When the Sun Goes Down

We had been traveling for nearly a day so far. It was early in the morning and the first where we would wake up unafraid. Connor, Murphy, Abby and I were celebrating it with the pounds of candy and bags of chips I had managed to grab from the small store in Georgia. The only thing we were missing from our joyful breakfast was Noah. I had walked along the outside of the boat and was unable to find him.

I walked back into the Captain’s area and gave Connor, Murphy and Abby a warm smile. Connor was steering the boat, since he had the general idea of where we had to go. The boat was sailing rather quickly, with the help of the wind. They had estimated the trip to be a few days out on the ocean, so long as we didn’t hit any problems. I walked down the steps leading to the lower deck and called out for Noah.

When I received no response, I stepped down further. I took only a few steps before I came across him. He was sitting at the wooden table, smoking heavily from a cigar. I stepped up to Noah and crossed my arms over my chest with a smile. Quietly, I asked, “Ya’lright, Noah?”

“Sit down, Adrienne.”I gave him a confused stare before doing what he asked.

I sat adjacent to Noah in the soft and comfortable bench seats. He seemed to feel considerably down; possibly from being unable to keep Sean safe. Noah had tried his hardest to pull Sean aboard, but in the end, the infected had taken their hold on him and refused to let go. Noah gently pushed his cigar in between his lips and puffed lightly from it. The smoke began to fill the room, but just enough to be a bother.

I sat there for a few moments, watching as Noah would pluck the cigar from his lips or smoke from it. The silence was broken when he said, “Ireland is a wonderful place, Adrienne. Yer gonna love it there.”

“I’m sure it is, Noah.”I smiled.

“When we get there, ask the boys to show ya ‘round a bit. Ya’ll get comfortable real fast.”He said softly."The cabin's been looked after fer a long while by a very close friend. It should be in near perfect shape, lass."

His lips pulled down into a frown ever so slowly. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but decided to push passed it. Noah sighed quietly and let his head drop. Sweat beads dropped slowly from the tip of his nose as he bent over. Under the dim lamp in the room, I could see how light Noah’s skin had gotten. I felt my breath get caught in my throat for a moment.

“I just have to ask ya somethin’, Adrienne.”Noah said softly.

“What is it, Noah?”I whispered.

“Be kind to me boys. They may be reckless, but they’re easy on the heart.”He looked up, allowing his baby blues to stare into my eyes.

I swallowed hard, seeing that the corners of his eyes had gone blood shot just slightly. I wanted to ask Noah what was wrong, but for some reason I couldn’t find the words to ask. Noah reached up to take a drag of his cigar and that was when I realized what was honestly wrong. Under his cotton weaved sweater was a dark red spot. Noah’s eyes met the wound and he whispered, “It’s only a matter of time, Adrienne.”

“N - Noah,”I whimpered quietly.

I quickly stood from my seat and shook my head. I couldn’t believe what was going through my mind at a moment like this. I pointed a finger in his direction and said, “N - No. You can’t do this, Noah! We’re almost there! We’re almost home!”

“It’s okay, Adrienne.”Noah said.”I‘ve come to terms with it.”

I clasped a hand over my mouth and felt tears trickle at the corners of my eyes. Noah continued to smoke from his cigar, like he wasn’t even sick. I pointed at his forearm and said, “Let me see it.”

He gently rolled up his sleeves, revealing the deep, discolored bite mark on his arm. I knelt beside him and choked out, “Yo - You’ll be okay, Noah. You’ll be fine.”

He gently cupped my chin in his hand and through his pain, smiled. Quietly, and like he was so sure of it, whispered, “Death is inevitable, sweetheart.”

I felt my tears begin to fall and trickle down my cheeks. I wiped at my face before wrapping my arms around Noah’s waist. He softly brushed back my chocolate colored hair and sighed. When we had first met, I didn’t like Noah. He was so sweet to Mama that I couldn’t handle him. We had gotten so far together throughout this mess. Now that we were a few days away from going home, I had to say goodbye.

Say goodbye to the man who had become like a father figure to me over these past few weeks. I choked on my sob as I whispered, “You’ve become a father figure to me, Noah. We’re so close to home. I don’t think I can do this right now.”

“Everythin’ will be alright, Adrienne.”I pulled away from Noah, wiping furiously at my eyes.

I managed to stumble up the stairs to the Captain’s area and find Connor, Murphy and Abby enjoying the breakfast without us. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words had come out. Murphy looked up for a moment, but before he could look down once more, he was getting to his feet. Connor looked up when Murphy quickly panicked and got to his feet as well. Murphy took hold of my shoulders and asked, “What is it, Adrienne?”

“Noah.”I whimpered.

“Da?!”Connor and Murphy pushed passed me to sprint down the stairs.

I peeked over my shoulder, hearing the twins’ scream out his name over and over again. Abby looked up at me and I could see her eyes fill up with warm tears. We all thought crying would be done with now. We were safe. We were home bound by now. No one would have thought that Noah would have been bitten. Abby quickly got up and started her way down the stairs.

I rubbed my heavy fists over my eyes and face before slowly walking down the stairs once more. I took the few steps I had before to find Connor and Murphy by his side, crying and whimpering. Noah was facing the brothers, who couldn’t find a spare moment to take a breath. Finally, Noah broke the moment with, “I tried to save the lad, but this was what I got in return.”

“Why would ya save the sorry mick?!”Connor shouted.

“Why would ya risk yer life fer that man?!”Murphy argued.

Noah placed a hand under each of the boys’ chins, forcing them to look up at him. He offered them a warm smile and said, “It’s alright. I had such a beautiful life boys.”

Connor ran his forearm over his face, brushing back his tears. He choked on his words, but managed to muster up, “We - We’ll get a cure, Da.”

“There is no cure, Connor.”Murphy broke down at Noah‘s words, but managed to stay put.

“Ya’ll be okay, Da.”Murphy whimpered.”Ya’ll be okay.”

“I will, Murphy.”Noah said sweetly.”I’ve lived a fine life, boys.”

I stepped closer, catching Noah’s eyes quickly. The boy’s looked back at me as I wiped away my tears. Noah pushed his cigar to his lips and took in a deep drag. Quietly, he said, “Jus’ do me one favour, boys.”

“Anythin‘, Da.”Connor nodded.

“When the time comes,”He began softly.”I want ya to cast me out over the sea.”

Connor choked on a sob, so Murphy quickly stepped in. He nodded his head, whimpering out, “Aye, Da. Over the sea it is.”