Far Series (Book 1): Far From Home

by Mary, Kate L.

  Then I shoved the door open and climbed out.

  Devon groaned but got out of the car without saying anything else.

  The first thing I did once I’d shut my door was take a deep breath through my nose. It smelled like the outdoors. No rot. It was a good sign, but since we were in a pretty open area, I decided not to let my guard down. The wind could be carrying the stench away from us.

  The door clicked behind me, but I didn’t look back before heading after Devon. He had his gun up and ready and was walking slowly, taking measured steps that barely made a sound even in the stark silence.

  His first stop was the Humvee. The doors were shut, so he grabbed the sideview mirror and pulled himself up until he could peer through the window. I stayed behind him, keeping a lookout while he checked the interior, and one glance over my shoulder was enough to tell me Kiaya was doing the same. Hank had stayed in the car, which was good, since as far as I knew, he wasn’t armed—although maybe he’d managed to find a weapon sometime during the three days he’d been on the run from the zombies—but she had her gun out and ready just like Devon. Seeing it made my knife feel insignificant and useless. Hopefully, we’d be able to find a gun for me.

  After a couple minutes, Devon hopped down. “Nothing moving inside.”

  He reached behind him and shoved his gun in the waistband of his pants before trying the door. When it opened, I almost smiled. Almost.

  Devon climbed inside, and I moved so I was standing in front of the open door. He was searching the interior, and while the Humvee didn’t have the usual glove compartments and other nooks and crannies civilians were used to, there were a few places where supplies had been stashed. On the floor in front of the back two seats, Devon found a canvas bag, and inside were a couple MREs, a canteen filled with old coffee, and three notebooks.

  He handed me the MREs. “These will come in handy, I’m sure.”

  “Probably,” I said as I took them.

  He went back to searching the interior, and I craned my neck, trying to get a look inside. The vehicle was set up so you could see all the way through it, and I spotted a couple green metal cases in the back. I wasn’t sure how—movies, maybe—but the second I laid eyes on them, I knew what they contained.

  Devon grabbed them and pulled them forward, opening the top so he could peer inside. He nodded in approval, but still frowned and looked up, his gaze moving to the shelter. After a few seconds, he was focused on the cases again, shutting the lids before lugging them forward.

  “Not much useful in there unless we can find the gun these go to,” Devon said when he jumped down a few seconds later, a case in each hand. “Hopefully, we’ll have better luck when we search the tent.”

  “Yeah.”

  Kiaya stood halfway between the car and the Humvee, keeping watch, and she eyed the metal boxes when we headed her way.

  “Ammo cases,” Devon said, waving one. “Let’s just hope we can get our hands on a gun.”

  He set them on the ground next to the car, and I put the MREs beside them. It wasn’t much, but it was more than we’d had when we got here, so even if we didn’t find anything else, I was satisfied. Although Devon was right. The bullets would be useless unless we found a gun we could use them in.

  He headed back to the tent, but I paused beside Kiaya. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said, nodding.

  My gaze moved to the car. Hank sat in the back, watching us through the window. “What do you think of him?”

  “Not much so far,” she said, glancing his way. “I feel bad because I’ve barely spoken to him, but to be honest, I don’t know what to say. How do you ask a person about their life when you know they’ve lost everything?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I was thinking the same thing. I mean, he said he lost his whole family, not just his mom and dad, so that means he probably lost brothers and sisters, too.”

  Kiaya stiffened, and I felt like slapping myself.

  “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sure your sister is okay.”

  She sighed, but her shoulders didn’t relax. “It’s fine. It’s not like I don’t know this is a long shot.”

  “Yeah,” I said, then hoping to distract her added, “I guess we’re going to have to figure out how to talk to people now. Everyone we meet from here on will be in the same boat, so it’s not like it’s going to get any easier.”

  This time, her shoulders did relax, but only so they could slump in what looked like defeat. “True.”

  I clamped my mouth shut when I realized I’d upset her once again. There was seriously nothing you could say these days that wasn’t horribly depressing.

  “I’m going to see if Devon needs help,” I told her. “Keep an eye out?”

  “I’ve got it,” Kiaya said.

  I patted her on the arm before jogging to the tent.

  Devon hadn’t gone in it, which was the only reason I’d stopped to talk to Kiaya. He was digging through some boxes stacked beside the tent, putting things that might be useful aside. There were a couple lanterns and a handful of flares, as well as a few more MREs. I was happy to see the lanterns since electricity would probably be out everywhere we went.

  “Everything okay?” he asked when I stopped next to him.

  “Yeah, just checking on Kiaya and Hank.”

  He nodded but didn’t look up. “It’s lucky finding that kid. Now we know we don’t have to be too worried about a bite.”

  “No kidding,” I agreed even as something in me tightened when I thought about that bite. It just seemed too good to be true.

  I looked around, shielding my eyes from the sun. It had gotten low as evening neared, and my stomach twisted when I thought about continuing our journey through the dark countryside. About possibly driving through a town and not being able to see the approaching dead, or even coming upon dangerous people and being caught by surprise.

  “You think we should try to find a place to hole up before it gets too dark?”

  Devon paused so he could look up at me, squinting. “I didn’t think you’d want that.”

  “I don’t, not really. I’d love to just get home, but I’m thinking about what’s best. Things are different now, and traveling during the day is dangerous enough. Do we really want to push it by traveling at night?”

  “No,” he said, “but I wasn’t going to bring it up. I didn’t think you’d listen.”

  Dropping my hand to my side, I frowned down at him. “You have a really low opinion of me, don’t you?”

  “No, Rowan, I don’t.” His lips twitched, and he went back to digging through the box. “I just think you’re used to getting your way, which means most of the time you’re not willing to listen to anyone else.”

  “Yeah, well, I think you’re a macho jock who’s used to everyone doing his bidding without question, which is why it bothers you that I have a mind of my own.”

  He paused like he was mulling my words over, his mouth turning down. “You might be right.”

  My mouth fell open.

  Devon glanced up and let out a little chuckle. “Don’t look so shocked. I’m capable of admitting when I’m wrong.”

  “I guess so,” I said, shaking my head. “It just surprises me, that’s all.”

  Devon stood, huffing as he lifted the heavy box he’d stacked our spoils in. “How about from here on out I agree to listen to you, and you agree to listen to me?”

  “I hate that you’re being so reasonable,” I said, having to contain my own smile. “It makes it impossible to contradict you.”

  “Good,” he said, laughing outright this time, “because I’m too tired to argue. At least for the rest of the day.” His eyes flashed. “Although, I’m not going to lie, you do look awfully cute when you get all feisty.”

  “Cute?” I said, pretending to be offended even as a surge of delight shot through me. “Kittens are cute.”

  Devon only smirked.

  We dropped the box off and headed back to
the tent, and Devon pulled his gun before pushing the flap open. The interior was dark, and since I only had a knife, I held the flashlight up and panned it around, illuminating as much of the inside as I could. At the far end, four cots had been set up. They were all empty, and one was on its side, the blankets and pillow strewn across the canvas floor. I kept my flashlight focused on them as Devon moved forward, and when the splatters of red came into view, my heart began to race.

  “Do you see that?” I asked, keeping my voice low just in case.

  “I see it,” he said.

  He held his gun in front of him, his arms steady as he headed deeper into the tent. Nothing moved, but we weren’t ready to let our guard down just yet. Not until we’d looked every inch over.

  I moved the flashlight slowly to illuminate more of the interior. Shadows elongated as I did it, stretching out and becoming distorted until finally blending into the darkness, but still everything was quiet. Even more telling was the smell. Or really, the lack of.

  After a thorough inspection, Devon let out a deep breath and lowered his gun. “Whoever was stationed here is gone now.” He jerked his head to the right. “This way.”

  I obeyed, shining the beam where he indicated, and he moved forward. I spotted what he was going for before he’d reached it, but when he picked it up, the sight still made my heart jump for joy.

  “A machine gun,” I said as he turned to face me.

  “An M16,” he said. “And exactly the kind of gun we need if we want to use that ammo.”

  “Thank God,” I replied, letting out a sigh.

  And I meant it. Whether or not God had brought this virus down on the human race to punish us, I was more than happy for any little help He threw our way. Or in this case, big help, because we had to face the fact that a machine gun was going to end up being a lifesaver at some point.

  14

  We loaded the new items we’d found into the car, but before climbing in, Devon pulled the handgun from his waistband and held it out to me. I took it almost hesitantly. Like when I’d picked it up so I could shoot myself, the weight of the thing surprised me, except this time it didn’t feel so ominous. If anything, it made me feel powerful. Not in a crazy way, but in a way that made me confident I would be able to defend myself if I had to. Which was a relief.

  “I’ll have to find some time to really teach you how to use it, but for now, you just need to know two things. One, keep the safety on unless you’re ready to fire.” Devon pointed to a small button. “This is it.”

  “Okay.” I pushed on it, and a click followed. “What’s the other thing I need to know?”

  “How to aim. You need to look down the barrel like this.” He grabbed my hips the way he had in the motel room, moving me so I was in front of him, then positioned my arms so I was holding the gun in front of my face. “See the sights? You need to line your shot up that way. Make sure the front one is dead center between the back two, let out a deep breath, then squeeze the trigger. Got it?”

  His face was right next to mine, our cheeks practically touching, and it made my insides sizzle. It was ridiculous, considering how easily he irritated me, but I couldn’t push the feeling away.

  “Rowan,” he said when I didn’t answer, “do you understand?”

  I swallowed. “Yeah.”

  “Good.” He released me and stepped back. “Now, put the safety on so you don’t shoot yourself. When we stop for the night, I’ll show you how to reload. We don’t have a ton of ammo, but I did find a box of 9mm bullets and an extra magazine with the gun. That will have to do until we can find a gun store or something.”

  I did as I was told and clicked the safety so it was once again on, then headed to the car. He had the strap of the M16 slung over his shoulder as he moved to the driver’s seat. When he reached it, he slipped the gun off and put it in first, the butt on the ground and the barrel pointing up toward the ceiling.

  “Wow.” Hank leaned forward, his eyes huge and his hand outstretched like he was going to pick the thing up.

  “Whoa,” Devon said when he’d climbed in. “It’s not a toy, so don’t get any ideas.”

  The kid’s cheeks reddened, and he sat back. His gaze darted to Kiaya, but he didn’t look directly at her. He was obviously too embarrassed.

  “I was just looking.”

  “Doesn’t matter.” Devon pulled the car door shut. “I need to know you understand how dangerous guns are.”

  He had turned so he could pin Hank with a serious look, and once again I found myself picturing Devon in uniform. He didn’t even need the badge. He had the cop vibe down pat.

  “Yeah, I get it,” Hank mumbled.

  “Good,” Devon said and turned back around.

  I saw Kiaya pat Hank on the leg, which was probably the only thing that could make the kid perk up at this particular moment. He was still slumped a little, but that didn’t stop him from looking her way out of the corner of his eye.

  Devon started driving again, but for the first time in a while, the silence didn’t sit well with me. I was traveling with strangers, but I didn’t want them to stay that way.

  “Tell us something about yourself,” I said, focusing on Hank when I twisted in my seat.

  “Me?” The kid looked from Kiaya to me before shaking his head. “I’m pretty boring. I went to school and played video games. That was about it.”

  “How old are you? What grade were you in?” I stopped myself from specifically asking about his family, but since I didn’t want to ignore the fact that they’d existed and he lost them, said, “Anything you want to tell us, really.”

  “I’m fifteen.” He straightened and looked right at Kiaya. “Almost sixteen.”

  She had to know what he was getting at, but she didn’t let on that she did. Instead, she gave him a sweet smile that he could have chosen to interpret as encouragement if he really wanted to, but that no one else would ever be able to accuse her of actually leading him on with.

  “So, you were a sophomore?” I prompted.

  “Yeah,” Hank said. “That’s right.”

  “What was your favorite subject in school?”

  Hank paused as he thought about it, once again darting looks Kiaya’s way like he was trying to decide what would impress her more. Her expression never changed. It was sweet and interested, and not the least bit encouraging, but I could tell Hank was trying to change that.

  “Art,” he finally said. “I liked to draw. Thought maybe I’d do something with graphic design one day.”

  His face fell a little when he realized that would never happen.

  “I always loved art, too,” I said. “It was better than math, that’s for sure.”

  “I was a math girl myself.” Kiaya’s smile widened. “Physics, remember?”

  “Kiaya is a bit of a brainiac,” I told Hank, trying to get him talking again instead of thinking about what he’d lost. “She figured out how to siphon gas.”

  “Really?” His face lit up. “That’s pretty cool. I thought about trying it myself so I could get out of Amarillo, but it seemed too hard.”

  “It isn’t, really,” she said, shrugging.

  “Just basic physics, right?” Devon said, glancing back at her.

  She laughed. “That’s right.”

  I twisted to face Devon. “What about you?”

  “What about me?” he asked, his gaze darting my way.

  “School, dummy.” I gave him a playful punch because I wanted to keep things light. We were talking about stuff that had vanished and would probably never return, so it was a stretch, but possible.

  Devon pressed his lips together, and when he looked away, the expression on his face reminded me of how Hank had acted. But that was dumb. Devon wasn’t trying to decide what would impress me the most the way Hank had. Was he?

  “Honestly,” he said after a few seconds, “I wasn’t really big into school.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “You played football, maybe even one or two other spor
ts as well, and dated the cheerleaders on the weekends. Other than that, you only tolerated class because you knew you needed decent grades or you’d get kicked off the team.”

  I was channeling Doug.

  “How’d you know?” he asked, and I was relieved to see him grinning because as soon as I’d said it, I felt bad. It had sounded more accusatory than I’d meant it to.

  “You remind me of someone,” I said. “Remember?”

  “Someone you don’t like,” Devon said, nodding, still smiling. “I do remember. Let me guess, since we’re trying to get to know one another. It’s an ex-boyfriend?”

  I snorted and rolled my eyes, but like Devon, I was smiling. “One point for you.”

  “So, we get points for this game?” he asked, his grin growing wider.

  “I guess,” I said, laughing.

  I twisted to face Kiaya. “You want in on this?”

  “I don’t think so.” She shook her head, and just like that, the emotionless mask she’d worn the first few days we were together was back.

  Of course she didn’t. Kiaya didn’t want anyone to know anything about her.

  I didn’t want to push her if she wasn’t ready, but I wished she’d get comfortable enough to open up a little.

  “You can’t divert the attention from yourself that easily,” Devon said, partly because he liked teasing me, but the other part was to save Kiaya.

  “Fine.” I lifted my hands in surrender. “I was just trying to make sure no one felt left out, but it’s okay. I can take it.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Devon said, then narrowed his eyes on me like he was thinking. “You’re a pleaser and a rule follower, so I bet you had straight As in school.”

  “I got a B once,” I said, grimacing. “Geometry. It was like a different language to me.”

  “I loved geometry,” Kiaya said.

  I looked back, focusing on Hank. “You take geometry?”

  “Not yet,” he said, shrugging.

  “Well, I guess you won’t have to now,” I said, then added, “The zombies saved you from that torture, which makes me think they aren’t all bad.”

  Kiaya let out a sarcastic laugh.