Page 79 of Beyond Redemption

“You want the truth?” Thomas asked.

Everyone nodded.

Thomas looked over his shoulder to make sure the older kids weren’t listening. “No,” he replied, his voice low. “They’re staging. Organizing and positioning to attack us. In my opinion, they have no intention of taking on the entire militia. They’ll try to distract them, send in small groups, get as many of us as they can, and retreat. They’re counting on us all being in one spot once it gets noisy, which is why half of us should go topside to help the militia.”

The women collectively shivered, those who were holding children held them tighter, and no one had much to say after that.

Stella nestled against me, running hot and sluggish in the way only a sleepy toddler could be. I pressed my lips to the top of her head, breathing her in. She smelled clean and faintly sweet, of soap and lotion from her recent bath. Around us, the room carried the worn-in signs of containment: blankets folded and unfolded again, toys collected into corners and dragged back out, coffee cups abandoned on side tables, adults speaking too quietly because every child under twelve was one bad minute away from becoming everyone’s problem.

Olive left us for a moment, then came back to sit on the rug near the coffee table, spreading a deck of cards between her and Bodhi. She folded one knee beneath her, her head slightly bowed as she sorted the hand she’d dealt, her face composed in a way that reminded me of Abby when she was staring at the aces and eights in her hand. She looked softer with Stella. Most people did, but Olive was protective of her in a way that bordered on a mother’s love. With cards in her hands, her expression was very different.

Bodhi put his cards down. “Hear me out. If nothing’s happening, maybe they could let us outside in shifts.”

“Who’s they?” Taylor asked.

Bodhi shrugged. “Marcel. The people with the guns. Pick one.”

“They’re going to hit us any day now,” I said. “What do we do if that group is caught topside when the shit hits the fan and can’t get back? Do the rest of us leave the safety of the bunker to retrieve them?”

He looked over at me and shrugged one shoulder. “It was just a suggestion.”

“It becomes a plan the second someone here likes it,” Thomas said.

“Do you?” he asked.

“No,” we said in unison.

“It’s not a bad plan,” Trenton grumbled, mostly to himself.

Stella’s fingers slowed against my shirt and her head relaxed back. I transitioned her into a cradled position, feeling Thomas’s gaze before I even looked at him. When I did, his expression had switched from annoyed to unreadable, which meant he was holding something back.

I knew the signs better than anyone. His posture had changed by degrees, not enough for anyone else to notice. He became more economical with his words, less because he had nothing to say and more because he sensed something.

I leaned into his ear. “What is it?”

“I don’t know…” he trailed off, trying to decipher it himself. “I just feel something’s o—”

A sound began to pulse through the bunker. Not a siren—more like a muted sonar ping—threading through the space in a low, controlled pulse, subtle enough that it didn’t spike panic on contact, but unmistakable once it registered.

“Is that…?” Travis asked.

Thomas nodded, the small gesture a catalyst for us to all move at once. The space changed shape in seconds, loose clusters tightening as instinct took over.

I pulled Stella closer, one hand at the back of her head as I stood. “Falyn, the galley.” Falyn nodded. “Abby, get your kids settled and the go bags, then you’re up top with me. Olive,” I said, keeping my voice even. She stood immediately, eyes on me. “You and Bodhi get the cribs and bedding and roll them to the galley for the babies and then stay there. Do it now.”

She nodded once, looking back to Bodhi as he took her hand and guided her toward the living quarters.

The rest of the family moved to their places as well. Falyn began to guide the older children toward the back. Taylor whispered in her ear, kissed her cheek, and then quickly retreated to their room. Abby kissed Travis, lingering for a bit before trailing the kids and Falyn, counting heads under her breath with Carter asleep in her arms. Travis joined Thomas, Trenton and Tyler, and Ellison made her way to the door. No one ran. No one froze. It was controlled, but far from calm. Any pretense of it was only to reassure the children.

The distance to the galley felt longer than it had before, the sound of the siren settling into a steady beat behind us, threading through the walls and into my chest. Stella stirred against me, picking up on the change in my pulse even if she didn’t understand it. I kept my voice low as I pushed the door open with my shoulder and crossed to the crib Olive was pushing into place.

“Bodhi, the lights,” I said.

He took a few steps to the switch, flipped it down, then turned on a second one. A softer glow came up beneath the cabinets, dim for the kids to sleep, but bright enough for Falyn and Olive to see clearly if they had to evacuate.

I laid Stella down carefully, slower than the moment allowed, adjusting the blanket by instinct even as the pressure to move welled up inside of me. Her eyes opened for a moment, unfocused, searching. I leaned in and pressed my lips to her forehead, pausing there a second longer than I should have.

“Good night, my sweet girl. I love you so, so much.” I straightened slowly, barely able to tear my eyes away, then turned to Olive. “Stay with her,” I said, meeting her eyes so there was no room for interpretation. “No matter what, don’t leave her alone. Even for a second.”