Chapter 137: Family matters

The fire crackled between them, sending small sparks into the night as the three sat around it. The horses rested a short distance away, tied and quiet, their occasional snorts blending into the stillness of the open land.

Saul leaned back slightly, one hand resting on his knee as he laughed, his voice easy and full. Jackson sat across from him, a small grin on his face, the kind that came without effort.

“I’m telling you,” Saul said, shaking his head, “this idiot thought he could outrun a bull.”

Jackson scoffed, pointing at him. “You said it was tied up.”

“It was tied up,” Saul shot back. “You just didn’t notice the rope snapped.”

Cherie laughed softly, watching the two of them go back and forth. The firelight flickered across their faces, catching the familiarity between them. It was easy. Natural.

“Looks like you two had a lot of adventures together,” Cherie said, smiling.

Saul wiped at his eye, still laughing. “Yeah. Living around this walnut for a sibling will do that to you.”

He leaned over and nudged Jackson’s shoulder. Jackson let out a short laugh, shaking his head as he pushed him back lightly.

Cherie’s smile stayed, but it softened just a little as she watched them.

“Speaking of which,” Jackson said, leaning forward slightly, a grin creeping onto his face, “I don’t suppose you got any hot sisters I can bang, do ya—”

Saul’s hand came out of nowhere and smacked him upside the head.

“Watch your mouth,” Saul snapped, his expression turning sharp for a second.

Jackson winced, rubbing the back of his head. “Damn, man, I was joking.”

Saul exhaled, then glanced at Cherie.

She was chuckling quietly to herself.

The tension eased.

Saul shook his head, muttering something under his breath as he leaned back again.

Cherie looked between them, then tilted her head slightly.

“I don’t suppose you two had any more siblings you were running around with at the barn?”

Saul nodded without hesitation. “Yeah, we did.”

Jackson’s expression changed.

It was small, but it was there. The grin faded. His shoulders stiffened just slightly.

Saul kept going.

“A lot younger than us. Harry. His birthday was around two weeks ago, so…” He paused for a second, doing the math in his head. “He would’ve been around seventeen—”

“He is seventeen,” Jackson said.

Saul looked at him.

Jackson did not look back.

Saul’s mouth opened, then closed. He shifted slightly, his tone lowering.

“Jackson…” he said, trying to find the right words.

“We can’t just go around assuming,” Saul continued after a moment. “In a world like this, we can only expect the worst—”

Jackson stood up.

The sudden movement cut him off.

He did not say anything. He just turned and started walking away from the fire, his silhouette stretching long against the dark as he moved.

Saul watched him go, his lips pressing into a thin line.

The fire cracked again, louder this time, filling the silence he left behind.

Cherie shifted slightly where she sat, the warmth of the fire not doing much for the tension that had settled in.

“Well— uh…” she started, glancing between the empty space Jackson left and Saul. “That was—”

Saul rubbed at his eye, letting out a quiet breath.

“Yeah,” he said.

He stared into the fire for a moment before speaking again.

“He gets like that whenever we bring up our brother.” His voice was quieter now. “It’s complicated.”

Cherie watched him.

How stared into the fire, his shoulders slumped in a way that did not match the man who had been laughing just minutes ago. The light flickered across his face, catching the strain he was no longer trying to hide.

“See…I wasn’t really around in the…later parts of things,” Saul said.

“Not for most stuff.” He continued.

Cherie looked at him then, confused— almost expectant for an excuse.

“College.” He finally said.

Cherie’s expression loosened.

“I left when Harry was fifteen. Then in my third year of college, when I heard about the catastrophe happening around America, of course I rushed home.”

Cherie listened.

“And moments after I arrived, well….”

A pause.

“That’s when they came. Like— like I was the one who brought it all on.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Cherie tried to cut in.

“I try not to.” Saul said.

“But the horse I was using…comet. She’s a shitter, you know. Hard to say it wasn’t me. That I wasn’t the one who gave them the trail.”

There was a moment of silence. Saul chuckled to himself.

Cherie stiffened slightly at that. She did not know what to say to that.

Saul leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, hands hanging loose between them.

“Dad was… already on edge,” he went on. “Always was. But when I got back, he just… snapped into something else.”

He swallowed.

“He kept saying we weren’t leaving. Kept saying this was our home and we weren’t gonna run from anything. Not from people. Not from those things.”

A pause.

Saul’s breathing slowed, but it was not calm.

“Then I saw them,” he said.

He stopped there.

His hand came up, covering his mouth for a second like he was trying to hold something in.

Cherie did not move.

“Out by the barn,” he forced out. “They had Harry—…”

He vaguely gestured.

His eyes squeezed shut for a brief second before opening again, fixed on the flames like he could still see it there.

“I was— I..”

His voice cracked. He tried to steady it.

“He was screaming,” Saul said. “Calling for me. For anyone.”

His fingers pressed harder against his face before he dropped his hand.

“I tried to get to him,” he said. “I did. I swear I did.”

His voice cracked, just slightly.

“But there were too many. They were all over him.”

Cherie felt her throat tighten.

Saul looked at her then, his eyes glassy but steady.

“I saw them…how they chased him into the woods. Knives raised and all….the smiles on their faces…”

The words hung there.

Heavy. Final.

“There’s no way he could’ve survived that.”

The silence stretched, long and uncomfortable.

“Well…” she said after a moment, her voice careful. “If I could put my two cents in…”

Saul looked up at her then.

“People survive stupid shit all the time.” she said. “Nothing wrong with being a little optimistic. Especially when it comes to family.”

Saul’s expression shifted.

“You don’t get it,” he cut in.

Cherie blinked.

Saul leaned forward slightly, his tone firm now.

“Being optimistic doesn’t lead anywhere but disappointment.”

The words sat heavy between them.

He pushed himself to his feet, brushing his hands off on his jeans.

“For some reason, I thought you’d already know that,” he added.

Cherie’s face tightened slightly as she watched him turn.

He walked in the same direction Jackson had gone, his figure slowly fading into the dark beyond the firelight.

The crackling fire filled the space they left behind.

Cherie sat there, unmoving, the faint glow of the flames lighting her face as the night stretched on around her.

The quiet felt different now.

—

Aubrey tightened the straps on her backpack, the weight pressing against her shoulders, but she didn’t flinch. She moved with purpose, her fingers quickly checking the contents one last time—medical kits, a few weapons, enough food for a week.

“You sure about this?”

Isabella asked, her voice cutting through the quiet of the room. She leaned against the doorway, arms crossed.

The same sharpness in her Aubrey had in her eyes that had kept Lila alive now seemed twisted in her face again.

“We find her, we also find Adrian,” Aubrey said, not looking up.

Isabella raised an eyebrow. “And where exactly do you suggest they could be?”

Aubrey turned slightly, glancing at her with that familiar glint, the one that had made Isabella trust her instinctively in impossible situations. “Canada,” she said simply.

Isabella frowned.

“Well, at least, they’d be on their way.” Aubrey added.

“I don’t know why you’d be so sure.”

“—okay maybe I’m not.” Aubrey said.

“My tracking skills haven’t been on my A game lately, okay? But it’s our best bet.” Aubrey said finally.

Isabella tucked her hands into her pockets as she exhaled to herself. She studied Aubrey for a long moment, noticing the steadiness in her movements, the tension coiled behind her calm exterior.

“Plus, if it’s a safe haven like Adrian said,” Aubrey continued, “then we can go back and tell the others. Give these people something to live for again. I don’t want to stay in this dump of a house forever and risk myself getting ambushed by another group of freaks.”

Isabella’s eyes softened as she took in the words. She knew Aubrey wasn’t exaggerating—every time they stayed in one place too long, every moment they let their guard down, it was a risk. And Adrian…

A beat passed.

Then another.

“…okay.” Isabella finally said.

Her voice was firm, though there was a hint of hesitation underneath.

“I’m with you no matter what.”

Aubrey allowed herself a small smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes, but it was there. She hoisted her backpack fully onto her shoulders, testing the weight, and adjusted the straps so they wouldn’t dig in too much.

“You always have my back, huh?” she said lightly, though the words carried more weight than casual banter.

Isabella shrugged. “You’ve saved my ass enough times. I figure it’s the least I can do.”

Something warm settled in Aubrey chest.

With that, she scanned the room one last time to make sure she had left nothing important behind.

The faint smell of old smoke and dust lingered in the corners, but it was the stillness that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Quiet like this never lasted long.

“Ready?” Aubrey asked.

Isabella nodded once, slow.

Then again, faster.

Aubrey looked at her then. The look on Isabella’s face didn’t make her feel unsure. In fact, quite the opposite.

Aubrey felt something she hadn’t felt in weeks: resolve.

No matter the cost, no matter the obstacles, they would find Lila. They would find Adrian. They would make it through.

And for the first time in a long time, Aubrey let herself believe they might actually make it.

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