can’t finish the word.
“That may come in handy now too, you never know. Maybe you’ve developed some shooting skills or something,” Chloe says, oblivious to my pain.
I try to determine if she’s serious or taking a jab. She’s hard to read.
“True. You’re not bad with that bow. Guess you picked up on some of it.”
She flicks her eyes to the sky. “Our dad taught us.”
“That’s cool. My dad is a scientist.”
She cuts her eyes at me. “Is?”
“As far as I know.”
She nods, understanding. “Our dad was stationed at Fort Benning.”
“Where’s that?” I’m not exactly up on my Army bases.
“South Georgia.”
“Near Florida?” I ask, because wow talk about going straight for the hot-zone. Florida had been under quarantine the longest of all the states since the earliest outbreaks of the virus started there.
“Close enough.”
“Is that where you’re going?” I ask recalling they said they were just roaming around. I’m trying to catch her in a lie—or maybe the truth. Something to gauge their honesty.
“It’s a general landing point, but we’ve been a little aimless for a couple of weeks now.”
It’s not like I can say much. I’m headed straight to the city in a quarantined state to find my sister. It’s a dumb move. But sometimes it’s the only move we have left. The boys cheer and we look over to see the tube filled with an amber liquid. Once started the process is fast and we’re climbing back to our seats in the truck, Wyatt at the wheel.
“He’s some sort of survival genius,” I say once we start moving.
Wyatt’s jaw tenses. “Oh yeah?”
“That’s what she said.”
We pass a convenience store, glass broken on all the windows. Shelves bare through the window. A couple of miles down the road the next shop looks a little better and I ask, “What about that one?”
Wyatt grunts, shaking his head.
Okay then.
We go to one across the street. A half diner-half store. The windows are broken but at this point we’re about out of the small town. As we exit the truck, weapons loaded and ready, I realize this will be our test. Do we trust Cole and Chloe or not? I jut out my chin and stand taller and follow Wyatt around the building. It’s a brave new world. I’ve just got to fake the brave part.
Chapter Thirty-Two
~Before~
Five Weeks Earlier
We leave at dusk, tired of being cooped up in the shed. Even in the fading daylight my eyes hurt from being in the dark room. Again we stick to backyards and alleys until complete nightfall. It’s time to make some progress and leave the safety of our neighborhood behind. The tug to go back home is strong and I fight it with everything I have.
“We’ve got the entire commercial strip to deal with before we can get back into the next residential area,” I say as though my mother is less familiar with the area than I am. “Then we can stop at the elementary school on Harper Avenue. According to the last news report I saw that entire area was cleared and moved to the evacuation center.”
“How many miles is that from here?”
“Three. We can definitely get there before daybreak.”
It’s so quiet that the only sound I hear is my heart, thundering like a drum in my ears. More than once I start to take my mother’s hand, just to feel something close. Something alive, but I don’t because I’m not a child. Not anymore. I’m an adult, whether I want to be or not.
The silence is broken by the intense bark of a dog. I stop and Mom stops next to me. “Where is that coming from?” she whispers.
Dogs and other animals are an unknown in our alternate universe. So far none have attacked people. They seem immune to the parasite but that seems unrealistic. We assume everything is a carrier. Beyond that, a barking dog means it’s seen something—heard something. It may be us or it may be something else.
“Over there?” I question. The dogs bark echoes off the empty streets. I can’t tell if it’s inside or
“That may come in handy now too, you never know. Maybe you’ve developed some shooting skills or something,” Chloe says, oblivious to my pain.
I try to determine if she’s serious or taking a jab. She’s hard to read.
“True. You’re not bad with that bow. Guess you picked up on some of it.”
She flicks her eyes to the sky. “Our dad taught us.”
“That’s cool. My dad is a scientist.”
She cuts her eyes at me. “Is?”
“As far as I know.”
She nods, understanding. “Our dad was stationed at Fort Benning.”
“Where’s that?” I’m not exactly up on my Army bases.
“South Georgia.”
“Near Florida?” I ask, because wow talk about going straight for the hot-zone. Florida had been under quarantine the longest of all the states since the earliest outbreaks of the virus started there.
“Close enough.”
“Is that where you’re going?” I ask recalling they said they were just roaming around. I’m trying to catch her in a lie—or maybe the truth. Something to gauge their honesty.
“It’s a general landing point, but we’ve been a little aimless for a couple of weeks now.”
It’s not like I can say much. I’m headed straight to the city in a quarantined state to find my sister. It’s a dumb move. But sometimes it’s the only move we have left. The boys cheer and we look over to see the tube filled with an amber liquid. Once started the process is fast and we’re climbing back to our seats in the truck, Wyatt at the wheel.
“He’s some sort of survival genius,” I say once we start moving.
Wyatt’s jaw tenses. “Oh yeah?”
“That’s what she said.”
We pass a convenience store, glass broken on all the windows. Shelves bare through the window. A couple of miles down the road the next shop looks a little better and I ask, “What about that one?”
Wyatt grunts, shaking his head.
Okay then.
We go to one across the street. A half diner-half store. The windows are broken but at this point we’re about out of the small town. As we exit the truck, weapons loaded and ready, I realize this will be our test. Do we trust Cole and Chloe or not? I jut out my chin and stand taller and follow Wyatt around the building. It’s a brave new world. I’ve just got to fake the brave part.
Chapter Thirty-Two
~Before~
Five Weeks Earlier
We leave at dusk, tired of being cooped up in the shed. Even in the fading daylight my eyes hurt from being in the dark room. Again we stick to backyards and alleys until complete nightfall. It’s time to make some progress and leave the safety of our neighborhood behind. The tug to go back home is strong and I fight it with everything I have.
“We’ve got the entire commercial strip to deal with before we can get back into the next residential area,” I say as though my mother is less familiar with the area than I am. “Then we can stop at the elementary school on Harper Avenue. According to the last news report I saw that entire area was cleared and moved to the evacuation center.”
“How many miles is that from here?”
“Three. We can definitely get there before daybreak.”
It’s so quiet that the only sound I hear is my heart, thundering like a drum in my ears. More than once I start to take my mother’s hand, just to feel something close. Something alive, but I don’t because I’m not a child. Not anymore. I’m an adult, whether I want to be or not.
The silence is broken by the intense bark of a dog. I stop and Mom stops next to me. “Where is that coming from?” she whispers.
Dogs and other animals are an unknown in our alternate universe. So far none have attacked people. They seem immune to the parasite but that seems unrealistic. We assume everything is a carrier. Beyond that, a barking dog means it’s seen something—heard something. It may be us or it may be something else.
“Over there?” I question. The dogs bark echoes off the empty streets. I can’t tell if it’s inside or
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