by Kate L. Mary
“You better come out with your hands up,” Kellan called.
“Shit.” The man let out a deep sigh, which was followed by him spitting, and when he finally appeared he had his hands raised. “I’ll humor you, but only because I’m feeling generous.”
He was black, mid- to late-thirties. The brown eyes studying us were curious and a little annoyed, but kind, too. Something you didn’t see often when you came across people out in the open like this.
“Who are you?” Kellan asked.
“Just somebody passing by.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Can I put my hands down?”
Kellan nodded while he tried to move closer to me. An impossible task, considering his body was already pressed up against mine. “Yeah, but don’t pull a weapon.”
“Seems a little unfair when you have a gun aimed at me, but I’ll play along.” The man ran a hand over his smooth scalp, wiping away the beads of sweat gathered there. “I’m Bill, by the way.”
“Kellan.” He didn’t lower his gun, and his name came out sounding eerily similar to the growl a zombie let out just before it attacked.
I stuck my head out from behind Kellan’s back. “Regan.”
“Nice to meet you.” Bill looked at me, and Kellan shifted again so he was blocking me, causing the other man to let out a chuckle. “I get it, but you can relax. I’m trustworthy.”
“No such thing. Sorry, man.”
“No need to apologize. I understand.” Bill looked between Kellan and me. “Can I give you a lift? Normally I wouldn’t stop, but I thought you might have gotten caught in the storm that went through. It was a big one.”
“We did,” I said just as Kellan growled, “Nope. We’re good.”
He was right, of course. We couldn’t let Bill give us a ride because then he’d know where we lived. The last thing we needed was to give the location of our shelter away.
“I’m not going to beg.” Bill’s gaze moved to the sky, and he frowned. “Looks like the weather will hold out as long as you don’t have far to go.”
“Not far,” Kellan said.
Bill nodded as he once again ran his hand over his head. “Good.”
Since we weren’t taking him up on his offer, and Kellan wasn’t exactly being friendly, I expected Bill to turn and leave, but he didn’t.
Instead, he said, “Good thing it finally started raining. I was getting pretty worried. Thinking about heading out, too.” He crossed his arms, his gaze once again on us. “Just came back from doing some trading out at Quartz Mountain, checked out the lake while I was out there. It’s full again. Wasn’t sure I’d see the day.”
“This happens.” I stepped around Kellan, who still had the gun pointed at Bill. “A year or so before the virus hit, it was almost empty, too. Remember?”
“Wasn’t here.” Bill shook his head, frowning. “I came to the Air Force base about three months before things got bad. Got stuck here.”
Kellan lowered his arm a little. “You were in the Air Force?”
“I was a C-17 pilot, a Lieutenant Colonel. I was about to take command of the squadron.”
“We have a friend who was here for pilot training,” I said. “He got stuck too.”
Bill’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise. “That so? Huh. I haven’t run into anybody else in my shoes. I figured they all got out.”
“Blake’s family lived in Ohio, but they all died, so he stayed.” I shrugged. “He said he didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“I know the feeling.” Bill looked around. “Although I’ll admit I’ve thought about heading out a few times. It sure is a miserably desolate place to spend the apocalypse.”
“What’s stopped you?” Kellan asked.
“That new government out east, that’s what.” Bill snorted and uncrossed his arms so he could wave, as if motioning toward Atlanta. “You heard what they’re doing? No way am I getting involved with that shit show.”
Kellan lowered his gun a little more, but didn’t drop his arm completely. “That’s what we think, too.”
Bill’s mouth twitched. “Guess I’m not looking so bad right about now, huh?”
“No,” Kellan said, “but looks can be deceiving.”
Bill chuckled. “That they can.” He took a step back. “One last chance to grab a ride.”
When I looked at Kellan, he had his lips pressed together the way he did when he was thinking something through. “You by yourself, Bill?” he asked after a moment of silence
“Yup. I go into one of the settlements from time to time, but I’ve found that living on my own is easier.” He paused, looking between us before saying, “I have a place at the old Air Force base.”
“In one of the houses?” Kellan asked.
Bill’s lips twitched. “Not exactly.”
Kellan nodded, but didn’t ask any more details. If Bill wanted to tell us, he would. Most likely, though, he was doing the same thing we were, simply trying to protect the location of his home.
“Sounds lonely,” I said.
“Can be, but it’s also easier not having to worry about watching anyone’s back but my own.” Bill let out a deep sigh. “Well, I think I’m going to be on my way unless you’ve changed your mind about the ride.” He looked pointedly at Kellan.
“Sorry, no.”
“Thank you, though,” I added.
Bill nodded as he ran his hand over his bald head once again. “I get it.” He took a step back, not turning around. “Hope you get where you’re going okay.”
“You, too.” Kellan finally lowered the gun to his side. “Thanks for stopping.”
Bill grinned. “Nice to meet you, Kellan.” He nodded at me. “Regan.”
“Bye, Bill. Maybe we’ll see you in Altus sometime.”
“Maybe,” Bill said. “You never can tell what’s going to happen. Can you?”
“Not before the virus, and definitely not now,” Kellan agreed.
Bill chuckled as he turned to his truck. “That’s the truth.” He waved over his shoulder. “Be careful, you two.”
“You, too!” I called.
Kellan and I didn’t move. We watched Bill climb into the truck, and a second later the engine roared to life. The bright sun reflecting off the windshield made it impossible to see inside, but I waved, knowing Bill was most likely doing the same. A second later, he backed up. When he took off, he did a sharp U-turn so he could drive back the way he’d come, and within seconds he’d once again disappeared around the small hill.
When he was gone, Kellan turned to me. “I wish you would listen to me.”
He shoved his gun in its holster and started walking.
I glared at his back for a few seconds before charging after him. Leave it to Kellan to be able to erase the warmth that had spread through my insides only moments before Bill arrived.
“Why do you always feel like you need to boss me around?”
Kellan shot a look my way. “We’ve been through this. I want you to be safe.”
That warm feeling came back, but I tried to convince myself it had more to do with the sun pounding down on my head than Kellan. It wasn’t an easy sell, though. Especially not when my insides twisted into knots every time his eyes were on me.
God, I felt like a hormonal teenager, and it was driving me nuts.
We said nothing else as we walked. Kellan kept a few steps ahead of me, his knife out and his eyes always moving. Always scanning the distant landscape. Every now and then he would look my way, and his lips would pucker like he wanted to say something, but he never did. It was like he didn’t know what to say or how to act around me. It was how I felt around him a lot these days.
When we came across an injured armadillo, struggling to get to his feet, Kellan pulled his gun.
“What are you doing?” I reached out and grabbed his hand, appalled that he was thinking of shooting the animal before even checking to see if it could get up.
“We can’t help it.”
“How do you know?”
It was Kellan’s turn to reach out and stop me when I started to move toward the thing. “Leave it. Armadillos carry leprosy. You don’t want to mess with that. Especially not these days when antibiotics are nearly impossible to come by.”
I shivered and took a step away from the animal. “Really?”
“Really.” Kellan lifted his gun and took aim. “I won’t even risk getting close enough to use my knife.”
He pulled the trigger, and the gunshot echoed through the silence. Kellan lowered his gun and looked around like he was waiting for a horde or a group of people to come charging at us, but once the boom of the gunshot had faded away, the silence returned full force.
“Let’s get moving,” he said, grabbing my hand and taking off. Faster this time.
We were getting close to home when the car came out of nowhere. I heard the engine only a few seconds before it came into view, speeding through the Oklahoma wasteland in front of us. Kellan heard it at the exact same time and drew his gun. His eyes snapped my way, wide and terrified, and then scanned the area. There was nothing around but fields long overgrown with weeds, which were now thriving more than ever thanks to the rain. Here and there sat a cluster of trees, and in the distance I could make out the roofs of ramshackle houses, but they were too far away. We’d never make it there.
The rev of the car’s engine told me they were moving faster.
“Shit,” Kellan hissed.
He grabbed my elbow and took off running toward a nearby field.
“Where are we going?” I called, huffing as I pumped my legs, trying to keep up.
“We can make it,” he said, almost to himself. “I know a place.”
We reached an old fence, rusted and beaten. It was the kind ranchers would put around their property to keep cattle in, but the expanse in front of us wore no sign that any animals were still living on the land. Kellan shoved his gun back into the holster, glancing over his shoulder once before lacing his fingers together and motioning for me to step in.
“Go!” he shouted. “Over!”
I looked back once, and the sight of the car barreling down on us made me do as I was told. Using his hands as a foothold, I pushed myself up, holding onto the branches of a brittle tree as I hauled myself over. Once my feet were firmly planted on the other side, I turned to face Kellan. He was already climbing.
“Run, Regan!”
I spun around, shoving hair out of my face when it flew into my eyes. I had no idea where he wanted me to go, and the only thing in front of me was a long stretch of overgrown fields. “Where?”
“Go! I’m right behind you.”
I did as I was told, running forward. The weeds and tall grass were so high that I practically had to hop over them, which slowed me down, but in no time Kellan was at my side again and had my arm. He ran faster, barreling through the brush like it was nothing and pulling me with him. My heart was pounding as the sun beat down on me like it was trying to burn me alive. The car at our back screeched to a halt, and Kellan pulled me faster. I wanted to look back, especially when voices shouted to us, but I couldn’t. I was too focused on where we were going.
My brain told me that we shouldn’t be running through this field. Growing up, I’d gone to the Rattlesnake Derby every year in Mangum. Part of the reason for the yearly festival was population control, and nine years into the apocalypse, I could only imagine how big the rattlesnake population in this area had gotten. The tall, thick brush we were currently running through was a prime location for the nasty things, and one bite was all it would take to put an end to my survival days. I’d heard a few people in Altus and Quartz Mountain had milked snakes to make anti-venom, but without a car, we would never make it there in time.
Kellan moved faster when something clanged behind us. I ventured a look back and saw two men working to get over the fence. One had made it, but in the process, his long leather jacket had gotten tangled in the rusty barbed wire, and he seemed to be having trouble getting it free.
Leather.
Shit. The men behind us were covered in leather from head to toe despite the scorching sun. It would have made no sense if it wasn’t for the story Harper had told us. These had to be some of the men who were out searching for immune survivors. Only they didn’t have a truck with them. Just a beat up old car.
Of course, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t drag us to their hideout and let us get bitten there.
One of the men shouted at us to stop. The stupidity of the request would have made me laugh if I wasn’t so completely terrified at the moment. Since I was, it only succeeded in forcing out a strained hiccup that made me feel like I was choking.
“Here.” Kellan jerked me to the right.
I hadn’t managed to recover enough to fill my lungs, and I stumbled over my own feet. His firm grip kept me up, though.
What could only be described as a hole came into view. It was surrounded by greenery and barely visible until we were only a few feet away, but when Kellan pulled me to the other side, a sloped area became visible. Like everything else, it was overgrown with weeds and bushes, but through the greenery the black mouth of a cave was visible.
He paused to look back the way we’d come before gasping, “Down.”
The men were visible for a moment, charging across the field toward us, before I was pulled forward and they once again disappeared from sight.
I gripped Kellan’s hand tighter as he jogged down the incline. He walked almost sideways, his feet parallel to the cave’s opening to keep them from sliding down, and I copied his steps. We reached the bottom in no time, and he ducked in without pausing, pulling me after him.
Very little light had managed to penetrate the darkness, but there was enough that I registered the glimmer of water a second before my feet splashed through it. The darkness seemed to go on forever, and the small river we ran through got deeper until it was up to my knees. Blackness engulfed us until not even the glimmer of the water was visible. The only thing keeping me grounded was Kellan’s hand in mine, and I clung to it like it was my sole chance for survival.
“Here.”
His voice was soft, but amidst the silence in the cave it was so startling that I almost screamed.
Once again, he pulled on my hand, leading me to the side. The water got shallower, and then I found my feet on solid ground. My boots sank into the soft earth, and I had to pry them from the squishy mud every time I lifted a foot, but before long the ground was more firm. Gravel crunched under my feet, and then we were on bigger rocks that made the ground uneven and treacherous. Kellan slowed, and only a few steps later stopped
“Here. Rest.” This time, his voice was lower, but even then the sound bounced off the walls surrounding us.
I took a deep breath, and Kellan squeezed my hand, and once again silence fell over us.
There was only the pounding of my heart and our breathing, but I strained my ears anyway, waiting to see if the men knew where we’d gone and would follow us into the cave. Even if they did, there was no guarantee they would find us, not unless they happened to have a flashlight or candle, and they’d been far enough behind that they might not figure out where we’d gone. The hole was pretty well concealed by the overgrown field, and unless they ran right up to it, they might not even realize it existed.
Before long, the sound of male voices penetrated the silence, and I stiffened. Kellan’s hand tightened on mine, but he said nothing. His heat helped not only calm me, but it also kept me warm. We weren’t very deep in the cave at all, but it had to be a good thirty degrees colder than outside. I’d gone from sweating to shivering in a few minutes’ time, and between that and the intense fear surging through me, I felt out of control.
The voices grew closer, but I couldn’t make out a single word. Something scraped against the ground outside, and I stiffened. The only thing visible at the moment was the mouth of the cave, bright against the blackness surrounding us, and I was staring right at it when a figure came into view.
/> Seconds later, water splashed, and the man yelled, “It’s a cave!”
The words were deafening in the silent space. They bounced off the walls and were thrown in our direction as if taunting us.
I shifted so I was pressed up against Kellan.
He put his lips to my ear and whispered, “They won’t be able to find us here. It’s okay.”
I nodded but said nothing.
Another figure came into view, and more splashing echoed through the cave, followed by the scuffling of feet.
“Looks deep,” the second man said.
“Think they went down here?”
“Seems like a good way to get killed. Naw. I bet they ran for them trees in the distance. Probably ducked behind a bush. We should go back up.”
Their voices vibrated through the blackness.
More splashing echoed through the cave, and I watched as the men headed for the opening. I held my breath, waiting, and before long, one of them disappeared, following quickly by the other.
Once they were gone, I was able to relax a little, but not completely. They were still out there. Still looking for us.
Kellan settled back on the damp floor, and I followed his lead, stretching my legs out in front of me in hopes of relieving the stiffness in my joints.
“We’ll need to hang out here for a bit,” he said.
My hand was still in his, and I waited to see if he would pull away, but he didn’t. It was a relief, both because I needed his warmth and because I was now fairly certain this thing between us was real. I wanted to acknowledge it, but knew the timing was bad. We could talk about it later. Once we got away from these men. After we were home and safe.
18
We sat in silence, waiting to see if the men would come back. They were still out there. I knew because occasionally I could hear the sound of distant voices. Fortunately for us, they’d decided the cave wasn’t a viable option.
When I couldn’t stand the quiet any longer, I said, “How did you know about the cave?”
