{"id":2747,"date":"2016-01-27T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T05:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2747"},"modified":"2016-01-26T22:22:53","modified_gmt":"2016-01-27T03:22:53","slug":"twenty-three-01-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2747","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-three – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was too much worrying going on and too much of it was directed at him. I guess now I know how Phelan\u2019s felt for the past few months.<\/em> He closed his eyes. He ached, but not enough to want to crawl back into bed again.<\/p>\n

Strangely, though, his scars ached, the marks that were still too fresh to truly be called old, but now months behind him\u2014the ones from that first, fateful encounter with the dirae<\/em> while he was on the road, following a feeling in his gut he couldn\u2019t quite explain or understand then or now. Sometimes he wondered if the others had marks like that, marks that still hurt even though they were in the past and seemed healed.<\/p>\n

Of course, for all I know, wounds like that might never actually heal.<\/em> There wouldn\u2019t be an answer to that, though, unless he asked one of them\u2014which wasn\u2019t something he was exactly excited to do, either.<\/p>\n

Cameron stopped pumping the bellows and leaned back, rubbing at his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou okay, Cam?\u201d Matt asked, shifting some coals around inside of the forge before shoving the piece of metal he\u2019d been hammering into shape back into the coals to heat again.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d He stood up and picked up his jacket, discarded on the bench next to J.T. \u201cI\u2019m going to take a walk. I need some air.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWant one of us to go with you?\u201d Thom asked, his brow arching. His arm was around Marin\u2019s shoulders, which let Cameron draw an easy conclusion that even if he said yes, Thom wouldn\u2019t be the one tagging along.<\/p>\n

He shook his head. \u201cNo, I\u2019ll be okay. Not going to go that far.\u201d<\/p>\n

J.T. gave him a long, level look as he passed him on the way to the door. \u201cTake it easy,\u201d the former paramedic said.<\/p>\n

Cameron nodded. He didn\u2019t have much of a choice either way when it came to that, anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s raining,\u201d Marin said. Cameron just zipped up his jacket and flipped his hood up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen worse. I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shot him a worried look and Cameron grimaced, knowing that the expression on her face would have been mirrored by Neve\u2019s if she were there, too. As it was, she\u2019d probably end up scolding him or something for walking in the rain.<\/p>\n

But he did need to clear his head, did need some breathing room, and taking a walk was probably the only way both things were going to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll see you guys at dinner,\u201d Cameron muttered, then ducked out into gray light of the afternoon. Raindrops pattered down, an easy, gentle rain, though there were dark clouds to the south and west that might have been moving in, promising heavier rain, maybe another storm.<\/p>\n

As long as the wind doesn\u2019t get too bad, we might be okay.<\/em> His lips thinned as he shoved his hands into his pockets and started to walk down toward the edge of the ravine, toward the edge of the area where Marin\u2019s wardings marked the edge of their nascent village.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need better housing,\u201d he muttered to himself. \u201cBetter storage, better communal eating areas…\u201d Hell, we need better everything.<\/em><\/p>\n

How the hell are we going to make that happen?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got no goddamned clue.\u201d Cameron closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting the raindrops wet his face. He took a pair of deep breaths, savoring the scent of rain with its promise of spring and warmth and\u2014finally\u2014the end of the long-running winter that had held them in its grip for far too long. \u201cJust know it needs to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you talking to yourself, Cameron, or is there someone out here I can\u2019t see?\u201d<\/p>\n

He startled slightly at the sound of Carolyn\u2019s voice, cursing inwardly at the fact that he hadn\u2019t heard her approach, hadn\u2019t noticed her coming. He blinked the rain from his eyes and looked at her, dressed in a windbreaker and leather gloves and her hiking boots. \u201cJust myself,\u201d he said, scrubbing a hand roughly over his face. \u201cNeeded some air. You looking for Jay?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head, shoving her hands into her pockets and wandering in the direction he\u2019d been headed in, toward the row of holly bushes that the others had planted before winter set in months before. \u201cJust wandering. Kind of like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh.\u201d He felt lame saying it, but he couldn\u2019t think of much else to say or do. He trailed after her as she continued to the border, stopping alongside her just before they reached the edge of what was protected by Marin\u2019s wardings. \u201cEverything okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

Carolyn gave him a crooked smile. \u201cIs it ever?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cameron smiled back. \u201cNo. But someday it\u2019s going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

She laughed and nodded. \u201cYou\u2019re right. Someday it will be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was too much worrying going on and too much of it was directed at him. I guess now I know how Phelan\u2019s felt for the past few months. He closed his eyes. He ached, but not enough to want … 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":[124,182,14],"tags":[150,161,163,170,160,152,181,148,147,158,146],"class_list":["post-2747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-23-book-5","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-cameron-mackenzie","tag-carolyn-roberts","tag-fiction","tag-j-t-mackenzie","tag-marin-astoris","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial-fiction","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-Ij","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747","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=2747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2748,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747\/revisions\/2748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}