Molly didn’t bother responding. Why would she talk to the pawns of this little party? Still, she hated showing any type of weakness, and it was getting tougher with every mile. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as her eyesight blurred.
She woke from a sudden shift in momentum. Her eyes hurt as she opened them in the wintry air. The engine stopped and both doors to the cab opened.
“Wake up, girls!” Patrick yelled. He stretched and yawned, loud and obnoxious, and shook the nearest boy. “Grab that fuel we left inside and fill us up.”
They scrambled out of the truck, leaving Molly cold from their absence. Even her bones felt coated in ice. They had arrived in some forgotten town that resembled all the others previously passed, except for the trees that lined both sides of the street like tall, leafless guardians. Molly stood and the blood rushed to her head. She steadied herself on the cab until she found her balance. She threw her leg over the side of the truck bed and fell to the ground because her stupid foot had gone to sleep.
Patrick grabbed underneath her arms and helped her up. “Cold out here, isn’t it?” He leered at her with his big, dumb face.
Molly started walking, wanting to get far away from him. Her feet waded through the piles of leaves that littered the main street of this Podunk town. She hoped her internal heater would kick in before she became a permanent Popsicle. After a couple minutes, her legs still quivered, but they were a little warmer and she was still standing.
She found Chase staring at her with his creepy eyes. He watched her all the way like she was putting on a show just for him. Molly circled around him and kept moving. There was nothing to say; he already proved himself useless.
One of the boys ran up and handed her some food. She swallowed the bread, cheese and dried meat in less than two minutes. When no other food was offered, she sulked in silence against the rough bark of one of the nearby trees.
A small hand gripped hers and Molly felt warmth traveling throughout her body and limbs immediately. She looked down into Catherine’s blue eyes and a stirring of guilt crept over her. She hated the unfamiliar feeling.
Catherine gave Molly’s hand a squeeze. “You didn’t know.”
And then it hit her. She didn’t even know what “it” was, but she lowered her gaze as tears raced down her face.
A light glowed in the grip of their hands, as though their connection were fueled by a power source. The light seeped between the laces of their fingers and Catherine’s strange power surged through Molly. Part of her wanted to pull away, but the cold, tired portion of Molly refused. A replay of the events from the night before flipped past in her mind: the fire, hitting Jimmy and kidnapping Catherine. Was it possible that she had been responsible for all of it? Molly couldn’t turn away from the fact that she’d played a critical part.
Light covered her body as her mind clicked.
And like a receding tide, the light drained away into Catherine. Her face pinched on itself, tight with the struggle she was assuming from Molly. She swayed and only their hold on each other kept the little girl from falling. She raised her face and the light shot from her eyes like twin bolts into the dark clouds above. Still clasping hands, the two girls sagged to the cold ground next to the tree. From everything Molly had heard about Catherine’s earlier healings, she expected to pass out, but didn’t.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Catherine said, blinking her eyes.
She wrapped her arms around Molly, hugging her tenderly. Molly felt reborn from the cold numbness that claimed her since Hunter had ended their relationship. But really, she realized, her paralysis extended far beyond that moment, all the way to when she held her dying mother’s hand with confusion over her sudden illness.
“What have I done?” she choked out.
“Nothing that can’t be undone,” Catherine answered with a sympathetic smile.
“But I….” Molly wiped away more tears.
“I know. It doesn’t matter now.”
“What can I do?”
Catherine stood and reached out to help Molly up. “Live the life given to you. Accept things the way they are and then move forward to make a better tomorrow.”
Molly nodded her head and closed her eyes. Her body tingled. Her spirit was strengthened by sense of joy that lifted her out of a dark abyss.
“Are we about done here?”
Molly opened her eyes. Chase’s cancerous form oozed over towards them. Even the giant trees seemed to lean back as if repulsed by his presence.
Catherine scrunched up her nose like she’d caught a whiff of something rotten. “You’re such a party pooper.”
“You’ve ruined her, haven’t you?”
“That’s right. Want to know why? Because I have the power to help her and there isn’t a thing you or your plague can do about it.”
Chase backhanded Catherine hard across the face. She spun to the ground. Shocked, Molly knelt to help her.
Chuckling, Catherine pushed up. “Is that all you got?”
Molly grabbed her hand and whispered, “He’ll kill you.”
Catherine winked. “I need you to run.” She kissed Molly’s cheek and gently shoved her away.
Molly touched the warm spot that Catherine’s lips left behind. “What?”
Catherine spread her hands, palms down, under the leaves and touched the ground. A rumbling quake shook the surrounding area and the trees rustled with growing agitation. The street exploded with flying dirt and debris as a multitude of long sinuous roots tore from the earth, knocking Kessie, Patrick and the other boys off their feet. With a scowl on his face, Chase raised a hand and the tree root aimed at him shriveled and died.
“Run, Molly!” Catherine yelled.
Molly sprinted, her legs churning as though she risked losing everything. She scrambled over the crumbling remains of a building and turned at the first corner. Cold air filled her lungs, but something deeper fueled her need to escape.
Houses dotted the neighborhood ahead of her and Molly ran behind one, breaking the line of sight so her pursuers couldn’t tell which way she’d gone. She scurried from house to house using large evergreens and untamed shrubs for cover.
A couple of blocks in, she jumped a chain-link fence and rushed to the back of a white-sided house. Opening the door with a rusty-hinged squeal, she slipped inside.
The dried-husk of a dead man sat at the table, dressed in a suit as though he were about to leave for church when death came knocking. Molly cringed past the remains and entered the front room of the house. Kneeling beneath the window, she lifted the blinds an inch to peek out. Boys searched for her in the distance. Patrick walked behind them, shouting orders and pointing out different directions.
The truck drove up to Patrick with Catherine seated between Chase and Kessie. Chase spoke to Patrick, who yelled for the others to return; they were leaving. Patrick’s expression soured when Chase directed him into the truck bed with the other boys.
Molly stared at Catherine, wishing she would save herself. Molly was sure she could if she wanted. Catherine could do anything. Why was she letting Chase take her?
Catherine looked directly at Molly and smiled. The truck sped off, laying a big trail of dust and leaving Molly all alone. Sadness overwhelmed her, and yet for the first time in her memory, she felt genuine. She cried for Catherine until her tears ran out, and then she slept.
Hunter rubbed the fuzz covering his scalp while waiting for dinner in a survivor settlement on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado. He wasn’t convinced about his new look. He missed the way his hair used to lay on his collar and how it would billow in the wind. Now he just felt naked. There was still enough winter cold to make him regret the loss for more practical reasons than vanity. He lowered his hand and sighed as he scanned the crowd outside the cafeteria one more time.
Ginger hooked her arm in his and laughed softly. “You’re never going to forgive me, are you?”
“It’s not your fault Jimmy made you cut all my hair off. I just can’t believe I let you. I haven’t seen one other kid with hair this short.”
“Molly gave me the idea from a fashion magazine. Short hair used to be in style.”
“I feel like a dope.”
Ginger faced Hunter and arched an eyebrow. “I like it. You have to admit it’s a pretty good disguise.”
“So is putting a dress on Jimmy, but that idea got shot down real quick.”