World Ashen

Chapter 9 - Kenneth

Glancing out the window, people dropped dead. "Need some help, Jensen?" I yelled up to my best friend.

"Yeah, thanks," he said. After grabbing a handful of throwing knives, I went to an upstairs room and opened the window. An hour later, they pleaded for mercy. "Who is your leader?" Jensen yelled down. I couldn't hear the answer, but saw the gesture to throw knives at the rest. I did, one by one, and quickly too.

"Thank you, Kenneth. You did a fine job. Why don't you rest up a bit?" Nodding, I walked to Cayler and my bedroom. The second I got there, I crashed onto the bed and closed my eyes. I awoke to the smell of something cooking. Yawning, I slid out of bed and glanced out the window. It was a dark gray outside, and it was snowing again, ashy snow as always. I heard August signing softly, but a knock on the front door interrupted it. Jensen darted to the door with a gun in hand. I crouched on the stairs, looking between the railings and down into the living room.

Hellia yelled, "unknown," as a result, Jensen slowly opened the door with the gun pointing at the person's chest.

"Name, and are you alone?" The ex-soldier asked.

"Dylan, and yes, I'm alone." He said, shaking, his voice shaking too.

"Shoot him now, Jensen," Olivia hissed, "and don't get his blood on anything. He's got shaking sickness, meaning he's a cannibal." She said the last part. Jensen and Dylan walked into the woods, where there was a distant gunshot. Jensen returned a few minutes later.

Alex greeted him, "Tony told me you used to be a Private. Thanks for your service."

Jensen laughed. "You did more for this country than I did. Thank you, Sergeant."

Alex had a soft twinkle in his eyes. "You did as much as you could."

Over January, there were a lot of fights with flensers, making sure Amy was okay and not going into labor. Everything changed a month later, on the morning of February fourteenth. I was asleep when Amy first started screaming. Half asleep, I started walking to Amy, but Cayler stopped me. After a second, I realized it was fair I couldn't join them since Cayler was her brother and Jensen's was Jace's. About an hour later, the cry of a newborn filled the air. Cayler told me it was a girl named Amy Jenna, which was her mother's name, meaning she'd go by Jenna. My niece shared the same month as her Aunt Piper. Having a baby in the house was something different, but enjoyable. Cayler laughed, so I asked, "are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? My sister and best friend just became parents," he said, sighing contently.

Taking a deep breath, I said, "you know, Jenna will never meet her grandfather."

Cayler's face went a reddish pink. "I know. Dad was just asking for it." Then we both went silent.

"We've got some potatoes growing in the windowsills," I overheard Jensen telling Jace.

Cayler nudged me, whispering, "maybe those are offspring of the ones you took." I glared at my boyfriend. "I was just joking." After I stayed silent, Cayler apologized. I got up and walked toward the kitchen. Cayler stayed put.

I marched over to Jace and Jensen. "Where did those come from? The potatoes, I mean."

"They came from the greenhouse," Jace said slowly. "Why?" They asked in unison.

I glanced in Cayler's direction. "Cayler made me mad."

"About potatoes?"

Nodding, I said, "he was saying they were the offspring of the ones I took."

The twins stared at me. "Kenneth, that was over a year ago."

Instead of answering, I walked back over to Cayler. "Do you think we could have a family, too? Yes, we would have to wait to adopt once this is all done and over with, but still."