John Avery - Three Days To Die

The taller of the two boys looked hardly more than a ragged savage — his eyes dark, his face gaunt, his hair matted. A coal black, rain-soaked overcoat hung on him like a heavy blanket thrown over a tombstone. The front of the coat draped open, revealing a crimson rose that bloomed in the center of the large white bandage wrapping his chest.

Ashley was stunned. Tears welled in her eyes and her hand moved to her mouth. " Aaron? " she said, but he was oblivious.

She stepped through the window and went to her son.

"Aaron?" she said, softly. "Aaron, honey — it's me… it's Mommy." She carefully removed the rifle from his hands and laid it on the sidewalk. Then she took him gently in her arms and held him.

"I'm sorry," Aaron said at last, his voice soft and hoarse.

"Shhh," she said, her eyes flooding with tears. "No apologies, okay? I love my little boy. I love him with all my heart."

Aaron buried himself in his mother's warmth and cried the deeply mournful cry of a long lost boy come home.

– Willy stood alone, staring unblinking at Souther's broken body through smudged glasses. The diner's neon OPEN sign lay in pieces among the shards of glass at his feet.

Michael went over and knelt next to him on the sidewalk. He took the rifle and set it carefully aside, and then he rested his hand on the boy's shoulder and spoke softly to him. "Willy — it's Michael

… It's over… you're safe, now."

Willy was struck mute.

Michael tried to appear lighthearted. "I think we better get the heck out of here before the cops come," he said. "Is that all right with you, Willy?"

Willy looked up at Michael and nodded.

"Stay right here and don't move," Michael said. "I'll be right back."

Michael collected the two rifles and stepped into the diner.

Aaron followed him inside.

– Michael laid the firearms on the counter, then reached in and used a towel to pick up a pan full of hot oil, which he poured over the guns, coating them completely.

Aaron walked over to Souther's grisly corpse and knelt next to it. Then he calmly went through the pockets until he found what he was looking for: the precious photo of his mother and father together in the alpine meadow.

The rain had stopped, and the night air was calm and crisp. A brilliant moon ducked in and out of patchy gray clouds, highlighting the edges a snowy white.

Michael and Aaron exited Sally's Diner through the front door and joined Willy and Ashley on the sidewalk. Ashley had been talking with Willy and he was feeling much better.

Michael handed Ashley her jacket and purse, and a clean towel.

She clutched them to her chest and smiled at him, forming two little dimples in her cheeks that he hadn't seen before. "Thank you," she said, truly grateful. She turned away briefly and used the towel to wipe her face and clean her glasses.

When she turned back, Michael surprised her by gently brushing the hair back from her face with the backs of his fingertips. She hesitated — but she didn't resist. She hadn't really thought of him in that way before, but it felt natural and she liked it.

Michael helped her with her jacket then gazed deeply into her large eyes with a look that said, I can only imagine what you've been through, Ashley… and I'm very sorry. She returned his gaze and smiled to herself, a soothing warmth swelling in her heart.

He took her hand, and then, delicately, in a voice as gentle as a kiss, he said, "Could I drive you somewhere?"

Her eyes remained locked on his, but her head turned ever so slightly downward and to the side. "Thank you, Michael," she replied, moistening her perfect lips and drawing them back into a provocative smile. "Anywhere…"

"Shouldn't we be leaving or something?" Willy said, checking the street.

Michael started then remembered where he was. He held Ashley's hand a moment longer, smiling at her. "You're right, Willy," he said. "We should go."

He glanced at the two bikes on the sidewalk, then at his sports car. "Sorry guys," he said. "We'll have to leave the bikes."

Aaron and Willy looked at each other and frowned.

"But as soon as we get a chance…" he said, pausing for effect, "… we're going shopping for new ones."

"Awesome!" the boys said together, exchanging a delighted look, their frowns flipped to grins.

Aaron turned and gave Willy a hug.

"What was that for?" Willy said, cocking his head.

"Oh, nothing… I just felt it," Aaron replied. "Oh, and whenever you're ready to go get a burger, you let me know."

Willy grinned from ear to ear. His best friend was back.

– Ashley put both arms around the boys and kissed them on the tops of their heads. "I'll be back in a second," she said.

She retrieved the gun from the Nova's glove box then kicked it under the curb and down the storm drain. Then she hopped back over with the others.

– Michael touched the OPEN zone on his wristwatch and the DBS sizzled to life with an impressive show of British technology.

Willy grinned bigger than he had in years. He was proud of his homeland and wished he could hop in and drive the impressive machine. But, for him, just standing next to this incredible work of art was an experience to be cherished. "I love this car," he said, practically drooling down the door.

Michael helped Aaron slide into the shotgun seat, while Ashley and Willy happily squeezed into the back from the driver's side.

Aaron looked south, toward the waterfront. The distant horizon still glowed as the fires consuming the Alton Brothers Fish Cannery burned themselves out. He shuddered when for a moment the horrors of the last three days swept over him like the cold shadow of Death.

He thought of Needles and Beeks and smiled sadly. They had saved his life. And in their own unique ways, they, together with Willy, had unearthed in him an inner strength he might never have discovered on his own.

He turned and looked at his mother, then at Michael, and a deep feeling of contentment settled over him, a contentment he hadn't known for many years. Who could have imagined that three horrific days would become a miraculous new beginning.

– Michael settled in behind the wheel and closed the door with a solid whump. He inserted the sapphire-crystal key and pressed the starter button.

"Hey, Mom…" Aaron said, over his shoulder. "Did Michael tell you about the old lady he saw pushing a wheelbarrow full of cats down the street?"

"No… I don't think so," she replied, amused by the question.

"Sounds like a good premise for your first novel," Michael said.

Aaron smiled at him thoughtfully then said to himself: And so it shall be!

"Anyway," he continued, "they were all different colored house cats, and it was raining and they were all wet, and, and — "

"What a load of crap," Willy said.

"— and there was this one cat, and he was the biggest cat in the whole world…"

Michael hit the throttle and everyone laughed along with Aaron as together they sped off into the night.

In the distance, sirens…