wild turkeys.
Three days had past since Trevor’s return. During that time, Omar worked wonders with the power systems and K9 patrols indicated the surrounding area lacked any major threats. Add in the stories of victory brought home by the returning heroes and Trevor could understand why confidence once again soared.
Only one thing felt out of place.
Nina Forest barely saw or spoke to anyone, spending most of her time hidden away in her apartment above the A-Frame’s garage. She even changed her schedule so that she often ate in an empty dining hall.
As the trio left behind the football field, Trevor’s thoughts turned to the missing woman.
'She won’t see me,' Lori explained. 'I’ve tried, but she won’t talk to me. She won’t even talk to Shep. I think the only one she talks to is your dog, Odin. I see him following her around everywhere but that’s about it.'
Trevor nodded and, as if trying to convince himself, said, 'She’ll be at dinner tonight. She’ll be there.'
Two hours after Benny Duda scored the winning touchdown on the gridiron, the community gathered for a Thanksgiving feast spread out among the rooms of the mansion. The only ones missing were the residents of the farms and Nina Forest.
They dined on slow-roasted wild turkey, instant mashed potatoes, stale 'Stove Top' stuffing, as well as cranberries and vegetables from cans.
Everyone loved it.
They uncorked a dozen bottles of wine and enjoyed a Champagne toast.
For a couple of hours things felt… normal. Not even the approaching thunderstorms could ruin the evening.
Dinner did not so much end as fade away. Some stayed behind, such as Danny Washburn who desperately hit on Cassy Simms, and Evan Godfrey who cornered a few of the new arrivals to discuss ‘politics’.
Trevor, with Tyr by his side, left the church basement and walked alone in the darkness toward the mansion. A cold breeze ruffled his windbreaker. A flash of heavenly fireworks illuminated the churning waters of the lake.
Odin the Elkhound intercepted Trevor at the main gate and presented his Master with disturbing news.
Trevor listened and then turned north on the perimeter road as fast as his wounded legs would allow. The dogs followed at a discreet distance. The lightning flashed again over the lake; a rumble of thunder shook the night.
He followed the black top driveway on the grounds of the A-Frame house. He stopped outside of the garage where a solitary security light generated a circle of illumination around a Jeep Grand Cherokee, the one Trevor had hot-wired to evacuated Shepherd from the helicopter crash long ago.
Nina, dressed in her tactical outfit, descended the stairs from her apartment. She carried a duffel bag over her shoulder and held a camouflage jacket in her hands.
'What are you doing?'
She threw the bag and jacket in the rear seat of the Jeep.
'I’m leaving. I figured no one had used this Jeep in a while so I thought I’d take it.'
'No you’re not.'
She sighed and retrieved her bag and jacket from the rear seat.
'Okay then, I’ll walk.'
'Why do you want to leave?'
Nina stopped.
She placed the bag on the ground with her jacket on top. Her eyes scanned everywhere but at him and she gently bit her lower lip.
A flash of lightning strobed the area. Thunder followed two seconds later.
'I don’t belong here.'
'What? What the hell makes you say that?'
'I’m not like everyone else. I don’t fit in.'
He told her, 'We need you to stay. I want you to stay.'
'After everything I did? I can’t believe you mean that.'
He took a hesitant step forward. She finally glanced-briefly-at him.
More lightning. More grumbles of thunder. The wind whipped faster. The storm prepared to break.
'Damn it, Nina, what are you afraid of?'
'Afraid? I’m not afraid of anything.'
'Then why the hell are you running? That’s what you’re doing, you know. Running away. You belong here more than anyone else does.'
'I don’t deserve to be here! You…Lori…all of you… you all had lives before this. You all had…had something else. But you said it yourself; all I know is killing. And you said that this isn’t about just killing; it’s about saving. Since I’ve been here, I haven’t saved anyone. I’ve just killed. It’s all I know.' The first rain drops tap-tap-tapped on the blacktop. 'And those sons a bitches, they were able to use me because of that!'
He slipped in, 'That wasn’t your fault.'
'After what they did to you…and I stood there and let them do it…and before all that, to think that I thought that maybe we-maybe you and I-' she stumbled about, paused, then threw away the thought. 'That’s why I have to go. I can go and kill on my own, without putting you or anyone else in danger.'
Boom!
The lightning and thunder struck simultaneously.
'Nina…'
The rain fell in sheets.
She looked at him and shouted, 'What is it you want from me? I’m sorry, damn it. There, I said it! I’m sorry I betrayed you. Now let me go! Just forget about me!'
Trevor yelled above the roar, 'I can’t do that!'
The rain poured over them: a chilling rain. Her blond hair soaked and drooped. Sparkling droplets covered his windbreaker. Puddles formed across the black top.
'I can’t do that. I can’t forget about you, Nina. And I can’t let you run away.'
'I have to…I don’t fit in…I don’t know anything but fighting and killing.'
'That’s not what you’re running from.'
The rain became a veil of water hanging in the glow of the security light.
He told her, 'You’ve been hard and tough all your life and you’ve never run away before. You’re afraid of finding that there’s more inside. What is it you feel now? Guilt? Have you ever felt guilt before?'
She did not answer.
'I told you once that you were looking for something. I promised to tell you when the time was right.'
The rain slammed against the pavement in a sea of water explosions creating a constant, drowning roar. Trevor felt a cold shiver shake his spine as the deluge poured upon him. The two dogs sat on the sidelines, their gray and black hair soaked through.
Nina ran the back of her hand across her face to clear a splash from her cheek.
Trevor dared a step closer.
'All your life you’ve wondered why you were different,' he held his hands palms up as he spoke. 'Why didn’t you fit in? Why weren’t you like the other kids? As you grew up, you watched what the other girls did and you copied them. You imitated them so that maybe they wouldn’t notice how different you were. But it was a lie.'
A bolt of lightning arced overhead. A crackle of thunder boomed in response.
'When you were a woman, you went out with the boys. Sometimes…sometimes you let them…let them touch you. Let them do things…things they wanted to do. You hoped that if you let them then maybe you would feel something. But each time it was empty. Just empty feelings that faded away as fast as they came. And all that made you feel more alone.'
Nina bowed her head.
'The one thing you were sure of was that you knew how to fight. You had strength. Courage. Speed. And when people saw that in you… when they saw such a beautiful woman…'
She raised her eyes at the word ‘beautiful’.
'…who was so strong and tough, they wondered; they wondered what had happened to make you that way.
