Page 20 of Resistant

The boys and I are eating breakfast when my phone buzzes. I flip it over. Knox has requested another appointment for tonight. And holy shit, he paid me credits last night for a blow job, sex, and oral sex.

What the fuck?

I have a new uneasy feeling about him, this is business. I decide to accept the appointment, but I plan to give him the cold shoulder to make it plain what this is, and what it is not.

I get all our bags and stuff them into the hall closet. Nathan is working on our old beast of a truck.

In the wee hours this morning, I visited all my neighbor’s houses looking for gasoline and food. I didn’t find a lot, but it was more than I’d hoped for.

David and I review the maps we found at a neighbor’s house together, we are heading northwest. Hopefully, we can vanish into the wilderness. I’m not outdoorsy so this will be an adventure if we survive it.

I’m planning on bribing a guard at a checkpoint with credits to get a passport. We are traveling light, only taking the bare necessities.

I’ve boxed up all the family pictures and I’m still mulling over where I can hide them. One day I will come back for them.

I’m still mulling over the details in my mind when Knox enters my bedroom.

“We need to talk.”

I glare at him.

“I don’t see what we might possibly have to talk about. We are not friends; we aren’t in a relationship. This is business.”

Knox sighs heavily.

“I am not the asshole you think I am.”

“Pretty sure you are just the asshole I think you are.”

“Brynn, there are some things you need to know. I can help you. But I can’t help you if you don’t let me.”

“You are not in any kind of position to offer any kind of help that I could trust, Knox. Get real.”

Knox paces at the foot of my bed for a few moments, rubbing the back of his neck. Finally, he stops and leans over, caging me in.

“Brynn, they are coming for your sons. You won’t be able to stop them. You won’t be able to hide, there is nowhere to go. But I can help. I can keep an eye out for them, and I can take you with me.”

My mouth drops open and I stare at him, in complete disbelief.

“Why is everyone interested in my boys? I’m just trying to survive here.”

“Brynn, haven’t you wondered why none of you have gotten sick?”

“What do you mean? Many of my neighbors didn’t get sick, they were executed. So, why do you have reason to believe that we are any different? We are only alive because I decided to give my boys life at all costs. Look at me, Knox! I’ve been forced into becoming a whore. I’ve done despicable things just to make sure they have full bellies at night.”

Knox seems unfazed by my outburst and ignores my speech about prostitution.

“Look, I don’t know if there is anything going on, I know your family has garnered attention because none of you have gotten The Sickness. The plume came right over your house. I had to wear a gas mask to come here for a month. And I washed in your garage before coming in.”

“You what?”

“Brynn, listen to me! They are coming, and you need to be ready and have a plan.”

“How do you know this?”

“I just know.”

“So, what do you propose?”

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