Angered Seasons: Volume Four (I Will Survive) Read online

  Angered Seasons: Volume Four

  I Will Survive

  Mireille Chester

  Copyright © 2012 by Mireille Chester

  Published by Mireille Chester

  Smashwords Edition

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any way, shape, or form without the express written permission of the author. For more information, please visit http://mireillechester.blogspot.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  I Will Survive

  The weather outside stayed in that ‘calm before the storm’ state. With Max’s revelation, I’d sort of expected more lighting and thunder.

  “I fucking remember…” Max sat on the couch and ran a hand over his face. He frowned and turned his eyes toward the ceiling. “You could have found a better way to get the memories flowing, you jackass! You could have killed me!”

  I managed to hold in my scream as Time appeared beside his son.

  “It was either I struck you down, or she did. Which would you have preferred?”

  “How about next time you just shoot the lightning bolt up her ass instead of mine!”

  Two pairs of silver eyes glared into each other.

  “She’s your mother.”

  Max stood. “She may have given birth to me, but she’s not my mother. Just because we share DNA, does not make us family. You are not my father. You’re the sperm donor. She wanted to kill me and you banished me to another realm. I’m sure that puts you right up there for the parents of the year award. Here’s a thought; she’s your psycho wife. Stop her.”

  Time shook his head. “I can’t. We aren’t allowed to interfere.”

  I scoffed. “Right. Yellow-eyed, sprite-possessed vegetarians, fucked up weather, and the end of human kind… that’s not interfering?”

  “I cannot break the rules simply because she has.”

  “So it’s Max against Terra and Glade?” John groaned. “Man, we’re fucked. No offence, Maxy.”

  Max shook his head, never taking his eyes off of his father. “John’s right. I remember, but most of what I knew how to do, I haven’t done for a very long time. I sure as shit won’t be up to par fast enough to stop them.”

  “I’ve given you the tools you need to defeat the pair. You just have to use them.”

  “Fuck!” Max growled out the curse as Time vanished from the room.

  I inhaled deeply then let the breath out with a sigh of relief as Maxy’s eyes bled back to green. “We’re good?”

  He nodded. “For now.” He noticed we were all looking at him. “What?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You said you remembered. Let’s hear it.”

  “Right.” He sat on the arm of the couch and bit his lip as he organized his thoughts. He looked so calm, so mature. It was like watching a completely different Max. “It’s nothing very helpful, really. I remember living in the other realm with them. Terra, Time wasn’t lying, she’s beautiful. You look at her and your heart hurts. It’s kinda like when you wake up real early when you’re camping and you sit on the beach and everything is so calm and quiet and just… so perfect it hurts.”

  He smiled softly and I could tell he wasn’t seeing us anymore. “It doesn’t look much different than here. Nature is the same. But there aren’t cities or concrete or anything that would hurt her.” He frowned. “Her,” he repeated in a whisper. “I know why she’s doing this. I know why she wanted to get rid of me.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut. “When a tree or an animal or anything that she has created is destroyed, it hurts her. It damages her. Every time I killed something there, she felt it. I didn’t know.”

  Jenny put a hand on his arm. “You were what? Three? Four? You didn’t know.”

  “Million. Two hundred million.”

  Grant coughed and sputtered, the water he had been in the process of swallowing promptly making its way up his nose. “Dude! In people years?”

  “Yeah. In people years. Time made me a toddler when he brought me here. That’s why he blocked all of my memories. I mean, I don’t think a four year old needs to talk about how he remembers the day Leif Ericson landed in Newfoundland.” He caught us all gawking at him and he shrugged. “I don’t know why that date popped into my head. Leif was wicked awesome. The Vikings were sweet. I… never mind.” He gazed from one of us to the other. “Um, the dinosaurs… Yeah.” He looked so guilty I smiled despite the shock I was feeling. “That was me.” He gazed down at his boots. “Am I freaking you out?”

  Jason grinned. “I think we’re past the point of freak outs, Maxy. Shit man, I can’t believe you’re the one who wiped out the dinosaurs!”

  “Not my finest moment, I’ll admit.” Max visibly relaxed. “I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m not sure what Time was talking about when he said he’d given me the tools needed to defeat them.”

  Jenny squeezed his hand. “You’ll figure it out.”

  “God, I hope so.”

  Everyone looked to Lane who was looking out the picture window. He seemed to sense the attention and turned toward us.

  “We’d better get outside.” He ran a hand over his face. “The big poplar out in the middle of the yard fell on Pete’s truck. Sorry, Pete.”

  Pete looked as though he’d just been told his best friend had died. I knew the truck wasn’t worth much, but he’d worked his ass off to get it. It was the first vehicle he’d ever owned.

  “Let’s go check the damage.” I gave his arm a squeeze. “Maybe it’s not that bad. You know, they don’t build trucks like that anymore. Back when that thing was build, they were made to last.”

  Lane made his way to get the axe and the chain saw while the rest of us went to check on the truck.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “Play us a song, Jason.” I handed him his guitar with a smile. He hadn’t played it since the night before Mother Nature had started to decimate human kind.

  He took it from me, his eyes looking at its curves lovingly. He cocked his head slightly while his fingers picked at the strings. Having almost zero musical ability whatsoever, I watched, amazed, as he tuned the instrument by ear.

  “What do you want to hear?”

  “Garth Brooks!”

  “Elvis!”

  “Green Day!”

  “Creedence!”

  Jason nodded as names were tossed in his direction. “How about this one?” He strummed a few chords and his voice joined in, deep and soft.

  I grinned and leaned against Lane as CCR’s Bad Moon Rising flowed through the house.

  I hear hurricanes ablowing.

  I know the end is coming soon.

  I fear rivers over flowing.

  I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

  Don't go around tonight,

  Well, it's bound to take your life,

  There's a bad moon on the rise.

  All right!

  “Isn’t that the truth,” scoffed Max.

  Jenny grinned. “How about this one?” She took the guitar from Jason and started to pick at it.

  See the devil on the doorstep now (my oh my)

  Telling everybody oh just how to live their lives

  Sliding down the information highway

  Buying in just like a bunch of fools


  Time is ticking and we can't go back (my oh my)

  What about the world today

  What about the place that we call home

  We’ve never been so many

  And we've never been so alone

  You keep watching from your picket fence

  You keep talking but it makes no sense

  You say we're not responsible

  But we are, we are

  You wash your hands and come out clean

  Fail to recognise the enemies within

  You say we're not responsible

  But we are, we are, we are, we are

  “Ana Johnsson?” Grant smiled. “Yeah, she nailed that one on the head.”

  “Enough with the depressing end of the world songs. How about something a bit more cheery.” John rolled his eyes.

  “Like what?” Jason took the guitar back from Jenny.

  At first I was afraid I was petrified.

  We all laughed as Pete’s voice broke through our thoughts. Jason strummed a chord and joined in.

  Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my side;

  By the third line, everyone had joined in.

  But then I spent so many nights

  Thinkin' how you did me wrong

  And I grew strong and I learned how to get along

  And now you're back from outer space

  I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face

  I should have changed that stupid lock

  I should have made you leave your key

  If I'd've known for just one second you'd back to bother me

  Go on now, go walk out the door

  Just turn around now

  ('cause) you're not welcome anymore

  Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye

  Do you think I'd crumble

  Did you think I'd lay down and die?

  Oh no, not I. I will survive

  Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive;

  I've got all my life to live,

  I've got all my love to give and I'll survive,

  I will survive. Hey hey.

  By the end of the song, all of us were laughing at John and Shawn as they reenacted the prison cell scene from The Replacements. There was nothing quite as funny as two men line dancing in the living room. For a moment, it was easy to forget the end of the world was trying to happen.

  I smiled. Trying to happen. And if we had anything to do with it, it wouldn’t happen. Mother Nature had picked the wrong race to try and annihilate. I glanced at Max. Though he was smiling, I could tell he was still stressed about his role in things to come. He caught my eye and nodded as I gestured with a small jerk of my head toward the front door.

  The night was clear and the view of the stars was phenomenal from the porch.

  “It’s starting to cool down again.” Max reached over to the porch swing and handed me the blanket.

  “I wonder how cold she’s going to let it go this time.”

  He shrugged.

  “How are you doing, Maxy?”

  I was awarded another shrug.

  “You know we’re here for you, right? You don’t have to do this alone.” I reached over and gave him a hug. “We don’t have much in supernatural powers, but we’ll go down fighting.”

  He smiled sadly. “That’s what I’m scared of. Maybe it would be best if I just did this by myself. I could go back to the shop. At least that way, I’d know you guys were safe.”

  I shook my head. “We’d still have to deal with the Yellow Eyes.”

  “Yeah, but at least they wouldn’t be coming at you in hordes. You’d just have to worry about the odd one here and there.” He let out a slow breath. “I’ve been thinking about it the last couple of days. I’m trying to find a way to tell everyone.”

  “You know they won’t let you go.”

  “They may not have a choice, Gabby.”

  His sad smile broke my heart and I swallowed hard.

  “Everything okay?” Lane sat between us and handed me a bunny hug. “I thought you might need that.”

  I pulled it on and waited to see if Max would voice his concerns. Instead, he shook his head. “It’s all good. Just checking out the view.” He stood and headed back into the house.

  “So?” Lane pulled me close.

  I shook my head. It wasn’t up to me to tell. Max would figure it out on his own. “Just checking out the view.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  The morning was crisp and though we should have been heading into spring, it definitely felt like fall. It was hard to believe that months had gone by. Lane had been keeping track of time on the old calendar in the barn and it was mind blowing to know that we’d been living without power, energy, phones, or cash machines for over four months.

  We’d risked driving to town a couple of times just to see if things there were any better, but each time, the outcome had been the same. If there were any unaffected people, it seemed they’d left for parts unknown. The Yellow Eyes wandered around in small groups of two or three.

  For reasons unknown, there had been no more attacks on us or Max. Even the dogs were clueless as to the whereabouts of Gale.

  Small puffs of steam rose into the air with every breath I took. “I’m glad we decided to plant the vegetables in the house instead of in the garden.”

  Lane gave Bella a pat on the neck before swinging onto her. Vader snorted under me, his own puff of steam joining mine. I slung my bow and quiver on my back and watched as Jenny did the same.

  “Just remember. No guns until Jenna or I miss.” I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed.

  “So I should just leave it at home then?”

  Jenny patted the riffle she had tied to the back of her saddle. “I prefer this when the Yellow Eyes are running at me.”

  Fatty Lumpkin put his head down to pick at a patch of frosty dead grass.

  “Come on, Lumpy. You can eat when we get back.” Jenny gave him a squeeze and he grunted his annoyance.

  “Brat says to head to the back pasture. There’s a small herd hanging out back there.” Max smiled up at Jenny and gave her leg a squeeze. She put her hand over his.

  “Be a good man and tend to the vegetables while I go get us some meat.”

  He stuck tongue out at her. Riley gave a small bark and started trotting toward our destination and we followed along.

  True to Brat’s word, there was a small herd. Much to our surprise, it was a herd of ten Black Angus cows, three calves, and a bull. We stopped our horses and watched them for a moment.

  “How do you feel about being a cattle rancher?” inquired Lane.

  “It’d be nice to have some guaranteed meat,” I admitted.

  “Let’s try to get them to the small pasture behind the barn. We’ll give them some hay and water then come back out and try to find how they got in here. We’ll run the fence and see if it needs patching before we let them back out here.”

  The small herd was obviously used to being moved by horses and we made it to the barn pasture without incident. Max closed the gate behind the cows and turned back to us with a grin.

  “Definitely better than hunting deer.”

  A branch snapping in the woods to our left had the horses spooking away from the sound. Vader pulled up easily enough and I watched as Lane reined in Bella. Jenny grunted as Lumpy dropped his head and hunched his back, all four feet coming up off of the ground. She hauled on the right rein in an attempt to pull him around and get him under control.

  “Jenny, hang on!” Max paled, fear plain on his face.

  “Pull, Jenny! Pull and spur!” Lane kicked Bella and made his way toward the out of control pair.

  I swore as Jenny lost her grip on the reins and was left holding on to the saddle horn. Lumpy gave a hard buck, sending Jenny over his head. There’s no way to describe the sound of a bone breaking on impact, but it’s one you never forget. Jenny’s weight came down on her arm and the snap r
ang through the air. The sound of her head hitting a large rock made my stomach lurch.

  “Jenny!” I jumped off of Vader and ran with Max to her side.

  “Jenny. Hey, come on.” Max brushed her hair back. “Jenny. Wake up.”

  I tried to ignore the bone showing through her bicep and concentrated on her head. Blood wet the dead grass under her. Lane knelt beside me.

  I took a deep breath. “Her pulse is thready and she’s not responding. There’s too much blood, Lane.” I felt gently under her head and fought to keep the bile from rising as my fingers moved crushed skull.

  Max’s whole body jerked as he tried to suppress a sob. “Come on, Jenny.” He bent over her and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Come back to me,” he whispered.

  He stiffened.

  “Max?” I put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Back up.” He glanced from me to Lane. “Back up, quick.”

  We scrambled back until we were a good thirty feet away.

  “I just don’t know if this will work. I think I can do something. I think I remember.” Max closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He moved over Jenny’s limp form so that he straddled her. His eyes bled to silver.

  My heart was pounding in my chest and I held my breath as he put his hands gently on her shoulders and pressed his lips to hers.

  Seconds turned to minutes and though I was scared that the noise might break his concentration, I finally took the breath my lungs were craving.

  Max blinked and pulled away from her. “Come on, Jenny.”

  I wiped at the tears streaming down my face and raced to her side as she groaned.

  “Max?” She sat up cautiously and touched the back of her head. “Ow.”