“Hey, um, Brian?” The clerk stopped writing and looked at me. “When David comes by will you tell him I went home? He’s at the grocery store. I was supposed to wait for him, but I’m not feeling so great.” I put my hand over my mouth and made a gagging noise.
Brian wrinkled his nose and nodded. “Sure, I’ll tell him. You just get on home.” He shooed me out the door.
“Thanks. See ya.”
I hurried home before David exited the grocery store and saw me. When I hit Primrose Avenue, I broke into a run, my bags bouncing around in my arms. I burst through the door and flew down the basement steps two at a time. As quickly as I could, I divvied up the items. I left mine in the basement, and took David’s share upstairs. Then I went into the bathroom to wait. When I heard David come through the door, I stuck my finger down my throat and heaved into the toilet. Gross.
“Eva!”
“In here.” I heaved once more for effect.
“Are you okay? Brian said you weren’t feeling well. Oh… ick.”
“Yeah. I guess I caught the flu or something,” I said with a shrug.
“Hmm, this wouldn’t be a ploy to keep me here would it? Because throwing up a little isn’t going to change my mind.”
“Gross, David. Like I’d throw up on purpose. It isn’t pleasant, you know.” I said and rolled my eyes, hoping he couldn’t see through my lie. I rinsed my mouth out and brushed my teeth. “Would you do me a favor and ask Jai Li if she’ll let Jessica stay with her a few days? Just until this stomach thing goes away?”
“Sure. Where is Jessica?”
“Thanks. She’s at Keren’s today. Let me see what you got.”
He showed me all the supplies he bought, and I smiled inside. He bought way more than would fit in his hiker’s backpack. There was going to be more than enough for me to fill my pack without making another trip to the grocery store.
Thanks for buying my supplies. Cue the evil laughter.
It was early morning, so early it was still black outside. David stopped by my house on his way out of the compound to say goodbye.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Someone has to, and I haven’t seen a sign-up list for the job.” David hefted his pack on.
“David, I know I probably have no right to tell you this after, after,” I waved my hand over my shoulder, “everything.”
“Just tell me.”
“I don’t want you to go,” I whispered.
“Why?” He walked to me.
“You know why.”
He stretched his arms out, resting one on either side of me on the countertop, boxing me in. “I love you, too, Eva. And that’s why I have to do this.” He ducked his head and touched his lips to mine. “I’ll see you in a week or so. Don’t get in any trouble.”
And then he was gone.
I pulled on my shoes and grabbed my pack. I put it on, stumbling backward.
“Geez, I forgot how heavy these things are,” I mumbled.
Five minutes after David left, I was outside, following him through the meadow to the hole in the fence where the men had been coming and going to hunt. I followed along the narrow footpath to a small clearing about a half mile into the dense forest.
There he met up with Judy, Roy’s wife, and Rebecca, Juan’s wife. Seth—a friend from the PODs—was also with them. I thought about joining them then, but knew I was too close to home. David would have insisted I go back, not that he had any authority over me. I just didn’t want to spend the whole trip with him sulking.
The four of them started walking down another narrow path. It was overgrown with weeds as tall as my knees. The morning was cold, and I could see my breath as I panted. I hadn’t realized how out of shape I’d become. I walked everywhere I went, to and from work, to the grocery store, Tiffany’s house, the doctor. I thought I was in good condition. But by late morning I was having trouble keeping up.
I trudged through the brush, stumbling every so often on fallen logs and unearthed roots, as graceful as an elephant tromping through a china shop. I wondered how long it would take before my legs were so tired that I’d fall, almost laughing at the thought. Trying to get up with the heavy pack on my back would’ve been a hilarious sight for sure.
Branches and small trees smacked me in the face. I felt the wood scrape against my skin and knew I’d have scratch marks on my cheeks and forehead, not to mention blisters the size of Utah on my feet. It would have been so much easier if I was walking beside David and he was pulling the branches out of my way. Yeah, I was totally spoiled.
We walked for more than an hour before we came to another clearing with three tents set-up around a small fire.
I let out a huge breath.
Three tents. Roy, Juan and Devlin. He’s fine. I’m gonna kill him!
Rebecca and Judy dropped their packs and ran to their husbands. They hadn’t seen each other since the gates were closed. Juan, a large, muscular man reached out and gently wiped tears from Rebecca’s ivory-skinned face, before enveloping her petite frame in his massive arms.
Roy kissed Judy, and ran his fingers through her short, light brown curls. He ran soft kisses up her jaw to her ear, murmuring something meant only for her. She smiled and squeezed him closer to her. He tipped his head back and laughed, the sun glinting off his strawberry—blond hair.
My gaze sought out Devlin. I saw him with David and Seth. He slapped David on the back, and they did the half hug thing that guys do.
I dropped my pack and dragged it across the ground toward Devlin and David. David saw me first.
“Hell’s bells, Evangelina, what are you doing here?”
I didn’t answer. I locked gazes with Devlin. Letting go of my pack, I fisted my hand, and slugged him as hard as I could on the shoulder.
“Do you know how scared I’ve been? How scared Jessica’s been? Why didn’t you come to the gate so we knew you were okay?”
“First of all… Ow. That hurt. And I didn’t want anyone seeing me outside the fence that’s why I didn’t go to the gate. You—”
“Then you should have sent word with Juan or Roy so we knew you were okay. Geez, you’re an idiot sometimes, Devlin.”
“I’m an idiot? You’re too damn stubborn to stay home! Who’s got Jessica?” His voice raised when he asked about his sister.
“Jai Li!” I snapped back in the same tone and volume he used.
“Thanks.”
I looked at the ground and toed a rock with my shoe. “Whatever. I’m glad you’re okay.”
His face softened and his voice quieted. “Thank you for coming, Eva.”
I helped Rebecca and Judy with breakfast. Judy brought a stew over potatoes and biscuits from home, and Rebecca made Juan his favorite jelly rolls. It’d been so long since they’d had anything home-cooked, Judy and Rebecca made sure they got an extra big breakfast.
I grabbed the apples and oranges I brought from my pack. Roy’s eyes followed my hands.
“Do you like apples or oranges, Roy?”
“Uh-huh.” He licked his lips. His eyes never left the fruit.
I took a few steps to the left and his eyes followed. I moved to the right. Roy’s eyes never left the fruit I held. “I think you want me for my fruit.” I smiled at him, giving him the apple and orange.
“Yeah-huh.” He finally looked at my face. “Thanks. We haven’t had fruit in a long time.”
“You’re welcome.”
We decided to stay there for the day, and give Roy and Juan a chance to see their wives. And, as far as everyone else knew, we were all planning to return to Rosewood the next day. David hadn’t sprung his big announcement yet.
Roy and Judy had taken a walk one way, and Juan and Rebecca the other way. That left me with Seth, Devlin and David. I fiddled around the camp until I found a deck of cards.
“Hey! Canasta?” I held the deck up. Seth and I played Canasta in the PODs with Aidan. Sometimes David would sit in.
“Heck yeah,” Seth said with a laug
h. “I haven’t played since the PODs.”
“Me either.” I shuffled the deck. “C’mon you two. We need four.”
David ambled over, but Devlin sat on a fallen log and shook his head. “I don’t know how to play.”
“It’s not hard. Sit by me and I’ll walk you through a couple hands.” I looked in his eyes. The corner of his mouth tipped up, just the tiniest bit. A person who didn’t know him wouldn’t have noticed, but I knew the look, and it caused goose bumps to dot my skin.
Standing, he brushed off his jeans. He sat behind me, his back against a tree, his knees bent on either side of me, and his chest pressed against my back.
“I’ll play, but there’s three guys, and just one of you.” He murmured the last part in my ear. “So we get to pick the game. I say Poker.”
“Good for me.” Seth shrugged.
“Poker’s fine.” David sat next to Seth, across from me and Devlin.
“I don’t know how to play guys. I’ll let you go ahead.” I started to stand, but Devlin’s arm snaked around my waist, holding me in place.
“That’s why I’m going to teach you.”
David eyed Devlin, his jaw working. When I caught his eye, I smiled to ease the tension. He didn’t smile back.
Seth dealt the cards and I arranged them in my hand. Devlin picked the ones he wanted and tossed some back. “You want two,” he murmured in my ear. His breath fanned against my skin, and though the fall air was crisp, I was warm.
“Um, I need two cards.” Seth slid two cards to me.
David took one and Seth didn’t take any.
“What are we betting?” Seth looked around.
Devlin and David shrugged.
“Oh! I know.” I jumped up and ran to my bag. I settled back between Devlin’s legs and held out a package of Oreos.
David laughed. “Leave it to you to bring cookies.”
I passed out the cookies and looked over my shoulder at Devlin. It brought our mouths way too close. “Don’t lose my cookies or I’ll hurt you,” I warned.
He winked at me. “Promises, promises,” he whispered.
We all threw two cookies in the middle—why, I had no idea. Devlin’s idea of teaching me how to play was to tell me which cards to discard and how many to take from the dealer.
The betting went on between Seth and Devlin—well, me, I guess, but Devlin was making all the decisions. I just kept throwing in my cookies when Devlin whispered in my ear, and I tried to look like his whispering in my ear didn’t bother me.
“Okay, turn up your cards.” Devlin nudged my elbow.
“Oh. Okay, here we go. You better not have lost all my Oreos to Seth.”
“Don’t worry, Eva, I’ll share.” Seth watched me flip my cards and groaned.
“Ha! Groaning is good.” I reached forward and snatched the pile of cookies.
“You know, those have been lying on the ground.” Seth looked at me.
“Yeah, so?”
He wrinkled his nose. “You aren’t gonna eat them are you?”
“Of course I am! Gotta eat a peck of dirt before you die.”
“Hey! My Grammy said that,” Roy called.
“See?” I looked at Seth and giggled. “Roy’s Grammy agrees with me. Nothing’s wrong with my Oreos.”
“You aren’t a tomboy are you, Eva?” Seth asked. “’Cuz I wouldn’t have guessed that, like, at all.”
“I wasn’t a girlie girl as a kid.” I arranged my cards and looked up at Devlin. “Okay, how many cards do I want?”
He plucked one from my hand. “You want one, and you’re all in.” He dropped his voice so only I could hear, and said, “And stop wiggling. You’re driving me effin’ insane and you smell good, too.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Um, I want one card and I’m all in.”
“You don’t want to look at your card?”
“Um.” I looked over my shoulder at Devlin. He grabbed my hips and shook his head once. “I guess not.”
Seth threw his cards down with a groan. David swore under his breath about hating playing poker with Devlin. They both stood up and walked away. “You get all the nasty ass cookies, Eva,” Seth called over his shoulder.
“Really? Yay. Don’t worry, Seth. I’ll share.”
“Yeah, that’s okay. I prefer my Oreos not to have touched the ground, thank you very much.”
“Not all of them have been on the ground.”
Seth did an about face and started walking toward me. “Really? There’s more in the package?”
“Yeah, but you don’t want them. Remember?”
“Give me some cookies, Eva. I swear. I’ll go caveman on your ass if I don’t get some chocolate.”
“Why? Are you PMSing?”
Devlin laughed, which made me start laughing. Seth glared, and stalked toward me, eyes shooting laser beams at my package of Double Stuf Oreos. I laughed so hard I snorted. Devlin looked at me and laughed harder. Seth was still on his Oreo mission.
“I really think he’s coming after those cookies,” Devlin said between bouts of laughter.
I clutched the packaged to my chest. “Ain’t nobody coming between me and my Double Stuf.” I got up and ran behind my tent. Seth got close enough to grab my sleeve. He pulled me to him and tickled my side. “No fair!” I squealed between fits of hysterical giggles. “Devlin, save the cookies.” I threw the cookies at him.
He caught them in one hand. “Stop fighting over the damn cookies or I’ll dump the whole package on the ground.” He couldn’t say it without laughing.
Seth stopped tickling me. “You wouldn’t!”
“Yes I would. I don’t like Oreos.”
Seth and I both gasped, looking at Devlin like he’d just pronounced the world flat. He burst out laughing again.
“I have them.” I slid the cookies out of Devlin’s grasp. I looked at Seth. “Wow. An Oreo hater. You think you know someone. Here.” I put a stack of Oreos in Seth’s hand.
“These are clean?”
“Virgin territory.” I nodded.
“Thanks.” Seth popped one in his mouth and headed for his tent.
Devlin chuckled behind me. “You are an evil, evil woman.”
I pointed at him and backed away. “I’d be careful what you say, you Oreo hater!”
“You totally gave him dirty Oreos.”
“Well, yeah. I’m not going to eat them.”
Devlin laughed loud and deep. It was bold and unrestrained. He didn’t let himself laugh like that often, so I stood and soaked it in.
When his laughter faded, he tilted his head. “What?”
I felt my cheeks heat. Shrugging, I popped a cookie in my mouth, and hid the package in my tent where Seth couldn’t find them.
I helped Judy and Rebecca with dinner that night. I didn’t ask what type of meat was in the stew we made—we ate a lot of stews and soups on the road, and I’d learned that if I wanted to eat, it was better not knowing what it was, especially when Roy was hunting. He was known for delicacies such as rattlesnake. Ugh. No thank you. Oreos off the ground, sure. I hadn’t quite worked up to rattlesnake, though.
“I’m not going back to the village tomorrow. I’m going to Area-One,” David slipped into the conversation nonchalantly while we sat around the fire after dinner.
Here we go. I wondered when this convo would start.
“Why?” Devlin leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He sat next to me on a log just close enough that our thighs brushed each other’s when one of us moved. Every time he touched me it felt like bubbles rising in my body, popping, and sending waves of electrical currents across my nerves. And he seemed to move his leg enough to touch me a lot. There was a butt-load of bubbles popping through me.
“I’m going after the feed. Hoping to get enough that we can start using it, while our scientists work on duplicating it.”
Devlin turned to me. “How long did you tell Jai Li I’d be gone?”
“A couple weeks.”
He chuckled. “You know me too well.”
I shrugged a shoulder and bit the corner of my bottom lip to hide a grin.
“I’m in.” Devlin tossed a twig he’d been doodling on the ground with into the fire.
“Count me in. I don’t have nowhere to be no how,” Roy said, and chuckled.
Juan nodded his agreement.
“I’m here for the duration,” Seth said. He stood behind me with his shoulder leaning against a tree. I’d almost forgotten he was back there.
“It’s gonna be a hard journey,” Devlin warned. Devlin didn’t know Seth as well as David and I. He was in the PODs with us. Devlin and the others were Topsiders.
“I’m up for it. I won’t hold you back. You’ll be struggling to keep up with me.” Seth winked at me.
Devlin chuckled and nodded once. “Then it’s settled. First thing in the morning the women will head back to the village and we’ll go on to Area-One.”
“What?… Like Hell!… No Way!” Judy, Rebecca and I said over each other.
“There’s no way we’re staying behind, Devlin” I stared at him. He stared back. He looked away first.
“No you’re not—”
“Oh, yes, we are,” Judy interrupted him.
David stood to the side, chuckling. “Give it up. If it’d just been the two of them, you might have talked them out of it. But with Eva as the ringleader? Not happening.”
Devlin cursed and threw his hands in the air. “I don’t want any whining.”
“Yeah, did you men hear that? No whining.” I looked at Judy and Rebecca and rolled my eyes.
Once dinner was done, and everyone had cleaned up, we climbed into bed. We had a long, hard journey the next day. Snuggled in my sleeping bag, I lay awake and listened to the sounds of the breeze and animals moving through the forest.
I don’t remember getting tired. But I was jolted awake when a big hand clamped over my mouth. I tensed, ready to fight, until I heard him whisper my name so close to my ear I could feel his lips move.
“Eva, be still.”
I nodded, and he removed his hand.
The Infected, a PODs Novel Page 6