by Megan Berry
“It’s them!” I scream, startling everybody in the truck. I see Silas frowning at me in the rear view mirror.
“Jane. We need to be careful,” he warns me. “We can’t just burst in there, it could be anyone,” he says, his words dragging me down, and I shake my head in denial.
Ryan is frowning too, but he’s also nodding in agreement with Silas. “There are three cars,” he points out, more than there should be for just Megan and Abby.
“They probably brought people with them from the Camp,” I protest, not willing to believe anything other than the fact that my friend is alive and well inside those walls.
“I hope that’s true,” Ryan says.
“You should wait here, Ryan and I will go check it out,” Silas suggests, parking the truck along the road rather than pulling into the driveway and announcing our arrival, and I stubbornly shake my head.
“No. I’m going,” I tell him, not willing to give on this at all, unless they do something drastic, like tie me to the truck.
“Fine,” Silas snaps. “But you do as I say, and don’t take any risks.” I nod automatically—I’d pretty much agree to anything at this point.
“Will you be okay in the truck with Natalie?” Ryan asks Sunny, and the little girl nods.
“Nattie is nice, and she has a baby in her tummy,” the little girl replies, fondly patting Natalie’s stomach and making the pregnant woman smile.
“We’ll take good care of her,” Natalie promises, and Silas hesitates.
“I’m sure you are very nice people, but if you do anything like try to steal our truck or harm one hair on that little girl’s head, I will find you and kill you,” Silas promises, making my jaw drop.
Natalie looks offended that he would even suggest such a thing, and Hank looks ready to pee himself. “I’ll take care of her, like I said,” Natalie snaps, and Silas nods.
“Thanks,” Ryan says hastily as we pile out of the truck.
“We should do some recon first,” Silas says, pointing to a back window, and we pull our guns from our belts as we creep through the brush.
“That’s the living room window,” I tell them as we reach our objective, and I have to stand up on my tippy toes to see inside. The cabin looks like it always has with its large stone hearth, Navajo themed couches, and the bear skin rug… with the exception of the large man standing in the middle of the living room talking to someone who has their back to us, and my heart sinks. From what we are seeing, I can’t be sure who is occupying the house.
“Put your hands up,” a gruff voice behind us demands, and my heart plummets even lower. That is definitely not Abby! Silas and Ryan react much faster than me, spinning with their guns up. They don’t do as they’re told and instead aim their own guns at the man who’s snuck up behind us. I turn more slowly, bringing my pistol up level with the guy’s chest.
“We don’t want any trouble, man,” Silas tells him, and my world spins on its axis.
The man in front of me lets out a strangled cry when his eyes land on me, and he falls to his knees in the dirt and pine needles. My jaw drops, and I barely get my gun out of the way before he reaches for me.
Silas is faster though and slaps his hands away from me, pointing his gun in the guy’s face.
“Silas, don’t…” I manage to say, staring at the man with an unfamiliar black beard covering up half of his face.
Abby comes running around the corner and squeals, “Jane!” she shrieks, tears running down her face. Ryan automatically lowers his own gun, recognizing her and Megan, who’s right on her heels.
“Who the hell is this guy?” Silas demands, deducting on his own that the teenage girl running towards me is the long-lost friend I came to find.
“Dad,” I manage to get out and then collapse sobbing against my father’s shoulder. He squeezes me so tightly that I can’t even breathe, and my injured ribs ache in protest, but I couldn’t care less as I tuck my head into that special spot on my dad’s shoulder that is so familiar to me.
We are both crying openly when I pull away just far enough to get the words out. “Where’s Mom?” I ask, even though I’m dreading the answer.
“I’m here, Sweetheart,” my mom cries, running up behind me, making it a group hug. I look up through tear-filled eyes and see everyone that I was missing. My parents, who I just travelled around five zombie-infested states looking for, are here and alive by some crazy miracle. Abby and Megan are standing behind them, beaming at me, with a couple people I don’t recognize, but one I do—Sargent Regg from Camp Freedom. Ryan is smiling down at me, and Silas is looking uncomfortable with all the emotions, and I feel my heart swell with love for them all. This is more than I ever expected I would find when I reached the cabin.
“How…?” I gasp, and my parents move back a little to give me some breathing room, though they both still keep their arms wrapped around me. “How are you here—and what is up with that beard?” I demand, using the palm of my hand to rub the prickly thing on my Dad’s face.
Dad bursts out laughing as he wipes his tears away with his sleeve. “That is a long story, my girl,” he tells me with a soft smile as he reaches up and tousles my hair like I’m a little girl again. “I’ll tell it to you too, just as soon as you tell me all about yours,” he promises, and I grin.
“Deal.” I reply, sticking out my hand so we can shake on it.
Coming Summer 2016
Upcoming Work by Megan Berry
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen