Revolution (Collide, #4)(45)

"He's a…" I bit my lip. They could be trusted, but to them, Keepers would still be aliens. Would he refuse to help me if he knew? "Remember that I said that we had Keepers who lived with us?"

McDonald and the other guy perked up.

"Yeah."

"I…I'm married to one." His jaw slacked. I rushed on. "The Keepers are the Lighter's opposites."

"Lighters?"

"That's what the aliens are called. Keepers are the ones who've fought the Lighters from the beginning. They're kind of like…angels. They came here when the Lighters did, to help us stop them."

"And you're married to an alien?" McDonald asked, his lip curled.

"Yep." I crossed my arms on the table. "I know it seems strange, but there are just like you and me. Except they can fight the Lighters like nobody's business."

"Then why aren't they out there fighting Lighters instead of playing house with you?"

I sighed. This was going to be hard. "Have you noticed any people that have shown signs of…abilities or powers?" They stared blankly. I felt defeated and tired of explaining. "The Keeper's job is to watch after his charge. My brother is one of these charges and they have tasks they need to complete. The Keepers watch after them until they can figure out what it is. They can't leave their charge until the task has been completed."

They continued to stare. I turned to stare out the window. There was no back yard. I was staring at the wide plank fence and the highway beyond that. I really wished I was home.

Thankfully, they didn’t ask me any more questions and soon, Chesser asked me if I was ready for bed. I followed him to the next trailer and walked into his bachelor pad. It wasn't dirty; there was just nothing in it. The one couch and a TV on top of a box was the only thing in the living room at all.

"Uh…I'll take the couch. You can have my bed."

"No," I interrupted. "I don't want to take-"

"When was the last time you slept in a bed?" he asked and looked at me from under his lashes.

"A long time," I admitted.

"You're taking the bed," he insisted. "I'll take the couch, it's fine. My shift starts at eight, so we'll get an early start."

I nodded and said, "Thank you, Chesser."

"I know you have a family to go home to and all, but it feels…kind of wrong to let you go back there when I know you guys have it rough."

"We all have it a little rough right now." I smiled. "We’ll be fine. We always have been."

He tipped his head once. "Goodnight."

"Night."

I went straight down the hall to the impossibly small bedroom and landed right on the mattress. I was exhausted and I didn’t even take my shoes off. They hung off the end of the bed and I smelled the man whose bed I was in as I drifted to sleep thinking about Merrick and Lily. Wishing I was home, but taking this small comfort for now.


"I don’t need to be the king of the world, as long as I'm the hero of this little girl! Heaven isn't too far away! Closer to it every day. No matter what your friends say…"

I jolted and for a second wondered how Warrant had made their way into my bedroom. Then I growled at the alarm and slapped the 'Shut Up' button. Chesser made his way in and rubbed as his head and neck. "Wakey, wakey."

"So I heard," I grumbled, but straightened. "Thanks. I slept like a dead person."

"Good. I'm gonna shower and then I'll be ready in about ten. All right?"

"Sure."

"There's coffee in the pot."

"Coffee?" I said, but it came out like this dreamy sigh. I said 'coffee' like one would say 'Ryan Gosling'. I cleared my throat as he laughed at me. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said, still laughing as he made his way to the hall and that tiny bathroom I passed last night. "Make yourself at home," he called out before shutting the door.

I practically ran to the kitchen. I took the cup in my hands that he had apparently left out for me and poured the brown brew slowly. It smelled better than chocolate. He even had creamer! It was powdered which was normally yuck worthy, but today, I just didn’t care. I threw in some sugar and took my first sip of coffee in forever.

It slid, hot and delicious, down my throat. I sighed and licked my lips. They were a little cracked under my tongue. I turned to peer at myself in the mirror of the microwave door. I almost gasped at what I saw.

Haggard did not even describe how I looked. I hadn't seen myself in weeks. There were no mirrors in the warehouse. We didn't need them anyway, but this was…a situation. We were all getting thin, I knew. We tried not to bring it up or talk about it, but things had gotten dire. I looked at my arms and hands. I really looked at them. Not only was I thin, but I was almost grey. It was like my skin held no tone, no color, no…life.

I remembered Merrick's beard as I left, not as full as the other's, but a beard nonetheless, and his shirt was so stained from the lack of soap. He had gotten thinner, too.

I sipped my coffee and tried to think about getting to them, not about the things wrong with us.

I heard rain hitting the roof softly, then at more volume. By the time Chesser got out of the shower, the coffee was gone and the rain was coming down in droves. He was already wearing his uniform and looked ready to go. He said as much and I told him where to go. It would take a little while to get out there and I just hoped that I beat the search party that I knew Merrick was planning.