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 Twenty-Six
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 stoppin
g 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 Twenty-Seven
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 jus
t 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.
What Remains Series (Book 3): Infected Page 12
