Ell bent her neck forward. “Seriously? Mia? She’s, like, the toughest person I know. The contractions shouldn’t be hurting her so badly. What do we do if something’s wrong?”
It was a tough question. In lieu of modern medicinal miracles, we were basically living in the eighteenth century. I gave a positive answer anyway.
“People have been having babies since the dawn of humanity, Ell. Most have done it without epidurals and hospitals, and with plenty of germs. It worked for them, didn’t it? Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here.”
She frowned at me. She had undoubtedly already had this conversation with herself and came to the same conclusion. I offered nothing new, nothing comforting. The truth is, I couldn’t; we were up shit creek without a paddle, and now there was a hole in our boat. We all knew it.
But like everything else we’d faced since the blizzards began, we wouldn’t give up without a fight. I told this to Eleanor, and though it didn’t ease all the fear she felt, it helped.
A little bit, I think.
“What’s the power situation?” Stone asked.
I nodded at the flashlight in my hand. “These, and the fire. Until Ramsey has time to fix what happened in the trailer, at least. Right now”—I pointed toward the windows, where the monsters had congregated outside—“we’re gonna have to wait them out.”
Images of the gray-skinned, long-limbed thing haunted my mind, and I began trying to think of a plan if one were to get inside while Mia was giving birth… And no plan presented itself.
Oh God.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ell asked.
I nodded and set both my hands on her shoulders, bent my knees so we were eye to eye, and said, “Eleanor Hark, we are going to get through this, all right? And when it’s over, this strange family of ours is going to be one bigger.”
She smiled. More warmth radiated from it than from the fire.
Then Ramsey called from across the room. “Uh, guys…I think Mia’s having another one.”
Ell glanced down at her watch. It told the wrong time, and she knew this, but wearing it was about comfort, a reminder of a dead world where time mattered.
“Shit,” she mumbled. “The last one was only ten minutes ago. They’re getting closer, which means so is the baby.”
“Oh no…” Mia moaned. “I-I think my water broke.”
“Are you sure?” Ell asked, rushing over to them. I followed.
“Either that or I just pissed myself.”
Stone was holding one of the flashlights. Eleanor snatched it from his grip and aimed it at the beige blanket Mia lay on.
“Oh no,” she whispered.
Illuminated before us was a growing puddle of red beneath Mia’s half-covered legs.
Blood.
5
The Not-So Bloody Show
Ramsey raised a finger. “Wait a minute. Ain’t that called a ‘Bloody Show’ or somethin’?” He seemed unsure. “Yeah, that’s all it is. No need to get more worried.”
That ship had sailed as soon as the contractions started—no, as soon as the snowflake fell in July.
Before Ramsey, no one had spoken in a while. Mia’s hand was trembling as she reached beneath the blanket and felt around down there. Her fingertips came back coated red. I thought she was going to pass out. It’s actually kind of amazing that she hadn’t already. If that were me, I would’ve been down for the count a long time ago.
I looked at Eleanor, really just wanting to look anywhere besides the blood. Usually the sight of such things didn’t bother me. I had seen quite a few macabre scenes in my lifetime, both before the blizzards and after, but with it being so close to home, and happening to Mia, who I considered a family member, made it beyond devastating. Add to that how nervous she had been about the delivery, always afraid something would go wrong despite us assuring her it wouldn’t, and I nearly broke down right there.
I couldn’t do that, though. I had to stay strong. I had to stay positive. But it wasn’t easy, and internally I was far from positive.
Still, that didn’t stop me from springing into action, crossing the room, and placing my hand on the small of Ell’s back. I guided her toward Mia.
Eleanor said what we were all thinking. “That’s a lot of blood…I don’t think it’s the show.”
Stone, sitting in the computer chair, spun around and faced the window, where the wraiths continued speaking in their mumbling voices. He ran his fingers through his afro and bent his head, whispering so low I barely heard him. I only caught snippets here and there. “God,” “please,” and “help” were the words most frequently used.
Mia suddenly burst into tears. “Oh my God, I—I don’t think she’s moving anymore! What’s wrong with me? Is Monica okay? ”
Ell knelt down. “Shine the light over here, Grady.” Hesitantly, I did. She then peeled the covers back from Mia’s legs and examined her—yeah, there was a lot of blood, more than before. When Ell came back up, her skin was so pale it was almost translucent.
“What?” Mia demanded. “What is it?”
Ell weighed her words. Either that or she couldn’t yet speak. Judging by her quivering lips, I thought it might be the latter.
“Don’t fuckin’ sugarcoat it!” Mia shouted. “Tell me!”
As I waited for Eleanor’s response, I felt as if I was walking along a wire thousands of feet above the ground with no tethered harness and no safety net below.
Ell’s lips parted, but still no words came out.
Mia leaned forward and grabbed her jacket, smearing some of the blood from her fingers across the Marmot mountain logo. “Goddamn it, Ell, tell me!”
“I—I don’t know. Without the proper equipment, I’m helpless. I think you need an emergency C-section…to save the baby.”
Mia threw herself against the pillows, sobbing. Ramsey waited in the corner of the room, covering his face. He peeked through his laced fingers every few seconds.
I realized then that he held the solution to our current problem, so I stormed over to him. He met my eyes, but his mind was so far
