Chapter 17
Chapter 17
We don't backtrack far before stopping. Something to our right calls to me. I point for Merle to take the ramp down off of the overpass and he does with only minimal grumbling. The road here is clustered with various shops and stops but also several dead. Not as many as the city boasts, not by a long shot, but enough that most people would've turned around.
Merle slows, throwing me a questioning look, "Ya sure this is the way, kid?"
"Keep going, we'll get past them soon," I try to reassure.
"Ya been this way before?" Daryl asks in a suspicious grumble.
I shake my head, "No, but this feels like the way we should go."
"I suppose we're trusting them instincts of yours," Merle comments questioningly, flicking his cigarette out at a lanky male corpse that we pass.
I don't explain it to them because truthfully, I'm not sure how. It's like when running from Dudley and his friends. I don't think, just run, and I get to safety each time. Well, once I stopped trying to run to adults and just let my feet lead me. It's not easy to put into words even if I KNOW what it is.
It's my magic, although I dont know HOW it knows where to go or WHERE it's taking us now. I do know that it kept me alive in the city when this all started. I would follow my feet, some intangible pull, and I would either find someone in need of help or avoid trouble. It's how I found Asher and most likely why I saved Merle.
As we follow the road further, it becomes less crowded, where buildings are fewer and farther between. We take a left onto a side road that lasts a while, rolling with the small hills before the first home appears back from the road. The next has small goats running loose through the large acre in front of the home. It's the one past it that I tell Merle to take.
There is a wide gate, left open, over a gravel drive with thick bushes and shrubs crowding the fence. The grass is a bit wild and there are several trees dotted with bright green apples crowding the first dozen feet on either side of the road and stretching in both directions along the fence line. After the trees, it opens up on both sides. To the right are carefully sectioned raised garden beds growing healthy vegetables. Tall corn stalks grow in neat rows on the left, following the drive up to the home.
The home itself is a wide ranch style with a wrap-around porch, all in shades of white with dark blue accents and a black roof. A tall second story rests over the center building and a small central porch looks out over the main porch roof. The main porch boasts a porch swing on one end, twin white rocking chairs near the front door, and two wicker chairs with a matching table on the far end.
"Hot Damn, kid, you got some damn good instincts!" Merle whistles, hopping out with a skip in his step to help Carol and Sophia down.
Daryl climbs out more cautiously, throwing me a suspicious glance, "How the Hell did ya know this was here?"
The thing is, I'm not completely sure WHY I came here but there is magic here, I can feel it. I could feel some kind of ward up over the property even if it didn't stop us from crossing the boundary. It isn't strong but I don't know if that's because the one who cast them is weak or if they just didn't put much magic into them. At the least, it should've alerted someone that we are here which means someone should've come out to meet us. That no one has...
Merle is already dancing up the steps. Carol brushes away the tears that fall, looking around in wonder. I help Asher down from the truck and nod for him to run ahead and explore. He races up the steps to hop excitedly onto the porch swing, giggling loudly. Sophia joins him with an excited squeal.
"Ain't locked," Merle calls back, pushing open the door with a gun in hand.
Daryl hurries up the steps to guard his brother's back so I follow. I give a gentle reminder for Carol to stay here with the kids while I follow at Daryl's back. I don't think there is anything dangerous inside but better to be safe than sorry. Especially with how weak the wards here are.
The main sitting room is something out of a magazine.
A wide, soft cushioned brown L-shaped couch sits against one wall. Various pillows both on the couch and the two low backed white chairs have gold and blue patterns. The two blue chairs have pillows with white and gold accents. There is both a central white coffee table and five different taller corner tables throughout the room. A built-in shelving unit takes up the wall to our left while a half wall made of shelves separates this room from the next. There are various small potted plants and hanging ferns on tables or shelves or hanging above the halfway to drape down.
Past the lounge, is the kitchen with a breakfast nook inside a bow window. The appliances are all stainless steel, the double fridge still humming with energy. There are a multitude of jars and baskets with fruit decals on them. While this room is more lived in than the lounge, as evident by the drawings and photos attached with magnets to the fridge and the calander on the wall above a small mail desk, it is just as beautiful.
Merle snags a dark red apple from a wide wicker bowl of assorted fruit. Taking a bite, he hums out, "Fancy digs ya found for us, hoss."
That's the second time he called me that and I still don't know what it means. "We should finish searching the house, just to be safe."
"On it, hoss," Merle tosses a green apple to his brother who catches it without looking away from the walk-in pantry that he found. "I'll stick with you an Daryl can check upstairs."
I take the hallway to the left, a mirror image of the hall on the right. A staircase rises up, behind where the lounge's shelf stands. Three doors follow this hall with a wide archway at the end leading to a softly golden sunroom. I open the first door, immediately dismissing the guestroom decorated in shades of gray. The second door, the one nearly meeting the sunroom, is a large airy bathroom with wide bay windows and colored in the palest blue.
Turning back to the door on the other wall, I open it carefully. The foul stench of excrement hits me first, before I can really look around the room. Bright pale lavender curtains hang loose over a wall of windows with a built in nook surrounded by sturdy shelves. A cushioned rocker holds a woven basket filled with bundles of yarn while a heavy cherry cario stands elegantly in the nearest corner. A bed sits with the head against the wall to the sunroof, and on the bed lay a nervous form.
The woman is old and pale with a weak trembling hand and thin soft white hair. She looks back fearfully, her voice soft and shaking, "Adam, are you there?"
Merle curses behind me, backing away with his hands raised. I call back for him to send Carol and Sophia in. Hopefully, having another woman present will help her feel safer. I spend the few minutes it takes for Carol to come in just talking softly to the woman from the door.
A soft cry comes from her side. She struggles to reach down, still watching me fearfully as the blanket beside her moves. I move closer then, even if she still throws me fearful looks. I help her pull back the blankets to reveal a small baby, a really small baby that has a weak touch of magic where the old woman has none.