The Fall (Book 1) Read online

  “Try to regulate your breathing. You need to get your blood pressure down as much as you can, okay?”

  She nodded and began counting her breaths, getting them to slow down. Garrett left Alice in Austin’s hands and tore out of the room to the basement, where all of his medical supplies were. As he ran past the living room, he vaguely could see Brooke was doing her best to calm down Kayleigh, even offering her a glass of water, but the woman was inconsolable. He felt bad for the situation at hand, but right now he couldn’t think of anything but Alice. Her life depended on it. As he came back up the stairs with his arms full, he could hear the commotion and the shouting outside as the neighbors discovered John’s body.

  Garrett came back into the bedroom, Wren in tow, now that the door was secured. He started to wrap the bandages around the wound, asking Wren to keep steady pressure on it. Austin was outraged.

  “What are you doing?!? Shouldn’t you clean it? Take the bullet out? ANYTHING?!?” The sharpness of his voice made Alice wince, but Garrett remained calm.

  “Right now, we need to get the bleeding to stop. If it hasn’t stopped in ten minutes, then we need to check for swelling. If it’s swollen, it means she has internal bleeding. I promise I will make sure she’s okay. Please just let me work.”

  Garrett’s voice was tired, and Austin felt a little guilty for his outburst. So he started stroking Alice’s hair, trying to comfort her. He looked at her with a loving expression, but she only had eyes for Garrett. Something broke inside him. Garrett finished wrapping the bandage. A shout came from outside, and chills went down their spines as they recognized Sheriff Ramsay’s voice, demanding that they open the door.

  “Stay here with her, Wren, and keep the pressure on. Austin, just be there for her, okay? I’m going to see if maybe I can figure out what’s going on downstairs.”

  Garrett stood up and stretched, and in that moment, he looked older than he was. Wincing as something popped in his back, he checked to make sure the pistol was still where it should be, then made his way downstairs. Jenny and Brooke were curled up on the couch, holding onto each other. Their fear gave Garrett new conviction. He opened the door a crack, but left the chain on.

  “Ah, Garrett. Good. Think you can tell me what’s going on here?”

  He looked a little the worse for wear, too, but Garrett wasn’t going to give him anything he wanted until he knew what was going on. Before Garrett could answer, Kayleigh burst into tears.

  “Please! Don’t arrest me! I didn’t mean to do it. I just…”

  She broke down into tears, and it took both of the sheriff’s hands to catch her. Garrett’s heart went out to her, but there was nothing he could do.

  “I don’t see any choice here, Kayleigh, I’m sorry.” The sheriff went to cuff her, and Garrett took a step closer to the crack in the door.

  “Wait! You haven’t even heard her side of the story. It was purely self-defense.”

  Sheriff Ramsay raised an eyebrow at Garrett in interest, but he continued cuffing Kayleigh. She was bursting into fresh sobs, and the sheriff’s face was turning red with embarrassment.

  “I can listen to her side of the story down at the station. You have to understand how this looks, Garrett. She killed her husband. Something has to be done.” Garrett felt awful about what was happening to Kayleigh, but he had to worry about Alice and his family.

  “Kayleigh, I’ll come and get you as soon as I can and take you home, okay?”

  She choked out a sob and nodded. Garrett watched as Sheriff Ramsay took a handcuffed Kayleigh and an angry Nat to the back of his cruiser. Garrett watched them go for a second or two, then went back up the stairs to Alice. Wren looked at him in disbelief, and Garrett just shook his head. She went back to looking at Alice, who now had a sheen of sweat on her forehead. It was understood they would talk about it later.

  Garrett pulled up the bandages that he’d put on a few minutes ago, and saw that the bleeding nearly had stopped. He let out a low whistle. That was one good thing that was happening at least. Austin perked up as soon as he heard the whistle, and Garrett offered him a tired smile. It was enough to make him relax for a little while.

  “I’m going to put clean bandages on now, so try not to move, okay? Wren, Austin? Keep her comfortable as much as you can, okay? The sheriff said he’s going to find a medic or a doctor to send over to us. So until then, I guess we just have to sit tight. It’s going to be okay, though, I promise.”

  He was staring meaningfully into Alice’s eyes, and she gave him a weak smile. Excusing himself, he went up the stairs to find his girls. When the interaction with the sheriff had finished, he’d turned to look at the couch where the girls had been cuddled up, but the spot was empty. He’d gone to help their mother first, but now that a doctor was coming, and she was in good hands, he could go and find them, trying to fulfill his fatherly duties. He heard crying coming from Jenny’s room, so he headed in that direction. The door was mostly closed, but through the crack he could see his younger daughter curled up on her bed, crying.

  “Hey, sunshine. Can I come in?” Jenny’s head popped up, and her tear-stained face looked so small and lost.

  She barely nodded, but that was enough for Garrett, and he made his way into the room, sitting down on the bed. Jenny gave a heavy sigh and tried to stop her sobs, but all she could do was start hiccoughing. Garrett opened his arms, and the little girl dove into them like it was the last place in the world that would keep her safe. Garrett felt tears clouding his eyes at that slight motion. It made his heart swell, and he held her as tightly as he could without crushing her to death.

  “Daddy? Is Mommy going to be okay?” She looked much younger than she was, face drawn, and shaking as she was. Garrett did his best to get some conviction into his voice.

  “She’s going to be just fine, honey. The sheriff is going to send a doctor to us to look at her, but even if he can’t come, I know enough to make sure she’s okay. I promise that I will keep all of you safe, okay?”

  Even as the words left his mouth, Garrett felt a sharp pain through his chest. He wanted to do what he could to keep them all safe, but how long could he keep that up? Part of him was petrified that he wouldn’t be able to help them make it through. Little Jenny looked up into his face with so much hope, so much trust. What if he let her down? What if he couldn’t protect her for much longer? If Kayleigh finally had snapped and ended up killing John, what would the others in the neighborhood do? She was one of the most loving, sweetest, and most docile women he knew. If something like that could happen to her, then what else could these people around him be turned into? He shuddered at the thought, and Jenny pulled back a little.

  “Are you okay, Daddy? Are you cold?”

  Her little hands immediately were grabbing at one of her fleece throw blankets to wrap him up in. Garrett smiled at her and let her take care of him. He didn’t want to tell her that the chill he felt was fear.

  “Thanks, honey. You are being so brave.”

  The grin that split Jenny’s face was so radiant Garrett couldn’t help but smile back. The two of them sat together as the world went crazy, and all Garrett could think about was how proud he was to have Jenny. She was as beautiful and kind as her mother, but she was smart and resourceful like him. It was the perfect mix. He wished he could have had Brooke turn out like this, too, because the two of them could be a rock for each other in this trying time.

  Chapter Eleven

  Garrett went to the master bedroom to check on Alice. He saw she was sleeping, finally. The shock and exhaustion must have worked together to knock her out. He didn’t want to think it was because of the pain. Where was the damn doctor? He’d had a tender moment with Jenny, and that was something he’d wanted to draw strength from for a little while, but right now, he had to go check on Kayleigh. Leading Jenny by the hand, he brought her into the room and knelt down in front of her.

  “Okay, honey. I need you to be a big help, okay?” He was whispering so he wouldn’t
wake Alice. Jenny nodded solemnly, then took a glance at her mother.

  “I need you to make sure Mommy stays hydrated, okay? She needs to keep drinking water no matter what.” Jenny looked back at Garrett and saluted, showing him she was going to take this job very seriously.

  “Austin? Stay with her, okay? I’m going to go down and see if there’s anything I can do to help Kayleigh.” He stood up to leave, but Wren laid a hand on his arm.

  “Wait. What do you want me to do? Can I help in some way?” Her eyes were pleading, begging to be involved and useful in some way.

  Sighing heavily, Garrett raised his eyes to her. “Just stay out of trouble and do your best to keep watch. I don’t have anyone to spare to keep an eye on them, and I have to try helping our friend.”

  Wren nodded, getting ready to follow him downstairs so she could take up a position by the door. Brooke came out of her room, silently trailing behind Garrett. When they got down the stairs, Brooke darted ahead of Garrett and blocked the door.

  “I want to go to the station with you.”

  It was obvious she wanted to go to see Nat, but Garrett wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. Not in the state of mind that the boy was sure to be in. Then again, after that touching moment he’d had with Jenny, maybe giving in to her would end up in a moment like that between the two of them.

  “Alright. But you have to listen to everything I say. If I say go, you go and you don’t ask why. Are we clear?” She nodded, fear showing in her eyes.

  He wasn’t trying to scare her, he just wanted to let her know he had her best interests at heart and he wanted to protect her. When Garrett and Brooke emerged from the front door, he saw there were still people around, trying to figure out what had happened. He led Brooke to Alice’s car, so they still would be using the same tank of gas, and helped her in. He locked the doors as soon as they were inside, then sped down the road toward the sheriff’s station. As they passed the wreckage of the plane, Brooke pressed her face up to the window. This was something he couldn’t protect her from, because he had to make sure no one jumped out in front of them as he drove.

  Garrett thought back to the first day, when the plane had gone down. It was unnerving as to how much already had changed. People already were raiding their neighbors as well as any store nearby that had food, and people were ending up dead. It wasn’t just the plane crash itself, though, but Kayleigh shooting her husband. He wondered how many more there were that he didn’t know about. He was starting to second guess bringing Brooke with him. Part of him wanted to turn around and go back, dropping her off before he went to the station, but she was old enough now. Maybe she would understand that his crazy ideas weren’t quite so crazy after all.

  “Dad?” Her voice was soft, and it made him look at her. She still was looking out the window, so he quickly shifted his attention back to the road.

  “What is it, honey?” He matched her tone, almost as if he were too loud or too sharp the moment would be lost.

  “I just wanted to tell you that you were amazing back there. I don’t know what would have happened to Mom if you hadn’t been there. She really needed you. How did you know what to do? How could you stay so calm?” With a jolt, he realized that now she was looking right at him.

  “Well, I’ve always known how to deal with wounds like your mom’s. The military prepared me for how to help people who get hurt. And I know this will sound crazy, but preparing for something like this EMP like I was, I saw that this or something like this would be coming. That meant that I had to be ready for it if it did. In this new kind of world, no matter how much I try to stop it, people are going to get hurt.” His face was crestfallen. Brooke’s face softened, and she leaned over to give him an awkward one-armed hug. Garrett smiled to himself, but kept his eyes on the road.

  “I should have listened to you, Dad. When all the facts were staring me in the face, I just didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe all the craziness you’d been expecting from the world at some point actually was happening.” Garrett put his arm around her gently and squeezed her.

  “It’s normal to not want to believe this is happening. Denial gets people through in the short term sometimes, but I don’t think this is going to be very short term.” The sadness came through in his voice, and he couldn’t hide it.

  “I should have listened to you about the Pritchard family, too. I just was so happy to find someone close to my own age to talk to, and I was trying to keep everything as normal as possible.” That struck a chord in him. Sighing heavily, he looked back out the window.

  “I don’t know what to do about the Pritchard family anymore.” He grew silent, but Brooke was staring at him with such intensity that he had to keep going.

  “I promised Kayleigh I would protect her, but now she’s a murderer. And unfortunately, Nat isn’t much better. If he was willing to go along with what his father had planned, then I don’t know what to make of him.” Brooke winced, almost as if he’d physically slapped her, but there was nothing to be done for it now.

  She’d seen Nat with a gun in his hand, pointing it at herself and her family. Garrett wished the betrayal from her best friend wouldn’t have come to that, but there was still no machine that could reverse time. Garrett could only move forward.

  They pulled up to the station in silence, and Garrett tried running a plan through his head. He got out, letting Brooke hover behind him as he made his way to the door. As soon as he entered, he had to stop. The darkness of the sheriff’s station was a huge contrast to the sunshine outside. In the gloom, he saw Sheriff Ramsay was sitting at his desk in the back corner, his hand on his gun belt.

  “Oh, it’s you, Garrett. How can I help you?” Garrett plastered a friendly smile on his face, trying to set the other man at ease.

  “I just came by to give a statement on what had happened.”

  A look of relief covered the sheriff’s face, and Garrett could tell he was falling back on his training. He pulled out a notepad and a pen, gesturing that Garrett should take a seat. He did so, Brooke taking another empty chair behind him.

  “Alright, go ahead. If I stop you, it’s just to slow you down.” Garrett nodded and took a deep breath.

  “Okay, as best as I can remember, we were in my house, and there was a knock on the door. When I answered it, I saw it was John Pritchard. He had his son, Nat, with him. He also had a gun pointed right at me and my family. He’d come to force us to give him all of our supplies because he hadn’t gotten enough at the supermarket himself.” Garrett paused for a moment as the scene played itself out in his head again.

  He launched into the most important part. “Kayleigh came up out of nowhere, and she was bruised and beaten. I knew right away that John had done it to her, because she was telling me just the day before that he was angry and he would take it out on her.” A shiver went down Brooke’s spine, and Garrett put his hand over hers to reassure her.

  She gave a little nod, then he continued. “She wanted him to put the gun down, but he was laughing at her.” Brooke looked up sharply, because she remembered it a little differently, and Garrett just ignored her.

  “He was turning toward her and she shot. The gun that John had in his hand went off, and the bullet hit Alice in the leg.” The sheriff finished writing his report, then put his head in his hands.

  “Even though it looks like self-defense, I think she still should have a trial. She still killed someone, regardless of the reasons.” Garrett just stood back silently, letting the sheriff think.

  “If you want to give her a trial, you’ll need a judge and jury.” The sheriff looked up at Garrett, and the feeling that he’d just overstepped his boundaries came.

  “I’ll find a jury; don’t you worry about that. That’s none of your concern. I’ll let you know when the trial starts.” Garrett had been hoping to take Kayleigh home today, but it didn’t look like that was going to be happening any time soon.

  “Can I at least see her?” The sheriff gave G
arrett a calculating look, then sighed heavily and put his hand over his eyes, rubbing as if he had a headache.

  “You’ve got five minutes. That’s it.” Garrett nodded solemnly, then stood up, wordlessly asking where the cells were.

  The sheriff jerked his thumb in the direction of a hallway behind him, and Garrett started down it. He could hear crying long before he found the right cell. Kayleigh was curled up in a little ball on the bed, crying her eyes out.

  “Kayleigh? Are you okay?” She raised tired eyes to him, and he could see this was taking a toll on her fragile mind.

  “Garrett! Thank you so much for coming. I didn’t think anyone would. How’s Alice? Is she going to be okay?” Garrett could see she was holding on with bated breath. She felt like it was her fault that Alice had gotten a bullet in the leg.

  “She’ll be alright, I’m sure of it. It wasn’t anything disastrous, and I’m sure she will be just fine.”

  “I’m so glad she’s going to be okay. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but John just had pushed me for far too long, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m sorry. I never wanted anyone to get hurt but him!” She broke down again, and Garrett stood there, helplessly, on the other side of the bars. He wished he could do something to help her.

  “I just was so tired of him hurting people, and my anger took over. I didn’t want him to hurt anyone else, and then because of me, Alice got hurt.” She dissolved in tears again, and Garrett reached through the bars. She got up and walked over to him, holding on to the only lifeline she had.

  “Listen, Alice is going to be okay. It could have been a lot worse if he actually would have aimed and tried taking one of us out. We owe you our lives. As far as everyone is concerned, you did the whole neighborhood a favor.” A weak smile stretched across her face, and she squeezed Garrett’s hand in thanks.

  “Thank you for trying to take care of me. I know I am more of a burden than an asset, but I appreciate it all the same. Do you know what happened to Nat? Am I going to stay in prison?” Her eyes were fearful, and Garrett didn’t want to make it any worse than it already was.