Page 64 of Demon Defeat: Part 2

“I’ve made a bed for him in Andie’s ride,” Katie said, coming into the kitchen.Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

“Thank you, Katie,” Molev said.He stood and set a hand on her shoulder.“Do not give up hope.This world still has much to offer you.”

She gave him a wavery smile and nodded.

He released her and looked at me.“Is there anything I can wear until my leathers are dry?”

“I’ll look,” I said.

After finding some shorts, I grabbed his dirty clothes from the bathroom and rejoined him in the kitchen.He had an empty bowl in front of him, and Katie was refilling his glass of water.I didn’t hand him the shorts but knelt at his feet.

“I can pull them up for you when you stand,” I said.“Less stretching that way.”

He grunted and let me help him dress.Once the towel was gone, Katie and I followed him out the door, watching the way he limped to the vehicle.

“Sit in back with him,” I said to her when we reached the MRAP.

She nodded and helped him to the makeshift bed while I got in behind the wheel.

Patrick’s voice crackled over the radio.“We don’t stop unless we have to.”

Engines started, and I glanced back at Molev, who already lay on his stomach.His grey skin looked paler.

“You still with me, Molev?”I called over the noise of the engine.

He lifted his head and looked me in the eyes.

“I will always be with you, Andie.”

Those words startled me.While I knew he meant them in a saving-the-world kind of way, my mind questioned a different direction.A direction with meanings I didn’t want to explore.

Facing forward again, I focused on following the Stryker.

Patrick took the most direct route to the highway, which led to our first roadblock of the day.Infected swarmed the vehicles, but we punched our way through and continued on.We encountered another trap avoiding Fairview but found Highway 412 relatively clear of traffic and easy to travel.Much better than some of the dirt roads we’d encountered.

A few infected sprinted out from the occasional buildings we passed, but they quickly fell behind.The highway was, overall, a faster way to travel.Then we started hitting patches with steep shoulders.All it would take was one roadblock we couldn’t penetrate, and we’d be screwed.I tried not to let that thought take root.

We traveled in silence for another quarter of an hour before Patrick’s voice came over the radio.

“How’s our passenger?”

“Resting,” Katie said behind me.

“The FOB is on the other side of Woodward.We’ll need to go around to avoid attracting too many infected.”

Shortly after that, we turned south off the highway until the first road west.

“Keep sharp.We’re just south of Mooreland.”

I wasn’t sure how big the place was, but the road remained clear until we turned south again and came up to a plant on our left.A single pickup truck blocked the road.Before we reached it, I heard a pop.

“Was that a tire or gunfire?”Katie asked me.

“We’re under fire,” Patrick said on the radio.

The Stryker picked up speed.I did the same.

Something tumbled from the bed of the truck before the Stryker reached it.The man got to his feet and took aim again.I focused on the taillights in front of me.Nothing else mattered.Nothing else could matter.

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