Page 58 of Hero

“I know you were running. Your daddy was getting you away from the bad people. But they’re gone now, so we don’t have to run or hide anymore. Hopefully your daddy’s ankle isn’t hurt too bad.”

“Are you okay, Daddy?” Rina stares up at Zed’s face, obviously recognizing her father’s dazedness and not understanding it.

“I’m okay.” His voice is as hoarse and stretched as mine. “We’re all okay now.”

She hugs his legs again and then reaches up to hug me. I pick her up and carry her.

I’m not ready to let her go yet.

* * *

The rest of the day is even more of a blur. Maria and the other women escort us to the town of Halbrook. It looks like it used to be a small rural town, but over the years, they’ve fortified their perimeter with a wall and armed guards. They’ve got a community farm, an organized rotation of work duties, and daily rations.

I had no idea there were towns like this around. They adapted. Changed. Survived. And are making a life for the members of their community.

The guards know Maria, so we have no trouble being let in, and when we explain how we got to this area, it’s clear they all also know Mack, Anna, Cal, and Rachel. The folks we talk to want to know about us, but the questioning doesn’t feel adversarial. They tell us, if we’re willing to cooperate and share in the workload, we’re welcome to stay in town. Live here. Permanently.

It’s that easy. They let us stay. So we can make this town our new home.

I’ve long since lost track of days of the week, but it must be a Friday because they have music and dancing in the town square that evening, which is evidently something they do every Friday. There’s food—potatoes and roasted pork and fried apples—and it’s so much better than anything we’ve had in years that I can barely process the taste. The square is lit by dozens of torches, and they flicker brightly in the dark night.

People come over to greet us. They seem happy to meet us, and no one questions how or why we’ve come. We’re not the only ones who’ve shown up here homeless and desperate.

The best thing is when a few little girls come over to introduce themselves to Rina. They seem to range in age from four to seven. Since Rina is about to turn five, she’s right around their age.

Rina is shy with the other girls. It’s going to take her a while to get used to being around other kids. But it’s a start.

We’re too exhausted and overwhelmed to dance or sing with the music even though we recognize a lot of the country songs played on the guitars, drums, and fiddle. The festivities are still in full swing when we decide it’s bedtime.

They’re letting us stay in one of the town’s guesthouses until we can find a home of our own. We have two small bedrooms, one with two twin beds, so I lie down in the second bed in Rina’s room so the situation will feel as familiar as possible for the girl.

Zed takes the big bed in the other bedroom.

Rina talks for a few minutes after we turn off the light, asking about what will happen tomorrow and whether I think those girls will like her. She eventually falls quiet, and I lie awake, staring up at the darkness. My head is still spinning. I’m having trouble processing everything that’s happened today. And I can’t quite stop my trembling.

Buddy hopped up in bed with me and is snoring softly at the food of my bed. I wait until I hear Rina’s breathing slow and deepen. Then I wait about twenty more minutes to make sure she’s fully asleep.

Finally I get up as silently as I can and walk barefoot out of the room and into Zed’s.

I stumble a few times because it’s dark and I don’t know the layout of this house very well. But I manage not to wake Rina up, and I feel my way through Zed’s room until I bump into the bed.

“Esther?” His voice is soft. Slightly rough. But not groggy. He hasn’t been asleep any more than I was.

“Yeah.”

“Thank God.” He reaches out until he can get a grip on my arm, and with it he pulls me into the bed beside him. “I was afraid you weren’t going to come.”

“I…” I’m not sure what to say. Right now my mind is filled with nothing but the deep relief of being with Zed. The stout scent of him. The heat from his body. The urgency in his arms as he pulls me against the strong length of him. “I needed to.”

He adjusts our position, lying on his back with me mostly on top of him. It works for me. I can bury my face in the undershirt he’s wearing. I breathe fast and deep, trying to let go, trying to unclench after holding it together for so long.

He’s breathing loudly too, and one of his hands is fisted in my hair, which I brushed out and kept loose before bed.

It’s several minutes before either of speaks again.

Then he finally murmurs, “Don’t you ever,everdo that to me again.”

I know exactly what he’s referring to. The sharp agony of the moment is still shuddering at my core. “I didn’t want… We didn’t have any other choice.”

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