Beneath Dark Skies (Rolling Hills Ranch #1)

7. Kenji

SEVEN

KENJI

FINAL DESTINATIONS

Day 394

I open my eyes to the soft glow of dawn gently breaking through the trees above and take a second to let my eyes readjust. The soft rustle of leaves and the cacophony of chirping birds were beginning to grate on me.

I’d heard Theo get up and stroll away from the campsite earlier, the same way he did every time we were near a new group. Knowing he needs time to settle his thoughts and calm his anxiety, I always leave him be. Theo never wanders far, and certainly not for long, always aiming to get back to whatever little camp we’ve made before Adrian and I are up.

He doesn’t seem to realize that I hear him sneaking away every time.

He doesn’t seem to realize how light of a sleeper I am and always have been.

Even before the job, even before Theo joined Momma Suzie and me, and would wake up gasping from his nightmares.

But even if Theo hadn’t made his morning getaway, I don’t think I could have slept much longer. There’s an itch under my skin that’s only made worse and worse the closer we get to this community. The last community.

The three of us have been on the move for months, traveling from one place to the next, hoping we’ll finally find them. And with each community we work through, the light in Adrian’s eyes seems to diminish further. The hope that we’ll find Adrian’s family alive and safe somewhere has dwindled. It seemed like last night was his breaking point.

“If we don’t find them at this next place…” Adrian blew out a breath.

I turned my head towards him, finding the right side of his body illuminated by the campfire as he lay on his back, head facing the stars. His curly hair was like a halo surrounding him, his face somber. So unlike his usual demeanor.

“If we don’t find them at this next place, then that’s it.” He whispered, his words as soft as the chill breeze.

“Adrian, are you sure?” I questioned. “You know Theo and I aren’t complaining about the search. We can keep looking until we find them.”

“That’s the thing. I’m not sure we’ll ever find them. We’ve scoured over a dozen communities in four different states and nothing. Not even a single person to say they saw them… I can hope that they’re alive and out there somewhere, but I can’t keep moving around and searching anymore. Every disappointment weighs on me more.”

He let out a watery laugh and sniffled, turning his head to the other side. But not before I saw the tear start to make its way down his cheek.

“How pathetic of me to cry right now over this, after all the things we’ve been through and seen together.”

“No, Adrian. There ? —”

“It’s fine, K. Let’s just… Let’s just get some rest for the last little leg of our journey tomorrow. Whatever happens, happens.” He said with finality as he fully turned his body to the other si de. “Night, K.”

As I shake myself out of the memory of the conversation last night, I decide it’s time to get up, knowing Theo should be back soon.

With a practiced ease, I stretch my limbs, my muscles stiff from the hard forest floor. Sitting up, I take a moment to reorient myself and survey my surroundings, my gaze scanning the forest around me. Nothing looks off or out of place, but I still can’t seem to shake that itch under my skin.

Years in foster care taught me to trust my instincts, and my years as a firefighter taught me to hone them in.

So, although there’s nothing blatantly wrong, I stay alert.

Looking at last night’s campfire, which has long since dwindled to embers, I decide to give myself something to focus on. As I walk into the woods, I glance at Adrian’s sleeping form a few feet away. Despite also being a firefighter and having to get up just as early and on short notice, the man sleeps like a tank. He also snores like a bear half the time, which is precisely what he’s doing right now. I chuckle and shake my head.

After quickly relieving myself, I tie my hair up and begin searching for firewood. We still have some rabbit and squirrel meat left and should get some breakfast in us before we continue on our journey. It’s only an hour or so West of us, but you never know how the people will react to newcomers. We may not need the sustenance for distance, but we may need it for strength.

My hands deftly select the pieces I know are perfect for kindling. I make my way back to the campsite, and soon, flames dance to life.

“And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke, keep watching over Durin’s sons…” Adrian’s voice sounds to my left, sounding simultaneously groggy and screechy. A feat.

I twist my head to look at him and have to suppress a grin. His curly brown hair is in absolute disarray, sticking up in every direction, looking like a tornado ran havoc over a bird’s nest. The left side of his face is covered in imprints from his arm and the ground he slept on, noticeable even through the scruff lining the lower half of his face, making him look absolutely ridiculous. But his blue eyes are alert, containing that mischief that they always do.

“Yeah, sure. Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. How ‘bout instead of singing in your god awful voice, you decide to get up and help with breakfast or go find wherever Theo’s wandered off to and bring him back?”

Adrian’s brows rise to his hairline.

“He’s still not back? Jesus, he must be real anxious about this new community,” he says as he sits up and stretches. His joints pop as he does, a sign that we’re not as young as we used to be. Or maybe it's just a sign of a night’s sleep on the hard forest floor.

“You know how he gets,” I say as I begin cooking the rabbit meat over the fire. It’s then that I notice that the obnoxious bird noises seem to have died down around me, bringing a strange silence over the forest. I shake my head to clear it.

“It’s hard enough approaching any new community as an outsider, knowing they don’t trust you. It’s even harder when you’re Deaf. Not only do they not believe you, but you can’t communicate with them at all.” I sigh as I look back up towards Adrian.

“Yeah, I—” Adrian is abruptly cut off by an awful, guttural yell coming from behind him.

“Theo…” I breathe.

Before I even have a second to think about it, Adrian and I have both grabbed our weapons and are sprinting in the direction the sound came from. Small branches hit me across the face and scratch at my body as I run, but it’s like I don’t feel any of it. All I can think about is getting to Theo as fast as possible before whatever got him can do any more damage.

As we near a small break in the trees, I notice the bodies of a few infected in a clearing up ahead. They’re taken care of, with one head off to the side, wholly dismembered from the body. We begin entering the clearing, and a small whimper immediately draws my head sharply to the left.

Theo.

He’s bent over, tears silently streaming down his face, his glasses hanging off his nose. His left leg is caught in what looks to be a bear trap.

“Fuck,” Adrian mutters.

As we run over to Theo, he must sense us or see our feet in his peripheral vision because he looks up. His eyes widen, something like relief quickly washes over his features, and he lets out a deep breath.

“The infected came at me.” He signs. “ I fought them off but was worried there could be more around the campsite. I was running for you two when I got caught.” He points down at his leg.

“Yeah, you got caught alright,” Adrian says, his face scrunched up in worry. “Were there any more infected around that we need to look out for, Theo?”

Theo shakes his head, no, and Adrian looks over at me.

“Kenji,” he starts, his hand making a peace sign with a thumb in between the two fingers, as he touches his chest right where his heart is. “What are we gonna do? We need to get him out of this.”

I take a moment to survey his leg, but I can’t exactly gauge how bad it is. I can see that the trap has torn through his pants and is rubbing against the skin, tearing it apart and causing some bleeding. His ankle looks swollen and throbbing, too, as if he fell at an awkward angle.

“You grab one side of the trap, and I’ll grab the other,” I tell Adrian, and then turn to Theo to tell him. “ We’re going to open the trap and set your leg free. I need you to stay as still as possible and focus on your breathing. Okay, Theo? We’re gonna get you out of this. It’s all okay.”

“Says the guy not caught in a bear trap,” Theo signs back. I think he attempts to grin at me, but it comes across as more of a grimace than anything else.

“Adrian,” I say, making eye contact with him as I form a fist with the pinky and thumb pointed out, twisting it in front of my nose a few times. “You ready?” Adrian gives me a nod.

“Pull!” I yell, grasping my side of the trap and pulling it towards me with all of my strength. After a few tries and nothing happening, I start swearing under my breath. The damned thing just won’t open, and I’m beginning to worry about what happens if we do get Theo out of this. Though Adrian and I were EMT certified, it’s been years, and we never completed our training to become paramedics. I’m not feeling confident that we could stitch him up right now if we needed to, not that we even have the supplies. The last thing I want is to remove this and have his leg get infected.

“Okay, new plan,” I tell them. “This thing’s not coming open, and even if it did, we don’t have enough medical supplies to get you patched up. Adrian and I are gonna take turns carrying you, and we’re gonna rush to that community, okay? They’ll hopefully have people who know how to open the trap and some medicine so we can clean the wound once we’re there.”

My gaze shifts to Adrian, who nods at me. “I’ll run back to the campsite real quick and pack up our stuff so we can go.”

I look back down to Theo, who puts on a look of determination and signs at me, “ Let’s fucking do this.”