Awake

Epilogue - Rain

Carmen looked up sharply as the first drop of water landed on her head. The clouds had been gathering overhead for some days now, growing thicker and darker, but never once had it rained. All around her, she heard people crying out, running for shelter, screaming, in sudden fear at the sheer horror of the water tumbling out of the ominous sky.

Carmen let the hammer she had been wielding slip between her fingers. She was working on building her boat, a fine construction that had been designed to perfection on great blue sheets of drawing paper pinned up on all the nearby trees. Alexei ran to them now in a panic, gathering them in, protecting them from the deluge.

They were her crew now, a little team of four set on building a boat and sailing the seas: Alexei, who could design and plan but had no talent at all for building things; Kaede, who was learning fast all Carmen could teach her; and Kevin, the only real builder on the team with a desire to see the world that almost rivalled Carmen's own. They were going to conquer foreign lands one day, make legends of their names.

One day.

For now, they were happy in the new settlement that was growing up down near the beach. There were weeks, maybe months, of work left before their boat could sail. Until then, they could eat gathered food, explore the local woods, swim in the sea each morning. Carmen was teaching them all how to live outside.

Kaede froze up when the rain hit her as though it were poison. Carmen saw fear stutter across Kevin's face. But she herself simply stood, struck dumb, as the water soaked through her clothes, bedraggled her hair, blinded her eyes.

To the distant horizon, Carmen crowed, "Rain!"

Jonathan stood by the shrouded window, looking out into the greyscale world. The rain drummed a wild tattoo on the roof. Outside, droplets leapt from puddles so that it seemed as though the water was flowing upwards as well as down. It was tempting to run outside and join the storm but Jonathan was all too aware of his still-healing wounds so he kept a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and merely watched.

In his mind's eye, Jonathan saw a woman who had been his mother choking on bitter poison, a dark-haired girl wielding a gun with blazing eyes, a series of images of things he had never known and yet remembered. Particularly the girl. He could never forget her.

Footsteps approached behind him, quiet on the floor, muffled in stolen slippers. Jonathan felt Lucia slip her hand into his, interlacing the fingers, and lean sideways against him, just barely. The warmth of her was reassuring and Jonathan squeezed her hand gently in return.

It was hard living at the resistance headquarters but there was nowhere else to stay for the time being. Arrangements would have to be made in the future. For now, Jonathan shared an old storeroom with Lucia, a nest of blankets between the cold concrete walls, a cell made liveable only by her presence in it.

There was so much to be done. The resistance had made little headway in the past year. There were battles left to be fought, lives to be lost, victories to be won. Jonathan was going to be there for all of it, all the pain and all the glory. But for now, he needed nothing more than the simple conformation of a hand in his.

Planting a kiss on the top of Lucia's head, Jonathan said, "Rain."

The first drops sent up plumes of dust from the dry earth. Miriam looked up from her cooking, raising a smudged hand to brush a stray lock of hair from her face. Beside her, Rafe looked up as well. Children stopped playing to stare.

It had been hard since Miriam had woken up, but Rafe had been there every day to help her. Daniel was well too, having been rescued from his tree, though Lucy was still missing, presumed dead. It hurt, but not as badly as it could have done.