Jake’s.
Before she’s gone two steps, Joshua is at her side, holding his hands out. “Let me have him.”
Anne smiles gratefully as she passes the sick child to Joshua, and I breathe a little easier. The doctor is six seven, so I know Jake and Anne will be safe in his hands.
When I turn back for the others, I catch sight of Sophia struggling with Ava. Without asking, I take the little girl from her mother’s arms. Winston grabs Max, and as a group we push our way through the dead, heading toward dry land where Angus, Parvarti, and Darla wait. Axl meets me halfway and holds his arms out for Ava. When his eyes meet mine, they’re full of emotions too conflicted for me to read.
“What is it?” I ask as I hand the sobbing girl over to him.
He jerks his head toward land. “Don’t see Hadley and Jon.”
All the air leaves my lungs. He’s right. It hadn’t occurred to me before now, but it should have. If they’d come back with the others, they would have helped kill off the dead. Something must have happened to them.
I can’t talk as I move through the water, focusing on Angus. All I can think about is how angry Hadley was when she left, how the last words we spoke to each other were bitter.
Please don’t let that be the last conversation we ever have.
I move faster, pushing through the hot spring. I want to know what happened. Need to know if Hadley and Jon are gone. When the water is down to my shins, I start running, taking big steps so I can move faster.
I stop in front of Angus, huffing. “What happened?” we say at the exact same time.
It’s one of those moments in childhood when I would have burst into laughter and yelled jinx, but there’s nothing funny about what we just went through. Especially not with Hadley and Jon missing.
“Are they dead?” I demand, ignoring his question completely. I know he wants me to tell him what happened here, but I have to know about Hadley and Jon first.
Angus spits, then shakes his head. Darla and Parvarti come over to join him. None of them look happy.
“Don’t know,” he finally says. “We got split up.”
“So the town was overrun?” Winston asks, stopping beside me with Max still in his arms.
“Not by zombies,” Parvarti says.
My stomach tightens, and all I can think about are Jon and Hadley and where they might be. What they might be going through. Hopefully, they didn’t get captured by another group of crazy rapists. Hadley wouldn’t survive that.
“Blew up the Nissan,” Angus says, glancing toward his brother.
“Damn,” Axl mutters. “You see who it was?”
“Didn’t see nothing.” Darla speaks for the first time, and her voice is shaky.
“We were in the pharmacy,” Parvarti says. “Jon and Hadley went across the street to check out this little convenience store. They wanted to see what kind of supplies were left. There weren’t any zombies in town and the pharmacy had barely been touched, so it seemed likely that the store would still have bottled water and—”
“So you got the meds?” Joshua says, cutting her off.
Parvarti gives him a curt nod, then pulls off her backpack.
Joshua exhales, but I’m too freaked out by our missing friends and what just happened with the horde to be relieved. This is good news for Jake, but we’ve lost so much already today. How much more can we realistically take and still be able to move forward?
“They was gone for less than a minute when there was an explosion. Shook the whole damn building.” Angus purses his lips. He looks like he’s going to spit, so I take a step back, but he doesn’t. “We ran out and found the Nissan in flames. Somebody started firin’ at us, so we took cover. Went back into the pharmacy, then out the back door. Snuck through town ‘til we found the store, but they wasn’t there.”
“So you just left them?” I can’t believe they would just drive off like that.
“Hell no,” Angus says. “We waited. Hid in the store and waited to see if
Before she’s gone two steps, Joshua is at her side, holding his hands out. “Let me have him.”
Anne smiles gratefully as she passes the sick child to Joshua, and I breathe a little easier. The doctor is six seven, so I know Jake and Anne will be safe in his hands.
When I turn back for the others, I catch sight of Sophia struggling with Ava. Without asking, I take the little girl from her mother’s arms. Winston grabs Max, and as a group we push our way through the dead, heading toward dry land where Angus, Parvarti, and Darla wait. Axl meets me halfway and holds his arms out for Ava. When his eyes meet mine, they’re full of emotions too conflicted for me to read.
“What is it?” I ask as I hand the sobbing girl over to him.
He jerks his head toward land. “Don’t see Hadley and Jon.”
All the air leaves my lungs. He’s right. It hadn’t occurred to me before now, but it should have. If they’d come back with the others, they would have helped kill off the dead. Something must have happened to them.
I can’t talk as I move through the water, focusing on Angus. All I can think about is how angry Hadley was when she left, how the last words we spoke to each other were bitter.
Please don’t let that be the last conversation we ever have.
I move faster, pushing through the hot spring. I want to know what happened. Need to know if Hadley and Jon are gone. When the water is down to my shins, I start running, taking big steps so I can move faster.
I stop in front of Angus, huffing. “What happened?” we say at the exact same time.
It’s one of those moments in childhood when I would have burst into laughter and yelled jinx, but there’s nothing funny about what we just went through. Especially not with Hadley and Jon missing.
“Are they dead?” I demand, ignoring his question completely. I know he wants me to tell him what happened here, but I have to know about Hadley and Jon first.
Angus spits, then shakes his head. Darla and Parvarti come over to join him. None of them look happy.
“Don’t know,” he finally says. “We got split up.”
“So the town was overrun?” Winston asks, stopping beside me with Max still in his arms.
“Not by zombies,” Parvarti says.
My stomach tightens, and all I can think about are Jon and Hadley and where they might be. What they might be going through. Hopefully, they didn’t get captured by another group of crazy rapists. Hadley wouldn’t survive that.
“Blew up the Nissan,” Angus says, glancing toward his brother.
“Damn,” Axl mutters. “You see who it was?”
“Didn’t see nothing.” Darla speaks for the first time, and her voice is shaky.
“We were in the pharmacy,” Parvarti says. “Jon and Hadley went across the street to check out this little convenience store. They wanted to see what kind of supplies were left. There weren’t any zombies in town and the pharmacy had barely been touched, so it seemed likely that the store would still have bottled water and—”
“So you got the meds?” Joshua says, cutting her off.
Parvarti gives him a curt nod, then pulls off her backpack.
Joshua exhales, but I’m too freaked out by our missing friends and what just happened with the horde to be relieved. This is good news for Jake, but we’ve lost so much already today. How much more can we realistically take and still be able to move forward?
“They was gone for less than a minute when there was an explosion. Shook the whole damn building.” Angus purses his lips. He looks like he’s going to spit, so I take a step back, but he doesn’t. “We ran out and found the Nissan in flames. Somebody started firin’ at us, so we took cover. Went back into the pharmacy, then out the back door. Snuck through town ‘til we found the store, but they wasn’t there.”
“So you just left them?” I can’t believe they would just drive off like that.
“Hell no,” Angus says. “We waited. Hid in the store and waited to see if
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