Page 52 of Cora

“Are you ok?” he asks frantically as he turns me this way and that to check for injury. The others join him, and I feel like a pinball as I bounce between them. Finally, I push my way out of the center of their circle and give them the ok signal.

I point at the two bodies and mime them being carried away. I didn’t want them rotting in my orchard and spoiling my trees.

“What the fuck are you doing out here, Cora?” Isaac asks through his teeth. He was mad. They all were, but Isaac looked particularly angry.

I pointed to my basket of apples.

Isaac grabs the basket and shoves it into my arms. That was a little rude. Next, he grabs my arm and pushes me toward Trent. He didn’t hurt me by any means; it was more the principle of being manhandled that had my annoyance rising. “Take her back to the house, and don’t let her out of your sight.” I try to jerk my arm away from him, but his grip tightens as he moves into my space. “All I want to do right now is put you over my knee and turn your ass red, so I suggest you tread lightly, Princess, and do as you are told.” He pushed me toward Trent again, perhaps a little rougher than before, then turned and stomped further into the orchard without another glance.

“Come on, trouble,” Trent said, taking the basket from me and placing his hand on my lower back to guide me toward the house.

Trent waited until we were safely back inside the house, and I had access to the iPad before he started talking. “What were you thinking, Cora? Why would you go out there alone without telling anyone? It’s dangerous out there! We have people watching the house. They could have ambushed and killed you, and we never would have known!”

My eyes narrowed as I grabbed the iPad. “What do you mean people are watching the house?”

Trent looked taken aback by my question, and it took him longer than it should have to answer. “You remember when Isaac and Remi went out to check the trap lines and bring you berries? They returned and said they saw signs of people in the woods watching the house.”

I shook my head. “No, I was asleep when they came back.”

“Oh, so then you didn’t hear them, huh? Do you need these apples washed?” he carried the basket into the kitchen and set it on the counter. I stomped in after him and got between him and the counter, so he had to face me. I held his gaze expectantly. “Ok, fine. Isaac didn’t want to worry you, which I realize now was an even stupider decision than I thought because if you don’t know there is a threat, how are you supposed to avoid it? Of course, nobody expected you to go traipsing through the woods on your own without telling us, either. We may not have told you about the threat, but you know you still should have told someone where you were going. We don’t even go anywhere alone anymore.”

“You should have told me,” Siri said with less emotion than I would have preferred. “I don’t need to be treated like a child. I’m a better fucking shot than all of you, and I know how to move through the woods undetected!”

“That didn’t work out too well for you today, though, did it?” Trent retorted.

My mouth fell open, dumbfounded that he had the audacity to say that to me. “I didn’t know I needed to be stealthy, did I?!”

“So what are the apples for?” Trent asked, attempting to change the subject. I wanted to throttle him, but I refrained. “Go away and leave me alone,” I replied, turning away from him and setting down the iPad. I was done talking, but the conversation was far from over.

I’ll be damned if they keep important things from me and then get pissy when I do something that I might have done differently had I been fully informed.

Chapter twenty-six

Isaac

Storming away from Cora seemed to be the best course of action, considering I have never been as pissed off as I am right now. I’m mad at Cora for sneaking out of the house and running off into the woods alone, but I’m even more fucking pissed off at myself.

If Cora could have left without them noticing, someone could have snuck in just as easily. That thought terrified me beyond all things. I thought she was safe as long as she was inside, and now that might not be the case. How was I supposed to keep my family safe?

“Hey,” Derrick said, joining me at the end of the orchard. “You ok? You look like you’re barely keeping it together.”

“How the fuck do we keep her and our baby safe?” I asked him.

“She is safe, Isaac,” he replied. “She took care of herself and our baby. You must accept that she isn’t some damsel in distress that needs you to come ride in on your white stallion to save the day.”

I didn’t know how to respond because I didn’t know how to not worry about her. I didn’t know how to not worry about myfamily. I’d already failed so many; I couldn’t survive if I failed Cora and my child, too.

Three Years Ago

I tapped the steering wheel anxiously as I waited for Trent to get out of school. The news reports showed the outbreak was getting closer to us. It was time to get out. God, I hope I didn’t wait too long. If Dad had still been here, he probably would have made us leave a week ago. What if I made the wrong choice? As always, I felt a pang in my chest when I thought about Dad, which was often.

These were the moments I needed my Dad to tell me what to do. I wasn’t ready to be the man of the family, but I hadn’t been given a choice. Cancer didn’t give a fuck. It was indiscriminate about who it infected. It cared little about the husband and father of three whose family still needed him. Mom, Melly, and Trent counted on me, and it feels like I’ve failed them every day since Dad died.

Finally, the school doors swung open, and Trent emerged. I had been leaving my job down at the mill to go to my class at the college when I heard the news about the virus spreading even closer. I immediately turned the car around and called my Mom. I told her to start packing what she couldn’t live without, and I would pick up Melly and Trent. As it turned out, Momhad to pick Melly up a couple of hours ago because she wasn’t feeling well. Perfect, I’ll grab Trent, and when I get home, we’ll pack up the car and go. I planned to head north toward the mountain region and closer to Canada. Canada has an immense, unpopulated wilderness, and the way I see it, if the virus spreads that far, we’ll be close enough to hop the border and reduce our risk of getting it.

“Could you move any slower?” I asked Trent when he finally climbed into the truck.

“I mean, I can,” Trent replied. “Would you like me to get out and demonstrate?” He moved like he would get back out of the truck, so I slammed on the gas.

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