Page 4 of Shattered World

He looked at me with a somber expression, his lips pursed, and I knew he wanted to say more. To protect me from the heartache. But this wasn’t a physical threat he could throw himself in front of, and he knew it.

“Oh, please let there be food in there,” Sasha exclaimed loudly from behind us, picking up her pace until she was in front.

As she continued to walk, I squinted in the darkness, spotting the gas station on the corner of the street. There were no lights, similar to the rest of the area we had walked through, but the shadows of the gas pumps were a dead giveaway.

At the thought of food, my stomach growled loudly, and my feet picked up their pace, everyone else following suit. When I stepped into the small store, Sasha was already inside, the crunch of chips sounding.

“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had junk food?” She said around a mouthful of food, the words barely audible. “Mina, I found oreos! Your favorite.”

Mina scurried past me, grabbing the container from Sasha’s outstretched hand, a loud sigh of contentment spilling from her lips as she shoved the cookies into her mouth.

Everyone clambered into the store, raiding the shelves of all the junk food, shoving their mouths full. Murphy was pouring a bag of chips into his mouth, his grin wide as he chewed.

“This isn’t very sustaining,” I said, scanning the shelves for cans of food I could shove inside my bag.

Who knew when we would stumble upon food again? Although, the odds seemed much more likely. This wasn’t Montana, where towns were spread out and cities far and few in between.

A flick against my forehead had my gaze darting from the shelves and back to a still grinning Murphy. “Stop being Rainer, it’s creepy. We can get all the healthy food after you rip into a bag of cookies and enjoy food for the first time in eight months.”

My heart sunk at the reminder of Rainer, but I did my best to shake it off. Murphy was right. Now wasn’t the time to be logical. There were so few moments we got to enjoy, and what was the point of surviving if we didn’t take the opportunities we had?

“Cookies? No. But if you can find me some powdered donuts, I’ll eat a hundred.”

Murphy tossed his bag of chips to the side, replacing them with pretzels, and swung an arm around my shoulder. Placing a kiss against my forehead, he led me down the aisles. “Your wish is my command.”

It didn’t take us long to find the donuts and the second I placed one in my mouth, I moaned softly. You forgot how good sugar was when all you ate was meat and rice and beans.

“Good, right?” Murphy asked.

“So good,” I said, the two of us sharing a soft smile.

I didn’t know how long we stood inside the gas station, downing bag after bag of food, but it was long enough that my stomach began to ache from the sweets.

“I think I’m in a food coma,” Sasha voiced.

“I think I may throw up,” Mina added.

All of us sat against the counter, our bodies wiped from the long walk and the excessive amount of food. Even Elizabeth and the kids had joined in, their bodies scattered among ours, Stephanie leaning against my shoulder. It was the first time in a while I felt like we were a cohesive unit again, even if there were still three gaping holes.

“Don’t you dare throw up,” Aiden told Mina, pointing a finger in her direction. “That would be a waste of all the good food we just ate.”

Mina groaned but thankfully, nothing came back up. We all sat in silence for a while longer until a soft snore sounded to my right. Stephanie had fallen asleep against my shoulder and I knew that was our cue to get out of here and into one of the houses on the street.

Keeping my voice low to not wake her, I said, “Everyone, grab as much food as you can and put it in your bags. Then we can get some sleep.”

Our movements were sluggish as we stood, walking back down the aisles, smarter about the food we grabbed this time around, although we all still grabbed some of the junk. It was the small things.

We didn’t walk far for our home for the night, the house across the street abandoned and empty. Aiden helped Elizabeth carry Lucas and Stephanie to bed for the night, the three of them squeezing into the king-sized bed in what I assumed was the master bedroom.

There were four other bedrooms throughout the house. Mina and Sasha took another one on the second floor, Aiden sliding into the third. He glanced back at me as he stepped over the threshold, shaking his head when he realized I’d be heading downstairs for the night.

“Good job today, Lessy,” he said and my heart swelled with pride.

Murphy took my hand in his, leading me back down the stairs and into one of the two bedrooms on the first floor. My gaze couldn’t help but land on the empty room, thinking about how it should be filled.

Murphy’s gaze followed mine, his hand squeezing my fingers. Climbing into bed, he wrapped me in his arms, placing a sweet kiss against my lips. The house was nearly filled, but it had never felt so empty.

I had told Aiden that I couldn’t think about hope, but in the darkness, the words spilled free. “There’s another train,” I whispered against Murphy’s chest.

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