Jacqueline Druga - Under the Gray Skies

Callie reached for the backpack, unzipped it and pulled out the notebook. “Start with this.”

I clutched it in my hand and walked slowly to the house. My heart pounded and I could barely breathe because of my nerves.

I reached to knock on the door as it opened.

There was no doubt it was Lacey’s husband, like with Clark I knew his face. Maybe it was my nerves, but I just blurted out his name, “Davis?”

He looked at me then to Callie. “Is something wrong?”

A lump formed in my throat. “I have something for you… from Lacey.” And I handed him the notebook.

The exchange between Davis and I wasn’t quite so simple. It was as if he knew the second he saw that notebook.

His fingers touched upon it and he broke down and wept in the doorway of his small, four room home.

It took a few moments for him to get it together and then he invited Callie and I inside.

Like me, he had received his resolution.

I met her children, they were grown. Jana was an adult and had a child of her own. A baby, just a few months old. Evan was a quiet and handsome young man who was well mannered. He sat close to me, like he knew me.

Maybe in a way I was part of their mother, or I carried a part of her they all so desperately needed.

More than I cared to admit, I needed to be with her family as well.

I didn’t leave that afternoon when Callie did. I stayed at Davis’ request. They wanted to hear it all, every single moment, every single detail, good and bad. They wanted to know.

In fact, I stayed for several months with them. Helping Jana be a new mother, absorbing for Lacey, that feeling of being a grandmother that I knew she would have loved.

My being with them was the perfect finish to a long journey. One that didn’t end too fast. I remained at that camp until it was time to take the ship back home.

Even four and a half years later, the north was a wasteland.

The US government and military had been refurbishing and cleaning up towns in the south. Davis and his family were being relocated to a small town in Georgia.

They were assigned housing and Davis was given a job at the new school.

Jana was going to be a nurse.

They asked me to stay with them. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t.

Even though I thought I had finished my mission, there was still a circle that needed to be closed.

In my own country, on familiar land, I headed west to El Paso.

With so much time passing and communications back, it was easy to find Callie and Del. When I got to El Paso, both had been living pretty normal lives.

Ruth had passed away the previous spring. She died peacefully in her sleep. In a surprising turn of events, Del had taken Stevie into his home, like an adopted older son.

Me, I had to think about what I was going to do. After finishing my resolution, I found I had no direction. I ended up joining the Recovery Corps with Callie. A division of the military dedicated to rebuilding the United States. Most of the country had been destroyed. Most of the world lost their lives. It was a challenge I was ready for. I had spent so much time since the event moving, searching and following a mission, that somewhere in it all, I lost myself.

What better way to find my purpose again, then to be part of starting something new.

I didn’t know where that road would take me or end, but I was certain it was the path to take.

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Under the Gray Skies

By Jacqueline Druga

Copyright 2016 by Jacqueline Druga

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Thank you to Paula Gibson, Kira R., and Shona M for all your help. A lot of time and effort went into this from you guys and I appreciate it.

Cover Art by Christian Bentulan

www.coversbychristian.com