pad from her backpack. She takes out the battery and hands it to Alina. I do the same thing. “You sure you’re all right?” I ask Bea. She nods. “Are you hungry? I’ve got snacks.” She shakes her head. I glance down at my watch. Almost four o’clock. It’ll be dark soon.
“We’ll need to find a safe place to camp for the night,” I mutter, looking at Maude’s ass now because she’s stepped behind Alina. I could look at Bea’s instead, but that would be weird.
“What?” Alina turns but keeps walking. Her bandage is coming loose and there’s blood seeping through it. Her cheeks are red from the cold.
“It’s getting dark. We should find a place to sleep. And maybe Bea could fix up your arm again. Looks sore.”
“ I’m walking through the night. You do whatever you want,” she says, marching on so quickly she almost rips Maude’s mask off, and the old woman has to scurry after her. Bea has slowed and is next to me now.
“You all right?” I try one more time.
“I’m fine ,” she grumbles. I don’t blame her for being fed up. I mean, our trip hasn’t exactly turned out as planned. She whispers something so Alina won’t hear. But I can’t hear her either and move my ear next to the holes in the blowoff valve of her mask. “We’re in deep,” she whispers. Alina spins around.
“I didn’t ask you to come,” she says, “and I’ll actually have a lot of explaining to do if you’re with me. I really don’t want to get you into something you aren’t ready for. Go home. I don’t want another death on my conscience.”
“ Another death?” we all respond in unison.
“Who’s dead?” Bea asks.
“You should go back,” she repeats. I’m starting to wonder whether we should . I took a fancy to a girl, so I helped her escape the pod. After that I saved her from a crazy drifter. Now I’m following her to God-knows-where to see God-knows-who, and all she can do is give me the evil eye and tell me to get lost when really she should be applauding my audacity. I’ve managed to make Bea hate me, and if Alina kind of despises me, despite my best efforts to impress her, why on earth am I using up my oxygen and vacation time to trek into the city with her? I think about saying this, but I don’t because the truth is, I like her.
“We can’t go back while you have her tied to you,” I say, pointing at Maude, who grimaces. “You said yourself she’d attack you.”
“Oh, don’t you fret about me. I’ll be as good as gold,” Maude cackles. I’m about to tell Alina that we won’t leave her unprotected when Bea speaks up.
“It’s got nothing to do with protecting anyone, Quinn. I’m not going back to the pod to spend the rest of my life being an underling. Maybe if we go with Alina we can help change things. Or at least learn the truth.” She glares at me.
“I still think we should take a rest,” I say. “What harm would a few minutes do?”
“Not ’ere,” Maude says sharply, scurrying forward and signaling with her thumb to a building on our right with broken stained-glass windows and a tall, crooked spire. Up in the bell tower, I make out the shape of a person. A man whose face is covered in hair. He’s waving. “That there’s Larry,” she says. “He ain’t dangerous but he’s got scabies or somethin’ like that in his skin. Contagious for sure.” The man waves and waves. Maude doesn’t look up. We keep moving.
After another mile or so, Bea begins to slow down. “We’re resting,” I announce. This isn’t a request. I stop walking and grab Bea’s arm to make her stop, too.
“Five minutes. Then we move on,” Alina says.
“Yeah, five or ten minutes should be good,” I say. Alina frowns at me. I look away.
Mountains of rubble are everywhere now, and the buildings still standing on either side of the road are twice the height of those we passed before we found Maude. If any of these buildings spontaneously crumble, we’ll all be dead for sure,
“We’ll need to find a safe place to camp for the night,” I mutter, looking at Maude’s ass now because she’s stepped behind Alina. I could look at Bea’s instead, but that would be weird.
“What?” Alina turns but keeps walking. Her bandage is coming loose and there’s blood seeping through it. Her cheeks are red from the cold.
“It’s getting dark. We should find a place to sleep. And maybe Bea could fix up your arm again. Looks sore.”
“ I’m walking through the night. You do whatever you want,” she says, marching on so quickly she almost rips Maude’s mask off, and the old woman has to scurry after her. Bea has slowed and is next to me now.
“You all right?” I try one more time.
“I’m fine ,” she grumbles. I don’t blame her for being fed up. I mean, our trip hasn’t exactly turned out as planned. She whispers something so Alina won’t hear. But I can’t hear her either and move my ear next to the holes in the blowoff valve of her mask. “We’re in deep,” she whispers. Alina spins around.
“I didn’t ask you to come,” she says, “and I’ll actually have a lot of explaining to do if you’re with me. I really don’t want to get you into something you aren’t ready for. Go home. I don’t want another death on my conscience.”
“ Another death?” we all respond in unison.
“Who’s dead?” Bea asks.
“You should go back,” she repeats. I’m starting to wonder whether we should . I took a fancy to a girl, so I helped her escape the pod. After that I saved her from a crazy drifter. Now I’m following her to God-knows-where to see God-knows-who, and all she can do is give me the evil eye and tell me to get lost when really she should be applauding my audacity. I’ve managed to make Bea hate me, and if Alina kind of despises me, despite my best efforts to impress her, why on earth am I using up my oxygen and vacation time to trek into the city with her? I think about saying this, but I don’t because the truth is, I like her.
“We can’t go back while you have her tied to you,” I say, pointing at Maude, who grimaces. “You said yourself she’d attack you.”
“Oh, don’t you fret about me. I’ll be as good as gold,” Maude cackles. I’m about to tell Alina that we won’t leave her unprotected when Bea speaks up.
“It’s got nothing to do with protecting anyone, Quinn. I’m not going back to the pod to spend the rest of my life being an underling. Maybe if we go with Alina we can help change things. Or at least learn the truth.” She glares at me.
“I still think we should take a rest,” I say. “What harm would a few minutes do?”
“Not ’ere,” Maude says sharply, scurrying forward and signaling with her thumb to a building on our right with broken stained-glass windows and a tall, crooked spire. Up in the bell tower, I make out the shape of a person. A man whose face is covered in hair. He’s waving. “That there’s Larry,” she says. “He ain’t dangerous but he’s got scabies or somethin’ like that in his skin. Contagious for sure.” The man waves and waves. Maude doesn’t look up. We keep moving.
After another mile or so, Bea begins to slow down. “We’re resting,” I announce. This isn’t a request. I stop walking and grab Bea’s arm to make her stop, too.
“Five minutes. Then we move on,” Alina says.
“Yeah, five or ten minutes should be good,” I say. Alina frowns at me. I look away.
Mountains of rubble are everywhere now, and the buildings still standing on either side of the road are twice the height of those we passed before we found Maude. If any of these buildings spontaneously crumble, we’ll all be dead for sure,
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