Page 33 of Zocopalypse (Death Fields 1)

“Well, I looked at the map and made a list of the places I could remember on the way out of town. Random stuff that seemed like it would be safe. When I saw the church was on the way I added it to the list.”

“Do you think there are people inside?”

“Maybe, I guess people going to church at a time like this makes sense, but I really think most people went to the emergency shelters or have locked themselves in at home.”

Mom’s forehead creases. “What if we should have gone to the shelter?”

“Dad said not to.”

“Dad isn’t always right, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” I almost smile at the change in our positions. Mom isn’t one to criticize my father. “But he gave us pretty specific instructions. I think we have to trust him.”

She rolls her sweatshirt into a pillow and dozes off against the wall. I take out my map and study it, touching each of the marks I’ve made with my finger. If we can keep to this schedule we’ll be okay. Each step of the journey manageable. One stop per day—long rest periods.

The real problem isn’t when we get out of the suburbs. It’s more when we have to cross from the neighborhoods into the more urban, industrialized areas. Places I’m not familiar with.

I take a deep breath, one filled with dust and grease, and try to settle my nerves. One day at a time, I tell myself, settling into my pack. With one last glance around I turn off the flashlight, cloaking us in the impenetrable dark.

Chapter Thirty-One

~Now~

“First stop is Asheboro,” I say. “It’s only sixty miles away but if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that everything takes twice as long. Even if we do have a car.”

“You have a car?” Chloe says moving closer.

“A truck,” Wyatt says. We’re looping back to the cabin through some dense woods. I’m still not sure how I feel about taking these two with us, but I do like having extra eyes on watch.

“We had a car but ran out of gas and had a couple of close calls with the Army, so we decided just to hike,” Cole says.

“Makes sense,” I say. My mother and I walked the whole way from Cary the suburb we lived in to outside of Raleigh. It definitely had made it easier to stay out of sight. But now that she’s gone, I’m even more anxious to get to my sister. We can cover two to three times the distance in the truck. “We decided to stick it out with the truck as long as it lasts.”

“No complaints here,” Chloe says.

We find the cabin and the truck the way we left it, including the way the rock hiding the key hangs slightly askew. As outdated and rustic as the cabin has become, I do have a familial connection to it and leaving it feels a little bittersweet. Plus it feels stupid to leave somewhere safe. /Maybe Jane and I could come back here one day. Because of this, I decide not to make any move to go back inside and alert Cole and Chloe to my connection to the place. It’s no surprise when Wyatt tosses his bag in the back of the truck and opens the door, without even a glance at the cabin. He’s ready to move on.

The twins climb in the back, feet loud on the metal truck bed. I open and close the creaky door, inhaling the familiar scent of the cab. I shove my bag between my feet. Wyatt fishes the key out from under the seat and cranks the engine. It rumbles to life, interrupting the ever present silence.

When we finally reach the main road I whisper, “Do you think it’s a mistake bringing them along?”

“You’re the one that pushed this.”

“Don’t pretend like you’re not into that guy’s hunting skills,” I tell Wyatt. “Look, I know I pushed it, but now I’m second guessing myself. I didn’t realize when we said hello that they would end up in the back of the truck. It’s not like we know anything about them.”

He chuckles softly. “It’s not like we know one another.”

“No, I guess not.”

Wyatt palms the large steering wheel, arms tense. “If you want to ditch them we can, but you saved my ass the other day—twice with the doctoring on the boat. It doesn’t hurt to have a little back up—we both saw what they did with those bows. They’re not weak, but they also don’t seem too crazy. If they are we’ll deal with it at the time.”

I hope the time doesn’t come when we aren’t expecting it.

“Okay, we’re human. We need humans,” I say more to myself than to him. “Stick to our rules and we’ll be okay.”

“Rules?”

“Mother f-er, Wyatt. Did you forget already?” I notice the quirk of his eyebrow and quiver on his lip. Were in the middle of the zombie apocalypse and this guy is making jokes. Asshole. I punch him in his rock hard arm and wince.

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