What Remains Complete Series Box Set

Kellee L. Greene

Contents

Books By Kellee L. Greene

SICKNESS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

OUTPOST

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

INFECTED

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

EVASION

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

What’s next?

Books By Kellee L. Greene

About the Author

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2021 Kellee L. Greene

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author.

First Edition February 2021

Books By Kellee L. Greene

After The Fires

The Water Farmer

Book 2 Coming Soon!

The Reset Series

Flood - Book 1

Sinking - Book 2

Drowned - Book 3

Swamp - Book 4

Torrent - Book 5

Striking - Book 6

What Remains Series

Sickness - Book 1

Outpost - Book 2

Infected - Book 3

Evasion - Book 4

Red Sky Series

Red Sky - Book 1

Blue Cloud - Book 2

Black Rain - Book 3

White Dust - Book 4

Indigo Ice - Book 5

Yellow Heat - Book 6

Ravaged Land Series (1)

Ravaged Land -Book 1

Finding Home - Book 2

Crashing Down - Book 3

Running Away - Book 4

Escaping Fear - Book 5

Fighting Back - Book 6

Ravaged Land: Divided Series (2)

The Last Disaster - Book 1

The Last Remnants - Book 2

The Last Struggle - Book 3

Ravaged Land: Eventuality Series (3)

The Wall - Book 1

The Outside - Book 2

Falling Darkness Series

Unholy - Book 1

Uprising - Book 2

Hunted - Book 3

The Island Series

The Island - Book 1

The Fight - Book 2

The Escape - Book 3

The Erased - Book 4

From Below Series

Creatures - Book 1

Desolation - Book 2

The Alien Invasion Series

The Landing - Book 1

The Aftermath - Book 2

Destined Realms Series

Destined - Book 1

SICKNESS

BOOK ONE

1

My life hadn’t ever gone according to plan. When I was a young girl, I imagined the person I’d be but I wasn’t anything like what I’d pictured.

I married my high school sweetheart. He was the only person I really ever dated… if you could even call it that. But he wasn’t my prince charming. Not even close. Hell, I was pretty sure there was no such thing.

Freddie was an alcoholic monster who was absolutely miserable and wanted everyone else to feel that way too. The only good thing that ever came out of our marriage was Maddie, my seventeen-year-old daughter.

I was stuck with him because I was unable to afford to find a place for my daughter and me. It wasn’t like he’d ever let us leave anyway, at least not without a fight. Not to mention, there wasn’t a single landlord in our small town that would rent to me because I didn’t have a steady job or an income of any kind.

I promised my daughter that one day soon we’d get a place but sadly I’d been saying that for more than a year. It was difficult because I didn’t want to hate her father. All I wanted was for Freddie to change back into the person I first fell in love with. Most of all, I wanted him to be a father.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

I wasn’t sure what changed Freddie but he had no desire to go back to who he’d been. Freddie liked who he was now even though everyone else hated him.

If that wasn’t bad enough, my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer just under a year ago. It was bad. It was aggressive. They didn’t give her long to live but she was fighting her losing battle like a champion.

It hadn’t been more than ten minutes since Freddie had left for work. The house was quiet. Peaceful. But the walls were stained with bad memories that constantly haunted me.

I chugged down my mug of black coffee like it was the last time I’d ever drink it. What I really felt like doing was slipping back into my pajama’s and sliding back into my warm, cozy bed.

A knock at the door interrupted my scrolling through the news on my phone. Shootings. Politics. Drunk drivers. Same news, different day.

“Miss Kit?” my elderly neighbor shouted at the glass of the front door. Her nose was nearly pressed right up against the dirty pane. “Miss Kit, are you home?”

I chugged down the last of my coffee and drew in a breath as I pushed myself away from the small, scratched up round table. It was one of the first pieces of furniture Freddie and I had bought together. I quickly pasted on a smile and opened the door.

“Good morning, Mrs. Wheaton,” I said. My teeth felt like they were turning into hard kernels of corn as the breeze blew into the house, drying out my mouth. “Is there something I can help you with?”

I already had a good guess why she was at my door.

“Oh, dear, you won’t believe what happened again but Maxwell Lewis has climbed into your big tree again. He won’t come down even for his favorite treats,” Mrs. Wheaton said rubbing her dry, scratchy hands together. I glanced toward the tree over her small, sagging shoulder. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I could really use your help. You’re just so good at convincing him to come down.”

“Yeah, of course,” I said looking back toward my empty cup of coffee. When I got back inside, I was going to need another mug or two.

Mrs. Wheaton held my arm as we walked across the front yard. “Looks like your husband is behind on mowing the yard. Maybe that’s why Maxwell Lewis likes to come over this way… he’s looking for mice.”

I swallowed hard. “He’s been busy with work.”

Freddie could take the blame even though eighty percent of the time I was the one mowing the yard because he was passed out after dinner in the recliner. Of course, Mrs. Wheaton likely already knew I was the one that did most of the yard work. It was just her passive-aggressive way to tell me to cut the damn grass.

She was also incredibly nosy. Maybe she was hoping I’d talk about what was going on. It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard our fights next door. The walls of our cheap homes weren’t that thick. Hell, the neighbors across the street had probably heard us from time to time, as well.

“Oh, no doubt he works hard. My husband is a plumber, so I know what it’s like.” A fact she worked into nearly every conversation we had. He’d died over three years ago but sometimes I wondered if she still thought he was alive.

Freddie wasn’t a plumber, though. He worked in construction. Long hours in the summer, thank God, and not enough money to pay our bills in the winter.

I hated winters. With it being mid-September, it wouldn’t be long before Freddie’s workload would start to slow and he’d be home more. It was definitely not something I was looking forward to.

“There he is,” Mrs. Wheaton said pointing at the same spot good old Max the cat liked to run off to whenever he got the chance. I was pretty sure Maxwell Lewis had needed a break from his pet parent and would come down when he was good and ready. “Poor thing. He must be so frightened.”

“Yeah,” I said walking over toward the fence that was half-coated with green and yellow mold. The ladder was still leaning against it from the last time I’d had to get Maxwell Lewis out of the tree.

I rested the ladder against a thick branch near the tree trunk and checked to make sure it was steady. My first step was cautious but my second was braver. It wasn’t long before I was face to face with fluffy Maxwell Lewis’s smirking face.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I said softly. Maxwell didn’t stop grinning. “You might as well stop climbing up the tree. Every time you do, I just have to come up here and get you. This isn’t fun for either of us, is it?”

Maxwell Lewis slowly blinked at me.

“Oh, huh, maybe it is fun for you.”

“Is he okay” Mrs. Wheaton shouted in her squeaky old woman voice that barely made its way up the ladder to my ears.

“Yes, he’s fine,” I said hugging him to my body with one arm. Maxwell Lewis locked eyes with me for a moment. “You stay because she keeps you fed. I know. I get it. It’s a tough world out there.”

At the bottom of the ladder, I scratched Maxwell Lewis’s head. Maybe he was just as trapped as I was.

“Would you be a dear and bring him over?” Mrs. Wheaton asked. “He’s just so rambunctious these days that I’m afraid he’ll get away from me and bolt right on back up that tree. I don’t want to have to bother you again today.”

“Of course,” I said and she grabbed my elbow while I held onto Maxwell Lewis.

Mrs. Wheaton nodded her head at the house across the street. “He works really hard but look at his lawn. It’s perfect. Not a single Creeping Charlie anywhere to be seen.”

I was tempted to take Maxwell Lewis back up into the tree and hide from Mrs. Wheaton with him. Instead, I put mowing the lawn on my to-do list.

“Would you like to stay for some tea?” Mrs. Wheaton asked. “I have some fresh croissants I could offer you. Well, fresh from a day or two ago, I think.”

“I’m sorry I can’t. I’m expecting a call from my sister any minute,” I said tapping my back pocket to check for my phone.

“Oh,” Mrs. Wheaton said unable to hide her disappointment. “Send your daughter over later. I’ll wrap them up for her.”

I smiled but I already knew I wouldn’t be able to convince Maddie to spend time with Mrs. Wheaton even if I paid her. It would take something far more enticing than some stale croissants to get her to visit.

“I’ll let her know,” I said waving as I walked backward away from her house. I pointed at Maxwell Lewis. “Don’t let him escape again.”

“He’s a sneaky one,” Mrs. Wheaton grumbled as she closed the door. Maxwell Lewis watched me until the door closed.

As I made my way back home to search through the want ads for the thirty-third week in a row, my palms started to sweat. It wasn’t because I knew the jobs hadn’t changed in our small town, they never did. It was because I was worried about the phone call I was waiting for from my sister.

I suddenly had appreciated the distraction Mrs. Wheaton had given me.

It had been exactly one week since my sister, Polly, took our mother to New York to receive a new drug. She’d been one of the first of a group of patients accepted into the promising new study. Our mother believed it was her only hope.

Five days ago, she arrived. The same day, she was injected with the drug. Today, roughly an hour ago, she’d been due for a checkup. If the cancer hadn’t started to shrink, it would be bad news… bad news at a very high price tag.

I hadn’t given much but what I had given was all we had left. Freddie had gone ballistic when he found out what I’d done. Polly and her fiancé had given an amount of money that would have made Freddie pass out and not from drinking too much. The amount of money would have been enough for Freddie and me to live on for several years in addition to sending Maddie to college.

When the phone rang, I nearly jumped out of my skin. My fingers were like wet sausages as I tried to pick up the phone.

“Yes, hello?” I said mashing the words together into one.

“Were you out for a jog?” Polly asked. I could imagine her pinched expression as she stared at the phone.

“No,” I said smoothly. “You know, I don’t get exercise.”

She chuckled. “That’s right. Were you in your creepy basement and had to run up the stairs because it felt like something was following you?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I was doing,” I said rolling my eyes. I didn’t want to chit-chat, I wanted to hear how our mom was doing. “How was the checkup?”

“Everything is looking good. The cancer has shrunk nearly fifty percent in just this short time,” Polly said.

“Fifty percent or fifteen percent?” I asked making sure I’d heard her right.

“Fifty,” she said annunciating the word carefully.

My mouth instantly dried. “That’s… that’s… insane.”

“No, it’s amazing. Do you realize what this means for people all over the world?” Polly asked. “Hoyt needs to invest in this company as soon as possible. It’ll help pay for the wedding.”

“Maybe I should invest in it.”

Polly cleared her throat.

“Oh, right. I don’t have anything to invest.”

“Sorry,” she said her voice fading slightly. “I need to call Hoyt before I head back to sit with mom. She’s going a bit stir-crazy locked up in that facility.”

“Poor mom,” I said frowning. “She hated hospitals even before dad died. When can she get out of there?”

Polly sighed directly into the phone. “It’s going to be a few more weeks. They’ll want to make sure the cancer is gone before the release her.”

“I bet she’s not happy about that. How long can that take?”

“She’s not. Could be weeks? Months? They don’t know.”

I could hear Polly’s TV blaring in the background as if she’d just raised the volume. There were faint sounds of sirens and a voice speaking quickly over the noises.

“When can I talk to her?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. Maybe tonight? I’ll ask the nurse when I get back there,” Polly said. Her voice had started to fade. “There’s something going on not far from here. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

I swallowed hard. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure,” Polly said. “I haven’t ventured out much around town, so I don’t know the area well. I’ve only been at the hotel or with mom when possible. Oh, and this divine bagel shop on the corner. It’s probably all I’ve eaten since arriving. Anyway….” Polly’s voice became a fuzzy, jumbled mess. I couldn’t make out the last few words before she was gone.

I stared at the phone for a few moments before I pushed the chair back and walked over to the small TV in the living room. The volume was at full blast from the last time Freddie had watched his shows in a drunken stupor.

I frantically lowered the volume then clicked through the channels, stopping at the breaking news on the local channel. My heart thudded sharply. Whatever it was that was happening in New York, was occurring at the facility my mother was receiving her treatment.

My first thought was that there was a fire.

My second thought was that there was an active shooter.

I couldn’t make sense of the words rushing across the bottom of the screen or the words coming from the confused newscasters’ lips. The only thing that was clear was that something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

2

I frantically tapped in the only number I had for the facility. No one answered. It just kept ringing and ringing and ringing.

“We just got an update from those inside,” the newscaster announced as he pressed his fingers to his ear. “The New Burberry Medical Research Facility is on lockdown. I repeat the facility is on lockdown.”

“Lockdown?” I asked squinting at the TV.

“Our sources say they are handling the situation. There are no further updates at this time,” the smooth-faced man said before repeating the same things he’d said since I’d turned on the TV.

I tried to call Polly again but she didn’t answer. I stood there with my arms crossed as I stared at the TV, feeling absolutely helpless.

Worried.

Frightened.

The only thing I could think to do was to call Hoyt. Polly and Hoyt had been dating for five years and engaged for one of those but still, he wasn’t one of my favorite people to talk to. He thought I was lazy. I thought he was a self-centered, conceited asshole. He always had this look on his face as if he knew all my secrets and that he thought he was better than I was.

“Hello, Mr. Parker’s office,” his secretary said in her perky Southern accent.

“Can I speak with Hoyt, please?”

“May I ask who’s calling, please?”

“It’s Kit,” I said firmly.

“Oh, hello, Kit!” she said in an even bubblier tone. She knew me from the times I’d gone with Polly to the office but even if she hadn’t known me, she probably would have pretended to. “Hoyt’s in a meeting. I’ll have him call you back soon, okay?”

I chewed my fingernail. “Thanks.”

One of my most hated things in the entire world was not being able to reach someone when I needed to. I had nightmares about it. And here I was unable to reach anyone.

It wasn’t so much a worry about Hoyt because I already knew it was unlikely he’d call me back after getting the message. He might call Polly to respond though and that was all I wanted.

The rest of the day, I paced waiting for updates even though the TV channels had gone back to their regularly scheduled programming. If something were really wrong, someone would be talking about it. It would be big news. There would be constant coverage. Polly would have called me.

The front door squeaked as it opened and I heard the familiar sound of Maddie’s backpack dropping to the floor. She didn’t say anything before walking down the hall and closing her bedroom door.

Things between Maddie and I were currently in a strange place. I loved her more than life itself but she didn’t understand why we were still living with her dad.

She’d heard every fight we’d ever had since she was five. I could still remember when she was seven years old and asked with tears streaming down her face if we could go live with grandma.

I should have been stronger but I didn’t have the money to move out. It was hard because even though Freddie didn’t act like it, he was still her father. I wanted things to be better between them even if he wouldn’t ever go back to being the man I married.

Maddie couldn’t wait until she turned eighteen in a few months because she planned to move out. She didn’t have money or a job but she was determined. Grandma would help her, at least that’s what she told me one night when we hadn’t been getting along.

I knocked on her door. “How was school today?”

“Fine,” she shouted through the thin wood.

“Can I get you anything? A snack? Soda?”

I could hear her groan. “I’m on the phone, mom. We can talk later, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.”

“Okay, now walk away from the door.”

I sighed as I went back to stand in front of the TV. Nothing new.

I tried to call Polly again but still, she didn’t answer. My stomach was twisted into a tight knot.

My feet padded back and forth along the already worn carpet. It felt like spiders were crawling all over my body underneath my clothing and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t brush them away.

Anxiety was rippling through my body, growing and growing into the waves of a perfect storm. I couldn’t just sit in the house waiting… but I didn’t have a choice. There wasn’t anything I could do miles and miles and miles away.

It was about an hour later when my phone buzzed. I smacked my hand down on the phone as if it were going to run away before I could answer.

“Hello?” I answered without looking to see who was calling.

“I was able to see mom,” Polly said.

“And?”

“They sent me home almost as soon as I got there.” Polly exhaled. “It’s really strange over there. Mom started to have a seizure and they made me leave the room. I kept asking if she was okay and they said she’d be fine… that it was a rare side effect.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Was this something they discussed with you?”

“They didn’t mention it at all during the initial meeting. Maybe they said something to mom, I guess. Anyway, they sent me home and on my way out,” Polly said swallowing so hard I could hear the gulp through the phone, “there were other patients in their rooms having the same reaction.”

“All at the same time?”

“Yep.”

“That’s weird, right?”

“It’s totally weird. They escorted me and a few other people out of the building before putting the whole place on lockdown.”

I glanced at the TV. “That was on the news. I’m surprised they let you go in.”

“I found a way in. What are they saying on the news there?”

“Nothing much. Doesn’t seem like the reporters really know what’s going on.”

“Hmm,” Polly said. I could hear her tapping her fingers on something through the phone. “Mom seemed okay just as I was being ushered out but I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all. Leaving her after that episode was really hard.”

I ran my fingers along the rough edge of the table. “Did they tell you anything else? Like when you can see her again?”

“They said they’d call,” Polly said. “The doctors and nurses seemed calm but the looks on their faces told a different story. I could see it in their eyes, Kit.”

“What could you see?”

“They were scared. Truly frightened. It seemed as though they didn’t know what was happening even though they said they did.” Polly hesitated. “I’m so worried about mom. I tried to call the facility several times for an update but no one answers. I’ll try going back again when the firetrucks leave but for now, all I can do is wait. They told me when I was leaving not to worry, that she was in good hands.”

My eyes were locked on the TV as if staring at it would force them to provide more information. “Do you believe them?”

“I don’t know.” Her words came out painfully slowly. “I don’t know,” she said with a sigh. “I want so badly to just take her out of there but they wouldn’t allow it. There was such a rush to get me away from her and out of the building. I heard a word, at least I think I did, as I was being dragged out of the building.”

“What word did you hear?”

There was a long moment before she spoke again. The spiders started to crawl under my skin again.

“Quarantine.”

“Quarantine?” I asked scrunching up my nose. “Are you sure?”

“No. Like I said I thought that’s what they said but I wouldn’t bet any money on it… at least, not a lot.”

I knew my sister well. Everyone who met us always thought she was the older one because she was so confident. In charge. But she was younger than me. And even though she wanted to be strong and take care of everyone, I could tell when she was faking it. Polly was never very good at hiding how she really felt from me.

“I need you to do me a favor,” Polly said.

“What do you need?”

“Hoyt isn’t returning my calls. I wanted to update him on what’s going on in case he’s worried,” Polly said. “He’s been working on some things for the wedding and work. I know he’s busy but can you stop by the hotel when you get a chance and see him? Update him if you want but make sure he picks up his damn phone and calls me.”

“Umm,” I said trying to think of a way out of seeing Hoyt. It was bad enough I was going to have to see my husband in a few hours. Seeing her fiancé was not something I’d planned on doing today.

Polly groaned. “Please? I’ll send you gas money.”

“Polly,” I said with a sigh.

“What?”

“Don’t be like that. I could walk to the hotel if I wanted to.”

“Well, then, help your sister out, okay? I don’t ask much of you, do I?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I kind of have a full plate here. One second,” Polly said. It wasn’t a long wait before she spoke again. “That was the facility. I need to take this.”

I pressed my lips together. They made a small popping noise as I opened my mouth to speak.

“I’ll get a message to Hoyt. I actually called him earlier when I couldn’t get a hold of you but he was so busy he couldn’t call me back apparently,” I said. “Update me as soon as possible, okay?”

“I will,” Polly said instantly ending the call.

I wanted to tell her to let my mom know I loved her and that I was thinking of her but she didn’t give me the opportunity to say anything more. It was hard enough that I had to stay behind when my mom was going through so much. I should have been there with her.

I grabbed my phone and my keys before knocking on Maddie’s door. “I need to run out for a bit. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

“Yes, fine,” Maddie called back.

I exhaled as I walked out the front door and plopped down into my old, rust-sprinkled Ford. There was a quarter tank of gas left but it would be more than enough to drive the few blocks to the hotel Hoyt owned.

My hands were at ten and two as I drove down the road at the precise posted speed limit. It had taken less than ten minutes to pull into one of the parking spots at the ten-story, five-star hotel.

As I walked toward the building, I felt drastically underdressed compared to the other people coming and going. The men all wore their pressed suits and the women all in their tight pencil skirts with perfectly poofy blouses. Every woman had nearly the same hairstyle with her hair pulled back into a tight, sleek ponytail or bun.

I walked past the front desk like I’d done with Polly many times before and headed down a hallway that led to the office area. The glass door was being cleaned by the custodian as I arrived.

“Hello,” he said softly as he opened the door for me.

“Hi,” I said and the main receptionist looked up at me. I gave her a wide smile. “I’m here to see Hoyt Parker.”

“Do you have an appointment?” she asked keeping her eyes on her computer screen.

I chewed my lip for a second as my eyes scanned the rows of office doors stopping at Hoyt’s door. “Not exactly.” I decided to lie even though I was terrible at it. “He’s expecting me though.”

I walked toward his office door and placed my hand on the glass. The wheels of her chair squeaked on the tile floor as she stood.

“You can’t go in there,” the receptionist said with a panicked look on her face. “Not until I talk to his secretary.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m his soon to be sister-in-law,” I said pushing the door open.

The receptionist quickly picked up her phone and pressed one key. She started talking to someone but I was already inside his office.

I closed the door softly.

Denise, Hoyt’s secretary, wasn’t at her desk like I’d hoped. I knew she’d save me from the receptionist who was only doing her job.

I looked around the room before proceeding toward Hoyt’s closed office door. There was a large window next to the door with the blinds closed. He was probably in the middle of a meeting and he was going to be pissed about the interruption.

I could hear voices inside. Happy voices.

He probably wasn’t talking to Polly because if he were, the news she had for him wouldn’t have made him sound so cheerful.

I leaned closer, nearly placing my nose on the glass trying to catch a peek through the blinds. What I saw was enough to cause me to audibly gasp.

I was frozen solid. My phone rang shattering me into a thousand little pieces. Hoyt turned toward the window.

The happy voices ceased and I took a step back. I turned and ran out of the office as my fingers fumbled at the side of my phone, trying to turn down the volume.

I was nearly out of the main office area when the receptionist called after me. “Next time, make an appointment! You can’t come in here without one.”

My heart was racing. I had to get out of there as fast as I could. My feet were carrying me at a jog that had every eye in the place on me.

I slowed down to a walk as I left the hotel, sucking in a breath of fresh air the minute I was outside of the stuffy lobby. It didn’t help. Fresh air wasn’t going to do anything to erase what I’d seen.

I held up my phone and saw that I’d missed a call from Polly. Dammit.

3

I sat down in my car but I couldn’t listen to the message from Polly. My lungs needed more oxygen. It wasn’t until I was four blocks away from the hotel, I was able to listen. There was no way Hoyt could have caught up to me considering his pants had been down around his ankles but that didn’t help shake the feeling he’d known I was there and would soon be behind me.

I pulled over to the curb near the bank on the corner and drew in several long breaths as I stared into the rearview mirror. My heart was still pounding but my breathing was returning to normal.

I closed my eyes as I listened to the message. It was short and it made my heart sink into my stomach. She wanted me to call her back as soon as possible.

“Helpful, Polly,” I groaned as I tapped the screen to call her back.

When she didn’t answer, I shouted at the steering wheel in frustration and tossed my phone onto the passenger seat. Some of the frustration was due to not knowing how to deal with what I saw through Hoyt’s office window and the other part was not knowing what was going on at the facility.

It wasn’t until I was pulling into my driveway that I realized my call back to Polly had gone straight to her voice mail. Not even a single ring.

I tried her again as I walked into the house but it was the same thing… straight to voice mail. I left her a message. “Polly! Answer your damn phone.”

It was quiet inside the house. The TV was off and there was a note taped to the screen.

Be back around ten.

Maddie

I crumpled up the paper and tossed it onto the table where my empty coffee mug still sat from this morning. Somehow, the day had flown by even though it felt like it had gone by painfully slowly.

I sat down on the wobbly dining room chair and rested my face on my palms. How could I tell Polly what I’d seen? She probably wouldn’t even believe me. She’d be mad at me. Polly loved Hoyt so much. He’d saved her from a miserable life like mine.

Hell, if I told her, she’d leave him and then what would happen to her? I didn’t want her to end up back in a position like mine… depressed and unable to make ends meet. Only barely taking care of my daughter and not really taking care of myself.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could still see Denise’s skirt hiked up around her waist as she leaned over the top of Hoyt’s desk. Her fingers gripped the edges as Hoyt held her hips, drilling into her vigorously.

I shook my head and cringed at the memory I wouldn’t ever be able to get out of my head. Denise was evil. How could she pretend to be Polly’s friend one minute and then do something so heartless and cruel the next? She knew that Hoyt and Polly were engaged. Denise had even helped organize some of the details of their upcoming wedding.

My stomach swirled but stopped the second I heard Freddie’s noisy truck pull into the driveway. The only good thing about Freddie coming home was that it made me instantly stop thinking about Denise and Hoyt.

The engine stopped. Freddie’s work boots scraping along the driveway toward the house was like a potato peeler being dragged against my bones.

I swallowed as I looked up at him, trying to determine how bad his mood would be by the creases at the corners of his cold, dark brown eyes. He grunted as he looked past me toward the kitchen.

“Dinner isn’t ready?” he asked harshly.

“Sorry, it’s been a rough day. Something is wrong in New York where mom is,” I said carefully as I walked toward the kitchen. “What would you like to eat?”

He raised a brow. “Steak and potatoes.”

“I have hamburger patties and an Idaho potato.”

“As if that’s the same thing.” He stared at me for a long moment as if trying to decide how mad he should be. “It’s not like I have much of a choice, do I?”

“Pasta?”

He shook his head. “The burger will suffice.” I opened my mouth to tell him what was going on in New York but he pointed at the stove. “Go on then, get to it.”

I almost laughed but I stopped myself. The last thing Freddie would want to hear about was what was going on with my mom and sister.

I kept my phone on the counter next to me as I cooked Freddie’s burger in the pan. Even though I didn’t feel hungry, I added one for myself.

I stabbed the brown potato several times before popping it into the microwave. Freddie sat down at the table and clicked on the TV. The news was on and it seemed as though they were reporting on the facility.

“Turn that up,” I asked.

“Don’t worry about what’s on TV until you’ve finished cooking. It should have been ready for me when I pulled into the driveway.”

I rolled my eyes. If it wouldn’t have started an hour long argument, I would have undercooked his burger. But I wasn’t in the mood for it, not that I ever was. Today I just really, really, really wasn’t.

“Where’s Madeline?” he asked as he kicked off his work boots and left them laying on the middle of the floor.

“Out with friends, I guess. I came home to a note,” I said gesturing toward the crumpled-up piece of paper.

“You really should keep a better eye on that girl,” Freddie said shooting a quick glance in my direction. “We don’t know nothing about the kids she hangs around with anymore.”

I placed my hand on my hip. “It’s not like I don’t try, Freddie. She shuts me out every time I try to talk to her.”

“Well, you gotta make her talk,” he grumbled as he changed the channel. “Take her phone away or something. You let her walk all over you, that’s the problem. She knows you’ll let her get away with it too.”

I hated to admit it but he wasn’t wrong. What I couldn’t say was that it was partly due to the fact that the less time she spent around the two of us, the better it would be for her.

Maddie needed to have normal friends and have healthy relationships so she didn’t make the same mistakes I did. She didn’t need to stay home and be around her drunk father, who yelled for entertainment.

I plated his food and set it down gently on the table in front of him. I slid my own burger across the table from him.

“You gotta clutch that thing everywhere you go?” Freddie glared at me. “It’s dinner now. Put that damn thing away.”

“I’m waiting for a call from Polly to update me—”

“She won’t call during dinner time. Put it away.”

I looked away from him and tucked it into my back pocket so I could feel it vibrate if she called. There was no way I was going to miss another call from Polly… not with everything that was going on.

I took a bite of my burger and when I looked up, I noticed Freddie’s eyes on me. He started to drum his fingers on the table.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

I shook my head and he tapped the table at the empty spot next to his plate. How could I have been so careless to have forgotten his drink?

I pushed myself away from the table and he smiled.

“That’s right,” Freddie said with a chuckle that boiled my blood.

I hated that I couldn’t tell him to get it himself. It never was worth the fight. Never. For now, it was just easier to please him at least until I could figure a way to get out of my living hell.

I mixed his vodka with a splash of cranberry juice and set it down on the table. He didn’t even mutter a thank you, and of course, I hadn’t expected one.

“So, what’s going on with your mom?” he said swallowing down a large bite of potato.

I was so shocked he asked, I stopped chewing for several seconds. I hastily swallowed down the bite and put my hands down on the table.

“I’m not exactly sure,” I said shaking my head. “Polly was there with her and they made her leave. I guess mom had a seizure or something too.”

“They made her leave because she had a seizure?” Freddie snorted. “All that money just to make her worse.”

“Well, we don’t know she’s worse,” I said. “In fact, the cancer supposedly had shrunk fifty percent.”

He nodded. “Guess at least she’s at a place that can take care of her. Polly wouldn’t have known what to do if that happened at home.”

“If it would have even happened here.”

“What do you mean?” Freddie asked scraping his plate clean.

“It could have been the treatment,” I said with a shrug.

The way Freddie was staring at me with his lips curled up slightly at the ends made me feel like an idiot. “They test that stuff on critters and rodents before they give it to people, you know.”

“Well, I know but we’re not critters and rodents. Things can change.”

“It’s the cancer,” Freddie said as if he were certain. “Probably spread to her brain or something.”

I swallowed hard. He was so insensitive. My shoulders were buzzing and my hands clenched into fists I had to hide under the table.

I bit my cheek so that I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t worth it. It just wasn’t worth it.

“Are you going to finish that?” Freddie asked pointing his knife at my plate.

I shook my head.

“Mind if I take it?”

“Be my guest.”

He stabbed the burger-steak and dropped it down onto his plate. “All you need to do is cut out something from every meal and maybe you’ll be able to fit back into those jeans you wore before you had Madeline.”

Fire surged through my body.

Luckily my phone buzzed. I stood and drew in a slow breath. “Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom.”

Freddie held out his palm as if he were a genie granting my final wish. Jerk.

4

I closed the door softly and swiped to accept the call. “What’s going on?”

“It’s bad, Kit,” Polly said. “It’s really bad.”

I could tell she was shaken. It sounded as if she’d been crying. Perhaps she’d somehow found out about what Hoyt had done and her heart was broken.

“What’s bad?” I asked.

“What are they saying on the news? Have you been watching?” Polly asked.

“Freddie won’t let me,” I said. My heart started to pound hard inside my chest. “What’s going on?”

Polly gasped. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “There’s someone at my door.”

“Are you at the hotel?”

“I am,” she whispered. “They said not to leave. Not to answers the doors. I’m so scared, Kit.”

My hands started to shake so much I wasn’t sure if I could hold the phone. I felt weak. I probably should have eaten more throughout the day because I was starting to feel light-headed.

“You’re scaring me,” I said. “Is mom okay?”

“No,” Polly said sucking in a cry. “She’s gone. They’re all gone.”

“What are you talking about?” My voice squeaked at the end of my sentence.

I felt like I was about to pass out even though I had no idea what she was talking about. Polly’s fear was seeping through the phone and into my body.

“Whatever they gave mom… all the patients… it changed. Mutated. It spread and it’s not contained inside the facility even though some are saying it is,” Polly said. “I could already be contaminated. I was there.”

“Have what?”

“Whatever they gave mom!” she said as if she were frustrated with me. “The modified virus somehow changed into something else inside of them. It’s highly contagious and spreading through the city like a wildfire. It’s a war zone out there. You need to turn on the news.” Polly gasped. “They’re still out there. They’re knocking harder. I have to hide. I’m afraid they’re going to get inside.”

I swallowed and lowered my voice as if whoever was at Polly’s door could also hear me. “Lock yourself in the bathroom. Don’t let anyone in.”

“I have to go, Kit. I’ll call you as soon as I can, okay?”

“No!” I demanded softly. “Do not hang up on me.”

Polly started crying. “They want to infect me. I don’t want to die, Kit. I don’t want to die!”

“I don’t understand any of this. Why would they want to infect you?” I asked feeling the wrinkles in my forehead.

“Whatever is inside them is making them do it. They’re not themselves. It’s taken them over,” Polly said stuttering with nearly every word. “It’s so bad. You have to believe me. Listen, Kit, you have to act fast, it’ll find its way to you before you know it.”

“We’re hundreds of miles away. They’ll contain it,” I said chewing my cheek. “Won’t they?”

Polly sniffed. “They didn’t. They can’t. Go into town and buy all the food and water you can. And anything else you might need that you can get your hands on. Candles, gas, medicine… do you have a first aid kit?”

“I… I don’t think so?”

“Kit, listen to me, you have to go now. If this gets out on the news, everyone is going to panic. There will be competition for the supplies. It’ll be chaos.”

“Why isn’t all this on the news yet?”

There was a long pause.

“Polly?” I whispered. “Are you still there?”

“Yes, I think they left,” Polly said. “They’re trying to play it all down. But it’s bad. I don’t have much food and water here. There are sirens and lights flashing all over the city. I can hear screams and cries out there from everywhere. People begging for help. It’s awful.”

“How did this happen so fast?” I asked.

Polly was sobbing. “I have no idea. I’m so scared. What if I never see you or Hoyt again? And Maddie?”

Hoyt. The cheating bastard. I couldn’t tell her about what I’d seen, especially not now.

“You need to go, Kit,” Polly said sucking in a sharp breath. “I’ll call you again when I can. Charge your phone.”

“Promise me you won’t leave the hotel room,” I begged even though I had no idea how bad things really were for her. Help would come for her eventually, wouldn’t it?

“I promise as long as you listen to me and go get supplies for you and Maddie.”

I took in several short breaths. There were no sirens or unusual sounds outside my home. At least not that I could hear.

“I will,” I said. “That is if Freddie will let me leave.”

“No!” Polly said sharply. “No matter what you have to go. Do it for you and Maddie. If you have to, wait until he falls asleep and by that I mean passes out.”

“Okay,” I said. “This just seems crazy. You know that, right?”

Polly released a crazy chuckle. “Trust me, I know. But I saw them, Kit. I heard them. I saw what happens to them.”

“What happens?”

“They shake. They vomit. Then they turn into—”

The phone went dead.

“Polly?” I said looking at the screen as if hoping her face would appear. “Polly, are you there?”

I tried to call her back but it went straight to her voicemail. My fist smacked into my thigh. I wanted to scream but I couldn’t because it would no doubt set Freddie off into a rampage.

I smoothed my hands over my clothes and looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red and glassy. Sometimes, I barely recognized myself.

If Freddie saw me, he’d know something was up and I wasn’t ready to talk about any of it. Especially since it sounded like my mother was gone. Dead. Just like that. Gone. And I hadn’t even gotten to talk to her.

I splashed water on my face and patted it dry. My lungs filled with a full breath before I cleared my throat and stepped out of the bathroom.

Freddie was in the recliner lazily watching some sitcom that wasn’t even remotely funny. “Could you switch to the news for a quick second?”

“Must I?”

“For just a second, please?” I said as sweetly as I could manage.

Freddie groaned but flipped through the stations stopping when he got to a channel reporting on the situation in New York. The reporter was behind a desk, her hair done in bouncy waves that flowered over her shoulders.

“Damn! Look at her,” Freddie said almost as if he were in a trance. “You should wear your hair like that.”

My hair was shoulder length and as straight as a box of toothpicks. Curling my hair never worked. It would bounce up around my ears and after ten minutes it would be completely straight again.

“I wish I could,” I said not caring an ounce about the woman’s hairstyle.

Freddie grunted. “Go to the salon like other women do. Christopher’s wife runs one just down the road. He tells me you should stop there and she’ll give you a discount.”

“We don’t really have the money for that, do we?”

“Probably not anymore,” Freddie said as he shrugged and gulped down the last bit of booze in his glass. He held it out in my direction. “Would you mind?”

“Sure,” I replied. It wasn’t like I could say no.

The reporter wasn’t telling us much new. There had been some kind of minor outbreak and they claimed it had been contained. She said that everyone needed to stay indoors and limit their contact with anyone that might be sick. Then she said to wash your hands frequently. Those with lowered immune systems should wear a mask even inside their homes.

It didn’t sound as if they knew anything about the virus or how it was spreading. If Polly had been telling the truth, and I had no reason to believe she wasn’t, things were far worse than the reporter was letting on.

I walked into the kitchen, gripping the glass tightly in my hand. Why weren’t they freaking out the same way Polly had been? Maybe they really were trying to make sure that no one panicked because if people did, it could make things even worse.

I refilled Freddie’s glass and walked back into the living room. Instead of giving it to him, I set it down on the table next to him.

“I need to run to the store,” I said crossing my arms.

“At this hour?” Freddie asked.

“It’s eight. That’s not that late. The store is open until ten.”

“What do you need at eight o’clock at night?” Freddie asked his eyelids drooped lower and lower with each word. “You can just get it in the morning instead of not looking for a job.”

I chewed on my already raw cheek. It was surprising how quickly the answer came to me.

“Toilet paper,” I said. “We’re totally out. I just used the last of it.”

“Oh, well get some orange juice while you’re there,” Freddie said. “For breakfast.”

“No problem,” I said grabbing my keys and dashing out of the house.

Bullshit he wanted orange juice for breakfast. Unless of course, his plan was to mix some vodka into it.

There were no other cars driving down the dark roads. The street lights were spaced out because the town tried to keep costs low by alternating which ones were on and which were off.

I hated being alone in the dark but it was especially haunting after having talked to Polly about what she was dealing with. How long would it take for whatever it was to spread to our town? Was that really even a possibility?

Polly sure seemed convinced that it was. I couldn’t even remember the last time Polly had been that frightened. Maybe she hadn’t ever been.

She was always the strong one. Polly had been the one to keep our spirits up after mom’s cancer diagnoses.

After our father died five years ago from a heart attack, she was the one that kept us all from falling apart. My mom had wanted to give up. She couldn’t imagine life without him. I fell into a deep depression, after all, I was daddy’s little girl and with the Freddie and money problems… I hadn’t been sure how much more I could take.

Polly had taken care of her every need. She’d paid the bills, organized the funeral, hell, she took care of everything and I… I hadn’t done shit.

Perhaps that was why I gave everything I had for mom’s treatment. I had to feel like I was doing something. If mom would have known any of the money came from Freddie and me, she would have refused to get the treatment. But I hadn’t wanted to lose her. I would have done anything to help.

Mom was going to help me leave Freddie and get my life together. She tried before but I kept hoping things would change. I was a stubborn idiot. My mom just wanted to get better and then she was going to focus on helping Maddie and me.

As I walked down the empty aisles at the grocery store, I couldn’t stop thinking about my mom. Was she really gone? Did Polly know for sure? I mean, if something had really happened at the facility that put people’s lives in danger, wouldn’t the news be everywhere?

I clicked on my phone as I filled my cart with cereal and boxes of oatmeal. I browsed the websites as I continued through the store, stuffing the cart with far more than I could afford.

Most everything online said the same things I’d heard on the news. There was one site, however, that seemed different from the others.

I clicked on the link that read ‘Start to Panic - Not Just New York.’ It took me to a strange blog site with a forum of random posts about anything and everything related to current events, politics, and conspiracy theories. The one about the outbreak was full of random posts.

One post from someone claiming to live in New York said it was bad out there. Another from BabyGirl69 said if you left your house, you’d die.

I continued to scroll down, passing all the posts that sounded like they came from conspiracy theorists ranting about aliens and apocalypses until one of them caught my eye. It was a post about the facility and that the media was covering up what was really going on. The post specifically named the facility along with all of its sister facilities spread across the country. One of them was located in Chicago, which wasn’t that far away.

The person who made the post said that all of the facilities were testing a cancer cure on patients. He said it was the first round of a modified virus that had been injected into those that were terminal and that things had gone very wrong. The post had basically confirmed everything that Polly had told me although it said a bit more.

The man claimed to have worked at one of the facilities and managed to get away before everything went to shit. He also said that we’re all screwed.

After the cure was injected, it changed. Mutated. Those who’d received the drug got better before things took a turn and eventually became contagious. First, tumors would shrink and then the seizures would start. Shortly after, horrible bouts of vomiting would take over. It would seem like a normal side-effect but eventually, the patient would begin to vomit green bile. When it turned red, the patient was considered contagious. If you were still with them when their eyes bulged and turned crimson it was too late for you and you should probably blow your brains out.

After that, several folks were calling him a troll and telling him to get lost. I continued to scroll down hoping to find more posts from him but there wasn’t anything else.

The post was enough to freak me out. A chill ran over my body and I turned off my phone to quickly finish my shopping.

My cart was overflowing when I got to the cashier. She chewed her gum as she blinked at me.

“This is a lot for me to ring up,” she said glancing at the clock.

“Sorry,” I said forcing a smile.

“We’re like closing soon.”

I widened my eyes and clapped my hands together. “Then we better get started.”

I sent Maddie a quick text as I waited for the cashier to scan some of the items. When it didn’t feel like her and the bagger were working fast enough, I stuffed my phone into my back pocket and helped pack the bags. Neither of them complained about the extra help.

After I packed everything into my car, I checked my phone again. Nothing from Maddie or Polly.

Hopefully, Maddie was locked in her room and tucked into bed. I hated even thinking it but deep down, I knew she wasn’t going to be there when I got back.

5

As I drove home, I could still hear the panic in Polly’s voice. Whatever was happening out there, was serious. And she was frightened and alone.

If what I read was accurate and it was happening all over the country, it could reach us sooner than Polly had guessed. Perhaps it was already in our little town making its way from person to person.

I gripped the steering wheel and pressed down on the accelerator. I stared at the road as if it were the enemy. The houses passed by in a blur making the familiar surroundings seem strange… unfamiliar.

If Maddie wasn’t home when I got there, I was going to lose my shit. I couldn’t help but think it was all some kind of a joke or something that would be explained in the morning.

It just didn’t make sense.

The car jerked in the driveway as I stepped hard on the brake. I shifted into park and got out of the car.

A chill ran down my spine as I looked around the empty neighborhood. Everyone was inside their homes, going about their nightly routines as usual. The house across the street, with the perfectly mowed lawn, had one light on. I could tell he was inside watching TV by the changing colors on the wall.

He probably had no idea what was going on in New York. Mrs. Wheaton was probably clueless too. She was probably already in bed with her cats curled up at her feet.

It wasn’t like I could go door to door and tell everyone what Polly had told me. They’d all laugh and slam the door in my face.

Hell, I wasn’t even sure how I was going to stop Freddie from going to work in the morning.

My feet softly tapped the cracked driveway as I walked to the back seat to grab as many of the bags as I could carry. I kicked the door closed and walked into the house, passing Freddie who was snoring in the chair with his hand still wrapped around the glass of what appeared to be just pure vodka.

I set down the bags on the table and walked back through the living room toward Maddie’s room. There weren’t any sounds coming through the door. My stomach sank as I brought my knuckles to the thin wood.

“Maddie?” I said softly as I knocked. “Are you in there?”

Freddie snorted. “She’s not back yet.”

“Dammit,” I muttered. “She was supposed to be back by now.”

Freddie coughed, took a drink, and shifted in the chair before falling back asleep. I attempted to call Maddie but she didn’t answer.

“Madeline Jane Easton, you call me back as soon as you hear this message,” I scolded through the phone. After I hung up, I tried Polly again but she didn’t answer either.

Before I headed out for the rest of the groceries, I checked the TV for any updates. I flipped through nearly every channel but there wasn’t anything new updating me as to the current situation. It was the first time I wished we had cable TV.

I had bought so many groceries and supplies that I ran out of places to put everything. Every time I went down into our creepy basement to store some of the extra stuff, I was afraid the creaking stairs would wake Freddie. He was already going to freak out when he saw the credit card statement when it arrived. And worst of all, he’d be even more upset that I hadn’t bothered to restock the liquor cabinet.

I stood at the kitchen sink, first rinsing and then filling a glass of water. My eyes were focused on the darkness outside the window. The only thing I could see was the dimly lit house across the street.

I sighed as I soundlessly walked to the table and sat down. The glass made a just barely audible sound as I placed it on the table.

I flipped my phone around in my hand. The feeling of helplessness crawled up my back like a weed rapidly growing out of control.

Maddie should have been back nearly forty-five minutes ago. And Polly…. What could I do about Polly?

The sounds of a noisy pickup truck rumbled down the road. At the end of the road, it slowed and the exhaust popped as it took off and drove away.

The light on the table next to Freddie was weakly lighting the living room. It was the kind of darkness that would generally put me to sleep but tonight was different. I wouldn’t be getting any sleep until Maddie walked through the front door and even then, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to rest.

I chewed my fingernail as I turned on the phone and scrolled through various websites looking for more information. The facility’s website was still online with its bright green logo of several leaves entwined with a heart.

My heart stopped for several beats when the lights and TV turned off at the same time. Freddie didn’t wake. The only light in the room now came from my cell phone.

“What the hell?” I stood and looked out the window. The entire neighborhood had been swallowed by darkness.

I used my phone to light the way to the cabinet under the sink where we kept our flashlight and candles. It was a good thing that I remembered to buy batteries and more candles.

I lit one of the bigger candles and placed it on the table. In one hand I had my phone and in the other, I had the flashlight.

“Freddie?” I said softly as I gently touched his shoulder. “Freddie, wake up.”

He groaned and flapped his hand at me.

“I think something is wrong,” I said as I tried to find that website I’d discovered earlier where people were discussing what was going on. It seemed to have vanished completely.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop at least ten degrees. I drew in a breath and tried to call Maddie again. I gasped when she answered.

“Mom?” Her voice was shaky. She didn’t sound like her usual self.

“Where are you?” I demanded.

“I think I’m going to stay at Elias’s house tonight.”

I swallowed hard. “Who the hell is Elias? Never mind, just tell me where you are and I’ll come pick you up.”

“Stay home, mom,” Maddie said. “It’s weird outside.”

“Maddie,” I said her name slowly as my heart dropped. “Where are you?”

There was a long pause. For a second, I was worried she’d hung up the phone.

“I’m in Chicago, mom. I’m sorry I left. I thought we’d be back in time but when we were about to leave the city, things got weird.”

A tear leaked out of the corner of my eye. “What got weird?”

“There are a lot of sirens and police everywhere. We were told to get inside and stay inside.”

“Who told you that?” I asked.

“The police,” Maddie said with a deep sniff. “Elias was trying to bring me home, I swear. I’ll sleep on his couch.”

I pressed my hand to my mouth. “Give me his address.”

“They won’t let you into the city,” Maddie said. Not even a full second passed before she let out a soft scream that sounded as if it had been muffled by her hand.

“Tell me what’s going on,” I said squeezing the phone as if it might slip out of my hand like a wet bar of soap.

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” she said her breaths coming at her rapidly. Maddie needed to calm down. “The lights just went out. It just spooked me is all.”

I drew in a breath to calm myself. If my voice was panicked, she’d sense it and it could make things worse. Maddie suffered with asthma for her entire life. But it wasn’t just that, she’d also hyperventilate and even pass out if things got out of control. Anxiety, panic, stress, and even excitement could trigger an attack.

“Are they back on?” I asked.

“No,” Maddie said. “Elias is lighting candles.”

I sighed as I pressed my palm to my forehead. “Maddie you have to tell me where you are.”

“I don’t want you to come here,” Maddie said. “Elias will bring me home in the morning.”

“Text me your address and I’ll come get you in the morning but you have to promise me one thing,” I said. Promises… promises.

“Mom,” she groaned as if she knew what I was going to say. Her voice was quieter. “We’ve only been dating like a month.”

I waved my hand in the air as if a swarm of mosquitoes suddenly descended on me. “Not that. Well, that too but promise me, you won’t leave his place. Stay inside. Can you promise me that?”

“I guess,” Maddie said confusion coated her words. “Don’t think the police would allow it anyway.”

“Better safe than sorry, right? You said they told you to stay inside. I don’t know what’s going on but I know you shouldn’t leave no matter what.”

My hands were shaking uncontrollably even though I tried to keep my voice steady. It was hard to take in the fact that I wouldn’t be seeing Maddie and with whatever was going on outside that thought terrified me.

“And call me every hour on the hour,” I added.

“What if I’m sleeping?” Maddie asked.

“Set your alarm.”

Maddie groaned. “I don’t want to do that. I’ll keep you updated as often as I can though, okay?”

“If I message you, you reply, got it?”

“Yes, mom. I will.” Fear shook her words. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you where I was going.”

“Let’s not worry about that now. Remember to text me Elias’s address as soon as we hang up.”

Maddie exhaled a shaky breath. “I will, mom. Love you.”

“I love you too.”

It was hard to hang up. In fact, it was quite possibly the most difficult thing I ever had to do.

6

Lightning cracked loudly just as I was falling asleep at the kitchen table with my face resting on my closed fist. I’d been staring at my phone hoping to find answers to all of this but at some point, exhaustion must have taken over and my eyes had closed. The screen on my phone had gone black.

“What the hell was that?” Freddie asked but he was only startled for a short moment. He shifted in the chair and almost instantly fell back asleep.

Rain slapped the windows as the wind whistled outside. Everything was still dark… much darker than usual. And even though I was with Freddie, I couldn’t have felt more alone.

I realized that without power, I wouldn’t be able to charge my phone. The shrinking power bar was causing a sickening panic that turned whatever little bit of food and drink was in my stomach into an odd cement. I wrote down the address Maddie had sent along with all the other important information and numbers I had on my phone. Everything from contacts to the information the facility and Polly had given me. With a sigh, I tucked it into my back pocket for safekeeping.

Thunder rumbled the earth below my feet and I shivered even though it wasn’t cold. Time was moving slowly. It was only a few minutes after midnight.

I ran my hands up and down my goose-bumped arms. My fingers trembled uncontrollably. It felt like I should be doing something rather than sitting around waiting.

I quickly checked a news website but my phone wouldn’t load the page. The same thing happened with the second site I tried… and then the third. Not a single website would load. It was like the entire internet had vanished.

“Dammit,” I said turning off my phone to save what was left of the battery.

I balled my hands together into tight fists. There was so much frustration brewing inside of me and I didn’t know what to do with any of it.

I felt like I was going to break down without having Maddie at home with me. She shouldn’t be alone out there with everything that was going on. Maddie should be home with me.

For the love of God, I didn’t even know who she was with. For all I knew, he was some kind of drug addict or a serial killer.

Maddie wasn’t supposed to just run off with strangers. We lived in a small town where we knew a lot of the kids Maddie went to school with but when she made new friends, she was supposed to introduce us to them. I was supposed to be provided with parents’ names and phone numbers. It had been a rule ever since Maddie turned thirteen and started spending more time outside of the house.

I guess now that she was almost an adult, she thought she no longer needed to follow the rules Freddie and I had made for her. Maybe she’d be safer in Chicago stuck inside an apartment too afraid to leave. It wasn’t like anyone in our small little town would do anything to protect the citizens.

I sighed as I pressed my palms to my face. This all had to be some kind of bad dream.

The gentle knock at the front door stiffened me. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if I’d heard it but when it happened again, I quickly stood but my feet didn’t move.

My eyes landed on Freddie. Worry kicked me into action and my feet moved. The last thing I would want, hell, the last thing whoever was on the other side of the door would want, was to wake Freddie up in the middle of the night. If he was disturbed, the house better damn well be on fire and as far as I could tell, it wasn’t.

I set my foot behind the door and slowly opened it a small amount to see who was on the other side. It was only after the door was already opened that I realized I probably shouldn’t open the door based on what Polly had told me.

I blinked several times at the man standing outside with a white mask over his nose and mouth. It took a few seconds for me to recognize him.

We’d never talked. The only time I saw my neighbor from across the street was when he was coming or going… or mowing his lawn.

“Here,” he said sticking out his hand. I automatically accepted his gift. I looked down at the small stack of white masks in my hand.

“What are these for?” I asked.

“To keep you safe from whatever is going on,” he said. “I saw the light glowing in your window.”

I let my hand fall to my side. “Thanks. Do you know what’s going on?”

“Not really but I know it’s not going to be safe. You’re welcome to come stay with me to ride this thing out. We have supplies and a generator. A nurse too,” he said as lightning lit up the neighborhood behind him. “Might be a good idea for you and your daughter to come stay with us. We’ll fair better together.”

“Um,” I stammered.

“She’s not here,” I said.

He frowned. “Well, that’s not good.” The man stuck out his hand. “Not sure we’ve ever met even though we’ve been neighbors forever. Blake Archer.”

“Kit Easton.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“How do you know?” I asked unable to stop the grimace from wrinkling my nose.

His head tipped slightly to the side. “Mrs. Wheaton likes to talk.”

“That she does.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come over? We can discuss what’s going on and maybe come up with a plan.”

Blake seemed to have some knowledge about what was going on. At least something beyond what the news was telling people.

Or maybe he was always prepared for the world to end. “I—”

The recliner clunked behind me. Freddie’s footsteps pounded against the floor.

“What’s going on?” Freddie bellowed. “Why is someone at the door at this hour of the night?”

“It’s our neighbor,” I said as if that would explain things.

Freddie glared at the man. Blake’s wet hair was flat and plastered to his forehead.

Hate instantly radiated out from Freddie. “Mighty bold to come to my house in the middle of the night to talk to my wife.”

“It’s not like that,” I said feeling heat rise to my cheeks. “He came to….”

I couldn’t find the words.

“I came to offer you both a safe place to stay,” Blake said. “You know with all that’s going on in the big cities.”

Freddie looked at me and then back at Blake. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“I tried to tell you earlier,” I said with a sweet smile. “Something is going on in New York.”

“Bull shit. You didn’t try to tell me anything,” Freddie said.

He stepped in front of me and I hid the masks behind my back. It only took a second to tuck them into the back of my pants and cover them with my shirt.

Freddie took a step toward Blake. “I think you need to get the hell off my property.”

“Hey, man,” Blake said holding up his hands. “I was only trying to help.”

“Help? Sneaking over to my house in the middle of the night and disturbing me and my wife?” Freddie shook his head and wobbled slightly. “That doesn’t seem like help to me.” Freddie turned to me. “Was he helping you, Kit?”

There wasn’t anything I could do or say that would fix the situation. If I didn’t take Freddie’s side, it would end in disaster for both of us.

“That’s what I thought,” Freddie said.

At first, I thought Freddie was going to slam the door in Blake’s face but that wasn’t at all what happened. Freddie’s hand moved so fast for someone as intoxicated as he was.

His closed fist hit Blake in the side of the jaw and I covered my mouth with my hand to hold in my gasp of horror. Blake’s head jerked to the side but he was mostly unfazed by the punch.

“Freddie!” I said but he was already outside of the house shoving Blake down the sidewalk. Rain poured down on them as thunder shook the earth below our feet.

“Get back inside, Kit!” Freddie ordered. “This doesn’t concern you.”

Freddie was an idiot and I was soaked and embarrassed. I chased after him and reached out for Freddie’s arm as he took another swing at Blake.

Blake ducked and swung back. Freddie lazily moved to the side but managed to get hit in the shoulder. It looked like a hard hit but Freddie didn’t seem to feel it.

“Freddie, please stop,” I begged. “It’s not what you think.”

“Shut up!” Freddie said pushing me to the side. My feet twisted together and I felt to the ground.

Blake’s eyes widened. He looked like he was considering coming to my aid but he must have seen Freddie’s fist coming for his face again. Blake ducked as I scrambled to my feet.

“You’re insane,” Blake shouted at Freddie as he stepped into the road.

A bolt of lightning cracked and stabbed the ground not far from our house. It was so close the hairs on my arms prickled.

Blake shot me a quick glance as if checking to make sure I was okay. I didn’t blink as I stared at him and gave him a small nod. Hopefully, he got the message to let it go. If he didn’t leave, it would just make things worse with Freddie.

I couldn’t even believe what was happening. There was a part of me that hoped this was all some terrible dream and I was still asleep at the table.

Once Blake was across the street, he started laughing. Freddie’s hands were balled up at his sides and his shoulders were rising and falling with his rapid breaths.

“Stay the hell away from my wife!” Freddie shouted.

Blake shook his head before raising his middle finger into the air and turning his back on Freddie. I could still hear him laughing.

“Good luck, asshole,” Blake said.

I drew in a breath as I turned back toward the house, praying that Freddie was following behind me instead of charging across the street.

7

Freddie slammed the door behind us and my whole body shuddered along with it. My phone buzzed but if I was afraid to look. It wouldn’t be the first time Freddie would grab it from me and break it into pieces.

“What was that all about?” Freddie asked sounding as though he were out of breath.

“There’s something going on,” I said.

“There’s something going on,” Freddie mocked in a high-pitched voice. “You keep saying that over and over.”

My eyebrows squeezed together. “I’d tell you more but I just don’t know. There’s some kind of emergency. A crisis. They’re having people stay indoors. Some kind of contagious virus or something.”

“Sounds like a science fiction movie,” Freddie chuckled.

“Except that it’s not a movie. This is our life, Freddie!” I crossed my arms. “Polly’s trapped in New York. Mom’s dead.”

I bit my lip before I could tell him that Maddie was still out there, stuck in some random guy’s apartment. Freddie would have gone ballistic.

“I knew that was a waste of money,” Freddie said.

“It’s spreading quickly,” I said doing my best to ignore him.

“This is a bunch of nonsense.” Freddie grabbed the remote and tried to turn on the TV. “What’s wrong with the TV?”

I exhaled slowly to keep my pulse steady. “The power went out a few hours ago.”

“Because of the storm,” Freddie said jerking his chin toward the window.

“Not because of the storm.”

Freddie tossed the remote on the sofa and flapped his hand. “This is just a bunch of nonsense. You’ll see, everything will be back to normal in the morning when the utility crew can get out there. None of this explains what that guy was doing at our front door though.”

“He was just offering us a place to go to wait out whatever is happening,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve never even met him before tonight.”

Freddie studied me. “Well, it was stupid of him to come over in the middle of the night like that. It’s not like we’re going to go sit with a bunch of strangers during a thunderstorm. He’s never invited us over before today, don’t you think that’s weird.”

I wasn’t getting anywhere. Freddie wasn’t going to believe anything was going on until he saw it with his own eyes.

“We need to get some sleep,” Freddie said placing his hand on my back. “I really didn’t like how that guy was looking at you.”

“Yeah,” I said with a nervous chuckle.

Freddie started guiding me toward the kitchen instead of to the bedroom. He glanced at me and smiled.

“You know, it’s kind of weird,” Freddie said.

“What’s weird?”

“I saw the look in your eye.”

I shook my head. “What look?”

“When that asshole tried to convince you to go over to his house,” Freddie said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do.” Freddie released a long breath filled with unwarranted disappointment. “I can’t trust you, Kit. Never could. That was always one of the biggest problems in this relationship.”

The biggest problem in our relationship was Freddie and second to that was his drinking problem. It wasn’t like I was perfect but I knew I wasn’t the problem.

“I’m not going to be able to get any sleep with you up here flirting with our neighbors at all hours of the night,” Freddie said.

“Flirting? Oh, my God, Freddie! I wasn’t flirting!” I took a step to the side to get away from him but he quickly pulled me back. “You are crazy.”

“I’m just so damn tired of dealing with your shit, Kit,” Freddie said as he tightened his grip on me.

I struggled against him. Trying to get away. I knew what he was going to do with me and it was about the worst thing he could do with everything that was going on.

“Please, Freddie, don’t,” I begged.

“It’s the only way I’ll be able to get some sleep,” Freddie said opening the basement door. “Try to get some sleep, okay?”

I grabbed the front of his shirt. “I won’t be able to get any sleep locked down here. Please,” I begged with wide eyes, “don’t do this.”

Freddie wrapped his fingers around mine and squeezed my hand until I was forced to let go. A tear threatened to leak out of the corner of my eye but I refused to let it fall.

“Shh,” Freddie said in a voice he’d intended to be comforting but it was anything but comforting. He roughly closed the door with a sharp bang. “See you in the morning.”

I listened as he moved around the kitchen. The familiar sounds of bottles clanking together didn’t surprise me. Without my judging eyes on him, he could take whatever bottle he wanted to bed. Which I supposed was better than if he would have taken me.

His footsteps softened as he made his way to the bedroom. I tried the knob hoping he forgot to lock the door but of course, he hadn’t.

“Shit,” I said turning on my phone’s flashlight to safely make my way down the stairs.

The power bar on my phone was just slightly above the place where it would soon turn orange. I knew that after that, it wouldn’t be long before it turned red.

There was a message on my phone which must have been what had made it buzz. It was a short message from Maddie checking in, telling me that she’d woken but that she and Elias were fine.

I sent a message to Polly and even though I hoped there would be an immediate response… there wasn’t. I hadn’t even thought it was possible to feel more alone but being trapped in the basement made me realize exactly how alone I really was.

After I’d gotten back from the store earlier, I’d brought a ton of extra groceries to the basement. Even though I didn’t feel hungry, I grabbed a bag of cheesy puffs and sat down on the floor.

I leaned back against the wall and crunched as I stared up toward the small window that was only letting light into the basement when there was a flash of lightning.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been locked in the basement but that didn’t make it any less scary. But it was worse than usual because there was no electricity.

Freddie would have his fill of booze and pass out. All I had to do was survive long enough with the ghosts and the basement shadow goblins before I could try to find a way out of the basement.

The other times I’d been in the basement I’d had light and even though it was still scary, it was different. If I hadn’t already been terrified about Maddie being gone and whatever was happening with Polly, it would have been worse. Luckily it was enough of a distraction.

Of course, I didn’t want to be stuck in the basement all night if something was going on in our small town. Freddie would open the door to the first contaminated person that came knocking. He’d shout at them for a while for disturbing him but it wouldn’t matter, he’d already catch the virus that was spreading. There wouldn’t be anything I could do to stop him from coming into the basement and contaminating me.

My mind might have been over-reacting but then again, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, I couldn’t let that happen. I had to protect myself so that I could get out there and get to Maddie.

I powered on my phone to check the time. Two hours had passed since Blake had come to the door and even though I’d powered down my phone, it wouldn’t be long before the power bar would turn red.

I quickly tapped in a message to Maddie, demanding that no matter what, she doesn’t leave Elias’s apartment until I gets there. The second message I sent was to tell her about the battery on my phone and that I loved her.

A few seconds after I’d clicked send my phone buzzed. Tears filled my eyes at her message. She promised she’d wait. And she loved me too.

I looked at the small window again and drew in a breath. I straightened my spine as I picked up the hammer.

8

I stood on an old chair and peered out of the dirty window. Lightning lit the neighbor’s house. The windows had been boarded up and even though I couldn’t see any light inside, I knew Blake was in his home.

“Stupid Freddie,” I muttered.

I climbed back down to the concrete, almost falling when lightning cracked and thunder violently shook the earth. In the basement, alone, it felt like the storm was raging inside my body and really, in a way, it was.

There had been enough light that I’d been able to spot Freddie’s flashlight sitting on the edge of the sink. He must have used it the last time he fixed the washing machine refusing to pay a professional to come and take a look.

I grabbed it and clicked it on. It flickered several times. After I gave it a hard shake, the beam of light stayed mostly steady.

I carefully placed my foot down on the first step. It creaked as I shifted my weight forward. There was a good chance that Freddie was passed out and if he was, the small noises coming from the stairs wouldn’t be enough to wake him.

At the top of the stairs, I jiggled the handle and pulled backward with all of my weight. The door rattled inside the frame but there was no way I was going to be able to get it open.

I had two options. To wait until morning or to try to squeeze out of one of the small windows.

I sighed as I went back to the window. The latch that kept the small window locked was rusted. I tried as hard as I could but it wouldn’t move.

On the other wall, there was a second window which would be my last hope. Our house was built in such a way that the basement only had two basement windows, the rest was entirely underground.

I dragged the chair over to the other window and climbed up. The latch was tight but it was moving a little. I had to take several breaks because it felt like the plastic-covered metal was pressing deep into my skin and pressing on my bone. My fingertips were numb but I wasn’t going to give up.

After a few minutes, the latch was far enough to the side that I could push the window outward.

“Dammit!” I said when it wouldn’t go any further. It was stuck at a forty-five-degree angle which of course, I wouldn’t have ever been able to fit out of.

There was only one thing I could do and that was to break the glass.

I climbed back down the chair and grabbed a dishtowel from the dryer and wrapped it around the flashlight. My hope was that it would somehow muffle the sounds of the window shattering.

I pulled the window closed and smacked the wrapped flashlight against the window. It didn’t break. It didn’t even crack.

“You can do this,” I said knowing I was going to have to put more energy behind my swing. It was going to take a fair amount of force to break the window.

I steadied my feet and swung like a baseball player stepping up to the plate desperation needing to hit one out of the park. The window cracked as the flashlight hit the glass. The beam of light flickered several times before it became steady again.

I paused, listening for sounds of Freddie coming to see what I’d done. Five minutes had probably gone by before I took another swing.

Bits of glass sprinkled out onto the lawn. I smiled even though I still wasn’t entirely sure I was going to be able to fit out of the window.

I stood on my tiptoes and reached my arms out of the window. It was an awkward stretch but I was able to pull myself up and wiggled my head and one shoulder out. The other shoulder was next and for a split second, I was worried I was going to get stuck.

My legs were dangling below and my hips were touching the sides of the window. I’d apparently missed a few pieces of glass and they were poking through my jeans and into my skin.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch,” I repeated as I wiggled out onto the wet grass.

I laid there for a few minutes, taking in several deep breaths. If anyone would have seen me, they would have thought I’d passed out on the lawn.

I pushed myself to my feet and stepped closer to the house. I pressed my back to the siding to keep myself hidden in the shadows.

It was hard to tell what time of night it was with the storm overhead but it seemed as though the sky was brightening to a lighter shade of gray.

I couldn’t go into the house. There was a chance that it would wake Freddie. He was going to lose his shit when he saw the broken window.

I could try to blame it on a teenager or a kid but sooner or later he’d figure it out. He’d probably figure it out when he’d go to let me out before leaving for work. If he remembered which of course he usually did. There was only one time I had to wait until he got back from work. Thankfully Maddie was at a friend’s house that night or it would have crushed her more than she already was.

None of it mattered because as soon as I could, I was going to get in my car and drive to Chicago to find Maddie. Things were going to be different because this time Maddie and I wouldn’t come back home.

We’d figure something out. With Polly gone and my mom likely dead, it wasn’t like I had any reason to stay in our stupid little town. I didn’t have a job. The only thing I had was my daughter and it was long past time to leave Freddie and this shitty town behind.

The front door squeaked loudly as it opened. I slid to the side, hiding behind a large shrub with branches that desperately needed to be trimmed. They poked at my body through my clothing. It felt like I had to itch everywhere but I was too afraid to move.

Freddie jumped into his truck and started the engine. He flicked the lights on and I shrunk back, making myself even smaller.

Why wasn’t he angry? Shouting for me? He must not have gone to the basement.

He put the truck in reverse and backed out of the driveway much too fast. The tires squealed as he shifted into drive before he’d fully stopped.

“Idiot,” I muttered as he swerved to avoid a car parked in front of Mrs. Wheaton’s house.

It was less than two months ago when Freddie had gone to work still toasted. His boss had told him if it ever happened again, he was going to have to let him go.

Freddie would blame me somehow. When I no longer could see the lights of the truck, I ran to the front door and opened it. Freddie was terrible about locking the door drunk or sober. He always claimed that a burglar would be stupid to try to rob him. Also, we didn’t have anything worth taking anyway.

Before I closed the door, there was a strange sound I could hear in the distance. It was like painful mutterings similar to a disappointed crowd at a sporting event.

The noises seemed to grow louder with each passing second. Groaning. Shouting.

“Help!” It sounded like I heard the word mixed into the sounds.

I looked down the road just as a large group of people turned the corner. It was like a massive parade. Or maybe more like a mob. No one looked happy.

I stepped back inside and closed the door. After everything Polly had told me, I was beyond frightened.

I locked the door and ran from window to window checking to make sure everything was locked. I couldn’t resist peeking out at the crowd moving down the street.

It wasn’t until they were almost to the house that I could hear their voices and see their faces. One of them had green bile dripping down their chin. Their eyes bulged and the whites were a bright shade of red.

Their faces were stretched into frowns. They were begging for help.

9

The people came closer to the house. I stood away from the window but I could still see out between a small space between the curtains.

There were at least ten people on our front lawn. If Freddie had been home, he would have brought out his old shotgun that had no ammunition. Even if he would have had bullets, he didn’t know the first thing about guns. It had been a gift passed down from his father. While there was a chance it worked, it had only been used for decoration between the two for the past fifty-plus years. Well, and for making a few empty threats over the years to door-to-door salesmen and the like. Probably the same thing Freddie’s father had used it for too.

A shadow moved passed the window, hesitating for a moment as if trying to look inside. My heart paused at the exact same moment as the person on the other side and didn’t start until the shadow began to move again.

“Please, help me,” a woman’s voice called. It sounded as if she were close. Someone pounded on the door hard. “Please, I beg you. I know your mother. I’m not like them, you have to help me. Just open the door.”

“I know you’re in there,” someone else said.

“You can’t just leave us out here like this, can you?” a third, much younger voice asked.

All I could hear in the back of my mind was Polly’s fear-filled voice when she was telling me about the people that were at her door. Had they been saying the same things to her? Begging and pleading for help.

I couldn’t move. I was afraid if I shifted my weight even slightly, the floorboards would creak and they’d tear down the thin walls to get to me.

It was a terrible feeling to sit there doing nothing while people begged for help. I had to remind myself over and over there wasn’t anything I could do for them anyway. Attempting to help wouldn’t do any good and I needed to do whatever it took to make sure I could get Maddie when this all died down. She was all that mattered.

But ignoring people in need wasn’t how I’d been raised. It was hard to fight the urge to help people who were begging to be saved.

I covered my mouth with my shaking hand mostly to hold my mouth closed. I was on the verge of breaking down into uncontrollable sobbing and I couldn’t let that happen. I had to do something I wasn’t used to doing… I needed to be strong.

It felt like it took forever but their voices started to fade. The faint light gray shadows in the windows disappeared but still, I couldn’t move. At least I hadn’t been able to move my feet until I’d heard Freddie’s truck noisily coming down the road.

“Dammit, Freddie,” I muttered.

I carefully peeled back the curtain as he pulled into the driveway. I wasn’t exactly sure what was worse… the contagious people who were going door to door or Freddie back from work early.

The engine shut off and Freddie slammed the truck door. I peered out the window, watching as he turned toward the house. Instantly I could tell something was wrong.

I yanked one of the masks Blake had given me down over my nose and mouth. There wasn’t anything I could do to stop Freddie from getting inside the house considering his keys were hanging off his finger.

A stream of curses flowed out of his mouth as he walked toward the front door. His steps were heavy and oddly paced. I opened the door and Freddie cocked his head to the side.

“Shit,” Freddie said. “I forgot.”

“Freddie,” I said trying to keep my tone calm. “You need to get back inside your truck. Look over there,” I said pointing at the people down the road. “It’s for your own safety.”

I glanced again over my shoulder to see if the crowd had noticed us. Thankfully they were distracted by the other houses.

“Hell no. I’m not getting into my truck. What the fuck are you wearing that stupid thing on your face for?” Freddie’s eyes locked onto the crowd as if he’d only first noticed them, even though he had to have driven by them. “What are those idiots doing anyway?”

“I don’t know how many times I need to tell you this,” I said shaking my head. “Something bad has happened all over.”

Freddie held up a finger and I snapped my mouth shut. He turned toward the shrubs and vomited violently.

“Oh my God,” I said. “Shit, shit, shit. Are you sick?”

He shook his head. After a long moment, he turned toward me with puke coating his chin.

“Just drank too much is all,” he said.

Freddie rarely talked about how much he drank. It was even weirder that I couldn’t recall the last time drinking too much had made Freddie puke.

His eyes were wide and the whites were a shade of pink that seemed to be getting darker as I watched them. I held up my palms.

“Don’t come near me.”

“How did you get out of the basement anyway?” he asked. Vomiting seemed to help sober him up rather quickly.

“Please get back into the truck,” I begged.

Freddie smiled but then he started shaking so much he fell to the ground. His whole body shook and contorted in ways I’d never seen a human body move before.

His body stopped and he reached out his hand to me. There was a look of confusion stretched across his face.

“Kit,” he groaned. “Something’s not right with me.”

“I’ve been trying to tell you about it,” I said as my eyes centered on his set of keys. They were a foot away from his left hand.

I took a step but he reached out and snatched them up before I could take them. He started to get to his feet. I had to try something to stop him from getting inside.

“Wait out here,” I said. “I’ll call for an ambulance.”

“Don’t you dare. I need to get to bed and sleep. Guess I didn’t get enough rest last night,” Freddie said.

“That’s not a good idea.” I shook my head. “You should sleep it off in the truck.”

“I’m not sleeping in my truck.” Freddie pointed to the mess he made. “Hose this down.”

I spun on my heel and ran back inside the house. My hand shook as I slammed the door closed and locked it behind me. I looked around for something heavy to place in front of the door but there wasn’t anything except the small, ratty sofa I wouldn’t be able to move on my own.

I leaned back against the door, firmly planting my feet on the ground. It wasn’t going to be enough to keep him outside but I had to try.

I should have gotten inside my car and drove off into the country. But now I was stuck.

Freddie’s keys clanked against the doorknob. It seemed as if he were having trouble inserting the key inside the lock.

I hoped and prayed he’d give up. But, of course, he didn’t. He kept wiggling the keys as he shouted at me through the door. I couldn’t move from my spot to check what was happening outside. The group of people had to have heard him screaming down the block.

“Go away, Freddie,” I said.

His fist slammed against the door. “Just let me in. I’m not mad you’re out of the basement. I’m not even mad you won’t let me in. I just want to lay down.”

“I can’t do that. I can’t let you in.”

“Let me inside or I swear to God I’ll fucking kill you, Kit,” Freddie said. It sounded like his voice came from a dark place deep inside him. A voice I’d never heard before and I’d seen Freddie at all of his darkest times.

The key slipped into the lock and Freddie chuckled with joy. I pressed all my weight back and squeezed my eyes shut.

“You again?” Freddie said. “Get the fuck off my property.”

Who was he talking to? One of the people with the sickness?

“I think you should leave,” a voice said. Who was talking to him?

“This is my house. You’re the one trespassing. You need to leave before I kick your ass again,” Freddie said in a voice filled with boiling rage. He was further from the door. I could tell by the sound of his voice.

“Don’t take another step,” the voice warned.

Freddie wasn’t going to listen. I knew that even though I was unable to look out the window.

When a shot rang out, I froze.

10

The thud of something heavy falling to the ground chilled my bones. I knew without looking what had made the sound even though it wasn’t like anything I’d ever heard before… Freddie’s body.

My breaths were short. The back of my neck felt numb.

I squeaked at the gentle taps of a knuckle against the door. “Kit? It’s Blake. Can I come in and talk to you for a minute?”

It wasn’t like I could leave him out there with the contagious people. I slowly opened the door.

Our eyes slowly met.

There wasn’t any vomit on him and his eyes weren’t bulging out of his sockets. I was also ready to slam the door in his face but considering he was armed, it probably wouldn’t have done any good. If he wanted to get inside… he would.

“I’m not sick,” Blake said pointing at the white mask covering half of his face.

I didn’t want to look down but I couldn’t stop my eyes from landing on Freddie’s body. “Oh my God,” I said with a sharp gasp. My hands were shaking. “Oh, dear God.”

The only other times I’d seen a dead body had been at my grandparent’s funerals. This was much different, though. Blood was covering the sidewalk. His eyes, even though they didn’t seem like his anymore, stared blankly toward his truck. Freddie was gone.

Blake pulled me inside with him and closed the door. “Your asshole husband was contagious. I couldn’t let him get to you.”

“You killed him,” I muttered.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

I shook my head as I crossed my arms. My thoughts were a jumbled mess.

“You should come stay with us,” Blake said. “We’ll be safer together.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I couldn’t stop thinking about how only seconds ago he’d pulled the trigger and killed my husband. “I’ll be okay here.”

“We have more than enough supplies,” Blake said.

I bit my cheek as I looked into his crystal blue eyes. “I’ll be okay.”

“Okay,” he said holding up his hand. “If you change your mind, we’ll be there until this blows over.”

“How will you know when it’s over?”

Blake chuckled. “I’ll know.” He pointed at the mask. “If you come over, be sure you’re wearing that, okay?”

I nodded and he turned back toward the door. He opened it slowly and looked around.

“Good luck,” he said over his shoulder.

Blake stepped outside and closed the door. I stood there, staring at the wall, feeling very alone.

There was only one thing I wanted to do and that was to get to my daughter. With the contagious people wandering around, I couldn’t leave. At least I didn’t think I could. It was also still a possibility that I wouldn’t be able to get to Chicago if they were still keeping everyone inside their homes.

How would I know when I could leave town?

How would I ever get to her?

My throat felt like it was filled with sand. What if I wouldn’t ever see her again?

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at the sliver of red remaining. That’s when I remembered Blake had mentioned he’d had a generator. If he had power, I could charge my phone.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I pulled open the door and ran down the yard looking in both directions. Luckily, I hadn’t run out into a crowd of the sick.

“Hey,” I called trying to shout but also keep my voice down. “I changed my mind.”

Blake smiled and gestured for me to catch up. “Awesome.”

I couldn’t exactly read his tone. At least he didn’t seem annoyed that I’d changed my mind. Freddie would have been groaning and rolling his eyes.

Dammit.

Why was I even thinking about Freddie? He’d been nothing but a thorn in my side for years. It had been a bit of a shock to see him laying there lifeless but I didn’t have any tears to shed for him. I should have been thanking Blake for saving me.

I sucked in a sharp breath, shocked that I’d even allowed myself those kinds of thoughts.

“You okay?” Blake asked. His mouth was hidden by the mask but his eyes showed concern.

“Yeah, I think so,” I said. “This is all so crazy.”

“Sure is,” Blake said stopping just before his front door. There was movement on the other side. “I’m really sorry about what I had to do back there.”

I swallowed. “He really was an asshole but I never wanted him dead… just out of my life.”

“He was sick,” Blake said. “I don’t think he wouldn’t want to be like one of those people. I know I wouldn’t.”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “He probably wouldn’t.”

Blake cleared his throat. “Sometimes I could hear him across the street here. There were a lot of times I wanted to march over. He should have been picking on someone his own size.”

“I think you’re actually a little bigger than he was,” I said. Blake was a couple inches taller and his shoulders were broader.

“Anyway,” Blake said knocking three knocks with a long pause between each.

“Who is it?” a male voice sang.

Blake’s jaw stiffened. “Open the damn door.”

The door opened and a man with a chiseled face opened the door. His almond-shaped green eyes landed on me.

“Come in, come in,” he said. “Who’s your friend?”

“I’m Kit,” I said sticking out my hand awkwardly. “From next door.”

“Well, hello Kit from next door, I’m Dax,” he said taking my hand and slowly shaking it. “Blake’s handsome brother.”

I forced a smile. He was handsome but it wasn’t like I could think about any of that after everything that had just happened… and everything that was happening.

Blake and Dax stood next to each other. I wouldn’t have ever guessed that they were brothers. Or for that matter, even related. They looked nothing alike.

Blake was tall, rugged, with messy, dark brown hair. Dax was not quite as tall but even more muscular with dark blonde hair. There wasn’t a single feature they shared.

“Make yourself at home,” Blake said.

I walked into the living room. I almost missed the slender woman sitting in the recliner. She looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes.

“This is Whitney,” Blake said.

“Hi,” I said stuffing my hands into my pockets. “I’m Kit.”

She nodded but didn’t open her mouth to offer me a welcoming greeting. I took two steps toward the couch before I stopped and shook my head.

“Never mind,” I said. “I can’t stay here.”

“Why not?” Blake asked pulling the mask down and letting it hang around his neck.

My heart sank into my stomach. “My daughter is out there. I can’t just sit around and wait. I have to go to her.”

“Where is she?” Blake asked.

“Chicago,” I said biting my cheek to stop the tear that was starting to form.

“Oh, you can’t go there,” Blake said shaking his head. “That’s not going to be a safe trip. If you head there, you’ll catch the sickness before you’re halfway there.”

I shook my head. “You don’t know that. It’s not like there are going to be crowds of sick people wandering around in the country. It’s probably safer out there than it is here.”

“Maybe but to get to the country you have to leave the city. And what are you going to do once you get to Chicago? Can you imagine how many sick people are wandering around the streets?” Blake asked.

“Even with the mask on you’re not completely safe,” Dax said. “I mean maybe you are but all those people… if they descend on you, it won’t take them long to pull it off you.”

I touched the mask that was still covering my mouth. I drew in a breath as if it might be my last before pulling the mask over my head.

“Things are probably a thousand times worse in Chicago,” Blake said.

“You don’t know that though, do you?” I asked.

Blake ignored my question. “All we can do is wait until this all passes. Those who are sick will die and eventually it’ll be safe to leave again.”

“How long will that take?” I asked.

Blake shrugged. “A few weeks. Maybe a month. But everything is going to be a lot different when it does.”

“How do you know so much about all of this?” I asked.

“We don’t know that much. Maybe just a bit more than the average person,” Dax said as he widened his stance and crossed his arms. At first, he’d seemed playful but suddenly he was all business. “Our step-father worked for one of the locations that was running the test that started this all. Apparently, the second things went wrong, he gave my dear brother a call.”

Blake shot him a look. “He knew I’d let you know.”

“Right,” Dax said. “Our dear step-dad doesn’t give a shit about me and we both know that. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be out there like one of those possessed-looking sick fuckers. Pardon my French.”

I nodded. I’d lived with Freddie for years. Cursing was one of his favorite hobbies and something I was quite used to.

“After I got the call from Blake, I had to spend twenty minutes trying to convince Whitney to come with me. At first, she didn’t believe me but now, after seeing all this she does,” Dax said with a soft chuckle.

“So, where your step-dad worked, was that in New York?” I asked.

Blake shook his head. “Out on the west coast.”

“If they knew this was happening, why didn’t they do more to stop it?” I asked.

“It was too late,” Blake said. “It spread from person to person so quickly. People were coming and going, not to mention that this drug they were testing was used all over the country. Even in other countries.”

Blake shook his head as he looked down at his feet. It seemed as though he was struggling to find words.

He sighed. “When I talked to our dad—”

“Step-dad,” Dax said holding up an index finger. It was like he wanted to make sure I understood it wasn’t their biological father.

“When he called,” Blake said keeping his eyes glued to mine. “He was sure he was contaminated. He said he wouldn’t have long. They tried to contain it but it was a futile effort. Those were his words. He said the same thing was happening in Chicago, New York, London, and a few other places I can’t recall.”

Dax’s head was bobbing along to each city. “It’s not good.”

“How did it get here so fast?” I asked.

“I imagine someone from Chicago came here,” Blake said. “Our dad—”

“Stepdad,” Dax interrupted.

Blake glared at him. “He told us—”

“He told you,” Dax said. Blake’s eyes darkened and the veins in his neck popped outward. “What?”

Blake rolled his eyes. “He told us what to watch out for. He also said that eventually, it would die out.”

“Yeah, once there was no one left to spread it too,” Dax said shaking his head.

“My sister was in New York. She told me a bit of what was going on, it’s been hours since I’ve heard from her. I’m afraid she won’t survive,” I said digging my fingernails into my palms.

Blake nodded. “Sorry, if she stays inside and is prepared, she’ll be okay.”

“But what if she wasn’t even a little prepared? She was in a hotel,” I said swallowing down the hard lump that had formed in the back of my throat. “She was out on the streets when it first started.”

“Oh,” Blake said. He didn’t have to say anything more. The single word had said it all. He didn’t think her chances were good. “There is always a possibility that some are naturally immune to whatever this is.”

He was only trying to make me feel better. Unfortunately, it was a wasted attempt because it hadn’t worked.

Blake gestured at the couch. “Things are going to be a lot different. Even after this is all finished, our world is going to be completely changed.”

I could live in a changed world… but only if I had Maddie with me. I exhaled slowly.

“All I know is that I have to get to my daughter,” I said.

“When this is over, I’ll help you,” Blake offered. I wasn’t exactly sure why he was offering considering he didn’t know me. Perhaps he thought he owed me a favor for having shot Freddie.

I shook my head. My leg bounced up and down rapidly. “I’m not going to wait a month to go to her. I’m not even sure I can wait a day.”

11

All three of them were staring at me with their mouths hanging open. It was clear they all thought I was insane. They were probably having deep regrets about inviting me to stay with them.

“She’s only seventeen,” I said as I fought back the tears. “She needs me. I’m all she has. I can’t leave her out there alone.”

There was a long, incredibly uncomfortable moment before Dax spoke. “Where is she?”

“Chicago.” Hadn’t I said that already? I couldn’t remember. My thoughts were so disorganized. I just couldn’t think straight after everything that had happened. It almost seemed as though I was trapped inside a dream but I knew that I wasn’t.

“But where specifically?” Dax asked.

I swallowed hard. “In an apartment with her boyfriend.” I frowned. “I didn’t even know she had a boyfriend. Sorry, I have no idea why I just told you that.”

I hugged myself and sighed.

“Is she downtown?” Blake asked.

“I have the address but I’m not exactly sure where she is,” I said feeling like I was the worst mother of all time. They all probably thought so too. “I have to get to her.”

Blake rubbed his whiskery chin. He started to pace and after a few steps looked up at me.

“If you go out there now, something could happen to you and then you won’t be able to get to her. You have to be smart about this,” Blake advised. “When was the last time you spoke to her?”

“Last night,” I said.

“Phone?” Blake asked.

I nodded. “It’s almost out of battery.”

“Okay.” Blake stopped pacing and held out his hand. I stared at it, unsure of what he wanted from me. “Let’s charge your phone. I have a generator. You can try to send her another message.”

I took out my phone and handed it to him. He took it from my hand and walked past me lightly brushing his arm against mine. I followed him as if I was afraid to let my phone out of my sight.

He unplugged a phone and set it down on the counter. When he plugged mine into the charger, the screen lit up and I saw that I had missed a message.

My fingers trembled as I reached over and snatched the phone away from him. I opened the message.

It was from Maddie telling me she was down to two percent. Then I read the last words on the screen. She loves me.

The message had come through only a minute ago. I wasn’t sure how I had missed my phone vibrating.

My hand was shaking so much it was hard to press the button to call her. With each ring, my heart sank lower and lower. But on the third, she picked up.

“Mom?”

“Yes, it’s me,” I said refusing to let myself cry. Not because of the strangers surrounding me but because I needed to be strong for Maddie.

“My phone is going to turn off, mom. I love you, okay?” Maddie said.

I swallowed hard. “I love you, too. Remember what I told you, stay put. Do not leave. I can’t come today but I will come as soon as I safely can, do you understand me?”

“Yes, mom. I’ll wait for you. I won’t leave. There are still people wandering around the streets. We can hear them all day and all night, calling out for help,” Maddie said with a deep sniff. “One percent.”

“I will come for you. I promise you. Nothing will stop me.” My jaw stiffened. “Nothing.”

“I know, mom. Please don’t take too long, okay? I’m scared. I shouldn’t have come here.”

Someone in the background said something. It sounded like a male voice telling her that he’ll take care of her.

“Don’t worry about that. Just stay there. Don’t leave. I have food and water and we’ll get through this together.”

“We’re rationing what we have,” Maddie said. “What about aunt Polly and grandma? Are they okay?”

“I’m not sure.” I could tell she was crying. “Maddie, we’ll do what we can for aunt Polly and grandma after we get together. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

No response.

“Maddie?” Still nothing. I twisted my head to look at the screen at just the moment the phone beeped. I knew I’d lost the call. Maddie’s phone was out of power and I wouldn’t be able to reach her again. I slammed my phone down on the counter. “Dammit!”

A hand slid onto my shoulder and I jumped back.

Blake held up his hand. “Sorry!”

“No,” I said releasing a long breath. “It’s just that—”

“You don’t have to explain,” Blake said. “I understand. This has to be incredibly difficult for you.”

“Do you understand?” I asked sharply. “Do you have kids?”

Blake shook his head.

“Then, I don’t think you can understand.” I turned away from him, placing my hands on his counter. My head fell down and my eyes closed.

His footsteps were soft as he left me alone in his kitchen. He was kind to even invite me to stay with him and I relayed him by being a jerk to him.

My shoulders sank and my legs felt weak. It was almost as if they weren’t strong enough to hold up my entire body.

I sucked in a breath as I grabbed my phone and tapped to call Polly. It went straight to her voicemail.

“I’m not sure you’ll get this message but if you do, I want you to know… I love you,” I said as I drew in a sharp breath. “Stay safe.”

I wanted to tell her to wait for me too but going to New York wasn’t an option. In fact, I hadn’t even thought about it until this moment. Even if I could find a way there, how would I ever find her? I hoped that one day I’d see my sister again but somewhere deep inside, I knew exactly how unlikely it was. Hell, I didn’t even know if she’d survived everything that was going on.

Maybe it was better if she hadn’t. I hated even thinking it but it would have killed her to find out that Hoyt had cheated on her. It wasn’t something I would have been able to keep from her forever. I was glad though that I hadn’t told her over the phone what I’d seen in Hoyt’s office.

I covered my mouth with my hand, unable to hold it together any longer. I gasped when I heard footsteps behind me. A muscle in my neck tightened as I turned sharply.

“Are you okay?” Dax asked.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I’m…,” I said stopping abruptly. My head shook side to side. “No. I’m done lying. I’m done trying to say the right thing so that no one gets upset or angry or whatever. The truth is no, I’m not okay.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Dax asked.

I stared at him with narrowed eyes. It was like I didn’t understand what he was saying.

“No,” I said shaking my head. “There isn’t anything anyone can do. We’re all screwed.”

“Maybe,” Dax said. “But maybe not. You have someone to fight for. If any of us make it, it’ll be you. I don’t have anyone or anything to fight for. It’s just me, fighting for my own life. Seems selfish, doesn’t it?”

I twisted my fingers together as I stared into his eyes. “No,” I said shaking my head. “It’s not selfish.”

“It is,” Dax said his lips curling up at the corners. “But I’m going to do something that’s probably crazy or stupid,” he said with a laugh. “No, it’s both. It’s crazy and stupid. I’m going to help you get to your daughter.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I said. It wasn’t like I knew Dax or anything about him.

He chuckled. “I’ve seen that look before. More than once, in fact. You’re worried I’m a serial killer or something aren’t you.”

“Maybe,” I said unable to smile. I looked down, afraid to meet his eyes. I could feel that his were still on me. “It’s just that I don’t know anything about you. Getting to my daughter is my job and I wouldn’t want you taking any risks to help me.”

Dax leaned in closer. I could smell his brisk, woodsy scent. “I’m not the kind of guy that can sit inside these four walls for very long. You’ll be doing me a favor.”

“Why should I do you any favors?” I said cocking my head to the side.

The confidence and charisma Dax had was oozing out of the corners of his eyes. “Why not?” His smiled grew bigger. “At least tell me you’ll think about it.”

“Okay,” I said with a nod. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good,” Dax said. “You’d like having me around.”

“Why is that?”

He raised a brow. “Because I’m a good cook. I can make anything taste good.”

“Is that what you did for a living?” I asked.

“Nah,” Dax said. “It’s more of a hobby. I had to cook for myself from a young age, so I guess I got pretty good at it over the years.”

I drew in a breath and my shoulders relaxed. “No one can use a microwave like I do.”

“Microwaves are going to be a thing of the past,” Dax said jabbing his thumb into his chest. “That’s why you’re going to want me around.”

“Why do you want this so badly?” I asked. “You don’t know anything about me. Maybe I’m the one that’s a serial killer.”

“You aren’t a serial killer,” Dax said.

“How can you be so sure?”

Dax shrugged. “I’m good at reading people.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of person do you think I am?”

“Scared. Smart. Worried,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “That’s everyone right now.”

“I think you were those things before,” Dax said his expression changing to something more serious. He cleared his throat and looked away from me. It seemed as though he’d seen that his words had struck a nerve. “Maybe we were all those things before too. Anyway, I’m going to make some food.”

“Oh,” I said realizing his smile had faded. “Right.”

He shot me a quick smile over his shoulder. “See you around?”

“Yeah,” I said smiling back before turning to leave the kitchen.

As I walked toward the living room, I could hear whispers. I stepped into the room and they both immediately stopped talking. It felt like I had interrupted something. Whitney stuffed her nose in a book and Blake turned toward the window.

“Everything okay?” Blake asked without looking at me.

“Not really,” I said.

“Sorry to hear that,” Blake said. “She’s going to wait, right?”

I nodded.

“You’ll get to her,” Blake said. “You just have to be smart about it.”

I wished I felt as confident about it as Blake and his brother seemed to be but I wasn’t. There wasn’t anything that would stop me from trying but the truth was Dax was right about me. I was scared and worried. The one thing that was missing was the smart. I didn’t know how to be smart about any of this.

But Blake was absolutely right… I had to be smart about it because I had to get to her. Failure wasn’t an option.

12

All four of us sat at the dining room table, eating in silence. The only sounds were from our forks clinking on the plates and the soft sips of drinking our beverages.

Whitney had a glass of wine and Blake and Dax each had a beer. I was happy with a glass of ice-cold water. The last thing I felt like drinking was alcohol. In fact, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d had anything alcoholic. Freddie had always drunk enough for the both of us.

“When the perishables are gone, we’ll stop running the generator all day,” Blake said before taking a big of his steak.

After everything, my appetite was nearly nonexistent. I was eating but it was only because I needed to if I wanted to survive.

My daughter was miles away. I’d heard my husband get shot by the guys I was now having dinner with. My mother was killed by the medicine that was supposed to save her life. I didn’t even know what had happened to my sister. To say things were awful would be an understatement.

“This is delicious, Dax,” Whitney said in a sweet voice. “As usual, of course.”

“Thanks,” he said giving her a quick wink.

“How do you all know each other again?” I asked

Whitney looked down her nose at me for a split-second before shoveling a piece of steak into her mouth. She stared at the hunk of meat as if it were the most interesting thing she’d seen in years.

“We were neighbors growing up,” Dax said holding his knife just above his steak as he gazed at Whitney. Perhaps he thought she was acting peculiar too. “We’ve all known each other our whole lives.”

“How do you know Blake?” Whitney asked stabbing a piece of steak with her fork. It was the smallest piece of meat but she chewed it at least fifty times.

“Oh,” I said setting down my utensils. “We don’t really know each other.”

Whitney met my eyes. This time she held my gaze. “Then, why are you here?”

My mouth dropped open and I shook my head. I had no idea what I was doing there.

“I don’t know,” I said getting to my feet. The napkin on my lap dropped to the floor and I didn’t bother to pick it up. “I shouldn’t be here.”

Blake’s chair squeaked as he pushed it back from the table. “She’s here because I invited her into my home. If you have a problem with that, you know where the door is.”

“I didn’t say I had a problem with it,” Whitney said with a half-shrug. “I was simply curious. Like, if you don’t really know her how do we know that we’re safe with her.”

“I’ve lived across the street from her ever since I moved into this house,” Blake said.

“And you two haven’t ever met?” Whitney asked.

I swallowed hard. “We kept to ourselves.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to her,” Blake said with a scowl that was entirely directed at Whitney. “This is my home. The more of us there are on our side, the better. Jesus, Whitney, you should know better.”

“You don’t have to be a jerk,” she said lowering her eyes.

Blake sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t like you harassing my guest.”

“I wasn’t harassing her. We need to be sure we’re safe, right? Well, I don’t know her, so I was just trying to get to know her better,” Whitney said.

Dax and Blake exchanged a look.

“Please,” Blake said gesturing at my chair. “Have a seat.” Blake wiped his hands on his napkin before throwing it onto his plate. “We’re all going to have to work together. Trust one another. All hell has broken loose. The world is chaos. The more people we have on our side, the safer we’ll be. I will not tolerate anything but kindness in my house.”

Blake sounded fatherly with his speech. And I felt like I was intruding on their family. I would have been fine sitting in my house trying to figure out how I was going to get to Maddie all by myself.

After a few long moments of silence past, Dax opened his mouth. “That was a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“Mind your own business,” Blake said pointing a finger at Dax.

The veins and tendons in Blake’s neck protruded. It looked like the one closest to his throat on the left was about to burst… until his eyes landed on mine. His shoulders relaxed but his body was still tense.

Blake stood and walked away from the table.

“Sorry about that,” Dax said looking around to make sure Blake wasn’t in hearing distance. “He’s been going through some shit.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “We all go through shit, right? It’s just that I really think I’ll be fine at home.”

“No,” Dax said. “Blake is one hundred percent correct. You should stay.”

“Yeah,” Whitney quickly added. “I don’t mean to be all like bitchy and stuff. These guys are like my brothers, so I feel very protective of them.”

Dax leaned back in his chair. “Last year Blake’s ex-wife was killed by a drunk driver. He hasn’t gotten over it. In fact, he blames himself. He’s not usually an asshole.”

“I didn’t even know he had been married,” I said thinking about the few times I’d seen Blake outside. It hadn’t been often, mostly just doing yard work but I never recalled seeing a woman.

Dax nodded. “They’d been separated for some time before the actual divorce. He wanted kids, she didn’t. It was a shit-storm from the moment they met, to be honest with you. I don’t think he ever stopped trying to make the marriage work. God only knows why.”

There was a thud below the table and Dax winced. He glared at Whitney.

“Oh.” I wanted to ask more about it but also, I didn’t want to pry. It wasn’t any of my business anyway. “If you think Blake is an asshole, you should have met my husband,” I muttered. “My now-deceased husband.”

Dax and Whitney stared at me. It seemed they weren’t sure how to respond.

“It’s okay. I wanted a divorce,” I said chewing my lip for a second. “This was actually easier.”

“Well, okay then,” Dax said with a chuckle. “We all have baggage, isn’t that right Whitney?”

She stared at him for a long moment. “Yeah. Right.”

“Well, this was fun,” Whitney said picking up her plate and then Blake’s. “I guess I’ll do the dishes since you cooked.”

“You’re a doll,” Dax said leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“Are you finished?” Whitney asked looking down at my plate.

I shook my head. “Not quite. Thanks, though.”

“If you take too long, you’ll have to clean it yourself,” Whitney said.

“Not a problem,” I said with a tight-lipped smile.

After she left the room, Dax leaned forward. “Sorry, you had to be here for all that. Our family is complicated.”

“Most families are, aren’t they?” I asked taking another bite. “She doesn’t like me much, though.”

“Whitney? Yeah, try not to take it personally.” Dax drummed his fingers quickly on the table top. “She doesn’t really like anyone. Well, like ninety-nine percent of people. Whitney is good at finding faults in people.”

“Seems like she likes you and Blake just fine.”

“We’re the only ones. Everyone else has something wrong with them.” Dax smiled. “What she doesn’t realize though is that Blake and I are just as awful as everyone else.”

I raised a brow and he chuckled.

“That sounds bad, huh?” Dax asked.

“A little.”

“We’re not any better or any worse than anyone else. Blake and I are human too.” Dax stood and pointed at my plate. “You better hurry and finish that or you’ll be doing your own dishes.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Oh please. I’ve been doing everyone’s dishes for years. What’s one more?”

He left the room and after I finished my meal, Whitney wasn’t in the kitchen. A sink full of dirty water was waiting for me. There was a scrub brush and a towel sitting next to the sink.

I cleaned my plate, dried it, and looked through the cabinets looking for where to put the clean plate. Blake’s cabinets were neat and perfectly organized. There were four plates, four bowls and four mugs. They all matched unlike the packed cabinets at home which were stacked with random plates with different patterns and in various sizes. He also didn’t have stacks of plastic storages containers without matching lids ready to fall down on me.

I softly closed the cabinet and made my way to the living room. Blake was staring out the window and Whitney was reading a book. Dax’s eyes were narrowed as he studied something on his phone.

“Any news?” I asked and Dax’s eyes flicked up, locking onto mine.

He shook his head. “Sites aren’t loading and the few that do are old news. Doesn’t stop me from looking though.”

“Should try a radio instead of that stupid phone,” Blake said.

“I wouldn’t know the first thing about using it,” Dax said with a shrug.

Blake exhaled. “There wasn’t anything last I checked.”

“What if we’re all that’s left?” Whitney said looking up from her book.

“It’s a big world out there,” Blake said. “There will be other survivors. Whether or not we want to run into them will be the question.”

“Helpful,” Whitney said frowning.

Blake turned back to the window. He didn’t care about sugarcoating anything. It seemed as though he was all out of sugar which was perfectly fine with me because I was too.

There had only been a few minutes of silence before a gunshot rang out. Seconds later… the screams.

13

The screams iced the blood pumping rapidly through my veins. It sounded like people were begging for their lives.

“What’s going on?” Dax asked stepping up behind his brother.

“I have no idea,” Blake said. “Nothing I can see.”

“Probably looters,” Dax said.

Whitney’s knuckles were white as she gripped the armrests. “Looters begging for their lives?”

“Maybe?” Dax said.

The sounds of gunshots didn’t ease. If anything, they increased and became louder.

Whitney stood up and started shaking her fists at her sides as she walked around the living room aimlessly. She stopped her eyes were red but it wasn’t like the redness I’d seen in the eyes of the wandering sick. She was on the verge of crying.

“This is it. This is the end,” Whitney said. “When Dax told me what was going on, I knew this moment would come.”

“Calm down,” Blake said.

“I’m not going to calm down. Listen to what’s going on out there.” Whitney pointed her fingers like they were guns. “Bang, bang, bang. Don’t you hear that?”

“Of course I do but that doesn’t mean they’re coming here.” Blake stared at her.

Whitney huffed. “Maybe not this time but maybe next time. Or when they come looking for loot in your house. Then what? How are you going to stop a gang of looters?”

“We’re armed,” Blake said dryly.

“Oh, well then I have no idea what I’m worried about,” Whitney said throwing her hands in the air.

Blake glanced at me before returning his gaze toward the window. “Kit?”

“Do you know how to shoot?”

I shook my head. “Sorry, no. I wish I did.”

When I was ten, my father had wanted to teach me but my mom wouldn’t allow it. She’d been worried I’d get hurt. Also, I hadn’t wanted to go. I wanted to go hang out with my friends. I never thought I’d regret that decision but here we were.

“It’s okay,” Blake said. “She’s just overreacting. We’re going to be fine. Even if they get inside the house, I have a place we can hide. Like a panic room but not quite as good.”

Whitney snorted as she wiped a crescent shape with her finger under her nose. “Yeah because people don’t think to check basements.”

“Jesus,” Blake groaned. “Follow me.”

He took a quick look out of the window before leading us into the kitchen. Blake stopped at the rug in front of the sink.

He kneeled down and rolled the carpet out of the way. The floor under the carpet looked a bit cleaner than the rest but other than that I wasn’t sure what we were supposed to see.

“What are we looking at?” Whitney groaned.

Blake ignored her and stuck his finger in a small crack that had been cut through the flooring. He pulled back on a piece of the linoleum and opened a small, hatch-like door in the floor.

“What the hell?” Dax asked with a laugh. “How long has this been here?”

“A couple years,” Blake said. “It’s nothing fancy. I was working on it myself.”

“Guess this is why you were always too busy to go have a drink with your brother when I was in town,” Dax said.

“Yeah, that’s it exactly,” Blake said closing the small door and covering it back up with the rug. “Hopefully we won’t need to go down there.”

Whitney blinked her eyes rapidly. “If you’re down there, how are you going to put the carpet back over the door?”

Blake rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding me?”

“No,” Whitney said placing her hands on her hips.

Blake rolled back the rug and attached the edge to a nearly invisible piece of Velcro. He opened and closed the door several times to show her how the rug would fall back into place.

“Even if they look under the rug, they won’t see the handle,” Blake said.

“What were you building this for?” Dax asked. “It’s almost like you knew this was going to happen.”

“You know how dad was always telling us to be prepared?” Blake asked as he stood.

Dax shook his head. “He never once told me that. Also, stepdad.”

“He told me about the shelter he was having built in his backyard. Flew me out there to see it one summer, guess I wanted one too,” Blake said staring at the wall. “Mostly, I did it just to keep myself busy.”

“Did he know this was going to happen?” Dax asked as his eyebrows squeezed together forming a thick caterpillar shape low on his forehead.

“No,” Blake said looking down at the carpet. He adjusted it even though it was perfectly in place. “How could he know that?”

Dax shrugged before shoving his hands into his pockets. “Seems odd to me that the man working at the place that started all this was also kind of prepared for all of this to happen.”

“Hardly,” Blake said. “I told you he was there when it happened. If he had known, he would have been at home safe in his bunker.”

“I suppose,” Dax said but his suspicion didn’t seem to ease.

“Anyway, we’ll be safe,” Blake said holding his hands out at his sides as if he were a ringleader about to take a bow. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get back to my post.”

“Of course,” Dax said but Blake was already leaving the room. He turned to me. “Again, I’d like to apologize for my brother.”

I held up my palm. “Totally unnecessary. Nothing at all to apologize for.”

“Dax!” Blake shouted from the other room. “Leave her alone, would you? Jesus.”

Dax lowered his voice softer than a whisper. He was mostly moving his lips. “So… very… sorry.”

He left the room, leaving me alone with Whitney. She tapped her foot.

“What do you think of all this?” Whitney said.

“All of what?” I wasn’t sure if she was asking me about the underground shelter or the fact that Blake and Dax seemed to get along as well as oil and water.

She pointed her foot at the rug. “Do you think you’re safe here?”

“Sure hope so,” I said chewing on my lip for a moment. “I’m probably quite a bit safer here than I was at my house which had probably been constructed with safety pins and particle board.”

“His house isn’t any better,” Whitney said with a sigh. “But neither was Dax’s.”

“Oh, you live with him?” I asked.

She placed her hand on her hip. “Don’t get any weird ideas. I was just staying with him temporarily. Until I got back on my feet. I had to sell my trailer. Hell, I was down to my last penny. It wasn’t like I wanted to live with him, it was my last option. Blake doesn’t know so if you wouldn’t mind keeping it between the three of us, I’d appreciate it.”

I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Whitney’s eyelids fluttered as she turned away from me.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you all this,” she said as she started walking away. “I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. Dax is like a brother to me.”

“Okay,” I said but I wasn’t sure she’d heard me. I scratched at my hairline before sighing and joining everyone again in the living room.

It wasn’t just a mess outside. It was a mess inside too.

“I have quite a bit of supplies at my house,” I said breaking the silence. “Maybe we should gather them before the looters come this way.”

“That’s not a great idea,” Blake said shaking his head. “We’re going to just have to let it all go.”

“It’s a lot of stuff,” I said twisting my fingers together.

Blake flicked a glance at me over his shoulder. “Maybe if you had said something earlier, we could have done something about it but now, with those gunshots, it’s a dangerous idea.”

“Oh,” I mumbled. “Well, I didn’t know I was really going to be staying here.”

“That was what I had offered,” Blake said.

“I know but after seeing my husband shot to death, I can’t say my mind was working properly,” I said harshly.

Dax groaned. “For the love of God, Blake, what is wrong with you?”

The muscles in Blake’s back tensed. He kept his eyes at the window. “I’m trying to do the best I can for everyone inside this house. It’s simply not safe.”

“Maybe it’s not safe at the moment but I think we should get it. It’s not going to hurt to have more stuff here,” Dax said. “You said yourself we don’t know how long we’re going to have to stay inside.”

“We can always get it later,” Blake said.

“Unless it gets taken by someone else,” Dax argued.

I swallowed, hoping to ease the dryness at the back of my throat. “It’s bad enough I’m here eating all your food. Let me contribute.”

“I have more than enough for everyone,” Blake said. “In fact, we could take in a few more people and still be okay.”

“We’re not going to though, right?” Whitney asked with wide eyes.

“Blake, just think about it. The more we have, the better it’ll be. Her house is just across the street. We can come up with a plan,” Dax said looking into Blake’s eyes as if trying to reach a different part of him somewhere deep within. “You might have enough for now, but it’s not going to last forever. And if there are people out there looting and stockpiling, there won’t be anything left when the time comes to look. It’s better that we have it then whoever is out there.”

Whitney gasped. “I just had a terrible thought.”

Blake shook his head and waited for her to elaborate.

“What if those things, the people with the sickness,” Whitney said as she started to rub her palms together. “What if they can eat to stay alive and continue to spread the disease forever and ever?”

“No,” Blake said with a smirk. “They aren’t smart enough to do that.”

“How can you be so sure?” Dax asked. “Is there something our stepdad told you that he didn’t tell anyone else?”

Blake glared at him. “Of course not, it just seems a little far-fetched don’t you think?”

“It all seems far-fetched, yet it’s happening,” Dax said. Blake finally seemed to be listening… or thinking things over at least. “When it’s safe, we’ll get Kit’s supplies. There might be a little risk involved but it’s the smart thing to do and deep down you know it.”

“I don’t know that at all,” Blake said but the muscles in his face were relaxing. I could see that he was considering it.

“Come on, Blake. They aren’t going to be out there looting all day,” Dax said.

Blake groaned. “What about the sick that are still wandering about?”

“We haven’t seen any since this morning.”

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.”

Dax pressed his index finger into his palm. “We can be smart about this. You know we can do it.”

“Ugh, fine,” Blake growled. “For the record, I think it’s a stupid idea.”

“It’s not,” Dax said crossing his arms.

“If we’re doing this,” Blake said. “We’re doing it my way.”

Dax grabbed his mask and took a step toward the door. “Of course.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Blake said without moving. “We’re not going now. We’ll go after a good night’s rest. When the rest of the world is likely to be asleep. Early morning.”

14

The rest of the day was awkward. Blake wanted everyone to go to bed early so that everyone was well rested for when morning came. Dax didn’t like being told what to do and Whitney still didn’t want me in what she felt was her space.

I knew I didn’t belong there but they weren’t going to let me leave. Probably because if something happened to me, they would blame themselves for not having done more.

Or maybe I was just telling myself that. Why would they care about me? I was practically a stranger to them.

Just because I lived across the street from Blake for years didn’t mean they owed me anything. The real reason I was there hit me like a ton of bricks. It was because Blake had killed my husband. He felt like he owed it to me.

Blake’s house wasn’t much bigger than mine was. There were two bedrooms at the end of a short hallway. One was Blake’s room and the other was empty except for an inflatable mattress.

I already knew which room I’d be staying in because the other had a maroon suitcase on the floor. Blake stood in the doorway. “I wish I could offer you something better.”

“I feel terrible taking your room like this. I’m fine on the couch or even a sleeping bag if you have one,” I said.

“Whitney and Dax are in my room,” Blake said. “Besides, I’m used to sleeping on the couch.

“They’re sharing a room?”

Blake’s lips curled at one end. “It’s platonic.”

“And even if it’s not, it’s none of my business,” I said holding up my palms.

“I’ve got some old t-shirts and stuff if you want to sleep in something else,” Blake offered.

“No, no, this is fine,” I said. I’d be more comfortable in my own clothes.

It wasn’t like I was going to get any sleep anyway. Even before the shit hit the fan, I had trouble sleeping anywhere other than my own home. And with Maddie out there, it would probably be impossible to get any rest.

“All right, well, let me know if you need anything or just really make yourself at home,” Blake said tapping the door frame with his knuckle. He cleared his throat. “Sorry again about earlier.”

“You saved me,” I said unable to look away from his blue eyes. “I probably should have thanked you.”

Blake stared at me as if he were trying to decide if I was being serious. “Well, good night.”

He turned and walked away, leaving me in the empty room with nothing but my thoughts. And my freshly charged phone.

I laid down on the air mattress, sinking down into the center further than I had anticipated. There was still a little touch of daylight left, giving the room an eerie navy blue glow.

I never liked dusk. The transition to night created too many shadows. Nothing good ever happened to me once the light was gone.

I checked my phone for messages but as I suspected there wasn’t anything. Most of the websites weren’t working and those that were didn’t have any information I wanted. It was crazy how much I’d come to rely on my phone and now it was pretty much useless.

The room got dark fast. There wasn’t a light in the room unless I turned on my phone or the flashlight.

I set my phone down next to me on the mattress and closed my eyes. My body desperately needed sleep. The last time I’d gotten a minute of rest had been sitting at my kitchen table waiting for Maddie to come home.

Sleep should have come to me easily but it didn’t. I tossed and turned for what felt like hours. The clock on my phone revealed it was only midnight.

I turned over on my other side and let out a yawn that pulled at the corners of my mouth. My body didn’t relax but I fell into a dream. I knew it was a dream because Freddie was there. And he was angry.

I kept apologizing even though I wasn’t sure what he was mad about it. Whatever it was, he was blaming me for it.

“Freddie,” I begged. “I didn’t mean it.”

He didn’t speak. He just glared at me with eyes filled with hate.

Freddie shook his head and raised a blade that’d been hiding behind his back. He sneered like a hungry fox as he charged toward me.

I woke with a sharp gasp. My heart was racing in the darkness. I reached out in front of me as if trying to feel for the knife Freddie was about to plunge into my body.

“Dammit,” I mumbled as I pressed my fingertips to my temples. A nightmare. Something I was used to but Freddie usually wasn’t in my dreams.

I awkwardly rolled out of bed and got to my feet. I turned my phone on to use the screen as my light.

The door across the hall was almost completely closed. There was a pale, flickering light coming from the living room.

I wrapped my arms around myself, pressing the phone against my bicep to hide most of the light. If it was too bright, it might wake Blake.

Before I even stepped into the living room, I could see that I wouldn’t be waking him. He was still sitting at the window in nearly the exact same position he’d been in most of the day.

He glanced at me over his shoulder. “You should be sleeping.”

“So should you.” I sighed and looked around the dimly lit room. It still felt strange to be in Blake’s house when mine was just across the street. “I never was a very good sleeper. At least not since I’ve been a teen.”

“Me either. At least you can blame parenting.”

“I wish that were why,” I mumbled. “Anything going on out there?”

Blake shook his head. “Nothing. It’s been rather quiet.”

“Good,” I said even though it didn’t really make me feel any better. Things might be quiet here but that didn’t mean they were in Chicago… or in New York.

I sat down on the edge of the couch and stared at my feet. It was strange that my entire life that the whole time I’d been with Freddie, I craved being alone but now that I was truly alone, I felt scared. It was in a much different way, though. Being in the same room as Blake helped, of course, it could have been anyone, it didn’t have to be Blake.

“I’m sorry,” I said placing my hand on the armrest. “You probably want to lie down. I didn’t mean to intrude on your space. The light was on.”

“No, no, you’re fine,” Blake said waving his hand at me to stay seated.

“Are you sure? I can try to—”

“It’s fine.”

I chewed my fingernail for a long moment. “Want me to take a turn at the window so you could get some sleep?”

“That’s unnecessary.” He turned back to the crack in the boards where he looked out of the window. “Just relax. Read a book if you’d like, might help you fall asleep.”

“Sure, okay,” I said grabbing the top book on the coffee table. I didn’t even look at the title before cracking it open to the first page.

The words were a jumbled mess that made no sense. I couldn’t concentrate. On the bright side, it was making me tired.

My eyes were closed. The soft sounds of voices and forks clanking against plates caused me to stir.

I sat up and the blanket rolled down off my body. Even though I couldn’t see the others, I knew that they were having an early breakfast and they hadn’t bothered to wake me.

I soundlessly got to my feet and walked over the window looking out the small crack that Blake had monitored nearly every second of the day. The neighborhood was empty and still quite dark. I tapped my phone… it was four-thirty in the morning.

“Good,” Blake said stepping into the room. “You’re up.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You were finally asleep,” Blake said with a shrug. “Go help yourself to some eggs and bacon.”

I swallowed down the sour taste in my mouth. “I don’t usually eat this early.”

“Guess it’s your choice,” Blake said. His words took me back a bit. If I’d said that to Freddie, he would have made me eat something… stood over me until I took a bite. It was hard to comprehend that the choice was my own. “Dax and I are going to head out soon. I’m going to need you to tell me where your supplies are.”

“What?” I said crossing my arms as Dax entered the living room. “I’m going with you. I’ll just show you where everything is.”

Blake laughed. “No, you’re not.”

That was more like it. That was what I was used to… someone telling me how it was going to be but it didn’t have to be that way anymore. Blake wasn’t Freddie. Not even close.

“I’m going. It’s my house and my things,” I said with deep wrinkles in my forehead. “It’ll go quicker and easier if I show you where everything is.”

“I don’t want to stay here alone,” Whitney whined.

“You’ll be fine but Kit’s not coming,” Blake said.

I placed my hands on my hips. “Maybe I should just go alone. It is my house, after all.”

Blake stared at me for a long moment before groaning. He held out a mask.

I held up my palm and pulled out the mask from my back pocket. “I never go anywhere without it.”

No one laughed. The small smile I’d been wearing dropped off my face.

“So, am I going too?” Whitney asked before biting her nails.

“No,” Blake said sharply and Dax shook his head.

“Stay here and keep watch,” Dax said.

Blake grabbed what looked like heavy-duty walkie talkies down from the top of his bookshelf. He turned them on and handed one to Whitney.

“We’ll be able to communicate with these,” Blake said clipping his to his belt.

“What is it?” Whitney asked looking at it like she’d never seen one before.

“It’s a two-way radio,” Blake said. He quickly showed her how to use it.

Whitney nodded. “But what am I watching for exactly?”

“Anything,” Dax answered. “Everything.”

“If you see anyone out there sick or not sick, let us know,” Blake said.

“Okay,” Whitney said with a small smile.

Dax placed his hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do fine.”

“Maybe you should stay with me,” Whitney said. “You’d do much better at this than I will.”

“Whitney,” Dax said looking into her eyes. “You can do this. You’re safe inside the house. All you have to do is use your eyes.”

“Okay, okay,” Whitney said shaking her head.

Blake and Dax exchange a quick glance that Whitney hadn’t seemed to notice. But I did.

Blake ran his fingers through his hair. “All right,” he said with a deep exhale. “Put your mask on. Let’s go.”

15

Blake checked his pistol before shoving it into the back of his pants. He opened the front door and carefully checked in every possible direction multiple times.

He curled his finger for Dax and me to follow him out of the house. We jogged across the street and quickly stepped into the house. All three of us were breathing heavily even though it hadn’t been that far of a run.

“We’re in,” Blake said into the radio before clipping it back into place. Whitney mumbled something back that I couldn’t understand. Perhaps Blake hadn’t understood either because turned to me instead of responding to her. “Where is the stuff?”

They followed me through the house as I pointed to every place I’d put the food. “Oh, and there is a bunch in the basement too.”

“This is already a lot,” Blake said. “We’re going to need to take multiple trips.”

“I need to pack up a few things from my room, okay?” I asked.

“Not a problem,” Blake said. “We’ll stack stuff by the front door.”

I spun on my heel and stopped at the front closet to grab a backpack. It was buried under a pair of Freddie’s old work boots. I hesitated as I moved them to the side and picked up the backpack.

There was a bit of mud crusted to the side of the bag that fell to the floor when I gave it a gentle shake. I was tempted to sweep away the dirt but then I remember Freddie wouldn’t be coming home to complain about it.

Blake and Dax glanced in my direction as they set the first few items by the door.

“Do you have any plastic bags or anything?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, under the sink,” I said walking backward toward my bedroom. “I’ll just be a second, sorry.”

“Take your time,” Blake said but then froze in place. “Within reason. We want to get back as soon as possible.”

I smiled at him. “Of course.”

I dashed down the hall and into my bedroom. It felt strange to be in my bedroom with all my stuff exactly where I’d left it. Of course, it would be but still, it felt like someone else’s things.

I grabbed a couple pairs of jeans, underwear, and a few t-shirts and shoved them into my backpack. There were probably other things I should have taken but I couldn’t think of anything. I wanted to make sure I had enough space for a few of Maddie’s things. She was probably desperate for a change of clothes too.

I stopped in Maddie’s room and smiled when I saw her favorite t-shirt from her drawer. It made me miss her so much I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I refolded the shirt and put it in my backpack along with a few of her other things.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and hugged the full backpack to my chest. It had been awkward to be in my bedroom but it was depressing to be in Maddie’s. There was so much of her in the room.

“Kit,” Blake said gently knocking at the door.

I quickly wiped away the tears and cleared my throat as I looked up at him. “Yeah? I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Blake said. “I just wanted to let you know we have everything ready to go. At least I think we do.”

“Okay,” I said sniffing so hard it made me wince. I pressed at my temples. “Dammit.”

Blake scratched the back of your neck. “Well, whenever you’re ready.”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said. “Sorry I wasn’t more help.”

“You apologize a lot,” Blake said.

“Force of habit.”

“Sounds like a bad habit you need to drop.”

I stood and swung the backpack over my shoulder. “Yeah, I really do but I’ve been doing it so long I probably won’t ever be able to stop.”

“Why?” Blake asked. It looked as though he’d stopped himself from saying more. “It’s none of my business. Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt... I just wanted to let you know we were ready.”

I lowered my head and the tears started to roll down my cheeks again. It was so hard to make my feet move out of Maddie’s room. I felt close to her, even though I knew she wasn’t here. She was miles away in Chicago, waiting for me.

“Okay,” I said frantically wiping my cheeks dry. “Sorry about this.”

“You’re doing it again,” Blake said stepping into the room. He put his hand on my shoulder and guided me toward the door. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“Shit,” I said trying to overcome the weak feeling in my knees.

Blake stopped. “If you need longer, just say so.”

“No, no, I’m good. It’s just hard.”

“You’ll get to her,” Blake said looking into my eyes. “I’ll help you.”

I wanted to tell him that I wouldn’t allow him to put himself in danger but I couldn’t find the words. Getting to Maddie was something I was going to do on my own.

I started walking but my steps were small. Blake walked with me, stepping to the side to let me out of Maddie’s room first.

“Whitney said she thought she heard gunshots,” Blake informed me when we were out of the room.

We didn’t even make it to the living room when Dax held up his palm. He was standing behind the curtain looking out of the window tapping his index finger to his lips.

“Shit. Wait here,” Blake whispered as he pressed down on my shoulders as if sticking me in place before walking over to the window.

I didn’t wait. I followed close behind him, staying away from the windows.

Over Dax’s shoulder, I could see a small group of people walking down the road. It wasn’t like how it was when the people with the sickness came through, these people were definitely not sick but they were armed.

“I know that girl,” I said.

Dax looked over his shoulder. It was as though he hadn’t even known I’d been there.

“She works at the grocery store,” I said with a shrug. “She actually checked me out when I bought all this stuff.”

“Well, cashier girl is with a bunch of guys with weapons,” Dax said.

“We probably don’t need to worry about them though, right?” I asked.

Blake shook his head. “Let’s hope not but they’re not wearing masks.”

There were four men in the group and two younger women. One of them looked to be as young as nineteen. They were laughing and smiling as they made their way down the road.

The group didn’t stop at any of the houses. They walked as if they were going somewhere.

At the end of the road, they stopped. Two of the men raised their guns and pointed them at something down the street.

My body shook with each pop of their guns.

“They’re shooting the sick,” Blake announced.

“Are we sure they are sick?” I asked. I couldn’t see what they were shooting at from where I was standing.

Blake opened his mouth to answer but quickly closed it. He turned back toward the window and squinted.

“Why aren’t they wearing masks?” I asked. My eyes widened. “What if they’re immune?”

Blake shook his head. “Maybe. I doubt it though. Either way, they’re stupid. Really stupid.”

Neither Blake nor Dax took their eyes off of the group and after they left, they continued to stare in the direction they’d gone off in. Whitney’s shaking voice cracked through across the radio.

“Are they gone?” she sniffed. “Are you coming back? Come back, please! I’m so scared here alone. I think I heard someone at the back door.”

“Did you hear someone?” Dax asked rolling his eyes. It seemed as though he didn’t believe her.

“I heard a noise,” Whitney said.

Blake sighed before pushing the button the radio. “We’re on our way back.”

“Thank God,” she said.

Blake shook his head before turning to Dax. “Carry as much as you can so we can limit our trips.” He turned to me. “Is there anything else you need while you’re here?”

I shook my head. There was probably more I would have liked to have but my mind was blank.

Dax and Blake threaded their arms through four bags on each side. I was only able to take four but I was able to open the door.

“Let’s go,” Blake said. “Move quickly.”

Blake’s house seemed as though it was much further away than it had been when we’d left. We moved quickly across the street. Whitney pulled the door open when we were several feet away.

She stepped to the side and Blake and Dax made it to the living room before setting the bags down in the middle of the room. Dax rubbed at his forearms.

“I think we can get the rest in two trips,” Blake said.

Whitney frowned and grabbed Blake’s hand. “Can’t you take turns so someone can stay with me?”

“It’ll be quicker this way,” Blake said.

“I don’t want to be alone,” Whitney whimpered. “And someone should check the back to make sure someone isn’t out there.”

Blake patted her hand before pulling away. “I’ll check.”

“Maybe you should wait here,” Dax said glancing at Whitney.

She was looking around nervously and her eyes were red. Not because she’d caught the sickness but because she’d been crying.

“Yeah, okay, but I’d rather help,” I said listening to the sounds of Blake at the back of the house.

“He boarded up the back door,” Dax informed me. “You probably noticed that, though.”

I nodded.

“Just keep her company,” Dax said before joining Blake at the front door.

Whitney whispered something to him as she shot me a look. He smiled at her but she didn’t return it.

She locked the door as they left and walked over to the window where Blake usually sat. The windows had been boarded so well, I couldn’t see anything.

“Can you see them?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “They’re already on your lawn. They move fast without you, I guess.”

“Oh, sorry,” I said gripping the straps of the backpack tighter.

Whitney didn’t need to know I’d grabbed a few things before having a breakdown in my daughter’s bedroom. She wouldn’t have even cared if she had known.

“Here they come,” she said flapping her hand at the door. “Let them in when I say so.”

It wasn’t even thirty seconds when she told me to open the door. I followed her orders and Blake and Dax rushed inside and set down several more bags.

“Done?” Whitney asked.

Blake leaned forward, taking in several slow breaths. “Not yet.”

“How much is there?” Whitney asked.

“Another trip?” Dax said.

“Maybe two,” Blake corrected. “This is hard on the old arms.”

Whitney smiled. “You’re not old.”

“Thirty-eight isn’t young,” Dax teased.

“I don’t think it matters how old you are when you carry bags on your forearms,” I said.

Whitney turned to me and blinked slowly. It was like she’d just remembered I was there.

“Well,” Blake said with a cough, clearly noticing the tension. “Let’s get the rest of the stuff.”

Dax nodded and they left the house without uttering another word. Whitney went back to the window, doing her best to ignore me.

“What is it about me you don’t like?” I asked. As she turned slowly and looked me up and down, I wished I could take back my words.

“I just don’t know you. I don’t trust you,” Whitney said.

“I don’t know you either,” I said but that didn’t help matters. Whitney turned back to the window. “I’m just a mom waiting to go get her daughter.”

Whitney snorted. “If it were me, I’d already be on the road. Nothing would stop me. But I don’t have a daughter and probably never will.”

I opened my mouth but for several seconds nothing came out. “I wanted to leave. Blake convinced me to wait until it was safe.”

“Maybe he’s right.” Whitney shrugged. “It’s just that if it were me, I’d be gone.” She waved her hand at me. “Open the door.”

“Huh?”

“Open the door for them?” she said narrowing her eyes at me. “Hurry!”

I opened the door and they both stumbled inside carrying even more than they had been the last time. Dax dropped his bags at the door and looked up at me.

“We didn’t want to make another trip,” he said.

“Thank God,” Whitney said stepping over the bags and locking the door. Her eyes connected with mine for a brief moment. “Always keep it locked.”

She hadn’t given me more than half a minute before she took matters into her own hands. I didn’t say anything because it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to be here that long.

Blake and Dax started going through the bags to organize all the items. Blake looked up at me. “We’ll keep your stuff separate.”

“Oh, no need for that,” I said. “I’ll just need to make sure I have enough when I head to Chicago.”

He nodded and got back to sorting. My heart paused when there was a knock at the door.

Blake was at his feet with his gun in his hand. He looked at each of us as if doing roll call. “Shit.”

16

None of us moved. A chill moved up my spine and it seemed as though we were all frozen in place.

Dax’s eyes were darting around as if he were trying to decide if he’d actually heard someone knock.

Whitney’s hand was pressed tightly to her mouth. Her entire body was shaking as if there were a storm raging inside of her thin body.

“Hey,” whoever was on the other side of the door shouted as they knocked again. “No use ignoring us. We know you’re in there.”

“Get off my property,” Blake shouted through the door as he waved for the rest of us to move away from the door.

“Geez,” the guy on the other side of the door laughed. “This how we get treated when we come to offer our help.”

Blake glanced at us over his shoulder. “We don’t need help. Now leave.”

“Or what? You’ll call the cops?” a different voice replied with a laugh.

“We’re not sick,” the first voice said as if that would somehow get Blake to open the door. “We just want to talk.”

“Well then talk,” Blake said.

“It would be easier if you open the door,” the voice said.

Blake adjusted his grip on his gun. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Fine, whatever,” the voice said. “We just wanted to offer our assistance during these difficult times. There are a few of us staying at the grocery store downtown. It’s safe there.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Blake said. “But I’ll be declining.”

“What about the rest of you in there? Will the other two be declining as well?” the voice asked.

They must have been watching us the entire time. They knew about Dax and me but they didn’t know about Whitney.

“They’re staying,” Blake replied.

“Can’t you let them answer for themselves? Maybe they’d want to stay where it’s completely safe,” the voice said. “No one’s sick and there is plenty of food and water.”

“I’d really like you to leave now,” Blake said with anger radiating from his voice. The guys on the other side of the door must have felt it through the wood.

“Fine, fine,” he said. “If you change your mind, you’re all welcome to join us until help comes.”

Several minutes passed before Dax moved. He walked over to the window and exhaled.

“They’re leaving,” Dax announced. “Oh, wait. No, they aren’t. One of them is coming back.”

There was another knock at the door. “Hello?” a young female voice called. “I saw you leaving Maddie Easton’s house. Are you her mother?”

Blake shot me a look. All I could do was shrug at him before responding.

“I am,” I said taking a step toward the door. Blake held up his palm to stop me.

“Is she in there with you? I just want to know if she’s okay. I’m a friend of hers… Taylor Mumford.”

I felt a lump growing at the back of my throat. I remembered Taylor even though she’d only spent time with my daughter a few times.

“Maddie is safe,” I said.

“Can I talk to her?” Taylor asked.

“No, sorry. That’s not a good idea,” I said pressing my fingertips to my lips.

There was a long moment. “Okay. Tell her I asked about her and that we’re at the grocery store, okay?”

“I’ll give her the message,” I said.

“Thanks,” Taylor said.

Their voices were soft through the front door. It wasn’t long before the sounds disappeared altogether.

“They’re gone,” Dax said. “For real this time.”

“Thank God,” Whitney said.

“We should have given them some masks,” I said crossing my arms.

Blake huffed. “Idiots. The sick are still out there. They aren’t going to survive long.”

“Wonder what they’re setting up at the grocery store,” Dax said with his eyes still focused on the window.

“It doesn’t matter,” Blake said. “We’re not interested.” He tucked his gun back into this waistband. “Let’s get back to organizing this stuff.”

“I’ll help,” I said.

I helped Blake rearrange his kitchen to make space for my supplies. We put a lot of items in his cabinets but other things had to be stacked on the floor. It took us several hours to finish and by the time we were done, I was exhausted.

The day was nearly over and I was still in Blake’s house. I hadn’t made any progress getting to Maddie.

Whitney was right. I was a terrible mother.

I sat down on the floor and leaned back against the wall. Blake cocked his head to the side.

“I have several comfortable chairs. I know the air mattress isn’t great but it has to be better than the floor,” he said.

“I need to leave.” The words spilled out of my mouth.

Blake stared at me for a long moment. He shook his head and dragged his hand down his face stretching out his features.

“Kit, I know you want to get to her but we talked about this. Even if the sickness has ended here, which I don’t think it has, Chicago is huge. The sickness is likely still making its way through the city,” Blake said. “You won’t do your daughter any good if you get sick.”

“How long do I have to wait? She’s out there… she’s waiting for me,” I said shifting my eyes away from him. “I can’t stay here forever. Maddie doesn’t have access to all of the supplies we do. I don’t know how long she has.”

“I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you,” Blake said.

I dared a glance. “You don’t have anyone out there?”

“No,” he said firmly. “My family is all here, except for my dad.” I imagined Dax shouting step-dad from the other room but he didn’t. “But I think he’s gone.”

“I’m pretty sure my mom is gone too,” I said.

“Were the two of you close?” he asked.

I bit my cheek so I didn’t break down into a puddle of tears. “Yeah, all I had was my mom, sister, and Maddie.”

“And your husband,” Blake added.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Maybe a little,” Blake said with a small smile.

I twisted my fingers together. “Maddie and I had it rough over the years. He was a drunk. And he wasn’t a fun drunk.” I shook my head. “I should have taken her away from here a long time ago.”

“You did the best for her you could,” Blake said.

“Did I though?” I asked. “I was weak. I am weak.”

“You’re human,” Blake said.

“All I know is that I need to get to her,” I said swallowing hard. “She needs me and… and I need her too.”

Blake nodded along with my words. “What are you going to do once you find her?”

“I… I’m not sure,” I said staring into his eyes as if hoping the answer would present itself. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“We can come back here,” Blake said.

“What do you mean by we?” I asked

Blake raised a brow. “I’m not letting you go out there on your own.”

“And I’m not letting you put yourself at risk.”

“Why are you so afraid to accept help?” Blake asked. “I can help you get your daughter.”

“You need to stay here and take care of your family,” I said.

Blake chuckled. “Dax doesn’t need me to take care of him.”

“Whitney needs you,” I said pressing my palms against the tops of my thighs. Blake didn’t know that Dax had already offered to help me get to Maddie. There was a slim chance he’d be able to convince him to stay back with Whitney.

“They can take care of each other,” Blake groaned.

“Why do you think I need someone to take care of me?”

He shook his head. “I just want to help. It would be impossible for me to let you walk away.”

“You don’t even know me,” I said a bit too harshly.

“It doesn’t matter. I know you now,” Blake said.

“Can I talk you out of this?” I asked.

Blake crossed his arms. “Not a chance.”

“You guys aren’t going to leave without us,” Dax said stepping into the kitchen with his arms crossed. “We’ll all go. Together.”

17

Blake and Dax bickered for a long while. I couldn’t say anything to stop them from going with me to find Maddie. Blake was trying to tell Dax he needed to wait here with Whitney. Dax was telling him there was no way he could do that.

By the time they finished talking, it was settled that we’d all be going. Blake was going to drive. He had a black SUV in the garage he barely ever used. They’d be able to pack with supplies and it would be more reliable than my car.

Buried in Blake and Dax’s conversation, I learned that the SUV had been something Blake had bought for his ex-wife. Some kind of attempt at reconciliation or so it sounded. She’d died before she even got a chance to drive it.

“Tomorrow?” I asked as I got to my feet. “Why not now?”

“I’d rather be on the road when we have daylight,” Blake said.

“It’s not that long of a drive,” I said.

Blake held up his hand. I knew he wasn’t going to change his mind. “That’s true but we have no idea what we’re going to be walking into.”

I let his words sink in. It was just the idea of seeing Maddie again was overwhelming. I couldn’t think straight.

“We’ll just get her and come back here,” Dax said.

“She’s not alone,” I said. “She’s with her boyfriend.”

“What do you want us to do about him?” Dax asked with a sheepish grin.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “We’ll have to bring him back with us.”

“What if he doesn’t want to?” Dax asked.

“That’s his choice, I guess.” I shrugged.

“And what if your daughter won’t leave his side?” Dax asked and Blake glared at him from across the kitchen. “What? It’s a fair question. We’ll want to be prepared for that possibility, won’t we?”

I swallowed hard. My jaw felt stiff. “Maddie is coming with me no matter what.”

Dax nodded before flicking a sneer at Blake.

Footsteps tapped in the other room. Whitney popped her head into the kitchen. The three of us stopped talking and looked down as if we were guilty of stealing her last cookie.

“What’s going on in here?” Whitney said throwing her finger behind her and pointing at the window. “A group of sick just walked by.”

“How many?” Blake asked.

“Three,” Whitney replied. “They’re gone now. So it’s okay.”

Blake ran his hand through his hair as he walked out of the kitchen. Whitney looked back and forth between Dax and me.

“What were you guys talking about?” she asked her eyes stopping on Dax.

“I’m not sure how to tell you this but we’re heading out tomorrow,” Dax said.

There was a strange and quite fake smile on her face. “What do you mean by that?”

“We’re all going to Chicago,” Dax said.

“Uh, no we’re not,” Whitney said turning her stare on me. “That would be stupid.”

“That’s what I told them,” I said making my way out of the kitchen. I had to squeeze past Whitney to leave the room and of course, she didn’t budge in the slightest. “But they wouldn’t listen to me. Hopefully, you can talk some sense into them.”

Whitney grabbed my arm before I could leave. “This is about your daughter, isn’t it?”

“I’m going to go get her,” I said pulling my arm free. “Your words from earlier inspired me to get moving.”

“You had to beg them to go with you? You couldn’t just have like, I don’t know, left on your own in the middle of the night?” Whitney said looking down her nose at me.

“I didn’t beg them,” I said keeping my voice calm. Something I was used to doing from dealing with Freddie. “In fact, I told them I didn’t want any help.”

Whitney snorted. “This is ridiculous. Who are you anyway?” She threw her hands into the air. “I can’t believe this. I can’t fucking believe this.”

Dax placed his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down. Let’s go talk about this in private.”

“Calm down?” Whitney shouted. “You want me to calm down? I don’t have to calm down when you guys are putting your lives in danger for this nobody.”

“Whitney,” Dax said sharply. “What is wrong with you?”

Her mouth dropped open. She blinked several times before storming out of the room.

“Sorry about that,” Dax said as he followed behind her.

“Not a problem,” I muttered because really it wasn’t. Whitney was a bitch, to say the least, but in a way I kind of understood.

Who was I coming into her space? At the same time, I wasn’t making Blake and Dax do anything for me. It was their idea to help.

I sighed as I walked into the living room. The sounds of Dax and Whitney loudly arguing vibrated the walls.

“You know,” I said as I stood there staring at Blake’s back. “You don’t owe me anything.”

He turned and met my eyes. “I didn’t think that I did.”

“If you’re coming with me because of what happened with Freddie, you don’t have to. I don’t need anyone to take care of me or help me or any of that,” I said.

“We all need help,” Blake said crossing his arms. “And with what is going on outside, we all need it more than ever.”

“We’ve been neighbors for quite some time, yet I don’t think we’ve ever talked. Maybe a wave here and there but nothing more than that,” I said holding up my hand. “I’m not saying that’s your fault. In fact, it’s probably mine because I keep to myself. It’s just that I don’t get it. Why do you want to help me out of all the people who need help? Whitney… she’s like your family, right? Well, stay here and help her. She needs it.”

Blake drew in a slow, deep breath. “Whitney hasn’t grown up because all Dax and I have ever done is take care of her. She relies on us.”

“Well, then stay with her,” I said.

“I’ll talk to Dax about staying with her,” Blake said. “But I don’t think he’s going to change his mind. To tell the truth, I think he’s losing his mind being trapped inside my house. He never was very good about staying in one place for very long. Or with the same woman.”

“Oh,” I said feeling awkward about his last sentence. It wasn’t something I needed to know. “She already hates me.”

Blake looked down. “I’ll talk to both of them. Can you keep watch?”

“Sure, I guess,” I said.

Blake stood and gestured at the chair by the window. “It’s been quiet but let me know if you see anyone.”

“Okay,” I said.

“And of course, don’t let anyone inside,” Blake said leaning in close. His masculine, woodsy scent filled my lungs so deeply I almost sighed.

I let out a quick breath. “I won’t.”

Blake left the room and I waited over an hour for him to return. When he came out, he looked absolutely exhausted.

“It’s under control,” Blake said with both hands extended out to his sides.

“But she still hates me, right?” I asked already knowing the answer.

“She doesn’t hate you but I don’t think you’re her favorite person,” Blake said with a half-smile. “She just needs to get to know you.”

I nodded but I didn’t get off his chair. “We all need to get to know each other.”

“It takes Whitney longer to let people in,” Blake said.

“Don’t worry about it. It takes me a long time too. Has she ever let anyone in besides you and Dax?”

“No,” Blake said with a smile.

He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. I pointed at the couch.

“You should get some rest,” I said. “I can keep watch for a while. Not feeling even a little tired.”

“Nah, I’m good,” he said but he covered another yawn.

“If you’re going to drive tomorrow, you’ll need your rest,” I said as Dax walked through the room.

He didn’t say a word as he went into the kitchen. Dax noisily moved things around.

Blake looked around as if searching for an excuse. After a brief hesitation, he groaned. “Wake me in an hour.”

“An hour isn’t enough sleep,” I said as something in the kitchen crashed to the floor.

“Sorry,” Dax shouted. “I’ll replace it.”

“Dammit,” Blake said. He started to get off the couch but lowered his head and sat back down.

“When is the last time you got any sleep?” I asked.

He shrugged. “When was the last time you got sleep?”

“Well, I don’t have to drive tomorrow,” I said.

“Two hours,” Blake said.

I chuckled. “I’ll wake you in six.”

“No deal.”

“I’ll wake you when I get tired.”

Blake crossed his arms and laid down. His eyes were closed. “I’ve set my internal clock. See you in an hour.”

18

It was around three-thirty in the morning when Blake woke up abruptly. He coughed and spurted as he sat up and looked around the room. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face.

“She’s dead! Oh, God!” Blake gasped.

“Who’s dead?” I asked.

He looked at me but it was like I was made out of glass and he was looking right through me. It was like I wasn’t even there.

Blake blinked several times.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Blake wiped away the sweat at his temples and worked to control his breathing. “Yeah, yeah… I’m fine.” He looked around the room again as if double-checking where he was. “Nightmare.”

“Do those happen a lot?” I asked.

Blake raked his fingers back and forth through his hair. “Enough. Maybe too much. Did Dax finish packing everything for the trip?”

“A couple hours ago,” I said.

“Did he bring everything out to the garage?”

I chewed my lip. “I think so but I’m not sure.”

“I’ll check and then you can get some shut-eye.”

He got up and stretched his arms over his head. His shirt raised, revealing his smooth six-pack in the dimly lit room. I quickly looked back toward the window feeling a touch awkward about starting at his body.

It wasn’t like me to stare. Having been married to Freddie for as long as I had been, I was used to claiming I had a lot of headaches. And truthfully, Freddie gave me a lot of headaches.

I cleared my throat and shook the thoughts from my head. Blake came back into the room and stood behind me. He was so close I could feel the warmth radiating out from his body.

“Go on, get some sleep,” Blake said in a low, silky voice. He placed his hand on my shoulder and I shivered. “The sun will be up in a couple hours.”

I popped up out of the chair. “Okay. Good night.”

“Good night,” he said in a deep, quiet voice that was like hot chocolate during a snowstorm. The chair squeaked slightly as he lowered himself down to take his post at the window. “Hey,” he called after me.

“Hmm?”

“Not going to sleep on the couch tonight?”

“Oh, umm,” I stammered thinking of nothing but how I needed my own space. “Was going to try the air mattress tonight.”

His head bobbed. I left the living room taking in a long breath as I stepped into the bedroom.

I closed the door and leaned back against it trying to stop my thoughts. There was only one thing I needed to focus on and that was getting to my daughter.

In a few hours, we’d be on the road. I couldn’t wait to wrap my arms around her.

I flopped down on the bed and closed my eyes. Even though I knew she wouldn’t message me, I gripped my phone tightly as if it were somehow a connection to Maddie.

I was exhausted and sleep found me easily. It didn’t hang around long… I was awake just before the sun peeked over the horizon. There was a yellowish tinge touching the curtains.

I got out of the bed and looked out of the window. The world was the same as always except that I knew it wasn’t. Everything was completely different.

I shivered and hugged myself as I stepped out of the room. Whitney and Dax’s bedroom door was still closed.

I was worried I’d wake them by walking around but also, I wanted to get going. The sooner everyone was awake, the sooner we’d be on the road closing the distance between Maddie and me.

My steps were careful and cautious as I walked toward the living room. I hoped that Blake was getting more sleep instead of sitting at the window.

I peeked around the corner. And saw him sitting in the chair. His spine was curved and he was slumped forward.

“Blake?” I whispered.

“Hmm?” His body jerked and twisted as he turned toward me. He stood up and rubbed his eyes. “Shit.”

“Did I wake you then?” I asked unable to stop my lips from curling at the ends.

He groaned. “I guess so. Apparently, I suck at this keeping watch stuff.”

“You doing great. But seriously… You fell asleep sitting down? How does one do that?”

“I’m not sure,” he said smiling back at me. “I was mostly awake. I just drifted a bit. You should know I’m a light sleeper. Anything would have woken me.”

“Why should I know that?”

He shrugged. “So, you can be quieter when you enter a room.”

“My apologies,” I said with a laugh that made his smile grow. “So,” I said biting my lip for a second. “Are you ready to drive? Or better yet have you changed your mind and you’ll stay here.”

“I’m ready to drive.”

“When do we leave?” I asked.

Blake looked at the hallway over my shoulder. “Dax! Whitney! Time to go!”

19

Blake checked our supplies twice before hopping into the driver’s seat. He backed out of the garage and pressed the button hanging from his visor to close the garage door.

“Off we go,” Dax said leaning forward from the backseat.

Whitney was sitting next to him, staring out the window with her arms crossed. Her bottom lip was puffed out into a pout that everyone ignored.

“You have the map open?” Blake asked glancing at the phone in my hand.

“Yeah, but the GPS isn’t working,” I said.

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Blake said. “We’ll figure it out though.”

I nodded.

I knew how to get to Chicago… the tricky part would come when it was time to find Maddie’s new friend’s apartment.

Blake cleared his throat as he turned down the road that would take us out of town. “So,” Blake said clearing his throat as he stared at the road in front of him. “I hope you’re comfortable with the idea of carrying a knife.”

“A knife?” I asked as if it were the first time hearing the word.

“For defense,” Blake said daring a glance in my direction. He quickly flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror. “Both of you need something to protect yourselves with… just in case.”

“In case what?” Whitney said with a snarl. “In case we’re attacked? Because we shouldn’t even be out here.”

“Exactly. To protect yourself. Dax, would you mind?” Blake said stepping on the gas.

A hand reached up between the seats. It was holding a sheathed blade of some kind.

I took it from him but shook my head. “I don’t even know how to use this thing.”

“It’s just a hunting knife,” Blake said. “It’s sharp, so be careful.”

“You know me so well. The person most likely to get hurt with this is myself,” I said.

Blake flashed me a half-smile. “You just stick it in the bad guy.”

“We shouldn’t be close to bad guys,” Whitney said.

“Hopefully we won’t be,” Blake said.

“That’s wishful thinking,” Whitney said tapping on the window. “Look. I guess I should take out my new knife.”

I leaned forward and looked out of Blake’s side window. There were three of the sick looking in our direction. Their mouths were open as if they were shouting at us. One of them pointed.

“Holy crap,” I said sitting back. My eyes darted around, looking for more of them. I was worried they would swarm us and that would be the end.

“We’re fine,” Blake said. “They can’t catch us.”

“This time,” Whitney muttered.

“Just keep your blade and your mask close,” Dax said.

Whitney huffed. “If it were that simple, there wouldn’t be so many sick people.”

“They didn’t know it was happening,” I said. “Everything spread so quickly. If they would have known, people could have protected themselves.”

“You don’t know anything about it,” Whitney said. “We wouldn’t even be out here if it wasn’t for you. Whatever happens out here is your fault.”

“Dammit, Whitney, that’s enough. I can drive you back to the house if you prefer to stay there and wait for us to get back?” Blake said.

The silence in the SUV was so heavy I could hear my heart beating. And it wasn’t beating slowly.

“Is that what you want?” Blake asked stopping the SUV in the middle of the road.

I shot a quick glance back toward the sick people who were mere dots in the background. It chilled my bones that they were still making their way toward us.

“Blake!” Whitney whined.

“Do you want to go back?” he said staring into the rearview mirror.

There was a brief hesitation. “No! Just drive, please!”

“I don’t want to hear another complaint,” Blake said stepping on the gas. “And if you’re rude to Kit again, I might just kick you out of my car. I’m seriously sick of how you’re acting toward her.”

My mouth dried. I couldn’t remember a time anyone had ever defended me. Usually, I was the one accepting the blame… saying things were my fault just to make things easier.

“It’s okay,” I said softly.

“It’s definitely not okay,” Blake said exhaling. His voice was just barely above a whisper. “She should apologize for how she’s been treating you.”

He hadn’t meant for her to hear him. It sounded more like he was embarrassed for how she was acting.

She had every right to feel the way she did about me. I came into Blake’s home and changed everything.

I wanted to tell them to go back again but there was no point. They wouldn’t listen.

Whitney was right though… whatever happened to them would entirely be my fault.

Blake drove the SUV out of the city limits. The houses and the small town started to disappear.

We weren’t more than a mile out of the town when Blake started to slow the SUV.

“What is that?” Dax asked leaning forward.

I squinted as I pulled down the visor to block out the sun. “Cones? Construction? A roadblock?”

“This wasn’t here before,” Blake stated.

“Can we go around?” Whitney asked.

“I think so,” Blake said. “But I don’t remember seeing any detour signs.”

The closer we got, the stranger it looked. The entire road was blocked with barrels and a sign that said the road was closed.

“Maybe we should go back,” Whitney said. Blake shot her a quick look in the mirror. “I mean to go around all this. There are other roads we can take out of town.”

“Hmm,” Blake said slowing the SUV to a stop as a small group of men walked out from a gas station on the left side of the road.

“What’s going on?” I asked. The blood quickly pulsing through my veins ran cooler.

One of the men flicked a cigarette butt to the ground before waving at us. Blake placed his hand on the shifter.

“Do you know them?” Dax asked.

Blake shook his head. He shifted the SUV into reverse but we didn’t move back more than a couple feet.

“Shit!” Blake said shifting the SUV into park.

I looked in the mirror. There were three men setting out another road closed sign and lining up barrels behind us. We were trapped.

“What do they want?” Whitney asked.

Blake ignored her. Not because he was being rude but probably because he didn’t know what was going on.

“Put your masks on,” Blake ordered.

“They’re not sick,” Whitney said.

“I don’t care,” Blake said. “Maybe they’re carriers.”

Whitney gasped. “Is that a thing? Do we really need to worry about that?”

Blake shrugged as he rolled down his window. He waved his hand at the man.

“Can we get through?” Blake asked his voice slightly muffled by his mask.

“Where you all headed?” the tall man asked looking into the car.

“Out of town,” Blake answered quickly. “A place out in the country. You know, somewhere safer.”

The tall man nodded. “Everyone in this car wants to be in the car?”

“Of course,” Blake answered narrowing his eyes.

“I was asking them,” the tall man said.

We all answered at nearly the same time. The tall man stared at me and then leaned back to look at Whitney.

“We’ve got a nice set up here,” he said. “We can protect you from those things.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “We’re working on a fence.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Blake said.

The sharp pop from a gun ripped through the air. My body shook. I spun around to look out the back window toward the noise.

“They aren’t shooting at you, honey,” the tall man said almost snickering at me. He gave a thumbs up to someone near the barricade behind us. “He was shooting at one of those things. You haven’t been around much, have you? Did this guy have you locked up in a basement or something?”

He laughed but I could see the seriousness in his eyes. I wanted to tell him that Blake was the one to save me from the man who got a thrill from locking me in the basement but I decided not to mention it.

“No, just not used to people getting shot,” I said. After all, it was only the second time in my life a gun had gone off near me. The other had been when Blake ended Freddie’s life.

“Well, shooting them stops them for a while,” the tall man said.

“For a while?” Whitney said hugging herself.

“That’s right, miss. You need to decapitate them, burn them, or cut out their hearts to stop them completely.” The man laughed. “Or they just keep popping up over and over again like disease-carrying jack-in-the-box clowns.”

Someone behind us shouted something at the tall man I couldn’t make out. He gave another thumbs up and moments later, black smoke started to rise toward the sky from somewhere behind us.

“Are you sure you folks won’t stay here a while?” the tall man asked. “Those things are still crawling the streets. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to any of you.”

“We really need to be on our way,” Blake said.

“Meeting someone?” the man asked.

The muscles in Blake’s jaw tightened. “Something like that.”

“You got a lot of supplies back there?” the tall man asked pointing his chin at the back of the SUV.

“Only enough for us and it’s all mine,” Blake said. “From my house.”

“Well, it’s not like it’s my town,” the tall man said without a hint of a smile. “We’re just setting up here. Ain’t no help coming. It’s a new world and we all have to find our place in it, don’t we?”

Blake nodded.

After a long stare, the tall man whistled and waved his finger in the air. Several men slid the barricades out of the way.

“One last thing before I let you go,” the man said placing his hand just above Blake’s window. “This is your last chance to stay with us. If you leave, don’t come back. It’s a trust thing. Wouldn’t want you to bring any disease back to the area. We will act accordingly.”

Blake didn’t say anything but nodded his understanding. He wasn’t agreeing to the man’s terms, but he acknowledged them nonetheless.

The man tapped the top of the SUV. “Take care now.”

20

As we drove away, all I could think about was how I’d taken them away from their safe place. They shouldn’t be with me. They should be safe inside Blake’s home.

Tears rolled down Whitney’s cheeks but she didn’t say anything. It was because she was afraid that Blake would take her sadness as a negative aimed at me but she had every right to feel nothing but anger toward me.

I felt it myself.

I should have refused their help. If I was being honest with myself, I’d been glad that both Dax and Blake had offered to help me get my daughter. I was scared. Even with them next to me, I was still frightened.

Scared of what was out there.

And scared about what I’d do if I couldn’t find Maddie. Or… if something had happened to her.

“I’m so sorry,” I said keeping my eyes glued to the road ahead. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“It’s not your fault,” Blake said.

Dax leaned forward and placed his hand on my shoulder for a second before pulling it back. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. That guy was all talk. More importantly, there are other ways back. It’s not a big deal. He was just trying to scare us.”

“It worked,” Whitney said.

“Not on me,” Dax said raising a brow. “They’re just as scared and they don’t know what to do about any of this either.”

“It’ll be awhile before any of us learn how to live like this,” Blake added. “We’ll figure it out too.”

Whitney wiped her palms on her cheeks. “Someone will come to the rescue and tell us what we need to do or where to go. Help is on the way.”

Blake glanced at me. My teeth were already digging into the raw flesh on the inside of my cheek. I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her she was wrong.

Hell, there was a chance she wasn’t so might as well let her have hope. But somewhere deep down inside of me… I knew there was no help out there for any of us.

The countryside zipped by quickly. I was almost positive that Blake wasn’t going anywhere near the posted speed limit and really there was no reason to. There were no laws other than those people choose to obey.

No laws.

No one to make sure people did the right thing.

It was a terrifying thought.

Every few miles, there was a wandering sick person. They’d look at us and start to follow behind but they were too slow to even come close to us. But that didn’t stop them from trying.

It was chilling to see them shouting to us. Their mouths moving and their arms waving. It was like there was a part of them that was still human but really all they wanted was to spread their sickness.

Their blood-red eyes were haunting. The vomit stained clothes they were made my stomach swirl. Even though they looked like they were in desperate need of help, there wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that they were sick.

With how fast Blake was driving, it wasn’t long before the city came into view. My fingers felt cold and my heart drummed inside my chest.

“Let me know where I need to go,” Blake said.

I turned my phone on which only was at fifty percent power. The battery seemed to drain faster even though there was little I could actually do on my phone.

I pinched my fingers to zoom in on the map. It was like staring at a maze.

“Umm,” I said looking around to orient myself. “I think it’s still straight for a while.”

“Okay,” Blake said.

There seemed to be more and more houses the closer to the city we got. But still, everything was still and quiet. There were no cars or people out and about. It was a ghost town.

“This is so weird,” Whitney whispered. “The last time I came in this way, there was a traffic jam and I was stuck for like an hour.”

“When was the last time you came here?” Dax asked with a chuckle.

“A few years ago,” she said sharply.

Dax snorted. “I can’t even remember the last time you drove anywhere.”

“I don’t like to drive but I can,” Whitney said.

“Aw, shit,” Blake said interrupting their bickering.

In instantly saw what had caused Blake to curse. About six blocks ahead, barricades were blocking the road.

“Is it those guys again?” Whitney asked.

“That’s not possible,” Blake said. “These look more official. Something the city had put up.”

“But no one is here,” I said even though I knew I was stating the obvious.

Whitney shifted in her seat. “That’s because everyone is dead.”

“Probably not everyone,” Dax said.

“Helpful,” Whitney huffed.

Blake pulled the SUV to a stop about ten feet away from the barricade. He drew in a breath and pulled his mask up over his nose and mouth.

Dax placed his hand on Blake’s shoulder when he reached over to open the door. Dax pulled on his mask.

“I’ll get it,” Dax said as he sucked in a breath. “Everyone have their masks on?”

“Are you afraid the disease is going to just drift inside the SUV?” Whitney asked.

“Anything is possible,” Dax said checking to make sure we were all protected before he opened the door.

He walked quickly over the barricade. His eyes darted around in every direction as he grabbed the big wood and metal barrier and dragged it off the road.

“Are we the first people to come this way since everything happened?” Whitney asked.

“Seems that way,” Blake answered as he waved for Dax to return to the SUV.

“That can’t be good,” Whitney said softly.

Dax didn’t come back to the SUV. Instead, he turned away from us and stared at one of the buildings.

“What is he doing?” Blake asked. He pounded on the windshield. “Hey! Get back inside the car!”

It didn’t seem as though Dax had heard him. If he had, he was ignoring Blake.

“Oh, my God!” Whitney gasped as she leaned between the seats. She was pointing at something between the houses. “Does he see them?”

I looked down at the gun in his shaking hand. “I think he does.”

“Get back in the fucking car!” Blake shouted at him through the window.

“Beep the horn,” Whitney demanded.

Blake shook his head. “Could bring more of them.”

“Well, we can’t just let him stand out there like that,” Whitney said.

I reached for the door handle. Blake reached over and grabbed my hand.

“Don’t even think about it,” Blake said as he rolled down the window an inch. “Get in the car, Dax!”

Dax turned around as if he’d been startled. He looked at us for a moment as if he hadn’t even remembered we were there.

He turned away from the approaching sick people and back toward the SUV. Dax held up his gun and shook his head.

He opened the door and dove inside. Blake started to drive away before Dax closed the door.

“Please! Help us,” one of the sick said before the snap of the door cut off their mostly normal sounding voice. The pain and dread dried my mouth.

“They sound so normal,” I said trying not to look into their red eyes as we passed by.

“What the hell were you doing?” Blake asked. His eyebrows squeezed together as he looked back at him in the rearview mirror.

Dax looked away. “I thought they needed help.”

“Couldn’t you tell they were sick?” Whitney asked with surprise in her voice.

“I guess so but at first, I wasn’t sure,” Dax said.

Blake looked at him again. “It was like you were in a trance or something.”

“Yeah,” Dax said refusing to look up. It was like he was trying to make sense of what had just happened. “It kind of felt that way for a minute. They just sounded so normal. And in so much pain.”

I knew what he meant. I’d had the same feeling in my gut when they’d come up to the window begging me for help.

“Well,” Blake said shaking his head. “You can’t let that happen again.”

“Yeah,” Dax said. “I won’t.”

Silence filled the car for the next several blocks. My own breathing sounded distractingly noisy.

I looked back and forth from the map on my screen to the passing street signs. It was hard to keep track of where we were when my eyes would frequently get caught in the spaces between the buildings looking for wandering sick people that might get the urge to throw themselves on the SUV.

“Continue straight?” Blake asked.

“For about six more blocks,” I said. “At least I think.”

“I’m not very familiar with this part of the city,” Blake said.

Dax laughed. “You’re not very familiar with the city at all. All you ever did was work and go home.”

“That’s mostly true,” Blake said letting a smile flash on his face.

“I’ve never been here,” Whitney said. “But hey, there’s a Starbucks. What I wouldn’t give for an iced latte.”

“Your lattes are ninety percent sugar. I’ll make you one when we get back to Blake’s,” Dax said putting his arm around the back of her seat.

She kept her eyes on the window. “Promise?”

“I promise,” Dax said and he meant the words.

The only thing was that he couldn’t promise we’d actually get back to Blake’s house. Even if we managed to find Maddie and make it out of the city, who knew if we’d ever actually be able to get back to the house. The guys at the city limits weren’t going to allow it.

“There!” I said noticing one of the streets we needed to take to get to the apartment complex.

“Which way?” Blake asked as he slowed the SUV.

“Left,” I said. I chewed my lip as I studied the map. “Then two blocks before taking a right.”

My heart was pounding like a horse galloping on the dusty track of the Kentucky Derby. I needed her to be in the apartment. I needed to see her again or I didn’t know what I’d do.

There was no way I could go on living without her. Absolutely no way. Maddie was my heart… and without her, there would be no beating.

21

Blake stopped the car in front of the red-brick apartment building. It was eight stories tall and only as wide as two houses smashed together. There was some kind of green ivy growing up the side of the building and black, oily stains from I couldn’t even guess what on the front of the building.

“Are you sure this is it?” Blake asked. The SUV was in park but the engine was still running.

“It’s the address Maddie gave me,” I said looking up at the building. “Fourth floor.” I sucked in a quick breath. “You guys wait here.”

Blake laughed. “There is no way in hell I’m letting you go alone.” He turned to Dax. “You two wait here.”

“Okay,” Whitney said. “But hurry.”

“Are you kidding?” Dax asked. “We stay together.”

Whitney rolled her eyes but she kept her mouth shut. Deep down, she probably didn’t want to get separated from Blake either.

“We go in, we get your daughter, and we leave,” Blake said staring at the front door of the apartment building.

“No problem,” Dax said with a half-grin.

I nodded and placed my hand on the door handle. Blake grabbed my arm before I could pull the door open.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Got your knife?” Blake asked.

“Yes,” I said.

Blake exhaled slowly. “Ready to use it if you need to?”

“I don’t know,” I said as my brow wrinkled. “I sure hope so.”

“Me too,” Blake said. “If we run into any of the sick, don’t look at them. Understand?”

“Understood,” Dax said.

Whitney and I both nodded. My palms were sweating. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need to use the knife because I was afraid it might just slide right out of my hand.

Blake’s shoulder rose with his inhale. He reached over and adjusted my mask.

We exchanged a quick look. The air in the SUV seemed to change.

Blake checked both of his mirrors and looked out of every window before he opened his door an inch. The squeaking of the door pulled on my nerves and my body tensed.

“Let’s go,” Blake said.

Before I was even able to fully open my door, he was on the other side of the SUV waiting for us to exit. I followed him up the small flight of stairs and into the building.

I shuddered when the door closed behind us. My hand shook as I placed it on my chest and felt my racing heart.

“Keep your masks on,” Blake advised. I hadn’t even considered removing it. I’m sure none of us did.

I did, however, check my back pocket to make sure the extra mask I tucked away for Maddie was still there. When I felt the roughness of the fabric against my fingertips, I didn’t relax… not even a little.

There was a row of buzzers with the apartment numbers listed beside them. I pressed the one to ring Maddie’s friend to let them know we were there but there was no response. We didn’t need a response to open the door that was usually locked because someone had propped it open with a hunk of wood.

Blake pulled the door open and slowly entered the hallway. Three of the six apartment doors were open. At both ends of the hall were the staircases leading up.

“Left, or right?” Blake asked.

I shrugged. “How about left?”

Blake led the way with his gun in hand. He held it as if he knew what he was doing. I didn’t feel safe but I was glad he was there.

Whitney was behind me and Dax was close behind her. He held his gun in much the same way but he looked a bit nervous.

We walked slowly trying to make as little sound as possible. Something rustled inside of one of the apartments behind us, and Whitney grabbed my arm, digging her fingertips into my muscle.

“Stay back!” Dax shouted.

“Oh, please don’t shoot,” an older woman with silvery hair said holding up her hands. The greenish stain from her vomit coated the front of her faded flowery nightgown. “I need your help.”

“Don’t come any closer,” Dax said. I could only see the back of his head but he moved from side to side as if he were afraid to look at her for too long. “I mean it, lady.”

She frowned and the red in her eyes deepened. “You’re terrible. Just awful. Can’t you see I need your help?”

“Dammit, Blake,” Dax said daring a quick look over his shoulder. “What do we do? I can’t shoot an old lady.”

“She’s not an old lady anymore,” Blake said but he didn’t raise his gun and shoot her either. “Let’s go. Fourth floor?” When I didn’t answer right away, he shook me. “Kit! Fourth floor?”

“Hmm? Yes, the fourth floor,” I answered in a shaky voice.

Blake grabbed my hand and pulled me along. I looked over my shoulder at the woman. Her eyes locked with mine for a second too long.

“Help me,” she said. Her lips seemed to move slowly. It was as if everything around us had disappeared.

Blake pulled me around the corner, breaking the connection. I followed him up the stairs finding it difficult to move my feet at the pace he wanted me to move.

At the top of the flight of stairs, there were wood and old doors nailed together, blocking our way. Blake pushed on it but it didn’t budge.

“What do we do now?” Whitney cried out.

“Help us!” another voice called out from below. The voice was that of a male.

“How many of them are there?” I asked.

Blake pushed and kicked at the wood. He hit the man-made wall with his fist and pushed past Whitney and me.

“We’re going to have to do this,” he said quietly to Dax. “You ready?”

“I think so,” Dax said.

“You have to be,” Blake said as he sucked in a breath that caused his shoulders to rise. “They aren’t like us anymore. Just remember that.”

Dax shook his head. “You’ve done this before. I haven’t.”

“Once,” Blake reminded him. It hit me that Freddie had been his first. Blake tapped me on the hand. “Your knife.”

I nodded and tried to fill my eyes with confidence. “I’m ready.”

It was mostly a lie. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to plunge a blade into someone that for the most part, looked just like us. They talked. They walked. They stood there begging for help as if they didn’t understand what was happening to them.

A noise at the wall behind me forced me to turn. A small thin strip of wood had been moved to the side.

“You’re not Deacon,” the man said looking at me through the opening.

“No, please, can you let us inside?” I asked.

“You don’t look sick,” the guy said squinting at me.

My eyes widened. “No, we’re not sick. But there are people behind us that are. Please, can you let us inside?”

“I can’t do that,” the guy said.

I pointed at my mask. “Look! We’re not sick. We’re protected.”

“Well,” the guy said looking over his shoulder. “I’ll probably get shot in the arm for this but fine. Come in.”

He slid a square of wood to the side which was only an inch or two wide enough for us to crawl through. The guy closed the opening and locked it into place.

“Thank you so much,” I said keeping my mask on. “You saved our lives.”

“What are you folks doing here?” he asked.

I looked around and noticed a similar door constructed at the top of the stairs. The second floor, for some reason, had been sectioned off from the rest of the building.

“Um,” I said unsure of how to respond to the man staring at me.

I didn’t know him. And the way he was looking at me made me nervous. I didn’t really want to tell him about my young daughter. Although maybe he already knew about her.

“We’re just looking for a place to hole up for a bit,” Blake said. “Didn’t know the place was taken.”

“Or infested,” Dax added.

The man laughed at Dax’s choice of words. “That’s a good one. The first floor is infested. Those damn things keep coming back no matter how many times we shoot them.”

“You have to decapitate them,” Whitney said with a shrug. “Or cut out their hearts.”

“Ooh. That’s cold,” the man said with a chuckle. His face turned dark. “I’m sorry to say we don’t have space. So, you can’t stay here. In fact, if Deacon gets back while you’re still here, it’s not going to be good for any of us.”

“It’s not going to be good for you either way,” a twenty-something with pigtails said stepping out from one of the rooms. She popped her hip into the man’s side. “I’m going to tell Deacon you let them in.”

The man laughed. She smiled at him and like a switch and flipped he stopped laughing and wrapped his fingers around her neck. He grabbed her like she was a flimsy doll and threw her against the wall.

“You’ll do no such thing, Tracy,” he said. His words were poisonous and slithery like a snake.

“Miles,” she said trying to smile. “I was only kidding.” Tracy choked out the words and coughed. Her face was turning a dark shade of red as she struggled to pull in oxygen.

Blake twitched at my side.

Miles relaxed his grip and Tracy dropped to the floor. She forced a smile as she rubbed her neck.

“I think it’s time for you folks to be on your way,” Miles said. “You can choose between the fire escape or the way you came in.”

“Umm,” I stammered. I glanced at Blake over my shoulder.

A scream from one of the rooms at the other end of the hallway ripped through the air. The girl was terrified. But what made everything worse was the familiarity of the scream.

I’d heard it before when Freddie was holding a shard from his favorite glass that broke when he dropped it on the floor to my neck. Without thinking, I took off running.

I pushed Miles out of the way and ran to her. “Maddie!”

22

I couldn’t feel my legs as I ran down the hallway. Had the scream come from the room on the left or the right? I didn’t know. I couldn’t be sure of anything.

Where was she?

“Maddie?” I shouted again but she didn’t answer.

At the last door, I reached out and grabbed the doorframe to help slow my body. I looked into what seemed to be an empty room.

“Maddie, are you in there?” I asked. “It’s me. I’m here.”

It was almost as if I was afraid to step through the doorway. Afraid that if I did everything would change and I might lose Blake, Dax, and Whitney too. I didn’t want to be stuck in the apartment building alone when I wasn’t even sure if it had been Maddie screaming.

Soft whimpers fluttered to my ears. It was as if the sounds were being muffled.

I started to take a step forward into the room but the door was slammed in my face. My hand clenched into a tight fist and I pounded on the door. I couldn’t feel my fingers.

“Maddie, are you in there?” I said squeaking out the words painfully as my chest squeezed.

A hand landed on top of mine and I turned to throw my other fist into the face of whoever was near me. I wasn’t going to let anyone stop me from finding Maddie.

Blake caught my hand before it landed on his chin. He looked down at my hand.

“You’re bleeding,” he said.

I looked down at the blood coating the side of my hand. I swallowed hard. “I don’t care. She’s here. I heard her.”

Blake nodded. “We’ll get to her.”

Miles was walking toward us with his hands behind his back. His eyes were filling with questions.

He stopped about five feet away from us. “You’re looking for someone here? Someone named Maddie?”

“Yes,” I said with a tearful gasp I was unable to hold in. “She’s my daughter.”

“Well,” Miles said with a smirk. “I’m sorry to inform you that there isn’t anyone here by that name. Isn’t that right, Tracy?”

I hadn’t even realized the girl had been following him. She looked even smaller than she had before.

“Yeah, there isn’t anyone here by that name,” Tracy said. She held my gaze for several moments. Tracy blinked once… slowly as if trying to send me a secret message. It was like she was trying to confirm my suspicions that Maddie was in fact with them. And I was pretty sure she was on the other side of the door.

“I hope you find who you’re looking for,” Miles said gesturing toward the exit behind me. “Let me show you the way out.”

“I’m not leaving here without my daughter,” I said firmly planting my feet in place.

Rapid footsteps pounded on the worn-down carpet floor. “Miles,” the young man said sounding as though he were out of breath. “Deacon is back with the others.”

“Shit!” Miles said. He pushed Whitney toward the hallway exit. “Time to go.”

“Hey!” Blake said shoving Miles away from Whitney. “You don’t ever put your hands on her.”

“You need to fucking leave,” Miles said as his face reddened from the steam building inside of his head.

Tracy’s eyes were wide. “There’s no time for this.”

“Dammit,” Miles said grabbing Blake and throwing roughly into the room across the hall. He’d moved so quickly that it had taken us all by surprise.

Blake raised his gun but before he could do anything, Miles pulled Dax in front of him like a shield. He growled as he threw Dax into the room. Dax stumbled and landed on top of Blake.

Miles reached over and clamped his hand around her upper arm. I reached out and starting clawing at his back, growling like a wild animal.

I fought Miles like I’d always want to fight Freddie. “Let her go!”

Tracy grabbed me from behind and pulled me away from Miles. I was stronger. I turned and glared at her with pure rage bubbling in my eyes.

Within seconds, I was yanked from behind and pushed into the room on top of the others like I was a piece of dirty laundry being added to the laundry basket. The door was slammed shut in the blink of an eye.

I got to my feet and tried the handle. I twisted and pulled. Pushed and kicked. I took three steps back before charging and throwing my shoulder into the door as if I could somehow break through the thick apartment door.

“It’s no use,” a voice from behind us said. “They lock it from the outside. We’re stuck in here.”

I turned and studied the young man that was nervously looking at each of us. There was fear in his eyes but I wasn’t sure if it was directed at the men outside of the apartment or us. Maybe it was both.

On the sofa in the living room behind him, two women were hugging one another. Tears rolled down the cheeks of the younger woman with reddish hair.

“What is going on here?” I asked.

“They found my girlfriend and I upstairs and locked us up in here with them,” the young man said.

“Upstairs?” I asked swallowing down the sour taste that was filling the back of my throat.

He nodded. “That’s Lila from the third floor and… Bethany. This is her apartment. I’m Elias from the fourth floor.”

“Elias?” I said in a raspy voice that was threatening to stop working. “That’s my daughter in the other room, isn’t it? Maddie Easton. Do you know her? What are they doing to her?”

“You don’t want to know,” the woman Elias had called Bethany said.

My mouth felt like it was coated with sand. I turned toward the door and started pounding again. Harder and harder.

“Let us out of here!” I screamed.

“Maddie is a fighter,” Elias said.

“Why are you here? I told her to stay put… to wait for me,” I said glaring at him. I blamed him without even knowing what happened. He should have done more to protect her.

“They have guns,” Elias said defensively. “We didn’t have a choice. I tried but when they put a gun to her head, I would do anything they asked.”

My shoulders sank and my stomach filled with acid. I covered my mouth with my hand as I looked over at Blake.

His expression was unreadable.

“I have to do something. I have to get to her,” I said. My entire body felt numb.

“Why are they keeping you here?” Blake asked as he turned to Elias.

“We’re their slaves,” Elias said. “We’re sent out to gather supplies, used as shields, and then in here, we do whatever we’re told. Anything from cleaning and cooking to things that are much, much darker. We do what we’re told or we’ll get shot.”

“It’s like we’re not even human,” Lila said through her tears.

Bethany shook her head. “They shot my son in front of us. He was only trying to protect me.”

Bethany didn’t cry even though her voice cracked. There were dark circles around her pain-filled eyes. It looked as though there were no tears left to shed.

“There has to be a way out of here,” Dax said looking around the room.

“I’m not leaving without Maddie,” I said.

“Of course, we’re not,” Blake said. He started to pace the floor. He stopped near the refrigerator and threw his fist into the wall. “He took me by fucking surprise. It’s my fault we’re stuck in here. I should have shot the bastard in the face.”

I shook my head. “It’s not your fault.”

Whitney probably thought that it was my fault but at least she didn’t say it out loud. It wasn’t like I didn’t already blame myself.

Dax walked over to the window and tapped it with his knuckle. “He mentioned the fire escape.”

“The one outside of this room is broken,” Elias said. “That’s why this room is the cell. Besides, she’s on the other side of the hall. The fire escapes don’t connect that way.”

“But if we can get into one of the other rooms,” Dax said. “Blake, help me get this window open.”

Blake walked over to him. They both turned red as they tried to slide the window upward. Blake let go and wiped his brow.

“What did they do, glue it down?” he asked half-jokingly.

Elias shrugged.

“Welcome to my apartment where only half of everything works,” Bethany said. “To think I was moving out next month. The building is old and the landlord is lazy. He was going to fix the window along with the fire escape but I guess my apartment wasn’t a top priority.”

“What’s wrong with the fire escape?” Blake asked.

“There is no ladder down. One day it just fell off,” Bethany said. “Almost took out a homeless man when it crashed to the ground.”

Dax and Blake exchanged a glance before stepping back up to the window. They grunted and growled but it wouldn’t budge.

“Why not just break it?” I asked.

Blake glanced over at Bethany. She blinked several times before offering him a shrug.

“They’ll hear it break,” Lila said.

“If they do, maybe they’ll come to see what’s going on,” Dax said holding up his gun. “This time we’ll be ready.”

“There’s more of them,” Lila said staring at her feet. “I don’t want to die.”

Dax smiled at her. “They probably have terrible aim but just in case, you could hide in the bedroom.”

Blake placed his hands on his hips and stared at the window. After a long moment, he looked over at Bethany. “Got anything heavy?”

23

The glass shattered and the tiny bits sprinkled to the floor. Dax was kneeling behind the kitchen island with his gun aimed at the front door.

The others were hiding in the bedroom. Blake and Dax had both tried to convince me to join them but there was no way I was going to just sit there and wait.

“Doesn’t seem like they’re coming,” Dax said.

Blake stuck his head of the window and looked around. “You should both wait here.”

“Not happening,” I said stubbornly.

“I’ll go through and unlock the door,” Blake said. “It’ll be easier and quicker if it’s just me.”

Dax shook his head. “I can’t let you do that.”

“I should do it,” I said as I walked over to the window. My breaths were hectic and my finger shook as I leaned forward. “They’re not even connected.”

“I can make it across,” Blake said confidently.

“It’s like six feet between them,” I said.

Blake shook his head. “It’s like four and there is a ledge.”

There was a thin ridge of bricks that circled around the building. “That’s not a ledge.”

“Kit,” Blake said looking into my eyes. “Let me do this. I can do this.”

“I don’t know how many times I have to say this but you don’t owe this to me. If this is about what happened to my husband—”

“This has nothing to do with your husband. It has to do with getting you and the others out of here safely.” Blake climbed out of the window and placed his hand on the rusty railing. “Two minutes. I’ll unlock the door in two minutes.”

My heart thudded as he swung his leg over the railing. “Blake,” I said reaching out for him. My fingertips grabbed the fabric of his shirt. There was a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. “You don’t have to do this.”

Blake swung his other leg over and his shirt fell away from my fingers. He steadied himself and smiled. “I know but I’m going to do it.”

He placed the toe of his shoe on the narrow ridge and moved quickly as he swung himself over to the neighboring fire escape. I didn’t pull in a breath until his legs were safely on the other side.

“See,” he said bowing slightly as if he were a magician that had performed a great trick.

Seriousness washed over his face and he pulled the gun out of his waistband. His voice was mostly carried to me by the wind. “Go to the door and wait for me to unlock it.”

I nodded and he disappeared into the building.

“He’s in,” I announced and Dax’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

“Now, we wait,” Dax said.

“Just don’t shoot him if he opens the door,” I said.

Dax chuckled nervously. “I’ll try not to but my nerves are shot. I might flinch.”

“Maybe you should put that thing down then,” I said.

“I won’t shoot him,” Dax said meeting my eyes.

I nodded.

There were sounds in the hallway but I couldn’t be sure who or where they were coming from. Seconds later, there was a snap at the door and it popped open.

Blake stepped in and I threw my arms around him like we were long-lost friends meeting again after years of being separated. He squeezed me back but quickly let one of his arms fall away. My cheeks felt warm and my insides fluttered.

“We have to move fast,” Blake said. “They’re down the hall having some kind of meeting. Not sure how much time we have.”

I could see over his shoulder that the door across the hall was still closed. “How are we going to get to her?”

“I have an idea,” Blake said gesturing toward the hammer sitting on the table near the broken window. “Grab the hammer.”

“Let’s go,” Blake said jerking his chin toward the hall.

Bethany stood but Lila didn’t let go of her arm. She clung to her like a girl holding her favorite dolly.

“I think we’re going to stay,” Bethany said.

Blake stared at her for a long moment. “Are you sure?”

“I’m not ready to face those things out there and neither is Lila. We’ve been out there before with Deacon and we’re both lucky to still be alive,” Bethany said. “For now, it’s just easier to do what they tell us to do.”

Blake shook his head and sighed. “I’m sure we can find somewhere safer for you.”

“I appreciate it but we’ll pass,” Bethany said holding up her palm.

“Well, good luck to you,” Blake said with a nod.

“And to you all as well,” Bethany said lowering herself back down on the sofa.

Blake took my hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Ready?”

“Ready,” I said and before I knew it, we were across the hallway sliding into the room next to the one Maddie was in.

Blake closed the door after everyone was inside and locked it from the inside. He led us straight to the window.

“Hammer,” Blake said reaching backward.

“What are you doing in here?” said a heavy and quite hairy shirtless man. “More importantly, who the hell are you?”

“Just passing through,” Blake said.

The heavy man’s eyes darkened. “The hell you are!”

He charged toward Blake like a sumo wrestler in the five-hundred-yard dash. Dax held up his gun but the man tripped on the corner of a rug under the dining room table and fell toward the ground. On his way to the scuffed linoleum floor, he smacked his head on the corner of one of the wooden chairs.

The man didn’t move. Blood leaked out of a large cut just above his eyebrow.

Blake unlatched the lock at the top of the window and slid it upward with ease. He handed me the hammer and stepped out onto the fire escape.

“I’ll go across first and then help you,” Blake said.

“Okay,” I said crawling out of the window. My eyes stayed focused on the concrete below.

“Don’t look down,” Blake said.

I swallowed hard. “I don’t have to see it to know it’s a long way down.”

“You’ll be fine,” Blake said as he swung his leg over the railing. He pulled himself across like an acrobat that was performing a trick for the millionth time. Blake stretched out his hand to me. “Look at me.”

I locked my eyes with his but it didn’t help. At least not much. It didn’t matter if I was looking at the ground or not if I fell. Either way, I was going to at a minimum break my legs if I hit the concrete.

A quick swinging motion got me to the other side. I reached out for the railing but Blake caught my waist and held me. I stared into his eyes for a moment and felt something I didn’t quite understand.

“Climb over,” he said.

“Right,” I said taking the hammer out of the back of my pants.

Whitney was more than halfway over when I smashed the hammer into the window. I could feel their eyes on me.

“We weren’t ready,” Blake said grabbing the hammer out of my hand.

“You can catch up,” I said. “I’m going to save my daughter.”

He grabbed my arm but I jerked away from him easily since he was still helping Whitney across the fire escapes. I ducked my head and crawled into the apartment.

I looked around the empty living room. There were empty beer cans and trash scattered everywhere. It was like I’d walked into my living room after one of Freddie’s weekend-long benders.

The bathroom door was open but the door that I presumed led to the bedroom was closed. I twisted the knob and pushed open the door.

My eyes instantly connected with Maddie’s wide, tear-filled eyes. The beating of my heart felt as though it had moved up into my throat.

“Maddie!” I said dashing across the floor.

She couldn’t respond. There was a piece of silver duct tape over her mouth.

Maddie winced as I pulled it off her face. “Mom!” she said as her body jerked an inch toward me. “My hands are tied. He’s going to be back soon.”

“Who’s going to be back?” I asked.

“I don’t even know his name,” she said. “We call him sir.” She looked at something over my shoulder. “Who’s that?”

My head whipped around as Blake approached. He reached down and pulled the knife from my hip.

Maddie cringed away from him.

“This is Blake,” I said placing my hands on her shoulders. “He drove me here.”

Blake held up his hand without the knife. “I’m going to cut you free, okay?”

“Okay,” she said unable to take her eyes off him. “You look familiar.”

“He’s our neighbor,” I said.

“Where’s dad?” Maddie asked.

I forced a smile. “Let’s talk about that later. First, we need to worry about getting you out of here.”

“Okay,” she said rubbing her wrists the second the popped free from the plastic ties that had been far too tight.

“Did they hurt you?” I asked as I helped her to her feet.

“They pushed us, they hit us, and for some of the girls they did other stuff,” Maddie said.

I swallowed hard, biting my cheek so tears didn’t leak out of the corners of my eyes. “You?”

“No,” Maddie said her hands shaking. “They were waiting until I turned eighteen. Like it was going to be some big special event.”

“Well, we don’t need to worry about any of that anymore,” I said wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

Blake nodded and led us out of the bedroom. The others were standing by the window, staring at us as we emerged.

“Maddie,” Elias said rushing to her. He embraced her and planted a long kiss on her lips. “I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again.”

“I know the feeling,” She said smiling at him as she gazed into his eyes. Dammit. She had it bad.

“No one might ever see us again if we don’t get out of here,” Dax said sticking his hand out toward Maddie. “I’m Dax.”

Maddie stared at his hand for a second before taking it. “Hello.”

“Let’s worry about introductions later,” Blake said. The sound of a key being inserted into the lock cut through the awkwardness in the room. Blake raised his hand and pointed his gun at the door. “Out the window! Go!”

“Hey!” a bearded man said standing in the open doorway. “What are you doing in here?”

“Shit,” Dax said as he started to help Maddie out of the window.

Maddie grabbed his arm and met my eyes. “Mom?”

“It’s okay, Maddie,” I said as she stepped out onto the fire escape. “We’re going down.”

Whitney was more than halfway through the window when the man shouted to someone down the hall.

“Go, go, go,” Blake said placing his hand on my back. It sounded like a hundred horses were running down the hallway, making their way toward us.

“Stop them!” someone shouted seconds before a bullet ripped through the air.

It had felt as though the bullet had been close. So close, in fact, I looked down to make sure I hadn’t been hit.

Blake shot back as Dax pushed me through the window. Dax looked into my eyes. “Get them to the SUV.”

“Okay,” I said feeling a tightening in my chest.

“Just go,” Dax said. “We’re coming. Right behind you.”

Another bullet cracked through the unbroken window several inches from where we were. Elias rolled out of the window as I got the ladder down to fall.

“Climb down,” I said but Maddie was already moving. Whitney was anxiously bouncing in place waiting for there to be enough space for her to follow.

Elias was lying down on the metal fire escape. I shook him vigorously.

“Let’s go,” I said but his body didn’t respond. “Elias?”

I rolled him over and his eyes were open. He didn’t blink. His eyes were focused on something in the clouds above.

“Elias?” I said again but I knew he was gone. There was nothing. “No, no, no.”

Dax looked down at the boy. “You have to go, Kit. There isn’t anything you can do for him.”

“Dammit,” I said making my way to the ladder. My hands shook as I climbed down. I had to drop the last couple feet to the ground and somehow managed to stay on my feet. I turned Maddie away from the building and led her toward the SUV. “This way.”

She didn’t look back for Elias. Maddie just assumed he was with us.

I glanced back just as Blake dropped down to the sidewalk. Two of the men above tried to go through the window at the same time.

Blake was holding his shoulder as his feet pounded against the concrete. “Run!”

24

One by one, we poured into the SUV. Dax ran around and slipped into the driver’s seat. Blake pulled the door closed behind him as he heavily dropped onto the seat behind me next to Maddie.

She stared at him suspiciously.

“Why are you driving?” I asked setting my eyes on Dax. It wasn’t like it mattered who was driving as long as distance was being put between us and the apartment building.

“It was my turn,” Dax said squealing the tires as he pulled away from the curb. The SUV slid slightly as he turned right at the first corner.

I looked over my shoulder at Blake and when I saw him, I realized why Dax was at the wheel. “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine,” Blake said glancing down at the blood that was starting to dry on his fingertips. “It’s just a scratch.”

“That isn’t a scratch,” I said.

“Wait,” Maddie said as she looked around the SUV. “Oh my God, stop the car!”

Dax didn’t even bother to slow the SUV at her panic. He knew there was no reason to stop.

“Stop!” Maddie demanded as she pounded her fists on the back of Dax’s seat. “We can’t leave him alone back there. We have to go back!”

“Maddie,” I said trying to keep my voice calm. When our eyes met, she knew something was wrong. She blinked once and swallowed hard before tears started to stream down her cheeks. It was as if she could read my mind. I cleared my throat. “I’m so sorry, honey. He didn’t make it.”

Maddie shook her head vigorously before burying her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with her painful, heartbroken sobs.

She sucked in a breath and looked out of the window at the surroundings flashing by. Maddie didn’t say another word. She didn’t ask any questions about what happened… nor did the tears stop flowing.

“I’m really sorry, Madeline,” I said my voice cracking several times. I hated seeing my daughter in so much pain. Losing him after everything they’d been through to make it this far. It wasn’t fair. “I tried to help him but it was too late.”

She didn’t acknowledge my words. Maddie didn’t care what I had to say and why should she? I didn’t know a damn thing about Elias. Hell, I’d only recently even found out that he even existed.

Dax slid his hand over the console between us and patted my knee. He flicked me a brief tight-lipped smile before bringing his hand back to the steering wheel.

“So,” Dax said in a clear voice that sliced through the silence. “Is anyone in here besides Blake injured in any way whatsoever?”

“No,” I said looking down at my body. “Nothing.”

Maddie didn’t respond but I noticed Dax’s eyes scanning her quickly in the rearview mirror as if he was checking to see if there was blood oozing out of her body.

“I’m fine, I think but my heart won’t stop pounding,” Whitney said pressing her palm to her chest. “It kind of hurts.”

“Want to know what really hurts?” Blake asked. “A fucking bullet grazing your shoulder.”

“I’ll take a look as soon as we can stop. Just keep pressure on it,” Whitney said twisting her head to the side to look at his injured shoulder from in the far back seat. “There isn’t much blood.”

“Whitney was a nurse,” Dax said. “He’ll be as good as new in no time, right Whit?”

“I’ll need to get to the first aid kit,” Whitney said with an exhale.

Her eyes moved over to Maddie. She studied her for a long moment.

Whitney placed her hand on Maddie’s shoulder and leaned forward, setting her lips next to Maddie’s ear. “I’ve got something that might help you temporarily too.”

It had been a message intended only for Maddie’s ears but I had heard it because the only sounds were those of the tires against the pavement. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maddie give her a quick nod.

I’d almost forgotten that when Blake had first invited me over, that he’d mentioned there was a nurse at the house with them. I had forgotten all about it but I would have never guessed it was Whitney. But now, with Blake bleeding in the backseat I was glad she was because I wouldn’t know the first thing to do for him. Anything that required more than slapping on a bandage was beyond my capabilities.

“So, now what are we going to do?” Whitney asked.

“Go back home,” Dax said.

“Home?” Maddie said.

I looked at her over my shoulders. “Blake’s home.”

“We can’t go back there,” Whitney said. “Remember the guys?”

Dax laughed. “I’m not worried about them.”

“What are you talking about?” Maddie asked.

I told her everything that had happened since Polly had warned me about what was going on. Some of it she’d already known but much of it was new.

I left out the part about Blake shooting Freddie. After what had just happened with Elias, it was something I’d talk to her about another day.

She hadn’t liked her father but I wasn’t sure how she would take his death. Maddie had wanted us to leave but wanting her father dead wasn’t something she’d mentioned.

He was awful and he hadn’t been much of a father to her but still, if it hadn’t been for Freddie, I wouldn’t have Maddie. Maddie was quite possibly the only reason I was still here.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered as the air from the vent blew my hair out of my face. The truth was, I was worried about going back to Blake’s. I didn’t want to walk into another situation that could end up with one of us taking a bullet.

There had been more than enough gunfire in the last twenty-four hours to last me a lifetime. I’d be fine never being near a gun ever again.

Dax sped down the city roads. It felt like it took an hour to find our way out of the city and back to the highway.

There had been a few of the sick hiding between buildings or wandering aimless on distant front lawns trying to flag us down but they were easier to ignore than before. But it wasn’t just the sick we had to worry about. It was everyone.

Everyone was a threat.

We wouldn’t be able to let our guard down. Not ever.

Driving through the country went quickly. Before I knew it, we were approaching our small town entering from a different highway than the one we left on.

The roads were empty. There were no buzzing sounds of normal day to day life.

The world was silent except for the engine of the SUV. I wasn’t sure if I loved or hated the silence. I wasn’t sure if there was anything to like at all anymore.

Dax drove the SUV into Blake’s garage and cut the engine. Maddie looked younger and smaller than I’d remembered.

“Here we are,” Dax said holding out his arms. “Home sweet home.”

“This isn’t my home,” Maddie said.

Dax grinned at her. “It’s not mine either but it’s not too bad. A little small and kind of stuffy but it’s better than being out there with those things.”

We entered the house and Blake checked to make sure everything was exactly the same as we’d left it. Dax came in with the first aid kit in his hand.

“Come, sit down,” Whitney said curling a finger at Blake. She helped him peel off his shirt and got to work treating his wound.

Maddie turned and stared at me. She crossed her arms and shook her head.

“Why are we here, mom?” she asked. “We should be out there looking for Polly.”

“Polly’s in New York,” I said feeling a damp confusion fill my eyes. “It’ll be hard to find her and I’m not sure it’s even safe to—”

“Didn’t you get her email?” Maddie asked.

My brow creased. “Email? What email?”

“She sent it to all of us,” Maddie said. “Didn’t you check your email?”

I shook my head and pulled out my phone. My finger aggressively tapped, trying to update my email.

“It’s not working,” I said. I looked into Maddie’s eyes. “What did she say?”

“She said she was leaving heading to a camp in Maine. Polly said they’re taking all the survivors to some place that’s safe,” Maddie said pulling out a piece of paper from her back pocket. “Here I wrote down the address. Hoyt replied that he survived and that he’ll get to her.”

Hoyt. Dammit.

“We have to go to her too,” Maddie said. “Do you know if Hoyt left already?”

“I have no idea,” I said shaking my head. “I didn’t even know this was going on.”

Polly was alive. Or at least there was a chance she was.

“Who else did she email?” I asked.

“No idea. There were other email addresses but the only two I recognized was yours and Hoyt’s,” Maddie said.

I swallowed hard. “I’m not sure how we’ll get to Maine.”

“Me either but we’re going to try, right?” Maddie asked. “We have to get to Aunt Polly. She wants us to go.”

“Those things… they’re contagious. If you get sick,” I said biting my cheek as I looking into Maddie’s eyes. I knew I couldn’t risk losing her.

Maddie shrugged. “It’s not hard to get rid of them. The guys that were holding us shot several of them each day. The masks keep us safe.”

“There are so many things that can go wrong. Shooting them is only temporary,” I said wrapping my arms around my middle.

“She’s your sister,” Maddie said with an edge to her tone. “And my aunt. Besides, there is a safe place we can all go.”

“I don’t know,” I said.

Blake stepped up next to me with a bandage on his shoulder. He pointed at it and smiled.

“Good as new,” Blake said. After a long moment, the smile fell off his face. “I heard what you were talking about.”

Maddie looked him up and down. She didn’t bother to hide her annoyance.

“My mom and I can’t stay,” Maddie said.

Blake nodded. “You’re not held captive here. You’re free to go at any time.”

“Okay,” Maddie said. It seemed as though she didn’t believe him. “We should go then, right mom?”

“We’re not leaving,” I said.

“Good,” Blake said looking into my eyes. He held my gaze. “We could come up with a plan to get to your sister.”

Maddie smiled. Blake had instantly won over my daughter.

“We can’t just head out without a plan and preparing for what’s out there,” Blake said.

Whitney was sitting on the sofa with her legs and arms both crossed. She muttered something I couldn’t quite make out.

“For now, we can rest,” Blake said.

“When can we leave?” Maddie asked.

“When we’re all ready. Mentally and physically,” Blake said cocking his head to the side. “Want to see the room your mom’s been staying in?”

Maddie looked unsure but nodded after I gave her a reassuring smile.

“Okay,” Maddie said covering a yawn.

We’d been gone so long, night was creeping upon us. It wasn’t just Maddie that was tired.

“I’ll make us something to eat,” Dax said from behind us.

Blake gestured for Maddie to follow him. She did but I could see her apprehension. Trust wasn’t something that came easy to either Maddie or me and what she’d gone through had probably only made things worse.

I exhaled and walked over to the window. I looked out between the boards and saw one of the sick pacing back and forth on the front lawn.

It wasn’t until the red-eyed man turned toward Blake’s house, I saw something that made me take a quick step back.

“What is it,” Whitney said placing her hands on my shoulders. I hadn’t even heard her get up. She looked at me with concern. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said swallowing hard. “Maybe getting away from here isn’t a terrible idea.”

“We’re safe here,” Whitney said. “We should wait here and go to your sister when this is all over.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek. It wouldn’t make any difference to Whitney if I told her that my dead husband was pacing on the front lawn as if he were waiting for Maddie and me to come home.

The guys at the city limits had told us how to get rid of the sick once and for all. A sigh escaped from between my lips as I pulled out the knife I’d been carrying.

I twisted it around in my hand as I stared at the boarded-up window as if I could see right through it. I was going to have to tell Maddie what happened to her father sooner rather than later.

“We’re going to Maine,” I said looking into Whitney’s eyes. “We’ll go alone. I won’t put you, Dax, and Blake through any of that again.”

Whitney nodded her appreciation.

“When will you go?” she asked.

“A few days. Maybe a week tops,” I said. “Blake was right about needing to rest and prepare. I won’t take anything that wasn’t already mine with me.”

“Fair enough,” Whitney said. “What car will you take?”

I sucked in a quick breath. “My truck.”

It had been Freddie’s but he wasn’t going to be needing it. Even though it would guzzle through gas, it was newer and better than my old car.

Rest, preparation, and a few other things I’d have to take care of before we could leave but I could do it. Maddie and I could get to Polly. To the safe zone they’d set up in Maine.

There was a chance that help wouldn’t ever come and we’d be stuck at Blake’s house until we ran out of food or water. I wanted to see my sister again. And I had to do whatever I could to keep Maddie safe.

Staying in Blake’s house with the sick wandering around outside might temporarily keep her safe but how long would that last? I would get her to the camp.

We would see Polly again.

OUTPOST

BOOK TWO

Chapter 1

The feel of the cold, icy metal in my hand made me shiver. Holding a gun wasn’t something I was comfortable with but with how things were going, that was going to need to change.

Dax shouldn’t have left his pistol sitting on the table unattended. But then again, I shouldn’t have been standing out in the open by myself, aiming the gun at my contagious, already dead, and horribly diseased husband.

If the sick weren’t totally eliminated by fire, decapitation, or cutting out their hearts, they’d just keep popping back up over and over again trying to spread the virus. It was like the virus had complete control over their bodies and minds.

With my daughter, Maddie, across the street, I had to do something about Freddie. Even though their relationship had been rocky, I couldn’t allow her to see her contagious father pacing back and forth in front of what used to be our home. It was like he was waiting for us.

I aimed the gun at Freddie. It was going to take more than a bullet to get rid of him but I had a plan.

The pop of the gun vibrated through my arms and shook my body. It wasn’t so much the power of the gun that rattled me, it had more to do with the fact that I’d never fired a gun before.

It was loud.

It was scary.

It was powerful.

I hated to admit it, even to myself, but it kind of felt good after everything Freddie had put me through to put a bullet between his eyes. My accuracy was frighteningly good. Of course, there was no way I could have ever done that to him had he been alive but since he was a disease-carrying monster, it was a bit easier to do what needed to be done.

“I’m tempted to drag you into the basement and lock you up in there,” I said to his unmoving body. He should suffer like I had living with him.

I put on the kitchen gloves I’d found in one of Blake’s drawers in his kitchen and grabbed Freddie’s legs. He was significantly heavier than I thought he’d be.

There’d been one time in my life, many years ago, when I’d hit Freddie back. It had been like throwing my fist into a brick wall. Freddie wasn’t a big man, he was average but apparently very, very solid.

I shook my head as I remembered the sick, stupid smile that had been on his face and the evil laugh that had erupted at my attempt to fight back. It was one of the few times I fought back.

“You were a terrible husband. And a dreadful father,” I said as I dragged him toward the gate of our fenced-in backyard. “I hope you rot in hell.”

I dragged Freddie through the backyard and far away from the house. My hand shook as I pulled a lighter out of my pocket and dragged my finger over the grooves of the lighter. The flame flicked upward and wavered slightly in the breeze I couldn’t feel.

I kneeled down next to Freddie and set the flame to the ragged edges of the bottom of his jeans. It took longer than I had expected for the fire to catch onto the fabric.

I took several steps back and swallowed. There was a brief hesitation when I considered putting out the fire.

I had to remind myself that it wasn’t really Freddie lying in the yard. It might look like him but it was something else. Something sick. Something deadly.

One less of those with the sickness was helping us. Protecting us. Protecting Maddie.

It took longer than I thought it would before Freddie’s entire body was engulfed in flames. He didn’t open his eyes. He didn’t move and thankfully, he didn’t scream out in pain or beg for help.

“Jesus, Kit.”

A small breath got stuck in my throat at the sound of the voice behind me. I turned with the gun still in my hand.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Blake said with a fire extinguisher in his hand.

“No!” I said holding up my hand. “It’s Freddie. I had to do it. He was just pacing in front of the house.”

Blake shook his head. “I heard the gunshot and I was more than halfway here when I saw the smoke,” Blake said pointing up toward the sky. “The other people in town will see it too.”

“I couldn’t risk Maddie seeing him like that,” I said.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you,” Blake said.

I looked at the gun in my hand. I stared at it for several minutes.

“This just felt like it was my problem to deal with. Freddie has been a problem of mine for quite some time. It was time.” I let my shoulders relax.

“Nothing is just your problem anymore. We’re in this together,” Blake said. “But it’s not going to work if we keep secrets from each other.”

“I’m sorry,” I said handing Blake the gun.

“Don’t apologize,” Blake said raising a brow. “You can talk to me.”

He looked at the gun and sighed before tucking it into the back of his waistband. Blake’s eyes flicked upward and locked with mine.

“I’ll take you back to the house,” Blake said. “Let me finish up here.”

“Didn’t you just say we’re in this together?” I asked cocking my head to the side. “I’m not leaving here until I know he’s not going to spring back up and start pacing in front of the house again.”

Blake jerked his chin toward the flaming mass on the ground. “It won’t be much longer.”

Freddie was melting away. The skin on his face was dripping off his bones. His torso, arms, and legs looked like an odd-shaped balloon with a small leak. He was deflating.

I didn’t feel relieved. The damage Freddie had done to me was long since over. But it was deep. Permanent.

The hiss from the extinguisher startled me. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I turned to look at Blake.

“Why?” I blurted.

“He’s gone,” Blake said. “There’s nothing left. He won’t be back.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “How can we know that?”

Blake shrugged. “I guess there is no way to know for sure but I think he’s gone for good.”

I crossed my arms and nodded. “Okay.”

“Are you?” Blake asked narrowing his eyes at me.

“Yeah,” I said. “I think so. It’s hard to believe this isn’t all a bad dream and I’m going to wake up back in my normal nightmare.”

“This is not a dream,” Blake said. “If it were, Dax wouldn’t have left his gun where you’d take it. And you wouldn’t have left the house without telling me.”

My lips curled at the ends. “That would only be true if it were your dream. This seems more like one of mine.”

“Come on,” Blake said jerking his head toward the gate. “Let’s get back home.”

I frowned. “This is my home.”

“Well, please come back to my house with me,” Blake said. “It’s probably not good for us to be hanging around out here and not just because of sickness that could be floating through the air.”

“You’re worried about the other survivors?” I asked. It wasn’t that I wasn’t also worried, I wanted to know why he was concerned.

“Yes,” Blake said. “They aren’t being smart. Not to mention that when their supplies start to dwindle, they’ll start searching for more. They’ll get desperate.”

I chewed my cheek. “If you don’t think we’re safe at your place.”

“I think we’re safe,” Blake answered quickly. “For now.” He looked up at the storm clouds moving in. “Out here, though, is a different story. Let’s go back inside.”

I nodded and walked toward the front yard. Blake was close behind.

The gate squeaked as I pushed it opened. Blake grabbed my hand and pulled me back behind the fence.

“Did you hear that?” Blake asked.

“Hear what?”

“Shh!” he said tapping his finger to his lips aggressively.

I listened but I didn’t hear anything except the extremely distance rumble of thunder. Or what I was hearing wasn’t thunder at all.

The sound grew louder. It was an engine coming from what sounded like a rather large vehicle.

Blake placed his hand on my shoulder. “Stay down.”

Chapter 2

Blake and I were crouched down low to the ground. We kept ourselves hidden behind the fence… out of sight.

I leaned forward, pressing my face to the rough wood peeking out between the boards, watching to see if the vehicles would come down the road.

I couldn’t see anything. The clouds moved quickly across the sky, blocking out the sun. There was still enough light to see our surroundings but the shadows that were created chilled me down to the bone.

The vehicle was close but it seemed as though it had stopped somewhere down the road. It wasn’t getting louder, nor was it getting quieter. It felt like the truck was vibrating the earth under my feet.

Blake turned slowly and looked at me. Then his neck twisted a bit more as he glanced at the yard behind us. It was like he was checking to make sure the remnants of Freddie were still where we’d left them and that he hadn’t risen.

“Should we go inside?” I whispered.

Blake pulled in a long breath. His eyes moved along the ground stopping at the back door. It seemed as though he was mentally counting the steps it would take us to get inside.

He nodded and gestured for me to lead the way.

Blake followed me closely. I glanced back at him frequently to make sure he was still there. I was afraid of losing him even in the fifteen steps to the back door.

He was holding the gun, and his eyes darted around even though he couldn’t see anything beyond the fence. Blake didn’t know how often I checked for him over my shoulder because he was too busy checking over his own.

I dug in my pocket and pulled out my set of keys. My fingers shook as I fumbled around, looking for the correct one.

It only took a few seconds but it felt like hours had gone by. I slowly opened the door, jerking slightly at the squeak it always made at the halfway point.

I winced at the sharp sound and stepped inside the house. Blake slipped in behind me and closed the door in one silent but swift movement.

He turned the lock and exhaled. “Stay away from the windows in case they’re out there wandering around.”

“Who? The sick or someone else?” I asked with a nod.

“Maybe both,” Blake answered.

“What do you think they’re doing out there?” I asked.

Blake stared at the window from several feet away. “No idea.”

A gunshot split the air. Blake grabbed me and tackled me to the floor. We landed hard. His body was mostly on top of mine… protectively.

The sound was close. Perhaps just a few houses away.

“No!” The voice sliced through the air but it was instantly followed by another shot. Moments later, the engine roared.

It wasn’t long until we couldn’t hear anything except for the rain violently pounding the roof. Blake didn’t move but I suddenly became very aware of how close he was to me.

“What the hell was that?” I asked finding my voice.

“No idea,” Blake said clearing his throat as he gently rolled off me. “Maybe they found some of the sick and needed to put them out of their misery.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said wrapping my arms around myself as I sat up on the floor. The house was close and with the rain, it felt as though the temperature was dropping rapidly.

Blake stood and offered me his hand. “Need anything while we’re here? Otherwise, we should probably get back.”

I took his hand and he pulled me to my feet. We stood there, staring at one another from only inches apart.

The rain sounded louder in the silence between us. I took a step back and exhaled.

“There’s probably tons I could use but I can’t think of a single thing,” I said.

It was odd standing in the familiar surroundings. I wasn’t sure why but it no longer felt like my home. It was all of my things but somehow, it all felt different.

Blake’s house didn’t feel more like a home to me either. It definitely was his space and most of the time, I felt like I was a guest. It was more like I didn’t have a home anymore. There was no place where I could relax and feel comfortable. That just didn’t exist for me anymore and maybe it never would.

“We’re going to get soaked out there,” Blake said as he carefully pulled back the curtain an inch. “Do you have an umbrella?”

“Yeah,” I said walking over to the front closet with my arms still wrapped around my shivering body.

I reached inside and pulled out the old umbrella that opened crooked and had a small tear in the plastic. It would still get the job done and that was really all that mattered.

“Maybe grab a coat too,” Blake suggested.

I reached my shaking hand inside and pulled out one of my old hoodies. Blake took it from me and held it open for me as if we were on our way to a fancy restaurant on a date.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, I’m okay as I possibly can be after shooting and burning my already dead husband,” I said. “The gunshots down the road didn’t really help matters but, yeah, I’m okay. Doing better than I would have imagined anyway.”

I slipped my arms into my jacket. Blake kept his hands on my shoulders for a long moment before going back to the window.

I sighed loudly as I looked toward the kitchen. Every single cabinet was open and one of the chairs at the dining room table had been knocked over.

My eyes darted around, noticing other small things that seemed different from the last time I’d been inside the house. The glass Freddie had been using was on its side on the end-table. The refrigerator door was wide open. Even the door leading to the basement was open.

“I wonder if Freddie had come inside at some point,” I said with my eyes still narrowed. “Or did you and Dax leave it like this when we came over here for the food and supplies?”

“What do you mean?” Blake asked looking around. It seemed to take him a bit longer to notice the differences. “No,” he said shaking his head. His eyes were wide and suddenly filled with panic. He raised the gun and stood in front of me. “We didn’t leave things like that.”

“If the sick can just walk inside a house, then we’re all in big trouble, aren’t we?” I asked.

Blake swallowed hard. “I don’t think the sick can get inside without being let in. And even if they could get inside, why would they open cabinets and doors as if looking for something?”

“Freddie was probably looking for booze,” I said with a nervous chuckle.

Blake turned to me as if he were checking to see if I was serious. I shook my head and looked away from him.

“He would have known where it was,” Blake said matter-of-factly. “Unless you hid it from him.”

“I didn’t. Would he remember, though? Do the sick remember things?” I asked even though my mind went right to when I first saw Freddie pacing in front of the house.

“They must know to some extent otherwise why would Freddie have lingered here? He could have been out there looting liquor stores and spreading the sickness at the same time.” Blake’s shoulders dropped and he ran his fingers through his hair. “I have no idea about any of this but we need to get out of here.”

I squeezed myself tighter. My voice was softer than a whisper. “You don’t think they’re still here, do you?”

“No, probably not but that doesn’t mean they won’t come back,” Blake said.

“How did they even get inside?” I asked. “The doors were locked.”

Blake pointed at the front door. “Well, it’s not locked now.”

“Oh, my God,” I said slapping my hand over my mouth.

“What is it?” Blake asked with concern.

“I broke the basement window. That’s how they got in,” I said. “Freddie locked me down there the night everything happened. I broke the window. It’s my fault someone came in here.”

Blake stared at me. “He locked you in the basement?”

“Oh,” I said feeling the heat rising to my cheeks. I was embarrassed.

It was the first time I’d ever told anyone what kinds of things Freddie had done to me. I’d never even given the details to Polly or my mom. Sure, they knew things were bad but they didn’t know exactly how bad.

“Did he do that a lot?” Blake asked softly.

“Oh, no,” I said as if that somehow would make it better. “Only a handful of times when he was extremely intoxicated.”

My throat dried. Why was I making excuses for dead Freddie?

“Jesus, Kit. I’m so sorry,” Blake said as he looked down at his feet. His eyes flicked up. “If I would have known, I would have done something.”

“You couldn’t have known,” I said wishing I wouldn’t have let it slip that Freddie had locked me in the basement. It probably changed how Blake saw me. “Let’s get out of here.

Blake nodded as he reached out for my hand. He pulled me to the window and didn’t let go while he looked in every possible direction.

“I don’t know how safe we really are in this town,” Blake said.

“I don’t know either,” I said.

“We might not be able to stay here,” Blake said.

My mouth dropped open. “What other choice is there?”

“I’m not sure,” Blake said. “I shouldn’t have mentioned it. You have enough on your mind.”

He led me to the door and squeezed my hand before he opened it.

“The umbrella,” I said reaching for where it was propped up against the wall.

Blake tugged me back. “Forget it. We’re going to run.”

Chapter 3

I still had my hoodie on when we sat down for dinner. The chill wouldn’t leave my bones even in Blake’s warm home.

My hair hadn’t completely dried from running across the street during the downpour. I was sure I looked like hell.

Maddie kept looking up at me while we ate. I knew she was wondering why my hair was wet but she probably thought it had something to do with our plan to leave.

Maddie and I were going to leave to find Polly. Whitney knew although she didn’t know when we were going to leave. There was no way in hell that Whitney was going to tell either Blake or Dax about our plan. She was anxious for us to leave so she could have her space back.

“This is really good, Dax,” Whitney said with a big grin on her face.

“Thank you,” Dax said. “Our meals are going to change soon, though.”

“What do you mean?” Whitney asked.

Dax glanced over at Blake. It was as though there was something they’d both been keeping from us since we’d returned with Maddie.

“It’s not a big deal,” Blake said holding up his hand. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Figure what out?” Whitney asked crossing her arms.

Blake groaned as he leaned back in his chair. “We’re running a bit low on gas for the generator.”

“Oh, my God!” Whitney gasped as she brought her fingers to her mouth. “We won’t have heat or electricity. How will we survive?”

Blake rolled his eyes. “People can survive without those things.”

“We’ll freeze when winter comes,” Whitney said.

“Calm down,” Blake said and Dax chuckled. “We’ll be able to get more gas.”

“How?” Whitney stood and glared at them.

Blake rolled his eyes. “We’ll get it from a gas station or siphon it from cars in the neighborhood. Dax shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s a terrible idea to go out there to get gas,” Whitney said. The look in her eyes was changing to worry. “The sick are out there and those people with guns. No way I’m letting either of you go out there again.”

Blake looked at me. Whitney still wasn’t happy about going out to get Maddie.

“It’ll be fine,” Blake said gesturing toward her chair. “Relax. Finish your meal. We’ll talk about it later.”

Whitney opened her mouth but nothing came out. She swallowed hard and sat back down. I knew she blamed me for everything that went wrong. If I hadn't ever come into her space, things would have been perfect for her.

After dinner, Maddie and I went to our room. I could hear Blake talking to Dax and Whitney in the living room. It wasn’t a private conversation as far as I knew but I went to the bedroom with Maddie because she said she needed to talk with me about something.

“Mom!” Maddie said as if she’d said my name a hundred times.

“What?” I said in a sharp whisper. I was trying to listen through the closed door to Blake’s voice. I couldn’t make out a single word.

“Just ask him later what he was talking about,” Maddie huffed. “He’ll tell you.”

I shook my head. “What makes you think he’ll tell me?”

“I just think he will,” Maddie rolled her eyes. “But right now, you need to listen to me.”

“Okay,” I said exhaling. I let their voices fade away as I focused on my daughter. “What do you want to talk to me about?”

“It’s time, mom,” Maddie said pushing back her shoulders.

My nose wrinkled. “Time for what?”

“It’s time for us to leave,” Maddie said. “We have to get to aunt Polly before something happens and we lose her.”

“There is so much we need to do. Pack supplies, plan the route and how are we going to make sure we have enough gas?” I asked.

It probably sounded like I didn’t want to find Polly but that was far from the truth. I was afraid to lose Maddie while trying to find my sister.

“There are a lot of bad people out there. If we run into the wrong people, we could end up in a bad situation,” I said.

“I can take care of myself. I made it out of the apartment, I can survive anything,” Maddie said. There was a strength behind her words that impressed me. “I know you helped me escape but inside that place, there were only two people looking out for me.” Maddie swallowed hard. “Me. And Elias.”

She quickly wiped away a tear. It was the first time Maddie had mentioned Elias since the day he’d lost his life.

“He seemed to really care for you,” I said. “I’m so sorry about what happened. It wasn’t fair.”

The muscles in Maddie’s face tightened. Her eyes darkened. It was like she was a robot and someone had powered her down.

“We can’t delay this any longer, mom. We need to get to Polly,” Maddie said. “Maybe she’s waiting for us. I’m sure she’s scared and worried. What if she thinks we’re dead?”

“I don’t know,” I said shaking my head. Tears welled up in my eyes but I couldn’t let them fall. “I thought she was dead. If we go out there unprepared, we could be dead.”

“We have to try, mom. Right?” Maddie said fighting back her own tears. “Polly would come for us. You know she would.”

Maddie was probably right. I stepped up to her and wrapped my arms around her. I held her close.

“We’ll go,” I said. “We’ll take your dad’s truck.”

“But when?” Maddie asked pulling back slightly to look into my eyes.

“It’ll take a few days to get ready. Charge my phone and make sure we have everything.” I sighed and we have to do it all without Blake suspecting anything.

Maddie gave me a half-frown. “I don’t understand why you don’t just tell him we’re leaving.”

“Because I’m afraid he’ll want to come with us,” I said.

“Why is that a bad thing? It sounds like the place that Polly is will be safe for all of us,” Maddie said. “We should encourage them to come with us.”

“And if something goes wrong, it’ll be my fault. They are safe here,” I said feeling the tension increasing in my neck. “I can’t be the reason anything happens to them.”

Maddie shook her head. “They’re adults. If they want to go, they can make their own choice.”

“I wish it were that simple,” I said.

“Well, I think it is,” Maddie said.

“It’s just us going on the road trip, okay? Polly is our family. If she weren’t out there, we wouldn’t be leaving either,” I said.

Maddie shrugged. “Whatever you say but we need to get on the road. I studied the map on your phone and I think we can get there in a day if we drive straight through. We can take turns.”

I choked back a laugh. Maddie seemed almost excited about the idea of a road trip.

“I’ll do the driving,” I said firmly. I threw my hands in the air and started pacing. “How the hell are we going to get supplies to the truck? And I’m pretty sure someone has been in the house.”

“Our house? How do you know that?” Maddie asked narrowing her eyes.

Dammit.

“It’s not a big deal,” I said waving my hand in the air. “I went there to get a few things and things were different. It was obvious someone had been inside.”

Maddie stared at me with her mouth hanging open. She was searching for something to say.

It had been several days since I’d told her that her father was gone. She hadn’t shed a single tear.

Maddie was trying to hold on to what was important to her and that was her family. She probably felt like she was losing everyone and she didn’t want to sit back and do nothing if Polly was out there.

“We’ll have to keep this to ourselves and be very quiet when we leave,” I said.

“I’m a pro at being quiet. I’ve had a lot of practice at being quiet,” Maddie said swallowing as she looked away.

I was a terrible mother. There were a lot of times Maddie pretended she didn’t hear Freddie shouting at me. When she was younger, I’d check on her in her bed and she’d be pretending to be asleep.

I’d leave her room and cry in the bathroom. I failed Maddie over and over again and I couldn’t do it again. We’d search for Polly. Not only did I owe it to Maddie, but I also owed it to Polly as well.

I should have been a better mother and gotten Maddie out of the situation. It had been stupid to stay and hope to fix things. Freddie had made me feel weak but if I had been a good mother, I would have left anyway. For her. It was a miracle she didn’t hate me.

There was still time to be a better mother. And a better sister to Polly.

Taking Maddie out on the road was probably a bad idea. We should both stay with Blake. I didn’t want to make another mistake.

“We can’t put this off any longer,” Maddie said staring at me. “I can’t wait for you to pack things and double-check and triple-check, delaying everything. We need to get on the road.”

“Slow down, Maddie,” I said holding up my palm.

“No, mom, we have to go,” Maddie said. “We’ll take our stuff and leave tonight.”

I drew in a shaky breath. “We can’t rush this.”

“And if we don’t go, we could lose our chance to get to Polly,” Maddie said raising her voice slightly. “You can stay then.” Maddie shrugged. “I’ll go on my own.”

“I just don’t want to do the wrong thing,” I said twisting my fingers together.

Maddie’s lips formed a thin straight line. “It’s time to do something, though, mom. And this time, we’re leaving.”

The words hurt but I didn’t let her see the pain that erupted inside of me. We just needed a little more time.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning,” I said feeling a sourness in the pit of my stomach. “Go on, get some rest.”

Maddie shook her head and groaned but she flopped down on the air mattress. She laid down on her side with her back to me.

I chewed my lip. “We’ll go, I promise. We’ll talk about it more in the morning.”

Chapter 4

It was still dark when Maddie was shaking me. My eyes popped open and I stared at her in the dark room.

The muscles in her face were tensed like stretched rubber bands. A sick feeling washed over me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked inside a long gasp.

“Nothing,” Maddie said with a smirk that seemed to be growing. “It’s time for us to go.”

I was suddenly wide awake. “Maddie, go back to sleep.”

“I won’t. If you don’t want to go, I’ll go without you,” Maddie said stubbornly. “I’ll go get aunt Polly by myself if I have to.”

“No, you will not,” I said in a firm motherly tone that used to work well. I could see in her eyes that it wasn’t quite as effective as it once was.

“Want to make a bet? This will be a lot easier for both of us if we do it together,” Maddie said. “But if I have to do it alone, I will.”

I sat up and the bed squished down almost to the floor. “Maddie, please go back to sleep. We’re just not ready. We need to plan this out better.”

“No. I’m not tired. We’ll get ready,” Maddie said pushing her shoulders back. “We have several hours before anyone wakes up. It’s not like we need a lot.”

“Blake’s probably still up watching at the window. It’s what he does day and night.”

“He’s not,” Maddie said cocking her head to the side. “I’ve already checked. He’s out cold on the couch. It’s the perfect night to leave.”

Maddie walked over to the bedroom door and I hastily got to my feet. I reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly in mine.

“If we go digging around for supplies in the kitchen, it’ll wake him,” I said. “We need more time to plan this out better.”

“We don’t have time for all that,” Maddie said in a loud whisper. She pushed her shoulders back. “It’s already been too long. Are you coming with me or not?”

I could tell there was no way I was going to be able to convince her to put things off any longer. And maybe she was right about leaving. The only thing was that I didn’t think we could get out of the house without waking Blake.

If he caught us leaving, he’d stop us. It would put an end to Maddie’s plans. At least temporarily. Though there was a chance that Blake would be all for the idea and he’d want to drive us to Maine to find Polly. After all, he did seem unsure of our safety here in town.

But I didn’t want that to happen.

“Well?” Maddie asked. “What’s it going to be, mom? Are you coming or not?”

I swallowed hard. “Of course, I’m going with you. There is no way in hell I’m going to let you go out there alone.”

“Good,” Maddie said crossing her arms the same way she did when she was five and she managed to get her way about one thing or another. “Put our things in the backpack and let’s go.”

I shook my head but I did as she ordered. Maddie shouldn’t be the one leading our adventure but she was determined. If it had been left up to me, maybe we wouldn’t have ever left. Not because I didn’t want to see Polly again, I definitely did, but because I was a terrible leader. And frequently indecisive. No thanks to Freddie.

“Should we stop and get more stuff from home?” Maddie asked.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” I said even though I’d locked the doors when Blake and I had left. If who’d ever gotten into the house used the broken basement window, they could definitely do it again. They could be hiding in the house at that very moment.

When it was time to go across the street, we were going to go straight into the truck and drive off. We were already taking a big enough risk to go to Polly that we weren’t going to add any additional risks to the mix.

Maddie opened the door and disappeared from the room. I slipped on my shoes, flung the backpack over my shoulder, and followed her.

I couldn’t resist taking a peek into the living room at Blake. Maddie was right, Blake was out. Exhausted.

Maddie was already in the kitchen, silently packing things into a plastic bag she’d found. I reached out and grabbed her hand as she started to put a box into the bag.

“Not that,” I said. “We only take what I brought over from our house.”

“Okay,” Maddie said and I relaxed my grip. “What’s ours?”

I showed her were Dax and Blake had put the stuff we’d brought over from the house. Maddie’s eyes were wide.

“Are you sure all this was ours?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah,” I said raising a brow. “I did a little shopping before this all happened.”

“You did? Why?”

I chewed on my cheek for a moment. “Because Polly warned me that something was wrong. She told me to stock up. It’s a good thing I listened to her because she was right.”

“Where did you get the money for all this?” Maddie asked.

“Credit card,” I whispered.

“Dad would blow a nut if he knew. Can you imagine his face if he saw the statement?”

For a brief moment, my eyes popped with fear. “I’d rather not imagine it.”

“We don’t have to worry any longer, mom,” Maddie said. “You don’t have to be afraid.”

“Trust me, I have enough to be afraid of the way it is,” I said.

The couch creaked and Maddie dashed to peek into the living room. She held up her palm and I was as solid as a marble statue. I didn’t want to have to explain to Blake what we were doing filling bags of supplies in his kitchen.

It didn’t take long before she was at my side again. “He shifted. But we need to keep our voices down. Or better yet, stop talking until we’re on the road. Are you charging your phone?”

I shook my head and she held out her palm. There was no way in the short amount of time we’d be in the house I’d get a full charge.

We were going to need the map if we had any real hope of finding Polly. It wasn’t like we could stop and ask for directions.

“Think this is good?” Maddie asked as she cocked her head to the side and studied the four bags we packed. “Should be enough to get us there, don’t you think?”

“Maddie,” I said with a sigh. “I have absolutely no idea. Going out there is a risk.”

“I know that,” Maddie said. “But we don’t have a choice. Maybe pack more water.”

I nodded and shoved a few extra bottles inside the already stuffed bags. Maddie unplugged my phone and tapped the screen.

“Eighty-nine percent,” she said as she handed me the phone. “Just keep it off as much as possible.”

“I know,” I said.

Maddie smirked as she picked up two of the bags. “Do you have the keys?”

“Yes.”

“Your phone.”

“Yes, you just gave it to me.”

Maddie groaned. “Just wanted to check things off the list.”

“What list?” I asked raising a brow.

“The one in my head.” She looked down at her hands. “We have food and water. Is there anything else we need?”

“A gun,” I said biting my lip.

Maddie’s eyes widened and nearly glowed in the darkness of the room. “Steal one?”

“No, we’re not taking their guns,” I said. “It’s just we should have one.”

“What about that one dad had from grandpa?”

“Doesn’t work.”

I stared at the knife on the counter. It was the one Blake had given me to use when we’d gone to find Maddie.

I sighed and my stomach swirled. It didn’t feel right, but I grabbed it because I had a daughter to protect. Blake would understand when he noticed it was gone.

“Ready?” Maddie asked.

I nodded.

She smiled but I could see the nerves twitching the corners of her lips ever so slightly. Her face was brave for the most part but I could recognize anytime she was nervous. Mothers can always tell.

Maddie tightened her grip on the bags. “Let’s do this.”

Chapter 5

We walked through the living room, not making a single sound. It made me think of all the times I’d sneaked past Freddie when he was passed out in the recliner.

Each placement of my steps was careful. Deliberate. Maddie did the same with her steps. Maybe even quieter. It was like we were magically floating through the living room.

My hand shook as I reached out to open the front door. I swallowed hard as the mental image of Freddie standing on the other side popped into my head. It wasn’t possible. He wouldn’t be there.

Maddie jabbed her elbow into me and I breathed slowly through my nose as I opened the door only enough to take a peek. It was still quite dark but it seemed like the coast was clear.

It would have been nice to have a flashlight but it would have been taking a risk. Others could see the light.

We stepped out of the house and I locked the door from outside before closing it behind us. We were committed to the plan. There was no going back, at least not without waking everyone inside. Hopefully, we weren’t forgetting anything important.

I felt like there were hundreds of eyes on us as we moved across the street. We weren’t floating any longer. Instead, we sounded like a herd of elephants as our feet pounded against the paved road.

I felt dizzy as my head moved around, trying to look in every direction at the same time. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t anyone around.

The night was still. Calm and peaceful. It was hard to believe that we were in a new, dangerous world. The only sounds were those from the noisy crickets in the overgrown weed garden in front of our house.

I set down the bags and quickly took out the keys from my pocket. My fingers tapped the little button to unlock the door which for all I knew, was already opened.

The last time Freddie had been inside his truck was when he came home that morning with the sickness. He’d been in a hurry to get inside the house, locking his truck doors probably hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Wait!” I said grabbing Maddie’s arm roughly as she reached over to open the driver’s side door.

“Geez, mom! What are you doing?” Maddie’s voice was harsh and jagged like a piece of broken glass.

“Your dad was sick inside the truck.”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “Do we have a choice with what we take?”

“We could take the car,” I said. “I don’t want you to get sick.”

“Will we even make it out of the state with your car?” Maddie asked.

I shook my head. “Just don’t take your mask off, okay?”

“I don’t even think the sickness works like that. It seems like its person to person contact. Or fluids or something. Not just being in the same space,” Maddie said.

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know. It’s just what I heard them saying back at the apartment.”

I sighed. “Well, they don’t know. We don’t know. No one knows.”

“If we could catch it from being in the same space as the sick, I’d probably already have it,” Maddie said. “There were so many sick people inside the apartment. I’d been in rooms where the sick had been eliminated. Elias had been two feet from one of them and he was worried he’d get sick but he didn’t.”

“Eliminated,” I said shaking my head.

“Yes, eliminated.”

I sighed. “Guess there is no nice way to put it.”

“Anyway, they have to touch you or like spit on you or something,” Maddie said. “We’ll be fine sitting in the truck.”

“Fine,” I said giving in even though I didn’t want to. It also wasn’t ideal to stand there in the open, arguing about what to do. “But I want you to keep your mask on for the time being.”

Maddie rolled her eyes but opened the truck door. She shoved the bags inside before crawling into the truck and sitting down on the passenger seat. Maddie flapped her hand at me to hurry.

I lifted my bags into the truck and slid them over so I’d have enough room to drive. My heart raced as I wrapped my fingers around the steering wheel. A strange range of emotions ran through me. Freddie would hate the idea of me driving his truck.

My lips curled at the end as I turned the key. The truck rumbled to live and I exhaled.

“Ready?” I asked glancing over at Maddie.

“Very ready,” Maddie said smiling back at me.

I nodded as I drew in a breath and reached up to adjust the rearview mirror. A scream seeped out from between my lips at the shadow standing behind the truck.

Chapter 6

“Mom!” Maddie said reaching over to grab my arm. She looked as terrified as I felt.

“There’s someone behind us!” I said frozen in place.

Maddie gasped. “Put it in reverse and just go.”

“I can’t do that!”

“If they’re sick, you’ll be putting them out of their misery.”

“And if they’re not sick?”

Maddie shrugged. “They’ll jump out of the way.”

I looked in the mirror again. It was too dark to tell who was standing there. I just hoped it wasn’t a crispy Freddie.

The person moved their hands to their hips. It was a swift movement that seemed unlikely of one of the sick to do.

“Kit,” the voice said and my body shuddered. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

It took a second but I recognized the voice. Blake.

“Guess we’re not as quiet as we think,” Maddie said slouching down in her seat.

“Turn off the truck,” Blake said.

I glanced at Maddie but she kept her eyes down. I knew she was going to be disappointed but I turned the key and killed the engine.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

Blake’s arms fell to his sides and he walked over to the driver’s side. He opened the truck door and stared at me.

“What is this about?” he asked. His eyes moved from mine to Maddie, to the bags in the middle seat.

“We didn’t take any of your stuff,” Maddie said. “So, what do you care what we do?”

“What are you going to do?” Blake asked setting his eyes back on me.

Maddie groaned loudly. “We’re going to get Aunt Polly.”

Blake looked back and forth between Maddie and I. “Let’s go back inside and talk about this.”

“Or you can just go back inside and let us go,” Maddie said finally looking up at him. “She’s our family. We’re going on one way or another, so you might as well just let us leave.”

“Kit, can we talk about this?” Blake asked keeping his voice low and calm.

“There isn’t really anything to talk about,” Maddie said.

Blake took a step back. He didn’t stop looking into my eyes.

“You’re absolutely right,” Blake said. “There isn’t anything I can do to stop you from leaving. You free to come and go as you please. But I just think if we talk about this, we can come up with a safe plan to get to Polly. I can help.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” I said looking down at my hands. “I don’t want you to put your life in danger again.”

“Why do you think I should stand here and let you put your lives in danger?” Blake asked.

An awkward silence enveloped us. There were so many reasons he should step to the side and just let us go and I couldn’t think of one that justified him coming along with us to find my sister.

“Because you don’t know us. You never said hi to us when our paths crossed. Occasionally, I’d get a nod. There is no reason for you to put yourself or your family in harm's way to help us,” I said. The words had come out much harsher than I had initially intended. But it was the truth.

“What if the place your sister is really is safe? What if it’s exactly the type of place I should be bringing my family?” Blake blinked several times. “It makes more sense for us to all go together than separately. Dax and I have guns. We can protect you. Please, can we go inside and at least discuss it?”

I looked over at Maddie. Her eyes were focused on her shoes as if it were the first time she was seeing them.

“Maddie?” I said breaking her from her trance. “Shouldn’t we at least talk about it?”

She crossed her arms. Before she could open her mouth, Blake cleared his throat and started speaking again.

“Let’s talk and if you still want to go out on your own, I won’t stop you,” Blake said. “Deal?”

It was as if he knew he was trying to convince Maddie and not me.

“Sounds okay with me,” I said softly. “Maddie?”

“Fine,” she said opening the passenger door and sliding out of the truck. “But we’re leaving the supplies in the truck. Lock it up, mom.”

Maddie marched across the street at least ten feet ahead of Blake and me. The sun’s light was just brushing against the horizon.

When Maddie got to the front door, it opened. Dax was standing on the other side but his eyes weren’t on us… they were on the area behind us. He was making sure we weren’t being followed.

Once we were inside, I could feel the tension in the house. Whitney’s disappointment saturated her expression. Dax looked confused and disappointed.

Blake took my hand. “Can I talk to you in private?”

“I guess so,” I said glancing at Maddie as she flopped down on the couch.

Blake reached around me and locked the door. He didn’t let go of my hand as he led me through the living room.

“Keep a look out,” he ordered.

He pulled me through the kitchen and opened the door. Blake didn’t let go of my hand until we were on the far end of the garage away from the door.

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to go?” Blake asked.

“Because I don’t want you leaving the house,” I replied with a shrug. The answer was obvious. I’d said just as much across the street. “You know it’s not safe out there.”

“It’s not safe out there for you and Maddie either,” Blake said. “But you didn’t even tell me how important getting to your sister was. I had no idea you would run off like that.”

It looked as though he’d been hurt because I hadn’t talked to him. I didn’t owe him any explanation.

“Was it something I did?” Blake asked.

“Of course not!” My eyes widened. “You’ve been nothing but great to Maddie and me.”

“I just thought that things were… I don’t know, different.” Blake shoved his hand into his pocket. “That we’d communicate about stuff. I guess I thought we were on the same page with all of this.”

I sighed but my shoulders tensed. “I don’t know what page I’m on. Maddie wants to get to Polly and I don’t want to lose her. She’ll go with or without me, she’s made that very clear.”

“She’s a teenager. I’m not sure she grasps the severity of the situation,” Blake said. “Hell, I’m a grown man and I don’t think I fully grasp it. How can we?”

“All I know is that I have to get Maddie to Maine. Or die trying,” I said.

“What if something happens to her out there?” Blake asked. He swallowed hard. “Or what if something happens to you?”

Our eyes connected. I felt my cheeks warm.

“She’d be out there all alone,” Blake said.

The heat rising to my cheeks dissipated as if someone had thrown ice water over my head.

“What if something happens to us here?” I asked. “Those people at the city limits could venture into town. Maybe they already have. The folks at the store are probably still roaming about if they haven’t already all gotten sick.”

“All reasons why I think we should stick together,” Blake said.

“I can’t ask that of you,” I said.

“You’re not asking me.”

My teeth dug into the flesh of my cheek. “Whitney won’t allow it.”

“She’s not in charge of me,” Blake said. “Whitney is more like a little sister. Annoying and demanding but that’s all it is.”

“She’ll throw a fit,” I said. “And she’ll blame me.”

“I can handle Whitney,” Blake said. “I’ll explain to her that I don’t know how safe we are here in town. Eventually, people will be looking for supplies. They’ll want what we have. People will go too far. What if this place in Maine is the real deal?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. All we have is an address. It could be worse. God only knows what’s out there.”

“But if it’s better, it’s exactly the kind of place Whitney needs,” Blake said. “A place where she can continue to have hope that things will get back to normal. She won’t get that here. If things ever do get back to normal, this little town will be the last place they’ll come to help the survivors.”

“I don’t know,” I said shaking my head. “It doesn’t feel right going with Maddie and it really doesn’t feel right dragging everyone along.”

Blake took a step closer. “And it doesn’t feel right for me to step back and let you go out there alone.”

“If this is about what happened to Freddie, you don’t owe me anything,” I said.

“This isn’t about Freddie,” he said inching closer. “This is about letting you go out there on your own with your daughter. I can’t do that. I can’t just stand back and watch you drive away.”

Blake was so close I could feel the warmth from his body radiating out of him. It made my heart pound like a bass drum.

“I thought I was going to lose you already today, which was more than enough to make me realize something,” Blake said looking into my eyes.

“Realize what?” I asked.

Blake hesitated. He touched his thumb to his lip. “It made me realize—”

“Blake,” Dax said. The muscles in his neck were tensed and it looked like his breaths were coming fast. His eyes flicked over to me. “Come quick. It’s Maddie.”

Chapter 7

I pushed past Blake and ran through the house. In the living room, Maddie was sitting on the couch, leaning forward with her head down between her knees.

Whitney was next to her, rubbing her back as she whispered to her.

“What’s going on?” Blake’s voice boomed.

“She’s fine,” Whitney said. “She just got a little lightheaded.”

Maddie looked up at me. I could tell it was more than just getting lightheaded.

“I’m… okay… mom,” she said between painful-looking gasps. “Just… got… upset.”

I kneeled down in front of Maddie and stroked her hair. She needed to calm her breathing.

“My… inhaler… is… empty,” Maddie said.

“Dax,” Whitney said softly. “Would you get Maddie some water and maybe a protein bar?”

“You bet,” Dax said disappearing from the room.

Whitney looked at me. “She’ll be fine.”

“What happened? What triggered this?” I demanded.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Whitney said. “She was at Blake’s post, looking out the window and just turned around flapping her arms. Does this happen a lot?”

I shook my head. “Fortunately, not a lot.”

“There… were… sick… people,” Maddie said. Her breathing was quickening slightly.

“Is there an inhaler at your house?” Blake asked.

“You’re not going out there if there are sick people roaming about,” Whitney said. “She’s going to be fine. Dax shouldn’t have bothered you during your little talk with Kit.”

It was rather irritating to hear Whitney repeatedly tell me that Maddie was going to be fine. This wasn’t the first time Maddie had an attack. I knew how they went. I knew she’d be fine.

Dax stood next to me, holding a small cup of water and a half-unwrapped protein bar. I ignored all of them and tilted Maddie’s head so she was looking into my eyes.

“Just take in slow, calm breaths,” I told her softly. “The sick can’t get you in here.”

“I… know,” she said. There was less space between her words. The more I held her gaze, the quicker she seemed to calm.

I could tell but the rise and fall of her shoulders that she was on the tail end of the attack. Whether it was anxiety or asthma, it didn’t matter, they were both basically the same for her but either way, it always helped for her to have her inhaler.

“We’ll figure something out for your inhaler, okay?” I said as I gave her what I hoped was a warm smile.

Maddie nodded. Dax handed her the cup of water and she took a small sip. Her breathing was already almost back to normal.

“Sorry, everyone,” Maddie said keeping her face down.

They all told her it was no big deal in their own way simultaneously. Dax, Blake, and Whitney all wore the same worried yet protective expression. They hadn’t known her long but already they looked as if they’d do anything for her.

“Can I ask you a question?” Blake asked crouching down to look into her eyes.

“Sure,” Maddie said before taking another sip.

“What exactly did you see outside?” Blake asked.

Maddie swallowed. “The sick. Two… maybe three. I could hear them. At least I think I could. They were asking for help somehow through the window.”

“You’ve seen the sick before, right?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, at the apartment. I don’t think I’ve seen any that close before. It was strange though, I felt so bad for them.” Maddie’s brow furrowed. “I wanted to go out there and help them.”

Dax was nodding. “I know what you mean. Almost trance-like. Did you look into their eyes?”

“Maybe? I’m not sure,” Maddie said with a shrug. “I don’t remember.”

“Yeah, don’t look in their eyes,” Dax said with a shaky grin.

“I won’t,” Maddie said. She didn’t smile back.

Blake cleared his throat and stood. “While we’re all gathered together, I have something I want to talk to you all about.”

My heart started to pound. I wanted to run from the room.

“I was thinking about how things might not always be safe for us here,” Blake said.

Whitney sat back and covered her mouth with her fingertips. She looked like she was being sucked into the couch.

“I knew it. I knew this was going to get worse,” Whitney said.

“I didn’t say that,” Blake said holding up his hand. “But, it’s possible.”

“What are you trying to say, Blake,” Dax said crossing his arms. “Spit it out.”

Blake drew in a breath that expanded his chest. “I think we should talk about going to the safe place Maddie told us about. The one where her aunt was taken to.”

“Oh, I see,” Whitney said glaring at me. “This was your idea.”

“This was most definitely not my idea,” I said keeping my eyes locked on Whitney.

“This is my idea,” Blake said.

Whitney groaned. “We can’t just go wandering all over the country looking for Kit’s sister.”

“It’s not wandering,” Blake said. “We know where she is.”

“But we don’t really know if it’s safe,” Whitney said.

“Polly wouldn’t tell us to go there if it wasn’t,” Maddie said defensively.

Whitney’s body tensed. “She wouldn’t on purpose. There isn’t anything good out there. This is all we have. It isn’t safe for any of us beyond these four walls.”

“What happens when we run out of supplies?” Blake asked. “We’ll have to go out there eventually and when that time comes, things could be even worse.”

Dax started nodding. “Yeah, Blake’s right. This might be exactly what we need.”

“Well,” Whitney said slapping her thighs before she stood. “I’m not going. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Whit, wait,” Blake said taking a step after her as she fled the room.

The bedroom door slammed shut and Blake abruptly stopped. It was like he’d been slapped in the face.

“Shit,” Blake said dropping his head forward.

“I’ll talk to her,” Dax said. “Let’s just give her a little time for it all to sink in. You know how she is.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” Blake said.

Maddie stood. Her hands were on her hips. “Just so you guys know, my mom and I aren’t going to be waiting for long. We want to leave by the end of the day.”

“You don’t want to travel at night,” Blake said.

“Why not?” Maddie asked.

“It’s worst out there,” Blake said but his words lacked confidence.

Maddie snorted. “What makes you think it’s worse out there at night? Might be that all the bad non-sick people will be sleeping and all we’d have to worry about were the sick.”

“It’s harder to see at night,” Blake said.

“The sick aren’t going to catch up to a moving vehicle. Maybe we should only travel at night,” Maddie said crossing her arms over his chest stubbornly.

Dax covered the small smile that started to creep up on his lips. “She’s not wrong,” he said raising a brow. “It’s not like we can sit here forever.”

“Well, we do have enough supplies to last quite a while,” Blake said.

“Whose side are you on?” Dax asked with a snicker.

“I don’t know. I don’t know the right thing to do,” Blake said.

Dax shook his head. “You never do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Blake roared.

Dax held up his hands and walked out of the room without another word. He left Blake standing there… fuming.

Blake’s breaths came quickly. “I’m going to start packing stuff. We’ll take my SUV. It’ll be better on gas than the truck.”

And with that, Blake left the room. Maddie and I stared at the space where he stood, neither of us said a word for a long while.

“We should just leave,” Maddie said but she dropped back down on the couch and slumped forward with a sigh. “All our stuff is across the street. I don’t think anyone would even know if we just walked out of here right now.”

“It would be smarter to travel all together,” I said frowning. “I just hate making them take that risk.”

“Well, you’re not making them,” Maddie said. “Blake wants to go. And Dax too.”

I sat down next to Maddie. “What if this is the wrong thing to do?”

“What if staying is the wrong thing?” Maddie asked. “We can’t know. But you know we have to try. For Polly. What they do is their own business.”

I sighed loudly as I buried my face in my hands. It was like I was waiting for a sign.

“I guess we might as well help Blake,” I said dropping my hands down to my thighs.

My palms burned as I rubbed them back and forth on the fabric of my jeans. I started to stand and Maddie grabbed my elbow. Her eyes were round.

“What is it?” I asked.

“What are we going to do about an inhaler?” Maddie asked. “I mean, I think I’ll be okay without it but I know you’d feel better if we had one with us just in case.”

I patted her hand. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe Blake or Dax has an idea. Whitney’s a nurse, she might even have a suggestion as to where we could pick some up.”

“The pharmacy,” Maddie said squinting.

“Maybe but I don’t think we can risk going into town,” I said forcing a smile. “Try not to worry about it for now. We’ll figure it out after we figure out what’s going on.”

Maddie nodded. Together we walked into the kitchen.

“Can we help?” I asked as Blake worked quickly to pack a bag.

“Sure,” Blake said without looking up. “Just do what you did in the middle of the night several more times.”

I looked down at my feet, feeling heat rising to my cheeks. “Sorry about that.”

“I’ll go get the bags from your truck,” Blake said ignoring my apology. “Can I get the keys?”

I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t safe for him to go alone but the words wouldn’t find their way out of my mouth. I reached into my pocket and grabbed the keys.

He held out his palm. The keys clinked and clanked as I dropped them down into his hand.

He curled his finger for Maddie and me to follow him. She glanced at me but started after him.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Blake kept walking. “I need you to keep watch.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked as I chased after him. “Don’t you remember what just happened?”

“I can do it, mom,” Maddie said. “Go back to packing.”

“Maddie, no,” I said stepping in front of her to stop her.

Maddie shook her head. “You’re overreacting.”

“Here,” Blake said handing Maddie the two-way radio. “If you see something, anything, let me know. Don’t look those things in the eyes, okay?”

Maddie nodded. “You got it.”

I shook my head and pressed my palm to my face. I squeezed my eyes together and followed Blake to the front door. The chair at the window squeaked as Maddie lowered herself down.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked in a sharp whisper as I spun Blake to face me.

“If she gets used to seeing them, she’ll be less likely to have an attack, no?” Blake asked.

“This isn’t—”

“She’ll be fine,” Blake said placing his warm hand on my shoulder. “I promise.”

I bit down hard on my cheek. Blake turned away from me and left the house.

Chapter 8

Everything had gone well with Blake retrieving the supplies Maddie and I had brought to Freddie’s truck. Blake had been quick and Maddie’s confidence had been boosted.

Whitney was still hiding in her room. She hadn’t come out since she’d run off after Blake had made the announcement about leaving.

The SUV was packed and everyone was ready to go. Blake insisted on everyone getting a full night's rest just to be safe.

Maddie was sleeping on the air mattress and I was afraid my constant tossing and turning was going to wake her. I softly tip-toed out of the room, leaving the bedroom door open a crack.

The door to the room Whitney was staying in was closed, which of course, wasn’t unusual.

I made my way into the kitchen and poured myself some cold water from the fridge. The sound of a chair rubbing against the floor startled me.

“What are you doing up?” Dax asked.

“Jesus!” I said placing my hand on my chest. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“Sorry,” Dax said.

I took a sip. “Why are you hiding in here anyway? You should be sleeping.”

“Blake wanted the bed,” Dax said. “And I’m on watch, can’t you tell?”

“Oh,” I said. The information made me feel awkward but I wasn’t exactly sure why. “He’s in there with Whitney?”

A half-smile crawled across Blake’s face. “Are you jealous?”

“Of course not,” I replied quickly.

“Good,” Dax said keeping his eyes on me. He cleared his throat and scratched the side of his head. “So, anyway, Whitney is in. She has some ideas on where we can get an inhaler too.”

“Okay,” I said stunned by the information. “She changed her mind easily.”

Dax chuckled. “Oh no, nothing is easy with Whitney. She just doesn’t want to be left alone.”

“Great,” I said. Whitney was going to make the journey miserable.

“Want to sit with me on the couch? We can both not sleep together. Keep each other company,” Dax said jerking his head toward the living room.

I shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

“Come on,” Dax said. “I’m not supposed to leave my post.”

I followed him into the living room. He gestured at the couch and waiting for me to sit before lowering himself down.

“So, why can’t you sleep?” Dax asked before taking a long drink from a bottle of beer. I must have been staring at the bottle. “Oh, shit, sorry. I should have offered you one.”

My head was shaking before he even finished his sentence. “Water is fine.”

“I thought it would help me fall asleep,” Dax said taking another drink.

“Is it working?” I asked.

“Not really but I’m only half-finished.”

I twisted my fingers in my lap. “My husband was an alcoholic. It always helped him sleep.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry,” Dax said setting the bottle down on the coffee table like he’d been told it had been poisoned.

“No, I’m sorry. That was weird. I don’t know why I said that,” I said. “My brain is tired… it just won’t let me sleep.”

“Too much going through it, I’d guess. Getting your daughter was probably overwhelming and now the thought of traveling halfway across the country to find your sister,” Dax stopped and shook his head. “It must be difficult.”

I looked up at him and studied his sincere expression. “It’s hard for everyone.”

“Not for me. At least, not really,” Dax said. “I didn’t have anyone.”

“What about Blake?”

“Well, yeah, I guess but it’s not the same. We’re like oil and water for the most part,” Dax said. “Are you and your sister like that too?”

I smiled as I thought about Polly. “More like apples and oranges.”

Dax laughed.

“I’m not sure if I believe she made it,” I said. It was surprising me how open I was being with Dax. There was something about him that made me feel comfortable.

“Your daughter thinks she did,” Dax said. His eyes were on the bottle of beer.

“You can drink that you know,” I said pulling my legs up onto the couch. I hugged them to my body. “Lots of people drink and do so without it being a problem. Freddie had a serious problem. For years.”

Dax picked up the bottle and took a quick drink. “Can I ask about it?”

“I don’t think you want to know about it. He wasn’t a good man.” I leaned back against the armrest and faced Dax. “You know how, when someone passes away, they always have nice things to say about that person? Well, I’d struggle to find a single nice thing to say about him. He was a terrible husband. He was an awful father.”

“Then why were you with him,” Dax asked.

“I don’t know. Didn’t have the money to leave,” I said feeling embarrassed.

Dax nodded. “Yeah, money stops people from being able to do a lot of things.”

“I don’t want to talk about Freddie or my life before all this,” I said. “Tell me about yourself.”

“There isn’t much to say. What you see is what you get,” Dax said holding out his arms.

“No wife?”

“Nope.”

I bit my lip. “And no kids?”

“Thank God, no. I don’t think I would have been a very good father either,” Dax said. “I’m not good at sitting still.”

“This must be really hard for you.”

“It’s incredibly difficult. The only thing that makes it easy is reminding myself if I go out there, I could turn into one of those things.” Dax ran his fingers through his hair so roughly it stuck up in a few places. “The thought of that is terrifying.”

He turned his head and looked into my eyes. Dax looked at me for a long moment.

“What?” I asked with an uncomfortable half-smile.

“I’m sorry for what you had to go through,” Dax said. “I wish I would have known.”

“There wasn’t anything you could have done,” I said shaking my head.

Dax exhaled as he looked deeply into my eyes. “I could have given you money.”

“Strangers don’t do that,” I said.

“If I would have known you, we wouldn’t have been strangers. I hate that you had to go through all that,” Dax said. “You’re so kind and caring. I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone like you before.”

I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “Me? Ha. I’m nothing special.”

“Is that what your husband told you?”

“No, not really in words anyway… well, maybe sometimes in words,” I said before nervously chewing my lip. “But it wasn’t like he was telling me something I didn’t already know. I’m weak.”

Dax laughed. “You’re not weak. I saw you when we were in that apartment building.”

“I don’t want to talk about this,” I said getting to my feet.

Dax stood. We were only inches apart.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ask such personal questions,” Dax said. He was so close I could feel his breath brush against my cheeks.

“It’s okay.”

“But just so you know, I don’t think you’re weak. I think the opposite.” Dax swallowed as he looked into my eyes. “And even though I shouldn’t say this, I think you’re beautiful.”

I stared into his bright green, entrancing eyes. Had he really said that? I couldn’t remember the last time anyone besides my grandpa when I was eight telling me that. Grandpa had said I was beautiful, just like my grandmother. At the time, I thought he was trying to give grandma a compliment.

Dax touched my cheek softly with his thumb. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the shiver that ran down my spine. The feeling was something I hadn’t experienced since I was a teenager.

I probably should have stopped it but it was the first time in a very long time I felt good. No, I felt amazing.

It wasn’t that I didn’t feel anything for Dax, it was just so soon. So unexpected.

He was extremely attractive. He’d listened to me. Dax had actually wanted to know more about me.

I didn’t have to sit there and listen to him rand and rave drunkenly about his day. He didn’t go on and on about how everyone was an idiot. It was an actual conversation.

Dax was normal. He was a good guy.

I could feel him inching closer as his fingertips gingerly slid to the back of my neck. My body grew warmer as he drew nearer.

I deserved to feel what I was feeling. With all the shit that had happened and that was happening, why couldn’t I take a minute and just be in the moment?

One of the bedroom doors squeaked and my eyes popped open. I took a quick step back. It was like being woken from a dream you didn’t want to stop.

Dax brought his fingers to his mouth and dragged them across his curling lips. My cheeks had to be redder than the brightest spring rose.

“Hey,” Blake said walking around the corner. He pressed his hand against his face. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” I replied.

“Me either,” Dax added.

“Guess that makes three of us,” Blake said looking back and forth between Dax and I. “Anything unusual happening out there?”

Dax shook his head. “Quiet night.”

“Maybe we should wake the others. Get a head start on the driving,” Blake said.

“Let’s give them a little more time,” Dax said.

“Yeah, Maddie’s actually sleeping,” I added.

Blake nodded. “I could win points with her if I got us all on the road early.”

“I think you won points with her when you let her keep watch while you got the supplies from the truck,” I said.

“Think so?” Blake asked with a smile.

“Yeah, I think so.” I smiled.

Dax raised a brow. “Well, if you want to get some more rest before we do head out, Kit and I were having a lovely chat.”

“Really?” Blake asked. “About what?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Dax said with a chuckle. Suddenly they were like two teenagers.

Blake caught my eye for a moment. He rubbed his eyebrow vigorously with the tip of his index finger.

“Well, whatever. I’m up now so you two can go do whatever. I’ll take over watch,” Blake said lowering himself down into the chair at the window.

I offered a tight-lipped smile to Dax and Blake’s back. “I should really try to get some sleep. Maybe I can get an hour or two before it’s time to leave.”

“Good night,” Blake and Dax said at the same time. Dax laughed.

I pressed my lips together and bounced slightly on my feet. “Wake me when it’s time to go.”

I laid down back in bed with Maddie. She turned over on her side but she didn’t wake.

Darkness surrounded me but it seemed to only last a few seconds before someone was lightly knocking on the door. “Time to go.”

Chapter 9

The SUV was packed. Blake had meticulously quadruple checked that everything was packed. He’d even packed a gas can just in case we wouldn’t be able to find gas along the way.

Dax was confident it wouldn’t be hard to find abandoned cars to siphon gas from. He was probably right. Before we were to head out, Dax and Blake were going to siphon as much gas as they could from Freddie’s truck to give the SUV a full tank.

Dax and Blake had their guns. Whitney and I had our knives. But we all hoped we wouldn’t ever have to use them.

Whitney didn’t talk much. She clutched a backpack to her body as she climbed into the back seat with Maddie and Dax.

I sucked in a long breath as I opened the passenger side door. The second both Blake and I were seated, he pressed the button to open the garage. Seconds later, the SUV gently started to roll back into the sunlight.

“Here we go,” Dax said from the seat next to Whitney. He sounded eager to get away from Blake’s house.

Maddie was in the far back seat, wearing nearly the same expression. It wasn’t because we were leaving Blake’s house that she was excited. It was because she believed we were on our way to see Polly.

It should have made me happy to see her hopeful after everything she’d been through. But truthfully, I wasn’t sure what I felt.

I was worried we’d get to Maine and there wouldn’t be a camp that was saving survivors. I was afraid that even if Polly had somehow managed to survive that we wouldn’t ever find her. There were so many things that could have gone wrong and I was used to expecting them. In my world, things never worked out the way they should. No one ever got their happy ever after.

Blake parked the SUV next to Freddie’s truck. There wasn’t a soul in sight as they hopped out of the SUV. The keys stayed in the ignition and it was my job to lock the doors while they worked.

Getting gas from Freddie’s truck was the first practice run. They wanted to be fast. But the gas would only go so quickly. Some of it was out of their control.

Blake spat on the ground and stood back, keeping his eyes on the hose. Dax paced with the gun in hand, watching for anyone that might be approaching.

If someone came, they were going to grab the hose and jump back in the SUV. I had to keep an eye on them so I could unlock the door in a second if we needed to get away.

It was all planned out. And so far, the practice run was going as it was intended.

Whitney stared out the window. I knew she hated me for what was happening. It wouldn’t matter if I told her I didn’t want them along.

She knew of our plan to escape without them but she probably thought I woke Blake on purpose that night we tried to sneak away. Whitney would find some way to blame me even though Maddie and I had tried.

It felt like at least an hour had gone by in the uncomfortable silence before I saw Blake winding up the hose. He opened the back of the SUV and tucked the hose inside.

Dax was already seated by the time Blake got to his door. Blake started the engine and drove away from the house.

“That took longer than I thought it would,” Blake said. “We definitely won’t be able to stop like that inside any city. It’ll be far too risky.”

“I was getting nervous,” Dax said but he was smiling.

“Great,” Whitney muttered.

Blake looked at her in the rearview mirror. “It’s not a big deal. We’ll be able to find vehicles outside of the city without much difficulty.”

“Sure about that?” Whitney said under her breath.

Blake’s lips pressed together tightly. “Positive.”

“Is the tank full?” Whitney asked.

“Yes,” Blake responded as he turned off our road, heading for the highway that would take us out of town.

We took a different route than the one we’d taken when we’d gone for Maddie. The route we were on would avoid the men that had told us never to come back. We were probably lucky that they hadn’t come through town. Or maybe they had been the ones that had been inside my home.

I wouldn’t relax even once we were out of the town. If we found Polly, I still wouldn’t relax. As long as the sick were wandering around, I wouldn’t be able to ever relax.

I almost laughed at my thoughts. Even before everything had gone to hell, I hadn’t relaxed. Relaxation wasn’t a word in my vocabulary. I don’t think it ever had been.

“There’s one of them,” Maddie said tapping at the window.

I leaned forward and looked out of Blake’s window. About twenty feet away, there was a man.

His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were crimson. There was no doubt in my mind he was sick.

The man’s lips started moving as he waved his arms at us. Blake waved his hand in front of my face.

“Remember not to look at them,” Blake said.

“I know,” I said but I had looked into his eyes. Had I felt like I’d been in a trance? I didn’t think so. Maybe it needed to be longer than a quick glance.

“This is such a mistake,” Whitney said hugging herself.

I could feel the anger radiating out of Blake. He kept his mouth closed.

Maybe it was because he had doubts. Maybe Whitney was right and this was a mistake for all of us.

“Which way do I go?” Blake asked glancing in the rearview mirror. For a second, I thought he was asking me but it wasn’t like he needed directions to get out of the city. “Whitney,” he said louder. “Which way?”

“What are we doing?” I asked.

“We’re going to get Maddie some inhalers,” Blake said. “Whitney has a few ideas.”

I twisted my neck to look at her. There wasn’t anything I could do about the look of surprise on my face.

“You do?” I asked.

She kept her eyes focused on the scenery. “I guess there is no patient confidentiality any more, right? Hopefully, we can find the right houses. Be glad it’s a small town.”

“She mentioned a place or two just out of town. Should be safe to look around,” Blake said. “At least I hope it will be.”

It warmed my heart that they were doing this for Maddie. There was no mistake that it was entirely for her. If it had been me that needed it Whitney wouldn’t have uttered a single word about where we might be able to find some inhalers.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Whitney warned after a few seconds. “We might not be able to find them or maybe if they left town when all this shit went down, they could have taken them. It’s a long shot.”

“If we can’t find anything in the homes, we can always find a pharmacy,” Dax said. “I’ll run in and run out.”

“Maybe there isn’t anything left,” Blake said. “Someone could have raided the pharmacies. That’s probably one of the first places surviving addicts went.” Blake shot me a quick glance. “I’m confident we’ll be able to find something.”

I wasn’t extremely worried. Maddie was good at keeping herself calm and avoiding things that would trigger her attacks. Of course, that wasn’t one hundred percent perfect, but she was self-aware. She could manage her attacks somewhat but occasionally, she needed her inhaler.

We weren’t far out of the city when Whitney told Blake to make a right. She leaned forward and peered out the front window.

“I’m not sure which house,” she said narrowing her eyes.

“We could just try them all,” Dax said.

I looked around the area, trying to see if I’d spot any of the sick wandering around. There wasn’t a soul in sight. The whole area seemed as though it had been abandoned long ago.

“This one, I think,” Whitney said pointing at one of the houses on the right. “Lori Taylor was a hypochondriac for the most part but her asthma was real.”

“What if she’s still in there hiding from the sick,” Maddie asked.

“Then she won’t be happy with me,” Whitney said. “But she lives alone. We don’t have much to worry about.”

“Unless, of course, she’s sick,” Maddie added.

Blake turned into the driveway and parked the car. He grabbed his gun and turned halfway in his seat to face us.

“Dax and I are going in. Kit, I want you to sit in the driver’s seat in case we need to get away,” Blake said.

Whitney started laughing. “Will you even know what to get?”

“I think so,” Blake said.

“We’ll just take everything,” Dax said with a half-smile. “She might have a lot of meds that will come in handy if she was a hypochondriac.”

“Except for that no one believed her about anything and rarely gave her anything,” Whitney said. “Anyway, I’m coming with you.”

Blake shook his head. “No, you are not.”

“Yes, I am,” Whitney said.

Blake sighed. “You’re at least going to wait here while we make sure the house is clear.”

Whitney opened her mouth but hesitated for a long moment. “Fine.”

Blake looked over at me. “Lock the doors.”

We watched them walk toward the house. They held their guns as they watched their surroundings.

Blake knocked on the front door and stood there. After a minute, he tried again. Still nothing.

He reached out and tried the doorknob but it appeared as though it must have been locked. Blake took several steps back before he kicked his foot into the front door popping it wide open.

Dax and Blake disappeared into the house. I tried to swallow down my pulse. When I heard the bone-chilling scream, my heart felt like it got caught in my throat.

Chapter 10

“Mom! No!” Maddie screeched as I fumbled to open the door.

My other hand was on my hip feeling for the knife Blake had given me. All I could think about was how I had to get in there to help them. The reason they were inside was because of me.

“They’re armed,” Whitney said. “They can handle whatever is going on.”

“How do you know?” I said.

“I just know,” Whitney said. “It’s like I can feel it in my bones.”

I wanted to roll my eyes but I managed to keep them still.

“I’ve known them forever. We have a really close connection,” Whitney said as if she were bragging.

It surprised me that she wasn’t panicking. Whitney had freaked out about almost anything but she was sitting there rather calmly as she stared out the window.

“This woman lived alone,” Whitney explained.

“So what?” I said. “Anyone could be in there. Not to mention, she could have been sick.”

“Lori wouldn’t have left the house unless she had a doctor’s appointment,” Whitney said. “She’s not sick.”

It wasn’t long before Blake appeared in the doorway. He opened and closed the door several times.

A woman with her hands on her hips came into view. She was clearly unhappy.

“That’s Lori,” Whitney said.

Blake looked like he was apologizing profusely. Dax stepped out of the house and the woman slammed the door closed.

“Their hands look empty,” Maddie said.

“We’ll try another place,” Whitney said.

I crawled over into the passenger seat as Blake and Dax came back to the SUV. They still looked around at our surroundings as they approached but they looked defeated.

I pressed the button to unlock the doors. Blake slipped in behind the steering wheel and exhaled.

“I almost shot that woman,” Blake said.

“Did she seem sick?” Maddie asked.

Blake shook his head. “Not even a little. She was hiding and decided to jump out at us. Two men with guns and she had a broom.”

“What is she doing in there?” Whitney asked.

“Same thing we were doing, trying to survive,” Dax said. “She’s all alone.”

“Poor thing,” Whitney said.

Blake snorted. “Poor thing, my ass.”

“She struck him kind of hard with the broom. Then hit him again for almost breaking her front door,” Dax said covering a chuckle.

Blake shifted the SUV into reverse and got the car back on the road. “All I did was ask if she had an inhaler she could spare.”

“She called him a creep. Asked if he’s been spying on her,” Dax said unable to hide his laughs and longer.

“It’s really not all that funny,” Blake said flicking his eyes at Dax in the rearview mirror. “She hits hard.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. I think it’s damn funny,” Dax said as he dug his hand into his front pocket. He pulled out an inhaler. “You caused the perfect distraction.”

“Dax!” Whitney scolded but her eyes crinkled at the corners. “What if she needs that?”

Dax shook his head. “She’s got a few more in her bathroom. The woman is a medicine hoarder. She had prescriptions from five years ago.”

“Let me see it,” Whitney said grabbing it from his hand. She studied it before handing it to Maddie. “Well, I guess that’s one thing that worked out in our favor.”

“Me getting beat with a broom is what you call working out in our favor?” Blake asked.

“Well, there weren’t any sick, no one got killed and we got what we came for,” Whitney said. “Honestly, I didn’t expect it. I thought we’d all be sick by now. Puking on each other. Red eyes bulging out of our heads.”

We drove further away from the town. The surrounding houses became fewer. It wouldn’t be long before we were in the country and maybe I’d feel a tiny bit safer.

I leaned back and set my eyes on the horizon out of the passenger window. We were driving down a road I’d been down hundreds of times.

Polly had lived just outside out of town off of the highway not long before she’d met Hoyt. Their relationship had moved quickly. It had only been about five months before she’d moved in with him.

There was no doubt in my mind she’d been completely enthralled by his lifestyle. It wasn’t anything like what Polly and I had been used to.

Everyone had thought Hoyt was such a good guy. He was always bringing gifts. Maddie had even been fooled by him.

I, on the other hand, knew guys like him before. It shouldn’t have surprised me when I saw him in his office with Denise bent over his desk.

Maybe it hadn’t been surprise so much as it had been anger. I would have needed to tell Polly what I’d seen. She would have been pissed off at me, even though it wouldn’t have lasted. Eventually, she would have forgiven me for being the messenger.

At least there was one good thing with everything that had happened. Hoyt probably hadn’t survived. I wouldn’t ever have to tell Polly what I’d seen.

My eyelids felt heavy. I let them close for only a second. At least I was pretty sure it had only been a second.

“What’s that?” Dax said and my eyes popped open.

We’d just turned a corner and out of a thick grouping of tall trees.

“Looks like it’s a party we don’t want to be invited to,” Blake said.

“Turn around,” Whitney ordered. “We can take another route.”

Blake was staring at the crowd of people gathered like a swarm of mosquitoes. It was like they were all being called to a meeting and arriving at different times.

There were some scattered out in the fields and grasses, making their way to join the massive crowd that was mainly gathered in the middle of the road. The main cluster was less than half a mile away.

“Wow,” Blake muttered.

There was a person in the ditch about ten feet away that was looking at the SUV. I gasped and quickly looked away from the haunting red eyes.

“Turn around, Blake,” I said nervously. Fear was ripping upward through my spine.

The sick started calling out to us. Begging for help.

It was like being at a rock concert where we were the stars of the show. The sounds of the crowd were deafening.

They pleaded with us.

Said they just wanted help.

Asked how we could be so cruel.

They were suffering… I truly believed they were. But I also knew that there wasn’t anything I could do for them.

The crowd of sick started to move faster. They all were aware of us.

“We can stop them!” one of them shouted.

“Make them help us!” Another called.

Blake turned the wheel sharply and the tires squealed. He stepped on the gas at the exact same moment one of the sick stepped onto the road.

The front of the SUV smacked into the sick so hard he fell backward like a domino. We bounced up and down as the front wheel and then the back wheel drove over the sick man.

“Oh, dear God!” Whitney said before covering her mouth.

I watched in the side mirror. The guy didn’t get up but his eyes were still focused on the SUV. His mouth started moving and while I couldn’t hear him, I knew he was asking for us to come back and help him.

The crowd was still following us. Some of the sick people were running in an attempt to catch up.

Blake drove the SUV back through the trees. He turned off on a side road with tar-covered cracks. Tall, wild weeds grew up at the sides of the road like fingers reaching out toward us, trying to catch us in their weak grasp.

“We shouldn’t have ever left,” Whitney said. “You see that now, right?”

Her hands were wrapped around the top edges of Blake’s seat. She shook his once when he didn’t reply.

“Blake,” she said raising her voice. “Let’s go back home.”

His eyes darted up toward the mirror for a second. I was almost certain they had locked eyes.

Blake blinked, returned his eyes to the road, and stepped on the gas. “No.”

Chapter 11

It seemed as though the numbers of sick people were growing. They were sprouting back to life because they hadn’t been adequately terminated and of course more were likely catching the awful disease.

What was concerning was the fact that they were grouped together. It didn’t seem like they could communicate with one another. At least not verbally. The only thing they could do was call out for help.

And of course, they had their weird hypnotizing-like ability power. Dax had been under their odd spell and so had Maddie.

“Did we forget the masks? How on earth could we forget the one most important thing?” Whitney squeaked as she patted her hands on the seat around her legs.

“Of course, we didn’t forget the masks,” Blake said. “They’re up here and plenty extra in the glove compartment and in the back.”

“Well, pass me one,” Whitney demanded. “If I want one, I don’t want to have to ask Kit for it. That’ll just take too long. Maybe she wouldn’t even be able to get one to me in time.”

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a mask and tossed it in her direction. I didn’t bother to look at her but I could tell by the sounds she’d dropped it on the ground.

Everyone in the car was silent as we continued away from the gathering of the sick. The world around us was back to being silent and abandoned.

Silence.

It was something I wouldn’t ever get used to. But at least if it were quiet, it was likely that the sick weren’t anywhere near us.

“I have to pee,” Whitney said breaking the silence.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d been driving since we’d seen the sick but it had to have been at least an hour.

“Me too,” Maddie said.

“I’m hungry,” Dax said. “Think there are any drive-thru’s open?”

“Very funny,” Blake said. “There is plenty of food in the back.”

Dax rubbed his hands together. “I’ll pretend it’s a super unhealthy cheeseburger.”

“Blake, I really need to stop,” Whitney said as she shifted in her seat.

“I’m looking for something,” he said.

“Maybe a tree,” Whitney said.

I looked at Maddie over my shoulder. She scrunched up her nose.

“I prefer an actual bathroom if possible,” Maddie said.

“There’s a house up ahead but I don’t know if stopping there is a very good idea,” Blake said.

“I’ve had to go for like an hour now,” Whitney said. “I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.”

Blake rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess if we have no choice.”

“I’ll go in the ditch at this point,” Whitney said.

“I won’t,” Maddie said.

“Okay, we’ll check it out,” Blake said speeding up the SUV and slowing once we were closer to the driveway.

He turned in and stopped the car a fair distance from the house. Blake gripped his gun tightly.

“I guess we’ll all go together,” Blake said. “Put on your masks.”

We got out of the SUV and approached the house. Our bodies were so close to one another, our shoulders brushed against each other.

“Did you lock the car?” Dax asked.

“Yeah,” Blake said placing his empty hand on his pocket where he’d tucked his keys away.

We walked up the creaky porch steps that had once been painted in a light gray shade. It was peeling in many places and surely had seen better days.

The curtains on the big front window were half-closed. Dax looked in. He must not have seen anything concerning.

“Knock,” Dax ordered.

Blake rapped his knuckles hard on the wooden door. There was a small window at the top of the door with frosted glass.

We waited for a long moment. Blake looked over at Dax, who was still standing in front of the window.

“Nothing,” Dax said. “Try again.”

“Even if there is someone inside, they aren’t going to answer the door,” Whitney said as she pushed past Blake and turned the doorknob. “Not even locked.”

“Whitney!” Blake said grabbing her arm and pulling her behind him.

Her jaw tensed. “I don’t even care if I get sick at this point. Just let me go!”

“Watch them,” Blake said as he dragged Whitney behind him and into the house.

Dax jerked his head toward the house and we cautiously entered the house. Everything was in perfect order. Cleaned. Pristine.

Dax closed the door and locked it. The only sounds inside the house were those coming from Whitney and Blake as they looked around for the bathroom.

I jumped when the bathroom door closed. Dax placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a warm smile.

“Don’t worry,” Dax said. “I got your back.”

I wanted to tell him that it was bullshit. No one in my adult life had my back. That wasn’t going to change because the world ended. Someone that was practically a stranger wasn’t going to have my back.

If something went wrong, Dax would jump over me to save Whitney and Blake. They were his family.

Of course, I couldn’t blame him because I would have jumped over him to save Maddie. She was all I had left and I would do anything to protect her.

The bathroom door opened and Whitney came out with Blake following behind her. Blake looked over his shoulder into what was probably the kitchen.

“Okay,” Blake said. “Who’s next?”

“Me!” Maddie said.

I reached out and grabbed her hand before she got out of reach. My eyes narrowed.

“Want me to go with you?” I asked.

“It’s okay, mom,” she said easing herself free. “Blake will keep watch.”

I met Blake’s eyes from across the room. He held my gaze as Maddie stepped up next to him. Blake didn’t look away until Maddie tugged on his arm.

“Which door?” Maddie asked.

“This way,” Blake said with a quick gesture.

Every minute Maddie was out of sight felt like hours. Maddie was nearly an adult and could make her own choices but to me, she’d always be my little girl. She could be ten or thirty, my worry would be the same.

Maddie stepped around the corner and made her way back to me. Shortly after, Blake reappeared.

“Who’s next?” Blake asked.

Dax bowed slightly as he made a flourish toward the hallway. “Ladies first.”

“Thanks,” I said leaving Maddie’s side. “I’ll be right back.”

I wasn’t sure if she’d rolled her eyes. I didn’t even care if she had.

Blake showed me to the bathroom. I closed the door and locked it behind me.

The bathroom reminded me of being in a hospital. Everything was white inside the room… clean… sterile. Whoever had lived in this house was meticulous about keeping it clean.

I stared at the clean shower wishing I could jump inside and scrub myself clean. A nice hot shower would be incredible.

I finished up and left the bathroom. We’d left so much behind when we’d left Blake’s home behind.

The chances we could go back were slim. Those who stayed in town would eventually ransack his place, taking what we’d left. They’d take his generator and gas, not to mention all the food and supplies we had to leave behind because they didn’t fit in the SUV.

We walked back out to the car and Blake opened the back. Each of us took out something to eat before getting back in the car.

“Oh, shit,” Blake said as he slammed the hatch closed. “Kit, will you come with me?”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Just a quick check inside for anything that might be of use,” Blake replied. “Dax keep an eye on them. Lock the doors. We’ll be back in five.”

Dax nodded. “You got it, boss.”

I followed Blake back inside the home. We quickly looked through the bathroom and kitchen cabinets. There were several boxes of food and two unopened jars of peanut butter.

“I think I’ll take this blanket,” I said dragging my fingertips over a soft quilt that was draped over the back of the couch. “Maybe we’ll need it. Someone might get cold in the car.”

“Sure,” Blake said. “But I can always just turn the heat up.”

Blake set the boxes and peanut butter down on the couch. He placed his hands on his hips and looked around as if going through a mental checklist of things we should take with us. Blake sighed.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Was just thinking about how I had to leave my house behind. It was pretty much the only thing I had to my name,” Blake said.

I bit my cheek hard as my eyebrows squeezed together painfully. “You shouldn’t have left.”

“Oh, no,” he said turning to look into my eyes. “I’m almost certain it was the right thing to do. It just is more difficult than I thought it’d be. Wasn’t it hard when you had to leave your home?”

“I don’t know. Yes and no. I mean, there was a lot of bad shit that happened inside my house,” I said. “It was probably for the best.”

Blake’s lips curled into a smile. “It doesn’t matter.” He took a step closer. “It’s just a house. All that matters now is the people who have survived. We need to take care of each other. I’m glad you came with me when everything was going down.”

“Thanks to you I have my daughter back,” I said feeling a prickle in the back of my throat. “I’m not sure I would have been able to get to her on my own.”

“You would have,” Blake said with a smile. “When it comes to Maddie, I don’t think there is anything that can stop you.”

“I wish I was the person you thought I was,” I said looking away from his intense stare.

He reached out and raised my chin with his fingertips. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. I wish I would have had the courage to talk to you. I was stuck in my own world.”

“Isn’t everyone?” I asked with a smile.

“Things could have been different for both of us,” Blake said.

“Oh?” I questioned bravely holding his gaze.

Blake nodded. “Definitely.”

Blake inched closer and my heart raced. I wasn’t sure what was happening but whatever it was felt right.

I didn’t move. Blake was so close I could feel his breath on my cheek.

His head tilted slightly and it was like I lost control of my body. My eyes closed.

Blake’s lips lightly brushed against mine. Heat surged through my veins, raising my body temperature almost to an uncomfortable level.

What was happening? How could this be happening to someone like me?

I didn’t even know who I was anymore. Or why I was enjoying the kiss so damn much.

It felt like I was in a dream… a dream I definitely did not want to wake up from. But when Blake pulled back, my eyes popped open as if I’d been shaken awake.

“Shit. I’m sorry,” Blake said looking down at his feet. There was a smile on his face. “That was wrong of me to just go on and do something like that.”

“It’s fine,” I said swallowing hard.

“I don’t know what came over me,” Blake said. “It’s just that around you I feel like I’m someone different.”

I brought my fingers to my mouth and started chewing on my jagged nails.

“I like you, Kit,” Blake said. “I don’t want to screw anything up.”

“You won’t,” I said flicking my eyes upward for a quick moment.

“We should get back outside,” Blake said picking up the stuff off of the couch.

He grabbed the blanket and threw it over his shoulder. Blake stopped in front of the door and looked at me over his shoulder.

“I have no idea how I was able to stop,” Blake said quickly before opening the door and stepping onto the porch.

I was frozen in place. I didn’t know what to say or think.

It was crazy. Both Dax and Blake seemed to have an interest in me. I didn’t understand why anyone would have any interest in me at all.

Whitney was thinner. More beautiful. Younger.

Blake’s feet scratched across the wooden porch as he walked away from me. “Let’s go, Kit.”

I forced my feet to move. And before I knew it, we were back on the road.

Chapter 12

I’d managed to get myself into quite an interesting dilemma. Dax was a fun guy who made me laugh. He also made my heart pound like I was a teenager again.

Blake was intense. When I was near him, I felt stronger. Better. Like I could take on the world and actually have a chance at winning.

Both men were absolutely gorgeous. I could stare into Blake’s blue eyes forever. And Dax had the body of a twenty-five-year-old that worked out five times a week.

If Whitney ever found out that Blake and I had kissed, she’d strangle me in my sleep. Actually, she probably wouldn’t wait for me to fall asleep.

It was crazy that I had two men that were interested in me. Not only that, but to complicate things further, they were brothers.

What the hell was I thinking? It wasn’t like I could have either of them.

I couldn’t let what had just happened between Blake and me happen again. No matter how right it had felt, it just couldn’t happen.

We were all stuck in the same SUV, for God knows how long. Things had to remain peaceful.

I didn’t really understand my feelings. How could I feel something for both of them?

It probably had to do with the fact that I’d been with Freddie for so long. Both Dax and Blake had simply just been kind to me. Nothing more.

Except it wasn’t just that. If it had simply been kindness, Blake and I wouldn’t have shared such a heated kiss.

Whitney had wanted things to work out between her and Blake but things hadn’t ever lined up between them. Now that Blake’s ex-wife was completely out of the picture, I couldn’t be the one to stand in her way. Whitney would hate me even more than she already did if that was possible.

Throughout the day, we made a few stops. One was at an awful wayside with bathrooms that smelled of sewage and dead animals. The putrid scent stung my nostrils and lingered for hours after leaving.

Our drive was mostly quiet. Without maps and without GPS, we had to use the sun as a guide. We were going in the right direction but eventually, we’d need to find out exactly where we were and where we needed to go.

After the sun went down, everyone fell asleep. Maddie was snuggled up in the quilt I’d stolen.

“Are you awake?” Blake asked softly as he leaned forward and looked over at me.

“Yeah,” I said wishing I’d been asleep. Both my mind and my body were exhausted.

“It’s too bad we can’t travel the highway,” Blake said. “We’d make better time.”

I nodded in the darkness of the car even though he probably didn’t see me. The turquoise lights of the dash gave an alien-like glow to our faces.

“It’s better to get there safely,” I said.

“Very true,” Blake said. “I’ll probably need to stop for gas soon or fill up the tank with our backup supplies.”

“How much we got?”

Blake sighed. “Quarter tank.”

At one of our earlier stops, there had been an abandoned car. We hadn’t gotten as much gas as we would have liked but at least it had helped.

“Maybe we’ll make it until morning,” Blake said.

“I hope so,” I said with a yawn. “It would make me more nervous about having to stop at night. I’d be worried about you out there in the dark.”

Blake glanced at me with a smile on his face. “I’m not sure anyone has ever worried about me before.”

“Oh, I doubt that’s true. You were married before,” I said.

“She was a very self-centered woman,” Blake said keeping his eyes forward. “The star of her own show. I was too foolish to see it at first. Hell, it took a long time to see it. I don’t like failing. That apparently included marriage.”

“Maybe there is no such thing as a successful marriage,” I said.

Blake chuckled. “Or maybe you and I were just really unlucky. Picked the wrong people.”

“I definitely picked the wrong person,” I said.

“I’m really sorry for what you went through with that asshole,” Blake said.

“Yeah, well, I should have walked away,” I said taking a quick glance over my shoulder at Maddie. “It’s my fault. It’s just too bad she had to witness all that.”

Blake nodded. “She’s a good kid. You did good with her.”

“Thanks, but I just got lucky,” I said.

“You gotta take some credit,” Blake said.

“I can’t,” I said shaking my head. “She had good role models. My sister, Polly and my mom. They were strong women. Neither of them would have stayed with someone like Freddie.”

Blake flicked his eyes toward me for a second. The look made a rock form in the pit of my stomach.

“You have no idea what they would have done in your shoes,” Blake said.

I yawned. Talking about Freddie was exhausting. Even though he was gone, he was still managing to find ways to drain my energy.

“Try to get some sleep,” Blake said.

“I was going to keep you company to help keep you awake,” I said.

“I’ll be fine,” Blake said. “Go on, close your eyes.”

I tried to keep them open but it felt like there were weights taped to my eyelids. The sounds of the road were so loud. It was like I could hear and feel every tiny pebble we drove over.

It had never been easy for me to fall asleep in a moving vehicle. Even when I was a child, I’d stay awake watching the stars as my parents drove through the night, bringing Polly and me on fabulous vacations.

I started thinking about one of the vacations. My dad drove straight through the night to get us to Mount Rushmore. Polly and I had been bored out of our minds until we got to the hotel. We swam for hours, ate pizza on the beds, and watched movies that weren’t intended for children.

Our parents had looser rules when we were traveling. It probably had something to do with the fact they wanted to relax and have a good time too.

It felt like I was there. I was young again. Polly was giggling as she jumped from mattress to mattress.

“Catch me, Kit! Catch me!” Polly said bouncing like a baby bunny.

I smiled at her as her ponytail bounced up and down.

“You’ll never catch me!” Polly said. Suddenly she stopped jumping. All the smiles dropped off her face and she stared at me. “Give up, Kit. You’ll never find me.”

My eyes popped open and I gasped as I grabbed the armrest as if I’d been falling. I placed my hand on my chest as I tried to catch my breath.

“You okay?” Blake asked.

“Fine. Bad dream,” I squinted at the shadows of the passing trees. “I think it was bad anyway.”

I sighed loudly as I pressed my fingertips to my temples.

“I just can’t sleep while we’re driving,” I said.

“Want me to stop for a bit?” Blake asked. He looked in the side mirror and then the rearview mirror. “I think it’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, but we should keep moving,” I said. “I’ll fall asleep when I get tired enough.”

We kept traveling down the road. At times it felt like we were moving fast. So fast, it was hard to keep my eyes open.

My body was fighting itself. I wanted to sleep but I couldn’t do it. My body wouldn’t relax.

I closed my eyes and I saw Polly’s face. She started screaming at me. It felt like she was inches from my face. I could feel the warmth of her breath. The faint scent of a minty mouthwash.

Polly stopped screaming. Her face changed and she started begging for help much in the same way that the sick asked for help.

“Polly!” I said forcing my eyes opened.

The SUV was slowly veering toward the ditch. I looked at Blake. His eyes were closed and his head was rolling toward his shoulder.

My heart rose up to my throat. “Blake!”

Chapter 13

Blake was startled. His eyes flipped open like a switch being flicked on.

He straightened the wheel and stepped on the brake.

“Oh, shit,” he said bringing the SUV to a stop in the middle of the empty road. He sucked in several deep breaths. “Dammit, Kit, I’m so sorry.”

He was upset and frustrated with himself. It was like I could read his mind. He was wondering how he could have been so careless. Then again, maybe I was just putting words into his mouth.

“Please don’t hate me,” Blake pleaded without looking at me. His eyes were on his hands that were still tightly gripping the steering wheel. “Jesus. I could have killed us.”

“It’s okay,” I said even though I wasn’t happy about what happened.

He really could have killed us. Could have hit a tree… messed up the car. We could have been abandoned and gotten sick. There were millions of things that could have gone wrong but none of them had.

The others hadn’t even seemed to notice. Dax stretched and leaned forward. He looked back and forth between Blake and me.

“Why are we stopped?” Dax asked.

“Can you take over?” Blake asked. “I’m apparently too tired to drive.”

“Yeah,” Dax said with a serious look stretched on his face. “I can do that.”

They switched places and within thirty seconds, we were back on the road. Dax rubbed his eyes several times but he seemed alert.

I knew I wouldn’t have been able to drive. Even though I’d rested my eyes here and there, I probably hadn’t gotten more than an hour of rest the whole night.

I’d tried to close my eyes but it was difficult to relax. Every muscle in my body was tense from almost having gone in the ditch.

I couldn’t blame Blake. He’d been pushing himself since the minute I walked into his front door. Not to mention, the only reason he was out here in the first place was because of me.

“Well, that’s interesting,” Dax said softly as he gestured toward a house in the distance.

At first, I hadn’t realized why it was different but it wasn’t long before it hit me like a palm to the back of the head. The lights inside the house were on.

“I’ll just keep going,” Dax said. “We’ll lose time turning around and finding another way.”

“Maybe we should wake Blake,” I said.

Dax shook his head. “He needs the sleep. We’ll be fine. I’ll go fast.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

The SUV sped up. The tall grasses in the ditch waved vigorously like arms in the air at a rock concert as we drove by.

The car wasn’t noisy and it was a rather smooth ride on the old road. But neither of those things eased my mind as we got closer to the lit-up house at the right side of the road.

“It’s probably just more people like us,” Dax said. “Just trying to survive.”

“Probably,” I said so quietly I wasn’t sure if he’d heard me.

My mouth dried as we passed the house. I sank down in my seat but couldn’t help but look out the window toward the building.

It was a two-story house with a barn out back. There was enough light coming from the window that it illuminated the tractor and three trucks parked in the gravel-covered driveway.

As far as I could tell, there were no moving shadows inside but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone in there. It was the middle of the night… anyone inside was probably fast asleep.

I stared at the clock as we drove. Ten minutes had slowly gone by since we’d driven past the farm with the lights on. The night seemed to take forever and still, I couldn’t sleep.

My head rolled to the side and my eyes blinked slowly. There were two distant lights glowing behind us and they seemed to be growing with each passing second.

“Dax,” I said twisting to look over my shoulder out the back window. I wanted to make sure I’d really seen the lights and it hadn’t been some kind of dream-like state.

The lights were there. Even closer than they had been.

“Yeah,” he said. “I see it.”

“A car?”

“Think so. Well, more like a truck.” Dax placed both hands firmly on the wheel. “Hey, Blake!”

Blake groaned but his eyes didn’t open.

“Wake up, Blake. We might have a situation,” Dax said.

“What’s going on?” Blake asked only slightly more alert.

“I think we’re being followed,” Dax said.

Blake looked out the back window. “Dammit.” He shook his head. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

“I don’t think so,” Dax said. “We passed a house back a few miles. It was all lit up. Think they might have seen us.”

“Why didn’t you go around?” Blake growled.

“Is that what you would have done?” Dax said sourly. The turquoise lights of the dash reflected in his wide eyes. “As usual, I did the wrong thing.”

My fingers dug into my thighs. “Maybe they’re just curious.”

“Yeah, curious to see what kinds of supplies we have,” Blake said.

I knew he was probably right. It hadn’t taken them long to jump into their truck and chase us down. If it were innocent, they wouldn’t have felt the need to come after us.

“If we’re lucky, that’s the worst they’ll do to us,” Blake said.

“Do we have to assume the worst?” I asked.

“We do,” Maddie said. “Can we outrun them?”

“I can try,” Dax said. “But I think we’ll run out of gas before they do.”

I twisted my fingers together. “Could turn the lights out… try to lose them.”

“It’ll be too dark to even see the road,” Dax said.

There wasn’t any light from the moon due to the cloudy night. Without the moon or lights from a buzzing world, the night was horrifying dark. Dax likely would have struggled to keep the car on the road.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Dax said. “They are really gaining on us, though. They must be going seventy-five miles per hour.”

Their headlights lit up the back of the car, giving it an eerie pale-yellow glow.

“What are you going to do, pal?” Dax asked as he stared into the rearview mirror. “What are you going to do?”

The driver must have been psychic because he responded by driving inches away from the back bumper. He held his position for a long moment until he decided to rev the engine. We jerked forward a bit as he tapped the SUV.

“That’s it?” Dax laughed.

“That was more than enough,” Whitney whimpered as she hugged herself.

The driver of the truck sped up and drove alongside of us. They weren’t more than four inches away from the side of our vehicle.

“Back off,” Dax said gripping the wheel. “Come on, man. Give me some space here.”

Whitney screeched as they inched closer. “They’re going to hit us!”

The driver tapped the side of the SUV. Both Maddie and Whitney screamed. Blake shouted at the driver of the truck.

“Dammit!” Dax said. Worry saturated his eyes and tension popped the tendons in his neck outward.

“Just pull over,” Blake said. “We can’t risk losing the car.”

“If we pull over, we risk losing it,” Dax said. “And we risk losing our lives too.”

The truck tapped us again and Dax swerved to keep the SUV on the road. He regained control and hit the steering wheel with his palms.

“Dammit!” Dax shouted.

He stepped on the brake and slowed the SUV nearly to a stop. Dax looked down as he pulled in a deep breath.

He shook his head before pressing his foot down on the gas. The SUV sped up. I watched the speedometer move… forty, fifty, sixty, seventy. He didn’t stop.

His elbows were locked and his gaze was fixed on the road ahead of us. Dax was focused.

“Slow down, Dax,” Whitney shouted as she hit the back of his seat once. She looked as though she was afraid to do it again as the car went even faster.

The increase in speed had taken the truck by surprise but they weren’t giving up their chase. They were at our side, almost keeping up.

“Dax,” Blake said. “Slow down.”

Dax laughed as he glanced at the van. “Is that all you got?”

“Okay, enough,” Blake said leaning forward. He looked like he wanted to jump on Dax’s lap and stop the SUV himself.

The driver of the truck pressed down on the horn and didn’t let go. It was a message… they weren’t going to stop chasing us.

“Dammit, Dax! Stop the car!” Blake shouted. “You’re going to get us all killed!”

Dax blinked twice. He exhaled as his shoulders slouched.

Dax slowed the SUV and came to a stop. He hit the steering wheel with the sides of his fists. “Shit!”

Chapter 14

Two heavily armed men hopped out of the truck. One stood in front of the SUV and the other behind us.

The man in front of the SUV squinted slightly in our direction. The SUV’s headlights lit him as though he were the star of a one-man show ready to spout off an epic monologue.

There was a cigarette hanging from his lip. The man was dressed head to toe in Camouflage.

“These guys military?” Whitney asked.

“I don’t think so,” Blake said as a man approached Dax’s window. He tapped on the glass with his knuckle. “Think they’re farmers… or maybe hunters?”

“Don’t hunters wear orange?” Maddie asked.

Blake shrugged.

Dax rolled the window down less than an inch. He waited for the long-bearded man on the other side of the window to speak.

“Would you step out of your vehicle?” the man said.

“Did I do something wrong, officer?” Dax said his lips curled slightly.

“Are you a comedian?” the man asked.

Dax swallowed. “Nah, just trying to lighten the tense mood.” Dax shifted slightly in his seat. “Listen, the truth is, I’m a bit uncomfortable stepping out there when I don’t know you guys and I don’t know what you want.”

“This is our territory,” the man said as if what he’d said should have been obvious to us. “We’re keeping it safe from trespassers.”

“Didn’t know this was yours,” Dax said apologetically. “We’ll be on our way.”

The man in front of the SUV didn’t move. Although I wasn’t sure if he could even hear the conversation from where he stood.

“I don’t think so,” the man at the window said as he dragged his thumb through the long whiskers on his chin. “Step out of the vehicle. All of you.”

“Dammit,” Dax muttered as he tossed a glance over his shoulder at Blake. “Do we get out?”

“It’s run that guy over and get shot at or do what he says,” Blake said. “I guess we do as he says.”

Dax opened the door and kept his hands in the air as he exited the SUV. I got out of the passenger side and opened the back door just as Blake whispered something to Maddie. She nodded and lowered herself down.

Blake took my hand and closed the door behind him. He must have told her to stay inside.

“She’ll be okay,” he whispered as he squeezed my hand before letting go.

I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt. I didn’t want to be separated from Maddie but I also liked the fact that she was probably safer inside the SUV.

Blake and I walked around to the other side of the SUV, where Whitney and Dax were already standing with their backs against the car. The man in camo from the front of the car was next to the bearded man and the guy from behind the SUV was making his way over to join us.

“Where are you from?” the bearded man asked.

“A town near Chicago,” Dax answered.

“Everyone sick back there?” he asked.

Dax nodded.

“Same thing out here.” The man looked out toward the dark horizon. “We haven’t traveled far but at least a one hour radius from our home. Everyone is either sick or gone.”

There was a long silence as if the men were waiting for us to speak. To them, it was almost as if it were just a casual conversation.

“So,” the bearded man said. “Where are you headed?”

“East coast,” Blake replied.

“Something out there?” he asked cocking his head to the side.

Blake shrugged. “Hope so.”

“What exactly are you looking for? I’ve heard on the radio that it’s a disaster out there. Everywhere, in fact. It’s probably best if you folks shelter in place.”

“Are there just the four of you?” the man who’d been behind the SUV asked. He wore thick-framed glasses and had a touch of a lisp.

“Yes,” Blake said.

The men exchanged a glance.

“We’ve got a few more back at the house,” the bearded man said. “Two women and a child. We have space. Beds, some food. You should join us.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Blake said. “But we really must be on our way.”

“You’ll be safer with us,” the man with glasses said as he eyed Whitney. “Thanks to the farm, we’ll have food all year round. This mess is probably going to take a while to clean up. Years before things get back to normal.”

The camo-man laughed. “If they ever get back to normal.”

“Exactly,” the bearded man nodded. “So, you really should come with us. Just follow us back to the house.”

“We would but there are friends waiting for us,” Blake said.

The bearded man snorted. “No, they’re not. They didn’t survive. Come on back to the house.”

“It kind of feels like you’re not asking,” Dax said.

“Come on back to the house,” the bearded man repeated. “We’ll take good care of you.”

“So, we get back in the car and just follow you back?” Dax asked. No doubt, he was thinking the same thing I was. We could just drive off.

“Rick will drive you back,” the bearded man said gesturing at the man in camouflage. “You know, so you don’t get lost along the way.” He pointed at Whitney. “She can ride with us so you don’t all have to stuff inside that small SUV.”

Blake’s SUV wasn’t small. And we could have all definitely fit inside. They’d take Whitney to make sure we wouldn’t pull anything and go with them back to the house.

“We’re not going with you,” Blake said firmly.

Rick shifted his gun back and forth in his hands. “I think you are. Get in.”

“In and out and in and out,” Dax said flapping his hands around. “You guys don’t know what the hell you’re doing, do you?”

The men laughed.

“It’ll be okay,” the bearded man said. “We’ll take really good care of you. Try not to worry so much, mister funny guy.”

The only thing I knew for sure was that the men didn’t have good intentions. What exactly they were going to do to us, I couldn’t even guess.

All I knew was that I couldn’t let anything happen. We couldn’t go with them no matter what. We had to do something.

Dax and Blake had their guns and Whitney and I had our knives. The men, however, held their much bigger guns as if they knew what they were doing.

Still, we outnumbered them. There had to be something we could do to stop them.

The man they’d called Rick held out his head. “Keys?

Dax started patting his body. He looked over at Blake.

“What the hell did I do with those keys?” Dax asked appearing to be completely serious. Of course, I knew he wasn’t.

“All right, Mr. Funny Guy,” Rick said aiming his gun at Dax. “Nothing helps people remember things faster than having a gun aimed at them.”

“Where did you get that data from?” Dax asked.

Rick took a quick step forward and pressed the barrel of the gun to Dax’s shoulder.

Dax almost immediately produced the keys. “Well, look at that. It’s true.”

“Told you,” Rick said.

“Well, you know how it is. Can’t believe everything you hear. Sometimes you have to see it for yourself, I guess,” Dax said.

“Does anyone think you’re funny?” Rick asked. “I’m guessing it’s just you.”

Dax shrugged. “As long as someone’s laughing. That’s all that matters.”

Rick was clearly not impressed with Dax. In fact, I was pretty sure Dax was his least favorite person ever.

Rick reached over for the keys but as he was about to swipe them, Dax let them fall to the ground.

“Oh, shit. Sorry about that,” Dax said.

Rick pushed Dax up against the SUV. His face was inches away. Both men looked like they wanted to tear each other into shreds.

“Will you laugh when I put a bullet in your skull?” Rick spat.

“I didn’t laugh,” Dax said through his teeth. “I dropped the keys.”

A gunshot rang out and a scream from deep within Whitney pierced my left ear so deeply it started to ring. I waited for Dax’s body to fall to the ground.

Chapter 15

The man with the thick-framed glass howled. His hand was pressed against his shoulder.

“Retreat!” the bearded man shouted.

Rick reluctantly backed away from Dax. The other two men had already climbed in the truck and started it before Rick got to the passenger side door.

Another shot rang out.

“Get down!” Blake said. “And find the fucking keys.”

“I got them! I got them!” Dax said.

Blake snatched them from Dax’s hand. “Get them in the car!”

“Halt!” a voice said from the shadows. I hadn’t even made it more than two steps. “Do not move.”

Slowly, people started to emerge from the shadows. There were men and women of varying ages. All of them holding the same type of gun.

Flashlights danced on the ground around our feet. One beam moved up my leg and I stepped back as if it were a snake trying to slither up my body.

All that was left of the truck was the square red glow of their tail lights.

My eyes scanned the group of men and women. There were at least ten of them that I could see and all of them were wearing masks just like we were.

“Seems like we got here just in time,” a young man said stepping closer to us. “Those guys are bad news.” The young man approached us as if he were approaching wild kittens. He carefully stuck out his hand. “I’m James Luck.”

Blake looked at his hand while keeping his at his sides.

“Sorry,” James said pulling his hand back. “Habit from when things were different. Understand why you wouldn’t want to shake my hand with what happened. What are you folks doing out here in the middle of the night?”

“Passing through,” Blake said.

James nodded. “Those assholes are like wolves. Sometimes we save people passing through… other times, not so much.”

“Can we leave?” Blake asked.

“I guess so,” James said with a half-shrug. “Not sure why you’d want to when our base is just up the road.”

“So many choices,” Dax said. “They tried to convince us to join them at their safe place too.”

James grinned. “I didn’t say ours was safe. But the truth is that it is one of the safest places that are left on the planet.”

“I think those guys said the same thing,” Dax said raising a brow.

“One of the major differences between them and us is that we aren’t going to rape your wives,” James said. He looked down at his feet and when his eyes flicked back up toward ours, he smiled. “The government had a plan in place if anything like this should happen. Across the United States are several bases. Some above ground, some below. In between the main bases are outposts. We have food, water, shelter, and our in communication with the other outposts and bases. Anyone that has survived is welcome.”

James scratched the back of his neck and shook his head.

“Of course, there are people like those men back there that have their own ideas about how things should be,” James said. “Believe it or not but there are a lot of people out there that are bad news.”

“Okay,” Blake said as he pulled his shoulders back. “We appreciate your help but would really like to get back on the road.”

“Where are you headed?” James asked cocking his head to the side. “I can tell you there isn’t much left out there except for a lot of sick people. They’re dangerous and highly contagious but you must know that by now to have survived this long.”

“We’re quite aware,” Blake said. He sighed. “We’re looking for a friend.”

James's eyes widened. “If your family has survived, you’ll want to check with our outpost. I can contact the bases. If they made it, I can find them for you.”

Blake and Dax exchanged a quick look before glancing at me. I swallowed hard, trying to moisten my dry throat.

“I can also tell you about all the places you’ll want to avoid, at least in this area,” James said with a smile. “Where was it you were headed again?”

“Is there any way you can prove what you’re saying is true?” Blake asked. “Like you said, there are a lot of creeps out there.”

James shrugged. “I have a military ID card. Driver’s license. What kind of proof are you looking for?”

Blake ran his fingers through his hair. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Let me see your military ID.”

James dug into his back pocket and pulled out his thick wallet. He removed a card and held it out toward Blake.

Blake took the card and studied it in the dim light. I looked over his shoulder and saw that the man was at least being honest about his name.

“You lived around here then?” Blake asked passing back the card.

“I did. Was one of the first at the Outpost,” James said. “There weren’t many of us in the area that knew about it but we’ve managed to grow our little group to thirty strong.”

“What do you do at the outpost?” Dax asked.

“Survive. Wait for further instructions,” James said. “Consider taking a look. If you want to leave, no one will stop you. There is a good chance that if your friend survived, I can find out exactly where they are.”

Blake turned to me. His eyes moved over my shoulder and settled on the backseat of the SUV. I knew he was thinking about Maddie too.

“It’s up to you,” Blake said. “This could be helpful. It might not.”

“How do we know they won’t kill us… or rape us?” I asked.

“We don’t know,” Blake said. “But he is who he says he is and there are a lot of people here with him. Let’s not forget they saved us. They didn’t have to do that.”

I looked over Blake’s shoulder and checked out the man. My eyes scanned every inch of him.

He was of average height with broad shoulders. It was obvious he’d be into weight training based on how the sleeves of his shirt hugged his thick, muscular arms.

“Where are the bases located?” I asked.

“There are several,” James answered. “A few on the west coast, some on the east, and a couple scattered in between. What area is your family located?”

“How about you tell me where the bases on the east coast are located,” I said raising a brow.

“Already so untrusting?” James asked with a laugh. “No, no, I get it.” He tapped his chin. “One in Florida, one in North Carolina, another in New Jersey and the last is in Maine.”

My heart thumped at the last word. “And you’re able to find people at the other bases?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” James said.

I turned back to Blake. “I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s interesting he knew about Maine,” Blake said.

“It could have been a lucky guess,” I muttered.

“And maybe it’s not,” Blake said.

“What do you think we should do?” I asked.

Whitney snorted. “We shouldn’t have ever left Blake’s house!”

Blake glared at her. “I think we should go. At least see what this is all about.”

“What if they’re lying,” Whitney asked. It was probably the first time we were both thinking the same thing.

“What if they’re not?” Blake asked. “If this was all a big lie, why would they have bothered to save us?”

Whitney shrugged. “They wanted us. Those guys in the truck sure fled quickly.”

“They’d been shot at,” Blake said.

“I can see you’re apprehensive,” James interrupted. “How about I just give you directions and you can give it a little thought. Or come in the morning. I’m sure the ordeal with those men has put you on edge.”

Blake drew in a breath and nodded. James took out a piece of paper from his back pocket and took several steps closer. He held it out toward Blake without coming any closer than he needed to.

“It’s not hard to find,” James said. “Just up the road and to your right when you get to the highway. Big chain-linked fence around it. Was some kind of military facility once upon a time. You can’t miss it.”

Blake took the piece of paper and took a step back. “Thanks. We’ll think about it.”

“I hope you do. If you decide to drop by, just ask for me when you get to the gate,” James said. “They’ll let you in either way. The only ones that don’t get in are the sick and those guys back at the farm.”

James gave us a little wave before the men and women with him started to disappear into the shadows one by one. The left us standing there in the darkness staring at the nothingness and hearing only silence.

We didn’t wait more than a few seconds before getting back in the SUV. Blake was in the driver’s seat again, staring at the piece of paper he rested against the steering wheel.

I locked the door and drew in several breaths. I twisted in my seat and looked back at Maddie. Her eyes were glassy with fear puddled in the corners.

But she was okay.

And I was okay.

We were all okay… for now.

“I think this is for real,” Blake said still staring at the piece of paper.

Dax leaned forward and looked at it over his shoulder. “If we’re taking a vote, I say we check it out.”

“And I vote we go back to Blake’s before things get worse,” Whitney said crossing her arms.

“If they can tell us if Polly is in Maine, I think we should go,” Maddie said. I stared at her over my shoulder and she shrugged. “I heard everything they said.”

I nodded.

“That’s two votes for going,” Blake said.

“I don’t know when we started taking votes,” Whitney said.

“What do you think, Kit?” Blake asked.

I shook my head. “What do you think?”

“I think we could learn something,” Blake said. “But it’s your sister. Every minute we’re not driving is time we aren’t getting closer to Maine.”

“Maybe we could get a message to her, mom,” Maddie said excitedly. “She doesn’t even know we’re alive.”

I buried my face into my hands. It was like I was waiting for the answer to appear on my palms.

Nothing happened.

There was no sign.

No clear answer.

I drew in a long breath that filled my lungs like birthday balloons. “Fine. Let’s check it out in the morning. But for now, get us the hell away from that farm.”

Chapter 16

We drove several miles before turning off into a random driveway surrounded by trees. Blake turned off the lights and cut the engine.

It was so dark in the SUV I couldn’t even see my thighs. At least if it were difficult to see each other, then it would probably be just as difficult for anyone else outside to see us too.

It wasn’t long before morning came. The others had slept on and off but my mind wouldn’t let me fall asleep.

My body ached. My brain was foggy. I was exhausted. And worst of all, we probably were only a quarter of the way to Maine. If even that.

Stopping at the outpost was going to slow us down even more but if we found out anything about Polly, it would be worth it. I didn’t tell Maddie but I believed it was a long shot.

Maddie still had hope, unlike me. There was no reason I should be the one to burst her bubble. She already knew the world was a terrible place. But having hope was one thing that made Maddie special.

“Ready to go find this place?” Blake asked.

“No time like the present,” Dax said.

James had been right, it was easy to find the outpost. There was a parking lot outside the chain-linked fence but it was only about a quarter of the way filled.

“How did people find out about this place?” Whitney asked.

I shook my head. “The same way Polly must have found out about the place in Maine.”

Blake parked the SUV away from the other cars in the lot. We didn’t want anyone to walk by and notice our supplies. It helped that Blake had tinted windows.

We wore our masks as we walked close to one another toward the fence. The fence was tall with twisted wires at the top. The main gate was guarded with two armed men, both wearing masks. Nearly every inch of their skin was covered with clothing. Hats covered their heads and shielded their foreheads. Their eyes glowed from under the brim as they watched us approach.

“Hello,” one of them called out to us. His voice was somewhat muffled by the mask. “What brings you here?”

“We’re here to see James Luck,” Blake said.

“You the folks he found last night?” the same man asked.

Blake nodded. “A group saved us.”

“Sounds like James,” the other guy said with a chuckle. He pulled out a small light and clicked it on. “We just need to check your eyes if that’s all right.”

“Only take a second,” the first guy said.

“No problem,” Blake said stepping up to the gate.

They examined our eyes one by one. It didn’t take more than a second to see that none of us were sick.

“Have any of you thrown up in the last twenty-four hours or so?” one of the guards asked.

“No,” Blake replied as the rest of us shook our heads.

The second guard stepped over to the side and slid open the heavy gate. The first guard gestured for us to step inside.

“Welcome to Outpost thirty-seven,” the guard said while the other guard closed the gate behind us.

“Thirty-seven?” Dax questioned.

“That’s right,” the first guard said. “Follow me. I’ll take you to James.”

Dax stared at the man as he walked alongside him. “Really? Thirty-seven? How many outposts are there?”

“At least one in every state,” the guard said. “There have been several that have not yet reported in.”

“What does that mean?” Whitney asked.

“It’s possible that means there are no survivors in that area,” the guard said.

We walked toward a grouping of buildings. They all looked nearly identical with the same doors and all painted in a pale green shade. Each building had a small number painted next to the door.

“Or if there were survivors, none of them knew about the outpost since only a very select few knew,” the guard said stopping to knock on one of the doors. “All this was top secret.”

The door opened and James appeared. The second he recognized us, a broad smile grew across his face.

He stretched out his hand toward Blake. “I didn’t think you folks would come. Please, you’re safe here. You can take off your masks.” James seemed to instantly recognize our apprehension. “When you’re ready, of course. I just wanted to let you know that everything inside the fence is safe. You will not be exposed to anything. Well, maybe a nasty cold but even those have been rather rare. Let me show you around.”

“We’re here because you said you could find out information about our family,” Blake said holding up his hand. “We don’t plan on staying.”

“Oh,” James said seeming a bit disappointed. “Well, okay, come on in.”

We followed him inside the small building. Half of the room was set up to be an office and the other half was more like a cozy living room.

The sofa was small, with a crocheted afghan draped over the back. There was a recliner, several small tables with lamps, and a bookshelf that reached to the ceiling.

“Make yourselves at home,” James said as he sat down in a chair behind a nearly empty, polished wooden desk. “Now, I can’t promise you anything but I can go through what I have on file and if need be, I can radio out to the other bases. There is one thing I need from you.”

“What’s that?” Blake asked.

“A name,” James replied.

Blake shot a look at me. My palms started to sweat.

“Polly Beyers,” I said swallowing down a thick lump that formed at the back of my throat.

“Do you happen to know which base or outpost?” James asked cocking his head to the side.

“Not exactly,” I said glancing at Maddie. “The one in Maine.”

“We have an address,” Maddie said brightly.

James's shoulders tightened. “May I see it?”

“Sure,” Maddie said.

She took out a folded-up piece of paper and showed it to him. Maddie held the piece of paper as if her life depended on keeping it in her possession.

“Ah, yes,” James said with a nod. “And how did you come across this address?”

“My aunt Polly emailed it,” Maddie said.

James's eyes widened. “Your phones are working?”

“Not anymore,” I said as James pulled out a binder and turned on a computer. “Thankfully, we got it just in time.”

“The address is definitely the Maine base,” James said. He drummed his fingers on the edge of his desk as he stared at the computer screen. “We have power here but we conserve it as much as possible. When we come along and find new survivors, we update the database.”

James squinted as he scrolled the wheel on his mouse. The silence in the small room was disorienting. For a brief moment, I wasn’t sure if I was really in this strange outpost or if I was still in the car having a realistic dream.

James snapped his laptop shut and opened the binder. It felt like someone was poking needles up and down my spine as I waited to hear about Polly.

The minutes turned into hours. I looked across the room and met Blake’s eyes. They’d been glued to me and even when I locked my eyes with his, he didn’t look away.

The gaze was so intense that I had to avert my gaze first. What had been in his eyes? Fear? Concern? I wasn’t sure.

The temperature of my blood pulsing through my veins rose when James closed the binder. He looked up. His eyes moved over each one of us.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” James said.

I covered my mouth with my hand. Maddie took several steps toward me and hugged my arm.

“There is no record of a Polly Beyers making it to the base in Maine,” James said with a sympathetic frown.

“What does that mean?” Maddie asked. “Maybe she just got the address wrong? I know she was leaving with a group. They were headed too someplace safe.”

“Maybe it was another base?” I asked.

James drew in a slow breath. “There is a record of her being picked up in New York.”

“So, you do have a record of her?” I asked.

“There is some documentation in the computer that shows she was picked up and routed toward Maine. The problem is she never arrived,” James said.

“What does that mean?” Maddie said pulling in a deep sniff.

James looked down at his hands. He looked up again like a doctor about to reveal a horrible diagnosis.

“What it likely means is that something happened to the vehicle that was transporting her,” James said. “I can do some digging and try to find out more but it’s going to take some time.”

“What do we do, mom?” Maddie asked. Her lip was quivering. She was doing her best not to break down. I wasn’t even sure how I was holding it together, except for the fact that I was genuinely stunned.

I shook my head. “I’m not sure right now.”

“You’re welcome to stay here for the time being.” James stood. “There is a possibility that she was rerouted to another base or an outpost. Maybe she hasn’t arrived yet or maybe her arrival simply hasn’t been documented yet.”

James started to pace. He tucked his hands into his pockets as he stared at his feet.

“I know it’s hard not to think the worst. I lost nearly everyone I cared about, everyone did. But there’s always a chance that your friend is okay,” James said. “Your situation is a little different. Most people don’t hear from their loved ones. Given what we know, there is a chance your friend Polly was simply lost in the shuffle.”

“How often does something like that happen?” Blake asked.

“That’s a hard question to answer considering it’s not often people come here looking for other survivors in distant states,” James said. “All I can say right now is that there is a chance.”

James sighed as he pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms. The room felt cold. The skin on my arms prickled as I met James's eyes.

“While you wait for me to look into things, I can give you a room here. It’ll be safer for you,” James said.

“How long will it take?” Blake asked.

“I’m not entirely sure,” James said. “A few days.”

Maddie groaned. “Mom, we can’t sit here for a few days. She might need us.”

“Maybe I can narrow down where she was last seen,” James said. “Right now, it’ll be like looking for a needle in a very large haystack. Stay. Let me do what I can to help you.”

“What do you think?” Blake asked turning toward me.

He didn’t ask Dax or Whitney. He asked me and I could tell that it infuriated Whitney.

Polly was my sister, though, so it did make sense for him to consider what I wanted more than the others. It was up to Maddie and me what we wanted to do.

“What are you going to do if I can’t locate her?” James asked. “Will you go back on the road?”

“We haven’t talked about that possibility,” Blake admitted.

“It’s safe here. The bases are even safer. This is where you will want to be,” James said. “Sorry, I sound so pushy, it’s just that I’d feel terrible if you go back out there and something happens to all of you.”

“We have to try to find her, mom,” Maddie said softly.

Her eyes were glossy. I could feel the pain she was feeling deep inside my heart. It was the hope she still had.

“Let’s see what he can find out, okay?” I said placing my hand on her shoulder. “It could be useful to us. We’re no good out there to Polly if we’re dead or sick.”

“Very wise,” James said. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. Let me show you where you’ll be staying.”

Chapter 17

Our building wasn’t far. We walked by six buildings all of similar size before James stopped at the one with the number twenty-six next to the door.

James took out a key and opened the door. He gestured for us to enter, handing the key to me as I walked by him.

“Sorry, it’s not bigger,” James said.

The room was roughly the same size at James’s building had been but ours was different. There were eight small cots lined up against the wall. An almost empty bookshelf was against the wall and a sofa against the back wall near a closed door.

“But you do get your own bathroom,” James said. He hesitated and then cleared his throat. “Well, let me show you around and then I’ll get right to work on seeing what I can find out about your friend.”

We followed him out of what apparently was our new home. James weaved through the buildings pointing out the cafeteria, the supply shed, and the recreational room. At the far back of the fenced-in area, there was a small garden but all I saw was dead leaves and weeds.

“They’ll work on that more in spring,” James explained when he saw my pinched expression. “We have a ton of supplies stocked and get deliveries often. Food and water aren’t a concern. If you’re hungry, help yourself to anything in the supply building. Or you’re free to wait for the prepared meals at eight, noon and five.”

“You’re not rationing food?” Blake asked.

“There is a sign-out sheet,” James said. “Write down what you take and how much. It’s kind of on the honor system and it’s been working so far.”

Blake nodded. Essentially, what James was saying was that if suddenly tons of food went missing, he’d blame us.

“That’s about it for the tour,” James said. “The bases are significantly bigger. Make yourselves at home. Think you can find your way back to your building?”

“Sure,” Blake said. “What does everyone do here?”

James shrugged. “Whatever they want. There is a pool table, darts, board games and more in the recreational building. Books in the library. Pens and paper for writing and drawing. Anything you want to do, you can do it.”

“Um, okay,” Blake said.

“It takes a little getting used to the freedom,” James said. “Sometimes, folks need to get out there and do something different. That’s why we go out looking for survivors. A bit of excitement.”

Whitney narrowed her eyes. “Potentially getting sick is excitement?”

“We won’t get sick,” James said. “The clothes we wear when we are out are immediately removed and washed as an extra precaution,” James said. “Anyway, you don’t need to worry about that. You don’t have to go outside the fence if you don’t want to.”

“Why is everyone here?” Dax asked looking around over his shoulder. Someone exited one of the buildings and slipped into another.

“Waiting for further instructions,” James said. “Eventually, we’ll know more about how to rebuild. As of right now, the sickness hasn’t been eliminated. So, we wait.”

Blake scratched the back of his neck. “How do they get supplies to the outposts?”

“Helicopter. Or sometimes by truck,” James said. “When the trucks come, they may take people back to the bases depending on certain factors such as availability. Anyway,” James said clapping his hands once and rubbing them together. “I should get back to work. If you need anything, you know where I’ll be.”

Blake nodded. The rest of us remained silent, watching him as he walked away.

“Rebuilding is going to be boring,” Dax said.

“I’m surprised that none of the bases or outposts or whatever haven’t been contaminated,” I said shaking my head.

“What makes you think that hasn’t happened?” Dax asked.

I shrugged. “He told us how safe we are here. They must think we are.”

“What are they going to say? That it’s not safe? The place the government set up for a situation like this, isn’t safe?” Dax snorted. “Yeah, they’re telling us what we want to hear. What we need to hear.”

Maddie sighed. “I hate this. I just want to find Polly.”

“I’m sorry, Maddie,” I said rubbing her shoulder. “Hopefully, it won’t be long.”

I should have told her that maybe it was time to prepare herself for the possibility that Polly hadn’t survived. If it hadn’t been for the email she’d sent, I wouldn’t have thought for even a second that she survived.

Polly had been in the thick of it. Only blocks from one of the buildings the sickness originated from. Hell, she’d been inside of one of the buildings when it started to spread.

There was a chance that Polly didn’t make it because she’d gotten sick. I wanted to see my sister again but I didn’t have the hope Maddie did.

“Let’s go back,” Blake said smiling at Maddie. “Maybe get some rest while we’re here. That way, when we get back on the road, we’ll be well-rested.”

For the rest of the day, we slept. It had been roughly midday when I turned on my side and saw Dax enter the building with an arm full of snacks.

He placed them on the small table next to the sofa with the lamp on it. Dax ripped open a crinkly package and I fell back asleep.

When I woke again later, it was dark outside. The lamp was on and I could hear Whitney and Maddie whispering.

I sat up and caught the smile on Maddie’s face. Instead of getting up to talk to her, I laid back down and stared at the wall.

I couldn’t make out any of their words but I was glad to see Maddie smiling even if it was with Whitney. At some point, I drifted off again, when I finally opened my eyes again, I was wide awake. There was no way I could have possibly gotten any more sleep, at least that’s what I told myself.

The others were all asleep. I soundlessly swung my legs over the side of the cot, trying to be quiet. The second I lifted my weight off the flat mattress, it creaked noisily.

I reached my arms over my head and stretched. My fingertips were only a few inches from touching the ceiling.

A yawn stretched my jaw. I walked over to the table with food and picked out one of the fruity snack bars.

I didn’t even feel hungry. There was too much stress and worry for me to have an appetite of any kind. Of course, I knew I had to eat.

It took forever but morning finally came. One by one, the others woke and grabbed a snack. There was an analog clock on the wall and the moment it was eight o’clock, a loud bell-like noise rang out.

It was breakfast time.

Chapter 18

After a short discussion, we decided to go to breakfast. I hoped that we’d run into James and maybe he’d have information on Polly.

We walked to the cafeteria together in a big group. Everyone we walked by gave us a smile, although they still seemed apprehensive.

Maddie was at my side with her arms crossed like a shield in front of her body. I hated all the eyes on me. It was like how I felt every time I had started a new job.

“Good morning,” a woman in a long tan skirt said. “You must be new here.”

“Indeed,” Blake said with a tight, forced smile. “James said we could have breakfast here.”

“That’s right.” The woman smiled. “Every morning. Don’t be late or you’ll miss the good stuff.”

She winked and curled her finger for us to follow. The woman stopped in front of a stack of multicolored trays.

“I’m Lois. I’m here every day,” Lois said clasping her hands together. She pointed at the stack of trays. “Well, go on and grab yourself and tray. Get in line and get yourselves some warm breakfast. Sit anywhere you like and enjoy.”

There was a small line forming at the front of the counter. It was just like the cafeteria at Maddie’s school and something told me the food would be similar too.

We moved through the line and my stomach rumbled even though there weren’t a lot of choices. There was oatmeal, mandarin oranges from a can, pancakes, syrup, and best of all… coffee.

We filled our plates and sat together. None of us talked because we were too busy stuffing our faces.

I closed my eyes as I took a long sip of the lukewarm coffee. When I opened my eyes, Blake was smiling at me. He was about to say something but his eyes moved toward something over my shoulder.

“Kit? Is that you?” the voice was like a potato peeler on my bones. “And Maddie! Holy shit!”

I pasted on a polite smile but Maddie’s was authentic.

“Hoyt,” I said as Maddie jumped out of her seat and wrapped her arms around him.

He smiled as he squeezed her back. “Hey kid, it’s good to see you. It’s good to see both of you.”

I couldn’t say the same for him. But of course, he didn’t know what I’d seen.

“I can’t help but think I’m dreaming,” Hoyt said as he let go of Maddie. “How did you guys find this place?”

“Just by chance,” I said. “How long have you been here?”

“Awhile now,” Hoyt said. “I didn’t know what we should do but we happened to see a sign on a telephone pole and decided to check it out. We were hungry and thirsty. Thankfully, we weren’t sick, though.”

“We?” I asked cocking my head to the side.

Hoyt pointed to the food line. “Denise made it too. Isn’t that great?”

“Oh, you two were together when everything happened?” I asked wanting to slap the cheating bastard across the face.

“Yeah,” Hoyt said narrowing his eyes slightly.

“Had you gotten in touch with Polly?” I asked.

Hoyt frowned. “Just an email. Same as all of you received.”

“I see,” I said biting the inside of my cheek. “We were on our way to find her.”

Hoyt was an asshole. We were going out there to find Polly while he shacked up at Outpost 37 with his mistress. Didn’t know if she was alive or dead but he was here having a bed to sleep in and warm meals. And coffee. Fricken coffee.

“Well, it’s so good to see you guys,” Hoyt said looking over my shoulder at Blake. “I see you’ve made some friends. Where’s Freddie?”

“Freddie didn’t make it.” The image of Freddie pacing in front of the house with the sickness popped into my head.

“Sorry to hear that,” Hoyt said. But he wasn’t sorry. No one liked Freddie. Hoyt stuck out his hand toward Dax. “I’m Hoyt Parker, was going to be Kit’s brother-in-law.”

Dax shook his hand. “Dax Archer.”

Hoyt nodded. He waited for more information but Dax sat back down.

“And you are?” Hoyt asked shifting his attention to Blake.

“Blake Archer.” The men shook hands firmly. “I lived across the street from Kit. We helped each other out a bit after the sickness spread through town.”

“I see,” Hoyt said. He looked at Whitney last. His eyes brightened. “And you?”

“Whitney,” she said blinking far too much. “Family friend of the Archer’s.”

“So, you all just got together and survived, huh?” Hoyt asked.

I pressed my lips together. “Yep, that about sums it up.”

There was no need to mention everything else that happened. It wasn’t like he’d care that we had to rescue Maddie from an apartment in Chicago and could have died in the process.

“Well, like I said, I’m Hoyt Parker used to own the best hotel in town. That lovely woman walking this way was my secretary, Denise. It’s good to meet you all.”

“Kit?” Denise said as if she’d drank all the coffee that was left at the outpost. “What are you doing here?”

I shrugged. “I guess this is the place to be if you want to survive.”

“It is!” she said setting down her tray and wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “I am so sorry about your mom and Polly.”

“Thanks,” I said stepping back.

I needed to put space between the two of us before I tackled her to the ground. She knew Hoyt had been engaged. Yet, that didn’t stop her from bending over Hoyt’s desk and hiking up her skirt.

She didn’t give a shit about Polly or my mom. If Maddie hadn’t been standing there with us, I might have handled things differently.

Denise stood next to Hoyt. Both of them wore the same smile… the kind that they probably wore in the office because they had their little secret that no one else knew about.

There was an awkward silence that was broken like a glass window being hit by a rock when Denise slapped her hands together.

“I’m famished,” Denise said sitting down. “Don’t mind me.”

She delicately spooned the oatmeal into her mouth. Meanwhile, my body was threatening to throw back up my breakfast and the sight of both of them.

“There is a chance that Polly is still out there,” I said turning to look at Hoyt.

“I hope she is,” Hoyt said. “It would be amazing if we could all be together. I really miss her.”

Denise loudly swallowed down a bite and wiped her mouth with a brown napkin. “She was so sweet.”

“She is sweet,” I said.

Maddie stared at me. Her eyebrows squeezed together first with concern then confusion.

She knew something was up but thankfully didn’t ask me about it in front of everyone. Hopefully, she wouldn’t ask me about it at all.

“You guys should join us,” Hoyt said. “We’re going to head to the Rec building next.”

“Yes, can we, mom?” Maddie asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“That’s great.” Hoyt beamed. “It’s really great you guys are here.”

Blake cleared his throat. “Does everyone mostly keep to themselves around here?”

“Yeah,” Hoyt said bobbing his head. “I think we’re all still adjusting to everything.”

“Quite likely,” Blake said.

Blake, Dax, and Hoyt started talking about their lives before the sickness. I wouldn’t have guessed the three of them would have anything to talk about but apparently, they got along.

Neither Blake nor Dax knew much about Hoyt. I didn’t know much about him either other than things Polly told me. Well, and that he thought my life had been pathetic. Oh, and that he was a lying, cheating asshole.

I zoned out. I couldn’t even stand to hear Hoyt’s voice.

As soon as Denise was finished, they started walking away. My feet wouldn’t move.

“Mom?” Maddie cocked her head to the side and looked into my eyes. “Are you coming?”

“Um, I think I’ll catch up with you guys,” I said. “Don’t think breakfast settled right. Probably ate too much.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Maddie asked.

I grabbed her hand and shook my head. “I’ll be fine. Go on. Have fun.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

She seemed a bit uncomfortable to leave my side but I knew Dax, Blake, and Whitney would keep an eye on her.

“Yes, I’m sure.” I gave her a quick hug and headed toward our building.

The more distance I put between Hoyt and me, the better I felt. Just being near him made me feel like I needed a shower.

I laid down on my cot and stared at the ceiling. If we had to stay at the outpost, I was going to have to find a way to deal with my Hoyt problem.

Confronting Hoyt was probably the only solution. I wasn’t a confrontational person. But I couldn’t stand there with him thinking I was a fool.

There was a soft knock at the door and I popped up. I quickly got to my feet and dashed to the door.

Maybe it was James.

Maybe he’d found Polly.

I pulled the door opened and Dax flashed me a half-smile that warmed my body. He raised a brow and stepped inside the building.

“You locked the door,” Dax said.

“Oh,” I said forgetting that Blake currently had the key.

We’d decided not to lock the door since nothing in the building was ours. The only time we’d need the door locked was when we were inside the building.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone back so soon,” I said.

I’d wanted my space but it wasn’t bothering me that Dax had come to the building. In fact, the company was actually welcomed because it took my mind off of Hoyt.

“I wanted to check on you,” Dax said. “Seemed like something was bothering you when you left.”

I huffed. “Something was bothering me. Something is bothering me.”

“Are you sick?” Dax asked.

“Not exactly, although it does make me feel sick.”

Dax shook his head. “I’m not following.”

“It’s Hoyt,” I said. “I can’t stand that guy.”

“Wow,” Dax said with wide eyes. There wasn’t seriousness in them and his tone was mildly sarcastic. “You’re an amazing actress. I so could not tell.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Dax nodded. “Right.”

“He’s just one of those guys,” I said.

“I can see that,” Dax said. “Wait, what do you mean? Am I one of those guys?”

“No.” I bit my lip. “You are most definitely not one of those guys. He just thinks he’s the greatest. That his shit doesn’t stink. He thinks everyone is below him.”

Dax nodded. “Oh yeah, he does seem like one of those guys. It’s not just that, though, is it? I mean, there are a lot of guys like that. What makes this one rattle your nerves more?”

“He was engaged to my sister Polly,” I said with a sigh. “That woman with him, Denise—”

“His secretary.”

“Yeah, she’s not just his secretary, though.”

Dax’s eyebrows squeezed together. “What else is she?” His brow suddenly relaxed. “They’re sleeping together?”

“I saw them together just before all this happened. My sister was trapped in New York with the disease and he had Denise bent over his desk.” I swallowed down the sourness at the back of my throat. “She knows he’s engaged.”

“She sounds awful too,” Dax said.

“Yes, they both are. And now we’re stuck here with them,” I said.

“Well, it’s not like we have to see them that much,” Dax said. “We can hide inside like most everyone else seems to be doing.”

I scratched violently at the back of my neck. It felt like a family of creepy crawlies were making their way down my spine.

“Maddie doesn’t know about any of this,” I said. “I don’t want to tell her. She’s so happy to see the idiot.”

“Why don’t you want her to know?” Dax asked. “She can handle it.”

“I know she can but she’s dealt with a lot lately,” I said lowering my head. “She doesn’t need anything else right now.”

Dax took a step closer. “You shouldn’t let it get to you. Karma will get him.”

“After living with Freddie, Karma is not something I believe in.”

Dax chuckled. He walked behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders.

“You know what you need?” Dax said digging his fingertips into the muscles of my upper back.

My eyes closed and my arms softened. “What do I need?”

“You need to sit down and relax,” Dax said as he guided me toward the couch. “Clear your mind.”

“That sounds amazing,” I said. “But I have no idea how to relax.”

My mind hadn’t been clear in years. I wasn’t even sure I knew what it was like to have a clear mind.

Dax’s hands were like magic. My mind was clearing but not completely.

I thought about Dax’s hands all over my body. I wanted an escape.

My head rolled back and I sighed.

“Feels good?” Dax whispered into my ear. His warm breath brushed against my skin.

“Yes,” I said breathlessly.

“How about this?” Dax asked as he brushed his lips across my neck just below my ear. “How does that feel?”

I let out a long exhale. “Amazing.”

His mouth didn’t stop. And my heart pounded frantically against my chest with desire.

I needed this escape.

I deserved this escape.

Chapter 19

I turned and our lips hungrily found each other. His kiss was mind-numbingly amazing.

I forgot what I wanted to forget about. All I could think about was Dax and how it felt like I was floating when his hands moved over my body.

Dax pulled back for a second and hoped over the back of the couch. He was over me, looking into my eyes for a quick moment before he pressed his lips to mine again.

“Is this really happening?” he asked. I could feel his lips as they curled into a slight smile.

“I think it is,” I said unable to stop my own smile from forming.

“I dreamed about this moment,” Dax admitted. “I never thought it would be more than that. A dream.”

I pulled him back to me and kissed him. The talking was distracting. All I wanted was to focus on his touch… his kiss.

His hands slid behind on my neck and a shiver moved down my spine. The skin on my arms prickled pleasantly.

My fingertips grazed his hard chest and my breath hitched. Dax was all muscle… he was so different from what I was used to and it excited me beyond words.

Dax was suddenly like a drug. I couldn’t get enough.

I gripped his shirt and pulled his body against mine. His hand slid down over my shoulder and curved around my breast.

My breaths came at me quicker. I reached down, gripping the hem of Dax’s shirt. I pulled it upward, clumsily trying to remove it.

Dax pulled away from me and hastily ripped off his shirt. The silkiness of his skin was almost as fascinating as the movement of his muscles under his tight skin.

I clung to him as I wrapped my legs around him. He pressed himself hard against me and I could feel exactly how badly he wanted me too.

The only thing stopping things from going further was the clothes we were still wearing.

Dax kissed down my neck as his thumb glided over my breast. My whole body tensed at the pleasure that rippled through my veins.

I loved how I felt with Dax. It was freeing. Almost powerful. And for once, I felt as though I was in control.

Dax’s hand moved down to the button on my jeans and popped it open. He pulled back slightly to look into my eyes. It was like he was looking for permission.

My lips parted and my eyes closed as I grabbed his hand and slid it inside my pants. A deep groan rumbled within him.

Dax expertly worked his fingers. I melted into the couch and forgot about everything.

It was the first time I allowed myself pleasure for the sake of it. I didn’t know who I was and I didn’t care.

I unbuttoned Dax’s pants and helped him wiggle them down below his knees. I bit my lip when he yanked my pants down in nearly one quick movement.

“Dammit, Kit,” he said softly. “You’re amazing.”

I pulled him back down and wrapped my legs around him. A little gasp escaped from between my lips when he entered.

Each movement was a surge of electricity jolting through my body. All my stress, fear, worries, and anxieties dissipated.

I felt as light as a cloud. There wasn’t a single worry in my mind. The only thing there was joy… bliss… absolute pleasure.

Feelings I hadn’t felt in years all pouring in at once was overwhelming. I tried to hold on to them as long as I could but every time Dax touched me or kissed me, it made it harder. It felt like I was a rocket about to launch from its pad into the unknown.

“Oh, Kit,” Dax said as he rolled his hips and grabbed my hand. He pulled it over my head, pressing it to the top cushion.

My control was slipping away. I couldn’t hold it.

Everything crashed through my body at once, causing a tidal wave of ecstasy to splash over me. I held onto Dax, fearing I’d be washed away.

He let out a soft grunt of pleasure at his own release. Our bodies gently rolled together as one as we came back from wherever it was we had gone.

“Jesus, Kit,” Dax said with a massive grin. “That was phenomenal.”

“Yeah,” I said working to catch my breath as I pulled my pants back on. “It was.”

Dax buttoned his pants. “Are you okay? Dammit, Kit. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I mean, I’m glad it did but I was just checking to make sure you were okay.”

“No, I know. It really was great but it shouldn’t have happened. My daughter could have come back or anyone really,” I said nervously, rubbing my fingers together. “I don’t normally do this kind of thing.”

“I don’t either,” Dax said but there was something about the way he said that made me feel like it also hadn’t been the first time. “I like you, Kit. This wasn’t just some, I don’t know, one-day-stand sort of thing.”

“I think it needs to be,” I said combing my fingers through my hair.

Dax looked disappointed. And confused.

“I’m sorry,” I said pressing my palm to my forehead. “It’s just that things are really weird right now, you know?”

“Yeah, but you’re making it sound like being with me was a mistake.”

“It wasn’t a mistake,” I said looking into his eyes. “But it can’t happen again. At least not until we figure things out.”

“Figure what things out?” Dax asked.

I stepped up to him and placed my hand on his arm. “Like what we’re going to do if we can’t find Polly. Where I’m going to live and how I’m going to take care of my daughter. There is so much that I don’t know where to even start.”

“I can help figure those things out,” Dax said. “Blake and Whitney too.”

I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “Whitney? Are you serious?”

“It doesn’t matter. I will do whatever I can to help,” Dax said.

“Sorry.” Apologizing was what I did best. Really, it was the only thing I knew how to do. “For now, we can’t let that happen again. The last thing I want is for my daughter to walk in on us. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Dax said. “Whatever you want.”

He smiled but still, he clearly felt rejected. Admittedly, I could have handled things differently but I still didn’t fully believe that I’d just slept with Dax.

Out of the blue.

Just like that.

I didn’t regret it. There wasn’t anything wrong with it but I also didn’t understand my actions.

“I’m sorry,” I said taking his hand into mine and giving it a quick squeeze. “I’ve never been good at this kind of thing.”

“What kind of thing?” Dax asked. “What was this? It sounds like you want to just pretend it didn’t happen.”

My shoulders sank. “That’s not what I meant at all. I just need to deal with other things before I can even approach something like this.”

“I can’t change how I feel about you,” Dax said.

“I’m not asking you to. I have feelings for you too but I need to put them on hold,” I said biting my lip. “Please try to understand.”

Dax kissed my forehead. “Just don’t shut me out. I don’t want everything to be all weird between us.” Dax lowered his head. “I should have stopped it. I’m weak when it comes to you.”

“Stop it,” I said narrowing my eyes. “I’m glad it happened. And maybe it can happen again, just not here. Not in this place.”

“Okay,” Dax said bringing a smile to his face. “I was going to propose but I guess that’s probably a bad idea.”

I blinked.

“God, I’m kidding,” Dax said shaking his head. “Give me a little credit here. I get what you're saying. I’ll back off a bit.”

He raised a brow and took a quick step closer. Our bodies were just barely touching.

“For now, that is,” Dax said touching his thumb to his lower lip. “But not for long.”

There was a soft thud outside the door and I was able to take a step away from Dax before it opened. I pulled in a quick breath.

Blake, Whitney, and Maddie all came into the room one by one. Blake looked at us and my cheeks felt warm. It was almost as if he could read all over my face what had just happened.

Blake narrowed his eyes. “Everything okay in here?”

“Yeah, of course,” I said speaking a bit faster than I meant too. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Seemed like maybe we interrupted something,” Blake said suspiciously. “We’re you guys arguing about something?”

Dax shook his head. “We never argue. Kit and I get along swimmingly.”

“You don’t get along with anyone swimmingly,” Blake said.

I cleared my throat. “Why are you all back so soon? Weren’t having fun with Hoyt?”

“He was tired,” Maddie said flopping down on her cot. “He and Denise went back to their building for a rest.”

A rest my ass.

“Can you believe they have their own building?” Whitney asked. “They said it’s one of the smaller ones but it’s not fair. We all have to cram in here and they get a building all to themselves.”

My stomach swirled. I needed fresh air. No, I needed to confront Hoyt and get this over with while I was still feeling strength from my encounter with Dax.

“What building are they in?” I asked.

“Forty-nine,” Maddie said. “Hoyt said I can visit anytime.”

“That’s nice,” I said flicking a glance at Dax. He knew about Hoyt… what he didn’t know was what I was about to do. I exhaled and put on a wide smile. “I’m going to get some air.”

Dax swallowed. “Want company?”

Blake looked back and forth between us. Eventually, his eyes settled on me.

“No, thanks, though. I’ll be back soon,” I said still wearing the smile. It felt uncomfortable. Like it was too big for my face.

Blake stood. “I’m not sure how I feel about you heading out on your own. You sure one of us can’t join you?”

“It’ll be fine,” I said holding up my hand.

“You don’t have to worry about my mom,” Maddie said without opening her eyes. Even after all the sleep we got, she still looked tired. “She can take care of herself like no one else I’ve ever known. She’s a survivor.”

My throat dried. Maddie must have been half-asleep. How could she have forgotten what I was like so quickly?

“Yeah,” Blake said. “It’s this place I don’t trust just yet.”

I walked over to the door, holding my hand up. “If anything goes wrong, I’ll scream. This place isn’t that big, you’ll hear it.”

I quickly opened the door and stepped out, sucking in a deep breath of air. My lungs filled with cool air.

It only took me a second to figure out which way I needed to go to find building number forty-nine. It was time to have a talk with Hoyt.

Chapter 20

I looked up at each building as I walked by. The numbers increasing as I went further away from the only people in the outpost that I actually cared about.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to say but I knew I was going to tell him that he was an asshole. Finally, I’d be the one looking down at him.

Hoyt probably wouldn’t even care. Why would it matter? Polly was missing, quite possibly dead or among the sick. He’d be happy he didn’t have to pretend to be kind to Maddie or me. We weren’t anything to him anymore.

Footsteps quickly scratched at the dirt path behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see Dax chasing after me. He wouldn’t want me to go alone to confront Hoyt and honestly, maybe I shouldn’t have.

But it wasn’t Dax behind me… it was James.

“Kit!” he said. “I was on my way to talk to you when I saw you leave your building. Is everything going okay?”

“Yes,” I said my tone harsh. It hadn’t been meant for James, my mind had already been prepared to give Hoyt hell.

“Okay, great. What are you doing over here? Are you lost?” James asked.

I looked around and blinked several times. I wasn’t in the mood to tell him we’d found acquaintances.

“Oh, I guess I am,” I said forcing a laugh. “I was looking for the supply building.” I hesitated, surprising myself with the quick lie. “For some water.”

“I see, well, it’s back this way,” James said gesturing. “Let me show you.”

I pressed my lips together and followed him. My courage to confront Hoyt felt like it was melting away.

“So, I did some digging and…,” James stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe we should join your friends before I say anymore.”

I shook my head. “Say any more about what?”

“About your friend Polly Beyers,” James said looking down as he clasped his hands. “I’m afraid the news isn’t good.”

I’d already been prepared for bad news. “She’s dead?”

“She was on her way to Maine,” James said pointing toward our building. “Are you sure you don’t want to be with the others?”

“It’s probably better for my daughter to hear it from me,” I said. It was an excuse I was pretty sure James would accept.

It was probably wrong of me not to go back to the building. But Polly was my sister. The others, excluding Maddie, hadn’t even met her.

“Her transport made it about halfway when the vehicle was in some kind of accident,” James said frowning. “There were a few that survived the accident. It seems as though Polly was not one of them. I’m sorry.”

“And you’re sure?” I asked. The calmness of my voice surprised me.

“As sure as I can be. I spoke to several people. The base in Maine confirmed that she is not there. I also checked in with several outposts on that route and the only one that had any record of her was before the accident,” James said. “I wish I would have better news for you. If there is anything I can do, please let me know.”

I nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Can I walk with you back to your building? Then I’d be happy to get you whatever supplies you were in need of,” James offered.

“Maybe later. I just want to go back,” I said suddenly feeling very light-headed.

“I understand,” James said walking with me.

We continued in silence back to the building. I felt like a zombie. My body was stiff and my emotions were nonexistent.

“Thanks,” I said when we got to the door.

“Again, I’m very sorry that I didn’t have better news,” James said. “We’ll talk soon about your plans. Of course, I’d be thrilled for you to stay with us but we’ll worry about all that another time.”

I nodded and opened the door. James stood there like a statue. It wasn’t until I closed the door that I heard him walk away from the building.

My hand twisted the lock. I couldn’t turn away from the door. I just stood there staring at the doorknob, unable to face the others.

“Kit?” Blake said stepping up behind me. I jumped when he lightly touched my shoulder. “Did something happen? Who was that out there?”

It took me several minutes to find the words. Maddie was sitting up, staring at me with concern oozing from the corners of her eyes.

“It was James,” I finally said.

“Mom?” Maddie said blinking rapidly. She could see it wasn’t good news.

I shook my head and tears started to roll down my cheeks. My knees felt weak.

Blake grabbed my arm and Dax was at my other side in a blink. The guided me over to the sofa helped lower me down.

“I’m so sorry, Kit,” Whitney said.

At that moment, her voice irritated me more than ever but I could tell she was genuinely sorry about the news.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Blake asked.

“What did he say?” Dax asked at the same time.

I sucked in a breath. “She was on the vehicle to Maine but it never made it. There was some kind of accident… Polly didn’t survive.”

“Is he sure?” Blake asked.

“As sure as he can be,” I said wiping at the corner of my eyes. “He said he contacted several people.”

“Did he say anything else,” Blake said as he rubbed the top of my shoulder.

“Probably,” I said clasping my shaking hands together. “I can’t remember much else.”

I mustered up the courage to look over at Maddie. She was sitting up in the cot with tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked small and afraid. Just like when she was five or six and thought there was a ghost in her closet.

“I’m so, so sorry, Maddie,” I said.

Maddie sniffed hard. “I knew it was unlikely. Maybe I already knew deep down.”

Maddie got off of the bed and dragged her feet as she came over to me. She sat down next to me and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder as she rested her head on me.

“I’m sorry, mom,” she said. “Aunt Polly was awesome. I know you’re really going to miss her.”

“Of course, I will.” I squeezed her closer to me. “But I think I knew the chances of her still being out there were slim too. It was just a bit of a shock, you know?”

“Yeah, we’ll be okay,” Maddie said. “Hoyt and Denise are here so we still have some family. It’s not just the two of us.”

My body tensed. “Even if it were just the two of us, we’ll be okay. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know,” Maddie said. There was a long moment before she pulled back and looked into my eyes. “What are we going to do now? Stay here with Uncle Hoyt?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Is that what you want to do? Stay here?”

“I think so,” Maddie said. “It’s scary out there and where would we even go?”

Whitney released a muffled cough. “We could all go back to Blake’s house.”

“The house has probably been ransacked,” Blake said shaking his head. “I’m not sure going back there is a good idea.”

“You think we should stay here?” I asked through my sadness.

“I don’t think there are a lot of choices,” Blake said looking at his feet.

Dax started to pace. “I’m not sure I can handle it in here. I feel like a rat in a cage.”

“You felt like that back at my place,” Blake said.

“But at least there I could leave anytime I wanted,” Dax said.

“You can leave here if you want too,” Blake said. “They just might not let you back in. Maybe you could get in on one of their adventuring parties where they go looking for chumps like us in the middle of nowhere.”

Dax caught my gaze for a second but he didn’t hold it. He looked toward the door, almost as if he wanted to run at that very moment.

“We don’t need to talk about it now,” Blake said.

“But we can talk about it now,” I said with a half-shrug. “Nothing is going to change from now until when we do decide to talk about it and James is going to want to know our plans eventually anyway.”

“I just thought maybe you and Maddie would like some time before we discuss it,” Blake said.

“We don’t need time,” I said firmly. “What are our options?”

No one responded.

“Guess we don’t have any,” I muttered.

“We can stay or we can go see if there is anything else out there,” Blake said. “Those are the only two options I can think of. Obviously, there are risks to leaving.”

“This place was set up by the government for exactly this type of scenario,” Whitney said. “It’s where we should stay.”

Blake dragged his fingertips across his forehead as he sighed. “Maybe Whitney is right. What if we drive into a crowd of the sick again? Next time we might not be as lucky.”

“We could just stay until we come up with a better idea,” Whitney said. “And who knows, maybe we won’t think of anything better.”

Dax groaned. “The five of us trapped inside this small building for the rest of our lives? I don’t think I can handle it.”

“Let’s just give it some time,” Blake said. “No one is knocking down our door for answers at the moment.”

“I think we’re going to stay,” I said holding Maddie tighter. The thought of her out there beyond the fence again was terrifying.

“Me too,” Whitney said.

Then again, the thought of living with Whitney wasn’t that great either. Whitney made me feel sick but it wasn’t anything like what those things outside the fence could do to me.

Blake shrugged. “Well, I’m not going out there alone. I’m staying too.”

Dax groaned as he turned his back to us. He stood absolutely still for at least a minute before he charged forward and dashed out the door.

He wasn’t even gone more than a second when a gunshot split the air in two.

Chapter 21

Blake looked around as if he was trying to determine if he’d imagined the sound.

“Was that what I think it was?” Whitney asked.

“A gunshot,” Blake said. “Close too.”

“Like inside one of the buildings?” Whitney asked her voice rising with each word.

Blake shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

He opened the door and peered out, his head moving in both directions. He mumbled something to someone outside the door.

Blake came back into the room and Dax was just a step behind. He didn’t look quite as rattled as I felt.

“What’s going on out there?” I asked.

“Something at the fence,” Dax said. “I could see movement and hear voices but not sure what any of it was about.” Dax paced back and forth quickly before stopping abruptly. “Think I’m going to go check it out.”

“What?” I said getting to my feet. “No. No way.”

Dax bit back a smile. “Worried about me?”

“Of course, I’m worried about you,” I said unable to disguise the frustration. “If you hear a gunshot, you don’t go toward it.”

“I want to know what’s going on,” Dax said. “You all want to stay here, well then we should know what’s going on in this place, shouldn’t we?”

“Maybe Dax is right,” Blake said. “Don’t forget we’re armed too.”

I threw my arms into the air. “You’ve got to be kidding me. All this time, I wasn’t sure how you two could be related. Now, I think I see it.”

Dax didn’t even try to hold in his chuckle. He looked straight into my eyes.

“It’s going to be okay,” Dax said. “Wait here.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said turning on my heel.

I wasn’t sure if I was extra frustrated because of the whole Hoyt thing or if it was from hearing about Polly. Maybe it was because of what had happened between Dax and I. All I knew was that it felt like everyone was on my last nerve.

“Fine, whatever, go,” I said without turning around.

Seconds later, the door closed.

My eyes were wide as I spun toward the door. I couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping.

“That’s Blake and Dax for you,” Whitney muttered.

“Screw it,” I said as I stomped across the room. I pointed at Maddie. “Stay with Whitney.”

Before Maddie could respond, I left the building and marched down toward Blake and Dax’s shadows. I wasn’t sure when it had got so dark. It was hard to see more than a few feet in front of me that I worried I was going to trip over something.

There were so few lights in the camp that I could see all the sparkling stars in the sky. The moon was just a sliver peeking down at earth without giving us any light.

Blake and Dax stopped walking and stood at the side of one of the buildings. They were watching something but I couldn’t see what from where I was.

I tip-toed closer, stopping inches behind them. There was a small space between them that I looked out of toward the fence.

“What’s going on?” I whispered.

Blake turned quickly and grabbed my arm. He immediately let go as if he instantly registered that it was me and not someone he needed to be worried about.

“Jesus, Kit!” he whispered. “You can’t do that. Get back inside.”

“If you guys can be out here, so can I,” I said. “We’re free to move about the camp as much as we like.”

“Not when you hear gunshots,” Blake scolded.

I narrowed my eyes. “I could say the same to you. Anyway, what’s going on?”

“It was just a couple sick wandering up to the fence,” Dax said with his arms crossed. “Guess they shoot them.”

“How can they tell they’re sick at night?” I asked.

Dax shrugged. “Flashed the lights in their eyes maybe?”

“Do they know shooting them isn’t going to actually get rid of them?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Dax said. “That guy there,” Dax said as he pointed at a big guy near a shed, “he went to get an axe.”

“Yikes,” I said as I swallowed hard.

Blake glanced at me over his shoulder. “You might not want to watch.”

“Maybe we should all just go back to the building?” I suggested. “None of us really need to see this, do we?”

Blake turned away and nodded at me. “You’re right. Come on, Dax.”

“I’ll catch up,” Dax said.

“You want to watch?” I asked feeling a lump form at the back of my throat.

Dax looked at me. There was a bright reflection in the corner of his eye that sparkled like one of the stars above.

“I don’t want to watch but I do want to see how they handle all of this,” Dax said. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”

“Fine,” I said shaking my head as I folded my arms.

Dax was probably still upset with me because of how I handled things after we… we… after we slept together. Honestly, he had every right to be frustrated with me.

Blake walked back to the building with me in silence. We were about ten feet away when I stopped him.

“Do you think staying here is the best thing for us to do? I want to do the right thing for Maddie,” I said with concern wrinkling my brow. “I’ve never done the right thing for her and I need to.”

“I really don’t know,” Blake said. “It’s probably safer here than anywhere out there. We’re fenced in. They’re protecting us from the sick. It just strikes me odd.”

I cocked my head to the side. “What’s odd?”

“That all these places existed and we never knew about them,” Blake said. “Maybe I’ve driven past here before and never even thought about what this place was used for. How many other secrets are out there?”

“Probably tons,” I said looking up toward the sky.

“If you want to go, the SUV is just on the other side of the fence,” Blake said pointing toward the gate. “We can try to find something else.”

“What else is there? Another outpost or base?” I asked folding my arms. “Or maybe the only thing waiting out there for us is dangerous and or sick people.”

Blake nodded. “Could very well be the case. The only way to know is to leave.”

“So, that’s what you think we should do?”

“I don’t know what the hell the right answer is,” Blake said with a huff. “I just know I don’t want to be the only one deciding. The only thing I know for sure that I want is for all of us to stay together.”

I swallowed hard. The air around us was getting tighter. Blake looked at me so intensely that it made my insides bubble.

After what happened with Dax, I couldn’t let myself feel anything. They were brothers. And we were all together.

“We should get back inside,” I said.

“Right,” Blake nodded.

When we got back to the door, it was locked. Whitney must have locked it after we left.

Blake held up the key and opened the door. Maddie was sitting on her cot with her arms crossed, glaring at me and Whitney was wearing a similar look directed at Blake.

“Well?” Whitney asked after Blake closed the door. “What’s going on out there.”

Blake explained and it only seemed to make Whitney like the place more. She made several comments about how safe we were inside the fence.

Maddie nodded along with her every comment. I need to do everything I could to keep her safe.

“I’ll tell James in the morning we’re staying,” I said.

Blake didn’t question me, he only nodded.

“Should we wait for Dax?” Maddie asked.

“He’ll stay with us,” Blake said with certainty. “I’ll go with you to talk to James.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded. It wasn’t like I needed him with me but it wouldn’t hurt either.

When Dax returned, Blake took him outside. They had a long quiet talk. The only thing we could hear inside were mumbles. I hadn’t been able to make out a single word.

After they came back inside, Dax grabbed a snack bar off the table next to the couch and flopped down. He sighed and leaned his head back after he finished chewing.

His head rolled to the side and our eyes locked. He stared at me for several long seconds before he smiled and looked back up at the ceiling.

Maybe things would be okay. Maybe we’d all be okay.

I closed my eyes but sleep didn’t find me as easily as it had the first time I’d laid down on the cot. The night was sprinkled with tossing and turning with a mix of nightmares here and there.

Morning came quickly and before I knew it, Blake and I were on our way to James’s building.

Chapter 22

Blake and I only made it three buildings away from ours when we heard footsteps scraping the ground behind us.

“Kit!” Hoyt called. He was waving his hands to get our attention as he huffed and puffed, clearly out of shape.

We stopped and Hoyt slowed his jog to a walk. He took several deep breaths, working to calm his breathing.

He was in good shape but clearly, it was due to his diet, not because of exercise.

“I was hoping to catch you before breakfast. Do you have a minute?” Hoyt asked.

“Um, sure,” I said crossing my arms and planting my feet into the ground. “What’s up?”

“I meant alone,” Hoyt said with a half-smile and a raised brow directed at Blake.

Blake scratched the side of his face, clearly unsure about leaving me. “I guess I’ll wait over there if you want.”

He pointed to a building with three boxes stacked outside. If I remembered correctly, it was the supply building.

“Sure,” I said thankful he wouldn’t be too far.

Hoyt waited until Blake was well out of earshot. “I know you well enough to know something is going on with you. I could tell at breakfast yesterday that something is on your mind. It’s not like I don’t know you well enough to know when you're bothered by something.” Hoyt leaned closer and looked down at me. “Is there something I should know? Is it about Polly?”

“Would you even care if it were about Polly?” I asked sharply.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Of course, I would,” Hoyt said his forehead wrinkling deeply. “Tell me, Kit. I deserve to know what this is all about.”

“Polly didn’t survive,” I said. “James told me he did some digging and she never made it to the base in Maine. The one we were going to in an attempt to find her while you waited here with Denise.”

Hoyt swallowed hard. “Huh.” He stared at his feet for a long moment before his nose wrinkled. “Okay but it’s not that. You didn’t know that at breakfast yesterday. There is something else, spill it.”

“It’s nothing. There is no point in discussing it anymore,” I said turning away from him.

I’d intended to let it out but it felt like no good would come out of it. It would just be so Hoyt knew he hadn’t pulled the wool over my eyes.

I started to walk toward Blake but Hoyt grabbed my arm. His fingertips painfully dug into my flesh.

“Tell me what’s on your mind,” Hoyt hissed. “You know I saw you driving away that day. From the hotel. You came to see me, didn’t you? What were you doing at the hotel?”

I stared at his hand before flicking my eyes up to meet his. His hand dropped away as if I’d injected him with poison.

“Polly was trying to reach you and asked me to stop by the hotel,” I said. “She wanted to talk to you.”

“But you never came in to tell me that. You didn’t even leave a message with the receptionist that my fiancé was trying to get ahold of me,” Hoyt said. “She said you ran off.”

He knew I’d been there. He probably knew I’d been inside his office. The receptionist would have told him what happened.

“I wanted to get home before Freddie got there,” I replied with a small half-shrug.

“So, you drove all the way to the hotel only to come into the office and run away? And without leaving me a message?” Hoyt asked. His jaw stiffened. “I’m not an idiot, Kit. You know that, right?”

Suddenly, it hit me. Hoyt wasn’t any different from Freddie was.

Hoyt was a controlling jerk too. The only difference between Hoyt and Freddie was that Hoyt didn’t drink and that he actually had tons of money. Money that was absolutely useless now.

Hoyt wasn’t anyone special.

He was a no one. But it didn’t seem as though he knew that yet.

I didn’t need to be afraid of Hoyt. And there was no reason to keep his secret.

I slowly exhaled. “Yeah, I left because I didn’t know how I was going to tell Polly what I saw through your office window. I felt like throwing up and I didn’t want to stain your beautiful hotel carpet. It would have probably cost an arm and a leg to replace it.”

Hoyt laughed.

“Cheating on my sister is funny to you?” I asked unable to hide the fact that I was appalled. And disgusting. “How long had this been going on with Denise?”

“Specifically, Denise or anyone that wasn’t Polly?” Hoyt asked with a laugh.

My stomach swirled.

Hoyt snorted oxygen. “Let’s just say I knew Denise long before I met Polly.”

“You make me sick.”

“Everything okay here?” Blake asked from my right.

I hadn’t realized he’d walked over to us. How long had he been standing there? Knowing Blake, he probably hadn’t liked it when Hoyt grabbed my arm.

It didn’t matter how long Blake had been there. I hoped he’d heard every word of our conversation. I wanted everyone to know what kind of person Hoyt really was.

“Everything is perfectly fine,” I said. “We’re just finally clearing the air. It’s just too bad that Polly will never get to know what a horrible person you are.”

Hoyt shook off my words. He hadn’t cared about Polly or what she thought of him. He probably didn’t care about Denise either. There was only one person a guy like Hoyt would care about that and that was himself.

“The one thing I don’t understand is why did Denise go along with it? She knew you were engaged,” I said crossing my arms as I looked down my nose at him the way I’d always wanted to.

“Denise is easy to please. She likes expensive gifts, her rent paid, and a good fuck from time to time,” Hoyt said with a chuckle. “She wasn’t high maintenance like Polly. Like all of you. Your family was a charity case, really. And for what? All that money, thrown away on a cure and look at what happened. Your mom’s gone. Polly’s gone. Hundreds of thousands of people… gone.”

His words stabbed deep into my heart. It was like he was blaming my mom for what happened.

“Are you really that stupid? They would have given the drug out with or without my mom,” I said trying not to let my emotions show. “Why were you even with Polly? She wanted to have kids with you.”

“Wouldn’t that have been something?” Hoyt said shaking his head. “Polly was smart. Beautiful. It helped to bring her to work functions. She was charming and it really helped with investors. I couldn’t have brought someone like Denise.”

“So, essentially, the marriage was a business arrangement?” I asked.

Hoyt smirked.

I swallowed hard. “But Polly didn’t know that.”

Hoyt brought his index finger to his lips. “She didn’t need to know.”

I pulled my fist back and threw it into his chest. It was like punching a wooden plank but still, it felt so good that I did it with my left hand. I kept pounding my fists into him until Blake pulled me back.

Hoyt just laughed like I was a pesky little fly zipping around his body. “I’m glad that’s all out in the open. It’s so freeing,” he said. “Make sure you keep that little brat out of my hair while you’re here. It’s exhausting pretending to like the both of you. Kids are really fucking annoying, though.”

My fingers went numb as I squeezed my balled-up fists tighter. Blake held me back so I couldn’t attack Hoyt again. It was one thing to mess with my sister but now he was messing with my daughter.

I hadn’t expected it when Blake let go of me and turned quickly to face Hoyt. I thought he was going to give him a piece of his mind but he didn’t.

My mouth dropped open as Blake threw his fist into the side of Hoyt’s face. Hard.

Hoyt looked stunned. His eyes rolled back into his head and he wobbled to the side. Rage bubbled up inside of him but it only lasted a second before Hoyt dropped to the ground.

“He deserved that,” Blake said shaking his fist.

“I’m jealous,” I said stepping over Hoyt to follow Blake toward James’s building. “I really wish I could have done that.”

“Sorry about that,” Blake said. “I wasn’t expecting to have that reaction. I couldn’t help it. It hit me so fast I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was over. I’m sure he’ll think twice before bothering you or Maddie again, though.”

“Bothering,” I said with a snort. “That’s putting it lightly. Can you believe that asshole was sleeping with his secretary? And probably half of the town’s single women.”

Blake glanced back at Hoyt over his shoulder. “Actually, I do believe it. I could tell he was a creep the second I met him.”

“It’s too bad he’ll be in this camp with us.”

“I don’t think he’ll be any trouble,” Blake said stopping at James’s door. “Well, here we are.”

“Here we are,” I repeated.

“Ready?”

I swallowed as I nodded. I reached out and knocked on the door.

Chapter 23

“Sit down, sit down,” James said gesturing first at the living room but then toward the chairs by his desk. Blake and I didn’t move. “Or we can stand. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Blake looked at me and waited for me to speak. I drew in a breath and shoved my hands into my pockets.

“We’ve given it some thought, and we’re going to stay,” I said.

“That’s fantastic news!” James said practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. He turned on his heel and sat down behind his desk. “I’ll add you to the roster at once.”

He started to write on the paper but stopped. James looked up at Blake.

“I’ll need your full names,” James said. “We need it for our records.”

“Yeah,” Blake said. “No problem.”

I gave him my name and Maddie’s name and Blake gave him Dax and Whitney’s. After James finished writing, he looked up at us, smiling brightly.

“This is just wonderful,” James said. “We have our group that goes out to find survivors you can sign up to go along on one of those parties should you choose. We also have the garden, although that’s currently a disaster, and I’ve been thinking about putting a team together to find other kinds of supplies. You know, like more books and things do. I really want people to feel at home here.”

James seemed to be rambling. It was like he was trying to sell us on the place even though we’d already agreed to stay. Perhaps he wanted us to know he thought we’d made the right decision.

“Do either of you have any questions for me?” James asked.

“Um, not really,” I said.

“How long do we stay here? Will we get transferred to one of the main bases?” Blake asked.

James held up a finger. “Great question! We’ve all been here since the beginning. I think the idea is that eventually, we’ll be transferred or tasked with rebuilding the area.” James leaned closer to us as if he were about to divulge a big secret. “Right now, I think they’re still trying to figure out what to do.”

“Who’s in charge?” Blake asked.

“There is a leader at each of the main bases. They’re like a committee,” James said. “But with everyone scattered about, I think communication between them takes time. The outposts are the last to get news. As long as they keep bringing the supplies, we’re good.”

Blake widened his stance as he crossed his arms. “What if they stop bringing the supplies?”

“That’s why I’m considering putting together a team that goes out and collects stuff that’s been left behind,” James said. “Just in case we’re ever left to fend for ourselves. We’ll also have the garden and maybe some chickens. A small farm. There are some apple trees out back but there isn’t much we can do this time of year.”

James signed as he slowly moved his head side to side. He looked back and forth between us and smiled.

“Don’t worry, though, that’s all worst-case scenario. You know, better safe than sorry. We’ll be prepared,” James said. “And now that you’ve all joined us, they’ll bring us even more supplies. You guys are tough. You wouldn’t have made it this far if you weren’t. It’s really good to have you all here.”

James was beaming like the star of a show getting applause as the curtain fell behind him. There was a knock at the door and his cheery mood vanished.

“Come in,” James said.

The door opened and someone I hadn’t seen before slipped in the doorway. She was short, her glasses had tape wrapped around the side.

“James, there’s a problem in the kitchen. Lois needs you right away,” the short woman said in a high-pitched, childlike voice.

“Can’t you handle it? I’m a bit busy,” James said.

“Lois said I can’t go back without you,” the woman said.

James stood. “My work is never done. If you’ll excuse me for just a moment.”

James left the building, leaving Blake and I standing there, staring at the door he’d just closed.

“Do we need to wait here?” I asked.

Blake shrugged. “Not sure.”

I hugged myself as I turned and looked at his desk. His computer was closed but all of his documents were sitting on the table.

“Watch the door for me,” I said as I walked over to his desk.

My hand shook as I walked behind it and flipped through the pages he’d written our names on. It seemed to be a list of all the people who’d come to the camp and the date.

“What are you doing?” Blake asked.

“Snooping,” I replied as I looked in the big book, wondering if I might find info on Polly. “What the hell?”

I flipped through the pages but every single page was empty. There were no names, no documentation. Nothing.

“What is it?” Blake asked.

“This book is empty,” I said as I closed it and looked around the area. Maybe it was the wrong book? But it couldn’t have been because it was the only one. “There isn’t anything written in it.”

“How can that be?” Blake asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

My stomach ached as if it were shrinking and wrinkling up into a raisin. I flipped open the computer and pressed the power button.

The screen lit up and there was a file open at the bottom of the screen. I clicked to enlarge it and a spreadsheet filled the screen.

“It’s a giant database of names,” I said narrowing my eyes.

“You should probably turn that off,” Blake said.

“Just a second,” I said scrolling up the long list of names. It was organized by the state and base number. “Oh, my God.”

It felt like I was hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat. I stared at the screen and swallowed down the bile that was bubbling up the back of my throat.

“I can’t believe this,” I said swallowing again.

“Someone’s coming, Kit,” Blake said walking over to the side of the desk. It was like he’d been talking to me but I hadn’t heard him until he was right next to me. “Turn it off.”

I quickly shrunk the database back down and closed the laptop. Blake pulled me back to the other side of the desk.

“Oh shit!” I said pulling away from Blake’s side.

The doorknob jiggled and I reached across the desk closing the book. Everything was exactly how it had been when James had left… at least I was pretty sure it was.

James entered and smiled at us. “Sorry about that. Kitchen crisis.”

“No problem,” Blake said. “We weren’t sure if we needed to stay or—”

“I just needed a little more information from you before I can let you go,” James said opening a drawer at the side of his desk. He pulled out several pieces of paper and handed one to me and one to Blake. “I need you to fill these out. In fact, I need everyone that will be staying to fill one out.”

“No problem,” I said pasting on a smile. “Is there any chance we can just take these back to our building and bring them back later?”

James tapped his chin. “Hmm, I guess that would be okay. Usually, people fill them out in here but since most of you aren’t here right now. Just get them back to me before the end of the day so I can enter you all into the system.”

“You got it,” I said.

Blake and I turned to leave but we didn’t make it out the door. My heart thudded hard against my chest when James stood in front of the exit.

He stared at us with his eyebrows squeezed together. A smile grew on his face as he held out two pens. “You’ll need these.”

“Oh, ha! Thanks,” I said. “You saved us a trip having to come back and ask for them.”

I took them from his hand and James stepped aside. He waved at us as we walked away. “See you guys later.”

Blake and I walked in silence back to our building. He held up his hand to stop me from going inside the building.

“What did you see on his computer?” Blake asked keeping his voice lighter than the gentle breeze.

I drew in a breath that stretched my lungs. “Polly’s alive. She made it to Maine.”

Chapter 24

Blake stared. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

I shook my head. “It makes perfect sense. James wants us to stay here. He lied to us.”

“Why would he care if we stayed or not?” Blake asked.

“Did you hear him? He said if we stay, he gets more supplies delivered,” I said lightly dragging my fingers across my damp brow.

“He could just lie about how many people are here,” Blake said.

I chewed my fingernail. “He could but maybe there is a reason he can’t. Maybe they check?”

“That would take a lot of time,” Blake said. “How sure are you about what you saw?”

“I saw she’s currently residing inside the Maine camp. It listed her building number,” I said scrunching up my nose as I tried to remember the number I saw listed next to her name. “Thirteen, I think. If she were in an accident like James said, she wouldn’t have ever made it to Maine to even be assigned a building.”

My fingers were squeezing the papers James had given us so tightly they had creases in them. I relaxed my hand and smoothed the papers against the door.

“There is no doubt in my mind he lied,” I said. “I’m not staying here. We have to get to Polly. And maybe even more importantly, I need to get Maddie out of this place. Who knows what else this guy is lying about?”

“He’s probably not going to let us leave then either, is he?” Blake asked. “At least not easily.”

“We’ll have to sneak out,” I said grabbing his shirt. “Come on, let’s tell the others.”

After we updated the others, the room was silent. Dax and Maddie seemed stunned but Whitney looked at me as if I were making it up.

“Just because you saw something in a computer means it’s true,” Whitney said. “Maybe the info just hadn’t been updated yet. They could have assigned everyone a room before they arrived.”

“It said she was active,” I said placing my hands on my hips. “He would have seen that when we first told him her name. He wouldn’t have had to do any digging to find out what happened to her. I don’t care if you believe me or not but I have enough doubt that I’m going out there to find my sister.”

“We’re all going,” Blake added.

“I don’t have to go anywhere,” Whitney said.

Blake shifted his weight. “That’s right. You don’t have to. You’re welcome to stay if you want. No one is making you go.”

I could see Whitney’s heart sink into her stomach as it broke into tiny little pieces. Her eyes filled with so much anger Whitney’s eyes bulged nearly as much as the eyes of those with the sickness.

“This is ridiculous,” Whitney said. “You barely know her, yet you're going to follow her to your death.”

“The only person that needs to come with me is Maddie,” I said.

“Of course, I’m going with you,” Maddie said glaring at Whitney. “Anyone that would want to stay in a place like this is a fool.”

Whitney snorted. “A place with a fence. Somewhere safe? Tons of food and water. Yeah, I’m a fool.”

“Run by someone that lies about what’s going on just to keep people here,” I said. “If you like being a prisoner, then this is the place for you.”

“Prisoners, ha! Does anyone here look like they’re being held against their will?” Whitney asked.

“You know what, Whitney? I don’t have time to argue with you. Make your own choice,” I said slapping down the piece of paper James had given us. “James wants you to fill this it out and return it to him. Oh, and here’s the pen.”

Blake scratched the back of his neck. “Whitney, please reconsider.”

“No,” she said stubbornly. “I’m sick of all of this. I don’t want to ride another mile.”

“Whitney,” Blake said.

“I’m sick of chasing something I’ll never have,” Whitney said. “I’ve given you enough years.” She shook her head as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I can’t do it anymore.”

Blake walked over to Whitney and looked into her eyes. “Please, Whit, come with us. I don’t think you’re safe here.”

She stared into his eyes. I could see she was fighting with herself.

He took her hand into his. “I know it’s hard out there but everything will be easier if we all stay together. You know I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

“I know,” Whitney said softly.

“But if you don’t stay with me, I won’t be able to protect you,” Blake said. “We need to stay together.”

I turned away from them, unable to stop my eyes from rolling. I wasn’t sure why it was so important for Whitney to join us but it probably had something to do with the fact that Blake had known her nearly his entire life.

“Fine,” Whitney said. “Can we just rest for one more day? I’m so tired.”

“I wish we could,” Blake said tapping his index finger on the paper in front of her. “But we can’t. James wants these back tonight. It’s better if he doesn’t have any information about us than he already does.”

“That sounds seriously paranoid,” Whitney said letting the pen fall from her hand. “How are we going to get out of here without being seen?”

Blake stood and straightened his spine. “We haven’t figured out our escape plan just yet.”

“We’ll just leave when everyone is eating dinner,” Dax said with a shrug.

“The guards don’t eat dinner,” Blake said.

“Maybe there is another way out of the fence?” Dax asked.

I chewed my fingernail. “We can’t go over it.”

“We could just put false information on the forms and find a way out when we can,” Whitney suggested. “It’s not like he’s going to find out the information is wrong, is he?”

“Maybe,” I said. “He already has our names. Who knows what kinds of things he can get into on that computer? If we lie on the forms, I don’t want to be inside the fence when he finds out what we did.”

“Remembers those guys in the truck?” Maddie said. “The ones that tried to run us off the road?”

“Yeah?” I said.

“They were so afraid of James and his people,” Maddie said. “Maybe they escaped from this place. How else would they know about him? Why would they have been so afraid?”

Blake shook his head. “We can’t just assume that. They might have just had several encounters with him out there. But you’re right, it’s bad enough that they were afraid of him.”

“I’ll go walk the perimeter of the fence,” Dax said. “See what, if anything, I can learn.”

“I’ll join you,” I said.

Dax nodded.

“Can I come?” Maddie asked.

I shook my head before she’d even finished her sentence. I gave her a smile but it was clear from her pinched expression she didn’t appreciate being trapped inside the building.

“It’s safer for you in here,” I said. “We won’t be long.”

Dax checked his gun and made sure it was well hidden before we left the building. We didn’t talk as we made our way to the fence.

The silence between us was awkward. I didn’t know what to say to him and planning our escape was taking up nearly all of my mental energy.

Dax occasionally tugged and the chain-linked fence. “It’s quite secure. I’m not sure how we’re going to pull this off.”

“I know but we have to.”

It wasn’t until we got to the far right corner of the fence that Dax stopped. He crossed his arms and turned to me.

“There’s a way out,” Dax said unable to hold back his smirk. He looked as if he’d just won a game of chess and was trying not to gloat.

I looked around but I didn’t see what he did. “Where?”

“The corner of the fence has been cut,” Dax said walking away from the area. “I don’t want to mess around with it in case they are watching. I’m pretty sure it’s big enough for us to escape through.”

Dax kept walking along the fence. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Everyone must have been busy inside their buildings or hiding from one another.

He reached over and took my hand into his. Dax glanced at me and smiled.

“Try not to worry,” Dax said. “I’ll get you out of this place one way or another. You’ll see I’m your knight in shining armor.”

His grin made my heart race.

“Where were all the knights when I was living with the dragon?” I asked raising a brow.

“Dragons are scary,” Dax said.

I laughed. “Tell me about it.”

“The dragon is gone now. You don’t ever need to worry about the dragon again,” Dax said.

“There are other dragons,” I said looking back toward the buildings. The garden separated us but it still felt like we were too close to James. “There will always be dragons. I need to learn how to slaughter them myself.”

“Oh, no,” Dax said. “Then you won’t need a knight.”

“Maybe I won’t need one but I’ll probably still want one,” I said feeling my cheeks warm.

Dax turned and wrapped his arms around me. He pulled me close.

“I like the sound of that,” he said in a deep voice that vibrated the strings of my heart.

“I’m sorry I reacted the way I did after… after we…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dax said squeezing me. “I know that you have a lot on your mind. I just hope that at some point, I can be one of those things.”

I blushed. “You already are.”

“Do I even make the top twenty?”

“Easily in the top ten, no top five. Definitely top five,” I said and he bent down and placed his softly on mine.

When he kissed me, it made me nearly forget about the other four things on my mind. It also temporarily made me forget why Dax and I couldn’t be anything more than friends. There were too many reasons we couldn’t.

I pulled back and smiled. “We should get back. Tell the others.”

“Yeah,” Dax said grabbing my hand. “I want you to know something.”

I cocked my head to the side. “What?”

“That I wish things had started differently between us. Like if things hadn’t been so crazy, I would have taken you out for dinner, dancing, a movie. Whatever you wanted. Now that none of those things exist, I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s fine, Dax. I was there too. I wanted it to happen the way it did,” I said. “There’s no need to dwell on it.”

“I just don’t want you to think I’m that kind of guy.”

I looked into his eyes. “I know you’re not. Come on, it’s time to get one of those things on my mind off of it.”

Chapter 25

Dax told the others about the hole in the fence but Blake didn’t seem relieved. He started pacing in that same aggressive way he’d done back at his house. It gave away exactly how worried and stressed he was about our predicament.

“It’s going to be too light at dinnertime,” Blake said. “Someone will see us leaving.”

“We could hide in that building by the garden,” Whitney suggested.

“When no one sees us around for dinner, they’ll come looking,” Blake said. “It could make it harder to leave.”

I shook my head. “We don’t have a lot of options here.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Maddie asked.

“We’re just going to go for it,” I said.

“Is that really it? We’re just going to run and cross our fingers?” Whitney said groaning loudly at the end of her sentence. She turned to Blake with wide eyes. “Blake? Can you talk some sense into her?”

Blake shook his head. “Do you have a better idea?”

Whitney opened her mouth but closed it when Blake’s eyebrows squeezed together. It was like she could read his mind.

“At dinnertime, we leave,” Blake announced as if it had been decided.

We went over the plan at least twenty times. It was simple. When everyone was going to get their food, we’d run along the fence. We wouldn’t stop running until we got to the SUV.

“If you have to use your gun, use it,” Blake said as he stared into Dax’s eyes. He turned to Whitney and then to me. “If you have to use your knife, use it. Don’t hesitate.”

“They’re armed,” Whitney said with a frown. “My knife won’t get close to them even if I throw it.”

“You don’t know that,” Blake said. “One of them could grab you, your first thought should go to your knife.”

I nodded in agreement but whether or not I’d be able to do it myself, I didn’t know. Sticking a knife into someone that was sick, was doable but another human… could I actually do it? I liked to think that if my life or someone else’s was in danger, I could.

We sat in near silence, waiting for the time to pass. None of us left the building and no one came to the door. It was quiet.

I couldn’t eat thanks to my nerves. My stomach swirled like a washing machine on a lopsided spin cycle but the others managed to polish off the rest of the snacks we’d had inside the building.

There were five minutes before we’d planned to leave and Blake stood in front of the door. His gun was in his hand. I watched his shoulders rise and fall hypnotically.

Each minute felt like an hour. Blake turned only halfway, revealing his profile. His eyes were down but when he opened his mouth, I knew what he was going to say.

“It’s time,” Blake said.

Blake listened at the door for a long moment before he opened it a few inches to take a peek outside. He looked around before waving at us to follow.

We moved quickly toward the fence staying between buildings and stopping if we heard voices. It felt like we were moving about as gracefully as a herd of elephants.

Our feet pounded the ground with heavy thuds as we ran along the fence toward the back corner near the garden. There wasn’t a soul in sight and the only sounds were those that came from us. I couldn’t help but smile when we reached the section of the fence that had been cut apart.

“I’ll hold it open,” Dax said grabbing the metal links and pulling it back. The opening wasn’t large but it would be enough for us all to slip through. Dax’s knuckles were white and the veins popped out of his shaking forearms. “Go!”

I nudged Maddie and she dropped down to her knees. She crawled quickly, keeping her head down.

“Ouch,” Maddie said jerking her shoulder away from the fence.

“Are you okay,” I asked as she got to her feet on the other side of the fence. She was rubbing her shoulder.

“Yeah, just a scratch,” Maddie said. “Hurry, mom!”

I nodded and waited for Whitney to finish wiggling her way through the opening. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the coast was still clear before I got down.

Nothing.

No one was looking for us. No one seemed to even notice we were gone.

I crawled through and hugged Maddie when I was on the other side. She winced.

“Let me see,” I said tugging at the collar of her shirt.

“Not now,” Maddie said swatting at my hand. “It’s fine.”

Blake crawled through the hole and then pulled the fence back for Dax. The fence didn’t make quite as large of an opening being pulled back in the opposite direction but Dax still managed to get through.

Dax hopped up on the balls of his feet. “We’re free!”

“Not yet we’re not,” Blake said. “We’re not free until we’re ten miles from this place.”

“A place we’re not entirely sure is evil,” Whitney mumbled. “For all we know, they’re letting us go.”

Blake ignored her comments if he’d even heard them. It was easy for me to ignore her at this point in our relationship. I just always assumed if she opened her mouth, it was to complain about me either directly or indirectly.

We ran toward the parking lot trying to stay out of sight but it was impossible with only a few small trees sprinkled randomly throughout the yard. My knees felt weak. It was hard to make my body move when I just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

It felt like a razor blade was being dragged across my shin when my heel hit the pavement of the parking lot. I almost had to stop running due to the pain but I forced myself to keep going.

“Hey!” someone shouted from the gate. “Stop!”

The sounds of metal grinding against metal as the gate was opened, made my heart skip a beat. I glanced over my shoulder to see two guards hastily moving toward us.

“Stop right now!” one of them shouted.

We didn’t stop.

“Keep running,” Dax encouraged from behind me.

An icy chill moved down my spine as though I were being chased by a ghost. Whitney and Maddie were at least ten feet ahead of me and Blake was a few steps in front of me.

Dax was somewhere behind me but I no longer heard his feet smacking into the concrete. I glanced back just as one of the guards raised their gun.

“Stop!” the guard shouted again.

I shot a quick glance back to locate Dax. He’d stopped to line up a shot.

“Keep going, Kit,” Dax said without taking his eyes off the guards.

He pulled the trigger and the pop shook my body. “Dax! Come on!” I screamed. “Please!”

Blake wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me toward the SUV. Dax started moving slowly in our direction as he took another shot toward the guards.

The guard closest to Dax grabbed his arm and howled. He stopped following and ran back toward the gate.

“Go to the car, Kit,” Dax ordered as he looked at me. He waved at Blake and I was pulled away even more aggressively. “I’m buying us some time.”

The other guard sneered as he aimed his gun at Dax. His eye was closed. The second the bullet ripped from the barrel, my heart sunk into my stomach.

Dax looked shocked as he turned to us. His arms dropped loosely to his sides. Blood spread out from the center of his chest and soaked through his shirt.

Dax’s mouth moved but I couldn’t hear his words. He was too far away and there was no energy powering his voice.

He took another step and fell to his knees. Dax looked like he was going to fall forward but he caught himself with his arms.

He was on all fours as he looked up at me. Dax sucked in a breath that squeezed his chest inward.

“Run!” Dax shouted using the last bit of his strength.

He fell face first onto the ground. A scream I didn’t know I was capable of making escaped from between my lips.

“We have to go to him,” I said as another bullet cut through the air at my left ear. It had been so close I’d felt the air move ever so slightly.

“It’s too late,” Blake said. “He’s gone. And if we don’t go, we will be too.”

“We can’t just leave him,” I said as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Blake used every muscle in his body to pull me toward the SUV. The guard was still coming toward us, attempting to line up another shot.

The metallic ping of the bullet hitting the back of the SUV made me scream again. Blake shoved me into the passenger side and ran around to the other side.

He climbed in and slammed the door behind him. “Get down!”

Blake started the SUV and drove away from Outpost 37. And away from Dax.

Chapter 26

Whitney was sobbing. Maddie looked as though she was in shock.

“Is everyone okay?” Blake asked in a clear, calm voice. “Did anyone get hit?”

“I’m fine,” Whitney whimpered.

“No, not hit,” Maddie said running her hands all over her body.

Intense sadness seared my veins. “I’m not fine. Someone did get hit. Your brother! Dax! And you’re just driving away from him.”

“Do you think I want to?” Blake said shooting me a quick look. His eyes were glassy. “If I thought there was any chance he was alive, I would have gone back. He wanted to make sure we got away and we did. We got away because of Dax. What good will it do any of us to go back and get caught, maybe shot?”

“They won’t shoot us,” I muttered. “James wants us alive for more supplies.”

“They killed Dax,” Blake said the words slowly.

I shook my head. “Without us, there won’t be extra supplies.”

“He doesn’t need us. He just needs our information for the database,” Blake said exhaling slowly. “We’re all disposable.”

But really, Blake was probably right. It wouldn’t do us any good to go back. Either way, I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.

Dax was gone. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t in the SUV with us driving away from the outpost.

It had all happened so fast. One minute he’d been behind me and then the next he was in the middle of a gunfight.

I should have done something. Maybe if I would have done something, he’d still be with us. I could have called for Blake to help him when I realized he wasn’t behind me anymore.

“I’ll need to patch up Maddie’s shoulder,” Whitney said between her tearful gasps. “When we can.”

“We’re going to need to get gas soon too,” Blake said. “But I can’t stop now… not sure when I’ll be able to.”

Everything was going to be harder without Dax. I couldn’t believe he was gone. It didn’t feel real. It was hard not to think he’d pop up in the backseat and shout out that he was just kidding. And that all was fine again.

But it wasn’t fine.

He was gone and I didn’t know how we were going to make it without him. What chance did the rest of us have at survival?

It felt like I couldn’t breathe. Like a lump was lodged in the back of my throat, allowing only a minimal amount of oxygen into my lungs.

I pressed my hand to my chest. I need to stay calm even though I wanted to scream and kick everything around me. Dax was gone. He was really gone.

“We’re going to have to keep it together,” Blake said glancing toward me as if he could read my mind. His eyes quickly shot over to the rearview mirror. “I know it’s going to be hard… it’s going to be fucking hard but we have to do this. We have to keep fighting for Dax. He wouldn’t want us to give up.”

I couldn’t stop crying long enough to respond. It wasn’t like we had a choice. We couldn’t give up. My daughter needed me and it was possible that my sister was still out there.

“We’re going to be okay,” Blake said but it almost sounded as if he were trying to convince himself. “We’ll figure all of this out.”

I looked into the side mirror back at James’s outpost. It was so far back I couldn’t see anything except for the shapes of the buildings and the cars in the parking lot.

What were they going to do with Dax’s body? Would they just leave it there?

Dax didn’t deserve to be left lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. We were terrible people for running. I was a terrible person for not having done more.

But Blake was right. I had to keep it together. Not just for myself but for Maddie.

If I lost it now, we might never make it to Polly. I wasn’t even sure if we’d ever find her. James could have lied to us but that didn’t mean she’d be where the computer said she’d be either. Building number thirteen at the base in Maine.

I couldn’t forget that. No matter what, I couldn’t forget where the computer said she was.

We drove without stopping for hours. The car was running on fumes when Blake pulled up next to a parked car and started to siphon the gas.

I stood outside with him, keeping watching with my mask on just the same way Dax had. Blake’s gun felt awkward in my hand but if anyone approached, I’d pass it to Blake.

“You need to learn how to shoot,” Blake said. “And we should probably find more guns.”

“I think I can shoot,” I said staring at the gun. “I’m just not sure I can shoot at people.”

“You’ll have to,” Blake said jerking his chin toward the SUV. “It’s up to us to protect them.”

I nodded. “You almost finished?”

“Yeah,” Blake said.

“I’m going to grab the first aid kit,” I said opening the back of the SUV.

I took out the kit and waited for Blake to put away the hose. He tucked the hose inside and closed the hatch.

Blake put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “We really will be okay.”

“He was your brother,” I said.

It was the only thing I could think of to say. I’d been devastated when I thought Polly had died.

“I know,” Blake said. “Trust me, it’s awful but I also know what he’d want. He would want us to get to Maine.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. I was apologizing that he’d lost his brother and because I hadn’t done anything.

“Thanks,” Blake said gesturing toward the front of the SUV. “We need to get back on the road. Out of the open.”

I turned but Blake quickly spun me back to face him. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. The embrace was strong, powerful… emotional. It made my whole body weak. I suspected that it was more for Blake than it was for me.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“Thanks,” Blake said squeezing me tighter. He pulled back. “We really will be okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or Maddie.”

I couldn’t speak. I’m sure he meant the words but there was only so much he could do. Every minute we weren’t moving, we were risking our lives.

“Let’s go,” I said finding my words after an awkward hesitation. Blake nodded.

Back inside the SUV, Blake drove keeping his eyes on the road ahead. Whitney spoke softly to Maddie as she patched her up. She did her best to clean the wound on the bumpy old country road.

“This was a pretty deep wound,” Whitney said as she placed a thin strip of gauze of the cut.

“It hurts more now than it did when it happened,” Maddie said. “But it’s not that bad.”

“She’s a tough kid,” I said giving Maddie the best smile I could manage, which unfortunately wasn’t that great.

Maddie smiled back. “I get it from my tough mom.”

I was about to wave away the compliment when Blake chimed in.

“Like mother like daughter,” Blake said.

Whitney stifled her groan. “Maddie is a tough girl. You should see this cut. It’s possible that stitches were in order but not much we can do about that, unfortunately. We’ll keep an eye on it.”

“Thanks for patching her up,” I said and Whitney nodded.

We continued down the road back on our way to Maine. Our detour had thrown us off course and we’d lost someone but we were back on track.

If we ever did get to Polly, I wasn’t exactly sure what I would tell her about Hoyt. Most likely, I’d tell her the truth. It would devastate her but everything around us was devastating.

Devastation was our new normal. We just had to find a way to survive everything as it crumbled down around us.

There had to be a chance for us.

Eventually, there would be a new world and I had to do everything I could to make sure Maddie was part of it. There was a chance for all of us to be the things we weren’t before. There was a chance we could be the people we weren’t before. We could do and be better.

I had to be something that was scary and uncomfortable. It felt like it was a costume I’d have to put on… skin that didn’t belong to me but I had to do it. For Maddie.

I could be brave.

I could be strong.

I could survive the devastation. We all could. We had to try.

INFECTED

BOOK THREE

Chapter 1

It was surprising that the number of tears I’d shed over the last twenty-four hours hadn’t flooded the SUV. Losing Dax had left an empty spot inside the car but also a deep hole inside my heart.

The guard that worked for James had shot him without hesitation. It wasn’t because of luck that we’d gotten away. We’d escaped because Dax sacrificed himself.

He shouldn’t have done it. We could have figured out another way. But I guess at the time, he hadn’t seen another way.

Blake was struggling with the loss of his brother but he did the best to hide it from us. He didn’t want anyone to worry about him, at least that was how it seemed.

Whitney didn’t bother to hide her feelings. She wanted everyone to know exactly just how hurt she was over the loss of Dax. She sobbed almost constantly as if she had been the only one to have lost someone.

Maddie was upset but she hadn’t known Dax well enough to be outwardly torn-up about it. She never was much for showing her emotions. It probably had something to do with her upbringing. Sometimes it was better if Freddie didn’t see how things made her feel.

He would resort to mocking. Freddie would try to make anyone who was upset feel small, especially if he thought the sadness was too much.

But of course, Maddie was sad, we all were, but she was more worried about who would be next. And honestly, I couldn’t blame her for feeling that way because I did too.

“How are we for gas?” I asked.

Blake looked at the dash as he drummed his fingertips on the steering wheel. “We’ll be good for a while yet.”

We’d stopped and siphoned what we could but I couldn’t stop worrying about the next time we’d have to get gas. Or use the bathroom. I hated stopping the car because every time we stopped, I feared it would be the last time.

It was just a matter of time before something happened again. Dangers lurked around every corner and there wasn’t anything we could do to ensure our safety. The sick could spread their virus or those who remained that weren’t sick would do whatever they had to as long as they survived.

No one cared about anyone else. Maybe no one ever had. There were no laws to keep people in order. No social rules. Kindness was practically extinct.

The only people I had to worry about were those inside the SUV with me. There wasn’t much I could do to protect them but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t try. Although I had cared a lot about Dax and look where that had gotten him.

I couldn’t believe how much I missed him. We hadn’t known each other long but he was like the sunshine on a rainy day. He could make me smile while the walls crumbled down around me. And now it felt like all I’d been left with was the dark, stormy clouds.

I couldn’t do or say anything because Blake and Whitney had both known Dax for their whole lives. Who was I to be upset that he was gone?

I could keep my pain hidden. I’d done it for years living with Freddie and honestly, it was the best thing to do. It was a skill I possessed… one I never thought would be of much use beyond the four walls of Freddie’s home.

“I need to use the bathroom,” Whitney said.

“You have the smallest bladder in the whole wide world,” Maddie teased.

Whitney bit her lip. “There aren’t that many people left so that’s not hard to accomplish anymore, is it? Not a whole lot of competition.”

“Do I need to find a house or will a shrub do?” Blake asked with nothing but seriousness on his face as he glanced in the rear view mirror at Whitney.

“Shrub,” Whitney said. “Tree, tall plant, out in the open, whatever. Just stop.”

Blake chuckled. He looked out of the windows and checked the mirrors before cautiously pulling over to the side of the road.

“Who’s coming with me?” Whitney asked.

There was a long pause. We all knew there was only one acceptable answer to that question.

I reached out and pulled the handle on the door, popping it open a few inches. I forced myself to swallow down the groan that was rumbling up my throat.

“Let’s go,” I said.

Blake grabbed my hand before I could step out of the SUV. He held out his gun to me. “Here. Take this.”

“She’ll be quick,” I said as I tried to stop the trembling in my fingers. I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to holding a gun.

Blake shook his head as he pressed the gun against my palm. “Good and you’ll have this just in case there is a problem.”

“I’ll scream if there is a problem,” Whitney said.

“I have no doubt about that,” Blake said his eyes still on me. “Take it.”

I swallowed hard, unable to shift my eyes away from the gun. “Fine.”

“Come on, Kit,” Whitney said hanging halfway out of the SUV.

I stepped out onto the crunchy gravel at the side of the road. A gentle breeze whispered passed my cheeks and I deeply sucked in the much-needed fresh air.

The air inside the SUV had been stale but it was almost as if my body had become accustomed to it. I shivered at the brisk coolness as the air came in through my nose. It was like I’d stuck my head inside a refrigerator and inhaled. It almost seemed as though I could even smell the rotting leftovers in the back.

I followed Whitney through the overgrown weeds. “How about here?”

“No, they can see me here,” Whitney said.

“They aren’t going to look,” I groaned. “I thought you were willing to go out in the open?”

“I was exaggerating. I don’t think I can go if I think they are watching,” Whitney said. “Shy bladder, I guess.”

“What about me?” I asked biting away my smirk.

Whitney flicked her narrow-eyed glance at me over her shoulder. “What’s wrong with you?”

“It was a joke,” I said. “I don’t want to watch you go to the bathroom either.”

“Super funny,” Whitney said.

I pressed my lips together. “Whatever. Blake’s going to freak out if we go much further.”

“Just over there. Behind that tree,” Whitney said pointing roughly thirty feet away from where we were. “If I don’t piss myself before then that is.”

“Well, you could just go here,” I suggested.

“With nothing to hide behind?” Whitney asked. “What kind of animal are you?”

The ground was squishy and mud was gathering around the edges of my shoes. We were walking through what seemed like a farmer’s abandoned field.

Something squeaked near me and the grasses moved wildly as it scattered away. Whitney must have heard it too because she let out her own little squeak, hopping forward quickly as though there were hot coals under her feet.

“I can’t believe this is my life. What I wouldn’t give to have access to a normal bathroom again,” Whitney said in a razor-sharp tone she tried to half-heartedly disguise with a cough.

She still blamed me for everything. We shouldn’t have been on the road. We should still be sitting comfortably inside Blake’s house.

It was weird that she couldn’t understand. Didn’t Whitney have someone she would do anything for? Wouldn’t she have gone to the ends of the earth for Dax and Blake?

I would do anything for Polly. Besides Maddie, she was all I had left. And even though this was entirely Maddie’s idea, it had been the right thing to do.

Polly was my sister. It wasn’t like I even really had a choice in the matter. I just hadn’t realized it as quickly as Maddie had.

“Okay,” Whitney said holding up her hand. “You stay here. Any closer might causes issues for me.”

“Issues,” I muttered quietly as she walked away from me and carefully positioned herself behind the tree.

I checked the area next to the tree, although I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking for. The sick? Bad guys? That pesky mouse? I turned my back to the tree. The last thing I wanted to do was cause her any further issues.

I crossed my arms and waited. My nerves were starting to twitch.

“Everything okay?” I called over my shoulder.

“Yes,” Whitney called back. “Did you bring the toilet paper?”

“Are you kidding?” I asked.

“No. Why would I joke about that?”

I sighed loudly. “Why would I have been the one to remember it? Ugh, hold on. I’ll be right back.”

I walked ten feet, sinking down deeper into the mud the quicker I walked. Something caught my eye in the distance.

My eyes shifted to the left at the spot moving on the horizon. It was just a dot but it was coming toward us fast.

I glanced over my shoulder at the tree Whitney was waiting behind. There wasn’t time to get her the toilet paper. I wasn’t even sure there was time for us to get back to the SUV.

“Shit,” I said under my breath.

I turned around, stomping through the mud toward the tree. Something scampered away from me in the weeds but I didn’t let it slow me down.

I drew in a breath. “Whitney! We have to go!”

Chapter 2

Whitney was still squatting there, holding on to the tree as she whipped her head around to look at me. Her eyes were dazed, wide saucers and her mouth was stretched awkwardly with confusion.

“There’s someone coming,” I shouted at her as I waved my hands. “A car!”

She pulled up her pants and started running toward me without hesitation. Sheer terror filled her eyes so much so that she looked similar to one of the sick. Of course, that wasn’t possible. Otherwise, I would have run off without her, leaving her stuck in the mud.

“Hurry!” I said pulling my foot out of the thick, paste-like mud with each step. It felt like I was stuck inside a dream where I couldn’t run.

The distance between the SUV and us felt like it was impossibly far. I could see Blake’s head darting around anxiously. There was no doubt in my mind he’d seen the car coming our way.

“Come on, Whitney,” I said stretching my hand back to her. Our fingertips brushed together for a second but she was out of reach.

I glanced back and she wasn’t behind me. My eyes darted around.

“Whitney?” I called.

“Don’t leave me here,” Whitney begged as she worked to get to her feet. Her hands were coated with mud.

I stepped back and grabbed her arm, helping her to her feet. “I’m not going to leave you.”

Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance, which increased the rate at which the blood pumped through my veins. The SUV was only twenty feet away but the car heading toward us was moving faster than Whitney and I could move through the bumpy field. We had no choice but to move faster if we didn’t want to find out who was inside the car speeding toward us.

“Come on, Whit,” I urged. “We need to go faster.”

“I’m trying,” Whitney said wiping away a tear with her muddy hand.

“Don’t try… just do,” I said grabbing her tighter as I dragged her behind me.

The car speeding toward us couldn’t have been more than two miles from the SUV. Whitney and I were both breathing heavily as we crashed against the side of the car.

Whitney’s muddy fingers fumbled with the door handle. Panic squeaked out from between her lips.

I opened the door for her at the same moment Blake popped open the passenger side door. The sounds from the car zooming towards us mixed with the distant thunder.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Blake hollered.

“We’re going as fast as we can,” I mumbled under my breath as I shoved Whitney into the SUV, not caring that she was only halfway on the seat when I closed the door. I jumped into the passenger seat and Blake stepped on the gas before I slammed my door shut.

“Who is that?” Whitney asked.

“I have no idea,” Blake said glancing in his mirror more than he looked at the road in front of him. “But I have a guess.”

“You do?” I asked.

Blake offered a quick nod, gripping the steering wheel tighter with both hands. “James or his guards. I don’t know who else would be trying to get to us so fast.”

“Maybe it’s those farmers again,” Maddie said. “They tried to get us too.”

“I don’t think the farmers would be out this far,” Blake said. “I suppose it could be anyone. Dammit!”

Whitney hugged herself. Maddie’s arm was stretched out over the back of the seat as she stared out the back window. Our supplies were stacked so high it didn’t leave a large gap but it was enough to see.

“They’re in camo,” Maddie said. “I think it’s that guard… the one that shot—” Maddie swallowed hard as she turned and met my eyes “—at us.”

“Shit!” Blake said slamming his hands against the wheel. “I’m not stopping. Let them run us off the road.”

“They’re just following,” Maddie reported.

I shifted my eyes to the side mirror. She was right. They weren’t trying to speed up and tap our bumper, nor were they starting to pass so they could drive us into the ditch. They were simply following, albeit much too closely.

“What are we going to do?” I asked.

Blake shook his head. “I don’t know. I can try to lose them but if this turns into a game of who has more gas, I can tell you, they’ll win.”

“There are three of them in there,” Maddie said. “Two in the front, one in the back. How many bullets are in your gun?”

“Maddie!” I said surprise filling my eyes.

“I have enough,” Blake said stiffening his jaw. “Enough.”

I shook my head. “This is what we’re going to become? Murderers?”

“We’re going to be survivors,” Blake said. “We didn’t start anything with them. They’re the ones riding my bumper.” Blake glanced into the mirror. “Maddie, get your head down. You too, Whitney.”

Blake stepped on the gas to test them and as expected, they kept up their pursuit. They weren’t in a hurry, they were most definitely following us.

“Dammit,” Blake muttered. “I was going to go around that town up ahead but now I think we might need to go right through it. Could be our only chance to lose them.”

“It’s like four miles away,” I said.

“Do you have a better idea?” Blake asked with a soft chuckle. The tone indicated, however, that he didn’t find anything even a little funny. “Because if you do, I’m all ears.”

I chewed on my cheek. “No, but I sure wish I did.”

“They are just so close to my bumper,” Blake said his eyes flicking back and forth from the road to the rear view mirror. His knuckles were as white as morning frost on a window. “I’m going to tap my brake.”

“What if they slam into us?” I asked tugging on my seatbelt.

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Blake said.

His knee stiffened and the SUV jerked. I blinked and could hear the tires of the car behind us squeal.

“Jesus,” Blake said with a small nervous laugh. Sweat beaded up at his temple.

Blake’s plan worked somewhat because they backed off. Although it wasn’t enough. They were still following us.

“What do they want?” I said sinking down in my seat. It was odd they hadn’t tried to get us to pull over but that didn’t stop me from worrying that they were going to pull out their guns and shoot at the SUV.

“They probably want to bring us back,” Blake said.

“How are they going to do that?” Whitney asked.

Blake exhaled. “They’re not. But maybe they think they’re going to capture us, drag us back against our will. What they don’t know is that’s not going to work.”

“There’s only three of them,” Maddie said.

“Three guns versus one gun. Doesn’t look good for us,” I said.

“But if they wanted to shoot us, wouldn’t they have done that by now?” Maddie asked.

“You’d think,” Blake said. “I don’t think they want us dead.”

The country road turned into a smoother, paved city road. There were houses on both sides of the road and mailboxes perched upon posts like birdhouses at the end of each driveway. We’d made it to the town but without any other traffic and without knowing our way around, it was going to be hard to lose James’s men.

“All right,” Blake said. “Let’s do this.”

Blake stepped on the gas and turned the corner so sharply the wheels screamed at the pavement. I grabbed a hold of the armrest stopping myself from flopping into Blake’s right side.

“Hold on,” Blake said as he straightened the wheel.

“Now you tell us,” Whitney groaned.

“You’ll probably want to just keep holding on until further notice,” Blake warned as he gripped the wheel and made another sharp turn.

This time my body pressed so hard against the door I was afraid it was going to pop open and I would roll to the ground. We were getting tossed around like a chef salad but it was working. The car behind us was still behind us but with each turn we took, we put more distance between us.

Blake turned around another block and then another. The car was zig-zagging between the cars and turning around the blocks. It felt like we’d been going in a giant circle.

“I think we lost them,” Maddie said peeking over the backseat and out the back window.

“Maybe,” Blake said zipping around another corner.

“Oh shit!” I said pressing my palms against the dash, hoping to stop myself from flying through the windshield. “Look out!”

There was no way the guy in the road could hear my warning.

Chapter 3

Blake slammed his foot down on the brake. The guy didn’t release his hold on the water bottles he was carrying as he dove toward the curb disappearing from view.

Whitney let out a sharp gasp as the SUV came to an abrupt stop propelling us all forward.

“Did you hit him?” Maddie asked in a rather calm voice.

“I don’t think so,” Blake said shifting the SUV into park. He put his head down and took in a breath as if he’d been drowning and finally found air. Blake turned to me with wide eyes. “Is he one of the sick?”

“The sick don’t really gather supplies, do they?” I asked as I slowly looked out my side window. I was afraid of seeing something gruesome that I wouldn’t be able to unsee.

The man was on the ground only inches away from the front bumper. His eyes bulged as he stared at the front of the SUV. There was no doubt the man was frightened but he definitely wasn’t sick.

His hair was a bit wild as if he were about six months overdue for a haircut. The man’s eyes were a bright blueish-gray the same color as a cloudy day where the sun was desperately trying to poke through.

He met my eyes and I noticed they sparkled with a friendly glimmer. It was something I hadn’t seen in a while.

I wasn’t afraid of him. Not even the slightest as I rolled down my window.

“What are you doing?” Whitney whispered sharply.

“Are you okay?” I asked the man on the ground.

He stared at me for a long moment as if he was trying to comprehend what I had asked him. A cheerful smile stretched across his face.

“I’m fine,” he said as if he were surprised by that fact. “Looks like you folks were in a hurry.”

“Yeah,” I said as my eyes flicked to the side mirror.

The man got to his feet and came closer to the window. I quickly pulled on my mask.

“Oh,” he said shaking his head. “I’m not sick.”

“Just a precaution,” I said.

“Where are you guys going in such a hurry?” he asked as his eyebrows pinched together.

Blake tapped the steering wheel anxiously with his fingers. “We need to say goodbye.”

“Aw, man. I haven’t talked to anyone in quite some time now,” the man said giving us a slightly exaggerated frown.

He shook his head and a smile appeared. There was no mistaking, however, that he was disappointed.

The man pulled the bottles away from his chest and looked down at his shirt. He held one of the bottles away from his body and water leaked out in a steady stream, raining down onto the ground.

“Damn,” he said with a sigh. He put the bottle up to his lips and sucked down the rest of the liquid. After he finished shot-gunning the water, he tossed the empty plastic to the side. “That was rude of me… I should have offered you some.”

“We need to be on our way,” Blake said. “Sorry for almost hitting you.”

“It’s all right. You weren’t the first person to try to hit me with their car and something tells me you probably won’t be the last,” he said laughing as he stuck out his hand toward me. When I didn’t take it, he pulled it back. “I guess people probably aren’t going to do that anymore, are they? Anyway, I’m Jay Cooper. It’s good to know there are still normal people out there. For a while now, I was a bit worried it was just me left with all the sick people.”

I bit my lip. I couldn’t stop myself from feeling bad for him. It must have been awful to think you were alone, surrounded by the sick.

I grabbed one of the extra masks from the console and held it out to him. “Here. You should have one of these.”

“Why?” Jay asked.

“So, you don’t get sick,” I said with narrowed eyes.

Jay raised a brow and shook his head. “This isn’t an easy life on my own. I’ll take my chances. Whatever will be, will be.”

We all turned at the same time the car slowly drove down the road at the far end of the block. It stopped and backed up before turning down our road.

My eyes blurred from the panic that surged through my veins. It felt like there was sand stuck in my throat.

“We gotta go,” Blake said pounding the steering wheel. “Please step away.”

“Those guys after you?” Jay asked keeping his hand on the side of the SUV.

“They are,” Blake answered quickly. “Which is why we need to go.”

The car was maneuvering around another vehicle that had been haphazardly parked in the middle of the road. I could see the grin on the driver’s face as they drew closer.

“I can help you,” Jay said quickly. He could sense that Blake wasn’t going to wait a second longer even if it meant the guy might lose his fingers.

It surprised me when Blake hadn’t shifted the SUV into reverse and sped away. He shot a quick glance at Jay.

“I know this town like the back of my hand. I have a place you can hide,” Jay said. “They won’t find you.”

“Get in,” Blake said pressing the unlock button on his door before handing me his gun. “Keep this on him and if you need to shoot… shoot.”

I wanted to argue but there wasn’t time. Hopefully, I’d have the courage to pull the trigger if it was necessary. Rather, I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

James’s men were nearly halfway down the block. The man in the passenger seat stuck his head out the window and waved his empty hand.

“We just want to talk,” he called out but the gun in his other hand worried me. If they wanted to talk, he wouldn’t be gripping his pistol in the other hand.

“Reverse out of here,” Jay instructed.

“I had that much figured out,” Blake said. “Keep your heads down.”

Blake placed his hand on the back of my headrest and stepped on the gas. He sharply turned the wheel at the intersection and shifted into drive in one swift movement. Gravel spit out from beneath the wheels as Blake floored the pedal, causing the tires to spin briefly on the pavement.

“You’re going to want to go straight four blocks then make a left at the stoplights that aren’t working,” Jay said.

Blake followed his instruction even though the guy could have been leading us to certain death. Our choices were limited. I drew in a breath, trying to ignore the blurring surroundings to keep my eyes on Jay.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked.

“My place,” Jay said. “There’s a garage at the back. They won’t find you in there. What did you do to piss them off anyway? Like, how do I know if you are the good guys or if they are? After all, you were the ones to try to mow me down.”

“We’re the good guys,” Blake said turning at the stoplight just like he’d been instructed.

Jay nodded. “Well, if you say so, it must be true. Either way, I’m just happy to be talking to someone. Even if you are a group of serial killers and will end up taking my life. Take a left.”

Blake took a left and glanced in his mirrors. They were still behind us but the same as earlier, we were putting distance between us with each turn.

“They’re terrible at this,” Jay said. “Keep going straight until you get to that family diner, then you’ll want to make another left.”

“That’s a lot of lefts,” Blake muttered.

“Are we going in a circle?” Whitney asked.

“We are. Back where you almost hit me, well, that was roughly a block away from my place,” Jay said. “Don’t worry, though, we’ll lose them before you get to my driveway. Be sure to cut the engine the second we park in the garage. We wouldn’t want them to hear it.”

Blake followed his instructions and just as Jay had said we would, we lost the car before pulling into the driveway. He parked the SUV in the dark garage and we all stayed inside breathing rapidly as they drove right past the house. The car had slowed their chase. To them, it must have seemed as though we had vanished into thin air.

“Ha!” Jay said. “I knew it would work.”

Jay’s garage was nestled behind his house. There was a large tree in the backyard that created a large shadow over the garage and yard hiding us from view even though the garage door was wide open.

“Thanks for your help,” Blake said. “Mind if we hide out in here for a bit?”

“No problem but you don’t need to wait in the garage. Come on in and take a load off. I don’t have much to offer you these days but it would probably be a good idea to give it a couple hours before you get back on the road, don’t you think?” Jay asked.

“We appreciate at the offer but we’ll just wait out here,” Blake said.

Jay frowned. “I get it. But you don’t need to worry. I live alone. You can keep the gun on me if it makes you feel more comfortable.”

“I kind of have to use the bathroom again,” Whitney said. “The chase rattled my nerves.”

“You’re in luck! I have a bathroom,” Jay said slapping his thigh. “Please, come in. Just give me an hour of your time. It’s the least you can do for almost killing me, right? I’m so freaking lonely.”

Blake looked at me as if he were trying to find the answer written on my forehead. He exhaled as lightning lit up the sky and brightened the garage.

“You owe me one,” Jay said smiling. “You know, for almost killing me.”

“I suppose we could take a break,” Blake said. “But no funny business.”

“Of course, not,” Jay said holding up his hands. “My wife never thought I was very funny. She said all my jokes were dad jokes.”

Lightning cracked the earth and the silence that followed made my ears ring. The second we stepped out of the SUV, rain poured down.

Jay stepped out into the rain and smiled as he waved for us to follow him.

Chapter 4

Jay quickly unlocked the back door, pushing it open with a loud squeak. We all spilled into his kitchen one after the other.

The counter was littered with empty wrappers and packages. There were empty bottles of water, soda, and beer lined up on the table.

“Sorry,” Jay said. “Not that I’m not thrilled because I totally am, but I hadn’t been expecting company. Please, excuse the mess.”

Heavy rain pelted against the windows as if they were tiny pebbles being thrown at the building in giant handfuls. Jay started to toss some of the wrappers into the trash but it was already piled to the top.

“I’ll have to bring this out in the morning. I’ve got quite a collection building up out there already. And to think I used to complain about bringing out the trash,” Jay said clapping his hands together almost in time with a deep rumble of distant thunder. “Let me show you around.”

There was a short hallway between the kitchen and living room that had a closet and a bathroom. The living room was clean but there were pillows everywhere and blankets strewn over every piece of furniture in the room as if Jay had been planning to build the best blanket fort of all time.

“And that’s about it. There are two bedrooms upstairs and a second bathroom but I don’t go up there much anymore,” Jay said.

Blake walked over to the window and pulled the curtain a quarter of an inch to the side. Lightning flashed and reflected in his eyes.

“Quite a storm, huh?” Jay asked. “My basement will flood but it’s just boxes of old stuff and random junk down there.”

“If you don’t mind—” Whitney jerked her thumb over her shoulder “—I’m going to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, right, yes, of course,” Jay said. “Mi casa es su casa.”

“Thanks,” Whitney said crossing her hands in front of her as she backed away with a smile.

Jay started picking up the blankets and piled them at one end of the couch. “Please, everyone have a seat. Can I get you all something to drink?”

“No, thanks,” Blake replied instantly.

“Anyone else?” Jay asked glancing at Maddie and then at me.

I shook my head.

“I’ll take a water,” Maddie said. “But we have our own water. I could just go grab one.”

Blake shot her a glance. He wasn’t happy about the fact that she’d just told a stranger that we had our own supplies.

“No need to get soaked,” Jay said as if he could sense the tension that had suddenly filled the room. He scratched the side of his head as he turned toward Blake. “I’m not a bad guy but I can understand why you’d be skeptical.”

“Sorry,” Blake said. “Hard to believe anyone is a good guy anymore.”

“You guys must have seen some shit out there,” Jay said crossing his arms. “There was a reason I didn’t leave this place after what happened. It’s hard enough going out there to find supplies, so I don’t die.” Jay’s expression turned to putty. “Sometimes, I wonder if that might be easier, though.”

The silence in the living room was brutal. Sounds of the rain and thunder intensified, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Wow, that brought things down, didn’t it?” Jay asked.

“I’m sorry, man,” Blake said. “I didn’t mean to insult you. Things have been rough for us out there.”

“I’m just a guy,” Jay said holding out his arms to his sides. “When the sickness spread through town, it quickly took my wife and ten-year-old daughter. It was pretty awful for a while.” Jay turned away from us to stare at the wall. “They kept coming back over and over and over again. It was so painful to see them… hear them.”

I understood what Jay was talking about as I’d seen it with Freddie. If it had been Maddie, not that I liked to think about it, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it.

“I did what I had to,” Jay said. “And it’s hard to live with that but it’s the worst thing I’ve ever done. If that makes me a bad guy then, yeah, I guess maybe I am one of them too.”

“You’re not a bad guy,” I said.

Jay met my eyes. “Thanks, but I’ll never forgive myself.”

“You did what you had to. They wouldn’t have wanted to live like that, would they?” I asked.

“Well, we never had a conversation but I don’t think they would,” Jay said.

“What did you do with them?” I said keeping my voice low and soft. It was clear talking about them made him uncomfortable. “If you don’t do certain things, they’ll just keep coming back.”

Jay shook his head. “What do you mean?”

“You can’t just kill them like you might think. After some time, they’ll just pop right back up,” I said with a cough. “I wish I didn’t have to say this but you have to decapitate, burn, or cut out their hearts to completely get rid of them. Which I guess you must have done otherwise they’d be back.”

“I didn’t do any of those things,” Jay said.

“What did you do?” Maddie asked.

Jay’s eyes were wide. “I buried them.” He swallowed hard and his eyes became glossy. “In the backyard.”

“Shit,” Blake said.

Whitney came back into the room, looking down at herself as if something had been out of her place on her body. She narrowed her eyes and looked around the room when she saw everything was in order on herself.

“What’s going on?” Whitney asked.

“Jay buried sick in the backyard,” Blake informed her.

Whitney shrugged. “Well, it’s not like they can dig their way out… can they?”

“Is the back door locked?” Blake asked.

“Always,” Jay said taking nervous steps toward the hallway. “But I’m going to double-check to be sure.”

Blake took an abrupt step away from the window. “Car.”

The noises of the storm drowned out the sounds of the car. None of us moved as if they would somehow be able to hear us inside the house.

“They’re gone,” Blake announced seconds later as his shoulders relaxed. “They didn’t slow. I think they’re still looking around for us… the SUV.”

“That means you guys will have to stay,” Jay said. “You’ll have to wait until they give up.”

“What if they never give up?” Whitney asked.

“Well, you can stay as long as you like,” Jay said.

“We can’t stay,” I said. “I mean, at least not long.”

Jay shook his head. “Why not? There isn’t anything out there. At least, nothing good.”

“How do you know?” I asked. “You haven’t left.”

“How could there be anything good out there after what happened?” Jay asked.

“My sister might be out there,” I said hugging myself. “I don’t have the option to just sit around.”

Jay lowered his gaze. “Sorry.”

“We’ll have to wait,” Blake said keeping his eyes on the road outside the window. “Our chances of reaching Polly are better if we don’t run into James’s men.”

“Who’s James?” Jay asked.

“It’s a long story,” Whitney said flopping down on Jay’s couch.

Jay raised a brow. “We’ve got time, right?”

Chapter 5

Jay sat next to Whitney as she told Jay everything that happened at the outpost. He touched her shoulder when tears rolled down her cheeks as she talked about what happened to Dax.

I swallowed hard and dashed to the bathroom. Not only did I not want to hear Whitney talking about it, but I also didn’t want anyone to see me cry.

When I came back out into the living room, everyone was sitting down. Blake was near the window, frequently taking glances between the curtains. The room was nearly pitch black. Day had gone away earlier than expected thanks to the storm clouds.

We were staying at least for the night. I’d given the gun back to Blake but he hadn’t kept it on Jay. At some point, he must have decided that he didn’t think Jay was a threat or at least that he wasn’t going to do anything stupid at the moment. Honestly, I didn’t think he would either.

“It must have been hard to walk away from all of those supplies,” Jay said compassionately. “Things are getting rough out here but I haven’t traveled more than a mile away from from this place. I’m sure there are still lots of supplies out there somewhere.”

“It was hard. They had everything,” Whitney said crossing her legs. “And more was being brought to them regularly.”

Jay nodded. “Guess that’s why they were so desperate to keep you. The more they get, the better.”

Whitney’s head bobbed as she looked around the living room. “This seems pretty cozy. You haven’t had anyone come around here?”

“Nope,” Jay said. “Well, not since a day or two after everyone was sick. Someone came knocking but I was too afraid to answer the door. They left and it’s been quiet ever since.”

“Maybe you missed your chance to be taken to one of the outposts,” Maddie said.

“Maybe. But it doesn’t sound like I missed much after what Whitney just told me,” Jay chuckled. “But it’s all right. I’m not sure I could have left this place. At least, not then. It would have been too hard. Now, I’m going to have to find somewhere to go soon. I’m running out of food and water and won’t be able to stay here.”

The wind picked up, causing the house to moan. It felt like the walls were going to collapse down on top of us.

“Don’t worry,” Jay said smiling at me. “The walls are sturdy.”

I forced a thin-lipped smile. The temperature in the room felt like it had dropped at least fifteen degrees. I rubbed the prickled skin on my arms in an attempt to warm myself.

“I don’t have any way to heat the house,” Jay said gesturing toward the pile of blankets. “That’s why I have all these here. It gets cold at night.”

“It’s only going to get worse when winter comes,” I said even though I meant to keep the thought to myself.

While we were further east than I’d ever been, I imagined the winters wouldn’t be much easier than they had been back home. Maybe they’d even be worse.

I didn’t want to think about it… but at some point, and sooner rather than later, we would need to prepare.

“Well, like I said earlier, there are two bedrooms upstairs,” Jay said. “You guys are welcome to take them but I prefer to sleep on the couch.”

“Um,” Blake said his eyes still on the window. “I’m not sure I can leave my post.”

“No one is going to come here,” Jay said. “You’ll be fine upstairs. Not to mention the window faces the street and if anyone is driving a vehicle in a three-block radius, you’ll probably hear it.”

Blake raised a brow. “Not with this storm.”

“You got me there,” Jay said with a gentle smirk. “But it’s unlikely anyone is even out there right now with these winds.”

“Pretty soon, we’re not even going to be able to see our way around,” Whitney said nervously.

“And neither will anyone outside. Pitch black, in the pouring rain.” Jay scratched the back of his neck. “Pretty dangerous out there.”

Blake laughed. “Yeah, yeah, you already convinced us to stay. Damn, you really are lonely. We’ll take the bedrooms.”

“Excellent. Help yourself to whatever you need in the kitchen and grab a blanket, oh and take one of these,” Jay said reaching over to the small table at the side of the couch. He held out two small kid-sized flashlights.

Blake took the black one and I took the pink one.

“Only use it if it’s absolutely necessary,” Blake warned.

I nodded, even though I hadn’t needed the warning. “Maddie and I will take a room.”

Blake looked disappointed but it only lasted half a second. He knew there was no way that I’d leave Maddie in a room by herself.

What had he thought? That I’d be in the same room as him? After Dax, I couldn’t go there. Ever since we’d met, there had been some kind of connection between Blake and me that I hadn’t understood. It was a feeling… unlike anything I’d ever experienced.

It didn’t matter, though. All that mattered was keeping Maddie safe and finding Polly. I couldn’t let something like what happened between Dax and me happen again. Going through that would just be too painful. I wasn’t sure if I could survive another loss like that.

I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts of Blake. They shouldn’t have been there in the first place. I wasn’t sure how or why they had crept in but maybe it had something to do with the fact that he’d be sharing a bed with Whitney.

Whitney had been in love with Blake for years. Even though the idea of it made my stomach turn, she should have him. Someone should get to be happy amongst all the turmoil.

It wasn’t going to be me, so it might as well be Whitney. Happiness was a stranger I’d never know.

“Here,” Jay said handing me two poorly folded blankets. “Take these.”

“Thanks,” I said taking them from him and holding them to my chest.

“Think you’ll need more?” Jay asked. “There might be more in the linen closet upstairs. I’m not sure my wife had always done the laundry and folded it. I’m an asshole for not having done more to help out around here.”

I smiled at him. “This should be fine.”

“Well, don’t be afraid to check upstairs if you need more,” Jay said forcing a smile. “And if you need anything, just ask.”

He handed two blankets to Whitney. She patted the top with her hand and chewed her lip.

“I run kind of cold,” Whitney said. “I think I’ll need another.”

There were four blankets still on the end of the couch. Jay shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight.

“Linen closet is at the end of the upstairs hallway,” Jay said.

“Okay,” Whitney said with a smile. I wasn’t sure if she expected him to hand over another blanket or go upstairs and get one out of the closet for her. “Well, ready to go up, Blake?”

“Um, sure,” Blake said taking another look out of the window.

Maddie and I followed them up the narrow stairs. I glanced back at Jay at the bottom of the stairs watching us.

“Good night,” Jay said.

“Night,” I said.

Blake and Whitney took the first room, the one where the window would face the road. Maddie and I took the room on the right and even though it was completely dark in the room, I knew it was a child’s room… Jay’s daughter’s room.

Blake came back out of the room with the flashlight in hand. He peeked his head into the open door.

“You guys okay in here?” Blake asked.

“Yeah,” I said spreading one of the blankets down on the twin-sized bed.

“Think you’ll need another blanket?” he asked.

I shook my head. “We’re good. At least I think we will be.”

“Well, if you need anything, I’m just across the hallway, okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” I said with a quick smile.

The floor outside the room creaked as Blake walked down the hall toward the closet. I stood there listening to his movements as he looked around for another blanket for Whitney.

“Mom?” Maddie said.

“Hmm?” I said turning to face her.

“You should take the bed,” she said.

I shook my head. “No, no, no, you need your sleep.”

“So do you,” Maddie countered.

“I’ll be fine on the floor,” I said. I bit my lip before I mentioned it was better than sleeping on the concrete in our basement. “Come on, lay down.”

Maddie flopped down on the bed. “I don’t need you to tuck me in, mom.”

“Maybe I need to tuck you in,” I said giving her arm a little squeeze. “Get some rest. Blake will have us on the road the second this storm stops.”

“Good,” Maddie said as she turned over on her side. She exhaled and her body softened. “Love you, mom.”

“Love you,” I said hugging myself.

I walked over to the window, shivering with each step. My fingers trembled as I pulled back the curtain.

There was so much wind and rain that I couldn’t see much of anything outside the window. The sounds of the rain were like thousands of pens being clicked at different intervals.

The wind was violent as it threatened to lift the house off the foundation and send it swirling through the air. It was quite possibly the worst storm I’d ever seen. The air was so charged that the hairs on the back of my neck felt like they were standing on end.

There was a pounding against the stairs and then a knock at Blake’s door. Seconds later, a knock at our door caused me to gasp.

Jay pushed the door open and flashed his light on the floor. “You both need to come with me.”

Chapter 6

“Whoa, what’s going on here?” Blake said stomping into the hallway with his shirt off.

Jay’s eyes were wide in the darkness, almost glowing. “We need to get to the basement.”

“The basement?” Whitney said with a sharp gasp from behind Blake. She was holding a blanket over her shoulders. “I don’t want to go in a basement.”

“The winds are strong. I saw the neighbor’s siding fly past the front window,” Jay said. “Think it might be a tornado. Pretty sure the worst place we can be is up here.”

“Lead the way,” Blake said gesturing toward the stairs.

The sounds of our feet pounding against the stairs was like a child pounding on upside-down ice cream pails. It sounded like we were loud but there was no way anyone could hear our steps over the storm outside.

The winds screamed in pain.

The rain smacked the house angrily.

Maddie grabbed my arm tightly as we walked through the kitchen. It sounded like someone was trying to bust their way in through the back door.

“It’s just the wind,” Jay said as if he’d read my mind. Although, maybe he was just trying to calm Maddie.

I was worried that it might be Jay’s wife and daughter out there trying to get inside and out of the storm. If they had been out there, though, we probably would be able to hear them begging for help.

Probably.

Jay and Blake both lit the stairs with their flashlights as we descended into the basement. My hand was wrapped about the pink flashlight but it wasn’t on.

It sounded like a semi-truck was driving over the house as the beams of light danced around the unfinished basement. There were tons of boxes and containers, broken furniture, bags of junks and overflowing boxes.

The floor was concrete and there were no windows to light the area. There was no doubt there were spiders and other creepy crawlies everywhere.

It was dark in the basement other than the light from the flashlights. The lack of seeing our surroundings only intensified the noises above.

“I’m scared,” Maddie whispered into my ear.

“Me too,” I whispered back as I squeezed her closer to me. Her warmth was a comfort. “We’re going to be okay.”

It felt like hours had gone by before the winds died down. Of course, being trapped in the gross, dark, and scary basement could have been part of the reason why it felt as though it had taken forever for the storm to die down.

“I think we can go up now,” Jay said lighting the stairs. The flashlight flickered and he hit it with the side of his hand. “You guys can wait down here while I check it out.”

“That’s fine,” Blake said. “We’ll come with you.”

“I’m not sure I can handle another minute in this basement,” Whitney said.

Jay chuckled. “It’s not like I’m going to lock you down here or something.”

“What makes you even say that?” Blake replied suspiciously.

“Because I know you guys don’t trust me,” Jay said. “I guess I don’t know why you would, considering I’m practically a stranger but I know you should. I’ve never locked anyone in a basement and I don’t plan to start now.”

We followed Jay up the stairs, stopping with each step. I could still hear the rain but the winds stopped and the back door was no longer rattling.

“Still too dark out there to see anything,” Jay said slightly pulling back the curtain by the sink window. “We should all try to get some sleep while it’s still dark.”

I didn’t get much sleep. It was hard to sleep in the new place but it wouldn’t matter where I was, it would always be hard to fall asleep.

I wrapped my blanket around my shoulders and looked out of the window. The neighborhood was a disaster zone.

There were all kinds of scraps scattered all over the yard for as far as I could see. Even though it was a complete mess everywhere, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the backyard where I could see exactly where Jay had buried his wife and child.

I placed each of my steps as carefully as I could so I would be able to leave the bedroom without waking Maddie. She needed the sleep and I knew that she did because I was beyond exhausted.

It was impossible to silently walk down the steps but that didn’t stop me from trying. The door to the room where Whitney and Blake were in, was closed.

I tried not to think about it. I tried not to think about them in the same bed. It wasn’t like it was anything new. Really, it wasn’t any of my business.

Jay was standing at the window. “Did you see this?”

“The mess? Yeah, I saw.”

“Look at this tree,” Jay said pointing to the side. “There is no way we’ll be able to get out of the front door. Wonder if one of the neighbors had a chainsaw.”

“Like Blake is going to let you touch a chainsaw with us around,” I teased.

Jay smiled. “Good, because I’m kind of hoping he’ll do it. I have no idea how to work a chainsaw. Just think if this had come down any closer, it would have destroyed my house.”

“Good thing we were all in the basement, though,” I said.

“Yeah,” Jay said looking back out of the window. “My wife was always worried about tornadoes. She’d always have us going into the basement for the warnings.”

“I’m sorry,” I said swallowing hard. “It must be hard.”

Jay nodded. “Did you lose anyone to the sickness?”

“Yeah, my mom and my husband,” I said shifting my gaze to my feet.

“Ah, so you can relate.”

“No, not exactly. My husband was an asshole.”

Jay laughed. “I wasn’t expecting you to say that. Sorry about your mom, though.”

“Yeah, she had cancer. It’s kind of hard to believe but she was at one of the facilities where this all started,” I said biting my cheek. “I have no idea why I told you that.”

“It’s fine. I’m easy to talk to,” Jay said. He hesitated as if he was waiting for me to continue. Jay cleared his throat. “I checked the back and we’ve got a small problem that your friends aren’t going to like. Well, you’re probably not going to like it either.”

“What’s that?”

Jay jerked his thumb toward the kitchen. “Minor flooding… want to see?”

“Um, sure.”

I followed Jay to the back door. He pulled it open and water splashed onto the linoleum floor.

“Are you kidding me?” I said staring into the flooded back yard. “You call this minor flooding?”

Jay shrugged. “The backyard always floods when it rains. Usually, not quite this bad, though.”

“This has to be like two feet,” I said as my eyes went toward the garage.

“It’s always worse right here,” Jay said. “Everything downstairs is probably destroyed.”

“Most of it seemed as though it already had been,” I muttered.

Jay chuckled and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Sorry, I know this isn’t funny.”

“It’s not funny at all. We’re trapped here,” I said as my shoulders bobbed with my rapid breaths. “We’re trapped.”

Chapter 7

Jay shook his head. “It’ll start draining away. It probably already has.”

“It’s still raining,” I said throwing my hands into the air. “It’s so deep I could swim to the SUV. Oh, my God.” I brought my shaking hand to my lips. “What if the car doesn’t start?”

“It’s not that deep over there,” Jay said. “I’m sure your car is fine but it won’t be if you try to drive through all that.”

The water sitting on the driveway was nearly as deep as it was next to the back door. I’d never seen anything like it in all of my life.

“How many steps are there here? Two? Three,” I asked looking down.

“Three,” Jay replied as he closed the door. He reached over and held my elbow. “Careful, don’t slip. The floor gets slippery when wet.”

I lightly shrugged him away and walked back to the living room with my arms crossed. Blake wasn’t going to be happy and neither was Maddie. I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt other than the feeling of being trapped was making me feel claustrophobic. It was like being locked in the basement all over again.

I opened the front door and stared at the thick trunk of the tree blocking the exit from the front door. There was no way over it and there was no way under it but the flooding didn’t reach the top of the stairs.

“This town is pretty bad when it comes to flooding. There is a river not far that always overflows. A lot of the roads out of town would typically be closed after a storm like that,” Jay said reached around me to push at the tree. It didn’t budge. “This is going to sound crazy and I know that you can’t leave right now but I was wondering something.”

“What?” I asked. There was barely any sound behind the airy word.

“I was wondering if I could come with you guys. I’d offer to pay you but I don’t think money has much value anymore. I’ll get down on my hands and knees and beg you if it comes to that,” Jay said pushing uselessly against the tree again before closing the door. “I can’t do this. I can’t be alone here any longer. If you leave me, I’ll lose my mind.”

I swallowed hard, giving him a quick glance. It was enough to know that he was being serious.

“It’s not up to me,” I said.

“But you could convince them,” Jay said. “I can tell you’re a good person and I know that you believe me when I say that I am too. The worst thing I did in my life was steal a pack of gum when I was ten. Well, when I was seventeen, I smoked a joint but seriously, that’s a bad as I get.”

I drew in a breath as I walked away from him. Jay’s eyes were on me but I tried to ignore them.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said glancing up to meet his gaze. “But I can’t promise anything. Blake is very protective and apprehensive. I’m not even sure why you’d want to come with us when we don’t even know what we’re going to be walking into.”

“I guess that’ll be better than waking every day to the same old same old, not knowing which day will be the one I run out of food,” Jay said. “Maybe I just don’t want to die here.”

Our conversation came to an abrupt end as Blake came down the stairs. His hair was messy waves crashing against each other. At least he got sleep… or maybe it wasn’t disheveled because of sleep.

“Morning,” Blake said sitting on the second from last step. He pulled on his shoes and stood. “You guys see the damage out there? I think your neighbor’s house is completely gone.”

“Yeah,” Jay said scratching just behind his ear. “You probably couldn’t see it but there is a giant tree on my front porch. Take a look.”

Blake narrowed his eyes but pulled open the front door. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” Jay said. “Know how to use a chainsaw?”

Blake nodded as he looked at Jay out of the corner of his eye. “You have one?”

“No,” Jay said shaking his head. “And I’m not sure I’ll be able to get one for a day or two.”

“A day or two?” Blake asked, his nose wrinkling with confusion.

Jay told him about the flooding. I stayed on the couch while they went into the kitchen to look. Blake’s cursing caused me to shiver.

“Just guess,” Blake said as they walked back into the living room. “How long until it drains enough so that we can drive out of here.”

“A day or two,” Jay said. “Three at the most.”

“Three?” Blake roared.

I inhaled the chilly morning air deeply. “It’s not like it’s his fault it rained. Could have been worse if we’d been out there.”

“Could have outrun it,” Blake countered.

“Not if we wouldn’t have been able to lose James’s men. We lost them thanks to Jay,” I said.

Blake sighed as he studied me. “You’re right. There isn’t anything we can do. I mean, we could try to slowly drive through but if something happens to the SUV, then we’d have to try to find a replacement. Sorry, Kit.”

“It’s fine,” I said.

Blake wanted things to go quickly for Maddie and me. He knew just how badly we wanted to find Polly.

“Jay?” I said softly.

“Yes?” he replied instantly.

“Could you get me some water?” I asked.

Jay hesitated. He was worried about his supplies but if he was going to be coming with us, he was going to have to learn how to share.

“Sure,” Jay said.

When I heard movement in the other room, I stood and looked into Blake’s eyes. My nerves twitched but I blurted out what Jay had asked.

“No way,” Blake said. He lowered his voice and stepped an inch closer. “We don’t know anything about that guy.”

“Look around,” I said keeping my voice low. “He’s just a guy who lost everything. Jay isn’t any different from you or I. He just didn’t have a neighbor that saved him.”

There were pictures of his family on the wall. The house looked like a bachelor pad but once upon a time, it had been a home he’d shared with his wife and kid.

“We can’t just leave him here to die,” I said with a heavy sigh. “At least I can’t.”

There was a long moment before Blake spoke. “Are you sure about this?”

“I am,” I said firmly. “Not everyone can be bad.”

“Whitney’s not going to be thrilled,” Blake said letting a small smile grow on his face.

I huffed. “Whitney isn’t ever thrilled about anything.”

Blake laughed.

“Can I come back into the room now?” Jay called from the kitchen.

I laughed before bringing my finger to my lips to chew the nail. “Yeah, come on back. But only if you have some water for me.”

Jay came back into the room, handing me a small cup filled halfway with water. “Oh, I have lots of water for you but you probably shouldn’t drink it. Or bathe in it. Or really even walk through it. Who knows what’s lurking below the surface?”

I smiled but my mind went elsewhere. I imagined the arms of the sick, reaching up to pull us under the water. It was a terrifying thought.

Blake’s voice telling Jay he could join us whisked me away from my dreadful thoughts. Jay was smiling as he patted me on the back like I was his best chum.

“Thanks, Kit,” Jay said with a big, toothy smile. “I’d hug you but you don’t really strike me as the hugging type.”

“Yeah, I’m not,” I said. “But you’re welcome. Don’t mention it.”

Blake walked over to the front window and peeked out. His eyes shifted back to Jay over his shoulder. “Pack up whatever supplies you have left.”

Jay nodded nervously. “It’s all I have left.”

“If you’re with us, you’re with us,” Blake said. “Which means we will work together to find more. You don’t have to come.”

“No,” Jay said holding up his hand. “I don’t have much but I’ll pack up what I can. I’m grateful for this, I really am.”

It was two slow, boring days before the flood water retreated enough for us to leave. Driving away from the house looked as though it was painful for Jay but there was a glimmer of hope in the corners.

But it wasn’t long until the sparkle vanished.

Chapter 8

“There is so much that’s just gone,” Jay mumbled as we drove away from his house. “This doesn’t even look like my neighborhood. It’s like my house was just picked up and placed somewhere completely different.”

Whitney gave Jay a comforting pat on the shoulder. It was apparent that driving away from Jay’s house was painful for him but it would have been regardless.

Water still covered sections of the road but it wasn’t so treacherous that the SUV couldn’t make it through. The rain had stopped but everything was a mess.

Parts of buildings were strewn about… some of them completely obliterated. Jay would point to an area and say what store or business had been there but we didn’t know the town.

Even though we didn’t know the area, I think we all knew exactly how incredibly lucky we’d been to be inside Jay’s house during the storm. It was one of the few that only suffered minor damage.

“I can’t believe all this,” Whitney said.

“Maybe it blew all of the sick away,” Maddie said.

“Maybe,” Jay said brightly.

Blake’s eyes flicked to the rear view mirror. “Too bad that’s not enough to kill them.”

“Oh, right,” Maddie said. “Still, maybe it blew them all far away from us.”

“That would be nice,” I said turning to give her a smile over my shoulder.

Maddie wasn’t looking my way. Her chin was rested on her balled-up fist and her eyes were glued to the surrounding destruction.

“I should have peed before we left,” Whitney said.

“Oh my God,” Maddie groaned.

Whitney squeaked out a small laugh. “Only kidding. Of course, I went to the bathroom. It was a sad attempt to lighten the mood.”

“Oh.” Maddie paused. “Not bad, actually. I totally believed you.”

“I’m not stopping,” Blake said sternly and fatherly. Both Whitney and Maddie giggled. Blake smirked at their response. “At least not any time soon. We need to put a lot of time in to make up for staying at Jay’s.”

“Don’t blame me for the weather,” Jay said attempting to join in the conversation. But it hadn’t worked. It killed it.

It was going to take time for everyone to adjust to our new traveling companion. I’m sure it didn’t help matters that he was sitting where Dax usually sat.

“This is just so sad,” I said looking out of the window, scanning our surroundings. It seemed like something out of a movie.

Off to the side of the road, in the middle of an empty lot, there was a car rolled over onto its side. The siding was dented and the front end was crushed. It looked as though the whole thing had been gripped in a giant’s hand and thrown for miles.

“Look at that,” I said pointing at the car. “That could have happened to us if we would have been out here.”

I stopped talking the second I realized what I was looking at. There was no mistaking that it had been the car that had been following us. They’d given up. They were about to leave town.

A man jumped in front of the SUV and Blake slammed on the brakes. My head jerked forward sharply at the unexpected movement.

“Everyone okay?” Blake asked. “People have to stop doing that.”

The man placed his hands on the hood as if he’d used a magical power to stop the SUV. There was dried blood streaking down both cheeks and coating his hands.

“Is he sick?” Jay asked.

“Don’t think so but put on your masks anyway,” Blake advised as he cracked the window. “Step away from my car.”

The man grinned. There was even blood staining his teeth.

“I’m not moving,” the man said. “You have to help me.”

“There isn’t anything we can do for you,” Blake shouted out the cracked window. “Did you forget it wasn’t that long ago you were trying to capture us?”

“It wasn’t my idea,” the man said shaking his head and slapping his palms down on the hood.

Blake grabbed the gun off the dash. His fingers wrapped around the handle of the gun, tightening until his knuckles were as white as snow.

“Please move,” Blake warned.

“They’re dead. It’s just me,” the guy said. “I’m not going to do anything to you guys. I never was.”

Blake laughed. “You were going to try to bring us back, though, weren’t you?”

“Man, I’m just trying to survive out here,” he said.

Blake kept his eyes on the man. His voice was low. “I’m going to have to shoot this guy.”

“You can’t just leave me here,” the guy begged. “I’m bleeding. There’s a gash on my thigh and another somewhere on my back.”

“Run him over.” Whitney’s voice was soft and shaky. “He could be sick.”

“I don’t think he’s sick,” I mumbled.

Whitney huffed. “But you don’t know. He could be.”

Blake let off the brake and the car rolled forward an inch before he stepped on the brake again. The guy took a small step back in surprise but he didn’t move out of the way.

“I can’t just run him down,” Blake said.

“Let’s switch spots,” Whitney said.

Blake ignored her. Whitney talked a big game but it was likely because she knew Blake wasn’t going to give her the driver’s seat.

“Shit!” Blake said hitting the wheel. “If he were sick, I could do this easier.”

I knew exactly what he meant. There is no way I could do it even after everything the guy had done. He hadn’t succeeded and things had changed… he was standing in front of us, looking as though he’d climbed out of his own grave.

“I’ll do it,” Jay said.

“Holy crap!” Whitney said backing away from him.

I twisted sharply and saw the gun in Jay’s hand. “You’re armed?”

“Yeah,” Jay said with a shrug. “Shouldn’t I be?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” I asked.

“I didn’t think it mattered,” Jay said. “You guys have one.”

The guy pounded his palms on the hood hard. “Please, just help me. Take me to a different outpost where someone can help me. Don’t let me die out here.”

Jay looked at the man and then down at the gun his hand. I heard the door open but Jay didn’t push it open.

“Huh,” he said with a barely audible laugh. “Guess this is harder than I thought. I can’t do it either.”

“Great,” Blake said. “So, what do we do?”

“Someone’s going to have to do it,” Whitney said.

“I’ll do it,” Maddie offered.

“The hell you will,” I responded instantly.

The guy at the front of the SUV didn’t stop begging. His voice got softer with each word.

His eyes widened in surprise. He stopped begging and looked at his body as if something was wrong with it. Like it suddenly didn’t fit him any longer.

His body started shaking violently. He reached out, holding onto the hood as if he was afraid of vibrating away from his only chance at help.

“Oh, no,” Blake said.

The guy put his head down and vomit poured out of his mouth. I covered my eyes but opened them again when the door behind me opened.

“Jay! No, he’s sick!” I said but Jay was already outside. The gun popped twice and the guy dropped to the ground.

Jay came back into the SUV, closing the door with a loud exhale. Blake looked at him over his shoulder.

“I could have done it now,” Blake said.

“You get the next one,” Jay said. “Wonder if it’ll get easier.”

“I doubt it,” Blake said shifting the SUV into park. “But there’s more work to be done.”

“Let’s just go,” Whitney said.

Blake shook his head. “We have to finish this. Jay, I could use your help. Everyone else stay put.”

“I wish I could stay put,” Jay said.

“Fine,” Blake said. “I’ll take care of it myself.”

“I was only kidding,” Jay said his voice muffled by the mask. “Might as well see how this is done.”

Blake nodded.

They stepped out of the SUV. Blake’s gaze scanned every direction before he reached the front of the car.

I should have offered to help but my stomach was swirling and my head was throbbing. Whitney maybe had the right idea… that we should have just left the guy to pop up again and be someone else’s problem. Hell, he probably would have made his way back to James’s outpost.

Blake and Jay each had one of the guy's legs. They worked together to drag him over to the car where I could see the blur of his dead buddies’ heads pressed against the ground.

They left him next to the car. It looked like Blake and Jay were discussing something as they stood there with their hands on their hips.

“What are they doing?” Whitney asked.

Jay knelt down and it was only a few seconds before I realized what they’d planned. Blake and Jay were walking quickly away from the car.

Fire was already crawling up the side, likely due to the gasoline that had probably leaked all over the place. The flames were hungry and worked to devour the car even before Blake and Jay were back to the SUV.

I guess we had one less problem to worry about… at least I hoped we did. It would be harder for James to find us. Although, sadly, he likely already knew where we were headed.

At the very least it would buy us more time. Everything was happening just to buy us a little more time. Eventually, there would be more time available.

“Well,” Blake said sitting down. He shifted into drive and sped away without giving the fire another look. “That’s taken care of.”

“Wasn’t too bad,” Jay said. “Are you going to take away my gun now?”

“Nah,” Blake said and I widened my eyes. Not because he wasn’t taking it but because he was letting him keep it. “You said you’re one of the good guys too, right?”

Jay laughed. “I did say that, so it’s true.”

“Just don’t do anything stupid,” Blake said.

“Never,” Jay said. I could tell by his tone that he was smiling. “Say, I have an idea.”

“I hope that’s a good thing,” I said biting my lip.

Jay hesitated. I turned and looked over my shoulder but instead of noticing Jay, I noticed the big blaze behind us.

Jay looked up at me and I turned to him. “I have a brother who lives along the way. We could stop and replenish our supplies.”

Chapter 9

Blake laughed for far too long. I was starting to feel uncomfortable inside the SUV.

“That’s not going to happen,” Blake said.

“Okay,” Jay replied. “I was only trying to help. I’m pretty sure no one is there. I don’t think he survived. We wouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“How would you know that? How would you know if he survived or not?” I asked.

Jay exhaled. “Well, I don’t know for sure but back when phones were still working, he didn’t call me back or text me or anything. Plus, we’re twins.”

“So, you had a special connection,” Whitney asked with interest.

“Maybe,” Jay said. “But I think he would have probably responded to my messages.”

We drove a few miles in silence. Maddie was sleeping in the back, stretched out as best as she could on the small, cramped seat.

She seemed to be sleeping a lot. Even back at Jay’s, she hadn’t done much more than rest but then again, neither had anyone else. There really hadn’t been much for us to do while we waited for the water to drain away.

Being on the road was boring. Maybe if I hadn’t had so much trouble sleeping in cars or anywhere really, I would probably have been sleeping more to pass the time too.

“He had a lot of supplies,” Jay said breaking the silence. “He was a bit crazy and always thought the world was going to end. I guess he wasn’t crazy, was he?”

“What do you mean?” Blake asked interest brightened his eyes.

“Joey was a prepper,” Jay said.

I scrunched up my nose. “Jay and Joey? Did you guys dress alike too?”

“When we were younger,” Jay said smiling at the memory. “My mom liked us to have the same outfits. Jayson and Joseph. We were inseparable. The best of friends. At least we had been when we were younger anyway.”

“A prepper, huh?” Blake asked as though he hadn’t heard anything else.

“Yeah, he had all these scenarios about how the world would end… natural disaster, nuclear attack… not once had he mentioned a virus as what would cause the end,” Jay said with a quick exhale. “At least he hadn’t mentioned it back when he first got into prepping. Not that it matters, I guess.”

Silence filled the SUV again but there was something different about Blake. I could tell he was considering making the stop.

“How much stuff do you think he has?” Blake asked.

“I’m not sure. Probably lots of everything… food, water, gas. I imagine he’ll have more than you can even imagine,” Jay said. “He was going to even build one of those underground things.”

“A bunker?” Blake asked.

Jay clapped his hands. “Yeah, a bunker. Don’t think he ever got around to that but maybe he did. I don’t know.”

“Where does he live?” Blake asked. He was definitely considering making the stop.

“Outside of Buffalo,” Jay replied. “Definitely not far off track.”

“It’s a bad idea,” Maddie said in a slow, half-asleep voice. “We already lost time staying at Jay’s.”

Blake nodded but Maddie had already closed her eyes again. “I understand that but by the time we get there, we’ll all be ready for a break again.”

“No,” Maddie said.

Blake looked at me for support. All I could offer him was a shrug. Maddie had been in charge of this adventure since pretty much day one.

“The supplies will be helpful,” Blake said. “Especially the gas.”

“It’ll be a safe place and you can take a break from driving,” Jay added.

“Well, I don’t care what we do as long as we’re together,” Whitney said blinking her eyes at the back of Blake’s head.

What the hell had happened between them back at Jay’s? Nope. I didn’t want to know.

It was their business what happened behind Jay’s closed door. The door had been closed an awful lot though that was for sure.

“We’ll make a quick stop,” Blake announced. “Fill up the tank, grab some food, and I’ll take a quick nap.”

Maddie hadn’t heard the announcement. She’d fallen back asleep.

By the time we got there, she’d be wide awake and ready to throw a fit about taking the brief detour. I could warn Blake but I decided it would be more fun to let him deal with Maddie’s rage when the time came.

The hours passed. My legs were sore from sitting for so long without stretching.

Whitney hadn’t asked to stop to use the bathroom because she had fallen asleep with her head resting on one of the blankets she’d taken from Jay’s house.

The air inside the SUV was chilly. Blake hadn’t wanted to use the heater because he said it used the gas quicker. He didn’t want to stop until we got to Jay’s Brother’s house.

The wind whistled around the SUV as we zipped down the empty road. We hadn’t seen anyone since James’s buddy had placed his bloody hands on the hood.

There hadn’t been anyone trying to chase after us and there hadn’t been any sick at the side of the road begging us for help. It felt like it was just us left in the world. Of course, I knew that wasn’t true.

It was almost funny how alone I’d felt when I’d been with Freddie. That was different from the alone I was feeling now.

Freddie had isolated me from the world but I’d always known there were people out there. I’d been able to talk to my family almost whenever I wanted to but now there wasn’t anyone out there. At least not anyone that could instantly be considered friendly.

But I wasn’t really alone. I had Maddie, Blake, Whitney, and now Jay. It was more than I’d had in my life with Freddie.

“Not much further,” Jay said popping away my thoughts. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve been out this way.”

“You’re sure this is going to be fine?” Blake asked. “Because if this is a trap—”

“Yeah, it’s a trap. I knew you guys were going to be driving down the street and almost hit me. And I knew that storm was going to come along too,” Jay said sarcastically. “It’s the long con. I’m bringing you guys here so I can take your supplies and lock you in the basement. Haven’t decided what I’m going to do with all of you yet, though.”

Blake glared at him in the mirror. “Not funny.”

“It’s a joke,” Jay said.

“Not a funny one,” Blake said.

“Even if my brother is here, it’ll be fine,” Jay said. “He might not share his supplies but he’s not going to kill you or anything like that. Turn here.”

Blake turned. He kept his eyes on Jay almost as much as he kept them on the road ahead. He was studying him… waiting for something to go wrong.

There was a large two-story house on the right side of the road about half a mile ahead.

“It hasn’t changed a bit,” Jay said.

“When was the last time you were here?” I asked.

“A few years ago, five maybe six,” Jay said.

Blake cleared his throat. “Do we need to worry about the possibility of running into any sick lingering around?”

“Oh,” Jay said. “I hadn’t thought about that. Yeah, we might. Two people. Joey and his wife.”

Blake nodded. He slowed the SUV and turned into the driveway.

Chapter 10

At the end of the long driveway, there were two parked cars. Blake glanced at Jay over his shoulder and waited for an explanation before he’d bother to cut the engine.

“It’s probably my brother’s and his wife’s cars,” Jay said with a shrug.

“You don’t know what he drives?” Maddie asked.

“Haven’t been out this way in a long time,” Jay explained.

Maddie eyed him suspiciously. “Guess you weren’t the type to talk on the phone much.”

“We definitely weren’t,” Jay said.

Blake carefully scanned our surroundings. I did the same but there were several buildings and lots of trees and bushes that could be used as hiding places.

“Put your masks on,” Blake said and everyone slid their masks down over their nose and mouth. Everyone, except for Jay. “Put your mask on.”

“I thought we discussed this,” Jay said. “If it’s my time, I’m okay with that. I lost everyone that mattered to me.”

Blake scratched his eyebrow and shook his head. “You’re traveling with us now, which means you’ll wear your mask. If it helps you, tell yourself it’s for our protection, not yours.”

“Fine,” Jay groaned.

We stepped out of the SUV and cautiously gathered together in front of the house. There were two red barns — one to the left slightly behind the house and another to the right that was weathered and looked like it had existed long before the house. The door on the barn was hanging on a hinge and squeaked as it swayed gently back and forth.

“What did your brother farm?” Blake asked.

“Not entirely sure,” Jay replied. “But I know he had chickens.”

“Oh, I’d love some eggs,” Whitney said placing her palm to her stomach. “I’m sick of all the processed junk. I need some real food.”

Blake held out his hand in a sweeping motion toward the house. His eyes were on Jay. “Lead the way.”

“Oh, right. I guess that does make the most sense,” Jay said touching the back of his pants where he’d hid his gun.

We didn’t make it more than ten steps before a man and a woman stepped out of the front door. The man had hair as white as cotton balls and the woman’s hair was unnaturally dark as if she’d dyed it a color that was much too young for her age.

They were both casually holding shotguns. Neither of them had their weapon aimed at us, they were too busy staring at Jay as if they’d seen a ghost.

I stepped in front of Maddie protectively. The dark circles under her eyes seemed unusual on the sunny day. She looked as though she was in desperate need for another nap.

“Joey? Is that you?” the man said confusion stretching his mouth into an awkward diagonal across his face.

“No, it’s Jay. We’ve met before,” he said taking a step closer to them. “Joey’s brother.”

The man cleared his throat and set down his weapon, resting it on the side of the home next to the front door. “Yes, yes. I forgot how much the two of you look alike. Haven’t seen you in quite some time.”

“What are you doing here?” Jay asked.

“We made the drive out when shit hit the fan,” the woman said, still staring at Jay. Her spine was straight as a flagpole. “Your brother isn’t here. He’s not with us any longer.”

Jay nodded. “I had a feeling he wouldn’t be.”

“Izzy is gone too,” the man said. “They got sick shortly after we arrived. They tried to help a neighbor.”

“It’s a miracle we didn’t get it too,” the woman said.

“It’s a miracle any of us didn’t get it,” Jay said gesturing over his shoulder.

The woman’s grip was tight on her gun as she studied us. She was checking to make sure we didn’t seem sick.

“We didn’t think anyone would come out this way,” the woman said.

“Joey liked to keep things well stocked,” Jay said. “We need to replenish a few of our supplies. We won’t be in the area long.”

“Well,” the man looked into his wife’s eyes. After a long pause, he finished his thought. “You’re welcome to stay, of course. We’ve got more than enough and plenty of space in this big home.”

Jay looked at Blake. Surprisingly he gave them a small nod.

“We’ll stay for a bit,” Jay said. “Thanks for your hospitality.”

“Well, I guess you have as much right to be here as we do,” the older man chuckled, stopping when his wife elbowed him in the side. “Come on it. No reason to stand out here any longer than we need to.”

“Don’t worry,” Jay said keeping his voice low. “They’re good people. Maybe a bit judgmental but otherwise normal.”

Blake didn’t take his eyes off the couple. “I’m not too worried about them.”

They walked up the wooden steps that had been painted in gray somewhat recently… possibly even after the virus had spread. Inside, the older man stuck out his bony hand toward Jay.

“It’s been a while, Jay, right?” the man said.

“That’s right,” Jay said pointing at each of us as he recited our names to the couple. The older man didn’t seem like he was going to bother to remember our names. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Overton. The parents of my brother’s wife.”

“Nice to meet you,” Blake said politely.

The woman gestured at the couch that looked as though it couldn’t have been more than a month or two old. Based on the delicate glass lamps and other furnishings, I surmised that Joey and his wife hadn’t bothered to have children. And also, they hadn’t been poor.

“Make yourselves at home,” the woman said forcing a smile that made her lips look like they’d been drawn on with a thin red marker. “If you need anything, just let me know. Patricia. Call me, Patricia.”

“And I’m Ollie,” her husband said smiling something a bit more genuine than what his wife had offered us. “Can we get you something to drink? Must be thirsty after all that driving.”

“Water would be nice,” Blake said.

Ollie nodded. “We’ve got other options.”

“Waters good,” Blake said.

Both Ollie and Patricia left the room together… leaving us standing there in an uncomfortable silence.

“I told you we should have kept going,” Maddie said after a long moment. She sighed and pressed her hand to her forehead.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m just so tired,” Maddie said. “My body just aches from sitting in the car for so long.”

Blake leaned closer to her, wearing a half-grin. “I guess maybe it’s a good thing we stopped so you could get out and stretch your legs.”

Maddie didn’t seem to appreciate his sense of humor at the moment. She also didn’t bother to shoot him some kind of snappy comeback.

“Sit down,” I said taking Maddie’s elbow as I guided her to the couch.

The others joined us in the living room in an attempt to make ourselves at home. Maddie was on one end of the couch and I sat down next to her. Blake lowered himself to my right. Whitney stood there for several seconds as if she were waiting for him to make room for her.

After a while, she gave up and Whitney plopped down heavily in the tall-backed chair to the side of the couch. Jay stayed on his feet, pacing with his arms cross in front of us.

“Are you nervous?” I asked keeping my voice low.

“No,” Jay said. “It’s not a big deal. They’ll let us take some stuff. We can leave tomorrow after we get some rest. Seems like Maddie needs a good night’s sleep in a bed.”

“She just slept in a bed at your place,” I said unable to feel just a bit concerned about Maddie’s exhaustion.

Maddie sighed. “That’s exactly what I need. Once we get to Polly, I hope to never have to ride in a car ever again.”

Ollie and Patricia came back into the room. Patricia was carrying a tray with five glasses of water. She stopped in front of each of us and gave us a glass.

Maddie only took a small sip before setting it down on the coffee table.

“Oh,” Patricia said quickly grabbing the glass. She placed it on top of a decorative tile. “Always use a coaster. My daughter would lose her mind if this heirloom table got a water ring.”

“Sorry,” Maddie said leaning back on the couch and resting her head back.

“No problem,” Patricia said. “Just take care with the furniture.”

An awkward silence filled the room. Jay continued to pace while the Overton’s stood there staring at us.

Patricia cleared her throat. “Would you like a tour of the house? Or maybe you’d just like to see the bedrooms?”

“Just the bedrooms will be fine,” I said unable to take my eyes off of Maddie.

“Follow me,” Patricia said.

We followed her up the stairs single file. I felt like I was in a movie as I walked up the white carpeted stairs as my fingertips dragged along the varnished wooden banister.

The outside was an ordinary farmhouse. Inside, it was a luxury mansion.

At the top of the stairs, Patricia cocked her head to the side. “This way.”

Chapter 11

Maddie looked small in the king-sized bed with the big fluffy comforter on top. She was already asleep but, of course, I couldn’t sleep.

The house was quiet.

Maddie and I had taken the first room that Patricia had shown us which meant I had no idea where Blake, Whitney, and Jay even were. It was a strange feeling to be inside the fancy house when everything outside was a mess.

I wanted to take a look around the house but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Maddie alone. I stuck my head out of the door and looked down the hallway. Jay stepped out of his room and paused when he saw me.

He narrowed his eyes and his voice was soft. “What are you doing?”

I gave a quick glance to Maddie before leaving the room. I walked over to Jay with my arms crossed in front of my body. Why hadn’t I taken my hoodie in with me?

“I wanted to investigate,” I said before biting my cheek.

“What’s stopping you?” Jay asked. “I’ll snoop with you if you want.”

My head twisted side to side. “I don’t want to leave her alone.”

“Oh, hmm, I get that but honestly, I don’t think you need to worry about Ollie and Patricia.” Jay grinned as he stroked the side of his neck. “They’re harmless.”

“Says the new guy,” I half-teased. “They didn’t even seem to know Joey had a brother.”

Jay groaned. “That was a bit annoying, considering I dated Izzy first.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Yeah,” Jay said. “Everyone always liked Joey better. He got all the charisma.”

“It doesn’t seem like you guys were very close. That’s usual for twins, isn’t it?”

Jay shrugged. “Not when your brother steals the love of your life. I didn’t want to say anything around your friend, Blake, but Joey and I hadn’t spoken in about eight years, I think.” Jay sighed. “After like three years I stopped counting.”

“That sucks,” I said not knowing what else to say. It was a response I was pretty sure I’d learned from Maddie.

“He stole my girlfriend, married her, they made tons of money, and he had a great life. Screw Jay,” he said throwing up his hands. “Do I sound bitter? I don’t mean to.”

“Maybe just a touch,” I said giving him a sympathetic smile.

Jay released a long exhale. “Well, it all worked out in the end. I married a beautiful woman and had the most amazing kid. Wait. What am I talking about… it didn’t work out at all. Look around. I must be cursed.”

“You and I both,” I said.

“Should I ask?”

“Nah,” I said. “Maybe another time.”

Jay grinned. “You got it. Really, though, you can leave her. She’ll be safe in there.”

“I’d feel better if someone was with her,” I said.

“Even me?” Jay asked.

“Um, yeah,” I said even though I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that was true. I would have preferred Blake or Whitney. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

“You got it,” Jay said. “I’ll sit out here on the floor. Wouldn’t want her to freak out if she woke up and I was in the room alone with her.”

I smiled. “I really appreciate that.”

“No problem,” Jay said.

I wandered around the second floor, looking into each room that had the door open. The bathroom was the last door at the end of the hall. There was a bucket of water next to the toilet.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My face was dirty and I had more wrinkles than I remembered.

There was a scented candle on the window sill that looked as though it had only been lit once or twice. The long flowing curtains were pulled to the side to let the natural light into the room.

I sat down on the side of the tub and let out a long, almost silent sigh as I rubbed my palms vigorously against my face. Maybe I hadn’t wanted to snoop so much as I just needed a few minutes to myself.

My knees felt weak when I forced myself to stand. I couldn’t hide in the bathroom forever, even if I felt like it.

I looked out the window at the few wispy clouds in the sky. It looked like it was going to be a clear night.

Jay watched me as I came back down the hallway. He didn’t speak until I was two feet away from him.

“Don’t you want to look around downstairs too?” he asked.

“No, I guess I just wanted to locate the bathroom,” I said.

“I think there are like ten bathrooms in this place,” Jay said. “There are two doors in my room and I think one of them leads to a bathroom. Haven’t checked yet.”

There was movement at the bottom of the stairs. Jay stood.

“Meal time,” Patricia called. “If you want.”

“I want,” Jay said to me. “I’ll bring something back for you if you want.”

“That would be great, thanks,” I said just as the door across the hall opened. Both Blake and Whitney came out of the room.

The blood in my veins felt warm as it rushed a bit faster than usual. There were more than enough bedrooms for all of us to have our own.

Blake met my eye but quickly looked away. He followed Jay down the stairs and I turned on my heel to go back into the room with Maddie.

Suddenly, I wasn’t very hungry.

Chapter 12

I hadn’t tossed and turned as much as I usually did. The soft bed sucked me deep inside, making it hard to shift around too much. Not to mention, I didn’t want to disturb Maddie, who was still asleep when I opened my eyes.

“Maddie,” I said gently shaking her.

There were tiny droplets of sweat at Maddie’s hairline. I reached out to touch her forehead, recoiling at how hot she felt. I pulled the bedspread down to her feet. It was possible that the bed was too warm… that she was overheating.

“Maddie, wake up,” I said a bit louder.

She groaned and rolled over. Maddie shivered and curled up into a ball.

“Time to get up, Maddie. It’s morning,” I said getting out of the bed to open the curtains. “Let’s go see if we can find some breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry,” she mumbled.

I walked around the bed and pressed my lips to her forehead. She hadn’t overheated from the warm blankets… Maddie had a fever.

I stepped out into the hallway, not hesitating as I walked across and knocked on the door. Blake opened it, shirtless. His eyes instantly narrowed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I need Whitney,” I said quickly. “Maddie’s sick.”

Over Blake’s shoulder, I saw Whitney swing her bare legs out of the bed. She quickly pulled on her pants and walked to the door pushing her way past both Blake and me.

I was at Whitney’s heels back to the room. Whitney sat on the edge of the bed and placed her hand on Maddie’s head.

“Yeah, she has a fever,” Whitney confirmed. Whitney tried to talk to Maddie but she wouldn’t respond other than little whimpers and groans. “She needs a doctor.”

“I wish that were an option,” I said.

“I know I’m sorry,” Whitney said. “Maybe it’s just a bug that needs to run its course.”

Thoughts that Maddie had caught the sickness overcame me. My knees were suddenly weak.

Maddie didn’t have the symptoms the sick had. But would they come? Was this how it started?

“Or maybe it’s an infection,” Whitney said her eyes still on Maddie.

“She got hurt when we were escaping through the fence,” I said. “Her shoulder.”

“Maddie, can we look at your shoulder?” I asked.

She grunted back what I assumed was an okay. Whitney and I worked together to raise up Maddie’s shirt over her shoulder.

“There is no doubt in my mind this is infected,” Whitney said.

It was so bad that I hadn’t even needed Whitney to confirm that it was infected. “It was just a scratch. How did this happen?”

“I don’t know,” Whitney said shaking her head. She flicked me a sympathetic and worry-filled look. “She needs antibiotics.”

“Antibiotics,” I said repeating the word. It tasted sour on my tongue.

I turned sharply, biting back my tears. Blake was standing in the doorway, his eyes focused on me.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said reassuringly.

“What’s going on?” Jay asked from the hallway. Blake turned and spoke to him so softly that I couldn’t hear his words. “Shit. I’ll see if there is anything downstairs.”

Blake nodded and I started to pace. There wasn’t going to be anything downstairs that would help Maddie.

“I need the first aid kit,” Whitney said as she stood and placed her hands on her hips. “We need to take care of this wound as best as we can.”

“I’ll get it for you,” Blake said. He vanished, his footsteps pounding rapidly as he descended the nearby stairs.

Whitney tapped her finger to her chin. “I’m trying to think of what else we might need. Her heart is racing and she’s taking quick breaths even when at rest. Maybe morphine?” Her eyes locked with mine. “I’m sorry, Kit. I wish I knew more about this. There wasn’t a lot for me to do in the small clinic I worked in.”

“It’s fine,” I said. It wasn’t like it was Whitney’s fault.

“Penicillin… doxycycline… umm,” Whitney said as she paced. Her eyebrows were squeezed together to form a line. “Maybe she needs an injection of the tetanus antitoxin. An artificial respirator.”

“What? Are you serious?” My breaths started to come to me quickly. “We don’t have power. Is this tetanus?”

“I don’t know,” Whitney said. “It’s a possibility, I think.”

Jay came back into the room with a glass of water. “No antibiotics but here’s some Tylenol.”

Whitney shrugged and took the water and pills from him. She cupped two capsules in her palm and nervously gripped the glass.

“Help me, Kit,” Whitney said. “Get her into a seated position. The last thing we want is her choking on the pills.”

Maddie opened her eyes but she couldn’t keep them open long. Her body was so hard to hold up without any help from her.

“What’s going on?” she asked her eyelids fluttering momentarily.

“Take some medicine,” I said stroking her hair away from her face. “It’ll help you feel better.”

“Okay,” she said softly.

Maddie let Whitney place the pills on her tongue. Whitney helped her drink but it looked as though it was difficult for Maddie to swallow.

“Are they down, sweetie?” Whitney asked. Maddie’s head bobbed just enough to see her response. “Okay let’s get her back down.”

Whitney set down the glass and helped me get Maddie more comfortable. Blake stomped into the room, breathing as if he’d just finished a 5k race and won.

“Here’s the first aid kit,” Blake said handing it to Whitney.

“Would you two excuse us while we clean her wound?” Whitney asked.

“Oh, sure,” Blake said and both men exited the room.

They were trying to keep their voices down but I could hear them whispering in the hallway.

“Ollie told me there is a town about twenty minutes from here,” Jay said. “A doctor’s office and a pharmacy in the same building. He had to bring Patricia once when they were visiting.”

“I could be back in less than an hour,” Blake said.

My eyes connected with Whitney’s. It was impossible to miss that she didn’t want him to go.

“Don’t worry,” I said softer than a feather. “I’ll go… she’s my daughter.”

Whitney shook her head. “She’s your daughter. She needs you here.”

“You’ll be able to take better care of her than I can,” I said.

Whitney delicately re-bandaged Maddie’s wound. Maddie winced through her sleep at the pain as we pulled her shirt down together and rolled her onto her back. She down on the side of the bed and held Maddie’s hand.

I backed out of the room and into the hallway. Blake was leaning back against the wall with his hands tucked into his pocket.

“I’m going to head out in a bit,” Blake said. “Just need to check with Whitney on a few things.”

“I heard,” I said looking at my feet. “But I’m coming with you.”

Blake laughed. “Is that a joke?”

“No,” I said sharply.

“I’m coming too,” Jay said.

“No, you’re not,” I said before Blake could open his mouth. “I need you to stay here with Whitney and Maddie. In fact, Blake you should stay back too.”

Blake blinked twice. “That’s not going to happen.”

“We’re not going to sit here and argue about it all day while Maddie is suffering,” I said. “I mean, you guys can but I’m not going to.” I held out my palm. “Give me the keys.”

“There is no way in hell I’m letting you go out there alone,” Blake said. “I’ll drive.”

My teeth pressed together hard. My jaw didn’t relax. “Fine. Let me talk to Whitney quick and tell my daughter I’ll be back soon.”

Chapter 13

I had a list on a small piece of paper. There were various medicines and other supplies we needed to look for. Maybe it would have been better for Whitney to go with Blake but I couldn’t have asked that of her. She probably would have declined anyway.

Jay had watched us drive off out of the front window. He was like a small child watching his parents drive off for a date night, leaving him with his least favorite babysitter.

He had wanted to join us so he could show us around but he admitted he’d only been to the town once before. I felt better having him there to protect Maddie since he was armed. He was new to us, but I trusted him much more than I trusted Mr. and Mrs. Overton to keep Maddie safe should something go wrong.

Whitney was uncomfortable with Blake leaving her. She hadn’t said it but I’d seen it in her eyes. He’d promised her we’d be back soon.

Leaving Maddie had been hard but I knew it was something I needed to do. I needed to get the medicine that would help her get well.

It only took us about fifteen minutes to get to the town, thanks to Blake’s speeding. I was continuously scanning our surroundings, looking for sick or other people that might cause problems.

Blake found the clinic and pulled the SUV up to the curb. He pulled on his mask and grabbed his gun.

“Ready?” he asked in the muffled voice I was used to when we had our masks on.

I slid the mask down over my nose and mouth and nodded as I looked down at the list in my hand again. It wouldn’t have mattered if I had it or not because somehow, I’d memorized every item on the list.

I opened the door and quickly walked around the SUV. The town was like any other small town I’d ever been to. There were cars parked on the street, small businesses, and little shops scattered on the street. At the far end of the street, there was a fast-food chain and likely, it was the only one in town.

Blake reached out to open the clinic door. Neither of us was surprised to find that it was locked.

Blake looked over his shoulder before flicking his gun into the glass. The sound of it shattering was like a firework on the Fourth of July. If there had been anyone in town, they definitely would have heard the sound.

“Let’s move quick,” Blake said nervously.

“Hadn’t thought that would be so loud, did you?” I asked with a smirk.

“No,” he said without smiling back. He pulled open the door and entered the building first with his gun held up.

Blake aimed it around the empty room before gesturing toward the small area of the clinic that was used as the pharmacy.

I opened the door that was for employees only and didn’t close it behind me. My eyes scanned the shelves but it was just an overwhelming mishmash of letters. My adrenaline was pumping so fast I couldn’t concentrate.

I closed my eyes and drew in a breath. As I slowly released it I the letters started to form words.

I grabbed one of the large paper bags below the checkout counter and started filling it with the items on Whitney’s list.

I found everything — the anti-toxin, the sedatives, the antibiotics — but didn’t stop there. I threw a ton of other stuff into the bag more than half of which I didn’t know what it was. There was a pharmaceutical reference book on the counter which I threw into the bag as well.

“Almost done,” I said to Blake when our eyes met.

“This isn’t a shopping spree,” he said.

“Who knows when this stuff might come in handy,” I said looking at the bottle of Vicodin in my hand. All I could think about was how I could maybe one day get a full night of sleep. I took all of the bottles and dropped them into the bag. “Okay,” I said taking quick breaths as I looked around. There were packages of Lidocaine patches, gauze pads, medical tape… I couldn’t stop taking things. “I’m done. Let’s go.”

Blake looked at the stuffed bag. “Are you sure you have what we came for in there?”

“I’m positive,” I said but I hated that he’d asked. Now I was doubting myself and wanted to set the bag down and check just to make sure but we didn’t have time.

I followed Blake to the front door, but he stopped several feet away. “Shit!”

“What’s wrong?” I said.

“They're out there,” he said quietly.

I leaned forward to get a better look outside the window. There was a small crowd of the sick moving toward us.

“They heard the glass break,” Blake said guiding me away from the front of the building. “They’ll see us.”

I hadn’t needed him to tell me why we were backing away. Before we were out of sight, I saw there was another group coming from the other side of the street. There had to be at least thirty of the sick out there… all of them coming toward the clinic.

Where had they been hiding? Did they just sit around together, waiting for someone to make a noise?

“How are we going to get to the SUV?” I asked quietly.

“I don’t know yet,” Blake said doing his best to remain calm but his hand holding the gun was shaking ever so slightly. He wasn’t calm.

We didn’t have enough ammunition in his gun to deal with all of the sick that were crowding around us. It wasn’t something that just one gun could handle even with all the bullets in the world.

“I’m sure this place has a back door,” Blake said pulling us back behind the wall just as one of the sick looked into the clinic through the broken glass.

“Help us!” the sick called into the building. “We need help!”

I was almost positive they hadn’t seen us. But still, I could hear them trying to get inside.

They all started shouting for help simultaneously. Their words chaotically blending into one another.

We walked down the back hallway quickly toward a heavy door at the end with an exit sign above us. There were several doors down the hall, each one open. Inside the small rooms were little offices, each with a nameplate posted outside the door.

Before we got to the last office door, someone stepped out. Her pupils were dilated and the whites of her eyes were red. There was no mistaking that she was sick.

“Help me,” she said reaching out her arms.

Blake took a step to the side, making himself a wall between the sick woman and me. He held up his gun and didn’t hesitate to shoot the woman.

“Dammit,” Blake said cursing the loud pop that echoed through the clinic. He grabbed my hand. “Come on.”

We didn’t make it more than two steps before a man in a white coat stepped out of the door. His eyes were the same as the woman’s but he had a hole in the side of his face from a bullet.

“Please don’t,” the man begged with sad crimson eyes. It was like he knew what was going to happen. “It hurts so much.”

“Sorry,” Blake said as he pulled the trigger again.

We raced to the back door jumping over the two bodies that were lying there motionless. Blake opened the back door an inch and peeked out.

He froze in place.

“Blake?” I said and he didn’t move.

“Help me,” the voice on the other side of the door whispered. “You will help me, won’t you?”

Blake didn’t move. He was a statue just as Dax had been when he’d looked at one of the sick long ago.

I grabbed the gun from Blake’s hand and stepped in front of him. I pushed the door open a bit further. The sick was standing there, his eyes shifting toward mine.

I looked at his forehead and placed the end of the gun in the middle. I pulled the trigger without an apology.

“What the hell?” Blake asked shaking his head. “Why do you have the gun?”

“Don’t look in their eyes,” I said turning to study him.

He pressed his hand to his face and rubbed downward hard as if he was trying to make sure he was awake. Blake nodded.

“Sorry,” he said. “It won’t happen again.”

I handed him his gun. “Make sure it doesn’t. I don’t like to do that.”

“No one does,” Blake said.

We ran out of the back door behind the buildings. It wouldn’t be long before the sick would start looking for us.

Everywhere we went, we made noise. Each gunshot was a signal to our location. We needed to find somewhere safe to hide so we could wait for them to lose interest and eventually go back to wherever it was they came from.

I followed Blake down the block, turning onto another street. We were rather well hidden behind a big red brick building with a large tree out front and lots of untrimmed shrubbery.

“Shit,” Blake said leaning forward.

I moved around him and peeked out around him. The crowd of sick was more extensive than before. They were all gathered around the front of the clinic and several buildings around it.

I could barely see the SUV through the crowd. “Yeah,” I said swallowing hard as I gripped the bag of supplies. “Shit is right.”

Chapter 14

Blake leaned back against the building. He exhaled as he looked up at the sky.

“We need a plan,” Blake said.

“We have to get back to her,” I said looking off in the direction we’d come to town in.

There was a small part of me that wondered how long it would take me to run back to the farmhouse. A bigger part of me remembered how much I hated exercise and wouldn’t make it more than a block or two before running out of breath.

“I know,” Blake said. “There’s just so many of them.” He dug his fingertips into his messy hair. “Fuck!”

“It’s the sound that brought them here, right? We just need to make sound somewhere else,” I said.

“Right,” Blake said. After a minute, he pushed himself off of the wall and a half-grin crept onto his face. “Wait here. Do not make a sound. Or move… or do anything.”

I raised a brow. “Don’t have to tell me twice but what are you going to do?”

“Make some noise,” Blake said.

“Don’t get caught by those things,” I said grabbing his arm as he started to move away.

Blake stopped and looked into my eyes. He swallowed hard. “I’ll be back, okay?”

“Hurry,” I said letting go of his arm.

“I will,” Blake said before sprinting across the street.

I peeked around the corner to keep my eyes on the crowd of sick. They were still calling out for help as some of them entered the clinic.

Every few seconds, I looked over my shoulder to make sure the sick weren’t creeping up on me. Blake was out of sight and standing alone in the open without any sort of protection was terrifying. Especially because I knew that if something happened to me, the medicine wouldn’t make its way back to Maddie.

It wasn’t long until I heard the pops of bullets shattering glass nearby. The shots were one after the other but with a small hesitation between them. He wanted to make sure the sick heard the sounds.

I watched their interest in the noises grow. Some of the sick started walking away, shouting out their cries for help.

The sick looked at one another. Those that remained started following the others in larger groups. There were only five or so lingering behind when Blake came running down the sidewalk.

“It worked,” he said between quick breaths. His eyes shot over to the SUV. “We need to be quick.”

I nodded.

Blake grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the SUV. The hair at his temples was damp. His eyes were focused ahead on the few remaining sick. He was ready to do what needed to be done.

As we approached the SUV, Blake raised the gun and shot those standing around before they could even open their mouths. He was like a robot, programmed to destroy the sick.

Blake opened the passenger side door and closed it the second I was inside. He ran around to the other door and hopped in.

“Wonder how long it’ll take for them to come this way,” Blake said shifting into drive.

“We won’t be here to find out,” I said.

The tires squealed and we were making our way down the street. Blake found the road we’d come into town on rather easily.

“I hope I never have to see another one of those contaminated things ever again,” I said glancing in the side mirror as if I expected to see the mob running after us.

“Wouldn’t that be nice,” Blake said pulling his mask down, letting it hang down around his neck. “But there are far more of them than there are of us. And all of those I shot back there, well, they’re just going to pop back up.”

I sighed as I sunk into the seat. “Do you think this will ever change? Will we always be on the run?”

“I don’t know,” Blake said shooting me a quick glance. “It’s hard to imagine things will ever go back to how they were. At least not in our lifetime.”

“How can we survive this?” I asked.

“I don’t know, Kit.” Blake ran his fingers through his hair. He grabbed the steering wheel at ten and two as he pressed his foot down on the accelerator. “I just don’t know.”

At the farmhouse, I ran out of the SUV toward the front door. Jay pulled back the curtain as I was racing up the stairs. He opened the door and sucked in a breath as if he were the one that had just outrun a pack of the sick.

“Did you get everything?” Jay asked.

“And then some,” I said.

“It was like she was at Target,” Blake teased. “She just kept finding more things.”

I charged up the stairs, desperate to see Maddie. I hoped she was better. I hoped she wouldn’t even need the medicine.

Whitney was sitting in the chair by the window. She was already staring at the doorway before I entered.

“How’s she doing?” I asked.

“About the same. She’s tired but having more trouble sleeping,” Whitney said. “Did you get the things on my list?”

“I did,” I replied holding the bag out to her. Whitney took it from me and looked inside. She raised her eyebrow at me, but I looked away.

I sat down on the bed and took Maddie’s hand into mine. It felt like a hot coal.

“I’m back,” I said softly.

She groaned a response.

“I don’t even think she knew you were gone,” Whitney said. “What is all this stuff?”

“Extra supplies,” I said waving my hand. “Just in case. Everything you asked for is in there.”

Whitney snorted. “I didn’t ask for the entire pharmacy.”

“Well, you got it,” I said. “What should we give her first?”

“Let me think,” Whitney said setting out the various items onto the bed. The bottles lined the empty space on the mattress. “I think we just have to wait for this to run its course for the most part but let's start with the anti-toxin.”

My head turned slowly, stopping when our eyes met. “Are you just guessing?”

“Yeah,” she admitted throwing her hands into the air. “If you have a better guess, by all means, go for it.”

“No,” I said after a brief hesitation. Even though it didn’t seem like it, Whitney had to know more about medicine than I did. “I just want her to get better.”

“Believe it or not, so do I,” Whitney said picking up one of the small bottles and a syringe wrapped in a plastic package.

Whitney removed the cap and carefully filled the syringe with liquid. She shook her head.

“I can’t do this,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“You’ve never given a shot before? Isn’t that what nurses do?”

Whitney rolled her eyes. “It’s not that, I don’t know how much to give. Maybe the answer will be in that big book.”

I pointed at the big manual I’d taken from the clinic. Whitney bit her lip and replaced the cap over the needle.

She flipped through the book. It seemed to take forever but eventually, she stopped turning the pages and stared at one of them intensely.

“Okay,” she said removing the cap again. She turned to me. “Are you sure you want me to do this?”

“Do you think you have it right?”

“I do,” she said. “But I don’t want you to kill me if I don’t.”

“Check it again,” I ordered and she nodded. It didn’t take her as long to reread the page and checked what she had in the syringe. “Here I go.”

I drew in a breath. “Okay.”

She injected the medicine into Maddie but nothing changed. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

“Okay, what’s next?” Whitney asked looking through the medicines. She wasn’t asking me, so I didn’t respond. “The antibiotic. It was really smart to get more supplies to keep the wound clean. Good thinking.”

“Thanks,” I said accepting the compliment I didn’t really deserve.

She didn’t need to know that I just threw everything I saw into the bag. It was only by chance I’d taken the items to keep the wound clean. At least, it felt like it had been.

I stood there nervously, watching Whitney as she worked. At some point, she became a nurse again and stopped questioning herself.

When she finished, she started putting everything back into the bag. She set it on the floor next to the door.

“In case we have to leave for some reason,” she explained standing in the doorway. “I’ll leave you two. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“I will,” I said sitting on the bed.

I knew it was going to take time but I wished there would have been a change in Maddie instantly. She needed to get better. She had to get better.

We shouldn’t have ever left Blake’s house. It wasn’t that Polly wasn’t important. It was but it hadn’t been worth losing anyone over. We’d already lost Dax.

I’d let Maddie make the choice but if we wouldn’t have left, Maddie wouldn’t be lying here in a stranger's bed fighting for her life. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I didn’t do anything to stop them. I let them drop onto my shirt and soak through the fabric.

I wasn’t sure what time it was when Whitney brought up some food but the sky had darkened. Whitney leaned over Maddie and placed her hand on her forehead.

“How’s she doing?” Whitney asked.

“No change. At least not as far as I can tell,” I said. “Every so often, she’ll wake but it’s just to grumble and roll over onto her other side.”

The mattress squeaked as Whitney sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

“I’m not sure I want to hear it right now.”

“I definitely don’t want to tell you,” Whitney said. “But I lost the bet, so I have to be the one to tell you. I’m kidding of course… about the bet that is.”

“What is it?”

Whitney exhaled. Her shoulders dropped at least an inch. “They want us out.”

Chapter 15

Whitney stood and crossed her arms. “I’m sorry. They just told us a few minutes ago. Blake was going to tell you but I said I was coming up to check on Maddie anyway.”

“Why do they want us to leave? They know she’s sick.” I stood and pounded my foot on the floor.

“They said we can stay until she gets a little better,” Whitney said. “It’s not like we have to leave this minute but they wanted to make sure we understood that staying here was only temporary.”

“It’s not like we were going to stay here forever anyway,” I said my brow wrinkling as it tightened.

Whitney shrugged. “I guess they just don’t want to keep sharing. We wouldn’t have let anyone inside Blake’s house either.”

“Except you did,” I said looking into her eyes. “You all let Maddie and me in.”

“And you know I wasn’t comfortable with that,” Whitney said. “I don’t know I guess I can see where they’re coming from.”

“Whatever,” I said throwing my hands into the air. “We weren’t going to stay anyway. It’s just shocking that there isn’t an ounce of kindness left in the world. Why are any of us even bothering?”

Whitney sighed. “I don’t know.” She looked down at Maddie and pulled the blanket up to her shoulder. “Why don’t you try to get some rest? I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“I don’t want to leave her,” I admitted.

“You’ll be better suited to take care of her after some sleep. I’m wide awake. Let me take care of her for a bit,” Whitney said. “I’ll wake you if there is any change.”

“It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Whitney took several soft steps toward me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “I wouldn’t want you to fall asleep when you should be watching her just in case something went wrong. Please, get some rest.”

My fists were balled up tightly. I looked at Maddie and exhaled. “Fine.”

“Take my bed,” Whitney said. “Then, you’ll be close by if she wakes and needs you.”

I nodded. I stopped in the doorway and looked at Maddie over my shoulder. Whitney was already on the bed next to her, with her hands folded in her lap.

There was no doubt Whitney cared about Maddie. She’d take care of her.

I walked across the hall and laid down in the bed. My eyes focused on a small imperfection in the paint on the ceiling.

For a long while, I didn’t move. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to sleep, at least not without the help from one of the pills I’d taken from the clinic.

But it surprised me when I blinked and opened my eyes. The sunshine coming in through the window was the start of a new day. It was morning.

I sat up and looked around the empty room. If Blake had been back to the room, I didn’t know it. He felt comfortable sharing a bed with Whitney but it was different with me. He’d probably found a couch to sleep on so he didn’t have to share a bed with me.

My arms stretched over my head and something in the middle of my back cracked. I was stiff and sore, which was either from sleeping in the unfamiliar bed or from the adventure of fleeing from the sick.

I stretched my neck to each side as I looked out of the window. The sun was so bright there wasn’t a single shadow around the farm.

The air in the house felt thick and hot. I needed to take in some fresh air but first, I needed to check in on Maddie.

I soundlessly walked across the hall and peeked into the bedroom. Maddie was still on the bed and Blake was in the chair by the window. He turned when he noticed me standing there.

“Where’s Whitney?” I asked.

“She went to get something to eat,” Blake said. “She’ll be back soon. Hope it’s okay that I’m here. Whitney didn’t want to wake you.”

“It’s fine,” I said softly. “Did she wake up?”

Blake shook his head. “Whitney thinks her fever may be coming down some, though.”

“You mind staying with her a bit longer? I need to freshen up a bit and get some air.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Blake said with a smile.

“Thanks,” I said tip-toeing into the room.

I leaned over Maddie and placed a kiss on her head. She was still warm but maybe it was a bit better.

“I’ll be right back,” I whispered. She didn’t move or groan a response.

I walked down the stairs and out of the house without looking around. The second I was outside, I sucked in a deep breath fully filling my lungs.

My feet tapped each step until I was on the ground making my way toward the SUV. The fresh air felt good… almost as good as a shower or a bath would have felt.

“Hey,” Jay said as he walked around the side of the house. “What are you doing out here?”

“I needed some air,” I said leaning back against the SUV. “What are you doing?”

“Getting some water,” Jay said. “There’s a well out back.”

Jay set the bucket down and walked over to me. He leaned back. “Want some company?”

“No, that’s not necessary. I’m fine,” I said with a forced smile. Maybe if I said it enough, it would suddenly become true.

“It kind of looks like you could use some,” Jay said. “How’s Maddie doing?”

“About the same,” I said.

Jay frowned. “Sorry to hear that. It must be so hard for you.”

“Yeah,” I said pushing myself away from the SUV. I had to turn away, so the tears didn’t start falling again. I started walking toward the back of the farm.

“Shit,” Jay muttered as he stepped up beside me. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I was fine but the words didn’t come out. The back of my throat was impossibly dry.

“I’m sorry,” Jay said walking along with me. “She’s tough. She’ll get through this.”

“You don’t know her,” I said sourly.

“You’re right, I don’t but she’s made it this far, so yeah, she has to be tough,” Jay said. “I’m terrible at this kind of thing. I always say the wrong thing. It’s probably one of the reasons my ex married my twin instead of me.”

I stopped walking when I got to the barn. The large barn doors were locked with a chain but there was a smaller door that looked like it led to a small office.

Jay reached out and wiped the window with the back of his hand. He leaned forward to peer inside.

“Holy macaroni,” Jay said stepping to the side and opening the door. I followed him inside the room that was stacked from floor to ceiling with various large white buckets. “Look at this.”

Jay was pointing at a bucket that claimed to have lasagna, potato soup, and macaroni and cheese. There were at least twenty buckets stuffed into the small room.

“My brother was crazy,” Jay said picking up one of the buckets. “I’m taking this. He owes me this. Joey owed me way more than this but I’m at least taking this.”

“Is the whole barn packed with this kind of stuff?” I asked.

“Let’s check it out,” Jay said raising a brow as he reached out to open the connecting door.

Jay pulled open the door and stepped inside the barn. The strong scent of manure made me wince.

“Ugh,” I said bringing the back of my hand up to my nose.

“Guess it’s just a regular barn,” Jay said placing his hands on his hips. “It would have been really weird if this whole place would have been filled with those buckets.”

I laughed. It was the first laugh in days.

“Yeah, that would have been weird,” I said.

“I bet there is still more than what he has in the office,” Jay said cheerfully. “The whole basement is probably packed with goods. Maybe the Overton’s don’t even know this is out here. They probably didn’t come to the barn. Why would they? We should take them all.”

“It wouldn’t all fit in the SUV,” I said clearly less excited about the buckets of food than Jay was.

We both stopped talking when we heard something move at the back of the barn.

“What was that?” Jay asked.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” I looked around, biting my lip as I took a step back toward the office. “A cow?”

Jay took a step toward the noise. “It didn’t sound like a cow.”

“We should leave,” I said reaching forward to grab Jay. He took another step away and out of my reach.

“Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” Jay called.

Suddenly Jay stopped moving. His fists relaxed and his fingers uncoiled.

“Jay?”

He didn’t respond.

The dried hay on the ground crunched and I saw her step into view. Her hands were clasped together. “Help me! Please!”

Chapter 16

Jay wasn’t moving. He must have been under her spell.

“Jay,” I said taking several quick steps forward. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back as hard as I could. “Please.”

“Help me,” the woman said.

There were red tinted tears streaming down her cheeks. Her steps were small and careful as if she was afraid of scaring us away.

“Jay,” I begged. “We have to go.”

“That’s her,” he said looking down toward his feet. He wasn’t in a trance. “My ex.”

I pulled on his arm. “Can we talk about it in the other room?”

Jay looked into my eyes. It took a second for him to realize our situation wasn’t good.

“Right,” Jay said pushing me into the other room. He slammed the door closed behind us. He was staring at my face. “I’m so sorry. If I would have known.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said.

He looked at me as if I wasn’t understanding something. His eyes were on my mouth.

My fingers were trembling as I brought them to my face. We hadn’t been wearing our masks.

“Oh my God,” I said.

“Don’t freak out,” Jay said. “We’re probably okay.”

“How did I let this happen?” I said pounding my fist against the side of my leg.

Jay held up his hands. “We weren’t that close. I’m sure we’re okay.”

“We can’t be sure,” I said frantically. My whole body started to shake.

The woman started pounding on the door. Her voice begging for help sent a chill down my spine. I wanted to cover my ears so I couldn’t hear her words.

Jay wrapped his arms around me. “We’re okay!”

“You don’t know that!” I shouted at him.

He held me tighter and I buried my face in his neck. Jay stroked my hair as the woman on the other side of the door pounded and begged for our help.

“We’ll just hang out in here for a bit,” Jay said. “Just to be sure.”

“They’ll wonder where we are,” I said. “They’ll come looking.”

“And then we’ll tell them,” Jay said. “I really think we’re okay. I was closer to my wife and I didn’t get sick.”

I’d been closer to Freddie when he’d been sick too. It was just with Maddie already battling her own illness it made me extra nervous to have been exposed.

Whatever Maddie had probably wasn’t as deadly as the virus that had destroyed humanity. I took a step back, putting space between Jay and me.

“I need to tell Blake what happened,” I said crossing my arms.

Jay’s ex was still pounding on the door, asking us to help her. But with each passing minute, I was finding it easier to ignore her.

“We need to leave this place,” Jay said grabbing one of the pails of food. “And not because the Overton’s want us to. We don’t want to be in a place like this. This is a messed-up situation here.”

I pulled the mask out of my back pocket and yanked it down over my face. Jay shook his head and narrowed his eyes.

“It’s to protect others,” I explained. “Where’s yours?”

“In the house,” Jay said.

“Don’t worry, there are more in the car,” I said. “Let’s get you one.”

Jay lifted the pail, releasing a grunt from deep within. “We’re taking some of this with us.”

It was heavy but I was able to carry one of the pails to the SUV. I reached down to open the back only to find that it was locked.

“Dammit,” I muttered.

Of course, it was locked.

Jay and I set down the pails of food behind the SUV. I placed my hands on my hips and spun in a quick circle. It was like I expected more of the sick to be hidden around the farm.

“What are you looking for?” Jay asked.

“Who knows? Maybe your brother is here somewhere too.”

“They wouldn’t have kept my brother around,” Jay said with a serious look. “They didn’t like him that much more than me.”

I shook my head as I stared at the house. “Why would they do that?”

“I guess they just couldn’t say good bye to their daughter,” Jay said.

“So, they just lock her up in the barn?” I gestured toward his hip. “You should have put her out of her misery.”

“Right,” Jay said. “Why didn’t you do it?”

I chewed on my cheek. “I hadn’t thought of it at the time. Plus, what was I going to do? Reach down your pants and take it from you? I thought you were in a trance.”

“It’s not like they would have let us do what’s necessary to finish the job anyway,” Jay said jerking his chin toward the house.

As if he’d been summoned, the front door opened and Blake stepped out. He walked toward us with his eyebrows squeezed together.

He blew out a breath of air as if he were exasperated with us. “What are you two doing out here?” Blake asked. His eyes met mine. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“We were in the barn,” Jay said kicking one of the buckets by his feet. “We found a few things.”

Blake unlocked the SUV. “That’s good. They’re letting us take that?”

“Yeah,” Jay said. “They’re letting us take it because Joey was my brother. He owed me this.”

“Whatever.” Blake shrugged ignoring Jay’s tone.

“That isn’t the only thing we found in the barn,” I said pointing to my mask.

Blake shook his head.

“One of the sick was in there,” I said. “We were exposed.”

Blake blinked slowly as he stared at us. “You’re serious?”

“Dead serious,” I said wishing I could take back the words. “I can’t go back inside until I’m sure I’m not going to turn into one of those things and infect everyone.”

“How long will that take?” Blake asked as he made room in the back of the SUV for the pails of food.

“I don’t know,” I said kicking the pail.

Blake crossed his arms and gazed into my eyes. “How close did you get?”

“Not that close,” I said.

“How about him,” Blake asked tilting his head toward Jay.

“Neither of us were that close,” I said. “Ten feet away.”

Jay huffed. “More than that.”

“You probably don’t need to worry,” Blake said.

“Well, I am,” I said.

Blake lifted the bucket and set it down inside the SUV. He brushed his hands off on his pants and crossed his arms.

“I was looking for you because Maddie’s doing a bit better,” Blake said.

“She is?” I asked excitedly.

“She was awake for ten, maybe fifteen minutes talking with Whitney while I tried to hunt you down,” Blake said. “She took some medicine and is resting now.”

I smiled. “That’s good, right? Did Whitney say that was good?”

“Yeah, that’s good.” Blake narrowed his eyes toward the house. “Kid needs more time to rest, though.”

Jay lifted the second pail of food into the back of the SUV, struggling a bit more than Blake had. He reached up and slammed the hatch closed.

“We should take more,” Jay said shaking his head as he stared at the barn. “I still can’t believe they have her locked up in there. Are they hoping there will be a cure?”

“Have who locked up in where?” Blake asked.

“The sick person,” Jay said. “It’s my brother’s wife. The Overton’s daughter.”

Blake stared at him for a long moment. “They have their sick daughter locked up in the barn?”

“Yes!” Jay said with wide eyes.

“I think it’s about time you folks leave.” The old man’s voice made my body shudder. “You’re not welcome here any longer.”

“Shit,” Blake muttered.

Jay started pointing at the barn. “Why are you doing that to her? That’s like torture.”

“Get your things and leave,” Mr. Overton said.

I swallowed hard. “My daughter—”

“Get your things and get off my property,” Mr. Overton repeated.

“Your property?” Jay huffed.

“My daughter’s property,” Mr. Overton replied sharply. He set his gaze on me. “You’re welcome to leave your daughter here. She’s too young to be on the road.”

I shook my head. “No. That’s not happening. I’ll go get her.”

Maddie was not going to be the replacement for the daughter they lost. Not even over my dead body.

Chapter 17

We made sure Maddie was comfortable in the backseat before leaving the house. If she needed to stay, we would have had to do something rash. Something that would not have made me feel good about myself.

Whitney packed all of the medications Blake and I had gotten from the clinic. Maddie was doing better. She talked when she could but she also still slept a lot. Whitney said it was partly due to the medicine.

Mr. and Mrs. Overton stood on the porch with their shotguns in hand, watching us as we sat in the driveway. They looked like angry statues.

“You have as much right to this place as they do,” Whitney muttered.

“We can always come back,” Jay replied. “The place won’t move and they won’t use all those supplies. And I won’t be afraid to put my ex out of her misery.”

It was around dinner time when we stopped for gas at an abandoned car in a parking lot next to an old rusted, double-wide trailer. Jay got out to stretch and keep watch at the front of the SUV.

I stood next to Blake as he siphoned the gas because I needed the air. Sitting inside the SUV hadn’t gotten easier after our little break at the farmhouse. In fact, each time we stopped, it got harder to get back inside.

Hard to sit down.

Hard to watch the same scenery go by the window.

“She seems to be doing better,” Blake said breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” I said my voice low and scratchy.

He flashed me a half-smile. “And you didn’t get sick.”

“And least not yet, I haven’t.”

“You can take the mask off now,” Blake said. “And Jay too.” Blake leaned closer. “He kind of freaks me out with that thing on.”

“What? Why?” I asked but I didn’t wait for a response. “Maybe in a few days. I want to be sure.”

Blake laughed. “You know he’s not going to stop wearing his mask until you say it’s okay.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want anyone to get sick because of us.”

“We’re not going to get sick. It would have happened by now.”

“You don’t know that.”

Blake took a step closer… he was only inches away from me. “You’re not going to get sick. We were closer to the sick at the clinic than you were to the woman in the barn.”

“You weren’t there,” I said looking away from his intense eyes.

“You said it was at least ten feet away,” Blake said his hand moved up to the side of my face. His eyes darted over in the direction of Jay before he started to slide his finger under the mask. “Take the mask off.”

I reached up to push his hand away but he took my hand into his. He held it firmly at first but soon, it relaxed into something different. Something almost… sensual. Or maybe it had more to do with the way he was looking at me.

“Do you feel sick?” he asked softly.

“No,” I said taking a second to find my voice.

Why was he affecting me in this way? All the time he’d spent with Whitney… with his shirt off but still, somehow, this moment felt awfully… intimate.

I stepped to the side. “I’ll take it off when I feel confident I’m not going to get anyone sick.”

“How long will that be?” Blake asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t given it a lot of thought. Whenever I’m ready.”

Blake threw his hands in the air. “Fine. Whatever. Take as long as you need to.” He leaned closer. “But it must be getting awfully stuffy inside that little mask.”

It was dreadfully stuffy inside the mask but I wasn’t about to admit that to him. Especially not at that moment.

“Going to come with me to check out the trailer?” Blake asked.

“What do we need? We have tons of stuff, thanks to the pails of food.”

“We don’t have pails of water,” Blake responded as he rolled up the tubing and stuffed it into the back of the SUV. “Come on.”

He called out to Jay to tell him what we were doing. Jay nodded and got back inside the SUV. I could hear the car lock even though we were several feet away.

I followed Blake inside the trailer. There wasn’t anything inside… no food, no water, not even any furniture. The place had been abandoned and probably long before the virus had spread.

“Well, nothing here,” Blake said slamming the last kitchen cupboard closed. “I wish we had more water.”

“How much do we have left?”

“Some bottles and a couple gallons, I think,” Blake said. “Enough to get us to Maine but still, I’d like more.”

I shifted my weight, not even wanting to lean back against the wall in the icky trailer. The wallpaper was moldy and the ceiling had orange water stains. I wasn’t even sure if it was safe for us to be inside.

“Dax was better at keeping track of the water and supplies,” Blake said.

“Oh,” I said chewing the inside of my cheek. “I didn’t know he did that.”

“Yeah,” Blake said looking down. “We may not have always gotten along but he helped. He was good at making sure we were okay. Now, that’s all on my plate.”

I frowned. “I’m so sorry. I can do more to help out.”

“No, no, no.” Blake walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “You have enough on your plate. I didn’t mean that at all. I was just feeling bad. We hadn’t seen each other that much before everything happened and I guess, well, I miss him.”

“I miss him too,” I said quickly holding up my palm. “I know it’s not the same.”

“He really liked you,” Blake said.

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t stop the tear that leaked out of the corner of my eye.

“I liked him too,” I said.

“No,” Blake said. “He really liked you. He told me one night he thought you might be the one. If things had been different.”

“Oh,” I said. My teeth dug deeper into my cheek.

Blake let out a small laugh. “I thought the same thing.”

Heat raced to my cheeks. I knew they were redder than a rose in the middle of spring.

Blake inched closer. I could feel his eyes were on me.

My heart was pounding.

What was happening?

Why was he doing this?

I was starting to panic. I couldn’t think straight.

“Dax and I were together,” I blurted out.

Blake froze. He blinked several times before taking a step back.

“You were together?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“We were growing closer,” I said but he knew what I’d meant.

I wasn’t exactly sure why I felt like I had to confess. Perhaps it was a way to push him away. I didn’t want to think about anything but Maddie and getting to Polly.

Maybe it was because I’d seen Blake with his shirt off after sharing a room with Whitney. He was getting close to me inside the trailer and it made me nervous.

Whitney wanted to be with Blake. I wasn’t going to do anything to piss off Whitney, especially after everything she did to help me with Maddie.

“I see,” Blake said. He was moving away from me like I was one of the sick. I couldn’t blame him.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be,” Blake said. “Why would you be sorry?”

I shook my head. My mouth dried. “You lost your brother.”

“We should get back out there,” Blake said. “They’re probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”

Blake gestured at the door. He turned ice cold in a matter of minutes all because of my confession. Things were going to be awkward and surely Jay and Whitney would notice.

As we walked back to the SUV, it took every last bit of energy I had not to break down and cry. It was like I’d stabbed Blake in an open wound. I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me.

Blake drove faster. It was clear I’d upset him. He was angry but I couldn’t blame him.

I was the one at fault.

I should have kept my mouth shut.

Chapter 18

No one said much in the car. Jay had asked a few questions but Blake wouldn’t answer him. I was the one that had to respond and I was pretty sure the last thing Blake wanted to hear was my voice.

Jay must have realized something was off because he stopped talking. It wasn’t like he was going to ask Blake what was going on.

I felt like crying but I’d made my choices so I couldn’t let the tears fall. I didn’t regret what happened between Dax and I. But maybe it had been too soon. I probably should have handled everything differently. I hadn’t been thinking clearly at the time.

My life was just a collection of bad choices. Wrong choices.

It was probably better that I’d come clean otherwise every time Blake got close to me, I would have felt uncomfortable. I would have panicked.

Why I felt that way when he was close to me, I didn’t quite understand. He was extremely good-looking but that wasn’t anything I hadn’t experienced before. For some reason, around Blake, I was different.

He made me nervous.

He made my palms sweat.

Things I hadn’t ever felt before but it was probably because he was so confident. Unafraid.

When he came over that first night to warn me about what was happening, he wasn’t afraid of Freddie. Other people backed down because they didn’t want to deal with him and Blake hadn’t. He’d instantly seen that Freddie was a creep.

It had genuinely seemed as though Blake had cared about me and he hadn’t known a thing about me. He wasn’t like anyone I’d ever known.

I sighed as I stared out of the side window. Coming clean had made me feel light but had it been worth it? It had only hurt Blake and he was honestly the last person in the world I ever wanted to hurt.

“Oww,” Maddie groaned from the backseat.

I almost gave myself whiplash as I turned to look at her over my shoulder. It was too soon for her to be in the car. She hadn’t been ready to get back on the road but we’d all already known that.

“Everything okay?” Whitney asked her as she leaned over the seat to touch Maddie’s forehead.

“I feel sick. The bouncing is making me feel like I’m going to throw up,” Maddie said.

Blake slowed the SUV.

“We need to find somewhere to stop,” Whitney said.

It felt strange to have her making choices for my daughter. I couldn’t say anything, though, because I didn’t disagree.

“I’ll find something,” Blake said.

It didn’t take him long. Less than thirty minutes according to the numbers on the dash clock… numbers that maybe weren’t even accurate.

Blake and Jay cleared the house while Whitney and I waited in the car with Maddie. She’d fallen back asleep almost a minute after the SUV was in park.

They came back to the car and Blake grabbed a few things out of the back. Whitney and I stood there on the yard while Jay helped Maddie out of the back.

He moved quickly, carrying Maddie to the house with ease. Blake walked through the house, checking all the locks before joining us in the dark living room.

Blake pulled a chair up to the window. He stared out between a small opening between the curtains while he switched his gun from hand to hand.

Jay opened a small bag of chips and started munching loudly on the crunchy chips. It wasn’t until he stopped eating that I could hear them outside.

Their cries for help chilled me to the bone. I shivered at what felt like ice water moving slowly through my veins.

If Maddie hadn’t fallen back asleep after taking her medicine, she would have been clinging to me. She would have been terrified of the sick.

Maybe what I needed was to take some medicine myself. I wanted to drown out their voices begging for us to save them.

The sick didn’t come up to the house. Blake never saw any of them out in the shadows but since we could hear them, we knew they were out there. What we didn’t know was how close to the house they were.

Maddie and I moved to a bedroom in the back but I could still hear them. Their voices were soft and sometimes they blended in with the crickets and the gentle breeze.

“Water?” Maddie asked.

“Okay,” I said patting her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

I quietly made my way into the living room to our small pile of supplies. It was good that there was light from the moon so I could find my way around the house a tiny bit easier than I would have been able to without it. Everything inside was a faint, pale blue shade.

I bent down and grabbed one of the bottles of water. When I stood, I saw Whitney and Blake at the window. I almost gasped in surprise but instead, I backed up into a shadow.

They hadn’t heard me come into the room because if they had, they would have pulled away from each other. They would have ended their kiss.

I stepped to the side behind the wall. It wasn’t until I took a few more steps that I noticed there was a dim light coming from under the bathroom door. Jay must have found a candle or he was using one of the small flashlights we’d taken from his house.

Blake and Whitney.

Good.

Whitney must have been ecstatic. Her dreams coming true even in an awful world.

I went back into the bedroom and helped Maddie take a drink. The squeak of the bathroom door surely carried to the living room. Would they stop when Jay went back? Maybe Jay had found his own bedroom to get some sleep.

Jay stopped in our doorway. His voice was soft. “You’re still up?”

“She needed water,” I whispered back.

“How’s she doing?”

“I’m fine,” Maddie grumbled. “Just tired.”

Jay chuckled and flashed me a wave. “Get some rest.”

“You two,” I said with a smile.

“He’s right,” Maddie said. “You should get some rest.”

“You need it more than I do,” I said moving her hair away from her face.

Maddie turned to face me. “It’s the medicine that makes me tired. I’m actually feeling better.”

“That’s great,” I said looking into her glowing eyes.

“I can stay awake while you get some sleep,” Maddie said but her eyes were half-closed.

“I appreciate that,” I said. “You don’t need to do that. Blake is keeping watch. We’re fine.”

Were we, though? His eyes hadn’t been on our surroundings. Blake had been busy with other things.

I held out my arm and Maddie rolled into it. She hadn’t slept in my arm like that since she was a kid.

I tried to keep my eyes open for as long as I could but eventually, exhaustion took over.

When morning came, we couldn’t hear the sick. Blake looked out of every window but he couldn’t find any of the sick but still, we ran to the SUV.

We were back on the road but it was different. It was awful. The space between Blake and I couldn’t have been any more uncomfortable.

And the smile on Whitney’s face made my stomach swirl. I couldn’t wait until we got to Maine. I couldn’t wait to get out of the SUV for good.

Chapter 19

We made good time. The cities and towns flew by and the amount of uncomfortable-ness inside the SUV increased. Nonetheless, it was the first time I actually thought that maybe we’d make it to Maine.

I still couldn’t believe I’d seen Blake and Whitney kissing. No matter how much I wanted it to be a dream, I knew it hadn’t been.

It shouldn’t have even been on my mind. What did it matter to me? I sighed and hugged myself.

The last time we’d stopped for gas, we must have gotten a fair amount because the gas gauge showed just under half a tank remaining. Of course, we’d stop when Blake wanted to. Gas wasn’t something you could ever have enough of.

Maddie was doing better. She sat up more often but any time she took medicine, it wasn’t long after she’d lay down again. Slowly she was becoming herself thanks to the medication and care from Whitney.

It was around midday when I couldn’t stand wearing the mask any longer. I ripped it off, wincing as if it had become a second skin.

I looked back over my shoulder at Jay. He looked apprehensive but he took off his mask.

“We need to make a quick stop,” Blake said just before dinnertime. “Gas. Eat something.”

He really hated me, thanks to my confession to him about Dax. I still wasn’t entirely sure why I thought he should know. Now, he was going to use as few words as possible to communicate with me.

I didn’t ask any questions. The only thing we needed was to make it to Maine. Then Blake and Whitney could go on with their lives and not worry about someone like me.

There was a house about a mile up the street on the outskirts of a small town. Tall trees were scattered about the yard and tiny shrubs lined the driveway.

Blake slowed as he approached the ranch-style house. His eyes scanned the yard before he turned down the driveway toward the parked minivan.

He pulled the SUV up next to the minivan and roughly shifted into park. Blake grabbed his gun out of the cup holder and shot a look at Jay.

“Come with me,” he said. “The rest of you stay here.”

“Where are we?” Maddie asked pushing herself up into a seated position. “I’m hungry. I’m thirsty.”

“I think that’s why we’re stopping,” Whitney said.

Blake slammed the SUV door after he stepped out. They walked toward the house with their guns in hand.

“He’s in such a bad mood,” Whitney said.

“Why?” Maddie asked.

“I’m not exactly sure. He seemed okay last night,” Whitney said waving her hand. “I’ll find out later. Maybe he’s just worried we won’t find enough water or something.”

Maddie yawned and tried to stretch out her legs. “How much longer until we get to Maine?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Haven’t seen any signs in a while. Not many when we’re on country roads.”

“Make a guess,” Maddie said. “I’m not sure I’m going to make it much longer.”

My eyes widened.

“No, I’m feeling better,” Maddie said with a smile. “I just don’t know how much more I can take of being cramped up back here.”

“A day or so,” I said. “But that’s a complete guess.”

“Probably a good guess,” Whitney said. “Blake said something similar last night.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Is that right? What else did he have to say?”

Could she sense the sourness to my words?

“Not much,” Whitney said seemingly oblivious. “I asked what we were going to do after Maine.”

“What did he say to that?” I asked.

“My, my aren’t you nosy?” Whitney grinned with a raised eyebrow.

I half-shrugged and turned away from her. “Was just curious since some of the supplies in the back of this SUV are mine.”

“You’re worried about your supplies?” Whitney asked skeptically.

“Yes,” I replied deadpan.

“Why would you worry about that?” Whitney asked sharply. “From what it sounds like, there will be more than enough supplies at the base your sister is supposedly staying.”

Maddie took in a quick breath. “You don’t think she’ll be there?”

“Oh,” Whitney said giving Maddie a much softer expression. “I hope so but who knows. It’s a shitty world. Maybe what that guy at the outpost had told us was true. Try not to get your hopes up.”

“My hopes are perfectly reasonable,” Maddie said straightening her back. “I hope she’ll be there.”

Whitney’s shoulders rounded as she turned away. “Of course, we all hope that.”

Blake and Jay were making their way back to the SUV. They walked five feet away from each other and clearly, they weren’t talking to one another.

Blake whistled sharply and waved for us to exit the SUV. Whitney smiled at him even though he probably couldn’t see her through the tinted windows.

“Looks like the coast is clear,” Whitney said in a chipper voice. She was like a little bird as she opened her door and hopped over to Blake.

“She’s got it bad,” Maddie said.

“Tell me about it,” I groaned.

“It’s weird,” Maddie said. “I thought he had the hots for you.”

I cleared my throat. “That’s ridiculous. Need help getting out?”

“No, I can manage,” Maddie said. “I think we can cut back on the sedatives.”

“I’ll talk to Whitney about it,” I said tucking my mask into my back pocket after closing the passenger side door. “You need to keep taking the antibiotics, though.”

“I know,” Maddie said grabbing onto my arm.

I looked down at her legs. “Sure, you’re okay?”

“Positive, they just get pins and needles from sitting back there too long,” Maddie said.

“You’d tell me if it was something more, right?”

Maddie rolled her eyes. She really was almost back to her old self. “Of course, I would, mom.”

“Jay’s going to help me siphon the gas,” Blake said with his hands on his hips. “You three go inside and see what you can gather up for supplies. Our number one priority at this time is water.”

Blake was all business. He was apparently comfortable with ordering us around and we were seemingly okay with obeying.

We apprehensively walked into the house through the front door. The knob was a bit wobbly and it seemed as though the door didn’t quite fit in the frame as it should have. Perhaps a little bit of force had been used for Blake and Jay to get inside.

The living room was small with a fluffy pale blue sofa opposite the big screen TV that had been hung on the wall. There was an over-filled bookshelf and a dead plant hanging from a hook in the ceiling.

The dining room was part of the kitchen and there was a long hallway with five doorways alternating from side to side. Whitney started opening the white painted cabinets and Maddie opened the fridge.

“Gross,” she said covering her nose. “Someone didn’t like to throw out their leftovers.”

“Close the door,” Whitney said scrunching up her nose. “That is awful.”

Whitney stopped looking in the cupboards. Each one she’d looked in, she’d left the door hanging open.

“There is so much food here,” Whitney said.

“I guess no one came around this way to snatch up what was left,” I said with a shrug.

“Lucky us,” Whitney said. “We don’t even have room for all this.”

I stood next to her and looked at the cupboards. “It’s all so neatly organized.”

“Found the water!” Maddie shouted with a little squeal.

She was standing inside a large pantry, grinning wildly. There were shelves of water, so much water — several cases of bottles still wrapped in plastic, gallon jugs of filtered water, and even the big kind for water dispensers.

“Even more food in here,” I said. “Crazy.”

“Maybe we should just stay here,” Whitney said.

My shoulders tensed as I turned toward her. I took in a sharp breath that painfully squeezed my lungs.

“I mean, after we check the base for Polly,” Whitney said. Of course, I knew it was bull shit… that hadn’t been at all what she’d meant.

“Right,” I said.

Whitney cleared her throat. “I wonder if Blake wants us to bring the water out now or if we’re supposed to worry about it later.”

“I’ll go ask him,” Maddie said.

“No, no, I can do it,” Whitney said placing her hand on Maddie’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Whitney,” Maddie said. “Moving around helps me to feel better.”

Whitney studied her a bit and then nodded. “If it’s fine with your mom, then it’s fine with me.”

I walked into the kitchen and pulled back the curtain. Blake and Jay were standing by the SUV, still siphoning the gas.

“I guess it would be all right,” I said letting the curtain fall back into place. “Make it fast, though.”

“I will,” Maddie said with a little hop in her step.

She walked out of the back door, letting the screen door slam into place. Did she have her mask? I pulled back the curtain again, watching her walk over to Blake. Her mask was sticking out of her back pocket.

“She’ll be okay,” Whitney said. “Blake will protect her.”

I held my breath so I didn’t say something I’d regret. My hands tightened into fists but I forced myself to exhale.

Whitney didn’t know what it was like to have a daughter and especially what it was like to have a daughter at a time like this. The worry before had been significant, now it was extreme and most of the time, barely manageable.

I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t survive that.

My thoughts popped like a finger poked into a shiny, soapy bubble floating through the air on a summer day. The gunshot shook my entire body erasing all my thoughts, all of them except for one.

Maddie.

Chapter 20

I started toward the door but Whitney grabbed my hand. Her eyes were wide.

“Look out the window first,” she whispered sharply. “Don’t walk into something… something bad. She needs you.”

It took a few seconds for her words to make sense. Whitney held my hand, dragging me with her over to the window.

“Shit,” she said holding on to me tighter.

“What is it?” I asked. The words barely made their way out of my mouth before I pushed her out of the way.

“Don’t go out there,” Whitney ordered.

Four people were standing there facing Blake and Jay. One of the men was holding Maddie, pointing a gun at the side of her head.

“Oh my God,” I said with a gasp.

I started toward the door but Whitney yanked me back. “Not a good idea.”

“I have to help them,” I said.

“It’ll be easier to help them if those guys don’t know we’re here,” Whitney said.

“They have guns.”

Whitney looked around, grabbing two knives from a wooden block on the counter. “We have knives. What good is this going to do?”

“I don’t know yet,” Whitney said. “Follow me.”

I followed her into the living room. It was surprising she was somehow remaining calm and not curling up in the corner sobbing uncontrollably.

Whitney climbed up on the sofa and looked out of the window. “There’s another car out there, parked behind the SUV. I think they live here. Shit,” Whitney said her eyes bulging out of their sockets. “This is all their stuff.”

“Is she okay?” I asked.

“She’s okay,” Whitney said. “They’re talking.”

“Can you hear anything?”

Whitney shook her head. “Nothing at all but it’s not good. Blake and Jay are setting down their guns.”

I knelt down on the sofa next to her. I reached out for the curtain but she swatted my hand away.

“Don’t move it,” she warned.

“Right,” I said.

It was like I had lost all of my common sense with Maddie on the other side of the wall. The only thing I could think about was how I needed to do something to save her and fast. It was just too bad I couldn’t think of what I needed to do.

I pulled in a deep breath and leaned to the side so I could get a better look. The group of strangers were working to tie Jay and Blake’s hands behind their backs.

I could see them better. There were two men and two women. The one that seemed to be barking orders had curly hair sitting wildly on top of his head. He hadn’t done any of the tying, he just stood there holding his gun at Maddie.

But now Maddie was tied up too. Blake, Jay, and Maddie were clustered together in a small group in the middle of them.

The curly-haired man said something and the group started toward the back door. I grabbed Whitney and pulled her to the front door.

“What are we going to do?” she whispered.

I waited and when the back door opened, we slipped out onto the front porch. We ran away from the house, stopping to hide behind the SUV.

I leaned back against the tire, pressing my hands to my forehead. A gasp squeaked out for between my lips and I quickly muffled it.

I wanted to scream. Of course, I couldn’t. Instead, I had to come up with a way to get inside the house to save Blake, Jay, and my daughter. And all Whitney and I had were a knife each.

Almost to Maine and we were screwed. Absolutely and utterly screwed.

Chapter 21

Whitney looked around. Her whole body was shaking like there was an earthquake under her feet.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

There wasn’t anything around except for trees and shrubs. We couldn’t even get inside the SUV because Blake had the keys… or maybe the bad guys had the keys.

“Did all four of them have a gun?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Whitney said. “At least two of them did. I’m pretty sure I just saw two of them holding… I think.”

I couldn’t remember exactly what I’d seen other than one of them holding a gun to my daughter’s head. It was all kind of a blur. Maybe all of them had been holding guns but even if only two of them were, they had Blake and Jay’s guns now, which meant there were at least four.

“How are we ever going to get them back?” Whitney said shuddering at a noise that came from inside the house. “What was that? Did they kill them?”

“That wasn’t a gunshot,” I said.

Whitney was slowly turning back into her usual self. She twisted her fingers together nervously.

“We’re too close to the house,” Whitney said. “If we get captured, we’re all screwed.”

“Where do we go?” I asked holding out my palms.

“If they leave, they could see us. We can’t stay out here forever,” Whitney said. “Hell, they could see us out the window.”

I shook my head. “They can’t see us here.”

“We can’t stay down here,” Whitney said.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “I wonder how often they leave.”

“They never have to leave,” Whitney said. “They have everything they could possibly need inside. Besides, they aren’t all going to leave when they have prisoners.”

“No, but maybe some of them will. Maybe we can take one or two of them down,” I said. “We just need to be patient.”

Whitney chuckled. “What’s going to happen is they’ll eventually find us. They’ll capture us too. Before we know it, we’ll all be trapped inside. That is if they aren’t going to just kill them.”

“IF they were going to kill them for no reason, they would have done it by now,” I said.

They had the perfect opportunity to just kill them and take the supplies from the SUV. They didn’t want them dead. Of course, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t kill them if they needed to.

We could just walk in there and demand they let them go. Maybe if we had something they wanted, we could make a trade but sadly, Whitney and I didn’t have anything except for the knives we’d stolen from the kitchen. Knives they eventually might realize are missing.

“So, what are they going to do with them?” Whitney asked. She frantically waved her hands. “I know you don’t know the answer to that.”

“Maybe they just didn’t know what to do,” I surmised. “I mean, look at all the stuff they have inside. They panicked. They wanted to protect their stuff. That’s all it was.”

“That’s like the best-case scenario,” Whitney said touching the pebbles on the ground. “We have to go somewhere. We can’t stay here behind the SUV. The sick could find us.”

I hit my fists on my thighs repeatedly. “Where are we supposed to go?”

“We have to find somewhere to hide,” Whitney said. “Somewhere close by. Somewhere we can see the house would be ideal.”

“I don’t know how I can leave,” I said. “My daughter is inside this house.”

“She’s with Blake. Besides, you’re not going to get to her today,” Whitney said. “At least you probably won’t.” She frowned before burying her face in her hands. “I don’t know how we’re ever going to get to them.”

There was another loud noise from inside the house. It sounded like a door being slammed shut. Then the voices. I couldn’t make out a single word but it sounded like arguing.

“Maybe the people at the base your sister is in can help us,” Whitney said.

“I’m not leaving without Maddie,” I said staring into her eyes.

“Let’s go over to those trees,” Whitney said pointing at a small grouping of trees about a quarter of a mile away. “We’ll come up with a plan. We’ll get her back.”

I started laughing quietly. Whitney and I were a mess. It was like we were taking turns breaking down. How were we ever going to help any of them?

“Come on,” she said holding out her hand.

I took it and she helped me to my feet. I looked at the house over my shoulder but only for a quick second before we ran toward the trees.

The whole run, I couldn’t stop imagining getting shot in the back. Maybe it was good, though, because it made my feet move faster.

When we got to the trees, I pressed my palm on the rough trunk and leaned forward. The breaths were coming at me too fast. I thought I was going to hyperventilate, of course, then my thoughts shifted to Maddie.

Was she okay? Was she hyperventilating or having an attack? They wouldn’t take care of her if she were. She wouldn’t even be getting the rest of the antibiotics she needed to take. What if she got sick again?

When I could manage my breaths again, I dropped down on my ass. I didn’t even care that the ground around the trees was damp and soaking through my pants.

“I shouldn’t have ever let her go outside of the house,” I said my legs bouncing up and down.

“So, if we had Maddie with us, you’d just leave for your sister and let Blake and Jay rot inside of that home?” Whitney asked.

“No, of course not,” I said. “But I’d probably feel better about rescuing them with Maddie staying back here and hiding in the trees.”

Whitney snorted. “She wouldn’t have ever done that and you know it.”

She was absolutely right. I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to leave her alone here but at least she wouldn’t have been with the enemy.

Whitney started pacing. Her eyes occasionally darted toward the house.

“How long do you think we can survive out here without food and water?” she asked.

“We’re not going to be out here that long,” I said.

“What if they don’t leave again for days? Or even weeks?”

I lowered my head. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to do about any of this.”

Whitney leaned back against a different tree. Her arms hung loosely at her sides. She didn’t bother to wipe away the tear that rolled down her cheek like a raindrop on a window.

“We’ll figure this out,” Whitney said. “I want to get Blake back just as badly as you want to get Maddie back.”

I suddenly remembered what I’d walked in on… Blake and Whitney kissing. Of course, she had no idea that I’d seen them.

“Oh, really?” I asked.

“I’ve known Blake my entire life,” Whitney said. “Of course, I want to help him. He helped you. You should want to help him too.”

“What makes you think I don’t?” I asked.

She grabbed her elbow. Her mouth opened slightly but she didn’t say anything. She just shook her head and looked away.

“I love him,” Whitney said. “This is hard for me too.”

“Right,” I said swallowing hard. “I know it is.”

Whitney pushed herself away from the tree. Her eyes were on something near the house.

She reached down and tapped me on the shoulder. Eventually, she found her voice. “They’re outside.”

Chapter 22

All four of them were outside gathered around the SUV. They walked around it as if they were afraid it was going to explode at any moment.

After several long minutes, they opened the back of the SUV. It appeared as though they were having a conversation as they stared at the supplies packed in the back.

“Leave our stuff alone,” I said under my breath.

They started unpacking our supplies one by one, setting everything down on the ground around them.

“Jesus, they have more than enough,” Whitney said. “Why do they have to do that?”

“Because there is never enough,” I said.

They started carrying things into the house. When they were finished, they walked over to their vehicle and unloaded the supplies they had inside.

We were too far away that I couldn’t tell what anything was that they’d unpacked from their car. But we were close enough that I could tell it was more supplies.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“What?” Whitney asked.

“I bet they took Maddie’s medicine,” I said.

Whitney’s head moved side to side. “I didn’t see them go in the middle of the SUV. The medicine was under my seat.”

“They’re never going to leave,” I said with a sigh. “And the two of us, well, we’re not going to be able to rescue them on our own. Although the front doorknob was wobbly.”

“We can just walk inside and demand they release them,” Whitney said sarcastically. “I’m sure they oblige.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “No, but when they fall asleep… maybe we can go inside and do something then.”

“Go inside and slit their throats,” Whitney said. “With their own knives.”

“You really think you could do that?” I asked almost cackling at her suggestion. “I know I won’t be able to slit any throats.”

“Well, we might have to if it’s the only way we can get them out of there.” Whitney raised her chin. “I think I could do it. Hell, they tied them up and took them from us. They should be punished.”

I shook my head. “Have you taken out any of the sick? Even that isn’t easy.”

“People do what they need to do at times like this. They can do stuff they never imagined because you have to,” Whitney said. “I’m capable of more than you know.”

“Oh, please,” I said waving my hand at her. “You wouldn’t kill a fly.”

“I squished a spider once,” Whitney said. “But spiders are gross and it was crawling toward me. Those jerks are crawling too close. They need to be squished.”

“Talking about it is one thing but actually doing it, well, that’s another thing,” I said.

The people at the house didn’t come back out again. One thing I was sure about was that we weren’t going to get to them before the darkness swallowed us.

It was almost dark under the trees and it wouldn’t be much longer before the rest of the world was covered with the same blanket of darkness.

The crickets started. It felt like they were calling out to the people in the house trying to tell them where we were.

Whitney was still standing but it was obvious that she was getting tired. Every few seconds, she’d shift her weight and move her arms around.

“Sit down,” I said.

“No way,” she replied.

“Afraid of spiders?” I asked.

She looked around. “Not just spiders. Centipedes… millipedes… all of the pedes.”

“How about worms, beetles, oh, and slugs? Beetles are the worst.”

“Yeah, thanks, that’s super helpful,” Whitney groaned. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep standing up.”

“All those things could be climbing up the tree trunk right now.”

Whitney jerked away from the tree and shot me a dirty look. I couldn’t cover my snicker fast enough.

“You’re evil,” she said brushing off her arms as if they were covered in thousands of ants. “It’s not like I was going to be able to sleep out here anyway.”

“You also won’t be able to stand forever,” I said.

“You’d be surprised what I can do,” Whitney said.

Night came fast. But something told me it would take forever to see the morning light.

“It’s a good thing my stomach shrank because otherwise, I’d be so incredibly hungry right now,” Whitney said.

My hunger rumbled my stomach like it was a large maraca. I’d adjusted to less food as well but I hadn’t adjusted to no food.

My throat felt like a desert in the middle of July. I was tempted to squeeze the water from the mud around the tree.

If I thought about it too long, it might possibly cripple me. And I needed my energy.

The house was barely noticeable across the field. There were dim lights in two of the windows but otherwise, everything was dark.

I looked around to see if there were any other lit up houses but there wasn’t anything out there. It was just the house that had my daughter inside.

“Think they’re asleep?” Whitney asked.

“I doubt it,” I said. “If they’re smart, at least one of them will be awake.”

“What makes you think they’re smart?” Whitney asked.

I shrugged in the darkness. “We have to assume they are. We can’t underestimate them.”

“It’s so cold out here,” Whitney said shifting her weight back and forth even quicker. Her legs were tired but she was trying to keep herself warm.

It really was cold, though and the temperature seemed to be dropping rapidly. There had been a flicker of a moment when I thought maybe we’d actually make it to Polly but now I wasn’t so sure.

We stayed in the trees for hours without saying anything to each other. Occasionally, I’d look up just to make sure Whitney was still there.

“So,” I said hugging my legs to my chest, hoping it would help warm me. “I saw you and Blake the other night.”

“Saw us?” Whitney asked. If it would have been bright, I would have seen a smile… I was almost sure of it.

“Kissing.”

She hesitated. “What were you doing up? We thought everyone was asleep.”

“Maddie needed water,” I said. “I didn’t mean to see anything.”

“Well, that’s all it was anyway,” Whitney said. I could tell she was still smiling. “Just a kiss.”

I waved my hand in the cold air. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s none of my business. The silence was getting to me.”

It was several minutes before she spoke.

“Blake and I have always been… I don’t know,” Whitney said. “Let’s talk about something else.”

I had no idea what else to talk about. In fact, I hadn’t even wanted to talk about her and Blake.

There were sounds in the distance. At first, I thought they were wolves but the longer we sat there, the more I thought the sounds were the wails of the sick.

If they came closer, Whitney and I wouldn’t be able to stay in the trees. Taking our chances with the people in the house would give us better odds.

“You heard that, didn’t you?” Whitney said.

I chewed my lip for a long moment. “Wolves.”

Chapter 23

I’d drifted on and off throughout the night but I could tell by the dark circles under Whitney’s eyes that she hadn’t gotten any sleep. It also appeared as though she hadn’t sat down, not even for a bit.

“I’m not going to be able to do this another night,” Whitney said.

“You don’t look good,” I said. “Please, sit down.”

“No,” she said. Her legs were shaking.

I could have pushed her with my index finger and she would have dropped to the ground. “Please. You need to regain your energy for whatever we’re going to have to do.”

“And you have energy?” she asked her voice hoarse. “Neither of us have any energy and if we don’t get food and water, we’re not going to get more. We’re going to have to do something and soon.”

“I’m not taking you with me when you can barely stand,” I said.

“You’re not leaving me here alone,” Whitney said. “Oh, dear God.”

I shook my head as I stretched out my legs. “What is it?”

“I have to freaking pee,” she said.

“Pick a spot,” I said stretching out my arms to both sides.

“Dammit,” Whitney said.

She wasn’t gone long. When she came back, her eyes were wide and she was out of breath.

“You really had to go bad, huh?” I asked with a half-smile.

“Not… funny…,” she said her hands running up and down her body as if she were looking for something. “What did I do with that knife?”

I grabbed mine from off of the ground next to me and stood. My legs were a bit weak at first but the adrenaline going through my veins straightened them quickly. A strength I didn’t know I had steadied my hand.

“It’s right there,” I said pointing at the ground next to the tree she’d been leaning on half of the night.

Whitney bent down and grabbed it. Her hand was shaking. The adrenaline hadn’t affected her the way it had me.

My eyes were narrowed. “Why do we need our—”

I heard them before I finished my sentence. Perhaps the sounds we’d heard last night hadn’t been wolves and had really been the sick wandering around the darkness.

“Stay back,” I said pushing Whitney behind me. It took me a few seconds to locate exactly where the sounds were coming from.

There was a small group of sick wandering in a nearby field. They were much closer than I would have liked.

“Maybe they won’t find us,” I said pulling down my mask.

“It looks like they are coming this way,” Whitney said. “Like they know we’re here. Maybe they can smell us.”

“Don’t look at them,” I said. “Never at their eyes.”

Whitney sucked in a breath. “I don’t want to look at them at all.”

“Four of them,” I said softly. “Two of us.”

“No,” Whitney said shaking her head. “We should run.”

“Where are we going to run to?” I asked. “Maybe we could go ask the people who took my daughter for help.”

Whitney shrugged. “Is that a terrible idea?”

“Yes,” I replied. “I’d rather take my chances with the sick.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure. The sick I can do. Non-sick, I’m not so sure,” I said.

The sick were walking toward us. Either they knew we were there or they’d seen Whitney when she’d gone to take a pee.

“Dammit,” I muttered.

“What do we do? How do we, like, get rid of them?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I used a gun when I did it.” I looked around, making sure there weren’t others coming. “Stab them in the heart… or the head. Don’t touch them. Don’t let them touch you.”

Whitney whimpered. “How can I do that without touching them? What if they reach out and grab my arm? I can’t do this.”

“Be quick,” I said as if I were suddenly an expert on the subject. Of course, we both knew I wasn’t. “They’re slow. If things go bad, just run.”

“Where?” Whitney asked frantically.

“Anywhere but the house.”

“I’m not leaving you. I don’t want to be alone out here.”

I gave her a quick nod. “Good. Neither do I.”

I adjusted my mask to make sure I was protected even though I knew I was. At least as best as I could be. Ideally, I would have liked a wall between the sick and us but that didn’t seem like it was going to happen.

“Hello,” one of the sick said ducking their head slightly. There was no mistake that the person looking in at us was sick. “Please, we need your help.”

I hated how they were still so… human. Their blood-filled eyes made it just a bit easier but really, what made it do-able was just how badly I didn’t want to become one of them.

“We see you,” another sick said. She was an elderly woman with a torn plaid skirt. Her voice had sounded like she’d smoked cigarettes for most of her life. “You would want help, wouldn’t you?”

“Help us, please,” the third said. He was still dressed in his business suit but it was covered in dirt, dried blood and what appeared to be crusty vomit.

Whitney was dancing from side to side nervously. It was like she was trying to decide between staying and running away.

“I can’t do this, Kit. I can’t,” Whitney repeated over and over.

The first sick stepped into the trees. She stretched out her hands toward us.

“Help! Look at me,” she said.

“What do you want us to do for you?” Whitney squeaked.

The woman stared at her but I stepped in front of Whitney to make sure she wasn’t staring back.

“Help us,” the sick woman repeated just as the second stepped into the area after her.

“Look at us,” the second sick said. “Just look!”

“Not going to happen,” I said. “We don’t have help for you.”

“Help us,” the first sick repeated.

I was almost certain they couldn’t understand us. They just repeated themselves. They would do anything to spread the virus.

“Get ready,” I said to Whitney as I took a step forward.

“I’m so not ready,” she muttered in a voice drenched in sadness.

I lunged forward and jerked the knife toward the woman’s throat. Her mouth dropped in shock.

“Help!” she said as she tried to grab my arm.

“Don’t touch me,” I said grabbing her shirt and turning her around. It was easier to jam the knife into her when she was facing away.

It hadn’t taken much to drop her but it was harder to drive the blade into her than I thought it would be.

“Oh, my God!” Whitney cried out. “You did it! You actually stabbed that woman.”

“What else was I supposed to do?” I said trying not to let my panic boil over. “She wasn’t a woman. She’s sick! We have to do what we have to do.”

I lunged forward and plunged the blade into the second sick. They dropped as if their power had been turned off.

The next two came toward us but what happened was a blur. I was standing there with my hands held out to the side, staring at the pile of sick bodies on the ground.

“Holy shit,” Whitney said letting her blade fall to the ground several feet away from her. “I’m going to die out here, aren’t I.”

I shook my head. “Let’s hope not.” I jerked my thumb at one of the bodies. “Practice.”

“Sorry?” she said with narrowed eyes.

“They’re already dead. Maybe if you practice, you’ll gain some confidence,” I said.

“I still don’t want to do it,” Whitney said.

I snorted. “It wasn’t that long ago you said you could go into the house and do what needed to be done. And those people in there aren’t sick.”

“Okay, okay, so I guess I can’t,” Whitney said quickly wiping away a tear. “We’re never going to get them back.”

I hesitated for a long moment. Perhaps she was right but we couldn’t give up without a fight.

I knelt down by one of the sick. “We’re not done here, you know that, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“They’ll just pop up again if we don’t finish the job.”

Whitney groaned. “Oh, God.”

“Pick your poison. Decapitation or cutting out their hearts? Burning them isn’t an option considering our circumstances.”

“Eww,” Whitney said taking a step back.

I swallowed hard and bit the inside of my cheek. It was a good thing my stomach was empty.

I raised the blade over the sick’s chest and thrust it down into their chest. “I pick heart. You can do the next one.”

Whitney didn’t stop her tears. And her legs couldn’t hold her up any longer. She dropped to her knees and vomited bile.

Chapter 24

Whitney managed to help me with one of the sick. But not without a lot of struggling and taking a lot of breaks for dry heaving. The other three, I had to take care of myself.

It wasn’t easy for me either but what choice did I have? I didn’t want to have to stab them over and over again each time they popped up again. Or worse, I wouldn’t have wanted them to get us if we fell asleep.

Whitney’s hands were shaking ninety percent of the time but what I didn’t know was if it was because she was hungry, cold, or scared. Of course, it could have been all three reasons.

“This is so disgusting,” Whitney said turning away from their bodies on the ground. “We just have to stay here with those things? Won’t they make us sick?”

“I’d love to upgrade to something more luxurious but I’m afraid that just isn’t an option.”

“Do you ever get tired of being sarcastic,” Whitney said.

I sighed. “I’m sorry. This is all so stressful. Sarcasm is how I deal with things sometimes. Freddie hated it.”

“Freddie, as in your husband?”

“Dead husband, yeah, him.” I gave her a strange smile. “You may or may not have heard he was an alcoholic, abusive, asshole.”

Whitney nodded. “May have heard a thing or two.” She waved her hand. “Shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s fine. There just isn’t much to say about it,” I said shrugging.

I sat down on the ground and wrapped my arms around my knees. Dealing with the sick had taken almost the entire day.

I was beyond tired and if we hadn’t done so many disgusting tasks, I would have been starving. My throat, however, felt like it was coated in dry beach sand.

“I’d kill for a drink of water,” I said.

“Good,” Whitney said. “Then you’re ready. Let’s go get them.”

“I didn’t say what I’d kill. Maybe I meant like a mouse or a spider or something,” I said pointing at the ground next to Whitney.

Whitney sighed. “I’m too tired to care. Let them crawl all over me.” She swiped her hands quickly over her arms. “Kidding. Still, I don’t want those things on me.”

There hadn’t been much time to watch the house over the course of the day but when I had been able to take a look, there hadn’t been anyone outside. No one coming or going.

I’d also tried to come up with a plan while slicing and dicing up the sick but my mind was blank. I couldn’t think of how Whitney and I could get inside the house and rescue the others.

If we couldn’t get to them within the next day or so, I was almost certain we wouldn’t get to them at all. Our time was running out.

When nighttime swallowed us, I stood.

“What are you doing?” Whitney asked looking up at me with wide eyes that glowed. The moon reflected hauntingly but it provided us with some light.

“If we don’t do something now, we’re not going to be able to do anything at all,” I said noticing the shaking in my hands as I gripped my blade.

Whitney stood next to me and we both stared at the house. “You came up with a plan?”

“No, did you?”

“No.”

“Should I sit back down?” Whitney asked.

I shook my head. “I wasn’t joking. We have to do something.”

“What can we do? If we walk in there will either get tied up or killed,” Whitney said.

“Or we’ll rescue them,” I said. “I guess we’ll find out which one it’ll be.”

We stood there, taking in breaths at almost the same time. The air that came into my lungs was icy and it made my stomach feel even more empty.

“You’re sure about this?” Whitney asked.

I chuckled. “No. But I am sure that if we wait any longer, it’s just going to make things harder.”

Whitney nodded but she didn’t follow me when I took a step. I reached back and grabbed her arm.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” she said pulling herself free.

I exhaled a cloud. “We’ll stop at the SUV.”

That wasn’t a long time to come up with a plan. I looked up at the stars and walked, hoping the answer would hit me.

It was a slow walk to the SUV. We ducked down and listened. The only sounds were those from the crickets and the critters in the wild. Thankfully, there were no sounds of wolves or sick in the distance.

We only had one enemy to worry about. But they had the upper hand and I didn’t know how we were going to manage to tip the scales.

The candlelight in the windows flickered. I didn’t see a shadow inside.

“Maybe we should just stay in the SUV until morning,” Whitney suggested.

I shook my head. “But you did just give me an idea.”

“I did?” Whitney asked brightly.

“Oh, it’s not that good, but I think we should practice using our knives a bit more,” I said.

Whitney cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s get warmed up by sticking these things in their tires,” I said.

Whitney smiled. “That’s a start.”

We stayed low to the ground as we crept around their vehicle. Whitney did the side away from the house and I took care of the tires that were closer.

Since no one came running out trying to kill me, I figured we hadn’t been seen. I stayed behind the front of the SUV as I stared at the house.

Still no movement and no sound. I shook my head.

“Maybe they’re sleeping,” Whitney said. “They aren’t expecting company and I’m sure Blake didn’t tell them about us.”

“They’re going to hear us breaking in,” I said. “Even if we get inside and take out one of them, it’s not going to matter. They’re armed. We’re outnumbered.”

I blinked several times, noticing the small windows at the bottom. There was a basement. I’d managed to get out of a basement but now here I was wondering if I could get inside.

I chewed my lip for a long moment before turning to Whitney. “This probably isn’t going to work. Follow me.”

We stayed low to the ground and as silent as possible as we approached the house. I lowered myself to the ground and peered into the window.

My eyes instantly connected with Blake’s blue eyes. They were like little stars blinking at me in the night.

He smiled. And I smiled back.

Chapter 25

Blake came to the window and stood on an old wooden chair. Neither of us could talk for fear of being heard but still, it was good to see his face. I could barely hold in my emotions.

“Are you okay?” I mouthed.

Blake nodded. Through the dirt coated window, I could see Maddie was behind him with Jay at her side. She was looking up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks. Jay’s eyes were filled with concern.

“Are you okay?” he asked looking back and forth between Whitney and me.

Whitney placed her hand on the glass like a prisoner visiting with a loved one after months of not seeing each other. She bit her lip as she nodded wildly at him.

“We’re alive. Hungry. Thirsty,” I said. “I assume you’re locked in down there?”

Blake’s head bobbed slowly. The windows looked large enough for them to wiggle out of but there was probably a reason they were still down there. Blake would have obviously tried the windows.

“Window?” I mouthed.

“Stuck,” Blake replied silently. “All of them.”

Whitney and I looked at one another. She exhaled her hopefulness. “How fast do you think they’ll be out here if we’d break the window?”

“Probably fast enough or they would have tried that by now,” I said.

Blake looked confused as he watched us talk. If we didn’t speak slow and mouth our words in his direction, he had no idea what we were saying.

I turned back toward Blake. “What should we do?”

He looked down and shook his head. I hit the ground with my palm. Thankfully, the dirt and grasses muffled the sound.

I gripped my blade and shoved it between the window and the frame. I slid it all the way around, attempting to loosen the window from whatever was holding it in place.

“What are you doing?” Whitney asked.

“There has to be a reason it won’t open, right?” I asked. “Maybe they sealed it with something. Or maybe it’s like just rusted in place.”

“If that were the case, wouldn’t they seal it from the inside?”

I shrugged. “We can try your idea, whatever it is, instead.”

I lightly tapped the window with the pad of my finger. Blake’s eyes were wide.

“Push,” I mouthed.

Blake gestured at Jay and he climbed up on the chair next to him. Both men pushed with all their might.

It shifted slightly. I wasn’t sure if the knife trick had worked or if it was just pure desperation that had made the window budge.

Maddie said something from behind them but I couldn’t hear her voice. I would have killed to hear her voice.

“Keep trying,” I begged with wide eyes.

“We are,” Jay said and the window moved again.

There was enough room between the window and its frame to wedge the knife blade between. I pulled at the same time the guys pushed.

It was more than an inch open when the blade snapped off of the handle. Both Blake and Jay moved back so the blade didn’t slice through their shoes.

Whitney and I could stick our fingers inside. The four of us summoned strength we didn’t know we had. Maddie enthusiastically cheering us on from inside the basement helped motivate me.

Whitney pulled her hands away. “My fingers are numb. I don’t think it’s going to move anymore.”

“Can you squeeze out of there?” I asked but I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

“Maybe Maddie can,” Blake said gesturing for Maddie to step on the chair. He was going to help her out even though there was little chance of Blake and Jay getting out.

I held up my hand. “Wait.”

I wanted Maddie out more than anything but I also wanted Blake and Jay out too.

“Move back,” I said to Blake as I grabbed Whitney’s hand. “Stand on this with me.”

We stood on the window and bounced up and down. I didn’t think it was going to happen but it did.

The window snapped off but of course, it was much louder than I thought it would be. Rather, I hadn’t given it a lot of thought. I’d gotten desperate to get them out and we were so close that I wasn’t about to give up.

“Dammit,” I said waving for them to hurry.

Blake froze in place.

“Did you hear something?” I asked quietly.

He shook his head as he helped Maddie onto the chair. Blake gave her a boost and Whitney and I helped pull her out of the basement.

I wrapped my arms around her and I didn’t want to let go. I stepped back and cupped her face.

“You’re okay?” I asked

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Maddie answered back almost silently.

Jay was already halfway out of the window when I turned back. Within seconds he was getting to his feet next to me.

“It’s good to be out of there,” Jay said giving me a weak, nervous smile.

“And if we hurry, maybe we can all actually get away from this place,” I said.

Blake pulled himself out and placed his hand on my back. “We need to hurry.”

“They have all our food,” I said even though I knew he already knew that.

“Yeah,” Blake said. “And our weapons too.”

Whitney handed Blake her knife. “We have this, though.”

“This won’t help us against guns,” he said as he pressed the button to unlock the SUV. “Let’s just be glad they weren’t smart enough to take the keys away from me.”

Blake looked at the knife before setting it down on the dash in front of the clock. “This looks used.”

“We ran into some sick,” I said.

Blake stared at me but there wasn’t time to go into detail. We quickly climbed inside the SUV. It wasn’t long after Blake started the car that I saw shadows moving inside the house.

“They’re coming,” I said as the front door opened.

“Shit,” Blake said.

“Don’t worry, they won’t get far,” I said.

He cocked his head to the side as he shifted into drive and drove on the grass to go around their vehicle. The SUV bounced around until he got back on the road.

I watched the group as they filed out of the house and onto the front lawn. Their shouting was loud and coated with confusion.

“Shit,” Blake said glancing in the rear view mirror. “They’re going to the truck.”

“Like I said, they won’t get far,” I said grinning at Whitney.

“What did you do?” Blake asked smirking even though he had no idea why.

Whitney was beaming at him in the rear view mirror. “Flat tires.”

Blake started laughing. But it didn’t last long.

“Nice work,” Blake said. “It’s too bad they have all our shit.”

“Those pails of food I took from my brother’s house were mine. I really want those back,” Jay said.

“Do we still have the medicine?” I asked glancing over my shoulder at Whitney.

She reached down and flicked her eyes upward. “It’s all still here.”

“Can we stay alive eating pills?” Jay asked sarcastically. “Sorry,” he said before Whitney could frown at his comment. “I’m in a bit of a mood. Don’t think we had anything to eat all day.”

“We know what that’s like,” Whitney said placing her hand on her stomach.

“What were they going to do with you down there?” I asked.

Jay shook his head. “I don’t even think they knew.”

“They said we’d help with crops and cleaning,” Blake said.

“But there were no crops,” Jay said.

“They didn’t bother to feed you at all?” I asked.

Blake glanced at me. He stared as if I somehow looked different to him. His eyes quickly settled back on the road.

“I think they were afraid of us,” Blake said.

“So, then you’re all okay? Nothing happened?” I asked trying not to let my concern for my daughter show.

“Nothing happened,” Blake said knowing exactly what I was asking. “We were all scared. But after they locked us up, they mostly ignored us. We could hear them talking through the floor. They were nervous about having us in their home. One of them, one of the women, was pissed off. She said it was a big mistake and they should have just let us go in the first place.”

I chewed my cheek. “So, why didn’t they let you go?”

“Because they were afraid we’d tell other people about all the supplies,” Blake said. “They were scared.”

“Everyone is scared,” Whitney said.

“I’m too hungry to be scared right now,” I said leaning back and closing my eyes.

Being inside the SUV was as close to feeling like I was at home as I would get. Not that my home with Freddie had ever felt that great but it had definitely felt better than hiding in a bunch of trees.

“Well,” Blake said shooting a quick look into the side mirror and then the rear view mirror. “No one is behind us so that’s what we’ll do next.”

“What’s that?” Whitney asked as she twisted so she could rest her head on the back of her seat.

Blake exhaled. He didn’t take his eyes off of the road. Blake blinked when the lightning ahead of us struck low to the ground and flickered several times. “We’ll find food.”

Chapter 26

We kept driving, watching the lightning flicker and dance on the horizon. The storm was moving faster than we were traveling.

It was almost morning when the gas station came into view. The clouds above had darkened and it was sprinkling when we stepped out of the SUV.

Each one of us was nervous about stopping but we didn’t have a lot of choices. We were all in desperate need of food and water.

“Looks like a storm is catching up to us,” Blake said looking to the west.

Soft sounds of thunder rumbled in the distance. I tilted my face to the sky and let the tiny drops fall on my face.

“Let’s go,” Blake said as he held out the knife in front of him. He pushed open the door and a bell overhead rang as we entered.

“Let everyone know we’re here,” Whitney said.

The shelves were nearly empty but there were a few things remaining, including bottles of water and soda. My body craved liquid more than anything else. It felt like my throat was starting to shrivel up.

The liquid felt like it burned as I swallowed a small sip. I winced and handed the bottle to Maddie.

“You need more,” she said.

“You need some, too,” I said. “We’ll share.”

I watched her take down half the bottle with much less trouble. She handed it back with a shrug.

Jay poured a small bag of crunchy, cheese-flavored twists into his mouth before he pulled the tab on a tall can of beer. He shrugged when he saw me watching.

“Sorry,” he said with a crooked grin.

I held up my palm. “No need to be sorry. Do what you need to do but make sure you drink some water too.”

“Yes, mom, of course,” Jay teased. He exhaled and looked down at the can in his hand. “Just needed something to take the edge off. It’s a bit stressful getting locked in a basement.”

“I completely understand,” I said without going into detail.

“Let’s pack up everything we can,” Blake said as he stuffed random items into a plastic bag. “Use the bathroom. Do whatever you need to do. This is a quick five-minute stop.”

I grabbed a plastic bag with a smiley face on it as I watched Whitney follow Blake around like a lost puppy dog. She wasn’t ever going to leave his side again.

I started to fill my bag with everything that was still left on the shelves. There were hand warmers, headache medicine, stain removal sticks, hand lotion, and while it wasn’t as good as the one we had, a new first aid kit.

I stared at the travel-sized bottle of shampoo on the shelf. Blake placed his hand on my shoulder as he passed behind me. Whitney wasn’t too far behind him.

“You’ll get to use it sometime,” he said close to my ear. He pointed at the bag. “Take it.”

I pressed my lips together into a tight smile and dropped into my sad bag of items. Freddie had always said I was terrible at shopping. It never hurt my feelings because I hated shopping. I was the person who would go to the store and buy twenty things only to forget the one thing I had gone for in the first place.

After a stop at the bathroom and a quick siphoning job from a nearby pickup truck still parked at the pump, we were back on the road.

The storm had caught up to us. Giant raindrops smacked against the windshield and roof noisily but it wasn’t anywhere near enough to make us stop, although it did cause us to slow somewhat.

After the sun went down, the storm worsened. The winds picked up… they were strong enough to move the SUV slightly with the big gusts.

“Holy crap,” Whitney said grabbing her seat.

“We’re fine. It’s fine,” Blake said. “Just a thunderstorm.”

“Are you sure about that?” Whitney asked.

Tiny frozen pebbles starting hitting the SUV. I moved away from the window, leaning closer to Blake.

Whitney scooted forward and rested her hand on the front of Blake’s shoulder. “Maybe we should find somewhere to stop for the night or even just pull over until the storm passes.”

“I’m not stopping. No more major stops until we get to the base,” Blake said. “If we don’t stop, there won’t be problems.”

“You can’t drive the whole way like this,” Whitney said.

Blake shrugged and Whitney pulled her hand away. “Jay and I can take turns, right Jay?”

“Sure,” he said. “Want to switch now? Driving in this shit must be nerve-wracking.”

“Thanks, I’m good for now, though,” Blake said.

“I can take a turn too,” I said. “But I’m going to need some rest first.”

“We all need rest,” Whitney said. “That’s why I’m worried about him driving in this.”

Jay grabbed my seat as he pulled himself forward. “What we really need to do is find a gun store.”

Blake shook his head.

“I feel naked without it,” Jay said. “We have no protection. Nothing. What if something goes wrong again?”

“Let me know if you see something and we’ll make a stop,” Blake said but it didn’t sound like he was being completely serious.

“Things had been easier at home but still, guys, I don’t regret coming with you. At least now I feel like part of something. Like I have a purpose,” Jay said tapping his finger on my seat. “I’m alive. Being at home, I sometimes forgot that.” He hesitated for a long moment. “Still, we need weapons. To keep ourselves safe.”

The inside of the SUV was quiet. All we could hear was the sounds of the wind and the raindrops slamming the window.

“We’ll find something,” Blake said. “But not tonight. There isn’t going to be anyone out here tonight. And I’m not going to be able to find anything anyway.”

Silence filled the SUV. When I opened my eyes again, Jay was driving and gray clouds coated the sky.

I stretched my legs and sat up. My eyes moved around the SUV as I covered a yawn.

Blake was in the seat behind me with his arms crossed over his chest. His head was tipped back and he was lightly snoring.

Whitney was curled up next to him. I couldn’t see Maddie but I was certain she was lying on the backseat still sleeping.

“Good morning,” Jay whispered. “Can you believe it’s still raining? So much rain. It’s like it’s following me. At least there is no flooding.”

“Did you get any sleep?” I asked.

Jay nodded. “Not enough but Blake needed a break.”

“Do you need a break? I can drive,” I offered.

“Blake made me promise I wouldn’t let you. Sorry,” he said. Jay’s eyes focused on something. I followed his eyes. “Another one of those places.”

My body stiffened. “An outpost.”

Chapter 27

Jay stepped on the gas and turned away at the next intersection. My eyes were glued to the entire area.

It was smaller than the outpost we’d been at but I realized that once we found the base, stopping wasn’t going to be easy. Maybe they were all corrupt. There was no way for us to know if the base would be any safer than James’s outpost.

Of course, if we were walking into another lion’s den, at least we’d know what happened to Polly. A break wouldn’t be terrible.

I shook the thoughts from my head. Apparently, I hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

It wasn’t like stopping would be worth the risk. We weren’t that far from finding the truth.

Blake groaned as he stretched his legs. He inhaled deeply.

“How long was I out for?” he asked.

“A few hours,” Jay said. “Go back to sleep.”

“It’s hard to rest in here,” Blake groaned sleepily. “We can’t be more than a day or so away, give or take. That’s just a guess, though and we’ll still have to try to find it. Not sure how easy that will be.”

Could we really be that close? Was it possible that I might actually see Polly again so soon?

We were going to make it to the base, I believed that. We’d gone through hell but we were going to actually make it.

Of course, I had to remind myself, even though I didn’t want to, that Polly might not have made it to the base. There was a chance, and probably a good chance, that Polly wasn’t even alive.

Maybe there would still be a place for us at the base. Maybe there would be hope for a better future. Although, if James’s outpost were just a glimpse of what we were walking into, well, that wouldn’t be good.

I had hope that the base would be different. The base would be a real place for survivors to gather. It would be somewhere we could be safe. I’d be able to keep Maddie safe and away from the sick.

There would be food, water, and a place for us to safely catch up on sleep. We’d be able to regain our strength.

“I can’t believe this is actually going to happen,” I said.

“Yeah,” Jay said flicking me a quick smile. “I hope it all goes well. Not sure what I’ll do. I still want my pails of food back.”

Blake and I both chuckled.

“They will probably have buckets and buckets of food,” Blake said. “Maybe even better buckets. They must have more than enough if they’re supplying the outposts.”

Jay shrugged. “I just want mine back.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Blake said. “It would be easier to go back to your brother’s place and get more.”

“Probably,” Jay said. “But those people don’t deserve them. They stole from us.”

“Everyone has to fight for what they need,” Blake said. “I’m not sure you can hold it against them.”

Jay’s eyebrows squeezed together. “And yet, I do. They had more than enough. They didn’t need our limited supplies.”

“Try to let it go,” Blake said.

“Whatever,” Jay said. “We need to find guns. Should I try to find something?”

Blake sighed. “Not now.”

“We have light now,” Jay said.

“I just don’t want to run into any more problems,” Blake said. “It’s not worth the risk. No more unnecessary stops.”

“This is necessary,” Jay said.

“No,” Blake said sharply.

Jay groaned. “Fine. Whatever.”

Jay drove another hour before we stopped for a bathroom break. Blake and Jay switched seats and in less than ten minutes, we were back on the road.

The tank of gas was just above the halfway mark and we had enough food and water for the day. Probably enough until we found the base. The only other stops we’d have to make on the rest of the drive would be for more bathroom breaks.

Late afternoon, the sky behind us was black as another storm approached. It was moving fast and it wouldn’t be long before it swallowed us whole.

The wind picked up before the storm even reached us. Trees were nearly bent in half with the blustery winds.

“Whoa,” Blake said adjusting his steering to keep us on the road. “See any funnels out there?”

I looked out of every window to make sure I had a three-sixty view. “No… nothing.”

“I don’t see anything either,” Jay said. “Just really windy. Want to switch places?”

Jay had napped on and off ever since Blake had taken the wheel again. He was probably much more alert than Blake was considering Blake rarely slept.

But Blake was stubborn. He waved his hand at Jay. “I’m good for now. It’ll probably pass soon anyway.”

“Okay, well, just let me know if you want to switch,” Jay said.

“Yeah, yeah, I will,” Blake said.

The rain came down in thick, heavy sheets. I couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of the SUV even with the headlights on.

“Maybe we should pull over,” I suggested.

“I’ll just go slow,” Blake said gripping the wheel tightly. His knuckles were as white as cotton balls.

I couldn’t even tell if we were still on the road and I wasn’t sure if he could either. The hairs on my arms were standing on end not only from the frequently lightning but because of the stressful situation as well.

I glanced over at the dash and saw that Blake was only going about twenty miles per hour. Over my shoulder, I noticed everyone was staring out of their own window watching the storm. They all wore the same frightened expression.

“Let’s pull over,” I said. “It’s not like anyone else is going to be out tonight. And even if they are, we’ll just look like every other abandoned car out there.”

“There’s no need to stop,” Blake said. “Like I said, I’ll just go slow. Better to make some progress than no progress, right?”

He flicked me a half-smile but it quickly vanished as the SUV bounced upward. Blake had driven over something with the front passenger tire.

“What was that?” Whitney said with a gasp.

“Just something on the road,” Blake said.

“Do we have a flat tire?” she asked.

Blake shook his head. “No, it’s fine.” He chuckled but there was a tinge of nervousness behind it. “You all need to relax.”

The front end of the SUV slammed into something hard enough to cause the headlight to flicker. There was a brief tightness inside my chest.

“Holy crap!” I said feeling like I couldn’t take in a full breath.

I’d seen what Blake had hit. My fingertips felt numb as I gripped my mask.

We’d smacked right into one of the sick. And if there was one thing, I knew about the sick… it was that they rarely traveled alone.

“You saw that, right?” I said keeping my voice down. I didn’t want to send everyone into a panic.

“I did,” Blake said.

Blake smacked into another. And then another. Sick were swarming us like millions of hungry mosquitoes.

The front-wheel drove over one of the sick at the same time one stepped in front of the SUV. It felt like time started moving in slow motion as the car flipped onto its side.

Chapter 28

I blinked several times. Lightning flashed and my eyes focused on the broken bits of glass from my window sprinkled on the wet concrete at my side.

The seatbelt was holding me in place but still, I felt like I was going to fall out of my seat. I glanced over my shoulder as searing fear raced through my veins.

Jay was wide-eyed staring back at me and Whitney’s head was flopped to the side, hanging toward the ground at our right. Her eyes were closed.

“Maddie?” Panic shook my voice. “Maddie, are you okay?”

It felt like forever until she answered.

“I’m fine,” she called as she poked her head up.

Blake groaned. There was a small cut near his eyebrow and he was rubbing his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Shoulder is messed up, but yeah. I’m alive,” he replied.

“Whitney’s out,” I said.

Jay hadn’t noticed until I’d said something. He started shaking her shoulder and repeating her name.

“I’ve never been in an accident before,” Jay muttered as Whitney started to come to.

“Oww,” she said grabbing the back of her head. “My neck is killing me.”

“We need to get out of here,” Blake said.

“Where are we going to go?” I asked my words blending together like a fruit smoothie.

Blake was still holding his shoulder. “No idea but we can’t stay here.”

“Didn’t you see them out there?” I asked.

“Yes,” Blake said touching the cut by his eye.

He held his fingers out in front of him and saw the blood. It only took a few seconds for the rain to wash it away.

“We’re like fish in a barrel in here,” Blake said. “My window is broken. Nothing will stop them if they find us. Put your masks on.”

“How are we going to get out of here?” Whitney asked. “I’m kind of stuck here, I think. If I unhook myself, I’ll crash down on Jay.”

Blake looked over his shoulder. He wasn’t looking at Whitney.

“We can help you down. Then you’ll go out the back. I’ll climb out of my window and open it,” Blake said. “Once we’re all out, we’re going to need to run.”

The rain was still coming down as hard as it had been earlier. It was relentless. It was going to be hard to keep our eyes on each other, considering I couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of myself.

Maddie started to climb over the back seat toward the back hatch. Blake winced as he squeezed his shoulder.

“Everyone ready?” he asked as he looked at each of us. “Be ready to climb out.”

“Should we really do this?” I asked looking into Blake’s eyes. I wanted to make sure he hadn’t bumped his head because this idea seemed dangerous. Then again, of course, staying didn’t seem any better.

“We can’t sit horizontally here forever. The sick could surround us, leaving us no way out or maybe even climb inside,” Blake said. “This could be our only chance before they swarm us.”

Desperation filled my eyes. “We don’t even know how many of them there are out there. You have hit all of them. Maybe there is no rush to escape.”

“But we don’t know that,” Blake said. “I saw at least ten. My window is shattered. If it’s just a few, we can maybe manage that but if it’s more, we need to get out of here and fast.”

“What if we’re already surrounded?” Jay asked.

Blake swallowed hard. “Then, it’s already too late.”

“Do you have the knife?” I asked.

Blake felt his body, which was odd, considering the knife had been on the dash. He shook his head.

“Jesus! That could have killed someone… just flying around in here,” Whitney exclaimed.

“I wasn’t driving that fast,” Blake said.

I felt around on the ground around me. Maybe the blade had dropped as the SUV rolled. It was too dark except for the occasional flashes of light to see much of anything.

My fingers touched something and I instantly realized it was the handle of the knife. “I think I found it.”

It was lodged between the ground and part of the SUV. Sheer desperation allowed me to yank it free. Luck was the reason I didn’t injure myself in the process.

“Here,” I said handing it to Blake. “And be careful.”

“All right. Are we all ready?” Blake asked.

I nodded but I was still dreadfully nervous about the plan. I wasn’t sure if any of us were ready or if we ever would be.

Was leaving the SUV the right choice? Maybe staying would be better? Neither option really sounded very good.

We’d been so close to finally getting to Polly and now we were without a vehicle. Maybe it was time to just call the whole thing off before someone else got killed or hurt. That was if we even managed to survive the sick and the storm, both raging outside the SUV.

Blake pulled himself out of the window but he struggled because of his shoulder. His hair was already plastered down over his forehead.

He looked inside. “Everyone, move fast.”

Blake adjusted his mask and disappeared from sight. Seconds later, he was at the back, pulling at the hatch. It seemed as though it must have been stuck.

Maddie kicked with both feet against the hatch.

“It’s not opening,” Maddie shouted.

Somehow the rained seemed to have gotten louder. I was pretty sure that I could hear the pleas for help from the sick. But hopefully, that was just my imagination.

Jay climbed in the back with Maddie. He grunted as they pushed at the back door with both feet.

It squeaked noisily as it started to open. Whitney grabbed my arm and helped me between the seats. I crouched awkwardly as I helped her down from her seat.

Whitney didn’t let go of me as we made our way to the back. It was like she needed to hold on to something for comfort and support… or maybe I was more like a life preserver.

Or… maybe I was a shield.

I’d already been wet from the rain that and poured in from Blake’s broken window but stepping out into the open was a whole different kind of wet. The rain hurt as it slammed into me and my drenched clothes felt heavy on my body.

“Which way?” Jay shouted.

“Hold on to one another,” Blake shouted back. “Don’t let go.”

The water on the ground was at least half an inch deep. Lightning crashed around us and thunder rumbled the earth below our feet.

It felt like any moment we were going to get swept away by all the rainwater. I grabbed Maddie’s wet shirt and dug my fingertips into the fabric. There was no way I was going to let go of her.

“This way,” Blake shouted.

Blake held Whitney and I held onto both her and Maddie. Jay was behind us, holding onto Maddie’s other arm. She was like a rag doll between us but it didn’t seem as though she cared.

“Shit!” Blake said.

Whitney’s other hand was suddenly empty. She was squeaking as she was frantically reaching out for him… only he wasn’t there any longer. One of the sick was standing where he’d once been.

Its red eyes penetrated through the rain. Whitney screamed and attempted to punch the sick guy away from her but she missed as he was pulled away. Blake had grabbed the sick man away from us and thrust the blade into the side of his skull.

Another was behind him, reaching out for his shoulder. Its mouth was moving but I couldn’t make out what it was saying. Every other word was drowned out by the intense storm.

Blake roared as he yanked the blade from the first and rammed it into the second. He was moving fast enough though his right arm hung limp at his side.

“We gotta get out of here,” Jay shouted as he ducked away from one of the sick. He pulled Maddie toward him as he moved but I yanked her closer to me.

Another reached out for Maddie but she dodged its reach.

“Help us!” the sick said.

“No,” I said kicking it in the hip causing it to lose its balance. “There are too many of them!”

Whitney let go of me as she struggled with one of the sick. I kept my eyes on her and grabbed her back as Blake lunged toward the sick she was fighting with and knocked it away from her.

“It touched me!” Whitney screamed looking into my eyes. I wasn’t sure if the wetness on her cheeks was from the rain or if it were tears.

“You’re okay,” I said. “You have your mask on.”

Lightning lit the area around us in a short blinking flash.

“Let’s go this way,” Jay said pulling on Maddie, who pulled on me. “It’s clear!”

“Blake!” I shouted. There was no way he’d heard Jay over the storm. “This way!”

There was another flash from the lightning that lasted several seconds. I blinked the rain off of my eyelashes and was shocked by the sight. All I could see in front of us were sick. Hundreds and hundreds of the sick gathering together as if they were standing around waiting for a rock concert.

There were no sick behind Jay, at least not that I could see. But in front of us, they would just keep coming, one after the other.

“Blake!” I screamed as my body tensed. “We need to run this way!”

He caught my eyes and grabbed Whitney’s hand. We turned and ran, only seeing the path ahead when lightning flashed.

Chapter 29

Eventually, we found a small cabin next to a wooded area. The door pushed opened and we could only see that it was empty when the lightning flashed.

There was a flimsy lock but at least there was something. The scent of mildew and stale cigarette smoke filled the room. It appeared to have been used as a hunting cabin but I was only basing that on the deer antlers hanging on the wall.

“Do you think they followed us here?” Maddie asked as she took in quick breaths.

Her hand was on her chest as she tried to maintain control of her breathing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the inhaler Whitney had tracked down for her.

“I don’t know. It probably would have been hard for them to stay on us,” Blake said honestly. He pointed at my hand. “You took those?”

I looked down at the bag of medicine in my hand. I’d barely even remembered taking it.

“I almost stepped on them when we were getting out of the SUV,” I said. “I thought we might need them.”

“You’re always thinking,” Blake said. “I guess we can take off our masks now.”

“Wait!” Whitney said holding up her palm. “You can’t. Not yet.”

Blake cocked his head to the side as Whitney walked over to him. She stayed back but leaned forward so she could place her hand on his chest for a quick moment.

“I’m really sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have even come back this far but I was afraid you wouldn’t keep running. Hopefully, it’s contained within my mask.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

Whitney lowered her gaze and stepped closer to the door. She shook her head.

“I… I can’t stay here,” Whitney said swallowing hard.

“Of course, you can. We’re fine now,” I said even though I wasn’t exactly sure how safe we were.

Whitney chuckled. Her eyes were still on Blake. “Really, I should have you shove that blade into me now but I don’t want to die. Not like that. Really, I don’t want to die at all.”

“Why are you talking about dying?” Blake asked with confusion narrowing his eyes.

“I can tell I’m different already. Something is changing inside of me,” Whitney said pressing her hand over her mask. “That one that you pulled away from me… it was too late. It’s not your fault. It was mine. That thing pulled down my mask. I’m sick and if I stay, you’ll all get sick too.”

“You just need rest,” Blake said. “You’re tired and not thinking clearly.”

Whitney shook her head and Blake sniffed hard. “I’m sorry. I wish that were all it was. I love you, Blake. Always have, always will.” She turned to me. “Find your sister, okay? Don’t let anything stop you. You will. I know you will.”

Whitney flashed us a quick smile before she unlocked the door and slipped outside. Blake was stunned. He shuddered with the slamming door.

“Whitney!” he said as he dashed to the door and yanked it open.

He stood there, staring out into the pouring rain. Something kept his feet glued to the floor as his hands balled up into the tight, nervously shaking fists.

“Whitney!” he shouted. He waited for her to answer but there was nothing. Before his feet could become unglued, Jay grabbed him and pulled him back into the room.

Blake tried to fight him off as he shouted for Whitney to come back. Each time he called her name, it was softer and softer.

The tears that streamed down my cheeks were surprisingly warm compared to the rain that fell on my face from my drenched hair.

“Whitney!” Blake cried out again. “Come back! We can talk about this! We’ll figure something out!”

Jay slammed the door and flicked the lock into place. He pressed Blake’s shoulders against the wall and held him there.

“Let go of me,” Blake hissed.

Jay kept his eyes on Blake. He didn’t say anything. He just held him there, waiting for reality to set in.

On any given day, Blake would have plowed Jay over but the injury to his shoulder had probably slowed him. Or maybe he realized that we couldn’t be around Whitney. We couldn’t risk getting sick.

I couldn’t believe that she was actually gone. She always seemed too afraid of being alone. She’d left on her own so that we could still make it. So that we wouldn’t get sick and had a chance at surviving this.

I didn’t know why but it surprised and saddened me immensely that she had done that. It couldn’t have been easy. There was no way I could ever repay her nor a way to tell her thank you.

Whitney was gone.

And she wouldn’t be back.

As the hours passed, Jay stayed at the small window watching for the sick. Blake sat on the floor with his back against the wall and his head buried in his arms. He hadn’t spoken a word since Whitney ran off.

He probably blamed me for everything that had happened. Hell, I blamed myself. We shouldn’t have ever left Blake’s house with them. Maddie and I should have found a way to go off on our own. We should have insisted on it.

The storm continued to rage and I hoped that it would for much longer. As long as it was storming, we had an excuse to stay inside the cabin.

It was going to be harder to get to Polly now that we were in the middle of nowhere without food, water, or a vehicle.

Maddie had fallen asleep curled up on the small couch. My fingers tapped against the pills in my pocket. It was the only way I’d be able to get some sleep.

I got to my feet. It was an odd feeling surging through me because I hadn’t even remembered when I had sat down on the wooden chair.

“We should start thinking about what we’re going to do,” I said softly.

“What do you mean exactly?” Jay asked.

“I mean, we should think about where we’re going to stay and how we’re going to go about gathering supplies,” I said looking down at my fingers as they twisted together. “Maybe we should think about going back to your brother’s house.”

Blake looked up. He’d been in the same position for so long I thought he had fallen asleep.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Blake asked. “We’ve come this far, we’re going to keep going. It’s what Whitney would have wanted. It was what Dax would have wanted.”

There was a sourness to his words that made me take a step back. I looked down at my wet shoes.

“I don’t want anything else to happen,” I said softly.

“Shit is going to happen no matter where we are,” Blake said. “We’re going to make it to that base. If your sister is alive, we’re going to find her. At that point, we can talk about what we’re going to do.”

Blake’s sharp words silenced me. Even though it felt impossible and life-threatening, he was right. We didn’t come this far to just give up.

When the sun came up, the rain turned into a drizzle and before noon, it stopped. We’d taken turns resting but I didn’t get more than an hour of sleep.

The cabin was empty and so were our stomachs. All we had was the knife and the warm sunlight.

Blake stood in front of the door with his arms crossed. He looked at us, successfully hiding the sadness I knew he was feeling.

“It’s not going to be fun walking out there but we need to get a move on. We’re going to need to find a vehicle, food, and water,” Blake said. “It’s important to stay together and keep your eyes peeled for sick.”

I nodded and grabbed Maddie’s hand. She didn’t look away from Blake but she squeezed my hand.

“We’re going to do this,” Blake said reassuringly. He hesitated for a long moment before turning to look out the window. “Ready?”

“Ready,” we all said in the same emotionless voice.

Blake opened the door and we stepped out onto the soggy ground. The sun warmed my chilled skin.

There was a damp, minty scent in the air. The dark clouds were gone and big, white fluffy clouds drifted across the light-blue sky.

Walking away from the cabin was difficult. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were forgetting something behind.

Blake had his blade and I had the medicine so I knew we didn't forget anything. The feeling was because we were leaving without Whitney.

Losing her had only reminded me that we’d also lost Dax. Blake was right, we had to keep going. We had to do it for Dax and Whitney.

I sucked in a breath and let it fill my lungs. We were going to make it to the base. No matter what.

The option to fail didn’t exist. It wouldn’t be much longer. We would do it. We would get to that base. I couldn’t let anything get in my way.

Nothing was going to stop me. Nothing.

EVASION

BOOK FOUR

Chapter 1

It wasn’t a matter of if we’d die. It was a matter of when… and who would be next.

I had wanted to throw in the towel but Blake wouldn’t allow it after everything we’d been through. He’d lost his brother and then Whitney to the virus. None of them should have followed me on my journey to find my sister. None of them.

We’d hidden inside a hunting cabin until the storm had passed. There was no way for us to know how far we had to go but that didn’t stop us from traveling to the base by foot.

The SUV had been destroyed when we’d plowed into a group of the sick and the only things we had, were the clothes on our backs, a bag of medicine, and a single knife that probably had seen sharper days.

We’d walked for miles and miles without finding a replacement vehicle because we were in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes I worried we’d been walking in circles. The only reason I knew we were traveling in a straight line was because of the warm sun over our heads.

The rich, musky scents of fall were thick in the chilled air. Luckily the unappetizing smell was enough to keep my hunger at bay.

When we saw an old hotel on the outskirts of a small city, we were too exhausted, hungry, and thirsty not to stop. The risks should have caused us to hesitate but they didn’t.

It was a two-story hotel that had been completely abandoned. We took room 110 as our own because we could see the parking lot out of the window and it was close to the little store that was still stocked with food and drinks.

The room didn’t feel completely safe but with the curtains closed and the deadbolt in place, it was probably better than other locations out there. In the short time we’d been at the hotel, we hadn’t seen anyone around and we hadn’t heard the cries of the sick.

We couldn’t be far from Polly but now that we were on foot, it felt like we were a lifetime apart. If she was even at the base. Our entire adventure could be for nothing.

Blake hadn’t been himself since losing Whitney. He didn’t talk much other than to tell us when he was going outside to work on the old car that was parked near the hotel entrance.

“I should go see if he needs help,” Jay muttered as he looked out of the window.

He didn’t get out of the chair at the window. Instead, he tossed a powdered cheese puff into his mouth and crunched down on it noisily as he let the curtain fall back into place.

“You can if you want,” I said. The bed squeaked as I shifted my weight. My head sank down into the thin, poorly stuffed pillow. “We’ll be fine in here.”

“He’d just yell at me to go back inside,” Jay said kicking his feet up onto the other chair at the window. “Besides, I know like nothing about cars.”

I sighed as I stared at the deep maroon fabric hanging over the window. There was a little strip of brightness that ran down the center where the curtains didn’t quite touch.

“Why did he pick that one anyway? It’s the worst looking car out there,” I asked.

It was a faded golden four-door car that was rusting around the doors and the back bumper. There was a sporty two-door car and a red SUV parked at the other side of the lot. Both of which seemed as though they would have been better choices.

“It was the only one with the keys in it,” Jay said taking another peek out the window. “He also said it had a full tank of gas when he got it started the first time.”

When Blake first started the car, it rumbled to a start only to die after twenty seconds. No matter how many times he tried, it just wouldn’t start again. It was almost as if the universe was working against us.

Fixing the car had become somewhat of an obsession to Blake or maybe it was just an excuse so he didn’t have to be near me.

Blake didn’t need to say it out loud for me to know he blamed me for what happened to Whitney. It was my fault. The one thing Whitney didn’t want to happen to her… happened.

I wouldn’t ever get out of the bed if it hadn’t been for Maddie. She was the only thing keeping me going. And of course, our desire to get to Polly.

But placing one foot in front of the other was getting harder with each passing minute. Getting sleep was getting more difficult too.

My eyes would close but they wouldn’t stay that way for long. I’d sleep for twenty minutes at a time and just as I started to dream, I’d wake.

I didn’t feel rested and it pissed me off. When would I get to sleep in a mostly comfortable bed in a locked room again? I needed to sleep but I couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried.

Jay didn’t have trouble sleeping. And he didn’t have trouble snoring either.

Maddie would toss and turn but eventually would fall into a deep sleep.

Blake didn’t sleep long but at least it was longer than me. His internal clock would wake him after a couple hours because he told himself he was our caretaker. He wouldn’t let himself sleep for longer than he thought necessary.

I turned on my other side and closed my eyes. I waited and waited but of course, nothing happened. It was just me with my racing thoughts.

Whitney’s face just before she left us.

Dax taking the bullets so we could get away.

Maddie, when she’d been so sick, I wasn’t sure if she’d make it.

And me putting the bullet in Freddie.

I didn’t know who I was anymore. And truthfully, I never knew who’d I’d been.

“Shit,” I grumbled as I swung my legs out of the bed and pressed my feet into the rough, worn-down stained carpet. I scrubbed my face with my hands as if they were covered in a soapy exfoliant.

“You okay?” Jay asked.

Maddie shifted a bit but after a few seconds, she settled back into sleep. I exhaled as I let my arms fall heavily to my sides.

“I’m fine,” I said getting to my feet.

I combed my fingers through my snarled hair. The faucets didn’t work. I needed a shower. A warm shower.

I walked into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. The person looking back at me was familiar but somehow different.

I couldn’t hold my own gaze. I stepped out and flicked a quick glance at Jay.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said taking a peek out of the peephole in the door just to make sure there weren’t any sick wandering back and forth in the hallway.

“Kit?” Jay said kicking his feet off of the chair to stand. He meant to stop me.

I held up my palm. “Just going to look for a hairbrush in the store. Be back in a minute.”

Jay crossed his arms but gave me a nod. “If you take longer than five minutes, I’ll wake her and we’ll come looking for you.”

“Five minutes,” I agreed and stepped out into the empty hallway.

My fingers dragged across the bumpy wallpaper as I quickly walked down the hall toward the store. The hallway still smelled of chlorine from the pool and stale cigarette smoke.

I hugged myself as I paced the small hotel store. There were razors, small sewing kits, toothpaste and toothbrushes, but there weren’t any hair brushes.

I grabbed a toothbrush and the toothpaste along with another bottle of water before heading back to the room. Maybe I couldn’t shower but brushing my teeth might help me to feel more… clean.

Jay had locked the door after I left. It was one of Blake’s rules and one that we had all agreed to. I knocked three times and didn’t have to wait long for the door to open.

“That’s a little small to brush your hair with,” Jay said looking down at my hand as he let me into the room. He locked the door as I slipped into the room.

“You’re funny,” I said my eyes darting toward the bed I couldn’t see behind the wall. “Is she still asleep?”

“Yes,” Jay said. “Think she’s probably still recovering from her illness.”

I swallowed hard. “You don’t think I should worry, do you?”

“I don’t,” Jay said. “She’s stronger every day. It wasn’t that long ago she was going through some kind of hell.”

My lips pressed together tightly as I offered him a nod. “You’re right. Let me brush my teeth really quick and then you can get some sleep. I’ll keep watch for a while.”

“Are you sure?” Jay asked trying to hide his yawn.

“I’m positive,” I said grabbing the bathroom door to pull it closed.

I ripped open the plastic package and cut the side of my finger. Both the small toothbrush and a drop of blood fell into the sink.

“Oww,” I said wincing as I pressed a piece of tissue against the small cut. I’d have to go back to the store to get myself a bandage if it didn’t stop bleeding.

I ignored the slight burning pain as I squeezed a dollop of striped toothpaste onto the bristles. The minty taste of the toothpaste was refreshing. My teeth felt smooth and slick inside my mouth.

I took a gulp of the water and swished it around before spitting into the sink. My teeth felt clean but I didn’t feel any better. My hair was still a mess and I still desperately needed a shower.

My finger had stopped bleeding but it still felt sore. I held a piece of tissue around it as I left the bathroom. Jay stood as I walked over to the window.

“You’re sure about this?” he asked placing a hand on my shoulder. “I could stay up a bit longer if I had to.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m not tired.”

Jay smiled, displaying his perfect set of teeth. “I don’t believe you.”

“Go on,” I said lowering myself down onto the chair at the window. I rested my chin on my fist as I peeked out of the window.

Blake still had his head down under the hood, his fingers covered in black grease. He reached his arm up and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

I knew the air was cool outside but apparently working on the car was keeping him warm. He would come inside soon. The light faded earlier each day and he needed it to see what he was doing.

Blake climbed into the front seat and turned the key. The car rumbled over and over but it didn’t start.

I watched him slam the door and walk back to the front of the car. He stared at the engine for a long moment.

There was something that caught my eye from beyond the car. Someone was out there.

Chapter 2

The chair clunked as it tipped over behind me and crashed against the ground. I’d gotten to my feet fast so I could pound on the window to get Blake’s attention. He was so focused on fixing the car that he must not have noticed the man.

“Blake!” I shouted as I slammed the side of my fist into the glass.

Jay pulled the curtain back and stared out of the window with narrowed eyes. “What’s going on?”

“There’s someone out there,” I said stabbing the window with my finger. “Over there. By the dumpster.”

“Mom?” Maddie said groaning from behind me.

“Everything’s okay, sweetie,” I said. My words puddled together.

Maddie stood but she didn’t come toward the window. “Is Blake okay?”

Blake turned toward the window and shrugged, clearly not having a clue what the fuss was about. The person at the dumpster turned and looked in Blake’s direction.

“Behind you,” I said but Blake probably couldn’t read my lips from where he was standing and he most definitely couldn’t hear me through the window.

“I’ll go get him,” Jay said rushing to the door.

The door opened and closed behind me before his words even registered in my mind. Maddie locked the door but she didn’t come to me, she stayed there… waiting.

“What’s happening out there?” Maddie asked.

“Jay’s out there now,” I said breathing as if I’d been the one that had run down the hall and out of the hotel. “They’re looking at the man.”

“They should come inside,” Maddie said nervously. “Tell them to put on their masks.”

My fingers shook as I brought them to the cold glass. “They have them on. But… but they’re not coming in. He’s talking to them. He… he looks scared.”

“Why?” Maddie asked. “Why would they try talking to the sick?”

My head moved side to side slowly. I swallowed hard, wincing at the lump that I felt sliding down my throat.

“He’s not sick,” I said. “He looks like he’s been through hell.”

“Haven’t we all?” Maddie asked sounding like herself.

The man pulled up the sleeve of his tan jumpsuit. He was showing them something on the inside of his arm. From where I was standing, I couldn’t see what it was but I could see that he was just skin and bone.

When I looked at his face again, I could see that the pale skin on his face was hanging slightly and his cheeks were sunken in. The man was starving.

“He’s hungry. He’s probably asking them about food,” I said.

“Why aren’t they leaving him and coming back inside?” Maddie asked.

I shook my head. “They’re still talking to him.”

“Since when does Blake talk to people?”

“I don’t know,” I replied.

I squinted as I tried to read the patches on his jumpsuit. The patch on the right side of his chest said ‘Base Six’ and the one on his left was a short sequence of numbers… #1362.

“He’s from one of the bases,” I said unable to disguise my burst of excitement. “I should go out there and talk to him.”

“No, mom, you shouldn’t,” Maddie said crossing her arms. “It’s not safe.”

I walked over to the door and grabbed Maddie’s shoulders. I peered into her eyes.

“He could know something,” I said desperation coating each word. “What if he has the answers we need?”

“You sound crazy, mom,” Maddie said glaring at me. “You need more sleep.”

I shook my head. “I need to talk to him.”

Maddie was about to argue more when the knock at the door sealed her lips. It was a familiar knock. She turned and yanked open the door.

“Thank God, you guys are back,” Maddie said turning to come back inside the room. “My mom was just about to go out there and start talking to that crazy person.”

Her back was to them as they entered. She didn’t see that Blake and Jay had brought the starving man back to the room.

“Yeah, that would have been really awful,” Jay said.

Maddie stopped before she reached the bed. She turned slowly, sensing something was off about Jay’s response. Maddie froze when her eyes connected with the tall man staring at her.

“Hello,” he said giving her a small wave with his bony fingers.

“Jesus,” she muttered. “Why is he in here?”

“Maddie!” I scolded.

The man held up his palm. “It’s all right, ma’am.”

Maddie’s eyebrows popped up. “What? We’ve been apprehensive about everyone we come across but here they are bringing a stranger into our room? This is nuts. Stupid even.”

“I’m not going to do anything to any of you,” the man said with a chuckle. “Look at me, I couldn’t hurt anyone even if I wanted to, which of course, I don’t.”

“Of course, that’s what you’d say,” Maddie retorted.

The man smiled at her. If he hadn’t been skin and bones, he would have been reasonably attractive. His eyes were a decadent chocolate brown and his sandy hair waved at the top. He wore a bright smile that smirked slightly on one side.

“I suppose you’re right,” the man said. “But I have no desire to do wrong to any of you. Believe me or not, that’s your choice, of course, but I hope that you do.”

Maddie rolled her eyes and dropped down on the bed. I looked at the man and chewed my cheek for a second.

“I’m sorry about that,” I said stretching out my hand but pulling it back, hoping he hadn’t noticed. I crossed my arms and smiled. “Kit.”

“Dillon,” the guy said giving me a small nod without letting his grin fade.

“Here,” Blake said handing him a bag of chips from our stash in the room. He opened a bottle of water and held it out to him.

Dillon nodded his gratitude. He shakily brought the bottle to his lips and took a slow sip. He shivered even though the water wasn’t cold.

“I didn’t think there was anyone good left in the world,” Dillon said. “You probably saved my life. Don’t think I would have made it out there much longer.”

Maddie pulled the blankets over her head but there was no doubt in my mind she was fully awake and listening to every word.

“Dillon was at the base,” Blake said gesturing toward his jumpsuit.

“That’s right,” Dillon said pointing at the numbers on his chest. “I’d take this damn thing off but I’m afraid that the shorts and t-shirt underneath aren’t enough to keep me warm.”

“You were at the base in Maine?” I asked.

Dillon’s head bobbed once before taking another drink. He sucked in a breath as if his need for oxygen was just as strong as his need for food and water.

“I was,” Dillon said. “And I’m damn lucky to be out of there.”

I cocked a brow. “What do you mean by that?”

“It wasn’t a good fit for me,” Dillon said. “And I’m putting it politely because of the young girl in the room.”

“What didn’t you like about it?” I asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Dillon shrugged. “I don’t mind. But you should put that place out of your mind. You should find somewhere else to go.”

“My sister is there,” I said.

“Oh,” Dillon said. “What’s her name?”

“Polly,” I replied instantly.

Dillon scratched his chin before taking another slow drink. “Don’t know her.” He noticed my frown. “Oh, don’t take that to mean anything negative. There are a lot of people there and we were all pretty much forced to keep to ourselves.”

“So, she could be there?” I asked.

“Indeed, she could.” He devoured the snack Blake had given him in twenty seconds. “I could count the people I talked to on a daily basis on one hand. One of them was my wife. Or whatever she was.”

The three of us stared at him. Dillon started to chuckle.

“I caught her cheating with one of the camp leaders,” Dillon explained. “But that was only one of the reasons I didn’t like it there. That’s probably why they let me escape.” He laughed again and the skin on his cheeks vibrated. “That’s giving them too much credit. They didn’t let me leave. I escaped. There is pretty much no way they’d let me leave. They followed me for miles. I was lucky to lose them.”

Dillon’s experience seemed quite similar to our experience leaving James’s outpost. Maybe the places were run similarly but that James had been willing to lie to get more supplies for his outpost.

But I didn’t want to think about James or the outpost, I wanted to hear more from Dillon.

“Is there anything else you can tell us about the base?” I asked.

“What do you want to know?” Dillon asked.

“How far is it?” I questioned.

Dillon shrugged. “Not far enough.”

I exchanged a glance with Blake.

“How many people are there?” I asked.

“At least a thousand,” Dillon said. “That’s just a guess, though It’s probably more. I stayed in my room until I was needed, like most everyone.”

“When you were needed?” Jay queried with a raised brow.

Dillon’s eyes shifted over as if he’d forgotten Jay was in the room. “If it was time for work or an exam.”

“An exam?” I asked.

“Mostly they’d just take blood work,” Dillon said.

His answers were so short that I didn’t feel like I was learning anything new about the base. I scratched the back of my neck.

I opened my mouth to ask another question but Dillon looked down at his feet as he covered a yawn. His eyes flicked upward cautiously.

“I’m really drained,” he said. “This is all really hard to talk about. I hadn’t really expected it. My life wasn’t easy… even the time before the base.”

“Oh,” I said. “Um, maybe you’d like to get some rest.”

“I would,” Dillon said.

Blake cleared his throat. “I can show you how to lock yourself in a room.”

“Thanks, but I’m sure I can figure it out,” Dillon said gesturing at the car. “Is that where you’re going then?”

Blake nodded. “We’re going to see if we can find Kit’s sister.”

“I see,” Dillon said taking a step toward the door. “Well, thank you for the water and the snack. I should go. Good luck to you.”

It seemed as if he couldn’t wait to get away from us. Talking about the base made him nervous… uncomfortable… fearful.

“Will you be around for a while?” I asked.

Dillon stared at me.

“In case I have any more questions,” I added.

“I’m not sure,” Dillon said taking another step back. “You know, I don’t really think I can be of any more help.”

I took a step toward him. “Maybe you could give us directions. Or show us where the base is?”

“Mom, we have the address, remember?” Maddie said. Of course after everything, who even knew if that address was correct?

“An address,” Dillon chuckled. “Good luck with that. I don’t remember anything more. I just want to forget all about that place. I’d rather take my chances dealing with the sick. Thanks again.”

Before I could think of anything to say that might convince him to give us more information, he was gone.

Chapter 3

When the sun touched the horizon, Blake went outside of the hotel and began working on the car. It wasn’t even an hour later, he knocked on the door.

Maddie and Jay were still asleep when I opened the door. Blake was grinning ear to ear as he charged into the room.

“Pack your things,” Blake said.

It was nice to see him smile. And talk to me in a sentence that was more than one word.

“I wish I had things to pack,” I said unable to stop myself from smiling back at his contagious smile. “Does this mean you got the car started?”

“You bet I did,” Blake said as he shoved the bottles of water and snacks we had in the room into a pillowcase. “It won’t be long now.”

“Aren’t you worried?” I asked biting hard on the inside of my cheek.

Blake wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Worried about what?”

“About the things Dillon told us,” I said. “He seemed so… so… so scared.”

“He didn’t tell us a damn thing. I mean, really, how was anything he said different from what we went through at the outpost?”

I shrugged. “I guess it’s not but couldn’t you see how frightened he was? It just seemed… I don’t know, worrisome.” I lowered my voice. “It’s not just me I have to worry about here.”

My eyes landed on Maddie in the bed.

“That guy looked like he would be afraid of a mosquito,” Blake said.

He wasn’t wrong.

“That’s only because he was starving to death and was just skin and bones,” I said with a frown. “We don’t know a damn thing about the guy other than his wife cheated on him.”

“I don’t know,” Blake said. “It’s not like we came all this way for nothing. We’re going to get your sister one way or another.”

“If she’s alive,” I said in a voice that was barely there.

Blake sighed. “Well, we’re going to find out.”

“Yeah, I know it’s just that—”

“Help me bring this stuff out to the car,” Blake said as he shook Jay awake.

Blake told him we’d be right back and to let us in when we knocked. Whether or not Jay would was another story. He flipped over on his other side and seemingly went back to sleep.

We walked down the hallway in silence. Blake didn’t even bother to tell me we were going to stop at the little store to take what we could.

He handed me an empty pillowcase and I just started filling it with whatever was left. My mind went to Dillon and I suddenly stopped filling the bag.

“What’s wrong?” Blake asked giving me a quick glance.

“We should leave stuff for him,” I said.

Blake shook his head and snorted. “No one would leave stuff for us.”

“You don’t know that,” I said even though he was probably right.

“Pack it all,” Blake said with a hard edge to his tone.

If I didn’t pack it, Blake would. I tossed everything into the pillowcase roughly. I wanted Blake to know that even though I was doing what he wanted, I wasn’t doing it happily.

The store was nearly empty by the time we walked out. The only things we’d left behind were the dry soups packaged in cardboard bowls. It just wasn’t something that would be easy for us to prepare on the road.

I followed Blake to the lobby and out of the hotel. My skin prickled at the brisk air.

“Brr,” I said but still, I sucked in a deep breath filling my lungs until they felt icy.

“Put everything in the backseat,” Blake said opening the back door.

“I forgot the medicine inside.”

“We’ll get it when we go back in.”

I nodded.

“All right,” Blake said closing the squeaky back door. “Let’s get Maddie and Jay and be on our way.”

A hoard of angry butterflies started flapping inside my stomach. It was strange how I wanted nothing more than to find Polly but after talking with Dillon, I was now fearful. I didn’t want anything to happen to Maddie. Hell, I didn’t want anything to happen to Blake or Jay either.

It wasn’t so much what Dillon had said that scared me, it had been how he’d acted. The condition his body had been in. And also, how relieved he seemed to be now that he was away from the base.

What if going to Polly was a colossal mistake? Of course, if she didn’t know we were alive, she wouldn’t try to venture out and find us.

“Are you okay?” Blake asked.

My arms were wrapped around my middle. “Yeah, fine.”

“You look like you’re going to be sick,” Blake said.

“Oh, um,” I stammered as I forced a smile. “I’m just worried about this. I know it was my idea to come here but still, I have to think of Maddie, you know? What if what Dillon says is true? What if we can’t leave?”

Blake looked out at the horizon. A gentle breeze blew his growing hair across his forehead.

“Dillon escaped. We can escape,” Blake said but his body had become very still. He turned to me as he exhaled. “We got away from the outpost we can get away from the base.”

“We didn’t get away without losing something very precious. That is something we can’t risk again,” I said as the coldness that had been in my lungs found its way to my stomach.

I shivered and looked down at my feet.

“We’d be better prepared,” Blake said taking a small step toward me. “We know what to expect.”

“This place won’t hesitate to kill us the way James’s had,” I said even though I didn’t know anything about the base. It was a feeling deep in my gut and I believed it with all my heart. “They don’t need to keep the numbers up for more supplies. They are the suppliers.”

Blake’s eyes flicked away before connecting with mine. He was closer to me than he’d been in days and it made the butterflies in my stomach flap harder.

“We don’t have to go,” Blake said. “She’s your sister and if you want to stop and come up with another plan, I’ll support you.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why? Why would you do that? You’ve been determined and well, kind of a hard ass about going to get her.”

“Because I don’t want anything to happen to you or Maddie either,” Blake said. “I’ve grown quite fond of her.”

He swallowed as he looked into my eyes. Blake cleared his throat and took two quick steps backward.

“We’re kind of a team, you know?” Blake said. Seriousness fell on his face. “I don’t want to lose anyone else either.”

“Maddie won’t let us back out of it now,” I said shaking my head as I crossed my arms in front of myself. I was placing them there as a barrier between Blake and I. My brain worked better when there was more space between us.

Blake let out a light laugh. “She’s not in charge. Besides, I’m sure she’d understand.”

“You don’t know her,” I said my eyes bulging out of their sockets. “I really don’t think she would understand. She’d probably sneak away in the night and go herself. That would be far worse.”

“You’re right,” Blake said. A hint of a smile was still on his face. “Well,” Blake said swallowing hard, “it’s an option.”

I nodded but I knew deep down it wasn’t really an option. Even if we delayed things, I wouldn’t ever be able to go on without knowing what happened to Polly.

“It’s not an option,” I said.

I followed Blake back inside. Everything after our talk was a bit of a blur.

I blinked several times and the car came into focus. We were standing there, ready to leave. My fingers numb from squeezing the bag of medicine so tightly.

“Ready?” Blake asked.

“Ready,” Maddie said.

The dark circles that had been under her eyes were gone. She’d gotten a lot of rest and hopefully, she’d fought off the last of the illness.

“Let’s go,” Jay said yanking open the rusted back door behind the passenger seat. “Still can’t believe this is the car you chose.”

“Gas,” Blake said.

“It’s a piece of junk,” Jay muttered with a smirk.

Blake raised a brow. “Sometimes, those are the ones that last the longest.”

“What times are those?” Jay asked.

“I don’t know. Shut up,” Blake said. The entire car bouncing as he dropped down into the driver’s seat.

He turned the key and the car grumbled several times before it started. Blake patted the dash as if he were petting an angry cat.

“He didn’t mean it, baby,” Blake cooed. “You’re not a piece of junk, are you?”

“Oh, my God,” Maddie said rolling her eyes.

Jay and I both laughed.

Blake shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the parking spot. He started to drive toward the road but stepped on the brake as Dillon ran out from the hotel waving both arms.

“What does he want?” Blake muttered.

“Probably food,” I huffed.

Blake’s eyes darted to mine for a second before gesturing at me to roll down the window.

“Everything okay?” I asked when the window was down halfway.

Terror filled Dillon’s eyes and he shook his head. “Don’t go. Please don’t go.”

Chapter 4

“You don’t realize what you’re doing,” Dillon said sounding as if he were out of breath. “You’re making a terrible mistake.”

“Jesus,” Blake muttered under his breath. He hadn’t intended for Dillon to hear him but he had.

“Is there anything I can do to change your mind?” Dillon asked.

My fingers wrapped around the armrest and I squeezed. “Tell us why it’s such a mistake.”

Dillon looked off at the horizon. He didn’t say anything.

Blake lightly pressed on the gas and the car started rolling forward. Dillon grimaced.

“Wait!” he begged.

Blake braked.

“If you know what’s good for you, you won’t go,” Dillon said.

“Is that some kind of threat?” Blake asked.

“Definitely not,” Dillon said. “It’s me trying to help you.”

“You’re going to have to give us more to go on than what you have,” Blake said.

Dillon clasped his bony fingers together. “Come back inside and we can talk about it.”

“We can talk out here,” Blake said.

“I prefer a location that is a bit safer,” Dillon said his eyes darting around.

Blake looked at me and then over his shoulder. “It’s up to you all.”

“I’m just here for the ride,” Jay said. “I don’t have a horse in this race.”

“Maddie?” I said raising a brow.

“I don’t know, mom. It feels like we’re really close to her,” Maddie said with a shiver. Either the heater in the car didn’t work or it didn’t work well.

I blinked several times as I stared at the road ahead. My fingers twisted nervously together in my lap.

“I think we should hear what he has to say,” I said.

“He should have said it yesterday,” Maddie grumbled.

“I concur,” Blake muttered.

Dillon chuckled. “I was weak. I’ve had some time to think about things.”

Somehow, he’d heard them even over the sounds of the noisy car. He pressed his palms together and squeezed his eyebrows together.

“Please?” Dillon begged. “It would be wrong of me to let you go without telling you what’s going on there.”

“Fine,” I said. “We’ll come back inside and listen. But there is a chance, a good chance, it won’t change our minds.”

“That’s all I ask,” Dillon said.

Blake parked the car and we walked single file back into the hotel carrying our supplies back inside. We could have locked them in the car but Blake didn’t want to take any risks with the few supplies we had.

We went inside the room we’d been staying in and Blake sat down in the chair by the window. His fingers drummed rapidly on the table.

Dillon cleared his throat and then laughed. “I used to lead meetings all the time. I worked in finance. I’ve never been as nervous as I am right now.”

“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” I said. “Just tell us what we need to know about the base.”

“Where do I start?” Dillon said.

I smiled at him. “The beginning?”

“The beginning wasn’t that bad. I take that back… the beginning was horrible but after we arrived at the base, we were all fooled into thinking we’d been saved. It wasn’t until a week or two later that we realized we’d willingly entered what was essentially a prison.”

“A prison? Why would people be okay with that?” I asked.

“Because they’re given a bed and food,” Dillon said with a shrug. “Or maybe they’re all brainwashed and I’m not. My wife did see it differently.”

I shot a glance at Blake to gauge his reaction to Dillon’s ramblings. It was hard to believe that the thin man standing in front of us ever led a meeting of any kind.

“Their plan is to recreate the world but if how they are going about it is an indication of what it will be like… I don’t want to be any part of it and neither would you,” Dillon said assuredly.

“What is wrong with how they want things to be?” I asked.

“It’s all work, sleeping and being fed the bare minimum. I mean, look at me,” Dillon said holding out his arms. “I used to have muscles. I weight trained four days a week.”

Dillon drew in a breath as he closed his eyes. He was visibly trying to calm himself.

“The place is large but there are far too many people inside. It’s hard to move around unless you’re outside working. There is no freedom inside the building.” Dillon exhaled. “Some of the men and women are forced into groups and trained from sun up to sun down how to use weapons. They’re taught how to eliminate the sick. It’s like they’re building an army to go out and wage war on those beyond the bases.”

“The answer to getting rid of the sick is to kill them one by one?” Jay asked with a snort.

Dillon’s head bobbed up and down. “That’s what I believe they are planning to do. As far as I know, they have not initiated that plan but when they do, we could all very well be in trouble.”

“What do you mean?” I asked raising a brow.

“I don’t believe for a second that they’ll bother to take the time to determine who is sick and who isn’t. Just who is outside of their walls,” Dillon said.

Blake crossed his arms as he leaned back slightly. “Then why would anyone want to escape to be out here. If that’s true, you’re in more danger out here.”

“If they find me, yes, maybe,” Dillon said. “But they haven’t declared war on the sick yet. I have some time. Maybe I can get underground or somewhere they won’t find me. And maybe I’m just paranoid.”

There was a long silence in the room before he started speaking again.

“The base also has several scientists inside working in a lab. They’re tirelessly failing at developing a cure,” Dillon said taking in a slow breath. He looked at each one of us as he began again. “They keep sick inside the lab. It’s terrifying and truthfully, I think it’s only a matter of time before there is some kind of slip-up and everyone inside gets sick.”

“That’s frightening,” I said softly.

“It is,” Dillon agreed. “History will repeat itself. After all, the people running this base are the same as the ones that were in charge of the facility that started this whole mess.”

I blinked rapidly. “You’re sure about that?”

“Positive,” Dillon said. “It’s a powerful virus with no cure. This isn’t something to mess around with. Although, I guess it’s kind of late to say that, isn’t it? Really, we are so lucky to be alive.”

I swallowed hard. If Polly was inside the base, she was in even more danger than I had initially thought.

“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Blake asked.

“Not really,” Dillon said. “My day consisted of sleeping in a cot two feet away from another, waking and getting a small amount of breakfast before I had to go outside and shovel dirt.”

“Shovel dirt?” Jay asked.

Dillon nodded. “Imagine a giant building, like a psychiatric hospital. It’s fenced in and there is a humongous yard. Well, a portion of that yard was being dug so that we could grow crops there come spring. I didn’t complain about the job because I didn’t want to be in the kitchen or a janitor and I definitely didn’t want to help in the lab. I got to go outside and breathe fresh air. Of course, while I was out there, my wife was banging one of the leaders in his room. A room he had all to himself. I can’t decide which pissed me off more… that he’d stolen my wife from under my nose and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it or because he had a nice big room.”

“So, everyone is inside a building?” Blake asked.

“No, not everyone at all times. The army trains outside and the farmers are outside. Beyond that, everything else happens inside the main building,” Dillon said squinting as if he were trying to visualize the place. “I might be forgetting stuff. The lack of food and water and sleep has messed with my memory a bit.”

“It would be hard to escape from inside a building,” Blake said glancing at me.

I bit down hard on my cheek. Dillon had gotten away because he was a farmer or whatever. What were the odds that Polly had a job where she’d be outside?

I pressed my hand to my forehead and closed my eyes. I couldn’t think straight.

The only thing I knew for sure was that the clock to get to Polly was ticking even faster.

Chapter 5

My thoughts were rushing through my brain like floodwaters down a sewer drain. I wanted to get to Polly… to get her out of that place but what could I do about Maddie?

If everything Dillon was saying were true, it didn’t sound like it was a place I could bring Maddie. Maybe they wouldn’t keep us together. I didn’t want anything to happen to my daughter and I definitely couldn’t risk losing her.

Maddie stood and started pacing. “Mom,” she said stopping to look straight into my eyes. “We have to get Polly out of that place. It sounds worse than that outpost with James.”

“I know,” I said looking away from her.

How could I tell her there was no way in hell I was going to let her step foot into the base? I had to think of something. A way to get to Polly while still making sure Maddie was safe.

“I don’t think you understand what I’m saying,” Dillon said turning toward Maddie.

She shot him a look that caused him to wince. “I don’t think you understand that she’s my aunt.”

“I get it, she’s family and there isn’t anything I can say that will stop you,” Dillon said taking a step back. He didn’t want her to stab him with her words again. “But can you really blame me for trying? You seem like nice people. You quite possibly saved my life. I wanted to do the same for you.”

“Yeah, well, we need to help my aunt so we don’t have a choice,” Maddie said straightening her spine. “We’ll manage. We can take care of ourselves but thanks for the information.”

“Best of luck,” Dillon said. “But once you’re inside, I don’t think it’s very likely you’ll get back out.”

Maddie’s mouth dropped wider. “Isn’t there anyone you would go back there for?”

“Definitely not my wife,” Dillon said forcing a tight-lipped smile. The smile quickly faded and he looked down at his feet. “There was someone but he got sick along with everyone else. So, yeah, there isn’t a damn thing that could entice me to go back there.”

“I understand that you don’t want to go back,” I said twisting my fingers together. “But maybe you’d be willing to show us where it is?”

Dillon grimaced. “The only direction I want to go is away from the base.”

“It would be really helpful,” I said. “You’d be a big help. Maybe there is something you know that could lead me to her.”

“I don’t think I could,” Dillon said. “Then I’d just have to walk and walk to get back here. Can you blame me for not wanting to start over from square one?”

“We’ll give you the car,” I said without asking the others.

Blake’s jaw tensed but he didn’t say anything. I couldn’t even believe I’d just offered the car.

“Of course, if we don’t stay, we’ll just all leave together,” I quickly added.

“What do you mean, leave?” Maddie said sharply. “We’re not leaving the base without Polly.”

There was a long hesitation before Dillon sighed. “I get the car?”

“Yes, but not necessarily without us,” I said.

“So potentially a car and I don’t have to be alone out here?” Dillon said. “Fine, I’ll show you where it is but I won’t go back inside no matter what. There isn’t anything that will change my mind on that one.”

“Are you sure about this?” Blake asked not caring who heard him ask me the question.

I huffed. “I’m not sure about anything.”

“Let’s bring out the pillowcases and get back on the road,” Blake said getting to his feet. “I’m afraid if the car sits too long, it won’t start again.”

I could almost hear the sounds of the sad horns playing as we walked out of the hotel. It was like walking into a church for a funeral.

I hadn’t really planned what I would do if it ended up being impossible to get to Polly. Maybe that was because I never really imagined there would come a time when I’d see her again.

We got into the car and I closed the squeaky door behind me. The hinges were so rusted I almost needed to use both hands to pull the door closed.

Maddie grumpily squeezed between Jay and me in the backseat. Blake didn’t seem any happier to be seated next to the guy we didn’t really know.

The shocks on the car were completely shot and we bounced wildly with every bump on the road. They squeaked like springs inside of an old mattress.

I stared out of the window at the beautiful green scenery passing quickly by. I wasn’t sure how much time I had to come up with a way to get Polly without putting Maddie in danger. It might take seeing the base to know exactly what we should do. Maybe what I should do.

And it wasn’t just Maddie. I didn’t want Blake or Jay to get themselves into any kind of predicament on account of me.

Jay started to lean forward but Maddie turned and looked down her nose at him. The look contorting her face reminded me of the way Whitney once looked at me. He slipped back but he kept his hand on the passenger seat.

“I’d like to take this moment to reintroduce my idea of stopping to look for weapons,” Jay said.

“Weapons?” Dillon said with a small chuckle. “Like swords and chainsaws?”

Jay blinked at the back of his head. “Like guns.”

“Well,” Blake said flicking a glance in the rear view mirror. “Maybe we should think about it. What do you think, Kit?”

Jay looked over at me, pressing his palms down on his knees. “After what we heard, it’s probably for the best. We want to make it there and we want to have the upper-hand should an unfortunate situation arise.”

“This is all an unfortunate situation,” I grumbled. After a brief hesitation, a small breath seeped out between my parted lips. “I guess we should see if we can find something.”

“As long as it looks safe to check,” Blake added even though as far as I was concerned, it went without saying.

Dillon cleared his throat. “You know, I know a place we could check.”

I stared at Dillon’s profile, watching him as he kept his eyes on the road. The skin on his face was so papery-thin that I wanted to offer him something to eat.

“It’s not too far but I can’t promise there will be anything there,” Dillon said.

“What’s the place?” Blake asked.

Even though I couldn’t see Blake’s face, I could tell he was still quite wary of Dillon. Of course, I didn’t blame him.

“It’s a shooting range just out of a nearby town,” Dillon said. “Not far off the main road.”

“You’re familiar with the area?” Blake asked.

“Yeah,” Dillon said with a hint of a smile. “I grew up not too far from here.”

Blake chuckled as he glanced over at him briefly. “I wouldn’t have ever guessed. You seemed so lost.”

“Starvation does some weird things to a person,” Dillon said. “I’m pretty sure I had a lengthy conversation with a chipmunk one night. Nice woman.”

I smiled although I wasn’t sure it was completely a joke. Dillon must have sensed my smile because he looked at me over his shoulder and smiled back.

“Are you sure you know where you are now?” Blake asked and Dillon turned back toward the road.

“Yeah,” Dillon said. “I’m absolutely certain of where I am.”

There was a silence in the car before Blake tapped his fingertips on the steering wheel. “All right then, tell us where this place is.”

Chapter 6

Blake drove slowly as he approached the shooting range a solid two miles away from the little town Dillon had mentioned. On the corner, a quarter-mile back, there had been a bar that had probably been hopping not that long ago.

“My dad used to take me here when I was younger,” Dillon said looking around. “Hasn’t changed a bit.”

“You didn’t live here?” I asked.

“No, I mean, I did when I was a kid but then when I graduated high school, I moved off for college and never came back,” Dillon said. “Except to see my mom on holidays.”

My door squeaked noisily as I pushed it open. Dillon didn’t move. He looked like he was lost in thought.

“This might be the last place my dad took me before he killed himself,” Dillon said. “I was eleven.”

The silence was deafening.

“Sorry,” Dillon said shifting around in his seat. “I think I’ll wait in the car.”

“That’s terrible,” I said barely managing to get the words out.

Blake took the keys out of the ignition.

“Dark, huh?” Dillon said with a chuckle. “Anyway, there should be some stuff inside. Guns. Ammo. I think there is a good chance no one came here. This place wasn’t very well known.”

“We’ll be right back,” Blake said gesturing toward the building with a painted white wooden sign with faded blue lettering. There was only a single word on the sign… Buck’s.

It was hard to tell from the outside what the place was. Maybe that’s one of the reasons Dillon thought no one would have come here. Driving by, I would have thought it was a rustic restaurant that was typically visited by locals and truck drivers that were passing through.

We walked up to the front doors that were made of logs with large metal handles. Blake looked at Jay in surprise when he found the door open.

“Got the knife?” Jay asked in a soft voice.

“Yeah,” Blake said as he adjusted his grip on the handle. He glanced over his shoulder at Maddie and me. “Stay behind me, okay?”

“Sure,” I said agreeing to his request because he was the one with the blade.

We entered the lobby, which had far too many pictures hanging on the wall. They were positioned less than an inch apart as if the photographs were wallpaper. Most of the pictures that I saw involved the same man or woman and usually next to a dead animal… mostly deer.

At the side wall near the window, there was a glass case filled with various sized trophies, plaques, and medals. If I went closer, I’d probably quickly learn the man and woman’s name.

The smell of wood was so strong it was as though I could close my eyes and convince myself that I was standing in the middle of a forest.

There was a desk at the front with nothing but a notebook and a pen sitting on top. It was open with the pen on a diagonal across the page.

The door to the back was wide open.

“Looks like whoever was here left in a hurry,” Jay said.

“Or maybe they didn’t leave at all,” Maddie said.

“Shh!” Blake said flapping his hand behind him like the wing of a baby bird first learning to fly.

Maddie’s brow furrowed. But she didn’t complain about being told what to do.

We only made it about six steps down a long hallway before the door behind us opened. A cool breeze hit me before I could focus on the person walking toward us.

“I got scared,” Dillon said. “Dammit, I hate to admit that.”

“Did something happen?” Blake asked.

Dillon shook his head. “No. My mind got the better of me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said trying to sound comforting. “But you scared the hell out of me.”

“Oh, sorry. Good thing for me that you haven’t found the guns yet then, huh?” Dillon said with a nervous laugh.

He didn’t know how accurate his statement was. Or then again, maybe he did.

“Nothing has changed about this place,” Dillon said walking much too close to me as we continued down the hall. “The door at the back leads to the indoor shooting range. I had pretty good accuracy for a kid. Never touched a gun again after my dad’s death, though.”

Blake walked past a door on his left and Dillon pushed his way past me. He muttered a quick ‘excuse me’ before grabbing the doorknob.

“Hold on,” Blake said grabbing his arm and pulling it away. “I’ll go first since I’m armed.”

Dillon nodded. “Guess that’s better than nothing.” He hesitated briefly. “This is where they kept the guns.”

Blake opened the door as if he were expecting to walk into his own surprise party. He stood there, his head shifting jerkily in every direction.

“I think it’s safe, buddy,” Jay said stepping around him.

The walls were lined with tall blue lockers, all of which were closed. Jay pulled his flashlight out of his pocket and clicked it on before opening the first set on the right.

Jay stared for a long moment before twisting to look at Dillon. “Are these supposed to be empty?”

“No,” Dillon said walking over to the next set. He opened the doors to another empty locker. “Well, shit.”

One by one, we opened them, finding them all empty except for the dust bunnies gathering at the bottom.

“I guess maybe the owners took everything?” Dillon said.

“Or maybe someone else came here and took everything,” Maddie said rolling her eyes as she shook her head.

“Yeah… maybe,” Dillon said. “There’s one more thing we can check.”

Blake cocked his head to the side. “What’s that?”

“The office,” Dillon said gesturing toward the hallway.

Blake drew in a breath and crossed the hall with all of us following him like baby ducklings following their mother across the street. He entered the room much more calmly than the last time.

The office smelled of cigar smoke and donuts. It seemed strange there was a smell of donuts after all this time but it made sense when I saw the large candle on the side of the messy desk. It was burned almost to the bottom and the picture of the donut on the label made my stomach grumble.

Dillon walked around the desk and opened one of the drawers. He clapped his hands together sharply.

“Ah-ha!” Dillon said pulling out two metal cases one after the other. “I remember when they got these for their anniversary.”

“Who were these people?” Maddie asked.

Dillon looked at her and then smiled. “Huh,” he said turning the smile into a frown. “They’re locked.”

Jay flashed the light on the metal cases. Each was engraved with three initials.

“How romantic,” Jay said.

Dillon slammed down a box of ammo on the desk. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at the boxes.

“Maybe the keys are in one of the drawers,” Blake suggested.

“Well, that wouldn’t be a very smart place to put them,” Dillon said. He pointed at Maddie. “But you were probably right about the people who cleaned out this place. They weren’t the owners. There is no way they would have left these behind.”

Jay started looking around the office. “We need to figure out how to get these open.”

“They look really sturdy,” I said. “You sure the keys aren’t in the desk?”

“Positive,” Dillon said.

“Would you mind looking, though?” I said.

Dillon scratched the side of his neck. “Sure. Could I get some light?”

Jay flashed the light at each desk drawer as Dillon sifted through the items inside. He held up both hands to show he hadn’t found anything.

“Maybe a hammer and a screwdriver,” Jay said looking around. “We could try to pry them open.”

“There’s a tool chest in the trunk of the car,” Blake said.

“Awesome,” Dillon said. “I’d love to get back inside the car.”

At first, I thought he was being sarcastic but when he took the first step toward the door, I realized he was actually anxious to get back outside and into the small beat-up car.

When we got to the car, Jay and Blake went to the trunk while the rest of us waited inside. We didn’t talk. We sat there in silence listening as they pounded at the locked cases.

At one point, it sounded as if they started to throw them at the ground. I was tempted to get out of the car and try to convince them to give up but when I turned, Blake and Jay were standing outside my window both wearing huge grins.

“Great,” Dillon mumbled. “Now we can get back on the road.”

His lack of excitement coated his words. He must have sensed that I was glaring at him.

“Sorry,” he said. “But I won’t be happy until I’m driving in the opposite direction so….”

“Right,” I muttered. I waved at Blake and Jay to get back inside. “Let’s go!”

“Can you believe this?” Jay asked looking at the gun in his hand. “We actually got them out of there. It wasn’t easy, though.”

Dillon groaned. “Ugh, put those things away. I hate those things. Can’t even stand to see them.”

“You’ll be glad we have them when a pack of sick sneak up behind us,” Blake said. I didn’t bother to mention that the gun didn’t really help all that much when we’d been nearly surrounded by a pack of sick.

“Maybe. But in my life, they’ve done no good. They took my dad away from me and then held me hostage at the base. I just don’t like them. They make me nervous.”

Maybe he didn’t realize it yet and maybe he never would but in this new world, guns were practically a necessity. They were almost as needed for survival as food and water.

Blake drove back down the road going faster than he had before. It seemed as though he was driving with more confidence.

But it didn’t last long. The car clunked and sputtered before coming to a slow stop.

Blake sat there with his hands on the wheel for a long moment without moving. It was a solid four minutes before he slammed his palms on the dash repeatedly.

Blake roared as he continued to beat the car. “Fuck!”

Chapter 7

Dillon leaned to the side. “Are you out of gas?”

“No, the gauge says full,” Blake said hitting the steering wheel again.

He drew in several quick breaths and turned the key. The car grumbled back at him repeatedly but it didn’t start.

“Maybe the gauge is broken?” Dillon suggested.

My eyes slowly scanned the area. We’d gone far from the town and there wasn’t anything around us except for abandoned fields.

There was probably a farmhouse not too far down the road. But without the car, it definitely made things more complicated.

It delayed us in getting to the base and I worried that without the car, Dillon was going to back out of our deal.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Blake said with his head down. “Guess we’re walking.”

We took our things and started walking down the side of the road. We could have walked down the middle because there wasn’t traffic and it was unlikely there would be any anytime soon.

Blake led the way and Dillon was only a couple feet behind him. He hadn’t said anything but he continued to stay with us.

I touched Maddie on the shoulder before I quickened my pace to catch up with Blake. I was probably the last person he wanted to talk to but I had to try. It was my fault that Blake didn’t have anyone left.

“Hey,” I said stepping up at his side. He didn’t look at me. “I was just wondering if we have a plan of any kind.”

It felt like a long time before he spoke. “I don’t know. Why ask me?”

“I guess I just wondered if you had any ideas,” I said swallowing hard.

“Do you have any ideas?” Blake asked.

He was so cold it felt like I was walking next to an ice sculpture. I didn’t know what to say.

“We could look for a new car,” I suggested.

“Great idea,” Blake huffed. “No way to siphon gas and more than ninety percent of the cars we find don’t have the keys but out here in the middle of nowhere, we’ll just find a car.”

I sighed.

Blake ran his fingers through his hair in one brisk movement. “Sorry. I’m just frustrated.”

“Yeah,” I said feeling the inside of my mouth dry out. After several long moments, I cleared my throat. “I’m so sorry about what happened with Whitney. I never meant for any of this to happen. And Dax. It’s all my fault that your brother and girlfriend are gone. It’s completely my fault and I’m so sorry. You have every reason to blame me or hate me or whatever.”

“Girlfriend,” Blake snorted. He looked at me out of the corners of his eyes. “First of all, she never was my girlfriend, and secondly, it’s not your fault what happened to them.”

I shook my head as I dared a look in his eyes. “I saw the two of you kissing.”

Blake’s eyes moved down but then back up at the road. He exhaled a long breath.

“Yeah, we kissed but I ended it shortly after it started,” Blake said. “She caught me a bit off guard because I’d just heard some news that shook me.”

“Oh,” I said. Was he referring to when I blurted out what had happened between Dax and me? Somehow, I knew that he was.

“I shouldn’t have led her on the way I did but I hadn’t been thinking clearly,” Blake said.

I crossed my arms. “Well, Whitney saw it differently. She thought it was the beginning of her dream come true.”

“Well, I guess I’m glad she thought that considering,” Blake said. “I’ve always known how she felt but I just didn’t feel that way about her. She was like a sister to me.”

“Glad you didn’t tell her that,” I said.

Blake chuckled. “I did but that was back when we were teens.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah,” Blake said. “I wasn’t the wordsmith I am now.”

I bit my lip so the laughed didn’t bubble out. I was nearly positive he was trying to be funny but he didn’t crack even the smallest of smiles.

“When I feel something for someone, there is just something there that I can’t fight. It’s just too powerful. Even if I try to pretend it’s not there, it just creeps back up and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it,” Blake said with a tinge of frustration to his words. “I’ve really only experienced the feeling a couple times in my life but it never was there with Whitney.”

“If it’s not there, it’s not there,” I said but the words weren’t insightful or comforting. I just hadn’t known what else to say. “Freddie used to tell me that I was trash. Unlovable. A big, lazy screw-up. Oh and let’s not forget a disappointment to my family.”

“Freddie was an asshole,” Blake said. “You aren’t any of those things.”

I sighed and swallowed back a tear. “He did his best to convince me of those things. For a long time, I believed him. Sometimes I still wonder if he was right. I mean, all I’ve done is screw up this whole adventure. An adventure we shouldn’t even be on.”

“Nothing that happened is your fault,” Blake said catching my eye.

There was a warmth in there that tugged at my heart. I didn’t understand what I was feeling.

“Well, I think it was,” I muttered.

“You need to stop blaming yourself,” Blake said. “I’m sorry for everything your idiotic husband put you through but you need to see yourself how others see you. How Maddie sees you.” He swallowed and his jaw tensed. “How I see you.”

My heart rate increased. Didn’t he hate me? I slept with his brother for Pete’s sake. He should hate me.

Blake took a step to the side. It felt like a cold breeze had pushed us apart.

“How far away do you think we are from the base?” Blake asked glancing over his shoulder at Dillon.

Dillon’s eyes shifted back and forth from Blake to me and then back again. I was pretty sure he’d heard every word we’d spoken.

“Less than a hundred miles,” Dillon said. “But that’s just a guess. It could be less. Could be more. I was bussed out to the base in the middle of nowhere to a place I didn’t even know existed. I wish I had a better answer but things had been hectic and I hadn’t been paying attention.”

“Don’t blame you,” Blake said. “Was just curious.”

“I’ll know when we get close. I’ll never forget the trees.” Dillon shivered. “They were so… so thick, like they’d been purposefully planted to hide the place. So, yeah, I’ll know when we’re almost there. No doubt about it.”

Blake scratched the back of his neck. “Good but we’re not going to be able to walk a hundred miles. At least not very quickly.”

“A hundred miles?” Jay asked from behind. At least he hadn’t heard the entire conversation like Dillon had. “We’ll be lucky if we make it five miles.”

“Maybe ten a day?” I said narrowing my eyes. And that was a best-case scenario.

“That’s not fast enough if she’s in danger,” Maddie chimed in.

“Oh, she’s definitely in danger,” Dillon added for good measure. Because why not add to the stress we were all already experiencing.

If we had to walk the entire way, it would take us at least a week to get there. We didn’t have a choice. We had to find another vehicle as soon as we possibly could.

We continued down the road, mostly in silence. Everyone was deep in thought.

Maddie was likely concerned about Polly and I was concerned about Maddie. Blake was probably mourning the loss of Dax and Whitney. Dillon was nervous about going closer to the base and Jay was probably thinking about all the food he’d left back at his brother’s home.

We had a few supplies but we would need more. The food and water we had wouldn’t last more than a couple days. I had more than enough medicine, although that wasn’t helpful in any significant way.

The sun was bright when the soft, fluffy clouds didn’t block it out but the air was chilly. It was good that the walking helped to keep us warm, well, except for Dillon. His teeth chattered but he mostly tried to hide it.

Even though we were armed, it didn’t help me to feel any less exposed. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself.

“Oh, you have to be kidding me,” Jay said.

“What is it?” Blake said without turning.

“I think I just saw a flurry,” Jay said holding up his arm to look at it. “Yeah, it melted but it was definitely a snowflake.”

I knew it had gotten cold but I don’t think I realized how cold until I saw the tiny white fluff float down in front of my eyes.

Snow. It wasn’t a lot but still, it wasn’t good.

Chapter 8

“Mom?” Maddie called from behind me. Her voice crackled, sounding quiet and frail.

I turned and only at that moment had I noticed how bad things had gotten. Probably for all of us. But Maddie was skin and bones, nearly in as bad of shape as Dillon.

Her eyelids were purple and sagged down over her eyes. She was dragging her feet like one of the sick.

Even though we’d just been in a hotel room, it wasn’t enough to help in any significant way. The life we’d been living wasn’t something you could just sleep away in a short time and get right back to it.

Maddie needed more.

There were too many worries. No deep, restorative sleep. The food wasn’t good enough to keep us healthy… it was only sufficient in keeping us alive.

It didn’t matter if we were walking or riding in a car, this life was taking a toll on Maddie. It was slowly pecking away at all of us. There would come a point when sheer determination wouldn’t be enough to keep us moving forward.

We needed new clothing.

We needed showers.

We needed a fire to warm our bones before they turned to dust and refused to hold us together.

“Did you need something?” I asked as I slowed my pace to walk next to her.

“Can we stop soon?” Maddie asked. “I think there is something wrong with my foot.”

Maddie wasn’t usually the one asking for a break. She was the one wanting to press forward.

“I think I see something ahead,” Blake shouted over his shoulder.

I wasn’t sure if he’d heard her or if he’d just happened to notice the place. Maybe he needed a break too. We all probably did.

“Think you can make it?” I asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Maddie said making sure she sounded tough.

She didn’t want me to see the weakness but what she didn’t know was that she couldn’t hide things from me, at least not for long. I was her mother and I knew her better than I knew myself.

One of the benefits of traveling country roads was that we didn’t see many of the sick and if there were people around, we didn’t see them either. But one of the negatives was that the houses were stretched miles apart.

Blake spotted a pickup truck as we approached the small house. Behind it was a small barn with mold coated walls and a roof that had collapsed.

There was a thin cow grazing in the overgrown field not far from the house. It didn’t seem as though it had belonged to this particular farm, given the state of the barn.

“Think that cow belongs to someone?” I asked.

“Probably not anymore,” Jay said. He cupped his hands over his mouth. “Be free, cow!”

Its jaw kept moving in a circular motion as it continued to ignore us… and Jay’s comment.

“Not even animals think I’m funny,” Jay said smiling at himself.

“It probably has something to do with the fact that you’re not funny,” Maddie said sucking in her lip so she didn’t smile.

“I’ll get you to laugh one of these days,” Jay said. “Just you wait.”

I huffed. He didn’t know just how stubborn Maddie could be.

Blake led the way up the gravel driveway with his gun in hand. Jay was off to the side, studying our surroundings and keeping his eye on what was left of the barn. It was almost as if he expected sick to be hiding inside. Or maybe he was thinking about his sick sister-in-law who’d been locked inside the barn at his brother’s house.

Blake opened the truck door and reached inside. “No keys.”

“Check inside?” Jay asked.

“We need warmer clothes and a break,” I said.

“Maybe some blankets too,” Jay suggested.

Dillon looked at the house suspiciously. “What if there is someone inside?”

“We’ll check it first,” Blake said pointing his gun at the house.

Dillon ducked. “Dammit, I hate those things.”

“Wait out here,” Blake said. “Keep an eye on each other.”

Blake was looking at Dillon but it felt like he was speaking to me. Dillon reminded me of a fragile baby bird and I was pretty sure Blake noticed it too.

“Want me to wait with them?” Jay asked shooting a nervous glance in our direction.

Out of all of us, Jay appeared to be the healthiest. He hadn’t been on the road nearly as long as the rest of us, which was probably why.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s a great idea,” Blake said.

“No,” I said shaking my head. “You shouldn’t go in there alone.”

“I think I can manage on my own,” Blake said.

Jay caught my eye and jerked his head toward Blake. He was subtly trying to tell me to go with Blake.

“I’ll join you,” I said taking a step next to Blake.

“Not necessary,” Blake said holding up his palm

“Of course, it’s not but you know, just in case,” I said. “It’s not like you’d let any of us go alone, so I guess you don’t get to go alone either.”

Blake held my gaze. “Fine.”

I followed him to the front door. The screen door wasn’t quite closed and neither was the front door.

“Shit,” Blake said stepping in front of me. “Stay behind me.”

“If someone were inside, they probably wouldn’t keep the door open,” I said keeping my voice almost silent.

“Unless they’re in there right now,” Blake whispered back.

Blake placed his hand on the door. The hinges squeaked and the floorboards creaked as we stepped into the quaint, empty living room.

The screen door smacked against the door frame behind me and I hopped forward grabbing Blake’s shirt. His eyes were wide as he turned to look at me.

“Don’t do that,” Blake said flicking his eyes to the gun.

“Oh, sorry,” I said. “My nerves are shot.”

“Well, if anyone is here, I’m sure they’ve heard us,” Blake said. He looked around, lowering the gun slightly. “Hello? Anyone here?”

I swallowed and let go of his shirt. “That’s bold.”

No one responded.

“Hello?” Blake called again.

We stared at one another as we listened in the silence for any kind of indication that anyone, sick or not, was inside the house.

I walked close behind as Blake made his way through the first floor. There was a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a single bedroom. He checked the closets to make sure they were empty too.

We walked up the stairs. I kept looking over my shoulder, unable to shake the feeling that someone was walking behind me.

“This house is creepy,” I said.

“Yeah,” Blake said.

It was like walking through a graveyard in the middle of the night… alone. The room was cold and as I exhaled, I could see my breath. It almost seemed as though inside the home was even colder than it had been outside.

There was another bathroom upstairs and two small bedrooms that were minimally furnished. It seemed as though the house had perhaps belonged to a single person and based on the coat and boots that had been next to the door, I would have guessed the owner had been male.

“No one’s home,” Blake said tucking the gun into the back of his pants.

“Doesn’t mean they won’t be back,” I said raising a brow.

“Didn’t you just say no one would be inside since the door was open? Why would someone leave and keep their door open, especially when the sick could just wander inside?” Blake asked allowing his lip to curl at one end.

I bit the side of my lip. “I guess they wouldn’t.”

I looked down at Maddie from the upstairs window. She looked so small.

“Hey, Blake?” I said wrapping my arms around myself as I turned to him.

“Yeah?” he said studying the room. There wasn’t a single picture or piece of art hanging on the poorly wallpapered walls.

“I think we should probably spend the night here.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure about that? I thought we were in a hurry to get to your sister.”

“We are but it’ll be dark soon and no one is going to want to ride in the back of the truck at night,” I said. “If we can even find the keys.”

“There was a set sitting on the table,” Blake said.

I looked back out the window. “I wonder if he got sick and just left.”

“Maybe he was taken with the others to the base,” Blake said. “It doesn’t matter, though, does it?”

“No, it only matters if we have to worry about him coming back,” I said.

“We’ll lock the doors. He can’t get inside if we have his keys.” Blake flashed a wide grin.

My eyes narrowed as I shook my head. “He could have more than one set.”

“Well, I’ll keep watch. We’ll make sure Maddie gets enough rest,” Blake said.

“I’m worried about her,” I said taking a step toward the door.

Blake didn’t move. I thought he’d turn and go back downstairs but he didn’t. My body warmed just being close to his body.

“I can tell,” Blake said in a voice that was like black silk. “I’m worried about both of you.”

“I’m fine,” I said with a strange, uncomfortable laugh.

No one besides my mom and Polly had ever worried about me. And after what happened to Dax and Whitney, I’d thought I’d be last on Blake’s list of people to worry about.

Blake rested his hand on my shoulder. The look in his eyes made my knees feel weak. My mind went back to the night I’d first seen him. He’d come to the house and he hadn’t put up with Freddie’s shit.

I’d felt something the minute I’d looked into his eyes. What was it?

My thoughts disintegrated when I heard the gunshot.

Chapter 9

Blake bolted down the stairs. I was at his heels but his thoughts weren’t on me. They were on whatever was happening outside.

Blake’s shoulders were rising and falling as he stopped abruptly on the driveway.

Jay was standing there with his gun aimed at the old barn. Maddie and Dillon stared at something on the ground. It took no more than a second to realize it was a body.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Blake said as he looked Maddie over.

“I’m fine,” Maddie said.

“Yeah, I’m fine too,” Dillon said trying to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes. He knew Blake hadn’t asked about his well-being but he thought he’d offer it up nonetheless.

Blake ignored him and started walking toward the body on the ground. Jay was a step or two behind.

“Put your mask on,” Jay warned. “The man was sick.”

Blake reached into his pocket and pressed the mask to his face. He didn’t bother with the elastic. Blake only went close enough to verify that the man on the ground was in fact, sick.

“Shit,” Blake said. “We’re going to have to—”

“Yeah, I know,” Jay said.

“Have to what?” Dillon asked wrinkling his nose. The look of disgust made me think he already knew what would have to be done.

Blake turned slowly. “We have to take care of the situation.” He turned his back to us and placed his hands on his hips. “Kit, take everyone inside. I’ll handle this.”

“Okay,” I said.

Maddie and Dillon started to follow me toward the house but Jay didn’t move. He handed me the pillowcases and waved me toward the house.

Jay didn’t bother to ask Blake if he needed help because he would have just sent him into the house. I was glad neither of them would be outside alone.

Inside, Dillon flopped down on the couch, draping his forearm over his eyes. Maddie sat down at the kitchen table and rested her head down on her folded arms.

“You want something to eat?” I asked.

“I’d love something,” Dillon said.

I wanted to tell him to get off his ass and help me search the cabinets but rather than deal with him, I tossed him a bag of chips. He hadn’t been prepared and they smacked against his arm.

“Ow,” Dillon said dramatically.

“Sorry,” I said biting back my smirk.

Dillon exhaled as his eyelids fluttered. He knew I wasn’t even a little sorry.

I set down a small bottle of water and a breakfast bar in front of Maddie. Her eyes were focused on the window as she tore open the foil packaging.

“You should have something, too,” Maddie said.

“I will,” I said but instead of taking something from the bag, I started going through the cabinets.

The cupboards were almost entirely bare. There was a can of tomato soup and two boxes of pasta, both of which were half gone.

On the counter next to the sink was an opened can of mushroom soup with green and white mold growing up the sides. The smell reminded me of our basement. I grabbed the can and dropped it into the trash can next to the fridge.

“I’m going to see what I can find for jackets,” I said tapping my fingers on the table to get Maddie’s attention. She didn’t take her eyes off the window but she did offer me a nod.

The closet near the front door had several thick flannel jackets and a brown winter coat. They looked like they’d even be a little big for Jay and Blake. I pulled them off their hangers and tossed them on the nearby recliner.

I walked down the short hall and into the bedroom. There were more clothes in the closet but nothing that would fit Maddie or me.

There was a large faded blue comforter on the bed but nothing else underneath. I left it on the bed in case someone wanted to take a nap but I made a mental note to take it when it was time to leave.

I walked back out into the kitchen as Jay and Blake entered along with an icy breeze. My body jerked with the closing of the door.

“That’s done,” Jay said brushing his hands together. “Gets easier every time.”

“It does?” I asked.

“No, not really,” Jay said.

I showed Blake and Jay the jackets. Jay tried on one of the flannels.

“Dude was a lumberjack,” Jay said.

“At least you’ll be warm,” I said tugging at the arms as if somehow, I’d be able to make them shorter.

“Yeah, I won’t complain,” Jay said.

“I might,” Blake said frowning as he turned around.

He was drowning in the tan jacket. I tried not to laugh but I couldn’t help it.

Blake laughed too. “You think this is funny, huh?”

“A little,” I said.

Blake wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. “Maybe you should try it on.”

“You both could probably fit in there,” Jay said sliding down into one of the chairs with his jacket still on. “This one is warm. I’m not mad.”

“Does anyone mind if I take a nap?” Maddie asked with her arms wrapped around her thin middle.

I pulled away from Blake and walked toward her. “Of course not, want me to come with you?”

“No, mom,” Maddie groaned. “I can manage on my own, thanks.”

“Right,” I said softly. “Well, just let me know if you need anything.”

Her nod was so small that I would have missed it had I not been staring at her. We were all silent as she climbed up the stairs.

“Maybe I should get some rest too,” Dillon said. “I imagine you don’t want me going upstairs. That would like, make you uncomfortable or something, right?”

“Oh, umm, yeah, I guess I didn’t really think about it but I’ll share a room with Maddie,” I said.

“Is there another up there?” Jay asked.

I nodded. “Two upstairs and one down here.”

“I’m going to get stuck with the couch, aren’t I?” Dillon asked.

“I’ll take the couch,” Blake said. “You can have the bedroom down here.”

“Oh, perfect,” Dillon said clapping his hands.

He got to his feet and stopped at the kitchen table, opening one of the pillowcases. Dillon took out two snacks and a bottle of water.

“Sorry,” he whispered as he pointed at his middle. “I’m obviously famished. Wake me when it’s time to go.”

We stood there in silence as he walked down the short hallway and closed the door behind him.

Jay stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “I should probably call it a night too.”

“It’s not even night,” I said raising a brow.

“Does it matter?” Jay asked. “I can sleep almost anywhere at any time.”

“Must be nice,” I said.

Jay flashed a quick grin. “I want to be well-rested. Tomorrow could very well be the big day.”

“My stomach is stuffed with butterflies,” I said. “Worried about whether we’ll find her or if things will be as bad as Dillon says.”

“Understandable… but we’ll figure it out,” Jay said forcing a smile. “We will definitely approach with caution.”

Blake’s head bobbed up and down. “It’ll be okay. We’ll go in prepared. With a plan. We know what to expect after having been at the outpost.”

“This place sounds worse than the outpost,” I said. “I just need to make sure nothing happens to anyone else.”

The room grew silent.

“There is no way to know what will happen,” Blake said. “But we’ll do everything we can.”

“Exactly,” Jay said trying to hide another yawn. “Sorry.”

“Go on,” I said jerking my chin toward the stairs. “We can talk about it more in the morning.”

Jay stepped up to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. He looked into my eyes.

“I know we don’t know each other well but if it wasn’t for you guys, I’m pretty sure I’d be dead. So, maybe bad stuff happened, but try not to forget the good,” Jay said. “You saved me. Dillon would say the same. Try not to only focus on the bad stuff even though there seems to be a lot of it right now. It’ll get better. It really will.”

“Thanks, Jay,” I said giving him a quick hug.

Jay’s eyes widened as he glanced over at Blake. “A hug! It must be my lucky day.”

“Don’t get used to it,” I said.

Jay leaned closer. “I will cherish it for the rest of my life.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely the last one,” I said.

Jay turned and walked up the stairs leaving Blake and me in silence. I stared at my feet for a long moment.

“Um, I should go up.” It sounded more like I was asking rather than making a statement.

“You don’t have to,” Blake said pulling a chair closer to the window. He sat down but after a second, he stood and adjusted the chair. “This isn’t the best.”

I cocked my head to the side.

“Can’t see very far in either direction,” Blake explained. “My view is blocked by trees and this is just an awkward angle.”

“Oh,” I said.

“And it’s going to get really cold in here,” Blake added.

The bedrooms had blankets but there wasn’t anything except for the large jackets. “I’ll check upstairs for an extra blanket.”

“Oh, thanks,” Blake said. “But you don’t have to do that. My legs work just fine. Besides, those coats are practically blankets anyway.”

I laughed.

Blake looked at me and the small smile faded. “Want to sit with me?”

Chapter 10

He brought over one of the chairs from the dining room table. Neither looked very comfortable but he offered me a choice between the two.

I took the wooden chair and wrapped one of the flannel jackets around my shoulders. He shot me a smile before leaning forward and peering out of the window. Perhaps Blake didn’t hate me as much as I thought he had.

“Might be better in a vehicle because we’d have a heater,” Blake said. His voice sounded loud in the silence.

“It feels like my bones are made out of ice,” I said.

“Too bad we hadn’t found something with a fireplace,” Blake said.

A smile curled onto my lips. “You wouldn’t have let us use it anyway.”

“You’re right,” he chuckled. “I probably wouldn’t. People could see the smoke.”

There was a long moment of silence before I sighed. “What if we’re doing all this and she’s not even there?”

“Can you even change your mind at this point and not find out?” Blake asked. “You have so much doubt but I wonder how much of a choice you really have in the matter.”

He was absolutely right. It was like I was trying to find an excuse but there wasn’t one that would be good enough. Good enough for me.

“I’m just so worried about her,” I said glancing toward the stairs. “Every minute of every day, I’m putting her in harm’s way. I should be done doing that to her. All my life I made every stupid choice thrown my way. It’s beyond time to stop doing that.”

“Do you really think you could have stopped her from coming here? If you hadn’t gone with her, she’d be out here right now by herself,” Blake said.

I looked down at my hands. “You’re probably right.”

“I’m definitely right.” Blake reached over and took my hands into his. They were so warm and his touch was like a bolt of electricity jolting through my body. “Your sister must be something else. I don’t think Dax would have done this for me.”

“You would have done it for him,” I said swallowing hard.

Shadows of night started to cover his face. He huffed and looked down toward his feet.

“I don’t know if I would have,” Blake said.

“Polly has always been there for Maddie and I. There were plenty of times she let Maddie spend the night just so she didn’t have to be in the same house as Freddie,” I said.

“Why did you marry that guy?” Blake asked. It looked like he wished he could take the words back the instant they’d left his lips.

I shook my head. “I was young and really stupid. We were just kids when we got married. He kept drinking. I got pregnant. Then I got scared. At that point, his disease had consumed him and our lives. It felt like I was stuck at the bottom of a pit and I didn’t know how to get out.”

“I wish I would have known,” Blake said. “I was right there. Just across the street.”

“There wasn’t anything you could have done,” I said looking over at him. “But I appreciate the thought. And besides, I’m sure you had your own problems to deal with. I should have been the one to deal with my own.”

“Life gets overwhelming at times,” Blake said.

I chuckled and turned back toward the window. “Tell me about it. What’s going on out there is the epitome of overwhelming.”

“Oh, it goes well beyond that,” Blake said. He hesitated for a long moment. “You know, that first night I came to your house?”

“Yeah?”

“It was the first time I really saw you,” Blake said. He looked down at our hands. “I think my heart stopped for a full second.”

My mouth dried. I couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“I felt it… instantly,” Blake said.

“Felt what?”

“That thing I feel when I find someone,” Blake said. “I know it’s stupid since we’d never talked and didn’t even know anything about each other. But when I saw you, there is no doubt about what I felt.”

I drew in a breath. It was just as overwhelming inside the house as the world outside was. Maybe even more.

I felt like pulling my hand away but I wasn’t entirely sure why. The feel of his skin against mine was paralyzing.

“I’m sorry,” Blake said in a soft, raspy voice. “With how you felt about my brother, I shouldn’t have confessed that.”

“No, it’s fine,” I said.

I couldn’t deny that I felt something for him, too, no matter how hard I tried. Dax had been a distraction when things had been chaotic. Things with Dax had been easy.

Blake was intense. And the feelings that came along with it wasn’t something I wanted to feel given the circumstances.

The last thing I wanted or needed was another person to care deeply about. I couldn’t risk losing someone I cared about. It was bad enough worrying about Maddie every second of every day.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t cared about Dax, of course, I had but with Blake… it was different.

I’d been with Dax so I didn’t have to deal with intense feelings. He made me laugh. Deep feelings weren’t something I was good at. And probably had a lot to do with why I married Freddie.

I could feel Blake’s eyes on me. I turned and met his gaze.

Maybe denying my feelings was pointless. Even if I told myself I didn’t have them, I’d be just as devastated if something happened to him.

“Kit,” he said bringing his hand to my face. His thumb lightly stroked along the bottom of my jaw.

“Yes?” I whispered breathlessly.

“Can I kiss you?” Blake leaned closer.

I swallowed and shivered gently at his touch. “Please.”

The anticipation made the back of my neck hot. It felt like it took ages for his lips to brush against mine.

Blake’s lips were soft and gentle but then he rolled out of his chair, crouching before me. There was a hunger that filled his kiss, which sparked each and every nerve-ending in my body.

As he cupped my face, it felt like I was floating to my feet. I wasn’t entirely sure if everything was happening or if I was in an extremely blissful dream.

Together as one, we moved backward, stopping abruptly when my back hit the wall behind me. Blake pulled back and smiled.

“You can kiss me again,” I said with a small smile as I stared at his lips.

“I would love to,” Blake said.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as his lips danced with mine. The chill that had been stuck inside of my body seemed to be fading and was quickly being replaced with a blast of fiery heat.

His hands slid down my arms and he took each of my hands into his. I hadn’t wanted him to stop but he leaned back, his eyes still half-closed.

“I don’t want to but we should stop,” Blake said. His eyes darted toward the staircase.

Blake was absolutely right.

“I haven’t felt like this in ages,” Blake said.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this.” The words softly escaped from between my lips.

“That’s a good thing, I hope,” Blake said.

“I’m not sure,” I said turning away from him.

He cocked his head to the side and the smile disappeared. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just that, I’m not sure I’m capable of giving you what you need.”

“What do I need?”

The warm air that had filled the room whooshed out and was replaced with the frigid, icy night-time air. It blasted me several steps away from Blake, which caused him to frown.

“A normal person,” I said. “I’m already constantly worried about Maddie and if I let myself, I would so easily fall for you. I don’t think my heart can take it.”

“But your heart can take not letting it happen?” Blake questioned. “For me, it’s already too late. I can’t turn back. I started falling for you long before tonight.”

“What if something happens to you?”

Blake snorted. “What if something happens to you?”

“I don’t think I could carry on,” I said. “It’s already been too much.”

“You would carry on because you’d need to for Maddie,” Blake said. “I have no doubt in my mind you’d manage.”

“I don’t want to have to manage,” I said.

Blake walked over and took my hand again. Warmness once again surrounded me as though it was cradling me in a safe, comfortable blanket.

“No one wants to but we’re all doing it right now. Every day we’re out here we are doing our best to manage everything,” Blake said giving me a quick smile. “I don’t think I can continue on without knowing what’s here between us.”

“It’s too much,” I said.

“This is how it’s supposed to feel,” he said with a burst of excitement. “It’s supposed to feel exciting and scary. And a bunch of other things too. But most of all, it’s like air, at least to me it is. It’s like this thing that you need so badly that you know deep down inside that you can’t live without it.”

I exhaled slowly. “It’s definitely scary.”

“Isn’t the thought of not exploring this scary?”

“Scary isn’t the word I’d use,” I said. “It’s almost like if I say we should do this, that the roof will collapse down on top of us.”

Blake blinked several times.

“Is that really outside of the realm of possibility? Look at the barn out back,” I said tossing my hand into the air. “The roof collapsed.”

“I guess the lumberjack must have been cursed too,” Blake teased and I frowned. “I’m kidding. You’re definitely not cursed. Maybe you were dealt a shitty hand but you can always fold and wait for the next hand to be dealt.”

“And what if it’s shitty again?”

Blake shrugged. “And what if it’s not? Maybe this time you’ll get the winning hand.”

“If I get the winning hand, then someone else will have a losing hand,” I said.

“OK, maybe I shouldn’t have used cards as my example,” Blake said squeezing his brows together. “What’s a game everyone can win?”

“There isn’t one,” I said deadpan.

Blake waved my words away. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that—”

“We should give this a shot.”

“Yes,” he said pointing at me. “Exactly that. So,” he said tapping his foot impatiently, “you in?”

“I want to but—”

“No buts!”

Blake looked into my eyes. “Come on, Kit. Take a risk.”

“Every day is a risk,” I said.

“Then what’s one more?” Blake frowned. “I don’t think I should have to be talking you into this.”

I squeezed his hand. “I know I’m sorry and you’re not talking me into anything. It’s just I don’t understand all these feelings.”

All my life, it was like there was a shield around me but now, something was changing. There was a crack in the shield and it was starting to crumble down around me.

And I wasn’t entirely sure I liked how it felt. But there was one thing that Blake was right about… I wanted to find out what was there.

I looked down at my feet before meeting his gaze. A smile curled the corners of my lips.

“Fine,” I said.

“Fine, what?” Blake asked peering at me through the darkness.

I bit my lip. “Let’s see what this is.”

He pulled me into his arm and squeezed me. I smiled as I rested my head on his chest and squeezed him back.

Chapter 11

The light coming in through the downstairs window was bright enough though it didn’t have the yellowness of sunlight. Instead, it was a cold grayness coating the living room.

I swung my legs over the side of the couch as I shot a glance toward Blake at the window. He was slouched down in the chair with his head tilted to the side.

I stretched my arms over my head and sucked in a breath. Dillon was sitting at the dining room table watching me.

“I got sick of lying in bed,” he said holding up a package of cheese-filled crackers.

“You do know that’s not all for you, right?” I said with frustration slathered over my words.

Coffee. I so desperately needed coffee.

“Yeah, I know,” Dillon said. “I’m rationing. This is all I had so far today. There is plenty left. See for yourself.”

I got to my feet and walked over to the table. “We never really had what I would call plenty,” I said as I sifted through what remained inside the pillowcases. He seemed to be telling the truth, although I hadn’t counted everything that had been packed into the pillowcases.

I pulled out a small package of cashews and tore it open. It was quite tempting to pour the entire bag into my mouth but I manage to fight off the temptation. I hadn’t realized how hungry I’d been until the saltiness touched my tongue.

“Did you sleep well?” Dillon asked.

“Best I’ve slept in weeks,” I said. “Maybe months.”

I couldn’t tell him why. Hell, I wasn’t even sure why but I knew it had something to do with what had happened between Blake and me.

“The bed was like super comfortable,” Dillon said. “But even with the blankets on, it got chilly.”

“Make sure you take a flannel with us when we leave,” I said gesturing toward the chair. “And maybe a blanket too.”

“How exactly do you think we’re all going to fit inside that truck?” Dillon asked.

I looked away from him and shrugged. I didn’t want to see his judging eyes on me even though I could still feel them.

“Guess some will have to ride in the back,” I said.

Dillon chuckled for a brief second. “You know I’m not going to ride in the back, right?”

“Maybe we’ll have to take turns.”

“Oh, right,” Dillon said. “Like your boyfriend will allow you or your daughter to go in the back.”

I shook my head. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“It shouldn’t be that far of a drive, should it?” Blake said from behind me. I jumped slightly, not having heard him approach. He wrapped his arm around my waist and placed a kiss on my cheek. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” I said stiffly.

“Sleep okay?” Blake whispered into my ear.

I nodded. “Did you?”

“Like a baby,” he said.

“In a chair, though?” I asked skeptically.

Blake grinned. “I could have slept upside down.”

“Since when do you sleep well anyway?” I asked.

“Since last night,” Blake said as Maddie descended the stairs.

She yawned as she eyed Blake and I. There were still dark circles under her eyes.

“About time you two hooked up,” Maddie said.

I swallowed hard and tried to step away from Blake but he tightened his grip. It was like he was marking his territory.

“We didn’t hook up,” I said defensively.

“I mean, like got together,” Maddie said.

I opened my mouth even though I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to say. But I snapped it shut when Blake opened his.

“Thanks, Maddie,” Blake said squeezing me tighter. “Can I get you some breakfast?”

“I’m not six, Blake,” Maddie said. “I can dig out my own breakfast from the pillowcase.”

“Maddie!” I whispered sharply.

She held up her palm. “I’m sorry, Blake. I didn’t sleep well.”

“That’s not an excuse,” I scolded.

“I know,” Maddie said. “I wasn’t being rude because you guys are together, though. It’s seriously that I’m just exhausted. If we weren’t so close to Polly, I’d go back to bed.”

Blake gave Maddie a quick nod. “Don’t worry about it. All is forgiven.”

“When are we leaving?” Maddie asked biting into a granola bar.

“As soon as everyone is ready,” Blake said.

“Okay, but like what are the riding arrangements going to be like?” Dillon asked.

“I’m driving and you’ll be providing me the directions,” Blake said.

Dillon blinked several times. “I’m not sitting in the back. I’ll freeze to death.”

“I’ll ride in the back and you and Maddie can sit up front,” I said.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Blake said.

“Ha!” Dillon said twisting his neck to look at me. “Preference given to the girlfriend. I knew it!”

I glared at Dillon. “I’ll be fine in the back. We’ll bring blankets and I’ll wear a flannel.”

The room was silent. I could almost hear the internal grumble of annoyance inside Blake.

“Seriously, it’ll be fine,” I said throwing up my arms. “I’ve been in much worse places.”

“Ooh, please, tell us more,” Dillon said leaning forward.

I was starting to understand why his wife moved on without letting him know. Not that he had seemed to care all that much.

“Maybe another time,” I said. I started backing up toward the chair where I’d put the flannel jackets. “I’m going to get the blankets and pack up the back of the truck.”

“Want help?” Maddie asked.

“That’s not necessary. Eat… rest up,” I said.

It wasn’t long before the others joined me at the back of the truck. I was spreading out blankets, trying to make the back more comfortable with every blanket and pillow from the house I could find.

“We’re ready?” I asked.

“Yep,” Maddie said with a small hop.

“Do we have our supplies?” I asked.

Jay held up the pillowcases and tossed them into the back. “Got everything.”

“So, I get the truck after I deliver you to the base, right?” Dillon asked as he pointed at the truck.

“Yeah, sure,” Blake said.

“Because that was the deal, was it not?” Dillon asked.

I pressed my lips together and sighed. “You get the truck or you leave with us… that was the deal.”

“Acceptable,” Dillon said. “Just wanted to double-check.”

I still had the medicine packets in my pocket and I was sure the bag was stuffed somewhere in one of the pillowcases. We were all set.

I had to stuff my hands into my pockets so that no one would see them shake. There wasn’t anything about the journey ahead that I wasn’t nervous about.

In a way, it was good that I was in the back because if I had been next to Dillon, I would have sensed his nerves and it would have only made things worse.

The ride in the back of the truck was much bumpier than I had anticipated. It hadn’t taken long for my butt to go numb.

Jay sat for the first fifteen minutes of the drive but they further we went the lower he slouched down in the back and into the blankets. I sat there with a flannel on and a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. The icy air stung my cheeks.

I buried my face in the blanket. The truck slowed and I looked up at the same moment Jay pulled himself into a seated position.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said twisting at the waist to look at the road ahead. “Oh… oh, this isn’t good.”

The blankets fell from Jay as he yanked out his gun. “Oh shit.”

Chapter 12

There were two people running toward us, panic streaking their faces. They waved their arms as they shouted for help. The interesting thing was that they weren’t alone.

It was a man and a woman, each wearing a jumpsuit, just like the one Dillon wore. Neither of them were sick but they were being chased by a small group of those that were.

Their eyes were wide and slick with panic as they waved at us. Tears streaked the woman’s cheeks and both of them were desperately screaming for help.

Blake slowed the truck. I could hear Dillon inside the cab loudly complaining.

I tapped a knuckle on the back window and Maddie slid it open. Her jaw was tensed and her shoulders were bouncing rapidly with each breath.

“Why are we slowing?” I asked.

“It’ll just take a second to save them, mom,” Maddie said. “We can help them.”

Blake glanced at me over his shoulder. My guess was that he was slowing against his will. Maddie could be very persuasive. If she hadn’t been, we probably wouldn’t have even been on the road in the first place.

“It’s a mistake,” Dillon said. “But your boyfriend won’t listen to me. Oh, dear God. Could this seriously get any worse?”

“What is it?” Blake asked, his words blending together into one.

“I know that woman. We should leave and quickly. Just let them die,” Dillon said.

Maddie clicked her tongue. Her eyebrows formed a line across her forehead as she turned to him. “You are so dramatic.”

“I’m not being dramatic. I’m being smart,” Dillon said. “It would be better for everyone if we just kept going and let them get sick.”

“It seems like there is something you’re not telling us about the whole thing,” I said.

“Okay, well, it’s just that and I don’t know this for sure but I think they’re out here looking for me,” Dillon said.

“Paranoid much?” Maddie asked.

Dillon’s face lost all tension. “I’m not paranoid.”

He twisted and slouched down in his seat but it seemed like he wanted to slide down further. It seemed like he wanted to slither all the way to the dirt coated floor.

“If they see me, they’ll take me back,” Dillon said. “I knew I shouldn’t have come with you. They’ve probably already contacted the base that they’ve found me.”

“It doesn’t really look like that’s what they’re thinking about right now,” Maddie said narrowing her eyes at them.

“They probably don’t need to worry about me when there is a big group on the way to bring me back to that dreadful place,” Dillon said. I stared at him, my eyes blinking rapidly. “You should do something to stop your boyfriend. If we all end up at that place, we’re going to be in major trouble.”

I shook my head. “You already know our plan is to go there and find my sister.”

“My plan was never to go back there. I never want to see that place again,” Dillon said. “It might be time to hand over the truck.”

“Wait,” Blake said holding up his hand. “It looks like we may not need to do anything.”

A woman stepped out of a nearby house and shouted something at them. She too was wearing a matching jumpsuit.

“Oh, dear God, get me out of this place,” Dillon said slinking down a bit further.

The two people ran across the street, right in front of our truck. They ran up a driveway and dashed inside the house.

The sick didn’t seem to notice us as they followed the pair to the house. They were continuously begging for help even after the door was closed. The sick walked up the porch, looking into the windows and pounding on the front door.

“They’re going to hear the truck,” Jay said. “They’ll come this way.”

“Or they’ll just see us and walk over here,” I said. “It’s not like we’re even a bit hidden.”

“I don’t feel very safe back here,” Jay said.

Blake looked at him in the rear view mirror. “Relax. You’re armed.”

“Right,” Jay said.

“Just get out of here,” Dillon said. “They’re safe inside now. We don’t have to do anything.”

Blake reached over as a loud pop cracked through the air. He laid down on top of Maddie, using his body as a shield.

“Get down!” he shouted.

I peeked over the side of the truck bed and watched one of the sick fall to the ground. My breath got stuck in my throat. Seconds later, the truck started to move.

Blake pressed his foot down, flooring the gas pedal.

“Hang on,” Blake said through the back window.

I stared at the house, waiting for someone to hop in a vehicle and chase us down. The folks from the outpost had relentlessly followed us for miles and miles, surely, the people from the base wouldn’t be any different.

I didn’t look away from the house even when it became a dot on the horizon. No one was coming after us… at least not yet.

Every two minutes, Dillon looked over his shoulder. He was so nervous that we were being followed he hadn’t stopped shaking since we’d seen them run across the road.

“Stop looking for them,” I said. My anxiety was rising each time I met his darting eyes. “I’ll let you know if they’re after us.”

“Maybe we should turn off,” Blake said.

“I don’t think we can do that,” Dillon said. “This is the way to get there. Unless you’ve wisely changed your mind about going.”

Dillon looked out the side window for less than five seconds before turning again. His eyes were glassy.

“Dillon!” I said.

“I can’t stop,” he said. “I just know that no matter what, I’ll never be free of them. I shouldn’t have tried. And guess what else?”

I shrugged.

“When they find me, and it seems highly likely they will, they’re probably going to kill me because I’m not loyal to them. I ran away from them. Or maybe if I’m not even a little lucky, they’ll put me in the lab and do tests on me.” Dillon sharply sniffed back a tear. “Can’t you see I’m terrified? The only reason I agreed to this is because I was afraid to be alone. I never thought we’d actually even come this far. I wanted to stop you. I wanted you to realize this is a terrible idea but you’re so stubborn… or maybe you’re all just really stupid.”

“Maybe you’re stupid,” Maddie shot back.

I swallowed hard, hoping to moisten my drying throat. I looked over at Jay but his eyes were down. Still, there was no doubt in my mind he’d been listening to every word that came out of Dillon’s mouth.

“You’ll have the truck,” I reminded him. “You can go anywhere you want.”

Dillon snorted. His voice was raspy. “How will that help me exactly? I’ve been thinking this over and I’m all alone out here. I don’t even know how to get gas in this thing so, really, how far will I get? I barely survived the way it was. It won’t be long before they catch me. Not long at all.”

“I don’t have a choice in the matter,” I said.

“I don’t feel like I do either,” Dillon said.

The entire truck bounced upward. Jay reached over and grabbed my arm as if he was afraid I was going to flop out of the back of the truck.

“What was that?” I asked quickly.

The truck was slowing and rolling awkwardly toward the side of the road.

Blake’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel. He exhaled loudly. “A flat.”

Chapter 13

We stood there, staring at the tires. The two on the passenger side couldn’t have been any flatter.

Blake paced near the back with his hands on his hips. His eyes occasionally flicking up toward the truck as if he didn’t believe what had happened.

“Four flat tires?” Maddie asked. “That’s unusual, isn’t it?”

“We must have hit something back there,” Jay said before walking down the road in the direction we’d just come from. “Yeah,” He called as he bent down and studied something on the ground. “We hit something all right. A strip of spikes.”

“Something put there intentionally,” Blake muttered.

Dillon shook his shoulders as if spiders were crawling up his back. He grimaced before biting his lip.

“I can’t decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing,” Dillon said looking around as if he were trying to see in every direction at once. His head abruptly stopped moving and he started to back away from us. “Oh… oh, God. It’s bad. It’s a really bad thing. They’re coming. They’re coming!”

Four people in jumpsuits were walking down a side street, making their way toward us. I grabbed Dillon’s arm before he could get away from us.

“Let go of me!” he hissed.

“Pull it together,” I said. “We’re armed, remember? You’re safer with us than running off on your own. Blake will protect you.”

“Ha!” Dillon spat. “Blake will protect you. He doesn’t care what happens to me.”

I held on to him even tighter. It was as though I felt deep inside that if I let go, I’d never find Polly.

We could have had the best directions in the world. But still, it felt as though Dillon was my link to Polly. He was the key that would let me in the door.

After all, he’d been there with her. He’d been in that place taking in the same air Polly had. They could have passed each other in the hallways. Dillon helped me to feel closer to her, which I knew was ridiculous but I couldn’t help it.

Blake and Jay both raised their gun, aiming them at the group of four that was approaching slowly. This group of people was different from those we’d seen being chased by the sick. But they still wore jumpsuits… it seemed as though the closer we got, the more of them there were.

“Why are there so many of them out here?” I asked in a soft voice.

“They’re out here looking for more fools to join them,” Dillon said. “Always looking for more idiots. And they find them too, every day they were bringing new people.”

The group was far enough away that we could talk freely without the risk of being heard but they were close enough that there wasn’t anything we could do. It wasn’t like we could run away. We were stuck.

“At least we know who’s responsible for our flat tires, hmm?” Dillon said attempting to jerk his arm away from me. He failed thanks to him being in such a weakened state. “Not that there had been any doubt in my mind.”

“Stop,” Blake shouted. “That’s close enough.”

They were a solid twenty feet away. Still, it seemed much too close for Dillon. Every so often, he twitched, ready to run if I loosened my grip.

“We’re here to help you,” one of them called out. “See you’re having some trouble with your automobile.”

“Automobile,” Dillon mumbled. “Who says that?”

The second person brought their hand up to their brow even though there was no sunlight that could be in their eyes. “We’ve got a place nearby. We can help you get some new tires.”

“It’s a trick. A trap! They just want to bring you to the base. Don’t fall for it, Blake!” Dillon said in a high-pitched squeaky voice.

“Not another step,” Blake said in a deep voice that rumbled my stomach like thunder would shake the earth. “Stand your ground or we’ll shoot.”

Two of them exchanged a look before a broad-shouldered man with a long beard said something to his pal with a narrow chin.

“Don’t shoot,” the bearded man called as he raised his hands slightly. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“Then just turn around and go back to where you came from,” Blake warned. “We’re just passing through and will be gone soon.”

“You won’t be passing through any time soon with four flat tires,” the narrowed chinned man said.

There was movement in a wooded area across the street and approximately a quarter-mile off the road. Ten people were running toward us. Four of those ten were carrying bows.

“What’s going on?” I said.

“No idea,” Dillon said shaking his head.

The expression on the faces of the group in jumpsuits swiftly altered. Two of them turned and walked away but the narrow-chinned man and the one with the beard backed away slower. It looked as though they were discussing something.

“Come with us,” the bearded man said.

An arrow landed three feet away from him. He cursed and gave us one last look before leaving the area.

“Get behind the truck,” Blake said.

There was no way to protect us from flying arrows. The truck was the only thing we could use for a shield.

“Shoot them!” Dillon ordered.

“I don’t just shoot people for fun,” Blake said.

“They’re shooting at us!” Dillon said. “Defend us.”

Blake was looking at them over the hood. “I don’t think so. They were shooting at them. They haven’t launched another arrow since they left.”

“Hello!” a woman called as she waved. She wore a bright smile that displayed her perfectly white teeth. “We come in peace.”

“Does she think she’s funny?” Dillon asked.

“Don’t shoot,” Blake said. “We’re armed and will defend ourselves if necessary.”

“Understood,” the woman said. “You are not our enemies. We have no intentions to shoot.”

I peeked over the side of the truck. A short, young woman leaned closer to the woman and whispered something before going back into her original position.

“At least we don’t think you are. There is one with you… the one in the uniform. We’re not sure about him,” the woman said. “May we approach, so that we can talk further without having to shout to one another?”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Blake said.

“How about just me then?” the woman asked.

Blake looked at me and I shrugged. It wasn’t like we had a lot of options. No place to hide and a vehicle that wasn’t going to take us down the empty road stretched out before us.

“Just you,” Blake agreed.

The woman said something to her group. She shoved her hands into her pockets and approached with caution.

“They’ll protect me if you try anything,” she said.

“Of course.” Blake crossed his arms loosely in front of himself, displaying the gun he was holding. His head jerked to the side. “And I’ll protect them if I need to.”

“Seems like we’re on the same page then,” the woman said. “I’m Twyla. Who are you? I’m particularly curious about him.”

Twyla pointed at Dillon. He took a quick step behind me.

“He’s our traveling companion,” Blake said.

“I can see that,” she said grinning. “But he’s wearing something we see a lot of out in this area. It’s peculiar he’s with you and not the other way around.”

“Is it?” Blake asked.

Twyla nodded, locking eyes with Dillon. “Are you a recruiter?”

“No,” Dillon said. “I’m an escapee.”

Blake groaned, likely annoyed that Dillon was giving information away so freely. It wasn’t like we knew the first thing about this woman standing in front of us.

She looked normal with her straight, shoulder-length hair and slim build but of course, that didn’t mean a single thing. Her hair was dark as the night sky and her eyes nearly matched.

“That’s hard to believe,” Twyla said. “Nearly impossible.”

Dillon shrugged before crossing his arms. “Well, it’s true. And I have no intention of going back.”

“Then it’s odd you’re going down this road, isn’t it?” Twyla asked.

“It is,” Dillon said. He snapped his mouth shut when Blake shot him a dark look.

Twyla caught the interaction and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry about your vehicle. I have a confession to make.”

Blake cocked his head to the side. His shoulders rose with a deep inhale.

“We stop cars traveling up this road,” Twyla said. “There’s a place and we feel it’s our job to stop people from going there. Isn’t that right, Mister Jumpsuit?”

“Absolutely,” Dillon said almost instantly. “I’ve been trying to tell them that.”

“So, you’re purposefully headed there?” Twyla asked.

“If you don’t mind,” Blake said his muscles tensing. “Our business is our own.”

Twyla’s nose wrinkled as if she’d suddenly smelled a skunk. “We can fix your truck but in exchange, I want your time.”

“We don’t have a lot of time to spare,” Blake said.

“It won’t take much,” Twyla said.

“What’s this all about?” Blake asked.

Twyla raised her brows. “I’d like to make a case for why you should not continue forward. It’s my job to attempt to stop you from making a huge mistake.”

“I told you!” Dillon said.

“Just give me some of your time. Listen to what I have to say and after that, you can be on your way. If you choose to continue on, then so be it, but I at least need to try,” Twyla explained.

Blake didn’t take his eyes off of the woman. His voice was soft. “What should we do?”

“Are you asking me?” Dillon said. He sucked in a breath. “Oh, of course not, you’re asking your girlfriend.”

He said the word like it was the punchline of a joke. If I hadn’t needed him, I would have sent him on his way.

“Do we have a lot of options here?” I asked. “We have no truck and those guys in jumpsuits are just around the corner. I don’t think we’ll get very far, at least not without using those guns.”

“We can find another vehicle up the road,” Maddie said. “We just have to run.”

“With all those recruiters around? Uh-uh. No thanks,” Dillon said.

I looked back down the road where the small group of people in jumpsuits had just been. It had seemed as though they’d been afraid of Twyla’s group. Perhaps we should have been too but for some reason… I wasn’t.

“I guess we go with them,” I said.

“Mom, are we ever going to go to Polly?” Maddie asked with a groan.

“Yes,” I said. “But we need the truck to get there. We don’t have time to find another and it’s probably not even safe around here to do so.”

Blake met my eyes for a quick second and nodded. He turned back to Twyla. “You’ll fix the truck and then we’re free to leave?”

“My friends will fix it while we talk. Four new tires just for your time,” Twyla said. “And then you’re free to go. Or maybe you’ll want to stay.”

Blake sighed. “All right then. Let’s go have a talk.”

Chapter 14

We walked across the field and through a thick patch of trees before stopping at an old, run-down church. Twyla smiled proudly.

“This is us,” she said.

“Interesting,” Dillon said.

“It gets better,” Twyla said.

Blake eyed her. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see,” she said waving over a man with a round beach ball belly and a red rag sticking out of his back pocket.

“Another?” he chuckled as he walked up to us. “How many this time?”

Twyla bit her lip as she grimaced slightly. “All four.”

“Well, darn it, Twyla,” he said.

“Can you manage it?” Twyla asked.

The man wiped his brow with the back of his greasy hand. “Yeah, yeah, I can. Give me an hour or two.”

“Perfect,” Twyla said gesturing toward the church. “Join me inside?”

“I guess so,” Blake said.

“Good,” Twyla said. “By the way, that was Waylon. He’ll be fixing your tires.”

We followed Twyla across the dirt parking lot toward the tall, ornate front doors of the church. My eyes stopped on all of the vehicles parked at the back of the lot.

“Are all those vehicles out there yours?” I asked.

“Sort of,” Twyla said with a smile. “People we’ve convinced to stay.”

“That’s a lot,” I commented.

Twyla nodded. “There have been others that hadn’t been traveling by car. But we have run into a small problem.”

“Oh?” Jay asked. “What kind of problem?”

“We’re running out of space,” Twyla said.

Her honesty, or what I assumed was honesty, was rather shocking. It made her seem strong and confident. Nothing I’d ever felt in my life.

She wasn’t even the least bit worried about having us in her territory. I looked around, assuming there must be someone hiding around the corner with an arrowed aimed at my heart.

“It’s fine though, I’ve got someone on it,” Twyla said.

I wasn’t exactly sure what she’d meant but I could sense that we weren’t going to find out any more. At least not at the moment.

Inside the church, my stomach turned at the strong scent of mold and mothballs. I clenched my fists as I looked around the empty pew-lined room. Based on the wide-eyed expression Blake was wearing, he was equally concerned about the lack of other people.

“Is this some kind of trick?” Blake asked.

“What do you mean?” Twyla asked squinting at him.

“Where is everyone? You told us you saved countless people from wandering into the base,” Blake said.

A smile grew on her mouth and she flapped a hand at him. “No one stays up here. Much safer in the basement. But don’t be surprised at the number of people down there because there are a few people working on arrangements for our move.”

We followed her down the creaky stairs and into a small area with jackets hanging on hangers. The doors straight across from us were held open with door stoppers. On the other side was a long underground cafeteria.

People were sitting at many of the tables. Some of them were eating… others were having what looked like deep, meaningful conversation. Some hadn’t looked up when we’d entered but a small group of four younger folks had. They were playing a board game at a table close to the kitchen and took a quick second break to give Maddie a quick once over.

I tried to count how many people were around but everyone kept moving around. My best guess was that there were at least fifty people moving about the basement.

“We’ve got beds set up in the other closet and some set up along the wall over there,” Twyla said pointing across the way. “The tables fold up so we can squeeze more when it’s time to get some sleep.”

“A rigid schedule?” Dillon asked.

“Not at all but when it gets dark, there isn’t a whole lot to do. The candles don’t provide enough light that we can do anything all that important,” Twyla said. She gestured toward an empty table. “We’ll talk there.”

We sat down and I noticed a solid, muscular man leaning back against the wall. He was close to the open closet we’d walked through to enter the cafeteria but I didn’t think he’d been there the whole time. I would have felt his powerful gaze.

His piercing green eyes were focused on us. Or rather, they were focused on Twyla.

“Is he your bodyguard?” I asked letting my head fall to the side to indicate the man.

“Maybe I’m his bodyguard,” Twyla said raising a brow. She hesitated for a long moment wearing a half-smile. “That’s my husband. We look out for each other. He’s a bit more paranoid about strangers coming into our space than I am.”

Blake crossed his arms. “Sounds smart to me.”

“Why is that? Do I need to worry about you?” Twyla’s eyes moved around, stopping at each one of us. “Any of you?”

“No,” Blake said. “But I’m apprehensive. There are a lot of people that can’t be trusted. Which is why it was probably stupid for us to come down here.”

“I know it won’t do any good saying so but you can trust us,” Twyla said. “It’s those at the base you can’t trust.”

I placed my palm down on the table as if pressing a giant pause button. “Let me just stop you. There isn’t anything that will change my mind about going to the base. My sister is there.”

Twyla stared at me for an uncomfortably long time. I swallowed hard in the silence and I was almost positive my gulp could have been heard by everyone at the table.

“That does complicate things, doesn’t it?” Twyla said.

“Terribly so,” I replied.

“You’ve actually stunned me.” Twyla chuckled. “I’m not exactly sure what to say.”

She shot a quick glance over at her husband. Twyla folded her hands together and set them down on the table.

“Well, I hate to say this but it might be best to just forget about her,” Twyla said quickly holding up her hand when she saw the scrunched-up look that flooded my face. “I know, it’s an awful thought but honestly, she’s probably as good as dead inside there.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her,” Dillon said.

I turned sharply to face him. “You escaped.”

“He’s the first person I’ve met that has,” Twyla said looking at Dillon skeptically. “I don’t blame you for wanting to get your sister out of that place but to go in there, well, you’d have to be crazy.”

“What do you know about it?” I asked with an edge to my voice.

“Just what I’ve heard,” Twyla said looking directly into my eyes. “It sounds like he’s already talked to you about it. If you go in there, your chances of escaping are less than one percent.”

Maddie crossed her arms. “Better than zero.”

“We can help you here,” Twyla said. “If you go there, you’ll be a brainwashed pawn, isn’t that right?”

Dillon nodded before she’d even finished her sentence. “You’re absolutely right.”

“He didn’t get brainwashed,” I said. “Neither will I.”

“Let’s say that’s true, what about him,” she said pointing at Jay. Then she pointed at Maddie. “Or her.” Twyla smacked the table with both hands before I could respond. “Look, we have gathered up enough supplies to last us, all of us, twenty years. I’m not going to force you to do anything against your will. I won’t make you join an army to kill the sick. I won’t prick your finger over and over and run tests on you.”

“What do you want from us?” I said. It was my turn to be skeptical. “It’s not like you’ll help us out of the kindness of your heart. You want something.”

Twyla smirked. “I do. But it’s not that sinister. I want our numbers to grow. Eventually, I want to make sure that when humanity rebuilds, they do it right.”

“And you want to be in charge of it all,” I said.

“Yes, but with the help of other intelligent people,” Twyla said. “The way they’re going about it in the base and the outposts is not creating any kind of future I want to be a part of. It’s not the future we’ll want for our children.”

The back of my neck was hot, even though the temperature in the basement was on the cool side. Twyla made a lot of excellent points but what she didn’t have was the answer about what we should really do about Polly. Forgetting all about her was not an option.

“Is this your daughter?” Twyla asked.

“Yes,” I responded.

“I can see the resemblance,” she said. Her chin rose to indicate a young blonde girl. She was playing the board game with the others, giggling and smiling. Something Maddie should have been doing. “Can we have a moment? Just you and I? Mother to mother?”

My eyes darted over to Blake. His jaw stiffened but he didn’t say anything. Jay shifted uncomfortably.

“I guess so,” I said.

Twyla stood and gestured toward the kitchen. “Shall we?”

My throat dried but I followed her. I could feel Blake’s eyes on me but it didn’t help me feel much better about being away from the only people I knew.

“It’ll be better for your daughter to stay with us,” Twyla said. “We can protect her. Keep her safe.”

“Why would I trust you over them?” I asked

“Because we’re normal people,” Twyla said. “I was a professional illustrator before all this. Brock and I were married at a young age and soon after had Lily. Brock painted houses. Lily went to school. She was a normal, happy young woman. There was a time when I thought I’d lost them. I won’t let that happen again.”

I swallowed hard. “I can’t lose her. But I can’t give up on my sister either. Maddie, my daughter, won’t let me. It’s just as important to her as it is to me.”

“I wish there was a way for me to prove to you that this is the place you want to be. We are the people you want to be with,” Twyla said. “Usually, it isn’t that hard to convince people. They usually agree when we tell them about our supplies.”

“There are supplies still out there,” I said.

“But they’re diminishing, faster each and every day. It’s not like I didn’t see the pillowcases your guy is carrying. They’re light.” Twyla’s expression was unreadable. “You have a daughter to take care of.”

I sighed. “Stop talking to me like I’m stupid. I don’t want her to go to the base. The only reason we’re out here this far is because of how desperate she is to get to her aunt. Family is important to us. Polly is important to me.”

Twyla pressed her hand to her mouth. “I understand. I don’t mean to sound so callous and bossy. It’s just that I’m positive you’ll regret it if you bring her there.”

“I’ve been thinking for a while now that I wouldn’t bring her there,” I said.

Twyla’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been trying to think of a way that it would just be me going inside there. With the info from Dillon, I can get inside and I can get out again.” My stomach felt like it was filled with a balloon that was expanding. “The thing is it’ll be easier if it’s just me.”

The words that had left my mouth had surprised me but I didn’t let it show. I’d known for some time it would be a mistake to bring Maddie to the base but it wasn’t until now I knew how I’d manage to go without her.

My eyes landed on Maddie. I exhaled and looked away from her. “Can she stay here?”

Chapter 15

Twyla scratched the hair near her temple. “It would just be your daughter staying here?”

“No,” I said firmly as I shook my head. “All of them.”

“Good, because I don’t want to be responsible for her. I’m quite busy here most of the time and I’d worry I couldn’t keep an eye on her. What if you can’t find your sister?”

“I’ll come back,” I said firmly. “Either way, no matter what, I’ll come back. I wouldn’t ever leave Maddie forever.”

Twyla inhaled and her eyebrows squeezed together. “You might not have a choice in the matter. What if you can’t escape the base like your friend supposedly did? You’re just going to risk losing your daughter forever for all of this?”

“I’ll get out,” I said. “Nothing will stop me from getting back to her. But if we stay here with you without trying to get my sister back, I’ll lose Maddie forever. She wouldn’t ever forgive me for giving up and abandoning my sister.”

“I think it’s risky and utterly foolish but I’m not entirely sure I can blame you,” Twyla said. “I was an only child so I don’t understand exactly but if it were Brock out there or Lily, nothing would stop me from getting to them.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Nothing will stop me from getting back to Maddie.”

Twyla’s shoulders straightened. “There could be one thing that stops you.”

“What’s that?”

“If you don’t get back to us before we leave this place, you’ll be out there alone,” Twyla said. “I can give you directions to where we’re headed but I won’t wait here for you when I have all these other people I need to worry about.”

“I understand and I didn’t ask you to wait. I wouldn’t ask that of you,” I said. “How long before you leave here?”

Twyla looked around as if our surroundings would give her the answers. “At least a week yet.” Twyla exhaled. “What’s she going to do when she finds out you’ve left her here?”

My spine rolled forward. “Freak out but Blake will be able to manage it. How far away from here is the base?”

“Six miles give or take,” Twyla said. “You were so close. The reason we initially planted ourselves here was because of all the people heading north.”

“Lucky they didn’t find you,” I said.

“We’re pretty well hidden back here. And we’re rather efficient at defending ourselves.” Twyla grinned with a raised, proud eyebrow.

I nodded. “The people in the jumpsuits seemed rather afraid of you.”

“It’s taken us a bit to get to this point but this is how we like it,” Twyla said. There was a long pause before she spoke again. She looked around at the people gathered in the cafeteria. “So, what exactly are you planning to do?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” I said swallowing down a sour taste at the back of my throat. “I think I’ll just tell them we’re staying. Maddie will throw a fit and tonight, after she falls asleep, I’ll leave.”

Twyla studied me. “You’re sure about this?”

“No, but I have to do it. I don’t feel like I have a choice.”

“All right, let me tell you how to get to the new place before you break the news to your friends,” Twyla said reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a detailed, hand-drawn map.

Blake stared nervously at us from across the room. His eyes narrowed as Twyla told me the directions at least six times, even though it felt like a lot more. She could tell I was struggling to memorize them.

Twyla was unwilling to give me my own map considering where I was going. The last thing she wanted was for the people at the base to confiscate my map and discover where they would be located.

Honestly, I didn’t blame her. Then again, I wouldn’t have given the directions to a complete stranger either.

“Do you think you can remember all that?” Twyla asked. Her questioning expression seemed to indicate that she didn’t think I knew them, at least not well enough.

“I don’t know but I sure as hell hope so,” I said.

“Repeat everything back to me,” Twyla said tilting the map away from me. It was time to be tested. I never liked tests.

I quickly recited them back, only making one mistake which was kind of impressive although Twyla frowned. I’d said to take a left when the correct choice was making a right.

“Dammit,” I said clenching my fist.

“Are you really sure about this?” Twyla asked.

“Yes,” I said crossing my arms. “It’s just a lot to remember right now. Everything in my brain is kind of a mess.”

“It’s a large place a hundred miles away,” Twyla said. “The bad news is the place we’re going is underground so it’ll be easy to miss if you don’t know where to look. You have to know these directions like the back of your hand. Maybe even better than the back of your hand.”

I looked down at my hand. “Maybe I should get it all tattooed on my arm.”

“No,” Twyla replied. At first, I thought she was joking but there was nothing but seriousness in her eyes. “They’ll look there.”

“They’ll look where?” I asked stretching out each word.

“Everywhere.”

“How do you know so much about the place? You said no one had escaped but yet you seem to have information.”

Twyla looked around as if making sure no one was nearby. “My father worked for the company that built the place. He called me the day everything went down.” Twyla exhaled a long breath between her lips. “And then he blew his brains out… while I was still on the phone.”

“Oh, my God. I am so sorry,” I said.

Twyla forced a smile that barely curled at the ends. “It’s okay. He always struggled with depression. In a way, I was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. Also, I’m pretty sure he thought he’d hung up. Anyway, I promised him I’d do what I could to stop people from going there.”

I twisted my fingers as I looked over at Blake and Maddie. They both were wearing the same annoyed expression, likely wondering what we were talking about this whole time.

“Looks like you’re having second thoughts,” Twyla said.

“No,” I lied. “What is going to happen to me there?”

“They’ll take everything from you. Put you through decontamination, give you a hideous jumpsuit that will be quite uncomfortable and then they’ll start to brainwash you along with the others.” Twyla crossed her arms and widened her stance. “They’ll try to break you down and make you feel like they’re all you need. If you don’t have them, you’ll die. Just keep your daughter in your mind. Ha! Maybe you should get her name tattooed on your arm. There’s a guy here that would do that for you.”

I looked down at my arm. Yet again, I wasn’t sure if she was serious. “Is there anything else I should know about the base?”

“Probably tons of things but the problem is my father didn’t have a lot of time to get into the details,” Twyla said with a sigh. “Just enough to convince me to do what I could to help people.”

“Ugh,” I said scratching my elbow. My shoulders had softened and my body felt weak. “I should probably go and break the news. Well, the part about us staying here. She’s not going to take it well. Is there any chance you can convince your mechanic to slow down on the repairs so I can have something to blame it on?”

“Sure,” Twyla said. “And if you want, I can get someone to drive you a bit closer so you don’t have to walk the whole way. You’ll still have to walk but he can get you a little closer.”

I exhaled. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome,” Twyla said stretching out her hand. I took it and we shook as though we just made a deal. “I hope we meet again, Kit.”

I wanted to give her a smile but I couldn’t. “Me too, Twyla. Me too.”

Chapter 16

Maddie looked like her head was going to pop right off of her neck. Her face was red and I was pretty sure there was actual steam coming out of her ears.

“This can’t happen. It’s a trap, isn’t it?” Maddie asked turning to Blake. “Why aren’t you freaking out?”

“Because I’m not worried here,” I said. It was mostly the truth. Out of all the places out there, it couldn’t be that bad with here with Twyla and her people.

Blake’s eyes narrowed. Could he tell there was more to it? Or maybe he could tell I was lying. I was always a terrible liar.

I’d come up with a terrible plan. Blake wouldn’t ever be on board. He wouldn’t let me go while staying behind to take care of Maddie.

I couldn’t tell him. I would have to just sneak away. Maybe I could have Twyla tell them when they woke in the morning. Yeah. Yeah. That’s what I’d do.

“I guess it’s just going to take him a little longer than he initially thought to fix the tires,” I said.

“He’s probably not even fixing them,” Maddie said puffing out her lower lip.

“It’s just one more night,” I said my voice not feeling quite like my own.

It felt like Blake was watching my every movement. If he knew I was lying, he needed to not question me in front of Maddie.

“Twyla said we can make ourselves at home,” I said.

“Awesome,” Dillon said. “Seems okay here but it feels much too close to that place.”

“I think she said it was six miles,” I said. “Or maybe sixteen. I can’t remember.”

Blake cocked his head to the side. “What else did she say? You two had a long talk.”

“Yeah, it was. Um, not much really, she just asked some questions about us, which I didn’t say much. She’s skeptical of Dillon—”

“Stupid jumpsuit,” Dillon said pulling it away from his skin. “Do they have any spare clothes?”

“I’ll ask,” I said.

Maddie shifted her weight as she looked around. “Where are we supposed to sleep?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll ask that too,” I said.

I took a step back to head back over to Twyla, who was having an intense conversation with Brock. Blake grabbed my hand and I stopped abruptly. My eyes widened against my will.

“Would you like me to come with you?” Blake asked.

“Um,” I stammered trying to think of a reason he couldn’t.

“Would you rather I talk with her?” he asked.

I shook my head. “That’s not necessary. I can handle it. We seem to have a lot in common.”

Maddie’s mouth dropped. She definitely didn’t believe my last comment.

“I can’t see you running a place like this,” Maddie said.

“Nor would I want to,” I quickly said. “I just meant that she’s a mom and I’m a mom and you know, stuff like that.” I waved my hand. “I’ll take care of this. Just relax, okay?”

I wasn’t even a little relaxed as I walked away from them. My muscles felt like rubber bands stretched to their limits.

My conversation with Twyla was a blur. I’d remembered shaking Brock’s hand but before I knew it, I was walking back toward Maddie with an answer about the sleeping arrangements I knew she wasn’t going to like.

Shit. I’d forgotten to ask about the extra clothes. It was okay, though. Dillon would be annoyed but it would give me an excuse to get away from everyone. Maybe I would need it as a reason to get away.

We were to find a place to hang out and they’ll bring out the cots and blankets before it got dark. Dinner would be early and even though we had our stuff in our pillowcases, we were encouraged to eat what they had. A good, nutritious meal would do us good Twyla had said.

It felt more like she was trying to mother me. Make sure my belly was full before I set off on my adventure. Or maybe she was providing me my last dinner.

The rest of the day passed by as if on fast forward. Everything was blurred and jerky. I couldn’t remember most of it except for the directions to the underground bunker. Every time there was a second of silence, I started to repeat the directions to myself.

There was a point that Blake had asked if I was all right. He’d said I seemed distracted.

It was hard not to tell him. But if I would have, I knew he would try to stop me.

“Kit,” Blake said shaking me.

“Hmm?”

I looked up and noticed the candles burning on a few of the tables. It was night. And soon, I would be gone.

I should have spent my last few hours with Maddie. Talking with her. Telling her how much I loved her but if I would have done that, she would have suspected something was up.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked.

“Um, sure,” I said hugging my knees to my chest.

We were grouped together on the floor. Maddie and Jay were to my left and Blake and Dillon to my right.

Twyla’s daughter, Lily, had brought over a few old magazines for Maddie. They’d only talked for a minute or two. It had been awkward and if I had to guess, I’d wager Twyla had sent her over to help make Maddie feel more welcomed.

“Come with me,” Blake said getting to his feet and stretching out his hand to help me up.

“Where are we going?” I said taking his hand.

“Upstairs.” His eyes connected with Maddie’s. “We won’t be long.”

I glanced at Jay and our eyes locked. I sent a telepathic message to him to keep an eye on Maddie. He offered me a nod as if he’d gotten the message.

Maddie’s head bobbed to acknowledge that she’d heard him but it seemed as though she hadn’t cared. Maybe she would be okay with Twyla and her people. Maybe I was doing the right thing.

We walked through the open closet and up the stairs. There was a small group whispering to one another near the front doors but we continued past them and into the church.

A man was lying on one of the pews snoring loudly. I tried to keep my steps quiet but there wasn’t anything I could do about the creaky floorboards.

“Where are we going?” I asked in a paper-thin whisper.

At the front of the church, we took a right and exited out of a side door into a small hallway. I squeezed his hand. There was only a small window and the light coming from it grew dimmer and dimmer with each step.

“Blake,” I said planting my feet firmly on the ground. “Where are we going?”

“I just wanted to make sure we wouldn’t be heard,” he said.

“Heard? Why does that matter? And, where are we?”

Blake was close to me. Even though I couldn’t make out a single detail of his face because of the darkness, I knew the expression he was wearing was filled with concern.

“There was a small schoolhouse. I saw it when we were coming up to the place,” Blake explained.

“Are there more people in there?”

“I don’t know,” Blake said. “I was just trying to find us some privacy.”

I wrapped my arms around my middle. It was cold in the strange, narrow hallway. “What’s up? Why do we need to talk in private?”

“Because I want to know what’s on your mind. Did Twyla say something to you? It’s like you’ve been on another planet since you and her talked,” Blake said.

“I guess I’m just distracted by everything. I still can’t believe we’re even here. Honestly, I worried about going to this place and losing Maddie,” I said biting the side of my cheek hard. I needed to be careful with my words.

He nodded. “Me too. But I’m not going to let anything happen to either of you.”

“I’m not sure how much you’ll be able to control once we’re inside,” I said.

“Have you changed your mind?” Blake asked. “Maybe we can come up with something else.”

“No,” I said shaking my head vigorously. “I didn’t change my mind. I’m just worried about her.”

Blake touched my chin and tilted my face, forcing me to look up at him. His eyes sparkled in the darkness. My body instantly warmed.

I couldn’t put him in danger either. Being with him only confirmed that I was making the right choice.

“I’ll take care of both of you,” Blake said. “I would do anything for you.”

His hand glided around my neck and my knees weakened. I closed my eyes to forget my surroundings and everything that was going on.

“I can’t wait until all of this is over and we can find a place for us all to stay,” Blake whispered in my ear.

His breath on my neck caused a shiver to run up and down my spine. Blake’s movement had been so quick it had taken me by surprise.

In one swift movement, my back was against the wall and his lips were moving down the side of my neck. His voice was soft. “I need you.”

It was crazy. Absolutely insane. But I needed him too.

Chapter 17

His hand moved down my body roughly. The hard, quick movement took me by surprise.

It felt like I was under some kind of spell. Dazed. I couldn’t hear anything but the sounds of our frantic, desperate breaths.

I was pretty sure that never in my entire life, had I wanted someone as badly as I wanted Blake. He held some kind of power over me that I didn’t understand. The way I felt with his arms around me wasn’t something I could put into words.

It was like I couldn’t breathe and that there was too much oxygen coming into my lungs both at the same time. My blood raced through my veins and my body was warm, no, my body was hot. So, freaking hot.

Blake kissed me as if I were the last drink of water and he was dying of thirst. I held onto him as if I was afraid he’d be pulled away into the darkness down the hall forever.

“Blake,” I whispered as his hand slid up my shirt. My body tensed at his touch. “What if someone comes this way?”

“No one will come this way,” Blake said.

“How can you know that?” I asked smiling even though his lips were over mine.

Blake’s lips moved across my jaw toward my ear. His hand cupped my breast and I swallowed hard as I fell deeper into a pit of desire.

“There is no light this way,” Blake said. “If someone comes, they’ll have to have a light. We’ll see them coming.”

“And they’ll see two naked people,” I said.

“Naked, huh?” he leaned back grinning at me. “Don’t I wish. You want this too, Kit. Let’s not fight it. I know this isn’t the best place, nothing at all like I imagined, but we deserve this, don’t you think?”

My throat dried and I couldn’t utter a word. I wanted to tell him that we absolutely deserved it but that at the same time I was afraid to go there. I was afraid of what it would mean for us.

“We might not get another chance like this, Kit. I want you.” He gazed deeply into my eyes. “I need you.”

I needed him too. Desperately so. In a few short hours, he didn’t know it, but I’d be gone. Being with Blake was almost a necessity.

“I need you too,” I said.

My hands slid up his shirt. His skin was silky and warm. I could feel every muscle and it sent a pleasurable tingle through me. I wanted to rip his shirt off and see his impossibly perfect body.

Time was limited. And the hallway was cold. Our clothes weren’t coming off any more than they would need to.

Even though I would have loved for a time to slow down, we didn’t have that luxury. We had to enjoy everything in fast forward.

My breath hitched as he grabbed my hips. I slid my hand down to the button of his pants and popped it open.

Blake groaned as his hand moved, slipping down the front of my pants. I shivered at his touch. My spine straightened as if it had been zipped to the wall.

The sound of my pants hitting the floor was a sharp whoosh that made my heart skip a beat. I could feel the cool air against my bare legs but still, I didn’t feel cold. There was too much heat between us for me to feel the chill.

My hands started to shake. I was anxious… desperate to feel him. To be with him.

Blake was everything I needed.

He looked deep into my eyes as he raised my leg. I tried to hold his gaze but my eyes closed at the feel of him between my legs.

“Oh, God,” I whispered as I dug my fingertips into his back through his shirt.

Every roll of his hips pressed me harder to the wall. I wrapped my arms around him as our bodies became one.

I couldn’t believe how perfect the moment felt. It was crazy but I instantly knew that Blake was the only man for me. He was the only guy I ever wanted to be with for the rest of my life.

“I love you, Kit,” he whispered.

I wrapped my arms around him and let my pleasure release from my body. It was like we were rocketing into the sky like a firework about to explode on the Fourth of July.

“Blake,” I said biting my lip as an intoxicated bliss surrounded me. I sucked in a deep breath and let my body relax along with his. “I love you too.”

As my breathing returned to normal, I remembered where we were and I quickly got dressed. Instead of going back inside my shell, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

Blake smiled and exhaled as he leaned back. “I really do love you. I knew it all along. My only regret is that I didn’t cross the street and talk to you sooner.”

“I wish you would have,” I said softly. “But maybe it just wasn’t our time. Or maybe Freddie would have killed you. That person I was… that life, it doesn’t even seem real to me anymore.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Blake said squeezing me tight against his body. He kissed my cheek and we turned slowly heading back down the hallway toward the church. “We’re in this together, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” I replied quickly.

Blake let out a breath. “I’m so glad you finally saw me. For a while there, I thought maybe I was invisible.”

“I saw you when I opened the door,” I said. “It just took me a bit to come around. Things like this don’t really happen to me and truthfully, it still feels super scary with everything going on around us. I just hope we aren’t making a mistake.”

Blake stopped and turned me to face him. “Does this feel like a mistake to you?”

“No,” I said looking away from him. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“And I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Blake said. “We’re in this together. All we have to do is stick together and we’ll be okay.”

“I wish it were that simple,” I said.

Blake shook his head. I hated that I was frustrating him but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help but feel negative. How could he even blame me? It was a shitty world before and it was even shittier now even though I had him. One good thing didn’t make all the other awful things disappear.

“I love you, Kit, okay? I love you. I will do anything for you. And for Maddie too. Anything,” Blake said and kissed my forehead.

I heard his words but I wasn’t sure I understood them. The love I was feeling was strong… it was scary.

And what was I going to do only hours after us being together? Leave him behind with my daughter.

On the bright side, there wasn’t anyone else I could have left her with. At least, I knew she’d be taken care of with him. He was the only one I could fully trust.

When we got back to the cafeteria, almost everyone was settled. There were a few people pacing about as if they were keeping watch. Twyla and her husband were two of them.

“I need to talk to Twyla really quick,” I said.

Blake nodded. “Hurry back.”

“I will.” I flashed him a smile.

He looked back at me, wearing a devastatingly handsome smile. After a quick moment, it faded ever so slightly. It was almost as if he knew something was up.

I asked Twyla if she had any extra clothes that might fit Dillon. It took her a second but she realized why I was asking. “I think I can find something for him. Are you going to be able to pull off the switch without giving yourself away?”

“I hope so,” I said.

“Wait here,” Twyla said. “I’ll be right back.”

It didn’t take her long to come back with something I knew Dillon wouldn’t like. The outfit was definitely not his style but hopefully, it wouldn’t matter that much. At least he could get out of the jumpsuit he hated.

I tucked the clothes into the front of my pants and pulled my shirt down over my suddenly thicker stomach. My arms wrapped around my middle in an attempt to keep the extra bulk hidden even though it was probably dark enough that no one would notice.

It took forever for everyone to fall asleep. My heart raced as I carefully crept over toward Dillon. I tapped his shoulder at least ten times before his eyes popped open.

“Shh!” I said with wide eyes as I covered his mouth. I pointed toward the kitchen. My voice was almost completely silent. “Follow me.”

Chapter 18

I didn’t put the jumpsuit on. It would have to wait until I was closer to the base.

Everyone was asleep except for Twyla, a man I hadn’t seen before, and myself. I assumed the man standing next to Twyla was my driver.

I reached over and lightly touched Maddie’s hair. I wanted to kiss her cheek but I couldn’t risk waking her.

Blake was a light sleeper and it was somewhat surprising he was asleep at all. It felt like I was betraying him considering I was tasked with keeping watch for a few hours. I hoped they would forgive me. I hoped that they’d understand why I’d left.

A quick final look before I tip-toed away from the only people I knew. The people who risked their lives to get me here.

“Ready?” Twyla asked as I soundlessly approached her near the exit.

“No, but yes,” I said.

“This is Bo. He’ll get you as close as he can,” Twyla said.

I swallowed hard and attempted to give him a smile but I couldn’t make it appear. “Thank you.”

Bo was on the tall side and his shoulders were uneven. In the dim lighting, I could see his unkempt beard was sprinkled with gray hairs.

“You’re welcome,” Twyla said shaking my hand. “Until we meet again.”

I nodded and fought the urge to look over my shoulder. If I saw them again, there was a chance I’d back out and I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t put the people I loved in danger.

“Let’s do this,” I said pressing the jumpsuit tighter to my body.

I followed Bo up the stairs and out of the church. He didn’t say a word to me but he opened the passenger door of his small, beat-up pickup truck for me. My body shuddered when he closed the door with a gentle snap.

My nose wrinkled at the strange mix of pine from the scented tree hanging from the rear view mirror and old cigarettes. The ashtray was stuffed with smashed butts.

The driver’s side door whistled as he pulled it open and clunked at the halfway point when he swung it closed. He inserted the key and the truck bounced to a start.

He shifted into drive and turned down a dirt road. The headlights eerily lit the road ahead of us. I felt the coldness in a brand-new way. It was like my bones were made of ice.

The silence was intense but it wasn’t like I wanted to talk to Bo. Or anyone for that matter. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I’d beg him to take me back to Maddie… to Blake.

And he would. He so definitely would.

The drive felt like it took forever. There was a part of me that hoped we wouldn’t stop moving. I was scared and I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do once I got to the base.

Gravel crunched under the tires and Bo rolled the truck to a stop. He shifted into park and turned to me.

“You’ll have to walk another mile and a half north,” Bo said in a deep, raspy voice with a bit of a twang. He pointed out of the front window. “There will be a thick patch of trees. You’ll need this to get through them.”

He rolled a flashlight that had been on the seat toward me. I stared at it with a dry mouth.

“Take it,” Bo said. In just the two words, I could sense he was anxious to get back to Twyla’s church.

My fingers wrapped around the plastic handle of the flashlight. The batteries shifted around inside.

“It’ll get you there,” Bo said.

“Okay,” I said opening the door. I stepped out onto the squishy ground.

I exhaled as I watched Bo turn the truck around and drive away. My eyes stayed glued to the red brake lights until I couldn’t see them anymore.

There wasn’t very much light coming from the sliver of moon in the sky. It was just me, the junky plastic flashlight, and the jumpsuit tucked into the front of my pants.

I pulled out the jumpsuit and kicked off one of my shoes, balancing on one leg as I slid the other into the rough fabric. There was a rustling sound behind me and I quickly pulled up the rest of the jumpsuit.

I spun on my heel, holding the flashlight like it was a weapon. A shadow of a person held up their hands.

My heart was pounding. I needed to run.

“Kit, don’t… um… what is that?”

A man.

He knew my name?

I narrowed my eyes and clicked the button on the side of the flashlight. The beam flickered several times before lighting up Jay’s face.

“What are you doing here?” I squawked.

“No,” Jay said crossing his arms. “What are you doing here?”

“Go back,” I said pointing in the direction Bo had just driven off in.

Jay shook his head. “Not until you explain and even then, I’m probably not going back.”

“Really? You need me to tell you what I’m doing out here?”

“I don’t need you to. I can put one and one together but I guess maybe if you say it out loud, you’ll realize how incredibly ridiculous and careless you’re being,” Jay said. “And then we can walk back to the church before the sun comes up.”

“I’m not going back until I find out what happened to Polly,” I said stubbornly. “I need to do this for Maddie. And for me too. We came all this way.”

Jay shrugged. “All right, well, then I’m coming with you. Someone needs to watch your back, might as well be me.”

“I’m not letting anyone go with me,” I said.

“You can’t stop me,” Jay said. “Besides, if I go back there without you, Blake will kill me and we don’t want that, do we?” I apparently didn’t answer him quick enough. “Do we, Kit? Do we want that?”

I adjusted the jumpsuit. “I guess we don’t.”

“It’s a bit big on you,” Jay said. “It would fit me better.”

“Too bad you don’t know what Polly looks like,” I said. “Because I don’t know how I’m going to do this.” I quickly held up my palm. “Don’t try to talk me out of it, though. I am going to do it.”

“We’ll do it together,” Jay said stepping closer and putting his arm around my shoulders. “I’ll be the distraction you need to get inside.”

A tear welled up in my eye. “No, you can’t. I won’t let you. It’s too dangerous.”

“Oh, Kit, you’re never going to be able to convince me to go back without you,” Jay said smiling in the darkness. “I owe this to you. It’s because of you I’m even alive. That I’m here.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” I said quickly wiping away the tear that leaked out of the corner of my eye. “Go back. Help Blake take care of Maddie.”

He shook his head. “Blake can handle Maddie. That leaves me free to help you.”

“Is there anything I can say to convince you to go back?”

“Not a single thing.”

“You’re sure?”

Jay planted his feet in a wide stance. “I’m positive.”

Chapter 19

We spied the base before we exited the thick patch of trees that surrounded the entire area. It was hard to believe the base had existed before the sickness had spread.

It was a massive building with a fence that surrounded the grounds. There were a few lights along the fence but for the most part, the place was quite dark.

Sneaking in over the fence wouldn’t be impossible, thanks to the lack of lighting. It would, however, still be a challenge to make it all the way to the building. Although, once I made it there, I still had no idea what I’d do.

The guards walked in pairs up and down the fence, stopping at about halfway when they met with a second pair. They’d pass each other and keep going until they got to the corner where they stopped once again.

I counted the time from when their backs were turned until they got to the corner. I’d have about three minutes to get over the fence and across the lawn to where the light from the fence didn’t touch. But once I got closer to the building, they’d see me. I’d probably get caught and dragged inside.

“What’s our plan?” Jay asked.

If only I could think of a way to ditch him. I, at least, had the jumpsuit. Maybe I could pretend I got lost but with Jay, he was obviously an outsider and not just any outsider… he’d be one sneaking inside when he wouldn’t need to. It would be suspicious.

“We go when they turn,” I said pointing at the shadows. “They cross in the middle and then turn their backs. That’s our chance.”

“Okay,” Jay said rubbing his hands together.

“Maybe you should just wait here,” I said.

Jay chuckled. “I’ll assume that’s a joke.”

“It’s not. I mean, I have a jumpsuit. I can blend in but look at you.”

“I’ll say I lost mine.”

“Funny.”

I stopped paying attention to Jay and focused on the shadows. I was going to have to run fast. Could I even run fast with this giant jumpsuit on? I guess I’d find out.

Silence surrounded me like a soft, fluffy blanket but it didn’t comfort me and it most definitely didn’t warm me. Instead, it stuffed itself into my ears and made them ring.

I set the flashlight down by the tree, doing my best to make a mental note of where I’d placed it. Maybe I’d need it again.

I counted in my head and dug my foot into the ground behind me. I’d push off and run like an Olympian after the gunshot.

“Three… two… one,” I said and I pushed away from the trees.

My arms swung at my sides. I was pretty sure it was the first time in at least fifteen years that I’d ran and unfortunately, it only took me about twenty feet to realize exactly how out of shape I was.

My breaths were sharp and they squeezed my lungs painfully. Each time I took in air, there was a small squeak-like gasp.

Maddie wouldn’t have ever been able to do this. Did she even have an inhaler anymore? I should have checked before I left.

My thoughts were all over the place. It was like my life was flashing before my eyes but none of the interesting parts were included in the slideshow.

I slowed my pace as I approached the fence. The guards were at the far ends, still walking away. My fingers gripped the chain-linked metal and I tried to pull myself upward but my legs were shaking.

“Help me,” I said between my quick breaths.

Jay grabbed my hips and raised me up as high as he could. I was halfway up when I couldn’t feel him helping any longer. I’d have to make it the rest of the way myself.

At the top, I wanted to turn around and cheer but I couldn’t. The guards were turning and Jay was standing on the ground as if he had been afraid he’d have to catch me when I fell.

“Jay!” I said in a sharp whisper. “You have to go back.”

“I can’t leave you,” he said.

“There’s no time,” I said lowering myself to the ground. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

Jay looked to the left and then to the right. He slammed his fist into his thigh. “Fuck!”

“Go!”

“I won’t be far, okay?” Jay said. “Be safe. Be smart.”

He turned and ran before I could say anything. It didn’t take long for him to disappear into the shadows. I wouldn’t have much time either. I took several steps away from the fence and toward the building.

I lowered myself to the ground and laid down flat and waited for the guards to cross paths again. Once they turned away, I’d run the rest of the way to the building.

What would happen then, I didn’t know. I’d get inside and if Polly was here, I’d find her.

My breathing was almost back to normal when the guards turned their backs. I sucked in a breath and got to my feet. Again, I was running but not as fast… that, however, didn’t make my breathing any less frantic.

I was here. I was at the base.

Chapter 20

A guard at the door stood. Our eyes locked for a long uncomfortable moment.

“Hey,” he finally said breaking the silence. His voice was calmer than I had anticipated it would be. “You’re not supposed to be out here.”

“I think I was sleepwalking,” I replied quickly. It was quite possibly the first lie I ever actually pulled off telling with a decent amount of believability.

“Oh,” the guard said. “Well, this is a new one for me.”

I pressed my lips together. “First time it’s happened to me here.”

“My brother used to have night terrors when we were kids. Scared the shit out of my parents. Well, and to be honest, me too,” the guard said with a half-smile. “We should get you back to your room before someone sees you out here though. Most people aren’t as nice as I am.”

Was that a joke? Something told me it wasn’t.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m really sorry about this.”

“You should probably have a chat with the doc tomorrow. Maybe she can give you something so this doesn’t happen again,” the guard said.

I nodded. “Thank you. I will do that.”

He jerked his head to the side. “Let’s go.”

The guard pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and opened the left side of the double glass doors. There was a dim light just above the door that provided just enough light that I could see his face.

There were wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and there was a kindness buried deep within them. His lips were thin lines that curled upward at the ends. He had wrinkles at the corners of his mouth as if at one point in his life, he had smiled a lot.

His jumpsuit didn’t have a name… just a number. I’d was more likely to remember his face than I was the number on his patch.

The kind guard gestured for me to enter. I stepped inside and cringed as if I were waiting for a booby trap of some kind to drop from the ceiling and crush me into a thin sheet of skin and blood.

Nothing happened.

“Which way?” the guard asked.

We were in a small lobby with chairs and a tall desk just off to the left. There wasn’t anyone in the room besides us. Based on the lack of sounds, I figured the entire building must have been asleep.

I had no idea which way I was supposed to go and it was taking me far too long to answer. It seemed as though the guard was starting to get suspicious.

“Dammit,” he said. “Can you manage to get back on your own? I really shouldn’t leave my post again.”

I let out a soft breath of relief, which I quickly turned into a cough. “Oh, yeah, no problem. We don’t want you to get in any kind of trouble.”

“Thanks,” he said grinning at me. “Are you sure you’re okay? How do I know you’re not still asleep?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” I said. “I couldn’t be any more awake than I am right now.”

That was the truth.

“You’re so polite,” the guard said. “A breath of fresh air. You’re nothing like the others here. Everyone is so quiet. I mean, I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be but it’s nice to get to actually talk to someone for once.”

I nodded and kept my mouth closed. The last thing I wanted to do was to stick out… I needed to blend in, especially until I found Polly.

“It’s hard sometimes because I love talking. I always have. My parents, God rest their souls, said that when I was a kid, I never shut up,” the guard said smiling slightly at the memory. It quickly fell from his face and everything hardened. “Guess I’m not supposed to talk about that. Anyway, time to get back to your room.”

I turned away from him and picked a direction. Hopefully, Dillon’s room had been straight down the hallway but that would just be too easy. It wasn’t like I would know Dillon’s room anyway unless his name was on the door like a freshman starting college might do to decorate their dorm room door.

The hallway was empty. Every closed door was made of the same colored fake wood with a sign stuck to the wall next to it with a number on it.

The layout reminded me of a hospital, only there weren’t any gurneys, doctors, and nurses speedily flowing this way and that. There was no brain-numbing smell and instead of beeping sounds coming from every direction, it was absolutely silent.

At least it seemed as though escaping wouldn’t be impossible. The hallways were empty and there had only been one guard at the entrance. When it was time to leave, I’d just do the same thing in reverse.

Maybe this place wasn’t as awful as everyone thought. The guard at the door had been friendly enough, although he had made a comment about how everyone was supposed to be quiet.

“Hey!” a woman with thin, wire-framed glasses said as she turned a corner. “What are you doing out here?”

She wore a long white coat with a number patch over the pocket on her left breast. The woman eyed me for a long moment before her eyes darted left and then right as if she thought it was some kind of trick… or a trap. Maybe a test?

“I was sleepwalking,” I said. “I think I’m a little turned around.”

She narrowed her eyes at the number on my jumpsuit. Her nose wrinkled. “You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Feeling a bit disoriented.”

“Hmm,” she said tapping her chin with her finger with chipped red polish. Her eyes shifted down toward my feet. I looked down and noticed the mud-caked around the edges. “Were you outside?”

I swallowed hard. “I work the farms. My shoes are always dirty.”

“Why don’t you have boots?” The woman shook her head. “How did you even get out of your room?”

She reached down to her waist and unhooked a small black radio. Her knuckles were white as she brought the radio up to her mouth.

“I’m going to call for assistance,” she said.

“That’s not necessary. I just need to get back to my room,” I said.

It felt like the walls were starting to close around me. I was lucky to have made it this far without having gotten caught.

The woman looked around. Her eyes landed eventually landed on her radio and her hand relaxed as her eyes swiftly shifted to me.

She exhaled and clipped the radio back onto her pants. “Technically, I’m not supposed to be out here either. Do you need to see the doctor?”

“No, I’m fine. Just a bit disoriented from waking up outside and not knowing how I got there,” I said. I forced a smile. “It’s always like this when I wake up outside of my bed.”

“Have you been losing weight?” she asked cocking her head to the side.

My eyebrows squeezed together. At first, I didn’t understand but then… I did. The over-sized jumpsuit.

“Oh, a little, I guess,” I replied.

“Okay,” she said. Her voice was soft but emotionless. “I’ll help you back to your room. But you should probably have a talk with the doctor so this doesn’t happen again.”

She gave my jumpsuit another glance. Her eyes had gone to the number patch before she gestured for me to follow.

I should have made the connection between the numbers on my jumpsuit and those stuck to the wall. In this place, I was a number, not a name.

I should have asked Dillon more questions. He’d been a closed book because of his fear. It was almost as if he’d been too traumatized by it all to remember enough details. Or maybe some of the brainwashing he’d endured had worked… but not enough for him to want to stay inside.

We walked down several short hallways. I’d made so many left and right turns that I’d gotten confused. I wasn’t sure I would be able to remember the way out.

My heart started to race and I felt trapped. Coming to the base had been a mistake. A really big mistake.

“Here you go,” the woman said pulling out a set of keys from her pocket. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, holding it for me.

I gave her a nod and stepped into the room. She closed the door behind me and I was enveloped by blackness. I couldn’t see a damn thing.

There was a click at the door and without testing the knob, I knew I’d been locked inside the room. The woman would tell someone I’d gotten out. I was sure I hadn’t heard the last about my sleepwalking adventure.

A shaky breath escaped from between my lips as I reached my hands out around me to feel for something. “Dammit.”

An extremely dim light clicked on and a man on a cot sat up slightly. His eyes were more than half-closed as he looked at me through the darkness.

“Dillon?” he said. “Is that you?”

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

I was absolutely screwed.

Chapter 21

I could pretend to be Dillon but when morning came, it would be obvious that I was not him. Maybe there was another way. I could tell him that Dillon had been removed and they sent me to take his place. Would that work? Would he ask someone about me and ruin everything?

What choice did I really have?

“No,” I said.

“Oh,” the guy said resting his head back down on the pillow. “That’s right. He’s gone.”

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said.

The guy pointed at a cot two feet away from his. “I guess that’s your bed now.”

Was this guy the only one in the room? Dillon had made it sound like everyone was packed in like sardines. Or maybe that was just the way I had envisioned it when I listened to him tell us about this place.

“What are you waiting for?” the guy asked. “Sleep while you can.”

“Sorry,” I said carefully walking across the room as if I were afraid to trip over something.

I lowered myself down onto the squeaky, uncomfortable cot. My new roommate turned off the light and the darkness returned.

A light across the room clicked on and I jumped at least six inches off the cot. There was a thin woman gripping the sides of her cot as she stared at me.

“Ignore him,” she said. “He’s a rule follower.”

The light was so dim it barely lit her face. I nodded as if I knew what she was talking about.

“I’m Laurna,” she said. “That’s Ned but I wouldn’t waste time trying to talk to him.”

Ned’s bed creaked but he continued to pretend he was asleep.

“This is Courtney,” she said jerking a thumb to her left.

I could barely see the young woman peeking at me from over the edge of her blanket. Laurna hugged her knees to her body.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Kit,” I replied instantly wishing I would have come up with a fake name.

“Well, Kit, welcome to hell,” Laurna said. “My suggestion is to get in good with the guards or the higher-level folks. It’ll make your stay here a bit more tolerable.”

The girl in the bed next to her… Courtney snickered. “By that, she means sleep with them.”

“She knows what I mean,” Laurna said.

Sadly, I had known exactly what she meant. I couldn’t help but wonder if the woman I was looking at was Dillon’s wife. Or maybe sleeping around was just something all the women did.

It suddenly felt like there was a rock in my stomach. What if women didn’t have a choice?

What had I gotten myself into?

“Are you going to be sick?” Laurna asked squinting at me through the darkness.

“No,” I said unconvincingly.

“Why did they drop you off in the middle of the night?” she asked.

I shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter,” Laurna said lying back down. “Try to get some sleep. God only knows what they’ll have you do in the morning.”

She flicked off the light and once again, complete darkness swallowed me. I felt like a child again… afraid of the dark and what lurked within it.

I didn’t sleep the entire night. There was a point when my imagination was getting the better of me that I considered reaching into my pocket to pop out one of the pills I’d carried with me. But I couldn’t. I needed to be alert and prepared.

I knew when morning came because a light came on in the ceiling. It wasn’t bright and the illumination at gave off seemed to waver.

“Wind power,” Laurna said when she saw me staring at it. “Or was it solar panels? I can’t remember.”

“Is there a bathroom?” I asked.

“It’s like they didn’t tell you anything,” she said pointing at a door that wasn’t very wide. “Bet you thought it was a closet.”

I nodded and walked over the bathroom with my arms wrapped around myself. Laurna smirked at me as she shook her head.

“We’re not the ones you need to be worried about,” Laurna said.

“That’s not entirely true,” Courtney said in a shaky voice. Her eyes landed on Ned, who was sitting on his bed with his hands folded. He appeared to be waiting.

Laurna flapped her hands at the bathroom door. “Hurry, it’ll be time to go soon.”

“Go?” I asked.

“To work,” she replied saying each word slowly. Her suspicions about me growing with each passing second.

I exhaled and forced a smile. “Oh, right. I didn’t sleep well.”

“What’s it like out there?” Laurna asked as I reached out for the doorknob.

“Shh!” Ned hissed sharply. “You know you’re not allowed to ask that. I will not hesitate to report you.”

“I will not hesitate to report you,” Laurna mocked in a nasally voice.

Laurna turned away and sat down on the edge of her bed. She lowered her head and folded her hands in the same way Ned was. Courtney hurriedly did the same.

I closed myself into the bathroom and sucked in a deep breath. My eyes fluttered mostly from exhaustion. I need to hold on to something but the only thing in the room was a metal toilet without any water inside.

Plumbing? Something told me I didn’t want to know how it worked exactly.

I stretched my arms out to each side and pressed my palms against the cold, painted gray wall. My head tilted back and the dim light above me seemed bright in the tiny room.

What if someone was overweight? Or even claustrophobic? The bathroom was like a casket standing on end. The only difference was the toilet inside of it.

There was no mirror… no sink.

I could feel the blood rushing through my body. It made the back of my neck hot.

There hadn’t been a window. Maybe escaping this place once I found Polly wasn’t going to be as easy as I initially thought.

I closed my eyes and tried to visualize Maddie. She was probably screaming at Blake. Shouting that they needed to come for me. And she probably also asked him why I had done something so incredibly stupid.

Then there was Jay to wonder about. Where had he gone? Was he still waiting in the forest or had he gone back to the church to tell Blake and Maddie what had happened?

I hoped he’d gone back.

I hoped he hadn’t tried to get inside.

I hoped he hadn’t gotten lost or found by one of the sick… or worse discovered by one of the people from the base.

What would I do if I saw him inside?

I’d made such a big mess of everything and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to clean it up. If I was stuck inside the base forever, at least I knew that Maddie would be in good hands. Blake would take better care of her than I had for most of her life.

I exhaled slowly and quickly used the bathroom. My legs felt wobbly as I exited the coffin-like room and made my way toward my cot. I needed to sit down before my knees gave out and I crashed to the tiled floor.

Once I was on the bed. I could hear movement in the hallway. The doors were thin. Was that a good thing?

“Look down,” Laurna advised only seconds before the door opened with a buzz.

No one entered but the voice from the hallway was deep and harsh. “Exit!”

Chapter 22

Laurna, Courtney, and Ned all stood at nearly the exact same moment. I copied them but I was a few seconds behind. They walked out of the room single file and I trailed behind.

In the hallway, I was afraid to look up. I dared a quick glance without moving my head. The hallway was lined with people from their rooms with their backs against the wall.

I did everything the same as Ned. I leaned back, keeping my shoulders straight and I kept my head down with my hands folded in front of my body.

I could hear the guards moving about but for the most part, they didn’t say anything. Black boots moved across the floor in front of me and stopped in front of Laurna. He whispered something to her.

“Yes, sir,” she said in a voice that was softer than the one she’d used in the room. In fact, for a second, I hadn’t even been sure it was her because the voice had been so much different. It was like the strength and confidence she’d had in the room had been left inside.

“Move!” the guard at the far end of the hall shouted.

Everyone turned sharply to their left. I mimicked the movement and prayed no one noticed how out of sync I was.

Something jabbed into my back and I tried to ignore it. The more I ignored it, the deeper it dug in between my shoulder blades.

I turned and looked at the man behind me. His mustache curled ever so slightly at the ends. It was like he belonged at the circus.

“Looks like someone needs to return to training,” he said pushing the stick harder before releasing it. He slapped the baton into his other hand and smirked.

I looked back down at my feet. “Sorry.”

“Your new,” he said. It wasn’t a question… it was a statement.

“Yes,” I said pausing only a quick second before remembering to add the sir.

He stepped forward and looked at the front of my jumpsuit. At first, I thought he was checking me out thanks to what Laurna had said in the room but after he looked away, I realized he was only looking at the number patch.

“Farm. Huh,” he said before walking over to someone else.

We got to a place where the hallway split into different directions. Some of the people started going one way, other a second way, and some continued straight.

I started to follow Ned but a baton dropped down in front of me. It was the circus ringleader again.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“Sorry, sir,” I said and continued straight, which was the direction he indicated.

“Distracted today?” he asked.

I watched Laurna, Courtney, and Ned as they turned off in different directions. I hadn’t known them really but at least I hadn’t felt completely alone like I did with Mr. Curly Mustache.

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“How come?” he asked.

“Didn’t sleep well,” I replied.

He smirked and raised a brow. “I can help with that. When I’m done with a woman, she sleeps very soundly and with a smile on her face.”

“Dirk!” a deep voice from behind called out.

“Sir?” Mr. Curly Mustache said.

There was a small hesitation. “Shut up.”

“Yes, sir,” he said with a tinge of an attitude.

Mr. Curly Mustache brushed his arm against mine and I pressed my lips together, trying to hide the fact that I was cringing. I would have liked to push him away from me but I was afraid of what would happen to me if I did.

He continued to stay at my side through the hallway. I kept my head down and my hands folded only daring to flick a glance upward when I noticed the change in lighting.

There was a set of glass doors that were being held open as the line of farmers exited the building. My palms began to sweat. I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

I wasn’t even sure how I was managing to blend in thus far. My jumpsuit was too big. My shoes were different.

The guards led us over to a big field. There were several people already out there wearing large hats with round brims.

“See you later, beautiful,” Mr. Curly Mustache said before turning and following the other guards back to the large building.

There were six people in hats and they started walking toward us at the same time. The others were standing there in the same position.

“We’re just going to continue to work on this field,” a man with a hat said. “So, grab a shovel and get to work.”

I followed the others toward the sizeable yellow shed. A woman stepped into the doorway and started handing shovels to each person. She said something and they walked off.

When it was my turn, she gave me the shovel and pointed to the edge of the field. “Work on that area over there.”

I nodded and walked off following the person who had been in line ahead of me. The dirt under my steps was soft and somehow crunchy. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t anything planted in the field.

There were at least fifty of us spread out in the area. All quietly working without having anything to eat or drink.

Had they just been working the ground the whole time they’ve been at the base? Was this just something to keep them busy? Maybe they couldn’t plant with the cold temperatures and winter not that far off. Perhaps they were simply preparing for when they could… at least that was my best guess.

The others were digging up the ground and then stirring the dirt around like a bowl of thick stew. I did the same. It didn’t take long for the muscles in my shoulders and arms to begin to complain and beg me to stop.

“Hey,” the guy near me said, carefully looking around to see if he were being watched. “Who are you?”

“I’m new,” I answered quickly.

“I can see that,” he replied. “I’ve been working out here since nearly the beginning. We started over there and now we’re here.”

I gave him a small nod before looking back down at the ground. A million questions were floating around in my head but I couldn’t ask any of them.

“That’s not your jumpsuit, is it?” he asked stepping closer.

“It’s mine,” I said harshly.

He shook his head. “I know that number. Dillon was a friend of mine.”

I turned my back. Mr. Talkative already knew too much.

“Is he okay? Did you do something to him?” he asked.

I bit my cheek and refused to answer.

“Did you kill him?” he asked.

I turned abruptly. “No, I didn’t kill him.”

I quickly calmed myself and looked back down at the ground. Me and my big mouth.

“He got away, didn’t he?” he asked.

I nodded and he smiled.

His shoulders relaxed slightly as he stopped digging the earth. “Then there is hope for all of us. What’s your name?”

I pointed to my number patch.

He laughed. “I’m Ross.”

“Kit,” I said looking him up and down before returning to my digging. “Things out there aren’t easy.”

“Are there still sick people?”

“Yes,” I said.

Ross looked at me out of the corner of his eyes. “Why did you come in here?”

“I’m looking for someone,” I said wondering what the hell was wrong with me. It wasn’t like I could trust this random guy, yet here I was, telling him everything.

Ross quickly turned away. A thin man with a hat walked between us. He studied Ross for a long moment before turning to me.

“Dig a bit deeper,” he said taking the shovel from me. “Put all your weight into it. Like this.”

“Yes, sir,” I said after he finished. I would have much preferred to roll my eyes at him for explaining how to use a shovel.

“Now, show me,” he said crossing his arms.

I threw the shovel into the dirt the same way he had, stomping on it to get it down deeper. My triceps tightened as I yanked the shovel out and rotated the dirt.

“Good,” the thin man said walking away with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Once he was far enough away, Ross caught my eye. He kept his voice low. “That guy’s an ass.”

A small smile curled at the corners of my lips but I quickly pushed it away.

It was about midday when I stabbed the shovel into the dirt and stretched my arms over my head. The muscles were weak and shaky and my stomach was grumbling.

I looked out toward the trees from when I’d come into the base and I thought I saw something move. I blinked several times trying to focus but there wasn’t anything there. It had probably been an animal of some sort.

“Get back to work,” the thin man shouted at me.

“Yes, sir,” I said quickly grabbing the shovel and looking back down at the ground.

I could sense he was coming closer. He slithered up next to me like a snake.

“We don’t stop, not even for a second,” he said. “You know that by now, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“I wouldn’t want to use the whip,” he said. “Not with everyone watching like this. That would be embarrassing for you, wouldn’t it?”

I nodded. My palms started to sweat and I was sure they were staining the wood with their dampness.

“I’m going to let it go this time,” he said only seconds before a bell rang from a distance. “Go. Eat. See you again in twenty.”

I joined the others in line with my hands folded in front of me and my head down. Dillon was right. I hadn’t even been at the base for twenty-four hours but already, I knew I was in some kind of hell.

I told myself I’d give it two days. Two days to find out what happened to Polly and plan my escape. That would give me enough time to get back to the church and be with Maddie and Blake again.

Two. Days.

The good news was I wasn’t going to need it. As we walked down the hallway, I saw her.

Chapter 23

Polly was standing at the front of a room dressed just like everyone else in the building. The line kept moving but my feet started to drag. I hadn’t gotten a good look but there was no doubt in my mind that it had been Polly.

Her hair had been pulled back into a tight ponytail. She’d looked thinner but healthy enough.

The room she was in had been lined with small desks, each filled with a small child, maybe five or six years old, each wearing their own tiny jumpsuit.

Polly hadn’t seen me. She hadn’t even looked up as we passed by the classroom.

My heart leaped into my throat but I couldn’t stop walking. I couldn’t even talk to her to tell her I was there. They wouldn’t allow it. I had to keep moving my feet… or did I?

I tripped myself and fell into the person in front of me. I fell to the ground and slid myself backward with my hand up in an apology.

“Sorry,” I said.

Ross looked back at me with a mix of anger and fear in his eyes. The guard stopped the line and the fear increased. Ross turned away and put his head back down.

Not a single person offered me their hand to help me up but I didn’t care. It gave me more time to look into the room.

The commotion caused the children to look out into the hallway. Polly’s eyes followed and met mine.

“Children!” she said.

I closed my eyes for a second at the familiar sound of her voice. I couldn’t keep them closed because I didn’t want to stop looking at her. If I did, maybe she’d vanish.

I hadn’t noticed at first but at the front of the room, there was a guard. Mr. Curly Mustache had his eyes glued to Polly.

“Polly,” I mouthed carefully. Absolutely no sound came out.

She was looking right into my eyes. There was no expression on her face and not even a twinkle of recognition. Had she been brainwashed?

She walked between the desks toward the door. Her jaw was tense and she looked annoyed.

I couldn’t look away from her even when someone grabbed me by the back of my jumpsuit and lifted me to my feet. It felt like my heart stopped when Polly shut the classroom door.

I wanted to burst into tears. My heart was ripping apart into pieces. She was right there. Only a few feet from me and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

It had taken me too long to get to her.

It was too late.

“Walk,” the guard said jabbing the baton between my shoulder blade.

“Ouch!” I complained.

He grabbed the front of my jumpsuit and threw me across the hallway. My back slammed into the wall so hard I thought I heard it crack.

I tried to keep my balance but my body was too weak and I couldn’t stay upright. I fell to the ground.

My cheek was pressed against the cold tile floor. I stared at the door Polly had closed only moments ago. It was like when we were young and she’d been mad at me for borrowing something without asking. She’d close the door. Shut me out of her life to teach me a lesson.

I wanted to call for her but I couldn’t. Not only because it would have been a mistake but because I couldn’t find my voice.

The surrounding walls turned black and white. Everything became grainy like dust was falling from the sky in thick sheets.

Then everything turned to black.

Chapter 24

My eyes popped open and I tried to sit up but my arms wouldn’t move. I was stuck.

Panic overwhelmed me and I jerked my arms vigorously. My head tilted and I saw I’d been tied to the rails of the bed.

“Calm down,” a woman said stepping into view. “You’re okay.”

“I’m tied up!” I snarled.

“Watch your tone, please. I can sedate you if I feel threatened,” she said.

The woman was beautiful and I was fairly certain she was wearing makeup. Her chocolate eyes were warm but the long white coat made her seem cold.

“I heard you had a fall,” she said looking down at me.

“Yes,” I said stopping myself before I called her a sir.

“Eating okay?”

I nodded. “Up until today.”

“How have you been sleeping?”

“Not well.” That was the truth. And I hadn’t been sleeping well before arriving at the base too. “Is there any chance you can untie me?”

“It’s really for my protection,” she said.

I shook my head. “Your protection? I’m not going to do anything to you.”

“You’d be surprised what people will do,” she said with a frown.

I exhaled loudly.

It looked like she was about to say something before the door opened. A guard walked in and stomped over to the doctor. He handed her a file and my pulse quickened.

“Here’s the file you requested on that one patient,” he said holding it out to her.

“Took you long enough,” she said. “I requested this shortly after eight.”

He shrugged. “It was buried. Someone had filed it incorrectly.”

“The office people aren’t trained well. I’ll let the trainer know,” she said slapping the folder before setting it down on the counter.

“Anything else, Doc?” the guard asked.

“That is all, thank you,” she said.

My body relaxed but only by a small percentage. If she’d asked for the file earlier, then it wouldn’t be a file that matched the number on my jumpsuit. A file that would alert her to the fact that I was someone else.

“I’m feeling much better,” I said in a sugary sweet voice. I needed to get out of the leather ties.

She walked over to the bed and looked down at me. “Since you missed mealtime, I requested food to be brought here for you.”

“I really appreciate that,” I said with a smile.

“I think you should rest for a bit more,” she said. “Everything seems fine but you really seem worn down. Has there been any new stress in your life recently?”

Uh… was she for real?

“Nothing new,” I replied.

The door opened again and the doctor rolled her eyes.

“Constant interruptions,” she mumbled.

A large woman waddled in pushing a cart. She folded her hands together and lowered her head before leaving the room.

“Ah,” the doctor said clapping her hands softly. “This should help you.”

I tried to move my hands, rattling the bars in the process. She turned and pulled a syringe from her breast pocket.

“This is if you try anything stupid,” she said. “Understand?”

“Perfectly.”

The doctor untied me before rolling the cart over the bed. She uncovered the plate and revealed a pile of white mush. There was a white plastic spoon on a thin, paper napkin.

I scooped up the slop and tried not to wince. It was cold but that wasn’t the worst part. The texture of the instant mashed potatoes was recognizable. I’d served it to Freddie on occasion when I hadn’t felt like making them from scratch. He never even seemed to notice the difference which didn’t say much for my mashed potato recipe.

There was a golden oil drizzled over the top but that wasn’t what gave it the awful powdery taste. It was as though vanilla protein powder had been blended into the mixture.

“Everything okay?” the doctor asked.

“Yes,” I said keeping my eyes down. Mostly so she didn’t see how difficult it was for me to eat the mush.

I didn’t want the doctor to know I wasn’t used to the peculiar mixture. It could concern her enough to keep me in the room or maybe even have the guard pull my file.

All I wanted was to get out of the room without vomiting and or drawing any more attention to myself. I had to start thinking of how I was going to get to Polly before they locked the doors at bedtime.

I finished eating, somehow managing to clean the plate. The doctor rolled the tray away and brought a small flashlight to each eye. She took my pulse and crossed her arms.

“Well, I guess if you think you’re ready to get back to work, I can discharge you,” she said.

“Thank you,” I said swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I folded my hands in my lap and kept my head down.

She clicked her tongue. “You don’t have to do that in here. This is the one place you can be yourself and speak freely. I can’t help if you aren’t honest with me.”

Did she know something? She must have seen me choking down every bite of the mush. Or maybe the jumpsuit gave me away. Maybe she already had my file… she’d gotten it before I’d woken up.

“All right,” she said grabbing my elbow and helping me to my feet. “Do you need me to call for a guard?”

“No, thank you,” I said giving her another look.

She smiled and handed me a pink piece of paper. “Take this. Hope I don’t see you again anytime soon.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“That just means I wish you good health,” she said waving her hand. “I’m sorry, I tried to lighten the mood but I’m just so not funny.”

“Oh,” I said giving her a smile.

I walked to the door and opened it slowly. I looked over my shoulder but she already had her face buried in the file the guard had brought to her.

It felt weird to be released on my own… like I was breaking a law of some kind and if I was spotted, I’d be in some kind of terrible trouble. But it gave me an opportunity that I had to take advantage of. Surely, I was supposed to head back out to work and provide them with the slip of paper but instead, I was going to go back down the hallway where I’d seen Polly.

My feet moved quickly as my eyes darted around. The halls were mostly empty but when anyone was near, I put my head down and clasped my hands together tightly with the piece of paper sticking out of the top.

I headed toward the corner. A door opened and a hand covered my mouth. Before I could do anything, I was pulled inside and the door closed.

Chapter 25

My breaths came at me quickly. “I’ll scream.”

It was dark in the room but I imagined the man with the curly mustache peering at me. I pressed my hand to the wall behind me, searching for the doorknob.

“Stop it!” Polly hissed grabbing my hand off the back wall. The slip of paper had fallen out of my hand at some point. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you!”

She squeezed my hand into hers. “Well, that was silly, wasn’t it? Now we’re both stuck in here.”

I dropped her hand and wrapped my arms around her. I inhaled deeply and fought back the tears that were threatening to pour out of my eyes.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” I whispered.

“Me either,” she said hugging me back just as hard. She pulled back. “I’m afraid to ask but is Maddie okay?”

I nodded but quickly realized she probably couldn’t see me in the darkness. The words scratched my throat.

“Yes… she’s fine,” I said.

“Oh, God.” Polly’s voice lowered.

“She’s not here, too, is she?”

My head was moving side to side. “No.”

“Then where is she? With Freddie?”

“Freddie didn’t make it,” I said. “She’s with Blake.”

“Who the hell is Blake and why is my niece with him?”

I exhaled a quick breath. “Is there time to explain now?”

“I suppose not. I’d like to say if you trust him then I do, but well, Freddie.”

“I didn’t trust Freddie,” I said with a sigh. “Anyway, we need to get out of this place.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Polly said. I could imagine her crossing her arms and her eyes rolling. “Sorry, but if there were a way out of this place, I’d be gone. Well, maybe not. There has been a small complication.”

“What kind of complication?” I asked.

She ignored my question. “Do you know what happened to Hoyt?”

I couldn’t answer. He was probably still alive but I couldn’t get into the details at least not until I figured out exactly how I wanted to break the news to her. She’d loved Hoyt with everything she was. He should be the one to confess. Why did I have to be the bad guy?

“Does Hoyt have something to do with the complication?” I asked carefully.

“Perhaps.”

“What’s going on, Polly,” I said looking over my shoulder at where the door would be… not that I could see it in the pitch-black darkness.

She let out a breath. “I’m pregnant. There are doctors here.”

“The baby is Hoyt’s?”

“Yes,” she replied. It had been one word but I could sense it had been filled with various emotions.

There was a long pause before I spoke. “How long have you known?”

“I found out a few days after arriving in New York with mom,” Polly said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I am telling you,” she said. “You’re the first person I’m telling. It’s still early… there could be complications.”

I took her hand. “There are people out there. We’re with them. They can probably help you. In a few days, they’re traveling to a place that will be completely safe. We can go with them.”

“How do I know they are any better than this group?”

“How can they not be better? We’d only been with them a short time but they seem like good people… normal people,” I said.

“What if they’re not and you left your daughter there with them?”

I bit my cheek hard. “I couldn’t bring her here.”

“You didn’t answer me,” Polly said.

“About what?”

“About Hoyt.”

I let go of her hand and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her gently. “We need to focus on getting out of here.”

“You know something.” Even in the darkness, Polly could tell when I was hiding something. “And you still haven’t told me about this Blake person or how you got in here.”

“Seriously, Polly,” I groaned. “Once we’re out of here, I’ll have all the time in the world to answer all your questions.”

“We’ll never get out of here and once we leave this room, I’ll never be able to talk to you again,” Polly said. “You’ll never even get to meet your niece or nephew if this pregnancy even works out.”

“At night, we can hide and climb over the fence,” I said the words rolling off my tongue. “There are places to hide in the darkness and a forest not far off where I’ve stashed a flashlight. It’s a bit of a walk back to the others but we’ll make it. The only part I haven’t figured out is how to get out of the building.”

Polly sighed. “I haven’t been outside the building in quite some time. I don’t even remember what it’s like out there. For a long time, I was jealous of those who were chosen to work the fields.”

“Don’t be,” I said rubbing the back of my arm. “It’s hard work.”

“You’ve been outside?”

“I’m a farmer,” I said. “Just like the owner of this jumpsuit.”

“How did you even get that thing?” Polly asked.

I snorted. “From a guy who escaped. This is possible, Polly. I can get you out of here.”

“I can’t leave the building,” Polly said. “The guards will stop me.”

“Only if they see you,” I said.

Polly huffed. “It’s not easy to be sneaky in this place.”

I held out my arms. “But yet here you are in a closet.”

“They’re probably already looking for me.”

“We can’t go until night,” I said.

“Too bad we’ll be locked in our rooms,” Polly said.

I tapped my finger to my chin. “Do they provide dinner?”

“Yes,” Polly said. “Same pile of crap they provide for lunch. Did you know that the guards and higher-level folks get to eat normal food?”

“I did not know that,” I said. “The woman in my room basically told me to sleep with the guards, though.”

“While I’ve managed to avoid it, I can’t say life here wouldn’t be easier if I gave in,” Polly said.

“What if we meet back here after dinner?” I asked.

Polly released a squeaky breath. “It’ll never work. Immediately after the meal, they’ll usher us back to our rooms. We’ll only have about an hour before the lights go out.”

“An hour of sitting there and not talking?” I asked remembering how reluctant Ned and Courtney had seemed to talk to me.

“It’s reflection time. You’re supposed to sit quietly and think about how you can be better tomorrow.”

I chewed my lip. “How long do we have before they lock the doors?”

“As soon as everyone on the block is in their room.”

“Would they know if someone wasn’t in their room?” I asked. Dillon must have sneaked away somehow before the doors locked.

It took Polly at least a minute to answer. “I don’t know. They don’t do like a roll call or anything like that.”

“I’ve been here like twenty-four hours and no one really asked me who I was, well, except for the people I share a room with and the guy who knew the owner of my jumpsuit.”

“But you’re new… I’ve been here for much longer. A bit more recognizable,” Polly said. “Someone might speak up if they notice I’m not where I should be. Like they probably already have. Then again, a lot of people are too afraid to say anything.”

I dropped to my knees and started searching the floor for the small piece of pink paper I’d been given. “What are the pink slips for?”

“They excuse you for not being where you’re supposed to be,” Polly said. “Why do you ask?”

“I have one. Rather, I had one. I dropped it when I thought Mr. Curly Mustache was pulling me in here for a good time. A good time for him that is,” I added. It most definitely wouldn’t be a good time for me.

“Mr. Curly Mustache!” she said with a muffled laugh.

I looked upward but I couldn’t see her. “Help me, would you?”

“I’m not sure why we’re wasting time on this,” she said but I could hear the whoosh of her fabric rubbing together as she lowered herself to the floor.

My finger touched something and I slid it closer. Unfortunately, I had no idea if it was the pink slip of paper or not but it felt like it was the same size. I had to assume it was the right thing.

“What if I tear it in half? You hold half and I hold the other half,” I said.

“Then what? Just walk outside like we have business out there?” Polly asked.

“Yeah, hide in that shed by the field until dark,” I said feeling a small smile curl onto my mouth. It wasn’t a terrible idea, at least I didn’t think so.

Polly groaned. I thought she was going to start telling me the numerous reasons my idea wasn’t going to work.

“I don’t know, Kit,” she said meekly.

“Do you have a better idea? Or any other idea at all? Because if you do, I’m all ears.”

Polly sighed. “I don’t. You know, if we get caught, it’s not going to be pretty. There is a prison here.”

“You mean this isn’t the prison?” I asked rhetorically. “One way or another, I’m going to get out of here and Back to Maddie and Blake. There isn’t anything that can stop me.”

“You don’t sound anything like yourself,” she said. I hoped that was a compliment. “Tell me again about this stranger you left Maddie with.”

I clutched the piece of paper and got to my feet. My heart swelled at the thought of him.

“You’re not going to believe this,” I said.

“Try me,” she said and somehow, I knew she was crossing her arms.

“Shouldn’t we attempt to get outside first?” I asked feeling warmth creeping up to the back of my neck. Just the mere thought of Blake was enough to make the blood in my veins pump quicker.

“No,” Polly answered instantaneously. “I should know about the people I’ll be joining, shouldn’t I?”

I snorted. “Like you know, all the people here.”

“Whatever,” Polly said dismissively.

“Remember my neighbor across the street? I asked with an exhale.

“No.”

I took in a quick breath of the dusty closet air. “Well, that’s Blake. He helped us after everyone got sick. We’re alive because of him.”

“Okay, well, anyone that saves my sister and my favorite niece has to be something special,” Polly said. “I look forward to meeting him. Although Hoyt should have been there for you. I think we all knew Freddie would be useless. I tried so many times to reach Hoyt but he was impossible to reach. Things were falling apart rapidly where I was but in your part of the country, everything was probably business as usual. Hoyt was no doubt at work, slaving away at his desk and to think it was all for nothing.”

Sadly, part of what she thought was correct. He had been in his office… at his desk but he hadn’t been working. At least not in the way Polly had imagined.

I would tell her everything about Hoyt once we were safe at the church. Or maybe with the news she’d given me about the baby, I should just tell her that he was dead. It wasn’t like we’d ever cross his path again.

“Polly,” I said in the quiet of the room.

“Yes?”

“Blake’s a good guy. Like a really good guy.” I hesitated. “I’m so in love with him.”

It was weird to admit it but there hadn’t been much I hadn’t been able to tell my sister. She placed her hand on my shoulder.

“I’m glad, Kit. You deserve someone good,” she said. “You really do. Mom would be so happy.”

“She’d be happy about anyone other than Freddie.”

Polly covered her laugh to mute it. “That’s so true.”

I folded the piece of paper in half as best as I could in the dark. The ripping sound was loud in the small closet.

I handed Polly half of the pink slip of paper. “Ready?”

Chapter 26

Polly stuck her head out of the closet and looked out in each direction. She stepped out into the hallway, pulling me along with her.

The lights, even though dim, still managed to sting my eyes as they adjusted to the abrupt change in lighting. I clutched the piece of paper in my hands as I folded them together and put my head down.

Polly did the same.

“Which way?” I whispered.

“Right,” she said. “Then, mostly straight.”

We turned the corner and my eyes flicked upward even though I had tried to keep them down. Mr. Curly Mustache was walking side by side with another guard I hadn’t seen before.

The other guard had sandy blonde hair that was naturally curly. His cloudy blue eyes felt as though they were piercing through my skin.

“Hey, beautiful,” Mr. Curly Mustache said. My eyes flicked upward and our eyes connected. He bit his knuckle as they continued walking by.

“Head down, girl,” the other guy said before smacking Mr. Curly Mustache on the back of the head. He mumbled something to him that included the word desperate. “Wait.”

Polly and I stopped walking at the same time. My heart was pounding like a drummer in a marching band.

“No escort?” the guard asked.

I flashed him the piece of paper.

“Hmm,” he muttered. It felt like a long time passed before he spoke again. “Carry on.”

“See you later,” Mr. Curly Mustache called out. The other guard cracked him on the side of his upper arm. “Ow!”

Their boots smacked the flooring, getting softer as they continued away from us. Polly’s pace increased.

“I almost threw up,” she whispered.

“But you didn’t,” I said. “And it worked. We can do this.”

We continued down the hall, passing only a few more people. None of them even stopped us. Perhaps they saw the pink pieces of paper or perhaps they just didn’t care.

At the main door, there was a guard on the outside of the door. He stood and stared at us as he unlocked the door.

“State your—Hey!” The guard’s tone instantly changed. “Do I look different during the day?”

I dared a glance upward. The guard was looking around but when our eyes met, he smiled at me. It was the guard from last night.

“Did you see the doc?” he asked.

I waved the piece of paper. “I did. All is good.”

“That’s good news,” he said stepping to the side to allow Polly and me outside. “Headed back to work?”

“That’s right,” I said.

“Well, sorry to say you just missed them,” the guard said. “They headed in early. Storm brewing.”

On the horizon, there were frequent flashes of light. The rumbles of thunder weren’t quite as long as the rumbles inside my stomach but they rattled my nerves.

“Oh, darn,” I said. “We just need to get a few things from the shed and then we’ll head right back in.”

He looked confused. Probably because he knew we didn’t have any things.

“I suppose that’ll be all right,” he said. “Dennis is still out there so talk to him, okay? He can escort you back in.”

“That was the plan,” I said swallowing hard. I drew in a breath and lowered my head again. It was my way of signaling to him that I was done being friendly and that I needed to follow the rules.

The guard stepped to the side and a gust of wind smacked our faces and prickled my cheeks. Polly drew in a breath so deeply she released a pleasant little whimper.

“What do you plan to do about this Dennis guy?” Polly asked.

“I haven’t figured that part out yet,” I said.

I looked up toward the shed. The shovels, rakes, and other tools were lined up against the building and he was bringing them inside one by one.

“Dillon, the owner of this jumpsuit, told me that they keep the sick inside of the building,” I said.

“It’s true,” Polly said. “They’re locked up inside the lab. I mean, I guess it could just be a rumor they spread to scare people into staying away from the lab. I’ve never actually seen one inside.”

All I could do was shake my head at their stupidity. They brought the sickness into the world and their way of eradicating it was to keep it hanging around in the hope of trying to develop a cure.

The damage had already been done as far as I was concerned. Even if they were able to create something that would cure the sick, how would they administer it to everyone out in the world? They were better off continuing to build their army to wage war against the sick, although I didn’t think that would work either.

We kept our heads down, following the rules as we approached the shed. The man the guard had called Dennis, stopped to look up at us.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked.

I held up my pink slip. “I’m supposed to show this to you.”

“Everyone went inside. You shouldn’t be out here. Who let you out? I’m going to have to report him,” Dennis said.

I stepped up next to him, pointing toward the base. “It was that guy. At that door.”

Dennis narrowed his eyes and I reached behind me, grabbing the handle of the nearest tool.

“That fool,” Dennis said. “I’m not finished but I’ll have to escort you inside. There’s a—”

The back of the shovel put a stop to his sentence. Dennis stared at me blankly. After a second, his eyes rolled back and he dropped to the ground.

“Kit!” Polly said spinning like a music box doll as she looked in every direction. “What are you doing?”

“Help me get him inside the shed,” I said.

“Oh, dear God,” she muttered as she grabbed his feet. “You could have told me you’ve become a murderer. Prepared me somehow.”

I snorted. “I’m not a murderer. He’s not dead. At least I don’t think he is.”

We got him inside the shed and closed the door. Polly put her hands on her hips.

“What about all the tools?” she asked. “If someone sees them out there, it’ll be suspicious. They’ll probably come looking for poor Dennis.”

“Poor Dennis,” I huffed.

I looked around the shed and found several long pieces of rope. I didn’t even want to know what they’d been used for. Probably something similar to what I was about to use them for only for a less good reason.

“Help me tie him up first,” I said.

“Now we’re tying people up?” she said with wide eyes.

“Maybe I should leave you in here,” I said unable to hide my frustration. “I’m not sure you’ll survive out there.”

Sadness washed over her face. “Is it terrible?”

“It’s worse here,” I said tying Dennis’s hands behind his back. “You’ll be fine.”

“Who are you?” Polly asked as she stared at me… not helping me tie up Dennis at all.

Her words had hit me hard, like someone taking a baseball bat to the back of my head. At some point, I became the person I was supposed to be all along.

I was the person who would do anything for her family, even if it was dangerous or scary. It was something I should have realized a long time ago. The idea of leaving Freddie had been so frightening it had paralyzed me but staying had made my life hell. If I would have been the person I was now… well… things would have been a hell of a lot different.

There was no point in dwelling on the past. I couldn’t change it. I had to focus on the future and to get there, I needed to get Polly and myself away from the base.

I brought the tools inside the shed while Polly kept an eye on our new friend Dennis. It was at least twenty minutes before his eyelids started to flutter.

He looked back and forth between Polly and I. “Stupid bitches,” he said slurring his words as if he’d had a drink too many. “You won’t get away with this.”

“Stop talking,” I said as if I were suddenly one of the guards.

He snorted. “Or what?”

“Or I’ll hit you over the head again,” I said.

“Do it,” he said. “I can’t wait to visit you every day in your cell.”

Dennis spat on the ground toward my feet. I was tempted to hit him over the head again but that would have been going too far. He wasn’t a danger at the moment, he was just annoying.

“Now what?” Polly asked joining me at the small window that faced the base. The storm was behind us and even though we couldn’t see it, we could hear it.

I exhaled and we locked eyes. “Now, we wait.”

Chapter 27

Night fell quicker, thanks to the storm. I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able to stay in the shed with Dennis and his constant ramblings and curses.

Apparently, he didn’t like being held hostage, which was kind of funny considering his job. It wasn’t fun when the tables were turned.

“I bet they’re looking for me,” Polly said pacing back and forth across the dirt-covered floor.

“Of course, they are!” Dennis howled. He calmed himself and looked at her with wide eyes. “If you let me go, I’ll tell them it wasn’t your fault. That she did this to us. They’ll go easy on you.”

“Shut up already,” Polly hissed. She turned to me. “How long do we wait before making a run for it?”

My head moved slightly side to side. “I’m not sure. Do you think they’re eating yet?”

“Maybe,” Polly said.

“It’s still not dark enough,” I said. “I came in the middle of the night and it was pitch black. Lots of shadows to hide in… now, though? Not so much.”

Dennis laughed. “You idiots didn’t think this through. You might think they aren’t looking for you but they will start looking for me!”

“He’s right,” Polly said.

Dennis laughed harder. “Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb!”

“Maybe,” I said with a half-shrug. “They haven’t started looking for him yet.”

“How do you know?” Polly asked softly.

“Because. Where do you think the first place they’d go to look for a farmer?”

Polly smirked. “Maybe they’ve forgotten all about you.”

“They’ll come,” Dennis said trying to sound confident but his questioning tone gave away that he wasn’t.

“I’m sure they will but hopefully it won’t be until tomorrow morning,” I said.

For a long while, it seemed as though I was right… they weren’t coming for Dennis but when four guards came out of the base, I knew I’d been wrong.

“Shit,” I said looking around the shed. I grabbed a shovel even though it was big and bulky and I knew the guards were armed. I turned to Polly doing my best to remain calm. “Take something,”

“For what?” she asked.

“For a weapon,” I said.

Polly started shaking her head. “I can’t. I couldn’t.”

“You might have to,” I said looking down at her stomach. “It’s not just for you.”

“Okay,” she said grabbing a shovel.

I held up my hand like a stop sign as I looked out of the small window. Dennis started laughing.

“They’re coming for you!” he shouted. “I’m in here! I’m in here! Help me!”

I took three quick steps toward him. My fingertips were numb from gripping the shovel tightly.

“Want another hit to the back of your head?” I said between my clenched teeth. Bits of spit shot out and speckled his face. “Shut up or you might not wake up from the next one.”

Dennis pressed his lips together. The anger that had been in his eyes turned into dread.

I wouldn’t have killed him but he didn’t need to know that. Well, if it were life or death… I didn’t want to think about what I was capable of. It was easier not to.

“They split into two,” Polly reported. “They’re walking around the building. They’re definitely looking for someone.”

Polly exhaled and aggressively rubbed her shoulder. It was like her shoulder had a magic lamp inside and she was hoping a genie would pop out so it could grant her three wishes.

“It’s not dark enough,” I said. “But we don’t have a choice. We’re going to have to make a run for it.”

“Are you sure about this, Kit?” she asked breathing as if she’d already run a mile.

“No,” I said. “But this could be our only chance and I’m taking it.”

She swallowed hard. “Okay. What are we going to do?”

I stepped up to the window and pointed out toward the trees. My eyes narrowed to slits as I peered out at the fence.

“We’re going to run that way,” I said. “When the guards cross in the middle, that’s when we need to climb the fence. They won’t turn back and even if they do, we’ll hopefully already be over the fence. The trees aren’t far and once we get to them, they won’t be able to shoot.”

“Shoot,” Polly repeated with a frown.

“We’ll be okay,” I said. “I didn’t come all this way for nothing.”

She nodded but the uncertainty brought shadows to her eyes. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Are you ready for this?” I asked.

“No, but like you said, this could be our only chance,” Polly said.

“Good. As long as I time this right…,” I said first looking at the guards circling the building before shifting my gaze to the ones at the fence. “As long as I time it right, this will work.”

The guards started to go around the sides of the building. None of them headed toward the shed yet. They were probably looking for Polly or maybe even me. If they were looking for Dennis, they would have come toward the shed first, a fact I would have loved to rub in his face.

The guards near the fence were walking toward one another. As long as they didn’t see us… we’d make it.

“Let’s go,” I said turning the wobbly doorknob. I pulled open the door just enough for us to slip out. I turned to Polly. “Run.”

I sucked in a deep breath, fill my lungs with the oxygen they’d need to make it the distance. Polly’s breaths next to me were rapid. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Polly run.

Running with the shovel was slowing me down and it was likely doing the same to Polly.

“Drop it,” I said.

“Are… you… sure?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said dropping my shovel to the left so she didn’t trip over it.

My feet were moving fast but they could have gone faster. I couldn’t increase my speed because I knew Polly was already struggling to keep up.

“I… can’t,” Polly said gasping between words.

“You can,” I said encouragingly. “We’re almost there.”

I’d stretched the truth. Polly could see just as well as I could that we were only about halfway to the fence.

The sky darkened rapidly as the storm clouds rolled overhead. The sun was at the horizon, giving up the battle to keep everything lit for the day.

Voices shouted from behind us. I didn’t dare to look but they were at a distance… at the base, if I had to guess.

“Keep going,” I said.

My feet felt numb and my calves felt like they were on fire. Rain poured out of the sky almost instantly making the ground slick.

“Kit!” Polly called out.

I turned back and saw her stumble and fall to the ground. My feet slid and my arms waved around in an attempt to maintain my balance as I tried to stop.

I ran back to her and picked her up. We moved again but it wasn’t as fast. It was hard to get our legs going at the same speed.

“My baby!” she said placing her hands on her stomach.

“We have to keep going,” I said. Beads of water dripped down her forehead and down her cheeks.

The guards at the fence were oblivious. But there were more behind us. I could hear their voices through the rain.

“Stop at once!” It sounded like the command had come through a megaphone.

“Don’t stop,” I said. “Whatever you do, don’t stop.”

The guards at the fence had reached the far corners. We had time to get over the fence as long as the people behind us hadn’t caught up to us.

Our bodies slammed into the fence. The rumbling sound of thunder disguised the rattling we caused from the force.

“Climb,” I said only seconds before the crack of the gun ripped through the air.

“Oh my God, Kit!” Polly said.

I grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Climb!”

My fingers gripped the metal and I dug the toe of my mud-covered shoe into the small hole between the links. I pulled myself up a foot and then another.

“It’s slippery,” Polly complained.

“Just do it, Polly!” I ordered. “Maddie’s out there waiting for us.”

I climbed another two feet. My hands were almost at the top.

Polly was two feet behind but she was managing to make her way up the fence.

Another gunshot sliced through the air. A whistle of a bullet breezed past my ear.

My hands started to shake. “Faster, Polly.”

“They’re shooting at us!” she squealed. I could tell by her shaking voice that she was crying.

“Halt!” a voice shouted from close behind us. I dared a look back as my hand grabbed the top of the fence.

A single guard had managed to make his way nearly to the fence. Movement in the corner of my eye alerted me to the fact that the guards at the fence had noticed the commotion and were running toward us as well.

“Hurry, Polly,” I said. The rain nearly drowning out my voice. A jagged piece of metal from the fence scraped the side of my leg as I swung it over the top.

I could feel my pulse in my leg and I knew that I’d managed to cut myself deep enough to draw blood. I lingered at the top of the fence, leaning forward enough to grab Polly’s jumpsuit to help her to the top.

Lightning struck lighting the area. Guards were running toward us but the mud slowed them somewhat.

“I swear to God, I’ll kill you both if I have to,” the nearby guard shouted. A flash of light illuminated his face enough to see it was the curly-haired guard that had been with Mr. Curly Mustache in the hallway. Our eyes locked. “I knew something was up with you two.”

“Come on, Polly,” I said softly.

The guard took several steps closer. He aimed the gun at Polly’s back.

“Last warning,” he said.

I grabbed Polly and yanked her over the top. The guard pulled the trigger but he missed Polly. I’d managed to yank her out of the way just in time.

“Drop down,” I said.

She let go and fell to the muddy ground below and screamed. Another gunshot, this one louder, blasted through the air. The guard on the other side of the fence howled.

Had Polly been hit?

Had I been hit?

My body had felt numb but I’d thought it was from exhaustion thoroughly blended with adrenaline.

I dropped to the ground. My feet slipped out from under me and I had to steady myself by sticking my hands into the mud. Quickly I stood, freezing when I realized I was face to face with a man holding a gun.

“I knew you’d do it,” Jay said smiling.

I twisted my neck just in time to see the guard fall to the ground. The sky brightened and the large crowd of guards from the base was still charging toward us.

We didn’t have a lot of time. They could climb the fence… come after us. Shoot us in the back.

“You must be Polly,” Jay said as a flash of light lit his grinning face. He blinked and drops of rain fell from his lashes. “I’m Jay.”

“Let’s worry about introductions later,” I said grabbing Polly’s hand.

We ran into the trees. Into the darkness. And away from the base.

Chapter 28

It was a long walk back to the church but we made it back before dinnertime without running into anyone from the base or any of the sick. We took the time to get Polly up to speed on everything that had happened.

She went through a range of emotions while listening intently to our every word. Her story hadn’t been as interesting. She’d been at the base nearly the entire time, following their rules and doing what she was told.

Polly had been miserable.

When it was time to tell her about seeing Hoyt, I struggled to find the words. It was bad enough I’d have to tell her what happened in front of Jay but she demanded to know everything.

“That bastard,” she said but she hadn’t really seemed all that surprised by the news.

“I’m sorry,” I said but she waved my words away.

“I had a feeling. Hoyt had a reputation, you know,” Polly said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Then why did you stay with him?”

“I didn’t have any evidence,” Polly said.

“Why didn’t you even tell me you were concerned?”

“You had enough on your plate. We’d already put so much money and energy into the wedding plans that I felt like I was committed to seeing it through,” Polly said. “Then he paid for so much of mom’s treatments. I’d hoped the rumors had been wrong or that he’d changed.”

Jay sniffed and kept his eyes on the road ahead. “Sounds like a real dick.”

Polly snickered and I smiled at her reaction. She’d taken the news better than I thought she would have. But maybe that was because none of it really mattered anymore.

When the church came into view, my heart skipped a beat at the thought of seeing Maddie and Blake again. There were several school buses parked off to the side and a few delivery trucks that hadn’t been there when I’d left. Or if they had been, I hadn’t noticed them.

There were people outside packing things into the trucks. I spotted Blake among them, helping with some of the boxes.

“That’s Blake,” I said pointing at him with my chin.

“Cute,” Polly said.

“Always a bridesmaid,” Jay teased.

Polly touched his shoulder as she let out a laugh. “You’re cute too.”

Jay blushed.

I looked back and forth between the two of them and grinned. He wasn’t really Polly’s type but maybe that had been why she hadn’t been married. She’d always gone for the wrong type.

Maddie walked out of the church with a plastic bag in each hand. She was side by side with another girl, Twyla’s daughter, Lily, talking about something that made them both smile ever so slightly.

Maddie looked up and stopped walking. The smile fell from her face. It was like she’d suddenly been turned into stone… but then she blinked, breaking the spell. She dropped the bags and ran toward us, swinging her arms to go faster.

“Mom!” she shouted before reaching me. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she slammed into me, wrapping her arms around me. “Don’t ever do that again! Don’t leave me!”

“I won’t,” I said pulling back to look into her eyes. “I promise.”

Leaving her behind had been the right choice. It would have been nearly impossible to coordinate getting all of us out of that hellish place.

Blake was making his way over toward us. There wasn’t a smile on his face but I could see the relief in his eyes.

“Maddie!” Polly exclaimed pulling her into her arms. “I hear it was your idea to come get me?”

“Yes,” she said between frantic sobs. “And it looks like I was right. You’re alive.”

“I’m alive,” Polly said swallowing back her own tears.

Blake approached us, he didn’t stop to say anything to us, he just wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the lips. The warmth I hadn’t felt since leaving filled me once again. It hadn’t been that long we’d been apart but boy had I missed him.

He pressed his forehead to mine and gazed into my eyes. “I should be mad about you leaving like that.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t come after me.” My lips curled upward.

“I wanted to,” Blake said. “Twyla talked me out of it. Besides, I couldn’t leave Maddie and I wasn’t about to take her there. Don’t ever leave my side again, though, okay?”

“I won’t,” I said and he kissed me again.

Polly tapped my shoulder and I reluctantly pulled back away from Blake. She looked him up and down with her eyes narrowed.

“Is this him then?” she asked. “Well, it must be or the one you’ve told me about has some major competition.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Polly, Kit’s sister. I’ve heard a lot about you over the last few hours.”

“A lot, huh?” he asked shaking her hand.

“Well, not that much really.”

Blake gave her his best smile. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“And you as well,” Polly said with a nod. “I should probably thank you for getting my family here in one piece. Although, really, none of you should have done all that for me.”

“You would have done the same,” I said.

“That’s true.” Polly smiled. “I would have.”

We all laughed.

The rest of the day was spent helping Twyla and her people get ready for the move. Twyla was more than happy to have Polly join us and accompany us to the new location.

In fact, Polly and Twyla got along almost instantly. They were two peas in the same pod, excited to discuss organization and how to be most efficient with the packing.

Maddie had run off to rejoin Lily to help with whatever Twyla had ordered them to do. I watched as a pair of boys followed them around offering to help them with various things.

Jay wasn’t much different from the young boys. He’d occasionally approach Polly and ask her how she was doing or if she needed anything. He was definitely doing his best to make sure she felt welcomed.

Blake didn’t want to leave my side. Whenever we weren’t carrying anything, we’d be holding hands. I couldn’t wait to have some alone time with him although I wasn’t sure when that would be with everything we had to do. We had a long journey ahead of us but hopefully, in the end, it would all be worth it.

In a world of terrible… somehow, we’d managed to find something acceptable. Something that was pretty okay.

Would it stay that way? God, I hoped so.

* * *

We survived the winter spending most of our time underground in a bunker that was moderately heated thanks to a generator. There was a house on the property that had a fireplace where some of the group opted to stay. They kept watch. They kept everything protected and safe.

When spring came, they put plans into action. A few small crops had been planted and by summer, they were growing better than expected.

There had been a small group that had gone out looking for animals like rabbits or deer but they’d come back with chickens. We were lucky that food and water weren’t even in the top five on our list of concerns.

The sick hadn’t come around but we knew they were still out there and that meant we couldn’t let our guard down. If the sick or those from the base came, Twyla and her people would be able to handle the situation with the arsenal of weapons they’d collected to defend our territory.

Everything was working out better than anyone could have hoped. It hadn’t been easy to keep track of time but it was probably late summer when Polly had her baby.

There had been a midwife among Twyla’s people and the pregnancy and birth couldn’t have gone more smoothly. Polly’s baby wasn’t the only newborn in the group. Two other women had given birth and another two were at least six months along.

And then there was me. I’d only known for about three months that I’d soon have a second child.

Blake had hooted and cheered when I told him the news. I was scared but at the same time, I was surprisingly happy. I wasn’t sure how to take care of a baby in our new world but I would have to figure it out.

“We’ll be fine,” Blake said one night when I’d been staring out of the window. We’d been lucky to have one of the bedrooms on that particular day. “Look at Polly. There are a lot of people around that will be happy to help us too.”

“It was hard the first time,” I said. “This is going to be completely different.”

“You’re stronger now, Maddie will be an excellent big sister, and I’m here to help too,” Blake said kissing the top of my head. He placed his hand on my stomach and chuckled. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a dad.”

I smiled at him. “You’re going to be a great dad too.”

“I sure as hell am going to try to be,” he said. “I’m going to take care of you, Maddie, and our son the rest of my life.”

“Son,” I repeated with a laugh.

“It’s just a feeling,” he said.

“Don’t be disappointed if she’s a girl.”

Blake smiled. “I wouldn’t be. She’d probably be just as beautiful as her mother.”

“And smart,” I added.

“And strong,” Blake said wrapping his arms around me.

I wasn’t exactly sure how we made it to that particular moment after all the struggles, loss, and sadness we’d had to endure but we had. It almost seemed wrong to enjoy the happiness that was around us.

Life wasn’t ever going to be easy but at least we’d gotten to a point where it wasn’t going to be full of challenges and suffering every day of our lives. We’d fight and we would do whatever we needed to be okay.

We’d survive.

We’d persevere.

We’d be a family.

What’s next?

Thank you so much for reading the What Remains Series! If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. While I’m hard at work on the next book, please sign up for my mailing list so you can be one of the first to know when it’s released!

Need something to read while you wait? Give Flood a try!

Books By Kellee L. Greene

After The Fires

The Water Farmer

Book 2 Coming Soon!

The Reset Series

Flood - Book 1

Sinking - Book 2

Drowned - Book 3

Swamp - Book 4

Torrent - Book 5

Striking - Book 6

What Remains Series

Sickness - Book 1

Outpost - Book 2

Infected - Book 3

Evasion - Book 4

Red Sky Series

Red Sky - Book 1

Blue Cloud - Book 2

Black Rain - Book 3

White Dust - Book 4

Indigo Ice - Book 5

Yellow Heat - Book 6

Ravaged Land Series (1)

Ravaged Land -Book 1

Finding Home - Book 2

Crashing Down - Book 3

Running Away - Book 4

Escaping Fear - Book 5

Fighting Back - Book 6

Ravaged Land: Divided Series (2)

The Last Disaster - Book 1

The Last Remnants - Book 2

The Last Struggle - Book 3

Ravaged Land: Eventuality Series (3)

The Wall - Book 1

The Outside - Book 2

Falling Darkness Series

Unholy - Book 1

Uprising - Book 2

Hunted - Book 3

The Island Series

The Island - Book 1

The Fight - Book 2

The Escape - Book 3

The Erased - Book 4

From Below Series

Creatures - Book 1

Desolation - Book 2

The Alien Invasion Series

The Landing - Book 1

The Aftermath - Book 2

Destined Realms Series

Destined - Book 1

About the Author

Kellee L. Greene is a stay-at-home-mom to two super awesome and wonderfully sassy children. She loves to read, draw and spend time with her family when she’s not writing. Writing and having people read her books has been a long time dream of hers and she’s excited to write more. Her favorites genres are Fantasy and Sci-fi. Kellee lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two kids and two cats.

For more information:

www.kelleelgreene.com

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