Page 30 of When the Living Fall

“As in, the same vials that were stolen.” I square my shoulders. “I ran into some people who were only willing tohand over two of the vials. But I found some…friends who helped me get more. We got all of them back.”

“Friends?” His voice lingers on the word.

“Yes, friends.” I hold his gaze and brace myself for the inevitable scrutiny. “That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

His eyes shift, but he says nothing, sliding off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose as though the minimal conversation itself was a headache. “Ah, I see.”

“No, actually, you don’t.” My hands clench by my sides. “This isn’t what you’re thinking, Richard. It’s not some new security risk. These are people who risked themselves to help me bring this medicine back for Zoey. They helped get me here, and they’ve been through unimaginable things. They’re more useful than half the people here who don’t do shit.”

My words tumble out before I can think about whether I should say them. Shit, I’m screwing this up. I need to stop myself before I tell them they’re right outside these walls, waiting.

“Um, can I have a quick word with Zoey first? We were in the middle of something. Then I’ll come find you.”

He doesn’t reply right away. The seconds stretch on, thick with tension, until he slides his glasses back on. “Certainly. I’ll be in the office. There are some affairs I should attend to, so let’s discuss this more later. I’m easy to hear more.” With a brisk nod, he steps back, leaving as fast as he came. He doesn’t hide his irritation, not that I would expect him to. That isn’t a good sign.

“Listen, Zo, I need a huge favor.”

18

GRIFFIN

My side feels like it’s on fire. My injury throbs with each step, but my worry about Emily overshadows any concern for myself. I hate that she’s in there alone. Sure, it was her only condition to let us come this far with her—not that I’d have left her on her own anyway, but it seemed better to let her think she had some control over this. Yet my frustration builds with every passing second. I’m half-tempted to march in there myself and take control of the situation to handle whatever’s happening, but knowing her, that might make things harder for her. Besides, I’ve already caused her enough issues as it is.

If I had a watch, I’d be wearing out the second hand by now, watching it tick away the seconds, minutes, hours. I can’t tell if it’s been ten minutes or five hours, but either way, it’s too long. I need to see her walk back to us. Now.

My side throbs again, and I wince, resisting the urge to check if the bleeding started up again.

“Would you stop fidgeting? It hasn’t been that long,” William says, glancing over at me with an exasperated look from where he sits against a large rock. He picks up smallstones and tosses them, one after another, at the tires of our car.

“Would you stop trying to damage our only ride?” I snap back.

“There’s a whole graveyard of abandoned cars down the road. I’d call those options,” he retorts.

Emily had told us about that when we drove by. About how the colony had moved the wrecks off the road to keep the main route open for themselves. “Easier scavenging,” she’d explained. I’d argued it also made it easier for dregs and rotters to get to them, but she’d shut me down, saying if they were looking for trouble, a few abandoned cars wouldn’t stop them. She had a point, so I had shut up. Now I’m waiting anxiously for her to get back. I don’t know how I went most of the night without her. I can barely even handle a few minutes with her out of sight right now. All I want to do is to go in there, drag her out, and keep her safe with us; my injury be damned.

A sharp pang lances through my side again, cutting off my thoughts. I draw in a breath, almost yielding to the temptation to finally check under my shirt, but before I can, a figure appears at the top of the hill.

William is on his feet in an instant. Max stops his pacing. We all move forward, standing in the middle of the road, looking at the woman walking toward us and ready to reach out for Emily.

My heart sinks when I realize it’s not her, but the momentary disappointment turns to tense suspicion. Protectiveness soars through me. Why is it not Emily?

Where I hoped to see Emily’s wild brown hair blowing around her face since she gave her hair tie to Max, this woman instead has short blonde hair tucked behind her ear, and startling blue eyes.

The woman draws closer, and we don’t move. She isn’t surprised by our presence.

“Where is she?” William demands, getting straight to the point.

The woman gives a slight nod in understanding. “I’m Zoey. Emily sent me.”

“You’re the friend she’s risking everything for,” I say, watching her closely. Truth be told, I wasn’t too fond of Zoey, considering everything Emily was putting herself through for her. She almost died for this girl. No one else on Earth is worth losing Emily over.

A small smile breaks across her face. “I see she’s talked about me.”

“Well, yeah. She had to. We went through hell getting your insulin, and she nearly died getting it to you,” Max says, his tone a bit too blunt. I see I’m not the only one who feels this way. Good.

William rushes in to smooth over Max’s implication. “What he means is we were more than happy to help.” Max glares at him. “We’re glad she has someone looking out for her inside the walls, too.”

Zoey seems unfazed. “I understand. It’s a rare thing to find these days. I’m grateful to all of you, not only for the insulin, but for watching out for her. Emily is my best friend, and I can’t imagine going through this apocalypse without her. I’m relieved she had someone looking out for her when I couldn’t be there.”

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