Chapter Five

 

 

 

Once again on guard duty the next day with Calan, Jerrica had gotten used to riding on his back. And the other workers had seemed to as well. They no longer stopped what they were doing and stared as Calan and Jerrica ran by. All of them, except for Becca, that is. And Jerrica was pretty sure it wasn’t curiosity that had the other girl staring.

The sun was high, and Jerrica had been patrolling the fields and orchard with Calan for hours when she left him at their lookout spot to get some water from the pump. After she’d had a drink, she turned to head back, only to find Becca blocking her way.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up if I were you,” Becca said, then sneered as she looked Jerrica up and down. “Not that you’d have stood a chance, anyway.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Werewolf Defender. He’s not looking for a girlfriend. Apparently, he never has one because he doesn’t stay at any place for very long. So you can be all friendly with him if you want, but you won’t get very far. Even if he were looking for someone, it wouldn’t be you. He’s already told me how pretty he thinks I am, and how if he wasn’t what he was, he’d think about settling down with me.”

“When did he tell you that?” Jerrica didn’t know if she should believe Becca or not.

“Last night when I met him at his cabin after he’d been to yours for dinner. He told me all about your stupid archery practice. He doesn’t think of you as a girl, you know. He feels as if you’re more one of the boys.”

Jerrica stiffened. Becca’s words were like a slap to the face. She’d told no one about her trying to teach Calan how to use the bow. And Becca hadn’t been anywhere near the cabin at the time. The only way the other girl would have known was if Calan had indeed told her. If Becca had been truthful about that, then the rest she’d said had to be true as well.

She took the long way around when she returned to where Calan waited for her. As she passed the spot in the fields where Austin worked, he called her name. Jerrica changed direction and went to him.

“Hey, Austin.”

“Hi. Since we didn’t get a chance to talk earlier, I wanted to make sure you were still okay with me coming by your cabin later today.”

Jerrica glanced at Calan. He stood in his wolf form, keeping watch over the fields. According to Becca, Jerrica couldn’t expect anything more from him than what they’d already shared. She’d previously told herself that over and over again, but a tiny part of her had thought there might be a chance. That died with what Becca had told her.

She turned back to Austin. “I am. You can come around sometime after dinner.”

He smiled. “Great. I’m looking forward to it.”

Jerrica did her best to return his smile with one of her own. “So am I.”

“I’d better let you get back to the Werewolf Defender and your patrolling. He’s looking right at you.”

She nodded then left Austin. Sure enough, he’d been right. Calan did watch her from the lookout spot. Jerrica yanked her gaze away and walked the rest of the distance between them. Once she reached him, she stood beside him, scanning the fields. She didn’t look or talk to him.

After a few minutes, Calan asked, “Is something wrong?”

“No. Why would you think that?”

“Well, for one thing, you won’t look at me. And for another, I’m getting the feeling you’re upset about something. I saw you talking to Becca. Did she cause it?”

Jerrica shook her head. “No.”

She wasn’t going to tell Calan that Becca was responsible for her sudden bad mood. Actually, she was afraid to say too much to him now. There was nothing stopping him from repeating everything she said to the other girl, who would, of course, use it against Jerrica.

“Okay. I’ve been meaning to ask. Would you mind giving me another archery lesson this evening?”

Jerrica turned her head and looked at Calan. He couldn’t be serious, not after what Becca had said about last night’s lesson. She didn’t need him to think of her any more as one of the boys than he already did.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m busy.”

“Oh, all right. Another day then? I really want to learn.”

“Why? It isn’t as if you need to. Your teeth and claws protect you better than a bow and arrow can.”

“I only asked because I thought you didn’t mind showing me. I know I don’t need to use it for defense. It’s something I’ve always wanted to master.”

“I’m just busy, is all. Plus, I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression if we spend lots of time alone together.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.” Jerrica looked away.

She and Calan stood in silence for the rest of their time watching over the workers. After Mathias shouted it was time to quit working for the day, Jerrica walked down the small hill ahead of Calan. She didn’t look behind her to see if he followed. She hurried away and met up with the others.

Austin was quick to fall into step with her. They were almost at the gates when Jerrica took a quick glance over her shoulder. Calan had remained on top their lookout hill, watching her.

 

* * * *

 

Calan didn’t attempt to catch up with the others as they headed into the settlement. He still was more than confused by Jerrica’s abrupt attitude change toward him. It had seemed to come out of nowhere. She’d been fine, talking and laughing with him, then she’d gone to get a drink at the pump and had come back acting completely different.

He’d seen Jerrica talking to Becca at the pump, then she’d stopped to talk to Austin before she’d returned to their lookout spot. One of those two had to have said something to set her off. And if Calan was correct in his thinking, it had to have been Becca. He really didn’t know Austin that well, but he came across as a good person. Becca, on the other hand, didn’t. If he had to bet money on it, it had to have been her who’d upset Jerrica. That was the only explanation he could think of.

Calan watched until all the workers were safely behind the closed gates before he loped down the small hill to the fields. He decided he might as well do some hunting, even though it was earlier than he’d planned.

He’d hoped to spend the evening with Jerrica again, and he’d looked forward to it. Their first archery lesson had shown he wasn’t going to be able to keep his distance from her. He liked her as a boy liked a girl. As he’d stood behind her when she’d taught him how to hold the bow and arrow properly, with her back pressed to his chest, it’d been a real temptation to hold her in his arms. Then she’d turned her head and her lips had almost touched his. He’d had to hold back a wolf’s growl. He’d wanted to kiss her that much.

Once Calan reached the tree line, he broke into a run, having no problem moving through the forest. It was old, having stood long before the zombie outbreak. Jerrica’s ancestors had only cleared enough land to build their settlement and for the fields and orchard. Not all settlements had fared so well when it had come to having seeds to grow crops. There were more than a few that barely kept themselves from starving. They were the ones who lived closer to the remains of the big cities. It was times of desperation that had made the settlers forage in the rubble that was left of those one-time urban centers.

And the cities were nowhere close to what he remembered them being. When it looked as if the zombie’s numbers would only increase, the government had decided to destroy them. They cleared out as many of the living who’d bugged in, barricading themselves in their homes instead of bugging out. Then they’d used what fighter jets they could get into the air to bomb each major metropolis to the ground. It had taken them a year and cost them all the ammunition they had, but they’d thought it would save lives in the long run. All it’d done was give the living fewer places to hide and the undead a greater area in which to hunt.

Calan had seen it all as he’d slept after being turned. He pushed those thoughts away. He didn’t like to remember that time. For twenty years he’d slept, unable to move or wake up, held prisoner as the world fell apart around him.

He pushed deeper into the woods, needing to run and the feeling of freedom it gave him. Calan was about three miles away from the settlement when he picked up the putrid scent only zombies gave off. He stopped and lifted his nose into the air, sniffing, to find out exactly where it came from. After he pinpointed it, he took off at a run once more.

The closer he got, the stronger the scent became. Calan snarled his upper lip and growled. He stopped a short distance away, alarmed at the number of undead congregated in one place so close to a settlement. There were around eighty zombies lumbering through the trees, their dead eyes staring straight in front of them. It’d been many, many years since he’d seen groups this large close to the living, especially in such an isolated place.

Calan didn’t think any more about that as he set about taking out the undead. He caught the first by the head with his teeth and ripped it from its decaying body. The next, he tore apart with his sharp claws. The others didn’t react at all. To them, he was invisible.

He went through the rest of them, ending their existence. The smell of dead blood filled the air. It was a scent Calan had grown used to over the years. Once the last one had fallen to his teeth and claws, he gathered the remains into a large pile and shifted to his human form. With a wave of his hand, a blue-green fire engulfed them. The heatless flames burned them to ash before he took on his wolf form once more. Leaving that area, he headed back in the direction of the settlement in a wide arc to make sure there weren’t other zombies to be found.

It was full dark by the time he arrived at the gates. There hadn’t been any more of the undead. He sat on his haunches, threw back his head and howled to alert the guards of his presence. A face appeared over the edge of the high wall for a few seconds before the entrance was opened for him. Calan loped inside and didn’t stop until he reached his cabin.

He shifted when he saw a couple baskets covered with cloth sitting in front of his door. A quick inspection showed they held bread and dried meat. Calan brought it all inside before he sat to a meal of it. He’d have to find out who’d given him the food so he could return their baskets and thank them. The settlers might treat him differently, but there were always a few who were generous enough to provide meals for him.

As Calan ate, his thoughts turned to Jerrica and how she’d acted before she’d left the fields. If she treated him the same way tomorrow, he’d find out exactly what the hell was going on.

 

* * * *

 

Jerrica waited until dinner was almost finished before she told her parents about Austin coming over. They wouldn’t have any problems with that, but she wanted them to know ahead of time.

“Ah, Austin is going to be here in a little while. He asked if he could come spend some time with me, and I said yes.”

Her dad chuckled. “So much for your assumption that he wouldn’t ever come to the cabin. I still promise not scare him off.”

Jerrica shook her head. “Thanks, Dad. I’m sure Austin will appreciate that.”

Her mom smiled. “Looks as if you’re getting a lot of attention lately. First Calan singles you out to patrol with him, now Austin wants to spend time with you.

She stiffened at Calan’s name, then shrugged. “Calan didn’t single me out. Mathias asked him if it’d be okay if I kept watch with him. As for Austin, I guess he finally noticed me.”

“Well, you could do a lot worse than the Conrad lad. I understand he’s a hard worker in the fields and can be relied on when needed,” her father said.

Jerrica couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “Dad, those aren’t the reasons I said he could come over.”

“No, she let him because she thinks he’s good looking,” her mom said with a laugh.

After she finished her last mouthful of food, Jerrica pushed back her chair and stood. “That’s it. I’ve had enough. I’ll be outside waiting for Austin.”

The sound of her parents’ laughter followed her out through the door. Jerrica shut it firmly behind her. She shook her head as she walked to the porch swing that her dad had built for her mom a few years back, then sat. With a push of her foot, she got it moving.

Jerrica looked out over the yard. Because of how she’d left things with Calan, she wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing him the next day. She doubted she’d be able to let her guard down around him again. She was too afraid of what he might tell Becca. The girl had already found enough ways to humiliate or make fun of Jerrica as it was. She didn’t need to give her anything more to work with.

The thought of Becca and Calan being friends sort of sickened Jerrica. She’d thought he would have had better taste than that, but maybe he was the type of boy who could be charmed by a pretty face. If he was, it was better to leave things between them as they were, especially if he really did think of her in the way Becca had said he did.

It was a few minutes later that Austin arrived at the cabin. He called her name and smiled when he walked into the yard. Jerrica stood and met him halfway.

“You made it,” she said.

“Of course. There was no possibility that I wasn’t going to show up.”

Jerrica chuckled. “I guess not. So what do you want to do?”

“We could sit on the porch swing and talk.”

She thought of how her parents were just inside the cabin. They were already teasing her. If she and Austin stayed that close, Jerrica was sure her dad would think up some excuse to come outside and talk to them. She didn’t think it would be to act as a chaperone, but just to get to know Austin better. She wasn’t ready for that yet.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not,” she said.

“All right. We can go for a walk around the property.”

“Sure. And I know a perfect place to go. There’s a natural clearing in the middle of the trees past the barn.”

“Sounds good. Lead on.”

Once they were behind the cabin, she found her gaze drawn to the targets and remembered how she’d spent last evening with Calan. She ruthlessly pushed that thought away. She was with Austin now.

At the barn, she took the lead after they stepped past the tree line. She followed the same path she used every time she went to the clearing, which was quite often during the warm months. It was the perfect spot to be alone. Her parents knew about it but rarely visited the place.

After they arrived, Jerrica headed for the large flat boulder that was in the middle of the clearing. It was a perfect place to sit and was big enough for both her and Austin. She took a seat and shifted over to give him room to join her.

Austin looked around. “This is a nice spot.”

“I’ve spent many hours here, mostly when it’s warm. When I was younger, I’d wanted to build a little shelter or lean-to and sleep out in it, but my dad wouldn’t go for it. He didn’t like the idea of me being alone in the dark. I think I was six at the time.”

Austin laughed. “I can see why he wouldn’t let you, if you were that little. I doubt I would have been brave enough to even consider doing it when I was that age.”

Jerrica smiled. “I was always looking for some kind of adventure, be it wandering off on my own or climbing the tallest tree on our land to see how high I could go. I think I just about gave my mom a heart attack with that one. And my dad hadn’t been too pleased, since he’d had to climb up after me.”

“Now that, I definitely wouldn’t do. I have a hard enough time getting up onto a roof. I don’t like heights. That’s part of the reason I wanted to work in the fields rather than the orchard. I wouldn’t be able to handle getting up on a ladder to pick the fruit.”

Jerrica turned and looked at Austin. “When we were younger, I always thought you’d want to work in your father’s blacksmith shop, like your older brothers.”

He shook his head. “I tried it, but it wasn’t for me. It isn’t my idea of fun, being in front of a blazing forge all day, hammering on metal. Farming is more to my liking, and it wasn’t as if my dad doesn’t have other sons who’ll gladly take it over once he’s too old to do the work.”

“You have a point there. I don’t think I’d like it either.”

They sat in silence for a bit before Austin asked, “So, what’s it like patrolling with the Werewolf Defender?”

She shrugged. “It’s okay.”

Austin met her gaze. “You don’t sound enthusiastic about it. It’s not every girl in the settlement who gets to ride on Calan’s back while he’s in wolf form.”

“It was all right in the beginning. I learned something today that sort of took the excitement away.”

“What happened?”

“It was something Becca told me that Calan supposedly said to her.”

Austin shook his head. “You know that you shouldn’t take everything she says to heart. She likes to say a lot of crap about everybody.”

“I know. It’s just that some of what she said only Calan would have known, so that meant the information had to have come from him.”

“I won’t ask you what she said, because it’s not any of my business, but I’d keep away from her from now on, if I were you.”

She smiled. “Oh, I intend to. Not that I haven’t tried to avoid her for years, whenever I can. As I’ve told you before, she’s always had it out for me.”

Austin shifted so he faced her. “That’s because you’re better than her, and she knows it.”

Jerrica snorted. “Yeah, right. More like she thinks I’m an easy victim because I’m a bit of a loner. I won’t fawn over her like the rest of her friends do and give her whatever she wants.”

“And that’s what makes you better. You don’t put on a show and want to be the center of attention all the time. You’re just you.” He shifted closer. “That’s what I like about you.”

Jerrica knew Austin was going to kiss her even before he lowered his head toward her. She didn’t move as his lips lightly brushed across hers. He did it twice more, without touching her anywhere else, before he pulled away and smiled. She smiled back. The kiss had been nice, but in no way did it make her heart beat faster like the almost-one she’d had with Calan had done. Her breath hadn’t caught in anticipation, either.

Seeing where her thoughts took her, she gave herself a mental kick. She had to forget about Calan. Austin was with her, and he obviously liked her. He was the one she’d had a crush on for almost a year before the Werewolf Defender had shown up. This was what she’d wanted.

Austin reached up and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “I like you, Jerrica. I want us to be closer. Would you think about becoming my girlfriend?”

Jerrica took her time in answering. At the age she and Austin were, there was more in his question than it would seem. If she agreed, she’d be accepting that he’d more than likely end up as her husband. They’d be expected to see each other for a year, and if their relationship lasted that long, at the end of that time period, they’d become wed. There was no being engaged after that, as would have happened during the pre-zombie period.

She ran her gaze over Austin’s face. He really was good looking. There was more than one girl in the settlement who’d jump at the chance to have him as their husband. Jerrica wasn’t sure she was ready to take such a big step in her life, even if he were the one she spent the rest of it with. Calan’s face rose to the forefront of her mind, and she pushed it back.

With that thought, Jerrica nodded. “Okay, I’ll think about it. I need some time before I give you my answer.”

“I’m fine with that. We don’t know each other as well as we did when we were kids.”

She grinned. “True. To be honest, until a couple days ago, I didn’t think you even knew I was alive.”

Austin laughed. “And here I thought you didn’t like me all that much since you seemed to avoid me.”

“I wasn’t trying to avoid you. It was Becca, and you were always with her group.”

“I’ve kind of figured that out now.” Austin brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “If I’d been smarter, I wouldn’t have waited so long to single you out and talk to you.” His face grew serious. “I’ve liked you for a long time, Jerrica.”

Her cheeks warmed. She must be blushing. “I like you too.”

He gave her another quick kiss then stood. “It’s starting to get dark. I should probably head home.”

Jerrica looked around and realized Austin was right. The sun had nearly set and twilight had taken over. She stood as well. “I’ll walk you to the road.”

“I’d like that.”

Austin captured her hand in his, linking their fingers. They walked side by side through the trees and out to the back of the cabin. At the road he let her go with a promise to meet her there in the morning so they could walk to the gates together.

Jerrica turned and headed toward the cabin. Now that she’d said she’d consider becoming Austin’s girlfriend, she didn’t think it’d be a good idea for her to spend all day with Calan basically alone. She’d decided to talk to Mathias about being taken off patrol duty before the workers went out to the fields.