by Tara Brown
Miles glances in the rearview mirror. “To answer your question, yes. We have all been freaking out for six straight days. When I got to my mom and dad’s and found them both in the yard, I freaked. I couldn't find Jamie, Lou, or Sasha anywhere.” The way he says it so casually makes Lee and I burst out laughing instantly.
Lee slaps him on the shoulder too. “You could have played Bella Swan with that level of emotion. I think you beat Kristen Stewart hands down.”
The SUV fills with laughter. It's weird the things you laugh about when the world ends.
I give Lee a look. “Don't act like you didn't love that movie.”
She sighs. “Girl, I loved that movie. The books were so much better though. Bella in the books was my girl.” I notice her eyes tearing up a bit. “I read them with my mom, buddy read.”
Erin hugs her sister. “What I would give to be able to make fun of you two reading those books again. Maybe when we find Dad, you can let us both laugh at you again.”
Lee sniffles a little with her laugh. “Deal. I totally just wanna talk to Dad again.”
I nod. “I just wanna talk to my dad too. It's making me super nervous he hasn't reached home or found us yet. I’m a little scared that he’s in Russia still.” I give Kyle a soft look. “I guess we’re all in the same boat.”
“Yup.” Erin sighs and glances out the window. “If we find my dad alive I might die of happiness.”
I turn around in my seat and close my eyes. I don't know if I sleep or if horrific images just take turns pulsing behind my closed eyes, like a drive-in movie made specifically for me. But when I open my eyes it’s dark again and Miles lifts his finger to his lips. We’re parked, and when he gets out of the vehicle, I realize I’m alone in here. I click the lock instantly, trying to figure out where we are.
We’re parked in a dark vacant parking lot. I can see a LOWES sign and a Starbucks drive-thru but that's it. No cars, no people. Miles dashes across the parking lot, running in what appears to be silent footsteps away from me. But I can’t see anyone else.
Do I join him?
I don't want to get out of the car but decide I should follow. I grab the handle on the door, pausing when I notice something to the right—movement. I can’t tell what. The moon makes shadows but not enough light to see what casts that shadow. I move my seat back a bit so my head isn’t directly in the window and grip to my handgun. My sweaty palms and shaking grasp don't give me much confidence.
On the far side of the parking lot, near a building I can’t see the name of, someone walks, staying in the shadows. As they near the SUV, I lower my head even more but I can’t fight my eyes staring at the shadow they cast with the moon behind them. The person appears to be a man with a slight limp. It makes me instantly assume he’s a biter, but he isn’t frozen so that tosses that theory out the window. He’s probably a looter.
I close my eyes for a second, taking shallow breaths quietly as if he can hear them and nodding my head to pump myself up.
When I open them he’s in the window, staring in at me. I jump, and yet somehow manage to not move with the exception of my shaking chest. Silent sobs are slipping from me as I watch the man peering harder into the slightly tinted window. His red eyes dart back and forth, but it's the injury on his shoulder that has me freaking out. He’s been bitten and he doesn't appear to be better. He didn't need noise to come to our vehicle. He didn't need movement to catch his stare from across the parking lot. He came even though they left the vehicle so quietly they didn't even wake me.
His breath makes a steam mark on the window, which he smudges with his pale face as he drags it along the foggy breath mark.
His eyes dart about, searching for me, as if he can hear me whimpering softly inside of the SUV. A low growl escapes his lips. My shaking hands grip to the hilt of the gun but I don't think I can pull the trigger.
I look at his face and wonder if he’s somehow different in some way. He doesn't look like a monster, not really. Just a badly drunk man perhaps.
His eyes lift as if he sees something he doesn't like. The low growl becomes more of a snarl. It all happens at the exact moment a shot rings out in the night. His head snaps back but he doesn't fall. He stands for a moment and I swear I can see the life leaving him. Blood drips from a hole in his forehead. In the dark it appears to be black. The way it leaves the hole seems sluggish until the blood stops right on the cheek of his face. It sits there, pooling in a clot-like formation. I lean forward, mesmerized by the way the blood seems to be stuck all in that one spot, but he falls dead away to the ground.
I move closer to the window so I can watch the blood drip down the side of his head and land on the dark concrete. I lose sight of it there. It blends in.
I spin around to see Kyle grinning at me. He blows on the end of the gun and nods at me like it’s a western movie and he’s just called me little lady.
He lifts a Starbucks coffee into the air and sips from it, making me cock an eyebrow. He sips it again, winking at me. He’s a bit cocky for my liking, but I can’t fight the smile that crosses my lips, even if a man just died in front of me.
He tries the driver’s door but it’s locked. He scowls. “Let me in.”
I grin, holding my hand to my ear. “WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU?”
He looks annoyed and like he’s sighing at me but then stops. He pauses and glances back behind himself. When he looks back at me there’s a panicked look across his face. He screams, flicking the door handle like a maniac, “OPEN THE DAMNED DOOR, LOU!”
I reach across, panicking with him and unlock the door, even though there’s a lock on my door. He jumps in quickly, closing the door. I lean across him, scanning the empty spot. “WHAT? WHAT WAS IT?”
“Me, screwing with you. Now we're gonna want to take a left up here when those guys get back.”
“Oh my God.” I pant, holding my heart. “Oh my God. You ass. Oh my God. Dude, super not cool. I will—will get revenge,” I huff.
He laughs like he’s the bad guy in the movie, like he’s practiced it before. “Yeah, whatever. I'm pretty sure I owed you for the trip through the city.” He hands me his hot cup of coffee. “Enjoy it, because we don't know where the next hot coffee is coming from.” I take it and sip, moaning into it.
He takes it back. “Miles has yours. He says he knows how you like it.”
I give his coffee a look. “I like that.” Movement behind him catches my gaze. He lifts a finger and wags it at me. “Like I’d fall for that, looking behind me crap.”
I chuckle as I glance past him at Lee coming along with two cups. She stands at the driver window, not knocking or moving—just staring in on him. Kyle doesn't see her, so when he turns he jumps—spilling a little coffee on his shirt. “Assholes.”
Lee lifts the cup of coffee in the to-go cup and grins. He lowers the window and lets her pass it across him to me. When I take it the heat permeates to me, soothing my entire soul with a little caffeinated hot water. “Erin and Miles are jacking around in there. They’ll be out in a minute.”
Kyle laughs, nudging me like we both get his dirty innuendo. Lee rolls her eyes. “Ewwwww.” She pulls her cell out and holds it in the air, obviously checking for a signal.
I can’t help but watch her and just wish it would work, but she sighs and shakes her head, pocketing it again. “When all this started the circuits were busy forever. We tried calling 9-1-1 for like an hour. Even our OnStar wasn't working.”
Kyle sips and answers smugly, “It’s why I think this entire thing is them screwing with us on purpose. How did they get the phone lines, the cell towers, and the TV channels all off-line at the same time? How did they stop the flights and the Internet and everything all at once? How did this get so bad, so fast, without anyone stopping it? Where are the bombs? Where are the marines and the tanks?” He nods, looking into the dark parking lot, but I would swear he sees something far more clandestine in the lightlessness. “They did this. I don't know who they are, but I guarantee the g
overnment is faring just fine.” He sounds like a crackpot but it makes sense. How did it all go wrong so fast, like whoever they are slipped in under the rug?
If he’s right, my dad knew and never came for me. So to me, that makes Kyle completely wrong. No matter what.
I sip the coffee as Lee gets in the backseat.
Kyle leans over, giving me his smug grin. “You okay? Did I scare you too badly?”
I shake my head. “Just the right amount.” I can’t stop grinning back at him, even if I think he’s a fat-headed jackass who plays pranks at the worst moments. “I’m still going to get my revenge.”
“I expect nothing less.” He toasts by clinking our to-go cups together. I can’t help but notice he stares at me for a second longer than I would consider normal. The stupid grin on his face doesn't leave. It makes me nervous so I ask the first thing I can think of, “How did you heat the coffee?”
Lee leans forward, splitting our conversation with her slim body. “They had some crazy propane grill in their staff room so we heated the bottled water and grabbed the instant coffee packets. Yours is pumpkin spice.” She hands me a bag of nuts. “We found these too.”
I crack open the bag and savor the salty goodness of the roasted nuts.
Kyle takes one and looks back at the window impatiently. “Man, they are taking forever. They need to hurry that action up.” He gives Lee a look. “Don't get me wrong—your sister seems nice.”
I swat him but Lee just rolls her eyes. “She’s flexible, morally.”
Her answer makes him laugh. When he smiles, genuinely and not like a jerk, he’s cute. His brown hair and green eyes are a pretty deadly combination.
Not that it matters now. Nothing matters. It dawns on me then, staring at that perfectly cute boy with a crazy sense of humor, that it won’t ever be a matter of living life and wanting simple things like falling in love or going to college. I have a terrible feeling it will always be a matter of survival.
If everywhere is like here then the whole world is broken, and I’m only seeing it now, as if I can see the flashes of disaster playing in his eyes like a TV. There is no way to fix what’s been broken. The mess is too large and there just doesn’t seem to be enough of us who aren’t ruined.
Movement behind him catches my eye again but it’s not what I think it is. I expect something, not someone. I expect the worst, and in some version of my mind it is. It’s Miles and Erin, smiling away at each other. The way they’re looking at each other and brushing hands against one another’s makes it look like they’re strolling on a beach. Miles says something and Erin shoves him, laughing like they don't have to fear every shadow around them. They don't even see the shadows; they’re making their own light and even I can see it.
Kyle follows my gaze, looking behind himself. “Oh damn. You scared me. I thought something was creeping up the way you were looking behind me.”
Erin and Miles are laughing as they climb in the backseat, tossing bags of snacks and bottles of water and juice in the very back of the Hummer. Miles slaps the back of the driver’s seat. “Let’s do this.” Suddenly the guy who didn't think this was a good idea is excited we’re here.
“We were just waiting on you two,” Kyle mutters as he starts the vehicle and throws it in gear, revving the large engine through the silent night. I can imagine the sound reverberating off the buildings and streets. In the streets we pass by the shadows that move, filled with the things that go bump in the night. I don't know where we are, but I know the farther we get from home, the more convinced I am that everything is gone.
Chapter Eleven
“We’re here.” The words make me open my eyes, instantly shocked to see the bright blue of the sky and the ocean. I blink several times, caught up in the white fluffy clouds hovering in the sky and branches on trees swaying, in what I imagine is a warm ocean wind. It’s the West Coast; it’s always a little warmer than home.
I lift my head, seeing the tired eyes of Miles standing in the open door of the SUV. He nods at the mansion to the right of me. “Let’s go. Let’s go see if we have found the place you girls are so convinced of. I really hope your dad’s there, Lou. He’d be a real asset in a moment like this one.” He runs his hands though his auburn hair, scratching his head roughly. “You know, I always wanted to be him. Going off on his cool missions to save the world. He’s still my hero.”
I nearly sigh as I undo my seat belt and climb out, stretching and shaking my head. “Yeah, me too. Where are we?”
Miles shrugs. “The West Coast. Some island. The bridge was still intact so we came here. This house is vacant and the road was empty. No biters. That road trip was brutal, huh? No fast food. No cell phones or GPS. I bet we took the long way a couple times.”
I lick my lips and nod. “And this is the last leg of the journey. Thank God. We really need somewhere safe to be for the littles.”
He lifts a hand to my arm, brushing against my jacket. “Hey, even if your dad isn’t there, I just want you to know everything will be okay, Lou. I’ll always keep you safe. The rest of the world might fall away into chaos but as long as we stay together, we’ll be safe.”
I want to take it the wrong way. I want it to mean that he cares about me in the way I care about him. But he doesn't. He cares about me the way he cares about Jamie, Sasha, and Joey. He doesn't imagine touching my hair or smelling my neck. He doesn't imagine what it would be like to kiss me with his eyes closed, and not on the cheek. I nod again blankly, because I don't want him to know that I have loved him since he saved me in elementary school.
Kyle rounds the corner of the house, lifting his finger to his lips. “No one’s here and the boat is bigger than even I thought it would be. Let’s roll. It’s feeling too calm and too easy. This never ends well in the movies. Look at Die Hard with a Vengeance!”
Miles smiles at me once more. “Let’s go see if your dad made it back from Russia, before Kyle starts acting out the scenes for us.” He turns and walks past Kyle who stands there, leaning against the house with his middle finger in the air. After a moment I have to assume he’s waiting for me. He grins, watching me as if he knows what I’m thinking.
“What?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing.”
“No, you’ve been staring at me a lot. What’s up? Do I have something on my face?”
“I was just wondering if you were missing World of Warcraft?” He laughs.
“Shut up.” I roll my eyes and saunter past him, toward the water.
“No, seriously. I miss it.” He turns, walking next to me.
I glance over, doubt plastered across my face. “Oh, you play too, huh?” I shake my head and walk down to the water, my eyes scanning constantly for movement. He mutters something but I don't pay attention.
Lee waves at me from the dock at the bottom of the massive yard belonging to the huge house. It’s the nicest waterfront home I’ve ever seen—expansive is the word that it brings to mind. Lee’s golden curls glow in the sunlight as she bounces up the grass to us. “Hurry up. Erin found a map on the boat. That land right there is the island. The military base is right across this sound from us.”
Kyle points at the land across the water from us. “We’re on Camano Island, if I read that old paper map I found earlier correctly. The naval base is in the north of Whidbey but on the other side of the island. If the island has been saved from the biters, then we should be safe the moment we touch down on that soil.”
I give him a look as Lee bounds to us. “Then we make the long journey home to get my sister and my friends.”
“I never said the safety was going to last forever. It’s overrated anyway.” He winks, being cocky again, and saunters down to the huge silver boat in the water. I can’t even imagine him playing WOW. He seems like he might play rugby or those snooty horse games with his rich East Coast friends and wear collared shirts when they all eat later in the country club. It isn’t even the rich-boy antics. He’s also a frat boy extraordinaire—there’
s no denying that. The only part of him that fits WOW at all is all the Die Hard quotes. He’s obsessed with the franchise more than I ever expected a snooty WASP like him to be. All the guys on WOW talk about movies like that.
Lee stops in front of me, beaming. “I’ve never seen the Pacific before.” Her eyes dart up to the house behind me. “How amazing is this place? My grandpa has a house like this in Chicago but not on the water like this one. If the world really is over, we have to find something like this to live in.” She’s still talking, something about a friend with a house in Nantucket, but I stop listening the moment I see Miles and Erin talking on the boat. She lifts her face, tilting it to the side. Her black hair ruffles as a cool breeze blows over us all. He raises a hand and runs it through her hair, smiling before he lowers his lips onto hers and something cracks in my chest.
It reminds me of tenth grade when Miles was dating a girl named Sabrina Holt. They kissed all the time, but the first time I ever saw it was the moment Sasha and Jamie figured out how I felt about Miles. They saw my face and they knew instantly.
Lee is no different. She stops talking and looks back with me. “Oh, yeah. So that happened along the road trip. I imagine it was in Starbucks. They were very sure me and Kyle should head back to check on you.” When her eyes meet mine again I can tell she can see it all. “Oh damn, dude. I’m so sorry. She can’t help it, ya know. She’s just so pretty and funny and cool. It’s like a moth to a flame.” She winces. “Erin was tall and beautiful from the moment she was born. She was always the dark-haired beauty, even as a baby. She was a model at six months old. It was so unfair, my whole life has been spent shorter with frizzy hair. My pale skin didn’t tan, no matter how hard I tried. I burnt and peeled, only to reveal brand new white skin. But she would spend an hour outside and look like she had summered in the South of France.” Her soft words floated around in the wind. “Sometimes I made fun of the fact we were like that movie Twins with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. My mom made us watch it and all I saw was us—her looking perfect and me, not so much. But having her for a sister was like being a part of her cool club and admission had been closed to the public the minute I was born. It’s not all bad. She’s an amazing person.”