Survival Ties (The Outbreak Chronicles Book 1) by Trisha Leazier Page A

respond.
    The atmosphere was tense. We
had lost people and no one had been prepared for it. It was still quiet when we
pulled up to the junkyard. Sam and Tone went out to get the gate open and scout
what we were going to be facing.
    Sydney still hadn’t come back
out, so Aaron got behind the wheel and watched for either Tone or Sam to come
back. He started the bus as Sam waved him through the gate, as soon as the bus
was past the gate, he closed it. Tone waved the bus forward leading us to the
spot Sam and he had found for us to park.
    It was weird seeing piles of
cars on either side of us blocking off anything else. It was creepy, like
driving right into a horror movie.
    Aaron parked the bus where Tone
directed and shut it down. Neither Sam nor Tone got back on yet though.
    “Don’t look so worried Ash.
They scouted the area otherwise they wouldn’t have waved us in.” Aaron told me.
    “Yeah well then where are
they?” I asked wondering what would be keeping both Sam and Tone outside.
    It was still early evening so
we had enough light to see outside but there was no sign of the two being
around the bus.
    “Probably making sure everything
is secure. Double checking that we will be safe. You know they both take the
safety of this group very seriously.” Aaron said as he watched me, “We’ll stay
put till they come back.”
    Sydney still hadn’t come out of
her room, but Axel did. He was sitting with Micah and they were talking. I
couldn’t hear what they were saying but it was good to see Axel interacting
with someone.
    “Well look at that.” Aaron said
smiling as he pointed towards Micah and Axel.
    “Yeah I think he’ll be okay.” I
said as we watched the two boys bond over whatever they were talking about.
Sawyer came out and her eyes searched for Micah instantly.
    She gave them space when she
saw Axel sitting there talking to him. Sawyer smiled as she watched them. I was
watching her and I remembered seeing her give the same look to Josh right after
she met him.
    It was good seeing her eyes
light up again. They’d been shadowed since she saw Josh at the hospital attacking
the nurse and it got worse when we lost Jenny.
    “Hey.” She said to me as she
came over and bumped her hip into mine.
    “Hey back.” I told her wrapping
my arm around her waist.
    “Hey, now is there something I
should know?” Micah called to us making Axel laugh.
    “Oh, did she forget to mention
that I’m her wife?” I asked and looked at Sawyer.
    “Umm, no she did not mention
that.” Micah answered.
    “Oh am I just not good enough
to mention now?” I tried pouting at her but neither of us could keep a straight
face.
    “So is that a joke? Or…?” Micah
asked looking between us. Sawyer tried to cover her laugh with a cough. I
couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up.
    “You’re both dorks.” Micah told
us. He smiled as he rolled his grey eyes. He wrapped his arm around Sawyer.
    “Well now that’s a sound for
sore ears.” Sam said as he climbed back into the bus followed by Tone. “You
hear this Tone?”
    “Yeah, great sound to come home
to.” Tone said, “What do you think we missed?”
    “Well apparently Miss Sawyer
here is seeing Micah but forgot to mention she was Ash’s Mrs.” Aaron said.
    “Well Micah, looks like you’ll
have to learn to share.” Tone said without missing a beat.
    “Oh…Micah, good luck man.”
Aaron joked as Sam stood there, a small smile crawling onto his face.
    “It’s good that we all find
times to laugh and enjoy that we are all alive. Bad things are going to happen
and they will keep happening.” Sam said, “We have each other so try to remember
good things, help each other through the bad.”
    “He’s right. If we let the bad
in this world take us over, we won’t survive.” Tone agreed.
    “Does that mean we should
invade Sydney’s room and drag her out?” Daisy asked. Tone looked towards
Sydney’s door.
    “No I should be the one to go
and talk to her. I