All Is Silence - Deserted Lands #1

Chapter 14 - Part III

SHE TUGGED SPIKE BACK, HIS muscles tense, ready to spring. His wild eyes darted, nervous, trying to see in all directions. They got back to the greenhouse without the dogs following them, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

How soon are Zach and Nev coming back? She pulled out her cell to check the time and send a text. Missed call flashed in red. The Texas number. Her breath sucked in.

Oh, my god. Daddy? Or was it someone who lived in the house with him? She slid the screen to voicemail. A new envelope flashed with the number on it. Her hands shook as she tried to access the call. "Oh, my god, oh my god." It played; she shoved the phone to her ear.

A male voice said. "Lizzie?" Then a pause. "Elizabeth. It's...It's Mannie, uh, Manuel, your father. Sorry I missed you. I'm glad you're alive. I..." Daddy? A jolt shot through her body. You're alive. She had always assumed he was dead. He should've been dead. Where had he been on her birthdays? On her first days of school? On the day she needed someone to teach her to drive... "Call me, please." He ended the message with a sigh.

"Fuck you!" She hurled the phone. It landed in the grass. She ran to pick it up and texted Zach. Need you now. She slid the phone back to voice mail and listened to the call again, sitting in the cold grass. Spike slid down next to her. His head nudged at her side.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" she asked Spike. He stared at her with sad eyes.

She scrolled through other messages, back to the last one from her mom. She listened to it, but it only intensified her pain. "Mama. What do I do? You taught me to hate him. Or at least forget him. I created a better him in my mind." Her lungs fought for air; she was hyperventilating.

She heard the low rumble of vehicle before she saw it. The Tank slid to a stop when Zach saw her. He jumped out, leaving the door open and the vehicle running. He ran over. Nev was only steps behind him.

Zach knelt by her, pulling her toward him. "What the hell's wrong? We saw C.J.'s brother at the gathering, I think."

Nev nodded. "Then he disappeared. We thought he'd found you. Are you hurt? Show me."

Lizzie shook her head, but she couldn't speak. She tugged at Zach's shirt and sobbed into it.

"Lizzie, Lizzie. What is it?" Nev begged.

In between breaths Lizzie managed to spit out, "My dad called. My dad's alive."

Zach pushed her back, but didn't let her go. "Your dad's alive? And that's an emergency?"

Lizzie wouldn't meet his eyes. She pulled away from him. God, he could be an ass sometimes.

"Zach, come on." Nev furrowed her brow at him. "Did you call him back, Lizzie?"

Lizzie shook her head, trying to slow her breathing.

Zach made an exasperated sound. "Why not?"

Lizzie sniffed back snot. "I'm a mess."

"Yeah," Zach said. "What say we head back home? Discuss this on the way. C.J.'s brother is somewhere in the area."

They got into the Tank and Nev climbed in the back with Lizzie, snuggling her. Lizzie snuffled. "My god, Nev. Why am I such a basket case? I've lost everyone and now one of them comes back from the dead and I'm pissed off?"

"He's not the one you want back," Nev said, her voice soft and soothing.

"I guess." Lizzie's breath returned to a slower state. "What if he really is the bastard my mom said he was?"

"Maybe he is, or was, but he's older, too. And wiser, maybe."

"Maybe." Lizzie pulled Nev into a hug, tearing Nev's shirt. "Sorry 'bout your shirt."

"Hey, there are a million shirts. Only one you." She laughed loudly. "You wanna go shopping? We could go places we can't, uh, couldn't afford." She handed Lizzie her phone back.

"Like R.E.I." Lizzie said. "Outdoor gear for the apocalypse?"

"What?" Nev smiled at her. "No, you're such a boy. I don't mean hiking boots and multi-tools. I mean clothing stores. Velvet, animal print, voluptuwear!"

"Okay, Nev. I'll let you take me to girly stores."

"Sissie." Saj grinned as he pounded on his car seat.

Lizzie's anxiety melted away. "Sebastian, you make me smile."

"Thought his name was Saj," Zach said over his shoulder.

"The more names the better. I'll call him Sebastian Antonio Jones when he's in trouble, right, Sebbie?"

She stuck her thumb into his tiny hand. The perfect fingers gripped it tight and pulled toward his mouth. He sucked for a moment then bit. "Ouch. Sebastian Antonio."

After that she sank into silence. What the hell am I supposed to do about my father—the sperm donor? She would call him back; she needed to.

He hadn't really said anything. She could tell he'd wanted to say Dad. Or Papa or something. At least he had the decency not to. Nobody called her Elizabeth, but Mama always told her he had picked the name. She'd always thought she'd go by Elizabeth when she got a job and career.

Jobs. College. Careers. All gone. Survival school is all that remains.

And her dad was alive. The father I dreamed of, the one I'd imagined he might have been, is not him. But we have things in common. Music and movies. What was that worth? Was it worth the missed birthdays? He hadn't sent a card. How hard was that? "Okay," she said, finally making a decision.

"Okay what?" Nev asked.

"I'm going to call him. Don't know what I'm going to say."

"He probably doesn't know what to say either," Nev said. "What'd he say in the message?"

"Nothing. I want to tell him the fuck off, for all the years he wasn't there. All those years of nothing."

"Well," Zach said, "that's one way to do it."

"You might ask him why?" Nevaeh suggested. "Why he wasn't there. Maybe later..." She pulled Lizzie's eyes to hers. "Lizzie, when you call him.... Do you want us there?"

"I don't know. But let's do that shopping trip first."

"Some old-fashioned consumer therapy without the cost." Nev grinned at her. "So really, it's just a dress-up day."