by Angel Lawson
She steps in the room and shuts the door behind her. “You’re not supposed to be on that foot. Sit down and we can talk about it.” I get on the bed and she takes the chair.
“You told me not to trust him and to let that part of my life go. I did, but now he’s back and when I say he’s back…well, things have changed between us.”
Walker shakes her head. “You two have had this undercurrent since the day I saved your ass from Erwin’s underground torture chamber. Pure UST.”
“UST?”
“Unresolved sexual tension. You both have it in spades and you probably would’ve handled it months ago if Cole wasn’t in the picture.”
“No,” I shake my head. “It has nothing to do with Cole. Wyatt hasn’t always been truthful with me. It’s taken a long time for me to trust him.”
She leans back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “Is that why you’re asking me about weaknesses? Because you trust him so much?”
I bury my face in my hands and groan. “Stupid Green. He got in my head.”
“What did he say?”
“He thinks Wyatt has led the Hybrid army right to us. That Cole is using him to find us and picked Wyatt in particular because of his feelings for me.” I fidget with a loose thread on the quilt—feeling dumb. Wyatt is nearly unshakeable. Who am I to consider being the one that knocks him loose?
“So you’re his weakness?”
“According to Green.”
“Wyatt’s many things,” she says carefully. “More often a mystery than anything else, but in all the time I’ve known him he’s never thought with any body part other than his brain.”
“Nice image,” I say, cheeks hot.
“Thanks.” She laughs for a quick second before growing serious again. “Green is probably just jealous or even more likely, intimidated.”
“Wyatt is pretty intimidating,” I agree.
“Have you told him about being in Butch’s trading post yet? Because I wouldn’t want to be around when he finds out the guys let us walk right into that one.”
I shake my head. “No. I haven’t told him.” It seems like a terrible secret we share together. The idea of Wyatt finding out that I was caged like an animal doesn’t sit well with me. “It wasn’t entirely their fault, you know.”
Walker smiles. “Oh, I know, but do you think Wyatt would accept that?”
“No. He would have burnt that whole place to the ground first.”
“Exactly.” We share a knowing look.
“I better go. I was on my way to the bathroom to check for any supplies we can take with us.”
“Thanks for talking me off the ledge.”
She stands and squeezes my shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think love is a weakness anyway.”
I swallow. “Love?”
“A year ago I would have kicked my own ass for saying that.” She shakes her head at herself. “But now? You gotta hold on to what you can to get through the day, you know?”
She leaves and I hear her open the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. She’s right. The days are long. There’s no television or computers or podcasts to get us through the dull moments. There is no break from the fear. It’s all just survival, and in the end, we only have one another to cling to. Wyatt, for whatever his reasons, has clung to me like a lifeboat. Unlike Walker, I’m not sure if it’s really love, but I can try to be what he needs me to be for now, because I know one thing for sure. I’m stronger with him around than without.
Half of the team leaves the next morning. Davis, Walker, Jackson, and Parker carry the information given to Wyatt by Erwin with hopes of convincing them to join the upcoming battle.
“Tell them if they join up, we can give them the vaccine,” Jane reminds them as we all stand on the front porch. Well, I sit, keeping pressure off my ankle. Jane has given me one more day of rest.
“You have enough for everyone?” Walker asks.
“I brought the materials with me. They’re in Catlettsburg under lock and key.”
Davis shifts on his feet, eager to get on the road. I don’t blame him. Daylight is burning. They’re taking horses, as Wyatt’s team has discovered it’s the easier way to travel.
“Our first stop is Fort Knox,” Jackson declares. “I’m trying to not feel intimidated by this mission.”
Jude raises his eyebrows. “Seriously?”
“It’s the closest one. Also the biggest. I’m hoping they were prepared and are still functioning.”
“Good luck guys,” I stand, using my makeshift crutch and hobble over to Davis. “I wish we weren’t saying goodbye already.”
“Hey,” he says, pulling me into a tight hug. “At least this time I get a goodbye, right?”
“Shut it,” I reply, even though I deserve it. “Take care of everybody.” I say it to Davis but I’m looking at Walker. If anyone will get them back in one piece and pull off this whole thing, it’s her. She nods in reply and I’m glad we’ve patched things up and become friends.
They get on their horses, Walker a little unsure at first. Wyatt strokes the white stripe on the animal’s face before patting it on the flank and sending them on their way.
As soon as they slip from my view I feel the loss of separation.
“You okay?” Wyatt asks, brushing his hands on his pants.
“It just feels like every time we separate, someone doesn’t come back.”
He studies me. “You mean Paul?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“That kid is probably dragging Erwin’s ass out of a fight right now. I have zero doubt we’ll see him again someday.”
I look at his face to see if he’s joking but the lack of smile or crinkled lines near his eyes imply that he’s serious. “You have an unshakable faith sometimes.”
“Faith?” he repeats, scratching his forehead. He trimmed his beard sometime in the last day and I heard him ask Parker for a full haircut before we leave in the morning. “I’ve seen Paul rise from the dead and fight his way out of battles no man should have survived. It’s not faith. It’s acceptance of our bizarre reality.”
The others have gone back to their tasks, leaving me and Wyatt alone on the porch. He rests his hands on my hips. “We’ll see them again, too—hopefully leading an army back here. If not, we’ll go find them.”
“Yeah?”
He tilts his head. “Yeah, but don’t get any ideas. You and I have a different rule—one we broke too many times—and it’s not going to happen again.”
“Rule number one?”
He nods, touching my chin before pressing his lips to mine. “I was an idiot to let you go without me.”
“If I hadn’t, we’d probably both be dead,” I remind him. His arms are tight around my back and it feels so good to be close to someone like this.
“Never again,” he repeats. No matter how foolish the declaration was then and seems now, he means it.
“What’s rule number one?”
I pause, holding the needle between my fingers. I’d been sewing up a hole in my favorite jeans when Mary Ellen asks this question. “Excuse me?”
“I heard you on the porch earlier—you and Mr. Wyatt.” Her face flames red, giving me the idea she saw as much as she heard. “Sorry, that was rude of me.”
“Oh. That’s okay. It’s crowded in here. Privacy is hard to come by.” The girl smiles and I see she’s wearing her braid down her back today and not in the two pigtails I’ve seen her with so far. “I used to wear my hair sort of like that. It’s too long now.”
She touches the braid and I notice some other changes. Like her long dress is gone,replaced by a pair of pants and an oversized shirt. I don’t blame her. That dress is a deathtrap.
“Wyatt and I came up with a rule—well, no, I came up with it—early on. Never separate. It’s too hard to lose one another. Too hard to fight alone. You need a partner and backup out here to survive.”
“But you did leave him?”
I push the needle
through the thick fabric, drawing the wool together. Socks aren’t that hard to find. I just like these. They’re soft and keep my feet warm. “I did. It was a risk.”
“A good risk?” Her eyebrows pull together in confusion.
“A necessary one, I guess. Sometimes we have to do things and we don’t want to drag everyone else into it.” I poke my finger and hiss at the pain. A pebble of blood pools at the tip and I pop it in my mouth. “This life is complicated.”
“Did you know I’ve never left my town before all this happened?” she says. “My whole life was set. Go to school, get married, work on a farm, have babies. It was all arranged before I could even think of my own opinion.”
“That’s kind of wild.” She sits at the table across from me and grows quiet. “Hey, are you okay? You’ve been through a lot in the last few days—not to mention the last year.”
She stares at the table and inhales before confessing in a whisper, “Finn is not my betrothed.”
From the way she says it, like revealing a mortal sin, I feel this is huge information. For her. Not for me. “Okay.”
“My to-be husband’s name was Carl. He was eighteen and one of the hunters that infected the village. When he returned home, he acted strange. He and I were never actually that fond of one another but he’d never raised a hand to me. That night he struck me. I thought he had found out—that he knew about Finn. It took a minute to realize he wasn’t normal. Thank heavens Finn arrived in time and killed him before he killed me.”
I put down the sewing and reach for her hand. “I’m so sorry. It’s terrible to lose someone to the infection.” She’s trembling and I can’t tell if it’s from telling the truth after all this time or something more. I take a stab in the dark. “So you and Finn were seeing each other in secret?”
She looks up, horrified. “Yes. Our families would never approve. Our fathers in particular, but when everyone died we were the only ones left. I was so thankful but also worried about God’s judgment. We have broken so many rules.” Her ears burn red. “We’ve shared a bed.”
“Hey,” I say, scooting my chair closer. “All hell broke loose, Mary Ellen. Our lives are not what they were supposed to be. Or maybe they are? I don’t know. I just try to live one day to the next, working to survive and help others along the way. I don’t know how else to live.” I bend and catch her eye. “I do think that if you managed to get out of that infected town alive, with the man you love, God is probably on your side.”
She flings her arms around me, pulling me in a tight, desperate hug. She sobs in my ear and I rub her back. She’d carried that guilt for months. “We make our own rules now,” I tell her, knowing it’s not always a good thing. “Finn loves you very much. I can tell by the way he looks at you.”
She extracts herself. “You can?”
“Oh yeah, I’d give up my favorite hatchet to have a man stare at me like that.” It’s a joke. Please. I wouldn’t give up my hatchet for anything.
Mary Ellen wipes her nose and gives me a funny look. “Mr. Wyatt already looks at you like that, you know that don’t you?”
I think of sweet, innocent Finn and the way he dotes on Mary Ellen’s every need. “We may have a different perspective on that,” I say, grabbing my socks and standing. “You’ll leave in the morning for Catlettsburg. I think you and Finn will like it. It will be a good place for a fresh start.”
“Thanks for being so kind,” she says. “It’s been a long time since I had another female to talk to.”
I snort. “Yeah, tell me about it. Things can get a little testosterone-y in my life, too.”
I leave the room feeling like I’ve accomplished something—even just making another person feel better is a bonus for the day. Tomorrow they’ll head back to town and Wyatt and I will start looking for the Hybrids. Although the rest has been welcomed, it feels good to have a mission planned.
I should have known better, because in the apocalypse, nothing ever goes according to plan.
22
Jane and I are together in the living room, tightening the wrap on my ankle when we hear the sound of boots on the porch. I reach for my hatchet and Jane stands, pulling a small pistol from her waistband.
Mary Ellen walks in from the kitchen, holding a can. She looks up and sees the weapons. “What’s happening?” she whispers.
I nod at the door and wave her out of the room. One of use needs to be hidden and Mary Ellen has two good ankles. That’s more than Green, who is lying behind me on the sofa, and I have combined.
Unless I’m mistaken, I hear several sets of feet. They could just be Wyatt and Jude, but the way the hair on the back of my neck stands on end, I fear the worst.
The door opens slowly and a figure steps inside, hands raised in a position of surrender. My eyes move to his face but Jane has already exclaimed, “Avi!” lowering her gun.
He smiles and exhales. “You mind getting this attack dog to stand down?”
Wyatt appears in the doorway. His grip on Avi is unmistakable. One false move and Wyatt is prepared to snap his neck.
“It’s okay,” Jane says, approaching the men. “This is Avi, my friend from Catlettsburg.”
Wyatt releases him with a shove and I’m about to ask why he’s being such a dick about it but I see the shiner next to his eye. Avi decked him. No wonder he’s pissed.
“Are you alone?” I ask Avi.
“Yes. I came by myself. There’s no one else out there.”
Wyatt doesn’t look convinced.
“He has no reason to lie,” I say. “He’s a friend. Relax. Where’s Jude?”
He glares at me, letting me know that Jude doesn’t trust Avi either. “Outside. I’ll be with him.”
The door slams and Avi looks behind him, then glances back at me. “Nice guy. He’s that friend of yours, right?”
“He’s just cautious.” I point to my face. “Plus it looks like you snuck up on him. Impressive, but not the best foot to start off on.”
“He jumped me from behind—he’s the one that’s sneaky as hell. I managed to get an elbow in before he shot me in the face.”
“Ignore him,” Jane says, reaching for his hand. “What are you doing here? How did you find us?”
“I was on my way to Franklin when I passed Walker and her team on the road. They told me how to find you.” Avi’s voice sounds strained. Worried. The light in the room is dark but when I look at him closer I see that he looks like he hasn’t slept in days.
“What’s going on Avi? Why are you here?” I repeat Jane’s question.
“I went on a short supply run with two other members of the community. You remember Cody and Ian?” Jane and I nod, recalling the brothers that worked as the town peace-keepers. Both had experience in Iraq. “We were specifically checking on how some of the gardens we cultivate herbs and small vegetables from were faring after the cold winter.” He coughs and I shoot Mary Ellen a look. She disappears into the kitchen and returns with a reused bottle of water. He accepts and takes a large gulp. “Thank you. I ran out several hours ago.”
“You went on a supply run. Did you encounter Eaters? Where are the other men?”
“No Eaters. There’s a nursery and greenhouse about five miles out of Catlettsburg. We’d hoped that maybe the greenhouse varieties had some early budding because it’s located in a massive field, allowing for direct sunlight. We were almost there when I stopped to check an area known for fungus growth, telling the others to go ahead. It was dumb separating from them, although I don’t know what I would have done differently.”
“Avi,” Jane says, growing impatient with his rambling. “What happened?”
“When I caught up to them it was nearly dark. I could see what they couldn’t. The specks of fires all through the valley behind the greenhouse. Dozens of campfires out in the open. I found blood splatters on the road and Cody’s cap on the ground. In the distance, soldiers swarmed the country side. They had no care. No worries. They didn’t fear attracting the infected
or alerting anyone to their arrival.”
Jane and I share an uneasy glance.
“What kind of uniform were they wearing?” Green asks.
“Similar to the one you wore when you got to Catlettsburg. All black.”
Erwin’s men wear camouflage. Jane’s Fighters wore black. The Hybrids adopted the same look. “Did they see you?” I ask.
“No.”
“No?” I clarify. “Or you don’t think so. It’s not the same thing.”
He stares at me in annoyance. “It took me two days to find you Alex, do you think they would have left me go that long if they were following me?”
“I think they can’t be underestimated.”
Green speaks up. “They’ll find out from your men about Catlettsburg. They’ll go there next.”
Avi nods. “That was my thought, too. It’s why I came here instead of going back home. I hoped to catch you on the return home.” He looks at my wrapped ankle and Green lying on the couch. “Looks like you guys ran into some trouble yourself.”
“Franklin is lost. The infection spread through the community just before the first snow,” Jane tells him.
He frowns. “How? I vaccinated them myself.”
She explains her theory about the lack of prior vaccinations in their system. When she finishes he simply says, “That’s unfortunate.”
“I’d planned on going back to the lab to figure out a way to stop the Hybrids, but it may be too late.”
He gives her a hard look. “We talked about this. No more biological warfare.”
“I’m not trying to create warfare, Avi!” she shouts, surprising us all. Jane is always calm and collected. “I’m attempting to repair the damage I’ve already done. I need something that will override all of the vaccines, keep the parasite from taking over the body, as well as disable the EVI-2 vaccine that creates the Hybrids.”
“Don’t forget the Mutts,” Green adds.
“What the hell is a Mutt?” Avi asks, but no one answers him.
