Angered Seasons: Volume Four (I Will Survive)

Angered Seasons: Volume Four

I Will Survive

Mireille Chester

Copyright © 2012 by Mireille Chester

Published by Mireille Chester

Smashwords Edition

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http://mireillechester.blogspot.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

I Will Survive

The weather outside stayed in that ‘calm before the
storm’ state. With Max’s revelation, I’d sort of expected more
lighting and thunder.

“I fucking remember…” Max sat on the couch and ran a
hand over his face. He frowned and turned his eyes toward the
ceiling. “You could have found a better way to get the memories
flowing, you jackass! You could have killed me!”

I managed to hold in my scream as Time appeared
beside his son.

“It was either I struck you down, or she did. Which
would you have preferred?”

“How about next time you just shoot the lightning
bolt up her ass instead of mine!”

Two pairs of silver eyes glared into each other.

“She’s your mother.”

Max stood. “She may have given birth to me, but she’s
not my mother. Just because we share DNA, does not make us family.
You are not my father. You’re the sperm donor. She wanted to kill
me and you banished me to another realm. I’m sure that puts you
right up there for the parents of the year award. Here’s a thought;
she’s your psycho wife. Stop her.”

Time shook his head. “I can’t. We aren’t allowed to
interfere.”

I scoffed. “Right. Yellow-eyed, sprite-possessed
vegetarians, fucked up weather, and the end of human kind… that’s
not interfering?”

“I cannot break the rules simply because she
has.”

“So it’s Max against Terra and Glade?” John groaned.
“Man, we’re fucked. No offence, Maxy.”

Max shook his head, never taking his eyes off of his
father. “John’s right. I remember, but most of what I knew how to
do, I haven’t done for a very long time. I sure as shit won’t be up
to par fast enough to stop them.”

“I’ve given you the tools you need to defeat the
pair. You just have to use them.”

“Fuck!” Max growled out the curse as Time vanished
from the room.

I inhaled deeply then let the breath out with a sigh
of relief as Maxy’s eyes bled back to green. “We’re good?”

He nodded. “For now.” He noticed we were all looking
at him. “What?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You said you remembered. Let’s
hear it.”

“Right.” He sat on the arm of the couch and bit his
lip as he organized his thoughts. He looked so calm, so mature. It
was like watching a completely different Max. “It’s nothing very
helpful, really. I remember living in the other realm with them.
Terra, Time wasn’t lying, she’s beautiful. You look at her and your
heart hurts. It’s kinda like when you wake up real early when
you’re camping and you sit on the beach and everything is so calm
and quiet and just… so perfect it hurts.”

He smiled softly and I could tell he wasn’t seeing us
anymore. “It doesn’t look much different than here. Nature is the
same. But there aren’t cities or concrete or anything that would
hurt her.” He frowned. “Her,” he repeated in a whisper. “I know why
she’s doing this. I know why she wanted to get rid of me.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “When a tree or an animal
or anything that she has created is destroyed, it hurts her. It
damages her. Every time I killed something there, she felt it. I
didn’t know.”

Jenny put a hand on his arm. “You were what? Three?
Four? You didn’t know.”

“Million. Two hundred million.”

Grant coughed and sputtered, the water he had been in
the process of swallowing promptly making its way up his nose.
“Dude! In people years?”

“Yeah. In people years. Time made me a toddler when
he brought me here. That’s why he blocked all of my memories. I
mean, I don’t think a four year old needs to talk about how he
remembers the day Leif Ericson landed in Newfoundland.” He caught
us all gawking at him and he shrugged. “I don’t know why that date
popped into my head. Leif was wicked awesome. The Vikings were
sweet. I… never mind.” He gazed from one of us to the other. “Um,
the dinosaurs… Yeah.” He looked so guilty I smiled despite the
shock I was feeling. “That was me.” He gazed down at his boots. “Am
I freaking you out?”

Jason grinned. “I think we’re past the point of freak
outs, Maxy. Shit man, I can’t believe you’re the one who wiped out
the dinosaurs!”

“Not my finest moment, I’ll admit.” Max visibly
relaxed. “I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m not sure what
Time was talking about when he said he’d given me the tools needed
to defeat them.”

Jenny squeezed his hand. “You’ll figure it out.”

“God, I hope so.”

Everyone looked to Lane who was looking out the
picture window. He seemed to sense the attention and turned toward
us.

“We’d better get outside.” He ran a hand over his
face. “The big poplar out in the middle of the yard fell on Pete’s
truck. Sorry, Pete.”

Pete looked as though he’d just been told his best
friend had died. I knew the truck wasn’t worth much, but he’d
worked his ass off to get it. It was the first vehicle he’d ever
owned.

“Let’s go check the damage.” I gave his arm a
squeeze. “Maybe it’s not that bad. You know, they don’t build
trucks like that anymore. Back when that thing was build, they were
made to last.”

Lane made his way to get the axe and the chain saw
while the rest of us went to check on the truck.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Play us a song, Jason.” I handed him his guitar with
a smile. He hadn’t played it since the night before Mother Nature
had started to decimate human kind.

He took it from me, his eyes looking at its curves
lovingly. He cocked his head slightly while his fingers picked at
the strings. Having almost zero musical ability whatsoever, I
watched, amazed, as he tuned the instrument by ear.

“What do you want to hear?”

“Garth Brooks!”

“Elvis!”

“Green Day!”

“Creedence!”

Jason nodded as names were tossed in his direction.
“How about this one?” He strummed a few chords and his voice joined
in, deep and soft.

I grinned and leaned against Lane as CCR’s Bad Moon
Rising flowed through the house.

I hear hurricanes ablowing.

I know the end is coming soon.

I fear rivers over flowing.

I hear the voice of rage and ruin.

Don't go around tonight,

Well, it's bound to take your life,

There's a bad moon on the rise.

All right!

“Isn’t that the truth,” scoffed Max.

Jenny grinned. “How about this one?” She took the
guitar from Jason and started to pick at it.

See the devil on the doorstep now (my oh my)

Telling everybody oh just how to live their lives

Sliding down the information highway

Buying in just like a bunch of fools

Time is ticking and we can't go back (my oh my)

What about the world today

What about the place that we call home

We’ve never been so many

And we've never been so alone

You keep watching from your picket fence

You keep talking but it makes no sense

You say we're not responsible

But we are, we are

You wash your hands and come out clean

Fail to recognise the enemies within

You say we're not responsible

But we are, we are, we are, we are

“Ana Johnsson?” Grant smiled. “Yeah, she nailed that
one on the head.”

“Enough with the depressing end of the world songs.
How about something a bit more cheery.” John rolled his eyes.

“Like what?” Jason took the guitar back from
Jenny.

At first I was afraid I was petrified.

We all laughed as Pete’s voice broke through our
thoughts. Jason strummed a chord and joined in.

Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my
side;

By the third line, everyone had joined in.

But then I spent so many nights

Thinkin' how you did me wrong

And I grew strong and I learned how to get along

And now you're back from outer space

I just walked in to find you here with that sad look
upon your face

I should have changed that stupid lock

I should have made you leave your key

If I'd've known for just one second you'd back to
bother me

Go on now, go walk out the door

Just turn around now

('cause) you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with
goodbye

Do you think I'd crumble

Did you think I'd lay down and die?

Oh no, not I. I will survive

Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay
alive;

I've got all my life to live,

I've got all my love to give and I'll survive,

I will survive. Hey hey.

By the end of the song, all of us were laughing at
John and Shawn as they reenacted the prison cell scene from The
Replacements. There was nothing quite as funny as two men line
dancing in the living room. For a moment, it was easy to forget the
end of the world was trying to happen.

I smiled. Trying to happen. And if we had anything to
do with it, it wouldn’t happen. Mother Nature had picked the wrong
race to try and annihilate. I glanced at Max. Though he was
smiling, I could tell he was still stressed about his role in
things to come. He caught my eye and nodded as I gestured with a
small jerk of my head toward the front door.

The night was clear and the view of the stars was
phenomenal from the porch.

“It’s starting to cool down again.” Max reached over
to the porch swing and handed me the blanket.

“I wonder how cold she’s going to let it go this
time.”

He shrugged.

“How are you doing, Maxy?”

I was awarded another shrug.

“You know we’re here for you, right? You don’t have
to do this alone.” I reached over and gave him a hug. “We don’t
have much in supernatural powers, but we’ll go down fighting.”

He smiled sadly. “That’s what I’m scared of. Maybe it
would be best if I just did this by myself. I could go back to the
shop. At least that way, I’d know you guys were safe.”

I shook my head. “We’d still have to deal with the
Yellow Eyes.”

“Yeah, but at least they wouldn’t be coming at you in
hordes. You’d just have to worry about the odd one here and there.”
He let out a slow breath. “I’ve been thinking about it the last
couple of days. I’m trying to find a way to tell everyone.”

“You know they won’t let you go.”

“They may not have a choice, Gabby.”

His sad smile broke my heart and I swallowed
hard.

“Everything okay?” Lane sat between us and handed me
a bunny hug. “I thought you might need that.”

I pulled it on and waited to see if Max would voice
his concerns. Instead, he shook his head. “It’s all good. Just
checking out the view.” He stood and headed back into the
house.

“So?” Lane pulled me close.

I shook my head. It wasn’t up to me to tell. Max
would figure it out on his own. “Just checking out the view.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The morning was crisp and though we should have been
heading into spring, it definitely felt like fall. It was hard to
believe that months had gone by. Lane had been keeping track of
time on the old calendar in the barn and it was mind blowing to
know that we’d been living without power, energy, phones, or cash
machines for over four months.

We’d risked driving to town a couple of times just to
see if things there were any better, but each time, the outcome had
been the same. If there were any unaffected people, it seemed
they’d left for parts unknown. The Yellow Eyes wandered around in
small groups of two or three.

For reasons unknown, there had been no more attacks
on us or Max. Even the dogs were clueless as to the whereabouts of
Gale.

Small puffs of steam rose into the air with every
breath I took. “I’m glad we decided to plant the vegetables in the
house instead of in the garden.”

Lane gave Bella a pat on the neck before swinging
onto her. Vader snorted under me, his own puff of steam joining
mine. I slung my bow and quiver on my back and watched as Jenny did
the same.

“Just remember. No guns until Jenna or I miss.” I
stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed.