by Lake, D. K.
I groaned and laid down on the desk, propping my head up on my hand.
"For instance, it could have been airborne, water contamination, a side effect from a new strain of flu, because that's how it usually starts with flu symptoms. Um, some sort of rabies and bats aren't usually the carriers of the disease-"
"Ok, nerd squad. We get it, you don' think it was the bats now can we move on before you bore us all to death with boring science stuff." I said and sat up again and swung my legs around.
"Alex doesn't understand science." Nick simply said.
"It's ok, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion of what started the virus." Rosie said.
"Yes, but not everyone can put you to sleep while they tell you a hundred different things that could have started it." I smiled and Nick shot me a frown.
"Well, bats or not, I'm still gonna call those things zombats because it sounds better than zombies which just sounds silly." Rosie said and I tried not to laugh because zombats sounded just as silly. "You sound as if you know a lot about the virus, are you a scientist or something?" Rosie asked Nick.
"He's just a science nerd." I said before Nick could tell her his life story and I thought it was best that they didn't know all about us just yet.
"Ok, enough of that. I want to hear about this Eden. Whereabouts is this place?" Josh asked interestedly. I couldn't tell if he was just being polite or if he really believed her.
"Missouri. Well, we're nearly in Kansas, it wouldn't be a problem if we had transport but you know how it is, finding a vehicle that runs is like gold dust." Rosie said.
Drew walked over to where I was and bent down next to me and picked up the two dead rabbits off the floor.
"Hey!" I whispered and gently kicked him to get his attention.
"What?" Drew stopped and looked up at me.
"I need to talk to you." I slid off the desk counter and dropped down in front of him.
"Ok, talk." he said, picking at his dead rabbits.
"Not here. You know what I wanna talk about." I said quietly.
"The weather?"
"What? No. You kissed me!" I said quietly, checking no one was listening to us.
"I'm hungry." Drew said completely ignoring what I had said and started to leave. I quickly grabbed his arm, forgetting Lane was across the room. I glanced over at Lane and saw him watching our every move.
"Maybe now isn't a good time with your boyfriend stalking you."
"He's not stalking me. He doesn't trust you."
"Me?" Drew laughed quietly. "The guy that kept you safe and got you to Colorado."
"You know that's not why."
"Actually I don't."
"Stop being difficult. You're driving me crazy." I blurted out the last part before I could stop myself.
Drew looked down at me with a small smile on his face and scuffed his boot along the dark brown carpet before leaning closer.
"He thinks I'm a threat." Drew whispered close to my ear.
"Is that what you are, a threat?"
"I dunno, that depends on what you want me to be." he said and winked at me.
I thought I misheard him so I just stared at him but he didn't say anything else. His face was blank and I didn't know what to think. Drew confused me so much, I really had no clue what was happening between us? I just wanted to know what was going on and if I was going mad and imagining all this. Did Drew have feelings for me? Did I have feelings for him?
Drew stepped away and left me standing on my own and my eyes found their way to Lane who was watching me closely, probably wondering what Drew and I were whispering about, and Josh was throwing me a few looks over his shoulder. Even I didn't know what we were whispering about. I just wanted to know why he kissed me. And why I wanted him to do it again.
"We are gonna talk about it." I mumbled to myself.
Lane watched Drew's every move until he had left the room and I heard the back door open and close.
"Where have you traveled from?" Josh asked and I hopped back onto the counter and listened to Rosie and Tobias.
"We traveled all the way from Idaho with my sister and a few of our friends." Rosie's face changed and she looked upset.
"It's ok, baby, she could still be alive." Tobias soothed and flinched as Nick poked the needle through again.
"We got separated from the rest of our group, we don't know if any of them survived, but we're hoping to see them again in Eden." Tobias explained.
"How did you hear about this place?" Nick asked, tying the thread off.
"A year ago we found a stray carrier pigeon and it had a message from someone in Eden telling them to leave their home and travel to Eden." Tobias answered.
"But that was a year ago?" Lane piped in, saying exactly what I was thinking.
"Yes, but we're not the only ones that believe it still exists. We met another group that was heading that way and we joined them but like I said before we all got separated. We had another guy traveling with us but he got bitten in the last town." Rosie said, looking glum.
"Eden, huh?" Josh rubbed his chin, he looked like he actually believed them.
I tried really hard not to openly roll my eyes. No such place existed. Sure, there were a few places where survivors were staying like at the prison, but I didn't believe there was a community growing their own food and living in peace or whatever.
"So what are you guys doing out here? Or is this where you live?" Rosie glanced around the creepy store and eyed the big moose head on the wall.
"No." Josh laughed. "We're just passing through, it looked like a safe place to stop for the night. We're on our way to Washington, D.C. at the moment."
"Really, what for?" Tobias asked.
I paused and waited for Josh's response, and I saw Nick had stopped what he was doing and was looking at Josh, and Lane looked on edge as well. I didn't think it was a good idea to tell everyone about Nick creating a cure or me getting bitten. We didn't know these two and who knew what they would do with it. They looked friendly enough but you could never be too careful. Never.
"Oh, um, we have family there." Josh finally replied.
"All of you?" Rosie looked at the four of us.
"Uh, no...just me. I have a brother there. But we all met each other and decided to stay together." Josh said casually and Rosie smiled, believing his story. Sort of true, apart from the family thing in Washington.
Rosie cleaned Tobias cuts with an antiseptic wipe and he hissed at her.
"Sorry, babe, but you need to keep them clean."
"She's right." Nick said and packed the stuff back in the First-Aid box.
"I better go and see where Drew is." Josh stood up and disappeared out the back door and Lane bolted it after he had gone. I went over to the window and kept my eyes on the dark trees as the sky grew darker.
Chapter 19
Drew and Josh were gone for some time and I worried about them being outside after dark but Drew knew how to stay safe. I wanted to go and find them and see what they were doing but I knew Lane would kick up a fuss if I tried to leave so I stayed in the store. I didn't like having the group separated. I helped Lane cover the front windows using the flattened cardboard from the back room and we managed to cover all the gaps so we could light the gas lamps that we found in the store, and Nick lit his scented candle.
"Mmm, what's that smell?" Rosie asked.
She had set up a bed area with two sleeping bags for her and Tobias. Tobias was currently taking a nap, resting after his ordeal, and Rosie had her nose in a book she had in her bag. She had thanked us a number of times for rescuing Tobias and bringing their stuff back with us.
"It's lovely, it definitely takes away that rank mold smell." Rosie continued.
"It's vanilla and coconut." Nick answered, reading the label and smiling at me because I made fun of him for packing the damn thing.
The back door rattled and Lane jumped up to go and see what was happening and I followed him into the storeroom.
"
Hurry up! The food's going cold." Josh said and Lane quickly unbolted the door and let Josh in.
"Where's Drew?" I asked.
"He's coming. Shish kebab." Josh held out one of the sticks to me with a grin and I took it and inspected the cooked meat.
"What is it?" Lane asked, taking one of the sticks from him with a weird look on his face.
Lane was used to eating cold beans, dry crackers, and the packet stuff we got back at the prison.
"Rabbit. It's not much but it will fill a hole tonight. Drew caught extra for everyone." Josh said and the door handle rattled again. Lane opened the door for Drew and he stepped inside. Josh wandered into the storeroom and handed a stick to Nick. Drew ignored me and walked past me with his own stick, chewing on a piece of meat. I shrugged at Lane and followed the others. Nick was frowning at his stick and he looked afraid to touch it in case it jumped off and ran away.
"You're supposed to eat it." I said, patting his back and he wrinkled his nose.
Tobias stirred and sat up having heard all of us.
"Oh, I don't eat meat." Rosie said, pulling a face as Josh waved it under her nose.
"Oh." Josh hadn't thought to ask before he wafted it under her nose. He looked over at Drew and kinda shrugged.
"It's ok, we have a packet of cookies you can nibble on." I swiped the pack from behind the desk that Nick had hidden earlier and chucked them to Rosie. We had already eaten the potato chips so I couldn't offer them to her.
"Thanks." She smiled and tore open the packet.
"I'll eat it. I'm not one to turn down hot food." Tobias said and Josh handed him both the sticks and wouldn't take no for an answer. Lane leaned against the counter next to me and hesitantly bit off a piece of meat and rolled it around in his mouth. I wasn't a fan of eating the wildlife either but I was hungry and I wasn't about to complain when Drew had been nice enough to catch enough food for all of us to eat.
"I'm sorry, I should have said something when I saw you leaving with the rabbits. I haven't been able to eat meat ever since my sister showed me a video about how they really kill pigs and I haven't been able to look at a sausage or any other kind of meat since." Rosie explained.
"It's ok, now we know for next time." Josh smiled.
Nick sat on a foldout chair near Tobias and Rosie, he had taken a liking to Rosie and they had been chatting nonstop. She was talking about the book she was reading and Nick was talking about some dead poet while Tobias ate his food quietly.
Drew sat on the other side of the store in the dark, picking at his stick. Josh came over and joined Lane and I and we all sat on the floor in a circle on a bunch of sleeping bags with a gas lamp next to us.
"So what do you think about Eden?" Josh asked quietly.
Rosie and Nick were so deeply engrossed in their conversation that they couldn't hear us.
"Probably not real." I responded.
"Yeah...do you remember the last time when those other two were looking for a safe area." Lane started and I immediately froze and the piece of meat got stuck in the throat.
"They had been told that there was this town in Colorado that was a safe zone taking in survivors. Well, Josh, me and the others found that town and they weren't very friendly." Lane said.
I started coughing and Lane reached over and slapped me hard on the back which didn't help. I cleared my throat and grabbed a water bottle. I knew the town he was talking about, Drew and I had come across it when we were looking for the university. They wouldn't let us in and pointed guns at us and told us to leave. That's why I didn't believe anything I heard nowadays.
I saw Drew watching us from his spot in the corner, he was close enough to hear us.
"What were their names?" Josh asked interestedly. Oh no.
I looked around for an escape, maybe I could say I needed to pee. I pretended not to hear him and sipped on my water. Trust Lane to bring this up now. I still hadn't told Josh that we had bumped into his brother and his girlfriend and that Ozma was really his niece. There hadn't exactly been a right moment to just bring it up. And I still wasn't sure I wanted to tell him what had happened and that I shot his brother.
"Alex, what were their names? Crystal and Tim? Was it Tim, Tony...?" Lane mused.
I hadn't even told Lane that Thom and Josh were related and now he was going to drop us right in it.
I held the water in my mouth and it felt like a lump in the back of my throat. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.
"They're Ozma's parents, I should remember their names...Alex, what was the lanky guy called?" Lane was relentless and I just wanted to chuck the water bottle at his head and tell him to shut the hell up.
Drew had clearly seen my discomfort and he knew that Ozma was Josh's niece because I had told him the whole story. Drew came over to us and grabbed a water bottle and stood up behind Lane while Lane continued to nudge me in the leg to get my attention. Drew purposely stumbled over his own legs and tipped water all down Lane's back.
"Ahhh...what the fuck, man?" Lane grumbled and pulled the wet t-shirt over his head and threw it at me like I was his maid or something.
"Sorry. I tripped." Drew said and hopped up onto the counter behind me. I stood up and hung the t-shirt on a display stand to dry.
"Anyway, the way I see it is we're going the same way as them, we might as well all travel together, right?" Josh said, changing the subject which I was pleased about.
Lane was too busy scowling at Drew to hear what Josh was saying.
"Lane, what do you think?" Josh asked.
"I think Drew chucked water on me on purpose."
"No, about going to Missouri with Rosie and Tobias, it's on the way."
Lane grumbled a 'whatever' in response and left us to go and sit with the others. I looked over my shoulder at Drew and he shrugged and hopped over the desk and disappeared into the back room.
"Alex, what do you think?" Josh turned to me.
"I think it's a good idea. We have to travel through Missouri anyway so we might as well stay together."
"What do you think about them?"
"I think we can trust them. I mean, they have more stuff than us and we have nothing much and they're trusting us not to run off with their stuff while they're asleep tonight."
"So we'll go with them to Missouri."
"Yes. And I think Nick has made a new friend." I smiled and nudged Josh in the arm to get him to look at Rosie and Nick as they both got excited over a book.
"So...are you planning to leave us after we get to Missouri?" I asked, and dropped my stick next to the one Josh had discarded.
"What do you mean?"
"I heard you and Drew talking about leaving."
"Leaving?"
"He was trying to convince you to go back to Louisiana with him. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, I heard you both."
Josh shook his head with a smile and took the water bottle from me.
"We were talking about after we get you to Washington. What, you thought we were planning to take off and leave you guys behind?" Josh flipped his brown hair out of his face to see me better, he really needed a haircut.
I snatched the water bottle back before he could take another sip.
"Alex, I'm not going anywhere. I said I would help get Nick there safely and that's what I plan to do. As for after we get there, Drew was just giving me a few options, and you know, Louisiana sounds pretty enticing, I'm a sucker for the warmer weather."
I silently brooded and played with the water bottle cap.
"This isn't really about me, is it? You thought Drew was planning to leave you, didn't you?" Josh said, raising an eyebrow at me.
"No. Maybe? If he does I'd just like a heads-up before he takes off, that's all. And I was mean to him, so it'd be my fault if he left."
"Mean to him? What did you do, make fun of his bow?"
"No. I got mad at him. I wanted to know what he was still doing here, why he stayed and didn't leave with Evan, Lena, and Dan. He wouldn't tell me, and I d
idn't want him to think that he had to stay out of some debt to me or something, 'cause he doesn't. I'm not stopping him from leaving, I just want to know beforehand."
"I don't think you have to worry about Drew leaving. And as for being mean to him, I don't think there is much you could do to make him want to leave you."
"You mean leave the group."
"No, I mean leave you. I saw you two...before."
"Is this about what happened back at the camp? Look, I'm sorry, but the guy got what was coming to him-"
"No, not that. I meant before when I saw you two making out against a tree while I'm getting shot at."
My mouth dropped open and I quickly laughed it off. I didn't know he had seen us kiss. It wasn't even a proper kiss.
"Ok, Josh, I think you got jungle fever or something."
"Hmm...why are you blushing?"
"It was nothing. I was freaking out 'cause Drew wanted to go after them on his own and he just did it to catch me off guard and it worked, he managed to distract me for a few seconds before I chased his ass."
"Huh, that's not what it looked like. He had his hands all over you." Did he? I was so confused when it happened, I had no idea where he put his hands.
"I-I don't know, ok? I don't know why he did that. Things have been weird since the university. It's nothing."
"I had always hoped I might have a chance with you but you always shot me down." Josh said, picking at his boot.
"Josh-"
"No, its okay, I wasn't what you needed."
"That's not true. I need you now...to keep me safe, to keep all of us safe."
"You know as well as I do you don't need me. I just forget that sometimes."
"I don't mind you taking care of me, I mean, yeah it pisses me off sometimes but I know you mean well. And I do need you. I need all of you."
"And Lane, do you love him like you used to?"
"Of course I do. What's that got to do with anything? I need Lane just as much as you or Nick. I don't think he'd let me go to Washington without him."
