move.”
“But you did write a book too.”
“Yes. I did. And look where that got me.” I surveyed the motel parking lot again.
“It brought you to me. If you weren’t still working in that coffee shop, you might not have pulled into the gas station when you did.” She closed her hand over mine. “I’m not sure I would have made it this far without you.”
“Are you kidding me?” I said. “You’d have done just fine without me. I saw the way you busted the restaurant door open like a pro.”
“Ah yes. My father taught me well.” She laughed, her eyes dancing for a moment before a look of sadness came upon her. “They’re probably dead, aren’t they? My parents.”
“Maybe.” It seemed futile to lie. “Then again, we’re not. If they survived they’re probably thinking the same thing about you.”
“You are lucky. You know your brother is fine.”
“All I know is that his phone sent me a text, and a pretty impersonal one at that. It could have been sent by anyone.”
“For what purpose?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should choose to believe it was your brother that sent it until you find out otherwise. Everyone needs a little hope.”
“And what about you?” I asked. “What hope do you have?”
“I hope we reach New Haven and it’s a safe place, somewhere with normal people. Who knows, maybe my parents are heading there right now, just like us.”
“You’re right.” I put my arm around her.
“I know.” She rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes, and suddenly there didn’t seem to be anything else worth saying. It was enough to be close, to share the moment, two small specs of humanity huddling together under the heavy moon. Who knew what lay ahead, what tomorrow would bring, but for now we had each other - and a little dash of hope.
32
CLARA STAYED WITH ME on the balcony for a while longer before retiring back to the room. Before she left, she made me promise not to stay up all night keeping watch, to let Darwin take his turn. Apparently, she sensed my unease about the pothead guarding us, but she also knew I would need to be rested for the next day.
The silence was like a void after she left, and I found my mind drifting. With Darwin not set to relieve me for another hour, I paced back and forth, doing my best to stay alert and fight the boredom. Since freeing Alice from the cooler, we had seen neither hide nor hair of her, which made me a little uneasy. I would have preferred to know where she was. I decided to take a turn around the balcony, to see if I could locate her.
I never got that far.
The first wave of dizziness made me stop in my tracks. The second caused me to grab hold of the railing just to stop myself from falling to my knees. I held on for dear life and gulped in the cool night air.
T he world spun around me.
My legs felt weak, unable to support my weight. Then the nausea came, the feeling that I was about to throw up was so strong that it surprised me when I didn’t.
I groaned and slid to the floor, my back against the railings, and breathed deeply, fighting the darkness that threatened to close in on me, the fuzzy nothingness that drew my vision down until I felt like I was looking at the world through a keyhole.
And then it was over.
The sensation retreated as quickly as it arrived.
I sat there for a moment, dazed and bewildered. I knew I hadn’t been eating enough, and I was tired from the events of the past few days. Maybe it was exhaustion finally catching up with me. Given the circumstances, it seemed like the most logical explanation for what just happened.
However, deep down I harbored a more frightening thought. What if this was the virus? The thought of joining the ranks of the Crazies was almost too frightening to contemplate. Would I be chasing Clara and Emily tomorrow, wanting to make them into my mid-morning snack? A stab of terror gripped my stomach and turned it upside down. Alice had clawed at me in the
“But you did write a book too.”
“Yes. I did. And look where that got me.” I surveyed the motel parking lot again.
“It brought you to me. If you weren’t still working in that coffee shop, you might not have pulled into the gas station when you did.” She closed her hand over mine. “I’m not sure I would have made it this far without you.”
“Are you kidding me?” I said. “You’d have done just fine without me. I saw the way you busted the restaurant door open like a pro.”
“Ah yes. My father taught me well.” She laughed, her eyes dancing for a moment before a look of sadness came upon her. “They’re probably dead, aren’t they? My parents.”
“Maybe.” It seemed futile to lie. “Then again, we’re not. If they survived they’re probably thinking the same thing about you.”
“You are lucky. You know your brother is fine.”
“All I know is that his phone sent me a text, and a pretty impersonal one at that. It could have been sent by anyone.”
“For what purpose?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should choose to believe it was your brother that sent it until you find out otherwise. Everyone needs a little hope.”
“And what about you?” I asked. “What hope do you have?”
“I hope we reach New Haven and it’s a safe place, somewhere with normal people. Who knows, maybe my parents are heading there right now, just like us.”
“You’re right.” I put my arm around her.
“I know.” She rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes, and suddenly there didn’t seem to be anything else worth saying. It was enough to be close, to share the moment, two small specs of humanity huddling together under the heavy moon. Who knew what lay ahead, what tomorrow would bring, but for now we had each other - and a little dash of hope.
32
CLARA STAYED WITH ME on the balcony for a while longer before retiring back to the room. Before she left, she made me promise not to stay up all night keeping watch, to let Darwin take his turn. Apparently, she sensed my unease about the pothead guarding us, but she also knew I would need to be rested for the next day.
The silence was like a void after she left, and I found my mind drifting. With Darwin not set to relieve me for another hour, I paced back and forth, doing my best to stay alert and fight the boredom. Since freeing Alice from the cooler, we had seen neither hide nor hair of her, which made me a little uneasy. I would have preferred to know where she was. I decided to take a turn around the balcony, to see if I could locate her.
I never got that far.
The first wave of dizziness made me stop in my tracks. The second caused me to grab hold of the railing just to stop myself from falling to my knees. I held on for dear life and gulped in the cool night air.
T he world spun around me.
My legs felt weak, unable to support my weight. Then the nausea came, the feeling that I was about to throw up was so strong that it surprised me when I didn’t.
I groaned and slid to the floor, my back against the railings, and breathed deeply, fighting the darkness that threatened to close in on me, the fuzzy nothingness that drew my vision down until I felt like I was looking at the world through a keyhole.
And then it was over.
The sensation retreated as quickly as it arrived.
I sat there for a moment, dazed and bewildered. I knew I hadn’t been eating enough, and I was tired from the events of the past few days. Maybe it was exhaustion finally catching up with me. Given the circumstances, it seemed like the most logical explanation for what just happened.
However, deep down I harbored a more frightening thought. What if this was the virus? The thought of joining the ranks of the Crazies was almost too frightening to contemplate. Would I be chasing Clara and Emily tomorrow, wanting to make them into my mid-morning snack? A stab of terror gripped my stomach and turned it upside down. Alice had clawed at me in the
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