Page 51 of Shattered Love

Sasha interrupted this time. “Not me. I have no interest in selling insurance.”

“No one is going to need insurance anyway,” Mina reminded her and Sasha held up her hands.

“Still, that will not be my job. Maybe I’ll get to do something cool, like control the mechanics that keep us living down there.”

“Do you know how to do that?” I asked her and she shook her head.

“Nope. But they can teach me. I’m a fast learner.”

We all laughed at that, the rest of us sharing our plans. Rainer said he’d most likely end up fixing broken things, while Aiden and I both agreed we’d stick to the medical field.

“What about you?” Murphy asked Warner and my ears perked up, waiting for his answer.

I still had no idea what he had done before all of this. Was he in business? Construction? Insurance like Sasha?

“I can teach Sasha how to do her job. You can be my apprentice,” he told her.

We all looked at Warner, stunned. He knew how to do that kind of stuff? Rainer was the one who asked the question aloud.

“Yep.”

That was his response. No explanation. No details on what he did. We all waited for more, but it soon became apparent that we wouldn’t get anything else out of him.

“He’s not much of a talker,” Aiden whispered, so only I could hear.

No, he wasn’t. But when he did speak, it altered the way I viewed myself.

The conversation flowed easily the rest of the walk, everyone deciding to embrace the joy of our last few moments before we reached the station.

As we approached the city, tall buildings shadowed the sun, all of them in rows and rows, pressed up against each other. Our steps slowed as we walked through the streets, my eyes spotting groupings of people rushing across the sidewalks.

In fact, as I took in the area, I realized that there were hundreds of people milling about. We were a three-day walk from the camp. Not all of these people could have been from there, which meant, “Your radio message worked.”

Murphy smiled with pride, glancing at all the people with glee in his eyes. I found myself smiling as well, Mina joining in, but the rest didn’t seem as content with the news.

“How are all these people going to get on the trains now?” Aiden asked, and Rainer met his stare.

“They aren’t.”

In an instant, my smile faded. I knew that it would be harder to get on the trains after we told everyone the news, but I hadn’t anticipated this. But people would be willing to squeeze, right? It didn’t have to be comfortable if it meant we all were headed toward safety.

“The train station is three blocks over,” Mina said, “that way.” She pointed to the left, where the majority of people were scurrying.

Rainer nodded, tracking the path, before turning toward us. Emmanuel and his family gathered near us, all of them having been quiet most of the travel.

“No one separates. Our best way of getting on the trains is to stick together. We’re a force of eleven. That outnumbers most of the other groups.”

Crowding into a tighter grouping, we headed toward the crowds, ready to fight our way onto the trains if we had to. Warner slowed to the back of the group, circling my wrist and pulling me back with him.

“Do you remember what I told you?” He asked and I cocked my head to the side, trying to decipher what he could be talking about.

His hand wrapped around my hair, tugging on the strands as we walked side by side, our faces forward. “My only concern is you. No matter what happens, you get your ass on the train.”

I opened my mouth to argue. I wasn’t getting on that train unless we all were. Like Rainer said, we were a force of eleven, and I refused to separate even one more time. But Warner didn’t let the argument leave my lips.

“You. Are. Getting. On. That. Train.” Each word was defined, leaving no room for me to disagree.

I stayed silent, allowing him to think he had won. But what he didn’t understand is that I didn’t have a singular concern. I had ten of them. And no matter what happens, I’d do everything to get us all to safety.

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