Page 9 of His to Take

5

The momentthat her father opened the hatch was like a rebirth for Ann. She stared up at the clear sky and watched as the glass moved away, amazed at how beautiful it all was. All of the others went out before her and she hefted up the packs to them once they were all above ground.

It was early morning, a time she’d always loved in her life before, and she loved it now, even if there was an absence of birdsong and the noise of early morning traffic. They’d lived in a subdivision back then, full of families that commuted to the nearby city, and mornings were always busy for them all.

She could feel a breeze of fresh air across her face as she neared the top of the steel ladder embedded in the wall. What would it be like? Her father told her that the ground should be dry by now, but he hadn’t said if the grass had started to come back. Was it all bare dirt with most of the plant life scoured away?

From what Amanda had told her, plant seeds could withstand some extremes, especially seeds from grasses and weeds. Would anything have started to grow back yet? She hesitated as she neared the top. Her eyes went back to the place she’d called home for all of those icy years. She was almost sad to leave it now, and for a moment, she thought about running back to her room and refusing to go out there. She’d stay, where it was safe, where she knew her place in the world, and what each day would bring.

“Ann?” her mother called down to her, and Ann’s head whipped back around and up to look at her mother. “It’s okay, honey. Come on out.”

The smile that lit up her mother’s face hinted at what she’d find above. She tapped her fingernails on the steel for a minute, a nervous habit she’d long stopped noticing, and took a deep breath. She felt her muscles relax and her heartbeat slowed. She could do this.

With a flex of her leg and arm muscles, Ann finally climbed up to the last rung and gasped. All around them was a field of grass six inches high, speckled with the occasional tree with newly formed leaves, and a few purple flowers. It was all… alive!

She finished climbing out of the bunker and stepped out into the new world, as fresh and green as they’d left. It might have even been fresher than it was back then. Before, exhaust fumes, factory emissions, all of it had mixed together to create a smell that few ever noticed, unless it was new to them. This was… clean, natural, unspoiled by man.

“We’re going to head down to the valley, check out that town that’s not too far away,” John said to the group as he hefted his pack onto his back.

That was when it happened, the most unexpected but wonderful thing happened that took her breath away. Rex rushed up to her with a whoop of joy and picked her up. The sudden press against her chest made her squeak, but her arms went to his shoulders as he lifted her high into the air. When he began to twirl her around, she started to laugh, even as awareness filled her. Her anger was forgotten now that she felt him pressed against her, intimately, so tightly. He let her slide down his body, and eyes the color of fading green moss mixed with golds and browns found hers.

Eyes that had always held her in their thrall, that amazed her even more up close. She forgot his hateful words, the way he’d intimated that women would be subservient in the world, all of it, as his lips moved towards her. Hurt disappeared, replaced by hunger, and when his mouth fused with hers?

Well, sometimes a kiss could be a dud. So what if there were no sparks? Maybe that came later. She was still thrilled, happy beyond belief, that Rex Wolfson had kissed her! She let the kiss go on and waited for him to finish. He pulled away, breathless and with a smile on his face that she hadn’t seen in years.

“We’re going to repopulate the world, Ann, you and me. It’s going to be great.” He moved away, picked up his pack, and started off down the hill before he’d even fitted the belt that went across his waist to hold the pack steady.

She was too stunned to move. Repopulate the world? Did that mean he wanted to marry her? She touched her lips, surprised at what he’d said, and shocked at the kiss he’d given her. The others hadn’t seen it because they’d all started down the hill and she was the last one still there.

She was a little disappointed that the kiss hadn’t been as explosive as she’d hoped, but it had been nice. Comforting might have been a better word. Pleasant even. But no sparks. Not like the way she felt when the man in her dreams had kissed her.

Ann shook her head, picked up her pack, and started down the hill. That had been a really odd dream, unlike anything she’d ever had before, and she refused to remember it. She watched the others as they trooped down the steep hill, and wondered why it was so easy to forget the dreams you wanted to remember but so hard to forget the ones you didn’t.

She didn’t want to remember that dream for many reasons. Number one would always be because of Rex. It felt like a betrayal of him, even if they didn’t really have a relationship. For another thing, she’d done things in that dream that had seemed to last for hours, felt things that she didn’t know could be possible.

She huffed a deep breath and caught up with her parents. The best thing to do would be to stay vigilant and watch for any signs of life. The man in her dreams obviously didn’t exist, at least, not that she remembered. He’d kind of reminded her of that guy with the strange last name, she decided as they reached the halfway point down the hill.

What had his name been? Jason something. Mimosa? No, that wasn’t it. Manitoba?

Her face scrunched up as she tried to remember his name, her dark brown eyes unconsciously on the lookout for danger. In the back of her mind, she knew there wasn’t anything to be afraid of, there couldn’t be. The world had been frozen for far too long, but there was a slim chance that something might have survived, and intuition made her scan for danger, even if she wasn’t aware of it.

Something tugged at her toe, and she tripped. She put her hands out to catch herself but fell to the ground anyway. She gave a short sound of surprise but managed to roll as she fell. The pack caught most of the weight, and she was able to get up quickly. None of the rest of her group had noticed her fall, and she looked back to see what she’d tripped over. A root stuck up from the ground, a thick root that she knew must be from one of the sycamore trees that dotted the hillside.

Well, at least the world has come back to life, she thought as she dusted her hands off. Even if it nearly took her out, the thought continued, which made her chuckle softly. She sped up her pace and caught up with her parents again.

They walked until the sun was high in the sky and the heat made them roll up the sleeves of their coveralls. The building they’d spotted turned out to be a large log cabin, and they all eyed it warily from the outside. Tall trees shaded the cabin overhead and kept most of the sunlight at bay.

“The trees must have kept most of the snow off the roof. It hasn’t collapsed,” John said softly as they all stood there, motionless as they looked at the cabin.

A deck ran the entire length of the house, and steps led up to the landing in front of the door. It didn’t look inhabited, but still, they all silently agreed that they needed to be careful.

Ann looked at it, and sadness overwhelmed her suddenly. This cabin was a symbol of all that had been lost. “All of the windows are gone.”

Her somber voice broke through the silence left after her father spoke.

Mary turned at the interruption and looked at Ann. “It’ll be fine, darling. We’ll hang up sheets or something to close them up. It will be alright.”

“I see a few sheets of plywood. We can put those up, I’m sure,” Stephan volunteered.