake, screaming, huffing out loud as I strain to catch my breath.

  "Military planes," Jake replies, sitting in the lawn chair opposite of me. "They have special infrared technology that can detect body heat. Luckily, this bunker is so thick that their equipment can't detect us."

  "But why? You were both there, what is going on?"

  "Look, if they find you, they will either kill you or use you until you no longer want to be used any more. Then they will kill you anyways.

  "I know this from experience, Emma. They don't want to help us. You know as well as I do that they have a cure; yet they won't share it with anyone? All they are doing up there right now is looking for survivors to kill off."

  "I want to know why. Why would they want to kill us?"

  "I wish I had an answer for you, I really do. But I don't."

  We try to stay quiet and calm as we hear the planes hover quietly overhead. They must be scoping out the land for signs of life. Jake thought of this before reaching the bunker and made sure to cut off the generator and knock over the wagon to make the area look devoid of human interaction.

  When the planes do leave, we stay exactly where we are, wanting to make sure that they do not return, or no one shows up on foot and finds us. Kye and Jamie are curled up on the couch together sleeping while I, still in nothing but panties, a bra and a towel, sit in one of the outdoor chairs and Jake in the other.

  We are both quiet. Jake listens intently for any sound or noise above us. He has a gun sitting steadily in his lap and his head trained on the stairs to the bunker door. I am bent in my chair attempting to stay warm in the cool underground of the dark bunker. There is a generator here, but Jake wants to refrain from turning it on, just in case.

  "Would you like a blanket?" Jake asks me, noticing me convulse in a shiver out of the corner of his eye. Before I can answer he gets up and grabs one for me anyways.

  "Stand up," he says, shaking the blanket open. There are a few holes in it here and there, but it looks to be a handmade wool blanket, warm and inviting. I listen to him without hesitation, and he wraps the blanket around my shoulders. "This should keep you warm, we may be in here for a bit."

  "Thanks," I mumble, sitting back down soaking in my newfound warmth.

  "What happened to your clothes anyways?"

  Pursing my lips, I say, "Well... as you may have noticed... I'm a bit clumsy. They heard the plane, we rushed to get out. I tried to grab my clothes, but ended up heaving them into the water instead."

  Jake laughs quietly, shaking his head, "Yeah, from the short while I've known you... that sounds exactly like you."

  I grimace and stay quiet, embarrassed that this is who I am, this is the girl they chose to bring into their lives. A klutz who can't do too much for herself.

  "How'd you make it out there so long on your own?"

  "Look, I may not be the most graceful, athletic person in the world, but I am smart. I think things through, I make plans, I hide well, I can run, and I can swim." I reply sharply. "What about you? How did you end up in the Army?”

  Jake adjusts himself in his seat, turning his full attention to me before answering. "I volunteered. I wanted to go into the Army. When we found out that the medication was causing brain abnormalities after continued use, I knew I had to do something. I joined because I knew we were strapped for cash and Dad had been taking it for a while. I didn’t want him to feel like he needed it to provide for us, but it’s addictive in a way. Your body starts to crave it more. I wanted to make enough money to help him stop completely and give him a fighting chance at his brain healing.”

  "Kye has been my best friend since freshman year, so he decided that he wanted to come with me. I knew he had a crush on Jamie, so I figured it may have had something to do with wanting to impress her as well.

  "Within a few months of being in, they promoted me, wanting me to work closely with some of their scientists Dr. Monroe, Carson and Katzburg -”

  “That’s my dad,” I interrupt. “Carson, I mean. Mark.” My heart stutters hearing my dad’s name. Wondering what he did, if he was trying to help at all.

  “Really? He was a good guy,” Jake says with a light crooked smile. “He was the one who warned me to be careful. He was pissed because he just found out that they had experimented with the medication on soldiers before he got there, but they were using those men as weapons. Furious doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

  My heart stops when Jake tells me this. Dad never mentioned this in his emails. Why? Was he afraid he would scare us?

  “At first, I was fine with watching over the labs, I was able to make good money, send it back to Jamie and Dad… I felt good about being able to do something. More months passed at which point I had already discovered that they had a cure.

  "I thought that it was finally over, or at least it was going to be soon. That was until one night while on
duty when I overheard the Vice-President talking with my general about their plans.

  “They had already secured most of the wealthiest high-ranking officials and families in the United States, and anyone else they thought was smart enough or strong enough. For the rest of us, they were planning on leaving us. Letting us die so they could rid the country of over-population and start again.

  “They wanted to use us to clean up their mess and get rid of all the Ragers. From there they could start again, build a new society. Anyone who wasn't higher ranking in the Army was dispensable."

  “How… how can they do this to us?" I ask, feeling my emotions rising under my skin.

  "I don't know. Later that night I found Kye and told him what I heard. We planned for weeks on a way to escape. And there was no way I was leaving without a cure. Luckily, with my position, it was easy for me to steal a few vials of it. I worked with the head scientist three times per week. Late one night, after everyone else in the lab had gone home and Dr. Monroe had fallen asleep at his desk like normal, I swiped a few from the back of the fridge so no one would notice.

  "Kye was more experienced in the other sectors of the base so he was able to find the most inconspicuous way out for us. We pretended as if we were on guard duty of the fence that night. I had to change to my old Private uniform to blend in. The alarms started sounding when we got to the gate from the towers and base, Dr. Monroe must have woken up to me being gone and discovered what I had taken.

  “We had taken off into the woods running. We couldn’t stop, otherwise we would have been shot and killed. That was probably the scariest two weeks of my life, not knowing if we would make it or if there was anything left worth making it to.

  "We went to our old neighborhood, but found it abandoned, so we decided to come here instead. My dad always told us to meet up here if anything happened to us. My dad was gone... but at least Jamie was okay."

  We sit in silence for a minute mulling over everything he said. Suddenly angry tears come splashing down my face.