“Just make sure you are careful,” Marriane said when Adam informed her about what he was about to do. He had expected more of a protest from her, or at least something more than a monotonous word of advice. She saw his look of surprise and smiled as she turned her full attention on him and set aside the curtains she was washing when Adam came to her. She had stripped them down earlier and insisted on washing them. “More cleanliness, more hope,” she had said. “Were you expecting me to stop you?” Adam shrugged. What was she expecting him to say? Yes, I expect you to tell me not to go? Marriane smiled as if she could hear his thoughts. “It is my duty as a mother to be that selfish. But not anymore. You have more responsibility now. You are a leader, and I am not going to stop you from doing what you think is right. Especially when it has to do with the woman you love.” She paused as if she were expecting him to counter her claim. When Adam said nothing, she moved closer to him
When it was time to leave, everyone saw them off. Even those still working on the well waved their hands at them as they took one of the cars and got ready to leave. Even though Adam had gone through the arrangements they had made over and over again, he still couldn’t help but feel anxiety about leaving everyone behind. His eyes misted over as he looked at Marriane and Lisa. His sister had her left hand on their mother’s shoulder while she waved at him with her right. Marriane was also waving as the car went down the driveway. They both had smiles on their faces, but Adam could see beyond those smiles. They were scared for him, but as if they had come to an agreement, both of them had sent him off with glittering smiles. Layla laid her hand on his hand and said, “You can still go back, you know. All of you. You don’t have to do this.” “And miss all the fun? I had rather poke myself in the eyes,” Maddy responded. "Isn’t that right, Rafe?” She jerked her head towards the robot
Getting to Sydney was not as difficult as they had anticipated.Getting a suitable place to land the plane was the major problem.The airport was a total mess.It was like a war zone with all the destruction and chaos around.Even from the distance in the sky, they could see tiny-looking zombies roaming around and snarling up at the jet as it lowered.“We can’t land here,” Matteo said, and no one argued with him.After circling over and over, Layla told them that there was a huge field close to the location where she was supposed to meet her father.“It used to be a rice paddy. I don’t know how much of the land has been used up in the past few years or if it has been abandoned since. We can check it out, though. Can you land on a rocky terrain? The land surrounding the paddy itself is not smooth.”Matteo quickly checked the modules of the jet and said, “We can manage it. A smoother surface will be preferred of course.“We might get lucky,” Adam said as Matteo changed course according
Adam wondered why they had separated them.After the shock of seeing the general at a place they least expected, the phone rang, and the man handed it to Layla.Adam could see from the look on her face that it was her dad.Her answers were monotonous, but each syllable resounded with the pain she must have been feeling.Adam could see that even Maddy noticed it.After disconnecting the call, she gave the phone back to the general and told Adam and the others.“You go ahead to the house. I will join you later.”“Why?” Adam asked immediately.“I need to talk with my dad,” she said in that same infuriating toneless voice.“Well, I will not stop you from doing that. I will go with you and step aside while you have all the talk you want with him."She looked at him for a while and said, “I am going to him, and none of you are coming with me. I will join you at the house.”With that, she looked at one of the two men by the other car and walked towards them.One of them opened the car, and s
The man barely glanced at the newly arrived. One could see that he counted them unworthy of his presence and recognition. Instead, he looked straight at the general and asked, “Is she here now?” “Yes, she is,” the general answered immediately with respect. "Good. I am sure Jaden would talk some sense to her, and we can start operations.” Talk sense into her? Operations? Adam wondered what he was talking about. From the look on Maddy's face, she was thinking the same thing. So saying, the man continued on his walk, followed by the men behind him. “Excuse me, sir. I need to talk to you about... The general hurried after him, leaving Adam and Maddy standing. “I still don’t know why dad has to call her here, though." The lady called Gwen said as she went to sit in one of the lounge chairs placed around. She sighed and flicked imainary dirt off her nails. “Now, she will think she is so important.” “Keep it down, Gwen,” her mother said as she went to join her. She corked her
“I never get the surmon,” Jared Walton, Layla’s dad, said smoothly without any change in his countenance. Layla scoffed. “Of course, how convenient.” Her father shrugged again “I guess it is up to you to believe me. We were also battling those vermin back at home. There we were one day, planning board meetings and how to make things work, and then the next day we were fighting off crazy brain eaters. Everything was in chaos. We almost lost our lives too. Patricia was hysterical. We almost didn’t get to Gwen on time, and..." “And of course, it didn’t matter what happened to me. Inasmuch as your precious daughter and wife are okay, it was not necessary to look for the prodigal daughter, was it?” “Layla…” “No, it is fine. I totally get it. Why did you get me here this time? You don’t look like you are dying to me.” “You wish I was dying?” he asked as he leaned back against his chair. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself. I stopped wishing anything concerning you a long time ago. Why would I
Adam disconnected the call and looked over to where Maddie was exchanging barbed statements with the young miss, who had a problem with her sitting with them. “Cut it out, Maddie. We are leaving.” “Maddie. What sort of crappy name is that?” Gwen muttered with a roll of her eyes. “One I wouldn’t want to swap with a name like Gwendolyn, Gwen," Maddie said as she deliberately picked up a handful of the canapes they had on the table and stuffed them in her mouth while giving Gwen the finger. They had barely taken a step towards the gate, though, before the general came running. “And where do you think you are going?” the man asked. “Away from here, obviously,” Maddie answered with a roll of her eyes. “You are not allowed to leave unless told to.” “Why not try to stop us?” Maddie asked as she shifted her stance into a defensive one. Adam laid his hand on her arm and asked, “Told to by who?" “That is none of your business. It is enough to know that you are not going anywhere yet.”
“No!” Even Maddie was startled by Adam’s outburst. The men who were carrying Layla ahead of her father stopped, and they all looked back. “We are not going in there with you. Whatever you have to say, say it out here. What the hell did you do to Layla?!” he asked firmly. Walton looked at Walton and they both turned to Adam. “I will not hurt my daughter. I just need her to sign something and you will all be on your way” the man Adam assumed was Layla’s father said. “So you knocked her out? You would hurt your daughter because of whatever the fuck you have going on here? She left where she was immediately she heard that you needed to see her, you asshole. She left everything for you, and what did you do? You knocked her out?” Not even a semblance of guilt crossed Jared Walton’s face as he said “Stop being dramatic. I didn’t knock her out.” “Then wake her up. Whatever the hell you did that made her like that, make it stop now or I swear this precious daughter of yours will be dea