She didn’t ask any more questions about that. Intricate details of what was done in a war zone weren’t important. Soldiers knew not to push for personal information. Most of the time there would only be a push back. Jonah appreciated that Doreen was smart enough to understand that, even though he would have no problem telling her more. It felt good to be understood, especially by a woman.

  And it felt incredible to be near her. Jonah could sense Doreen’s attraction to him too, especially now that they’d been able to spend some one-on-one time together. How he felt toward her was a familiar pull for Jonah, and she naturally walked close to him. It was what a man and a woman did when they liked each other. Jonah remembered Daisy saying the men who liked her felt “dazed.” Gil had been dazed. “He’s so dazed,” she’d say.

  Well, that’s how Jonah felt about Doreen—dazed. Plus Doreen looked at him like she saw a good man, and that was how she made him feel.

  “Why are you smiling?” she said.

  “I’m enjoying your company,” Jonah said.

  “Oh,” she said, and blushed.

  He wanted to put his arm around her. It was like his arm had a mind of its own, and he had to stop himself from moving it.

  “You were stationed here?” she said.

  “Not here, but here in Germany.”

  “That’s what I meant. Is that why you are here? Before they…kicked you out?”

  “No. I was here with friends. On holiday.”

  “Oh.”

  Jonah didn’t want to talk about them. “Who was Heike’s dad?”

  “He was a soldier too.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “He passed away.”

  “Is that where you met? In the army?”

  “Yes.”

  “He died in combat?”

  “No, vehicle accident. He never saw war.”

  “Did you love him?”

  “He was my husband. I was pregnant. He was a good man.”

  Jonah took that as a no.

  “What about you?” she said. “Do you have family where you’re from?”

  “Yes. My parents, an older brother, and two younger sisters. My sisters have two kids each. My older brother has four.”

  “Four?”

  Jonah smiled, allowing himself to think of them, but then that formed a pit in his stomach.

  “That’s a lot of kids.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Do you know where they are?”

  “No.”

  Jonah had done his best to stop thinking of his parents and siblings and realized he hadn’t thought of them lately. He didn’t know where they were or even if they were alive, and even if they were, he was too far away to do anything about it. Most likely they were…He didn’t want to think about them anymore.

  “Were you ever married?” Doreen said.

  Jonah felt like he’d been gut-kicked. “Yes. But we were young and we got divorced.”

  “How old were you when you were married?”

  “Twenty.”

  “That is young.”

  “She was one of my friends I was here with.”

  “Oh.”

  He wasn’t sure why he told her that part. They walked in silence for a while, and Jonah could tell Doreen was trying to understand his lifestyle.

  “Why do you think Heike was so far from town?” Jonah said.

  “It’s been safe here. I think she’s used to it and forgot how dangerous outside town can be.”

  That was hard for Jonah to imagine. The Behemoth heads and Molter parts were all over the fences. They were frightening, to say the least, but Heike was so young. When you’re young what you see every day becomes normal, maybe even monsters. And there are all kinds of monsters.

  Doreen stopped. “But then you found her.”

  She put a hand on Jonah’s shoulder, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him. Jonah’s world vanished.

  He didn’t feel the cold. He didn’t feel regret for what he’d done. He didn’t feel pain, remorse, anger, frustration, shame, a need for revenge, betrayal, hunger, rage, or anything that he did his best to hide and bury somewhere deep inside him. All of what weighed him down each day.

  It all disappeared for those moments Doreen’s beautiful lips were on his. That kiss made him feel strong again, an uptick from hitting bottom aimed to where he wanted to be as a man.

  Those horrible things he felt, the ones he used as fuel for all the killing he did, could be used just as weapons now. With the love of a woman, they could no longer hinder him, only make him stronger.

  CHAPTER 33

  “Not too far,” Doreen said.

  Heike carried one sled, and Jonah the other. Heike stopped, looking back.

  “Stay close.”

  “OK,” Heike said.

  As they went out the front gate together, the speed walkers went quiet, smiled, and waved. Jonah and Doreen would get inquisitive looks and were obviously talked about, but Jonah got the feeling that most of the people of Henrytown—even Henry—approved and looked at them being together as a positive.

  Heike had the kind of personality that made it difficult for her to sit still. It was her age, but also it was having to stay in the same place for long periods of time. Going out together dissuaded her from going off on her own again. Their favorite spot wasn’t in sight of town, but just down the road: a long slope that began where the forest was bare.

  What was nice about it was that it was steep but not so long that dangerous speeds were possible. It leveled off after about forty feet, creating the perfect foot stop of pure powder. Endless sledding and climbing back up the hill were a great way to exhaust a six-year-old—or to attempt to, anyway.

  They always went out about noon to break up their routine. Perimeter checks—to ensure the fences were still intact—had become Jonah and Doreen’s job. They did them in the morning and then again before bed. The weather had stayed cold, so the Molter parts, cocoons, Behemoth heads, and guts were still frozen. They probably wouldn’t have to go on another hunt for a few weeks. Maybe even months if the frost held.

  After Heike and Jonah had raced each other a dozen times, and she smiled up at him, red-faced, Jonah had to take a break.

  “Wieder,” Heike said.

  “In English,” Doreen said.

  “Warum Englisch?”

  “Because Jonah speaks English.”

  “Jonah spricht auch Deutsch.”

  Jonah smiled. Doreen had asked him not to speak German to Heike. Heike spoke English well, mostly from conversing with her grandpa, Henry, but Doreen wanted her to speak it fluently—especially with Jonah in their lives.

  “And you’ll be able to say more to Grandpa,” Doreen said.

  Heike nodded, liking that idea, and looked up at Jonah. “Again?”

  “You should race your mom.”

  “Ich möchte Sie—”

  “Heike!” Doreen’s hands went to her hips.

  Heike smiled mischievously. “I want to race you.”

  “All right,” Jonah said. “Twenty more times, and then it’s your mom’s turn.”

  “I can’t wait that long!” Doreen said. “You and I will race Heike. Ready, Heike?”

  “Ready!”

  Doreen trudged over to Jonah. “You sit first.”

  Jonah sat on the sled and pulled his legs up, and Doreen sat behind him, their adult limbs spilling off the child’s sled.

  Heike repositioned herself evenly next to them after accidentally sliding down a few feet. “Go!”

  “Hey, that’s cheating!” Jonah said.

  Heike giggled as she sped down ahead of them. Jonah and Doreen shoved off, actually thinking they might be able to compete with a motivated six-year-old. They got about halfway down the slope before toppling off the sled.

  “I win!” Heike said.

  “You sure did,” Doreen said, staring upward at the sky.

  “Rematch!”

  “Give us a minute.”

  “OK.”

  Jonah and Doreen lay on their backs in the snow. Doreen’s gloved hand found Jonah’s. They looked over at each other.

  “Snow angels?” Jonah said.

  “Snow angels!” Doreen said.

  They laughed as they swung their arms and legs apart and then back together, again and again. Heike landed next to them and frantically made one too.

  “We win!” Doreen said.

  “I’ve just started!” Heike said.

  “Mine’s better!” Jonah said.

  “No!” Heike said. “Mine is!”

  “Let’s see,” Doreen said.

  They stood up and took a step back, admiring the shapes they’d created.

  “It’s a family,” Heike said.

  Doreen looked up at Jonah to see tears in his eyes.

  *

  Doreen shook Jonah.

  “What is it?” he said. “What’s wrong?”

  “You were dreaming.”

  Jonah propped himself up in the darkness. Doreen was right. He had been—about something terrible. The feeling from it was suffocating, like his heart was being squeezed—it was pounding.

  As his panic started to fade away, he felt the small details he remembered about the dream dull, and then vanish, as they often did, but he could still remember some aspects of it, like where it had taken place: an awful place for him.

  “You were talking to someone,” Doreen said.

  “Did I wake Heike?”

  “No. She’ll sleep all night from yesterday.”

  “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “What was I saying?”

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t quite understand. It sounded like you were speaking another language. Not English. Not Deutsch. It sounded funny. Like you thought you could speak it but you can’t.”

  Jonah yawned and lay back down, putting his arm around her. “Was it Arabic?”

  “Maybe. You speak Arabic?”

  “Not really. Some.”

  “What were you dreaming about?”

  “A place I don’t like.”

  “Something sad?”

  “I was in the desert again. It was in the morning before it got hot. There were empty, blown-up buildings. I was alone.”

  “If you were alone, who were you talking to?”

  Jonah got chills from head to toe. “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll never let you be alone,” she said.

  As Jonah settled back into bed—his heart still beating fast—that terrible feeling of loneliness slowly faded the longer Doreen held him.

  Before falling back asleep, he felt Doreen kiss him on his cheek.

  CHAPTER 34

  Almost the entire town had gathered at the picnic tables for lunch, except for those who had something else to do, but they’d be stopping by when they could. It was impossible to resist the smell of the meat as it steamed in the cold. Even the guards got some of it before going back to their posts.

  Bernard looked over the group as if they were opening gifts he’d bought them. “I hope everyone is hungry.”

  “I’m starving,” Jonah said.

  Jonah, Doreen, and Heike sat together. Jacques was staring in their direction. He didn’t approve of Jonah, hadn’t accepted him as the others had, and looked like he was about to say something.

  “None of your business,” Henry said.

  Jacques turned red. Jonah was glad Henry had said something, because he had been about to. The group began dishing up and eating.

  “Glad you joined us, though, Jacques,” Henry said. “You’ve been busting your ass.”

  Jacques clearly appreciated that. His hard demeanor softened, and he grinned.

  “How often do you all get together to do this?” Jonah said.

  Doreen placed a fork in Heike’s hand; she’d been intent on eating with her fingers. “Every few months or so.”

  “We try, anyway,” Henry said, taking a giant mouthful of meat. “Sometimes there’s too much to do around here.”

  “When we have extra animals,” Bernard said.

  Jonah took a bite and chewed. “Any Molters ever get to them?”

  “Not for a while,” Henry said.

  “We do all right,” Bernard said, “even with them around.”

  Molters drained anything with blood in it, so an area with a lot of wildlife around where humans lived wasn’t like that for long, which was why—especially during the spring and summer when the Molters’ numbers increased dramatically—certain areas barely had any life at all. The Molters killed everything before moving on.

  They ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the meal and one another’s company.

  Jonah looked over the group and smiled to himself.

  Henry saw it. “What?”

  “This is really nice,” Jonah said. “I’m curious, though. How long have all of you been here? In this town. I’d like to hear about it, if it’s all right.”

  “Why, American?” Jacques said. “You going to write a book?”

  “Maybe. You want to be the main character?”

  “Make him a hero, and yes, I do!” he said.

  Laughter erupted across the tables.

  “I’ve lived here my whole life,” Bernard said.

  “I was born here,” Sven said. “Left when I was young and then moved back as an adult.”

  Jonah looked over at Jacques. “What about you?”

  Jacques forced a smile. “All my life.”

  They’d all lived here for a long time. That was the consensus. It was their town.

  Sven motioned to Henry. “You should have seen him when he first came here. Scariest American I’ve ever seen.”

  “Scary?” Henry looked to Heike. “I’m not scary, am I?”

  “Sometimes,” she said.

  “Heike,” Doreen said.

  Henry grinned and glanced in Jonah’s direction. Doreen held Jonah’s hand under the table, and Jonah hoped Henry saw how happy they were together. Even though he had his family around him, it was odd seeing Henry so friendly. He was usually so tight-lipped about himself and stoic. He reminded Jonah of those of higher rank than he had been while in the military, a natural leader.

  “How long’s it been, Henry?” Bernard said.

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Henry leaned back, his hot breath showing in the cold as he chewed. “A few years now, I’d say.”

  “Three,” Doreen said.

  Three years? Is that how long? Jonah had lost track of time.

  Sven went on. “Tall, bearded, dirty—”

  Henry looked over at him. “Dirty?”

  Sven chuckled. “And looking for Doreen. He’d never met Heike.”

  With the change in the world, Henry had probably decided that it was his only chance to reconnect with his daughter. He was a determined man. That was obvious to Jonah even when he’d met him, whether he was struggling with his decision to reconnect with Doreen at that time or not. Jonah suspected he was. Henry had killed many Behemoths even before Jonah had met him on the road. No telling how many he’d had to kill after then to get here.

  “Henry, don’t answer,” Jonah said. “What was the town called before Henrytown? Why change it?”

  No one spoke up until Sven finally did. “The name had been a reminder, a painful one, of those we lost. It was the last name of the man who founded this town, and many still have his last name today.”

  “I would think that would be more of a reason to keep the name,” Jonah said.

  “For some, maybe,” Sven said. “We were barely surviving before Henry came along. The Molters, they were…we’d lost most of the town. The old sign, the first one, had been destroyed. Then Henry came to us, and in a way we were able to start over. He taught us how to kill the Behemoths. That it was possible.”

  “He didn’t want us to do it,” Bernard said. “He objected, and he actually tore down the first one we made. We all know how he can get.”

  There were murmurs of agreement. Henry looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut.

  “That’s why the one that’s up looks so decent,” Bernard said. “It was an honor. It meant a new beginning for us. It meant we would live another day instead of wondering if we could. To us, Henrytown means life.”

  The emotion resonated throughout the group as they all flashed glances at Henry, thinking of everything he’d obviously done for them.

  Bernard produced a wine bottle, uncorked it, and poured shot-sized amounts into plastic glasses. “A toast, as you Americans say.” He passed one to Jonah.

  “No, thank you.”

  “Come on. I know how much Americans like to drink.”

  “Nein,” someone said.

  “I said, no, thank you,” Jonah said. “Thank you, but I quit.”

  A fork dropped loudly onto a plate.

  “Mama,” Heike said.

  “Oh no,” Doreen said.

  Bernard turned, with a wine bottle and Jonah’s intended share in his two hands.

  Henry stood. “What the…”

  “That’s impossible,” Sven said.

  A Molter crouched near them.

  It wore a soldier’s uniform, four-clawed hands clenched at its sides and arms outstretched and low, ready to wrap someone up in an immovable embrace and sink its teeth in. The large jaws worked up and down wordlessly. Drool dripped from the corners of its mouth as its wild eyes inspected its prey.

  How? Jonah thought, and briefly wondered if it was one of the three soldiers he’d fought alongside in the decimated town, but there was no way to tell whom it had been born from, and this didn’t matter. It was there.

  In a split second, it rushed the table they were all sitting at, yanking an older woman into the snow. Jonah leaped over the table, dinner knife in hand, and stabbed the side of its head before it could get its teeth into her. The Molter was still alive, though, so Jonah unhooked his machete from his belt and sunk the blade into the back of its head.

  The woman stood up awkwardly, feeling at her neck, and then screamed and ran. She didn’t get far. Another Molter landed on her, too far away for anyone to help. The Molter twisted her toward the humans as it fed, watching them as if defending its kill. The woman stopped screaming, unconscious from the blood loss already.

  Jonah yanked the dinner knife out of the dead Molter’s head and threw it in frustration. He missed, but the Molter ducked anyway.

 

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