Ch. 21
'Stick together Part two'
[Static, KY, Morning]'Three months later, August seventh'
Summer walked down a darkened hallway, the sound of heart monitors, phones ringing, and other sounds of a hospital filled her ears, the young woman hurried towards the door at the end of the hall, a light illuminating the door.
Summer could hear a heart monitor beeping faster, putting her hand on the knob, the beeping becoming more rapid, Summer pulled the door open revealing Amanda in a medical bed with an oxygen mask on with her eyes closed.
"Amanda?" Summer called, rushing towards Amanda, yet making no progress towards her.
Suddenly, Summer could hear the heart monitor flat line.
Summer's eyes widened in horror. "No, Amanda! No!" Summer screamed gutturally, slowing to a stop before a gunshot rang out hitting her through the lung, bringing Summer to her knees, a quiet yet shrill scream was heard only barely, before it grew in volume, recognized as Genevieve's voice, Summer felt her lungs flooding, causing Summer to cough, seeing blood from her mo--.
Summer woke up, breathing heavily, she looked to her left, seeing the sky turning orange. "Ugh," Summer groaned, irritated with her almost routine nightmares.
Swinging her legs over the edge, Summer got up and pulled a flannel over her undershirt, opening the door, shutting it quietly behind her, Summer began her morning routine making her way to the kitchen.
Pulling a portable gas stove from the cupboard under the counter and placing it on the old, rundown stove.
Summer saw A.J. beginning to stir as she set a can of water on the small stove.
"Want some?" Summer whispered, leaning against the counter.
Sitting up from the couch and groaning, A.J. scratched the back of his neck. "What?" A.J. asked, over his shoulder.
"Coffee?" Summer whispered back, not moving.
"Ya, sure," A.J. said, rubbing his eyes.
A few minutes passed, Summer, added the necessary ingredients as needed, pouring herself a cup, and a cup of coffee for A.J., handing him the steaming cup, Summer sipped her coffee and looked out the window in the kitchen.
She saw the daylight coming around the house if she looked out the window in the living room she would see the first rays peaking.
"What's on your agenda today?" Summer asked, taking another sip.
"Working on that little add-on," A.J. answered, motioning to the back of the house.
"Good," Summer replied, taking another sip of her coffee.
"When are we leavin'?" A.J. asked, setting his coffee down.
Summer looked up at him, noticing he had been standing closer than she would like, Summer stood up from her spot on the counter and nonchalantly leaned against another part of the counter, further away.
"I don't know... Amanda has to be able to move before we can go," Summer explained, finishing her cup and setting it in the sink.
"Ok," A.J. said, begrudgingly.
A.J. moved around Summer and through the house, Summer flipped a small ring of cards with their names on it, falling on Genevieve's name meaning she'll have to do the dishes at the end of the day.
Summer left to her patrol duty route.
Genevieve woke up to the sound of a hammer pounding, groaning, the little girl put her pillow over her head in disgust, after a few minutes of hammering, Genevieve pulled her head out and sat up, leaving her room she saw A.J.'s legs in the add-on they were working to put together for Amanda.
Genevieve pulled some venison out of the icebox they used as a fridge, the young girl turned on her heel and ran out the door before A.J. could say anything to her.
Genevieve sprinted along the road, making her way to the infirmary, letting herself in Genevieve tip-toed to where Amanda stayed in the back.
"Hey," Genevieve whispered, touching Amanda gently on the shoulder.
Amanda jumped a bit at the physical contact sending a small pang of pain through her spine. "Gah, good morning to you too..." Amanda whispered dryly, sitting up in her cot.
"Sorry... How are you feeling?" Genevieve asked, not fully adjusted to the drab lighting.
"Good enough, I guess," Amanda said, testing her limbs to see how her spine would treat her today.
"Ok, do I need to get anything?" Genevieve asked, stumbling backward while trying to turn back to the door.
"Nah, just you, me, and the not so open road," Amanda whispered, scooting Genevieve along.
Once outside the duo took a breath of the fresh, crisp morning air, Genevieve led the way for a short time before slowing to be parallel to Amanda.
"So what've you got planned?" Amanda asked, hobbling stiffly alongside the young girl.
The dark-haired girl hummed for a moment as if in thought. "We can walk the perimeter if you want," Genevieve offered. "Or we can go back to the house," Genevieve added, balancing on a section of sidewalk.
"Or we can go to the bar," Amanda suggested.
"It isn't open yet, it's Sunday," Genevieve explained, looking at Amanda, walking backward.
Seeing oncoming traffic, Amanda nodded for Genevieve to turn around, the little girl quickly obeyed and stepped out of the person's way.
"Thank you... He doesn't like kids," Genevieve said honestly.
"You bet 'kid'," Amanda said, with a smirk.
Genevieve giggled, hopping over a puddle, the little girl mimed a pistol with her middle and index fingers before positioning herself against a tree, pointing her fake pistol around the tree.
"What're you up to?" Amanda asked, a hint of a smile gracing her lips.
"Just... Playing..." Genevieve said, her act immediately faltering.
Amanda kicked herself internally, she knew Genevieve barely did anything child-like anymore.
Genevieve fell back parallel to Amanda, the two strolled down a dirt path, in between the buildings, a small bridge for people to cross over.
Once out on the other side, the duo was at the center of town, am old Victorian home stood taller than the rest, vines climbed up its exterior walls, partially covering the large window in the front of the house.
People milled about, chatting with their neighbors, laughing, and grilling food.
Genevieve despised being the only child in the entire settlement, while it had its perks, Genevieve would dearly love to have a person her age around.
"Shit, smell that?" Amanda asked enthusiasm in her voice, picking her pace up.
"Is that chicken?" Genevieve asked, excitement growing as she followed Amanda.
[Static's outskirts]
Summer could smell the grilling, taking her back to a better time, Blake was in the backyard with his buddies playing football with a soaked foam football, Jenny was gossiping with some of their friends, dad was grilling up steaks and veggies, mom was in the house with the parents joking about their husbands.
Summer missed those times, missed her brother, missed her best friend, both taken away too quickly.
"Shift change," a voice announced behind Summer.
Summer was pulled from her recollections. "Alright, thanks..." Summer replied, putting the rifle in the man's hands as she made her way towards the smell of food.
Summer walked towards the center of town, following her nose, Summer found her way to one of the many people grilling, the young woman saw a couple of familiar figures standing in a line.
"It's good to see you up and walking," Summer said, stepping in line behind the two.
Amanda turned to see Summer, looking tired. "You awake, yet?" Amanda asked, with a chuckle.
Summer sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Maybe, I'm still trying to figure that out," Summer replied, thinking about the food she would soon obtain.
The trio moved up in the line, eventually, they got their food, consisting of grilled chicken and scrambled eggs.
Amanda put a fork full of her breakfast into her mouth, chuckling after a few seconds of chewing. "This is barbaric," Amanda said, still chewing her food.
Summer furrowed her brow, swallowing her food. "What is?"Summer asked, grabbing another fork full.
Genevieve watched the two interact, quietly listening.
"Well, We're eating chicken and eggs, right?" Amanda explained, receiving a nod from summer. "Which means we're eating the chicken and its unborn fetus," Amanda added, taking another bite.
Genevieve froze with a fork just about to go in her mouth.
"Don't put that picture in Genevieve's head," Summer said, unamused.
Amanda chuckled, finishing her breakfast and turning her dishes back in.
After a few minutes, Genevieve and Summer followed suit.
"So, what're you up to?" Summer asked, looking between Genevieve and Amanda.
"We're going for a walk, want to come?" Genevieve replied.
Summer mulled the invitation for a moment, tired from her restless night. "Uhh, sure, why not," Summer said, a tired smile finding its way to her face.
The trio stepped away from the lines of people waiting for food.
The hours passed, the sun had just started setting, Summer had invited the group over to celebrate an anniversary, Amanda was able to borrow a guitar from a neighbor for the occasion.
The group laughed as they shared stories of their past.
Ian stood, telling a story of his friend and him getting in a drunken scrap. "And then we got drunk, then decided we should race our cars when we made it to the finish line, we both thought we made it first so we got pissed and started fighting, anyway after a few seconds he started choking me from behind, I lost my balance and fell backward on to him and when we hit the ground we both threw up, which splattered on both of us," Ian explained excitedly, ending his story.
Chuckles were shared amongst the group at how different the times were from then to now.
Genevieve however had been silent for most of the party, except for a few unsteady notes from the guitar on her lap.
Amanda looked over with a smile at her student, watching the little girl pick at the strings. "How're your fingers?" Amanda asked, sitting stiffly on the couch.
Genevieve jumped slightly, breaking her concentration. "They hurt," Genevieve stated plainly, resting her arms on the instrument.
"Gotta build calluses on your fingers, mine ain't what they were either," Amanda explained, touching her fingertips with her thumb.
Ian sat on a dining chair. "Mine neither," the large man piped up. "I was the guitarist for a band, fun fact: on one of our records, at the very end of one of the songs you can barely hear me blowing chunks in the background!" Ian ranted, loudly.
The confused listeners just stared at Ian. "What is it with you and throwing up?" Genevieve inquired.
"Well, that time I ate some real bad shrimp," Ian explained. "I could feel it coming up like halfway through the song, I knew we were being recorded so I held it in until I couldn't," Ian added.
"Gross," Summer said, scrunching her face at the thought.
"You said it," A.J. concurred, lifting his mug and taking a sip. "So fill me in on why we're here tonight," A.J. said, setting his mug down.
"Today, four years ago, is the day that we re-met Amanda," Melissa answered with a genuine smile.
"I remember when you cut my hair... I think that was the first substantial amount of hair I had ever got cut," Genevieve reminisced.
Amanda shifted on her seat excitedly remembering that event. "Dude, yours was so long! That braid was badass," Amanda exclaimed, remembering how long her hair had been.
"I still have the ribbon," Genevieve notified the teenager.
"Really? Go get it!" Amanda said; gesturing towards Genevieve's room.
Genevieve nodded, setting the guitar down gently, walking swiftly past the houseguests, and disappearing into the hall.
Amanda picked up the guitar and set it on her lap.
Genevieve returned soon after, a small white ribbon in her hands, Amanda could remember how much larger it seemed in the little five-year-old Genevieve's hands.
Amanda smiled. "That's awesome," The teen said, starting to pick at the six-string guitar.
The group goofed off for another hour, after saying their goodbyes, they went their separate ways in a hurry, being out after dark was against the rules.
Amanda left, the guitar slung along her back as she hobbled back to her bed in the infirmary, Amanda made a quick stop at the owner of the guitar's house.
Amanda knocked on the door, leaning against the porch's support pillars until the door was answered. "Hey, Jared," Amanda greeted, unslinging the Guitar.
"Hi, you're out late ya know?" Jared said, looking around to see if anyone saw the teenager walking around this late.
"Ya, but I figured I'd drop this off on my way," Amanda explained, holding the instrument out for the man.
Taking the guitar quickly, the man hoped she would hurry away before being caught outside his door. "Alright, well, thanks, have a good night!" Jared blurted out, shutting his door.
Amanda brushed off the hasty goodbye, stepping off the porch, the teenager walked stiffly to the infirmary, her spine beginning to give her grief.
The teen saw a figure ahead of her, rather than hide, Amanda opted to ignore him.
"What're you doing out this late?" The man asked.
"I could ask you the same thing," Amanda asked snarkily, continuing to walk.
"All people not on patrol duty have to stay indoors!" The man said sternly.
"You just say that to feel special," Amanda retorted, passing the man by. "Shit head," Amanda murmured, under her breath.
The man must have heard her because the next thing Amanda felt was a shove in the back, her balance wasn't great as it was right now, let alone being pushed, Amanda felt herself falling through the air until the ground abruptly stopped her, shooting pain through her spine, Amanda gritted her teeth, breathing heavily as the man stood over her.
"Get the fuck inside," the man ordered, walking away.
Amanda laid there for what felt like hours, before eventually struggling to her feet and pressing forward, once, inside the infirmary, Amanda tip-toed to her bed, gently laying herself down, her spine screamed out, agony racking her body, the teen laid in pain until the morning came, one thing was painfully obvious to Amanda.
They had to get out of there.
