her coffee, savoring
the aroma and rich taste. It was a Hawaiian blend Zack had brought back from
town. He didn’t say where he’d found it and she didn’t ask, preferring to
believe it came from a store rather than someone’s pantry. Happy for the time
alone, she used it to think, to meditate, and to mull over all those things she’d
pushed to the back of her mind for one reason or another.
So much had happened in the past few days it was
difficult to grasp onto anything that made sense. Since arriving, Roxanne had
not left Austin’s bed side. The boy, Austin’s son, remained with his mother
never venturing out on his own. As far as Madison could tell, he was not
allowed to speak much either. Madison had tried to reach out to Roxanne, but
had been greeted with a coolness that should have come with a frost warning.
The subject of Austin’s wife and son seemed to be on everyone’s taboo list. A
frustrating obstacle for Madison, who had questions, a multitude of questions.
Ed and Jenny had not come out of Ed’s living quarters
and she wondered how Jenny might be taking the news about everything that had
happened. How do you take something like that on top of everything else? As
hard as the past year had been for Ed, Madison thought Jenny was going to have
a more difficult time adapting.
Pouring another cup of coffee, Madison went and sat in
one of the booths. She slid to the end of the bench, leaned against the wall
and stretched her legs out so only her feet hung over the outside edge. As she
sipped her mind wandered. She revisited Section Seven, the Dodge City Diner,
down to Tampa and circled back to the bunker. Anne’s babies were due at the end
of December. Grace was due only a week later. Christmas babies and a New Year’s
baby, Madison thought. The word Christmas played around in Madison’s mind
wanting to be noticed. Christmas.
“Christmas,” she said out loud.
“Did you say Christmas?” Zack grabbed her foot making
her jump. “Sorry didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You didn’t. I mean you did, but...” Madison swung her
legs around under the table. “My mind was elsewhere.”
“On Christmas?” Zack sat down across from her. Ever
since she’d made it clear he wasn’t the guy for her, keeping his distance was
constantly on his mind and harder to do each day.
“I was thinking about Anne having her twins in
December and how they might be Christmas babies. I hadn’t realized it was
coming up. You know Christmas”
“Should we have some kind of celebration?”
“I don’t know if celebration is the right word
considering our circumstances.”
“What are our circumstances?”
“Whatta ya mean?”
“I was wondering what you thought of everything. Of
life. The future. You know, our circumstances. “
Madison stared at him for a long moment. She’d given
plenty of thought to many things, but not to those things. Not to their
situation or their circumstances. She lived in the moment, never thinking too
far ahead. “I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought. Have you?”
“I have,” Zack replied, his tone uncharacteristically
somber.
“And?”
“And I think celebrating Christmas might be a good
thing. Especially for the younger crew. One last hurrah before the ship sinks.”
Madison thought this over. “You think they’re coming
back? The Adita?”
“Yep.”
“What more do they want? They’ve already taken
everyone.” Madison voice went up an octave. “Except us. Except a few survivors.
We’re no threat to them. Why would they want...?” The answer smacked her in the
head. “They want Austin don’t they?”
Zack nodded, glad she was quick to pick up on things.
He needed to confide in someone, someone he could trust to be level headed. He
had reservations about Madison remaining neutral in regards to Austin, but knew
she could be trusted.
Madison’s cop side took over as she watched Zack’s
facial expressions change. “Do you know something?”
“I
the aroma and rich taste. It was a Hawaiian blend Zack had brought back from
town. He didn’t say where he’d found it and she didn’t ask, preferring to
believe it came from a store rather than someone’s pantry. Happy for the time
alone, she used it to think, to meditate, and to mull over all those things she’d
pushed to the back of her mind for one reason or another.
So much had happened in the past few days it was
difficult to grasp onto anything that made sense. Since arriving, Roxanne had
not left Austin’s bed side. The boy, Austin’s son, remained with his mother
never venturing out on his own. As far as Madison could tell, he was not
allowed to speak much either. Madison had tried to reach out to Roxanne, but
had been greeted with a coolness that should have come with a frost warning.
The subject of Austin’s wife and son seemed to be on everyone’s taboo list. A
frustrating obstacle for Madison, who had questions, a multitude of questions.
Ed and Jenny had not come out of Ed’s living quarters
and she wondered how Jenny might be taking the news about everything that had
happened. How do you take something like that on top of everything else? As
hard as the past year had been for Ed, Madison thought Jenny was going to have
a more difficult time adapting.
Pouring another cup of coffee, Madison went and sat in
one of the booths. She slid to the end of the bench, leaned against the wall
and stretched her legs out so only her feet hung over the outside edge. As she
sipped her mind wandered. She revisited Section Seven, the Dodge City Diner,
down to Tampa and circled back to the bunker. Anne’s babies were due at the end
of December. Grace was due only a week later. Christmas babies and a New Year’s
baby, Madison thought. The word Christmas played around in Madison’s mind
wanting to be noticed. Christmas.
“Christmas,” she said out loud.
“Did you say Christmas?” Zack grabbed her foot making
her jump. “Sorry didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You didn’t. I mean you did, but...” Madison swung her
legs around under the table. “My mind was elsewhere.”
“On Christmas?” Zack sat down across from her. Ever
since she’d made it clear he wasn’t the guy for her, keeping his distance was
constantly on his mind and harder to do each day.
“I was thinking about Anne having her twins in
December and how they might be Christmas babies. I hadn’t realized it was
coming up. You know Christmas”
“Should we have some kind of celebration?”
“I don’t know if celebration is the right word
considering our circumstances.”
“What are our circumstances?”
“Whatta ya mean?”
“I was wondering what you thought of everything. Of
life. The future. You know, our circumstances. “
Madison stared at him for a long moment. She’d given
plenty of thought to many things, but not to those things. Not to their
situation or their circumstances. She lived in the moment, never thinking too
far ahead. “I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought. Have you?”
“I have,” Zack replied, his tone uncharacteristically
somber.
“And?”
“And I think celebrating Christmas might be a good
thing. Especially for the younger crew. One last hurrah before the ship sinks.”
Madison thought this over. “You think they’re coming
back? The Adita?”
“Yep.”
“What more do they want? They’ve already taken
everyone.” Madison voice went up an octave. “Except us. Except a few survivors.
We’re no threat to them. Why would they want...?” The answer smacked her in the
head. “They want Austin don’t they?”
Zack nodded, glad she was quick to pick up on things.
He needed to confide in someone, someone he could trust to be level headed. He
had reservations about Madison remaining neutral in regards to Austin, but knew
she could be trusted.
Madison’s cop side took over as she watched Zack’s
facial expressions change. “Do you know something?”
“I
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