The Fall (Book 5): Exodus in Black by Joshua Guess

a full-body ache, and an empty space where his stomach should have been.
    “Come on,” Emily said, nudging him with her foot again. “We got word from Hal. Mason, Greg, and Allen managed to clear the compound. We’re going back home to gather supplies. If you want to come with, you need to be ready in ten minutes.”
    “Ughnnnng” Kell argued. “Uhn.”
    “Be that as it may,” Emily said, a smile in her voice, “you’d better come along if you want to salvage any of your work.”
    For a minute he considered pointing out that the thumb drive recovered by Mason contained everything he needed to reproduce it, then gave up and got out of bed. It would be easier with samples and materials. Easier and faster.
    Moving turned out to be much harder than anticipated. Seeing that he was putting in an honest effort, Emily delayed leaving for a bit. Kell did his morning business—cleaning himself with the seemingly infinite supply of packaged cleaning wipes was no substitute for the shower he desperately wanted—and tossed back two glasses of water before hustling to the truck. Breakfast would have to wait.
    Emily was behind the wheel. She handed him a paper bag.
    “What’s this?”
    “Food,” Emily said. “Some of the kids found a stash of blueberry muffin mix in one of the cabinets. They made them for you. I put some other stuff in there.”
    His mouth did a good impression of a waterfall. “I love you. So, so much.”
    Emily snorted. “Tell me that when you’re not starving. Besides, I didn’t want to hear you bitch the whole day.”
    The drive was blessedly uneventful. Even knowing a battle had been fought at the compound, Kell wasn’t prepared for what he saw.
    Sections of fence were bent where something ran into them from the inside. The main house stood, but half of it looked charred. Every window and door looked like a mouth to hell had opened through them, wide swaths of black soot leading up from them. The ground was pocked with small craters and crisscrossed with gashes from speeding vehicles. A stack of naked bodies burned in the shallow pit reserved for the job, though it was usually filled with zombies.
    Hal waited next to the RV his troop lived and traveled in. Kell didn’t know the man well, having rarely had a chance to speak with him, but the group had been solid and reliable. Also, Mason trusted them, and that went a long way.
    “Where are the others?” Kell asked when the truck stopped and Hal approached the open window.
    The older man ran a hand over his vast gray beard. “Helping Judith inside. Mason needed surgery, Greg and Allen both got hurt, though not as bad. One of the kids is helping them while the other two work on Mason with Judith.”
    “Is he okay?” Kell asked, realizing how idiotic the words sounded as soon as he said them. Of course Mason wasn’t okay, if he needed surgery. “How bad is it, I mean?”
    Hal blew out a breath, which ruffled his thick mustache. “He was worse when we found him. When we met, I mean. Judith said he wasn’t actually in bad shape for the most part. She had to take out some bullets. The worry seems to be nicking an artery with pieces of them. Mason was talking out of his head about it when the brothers hauled him out of the house.”
    “Damn,” Kell said. “I want to wait here in case something happens, but…”
    “Oh, I know,” Hal assured him. “I worry too. But there’s nothing either of us can do they aren’t already doing. Judith told me to hang out here for you, then give you the rundown of what we have on hand. Want to walk with me?”
    Kell cast a glance at Emily, who shrugged. “Kincaid and a couple other people are keeping watch outside the fence. Let’s see what we’ve got.”
    The house was first on the list. “Looks worse than it is,” Hal explained. “Greg and Allen used these homemade things that put off a hell of a lot of smoke but not much fire. The armory didn’t get touched.” He pointed toward the barn.