{"id":183,"date":"2011-05-18T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T04:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=183"},"modified":"2011-05-18T00:00:19","modified_gmt":"2011-05-18T04:00:19","slug":"day-zero-chapter-4-marin-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=183","title":{"rendered":"Day Zero – Chapter 4 – Marin – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cCross that bridge when we come to it,\u201d I murmured to myself, trying not to think about how we\u2019d handle things when the others\u2014more than just Carolyn\u2014started to Awaken.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t be borrowing trouble you don\u2019t need, Marin.\u201d\u00a0 There really wasn\u2019t much I could do until we started to sort out what the nature of everyone\u2019s attunement was, what they were sensitive to, what they could do<\/em> if they could do anything more than just sense the things that went on beyond most of humanity\u2019s sight.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I glanced toward the open wall of the shelter we were in, watching what little activity was going on out there, watching the clouds continue to roll in, watching the wind lash the trees.\u00a0 The ground trembled for a moment, then stopped.\u00a0 Thom groaned.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cStop shaking the bed, J.T., it stopped being funny last time.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hallucinating.\u00a0 Great.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cThom?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One eye struggled open, then the other.\u00a0 His right eye, the one nearest to the knot on his head, was bloodshot\u2014that wasn\u2019t surprising, though, not wholly, since the bruise from the knot did<\/em> extend down past his eyebrow, not quite surrounding his eye fully, but coming close.\u00a0 His brow furrowed slightly and he hissed, wincing.\u00a0 He mouthed my name before coughing, then tried again.\u00a0 \u201cMarin?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I managed to smile, swallowing against the sudden lump in my throat, trying to force levity into my voice.\u00a0 \u201cHurt much, Thom?\u201d\u00a0 Soften the blow if I can.\u00a0 But I think he probably already realizes how bad it is.\u00a0 Probably.\u00a0 He\u2019s not stupid, and there are just some things you can\u2019t deny.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLike a bitch,\u201d he rasped, starting to shift on the mattress and stopping abruptly with a groan.\u00a0 \u201cUngh.\u00a0 Where am I?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I picked up the cold pack from where it had fallen alongside his head when he\u2019d started to move, turning it over in my hands.\u00a0 His brow furrowed and he hissed again in pain.\u00a0 I just shook my head.\u00a0 \u201cOn a mattress near Robinson and Copeland.\u00a0 Why the hell didn\u2019t you drive to Chicago, Thom?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He frowned up at me.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026what?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNot that it matters now<\/em>, but that interview was important to you.\u00a0 Why didn\u2019t you go?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Turning his head away, he mumbled something vaguely at me before starting to struggle to roll onto his side, cursing and hissing in pain.\u00a0 I shook my head, sighing.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHold still, damn you,\u201d I mumbled, putting my hand on his shoulder and holding him firmly but gently against the mattress.\u00a0 \u201cThey didn\u2019t drag you out of that stairwell at Mac so you could kill yourself trying to sit up.\u00a0 Wait until Jacqueline gets here so she can tape up what hurts the worst.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom glared at me, that trademark Ambrose glare\u2014I\u2019d seen it once, from his father, aimed at him.\u00a0 God, was that family a strange dynamic.\u00a0 All I could do was smile weakly at him, brush the thumb of my free hand along his brow.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cPlease, Thom?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He sighed, sagging back, staring up at me.\u00a0 His lips barely moved as he spoke.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re talking about Jacqueline taping me up.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t a sprained ankle.\u00a0 Mackinac collapsed on me.\u00a0 I should be at a hospital.\u00a0 What happened?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I bit my lip.\u00a0 \u201cYou know what happened.\u00a0 Probably better than I do.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe better than I do.\u00a0 Probably.\u00a0 Your sensations were always sharper.\u00a0 Is that why you keep trying to ignore them?\u00a0 What was it that you felt that made you think it was better to imagine it all away?<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cI walked all the way here from the mall, Thom.\u00a0 There\u2019s\u2026there\u2019s not much left.\u201d\u00a0 Never mind that I can\u2019t remember most of the walk.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have to be able to remember it.\u00a0 I know what I <\/em>did see wasn\u2019t good.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He swallowed, squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again, staring up at me.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe it\u2019s just these couple of counties.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s not\u2026\u201d\u00a0 His voice trailed away as he watched my face.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thunder rumbled in the distance.\u00a0 The ground trembled again, though not from the thunder.\u00a0 It stopped again.\u00a0 Thom grimaced.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cGuess they were wrong,\u201d he whispered softly, sighing.\u00a0 His hand found mine, squeezed it.\u00a0 \u201cIt really looks that bad?\u00a0 How many?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLived or died?\u201d I murmured softly.\u00a0 He just looked at me and I sighed.\u00a0 \u201cA lot of dead.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have a number on how many survived here.\u00a0 Looking like maybe forty, maybe fifty.\u00a0 Not really sure.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s left here.\u201d\u00a0 Not that I\u2019ve even seen most of the survivors.\u00a0 Scattered all over, doing\u2026doing whatever they\u2019re doing.\u00a0 How many left before I ever made it here, tried to go home\u2014to go back to homes that probably aren\u2019t there anymore?<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNot many,\u201d he murmured softly, closing his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cFood?\u00a0 Water?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat, you\u2019re hungry?\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019d better not be worrying about logistics when he had half a building come down on him.<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He opened his eyes, glaring at me again.\u00a0 I smothered a rueful smile, leaned in to kiss his forehead gently.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWorry about yourself for more than a few minutes, would you?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom managed a smile.\u00a0 \u201cI know how to do that?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Annoyingly so, sometimes.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cAt least the sense of humor\u2019s survived intact.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A loud crack echoed off the buildings.\u00a0 It sounded like gunfire but deeper and was followed by rumbling that wasn\u2019t born from the sky or the ground.\u00a0 The sound left my ears ringing a little, so loud and so close.\u00a0 The rumbling hadn\u2019t stopped and the ground shivered a little, far more shallow than any of the earthquakes we\u2019d been feeling.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My hand tightened around Thom\u2019s hand.\u00a0 What was that?<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cCross that bridge when we come to it,\u201d I murmured to myself, trying not to think about how we\u2019d handle things when the others\u2014more than just Carolyn\u2014started to Awaken.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t be borrowing trouble you don\u2019t need, Marin.\u201d\u00a0 There really … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-4","category-day-zero"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-2X","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}