THE RED WAKE

Chapters 45&46

 "SHE can't continue tonight. She's all in."

Alan shook his head. Jenny Montague and the woman called Iris were huddled together in the back seat of the truck. Alan knew that Jenny was right. Iris was clearly exhausted. Unlike their former guide, the limits of her ability to sense the location of the Horn were finite. Her connection to the Horn was constant; a lifeline of sorts, which guided her in much the same way the quiet boy, had guided them earlier. But that connection was not without cost.

"I think we'll have to stop somewhere and let her rest," Jenny said. She held Iris' hand in her own. With her other hand she wiped the sweat from Iris' brow. Since the travelers had crossed into California, Iris'seemed to be locked in the grip of a fever that had quickly rendered her nearly insensate.

"She was like this once before," Jenny said worriedly. She was remembering the way that Iris had collapsed right after bringing Jimmy back from the edge of death, the heavy toll that use of her power had seemed to take upon her vitality. This recent lapse was similar to that earlier episode. Only now Iris remained semi-conscious.

She sat wrapped in blankets, her hollow eyes staring into the shadows that seemed to pace them as they made their way to the coast and north toward central California.

Whenever Jenny tried to comfort her, Iris would only huddle deeper into herself and close her eyes.

"We need to let her sleep, Alan," Jenny said again.

"I understand," he replied. But as he studied the women in his rear view mirror, Alan wondered if even this hope would be taken from him before he could fulfill his vow.

*

The abandoned motel they found was one of the few structures that still had electricity and running water. Alan didn't understand how this could be. Some of the places they'd stayed in had been without light or heat. But some still had one or more functioning utilities.

No one left to shut them off, Alan thought darkly.

But he didn't question their good luck too deeply. He was simply grateful for the relative comfort after weeks of living rough. They were all tired, and eager to take advantage of this bit of good fortune. Jenny and Iris would bunk together in a small room with two beds, while Gordy chose one of the larger rooms at the end of the hall that overlooked the parking lot.

For himself, Alan chose a small single with a king sized bed. While Eugenia chose to sleep at some distance from the others, taking a room at the far end of the motel, close to the entrance. After promising to keep her radio close by in case of emergency, she excused herself, went to her room and closed and locked her door.

"What the hell's eatin' her?" Gordy said irritably.

Jenny Montague stared for a long moment at the closed door to Eugenia's room before shouldering her backpack.

"She's let trouble settle on her like a rude cousin," she said. But when Gordy asked what she meant she only shook her head and shrugged.

"Let's get some sleep," Alan said. "We'll need to get started in a few hours is Iris is able."

Jenny made a snorting sound. She looked into the room where Iris was already asleep, lost in her strange personal mindscape that none of them really understood.

"She'll be ready," Jenny said quietly. "Way I see it we don't have much say about that."

After that they all turned in for the night.

*

Jillian was sitting on a blanket, her eyes sparkling with the joy he remembered from their early days together, before the marriage went sour. On this particular sunny afternoon the two of them had decided to take a break from their studies to have a picnic lunch in the park.