Divided (24 page)

When I pulled up to Gary's house, I watched Gary run to Gabriel's truck with a duffle bag over his shoulder and climb in. Dev's dad ran to my side of the SUV with a similar bag on his shoulder.

"What did he say? Is he okay?"

I shook my head. "He didn't call yet." His face fell, and I could tell he was disappointed, so I explained. "I'm going on gut instincts here, but I just know I'm right. Get in."

"No, get out, and let me drive. If he does call, you'll need to answer it." He made sense, and I hurried to follow his suggestion. "Where am I heading?"

I spoke quickly, afraid we would waste more time. "395 North."

"Get on the walkie talkie so Gary can hear you explain what's going on."

I pulled the heavy, black box from the cup holder and took a deep breath. "Gary, do you copy?"

"We hear ya," Gary confirmed.

"Okay, well, I haven't heard from Dev yet, but I know this is where they'll be. We saw a news report about the infection hitting San Francisco. It's really bad there. The last sighting for the team was in Sacramento, which is north of San Francisco. It makes too much sense—they have to be heading there. If we're already on our way, we have a better chance of getting there before—I'm afraid—it sounds bad there. We have to get to them before the Infecteds increase and—" I couldn't bring myself to say it. I didn't even want to think it.

Brian put his hand on mine. "It's okay. We know what you mean."

I relaxed a little, and spoke more calmly into the walkie talkie. "We'll stay on 395 until we get into Nevada, just follow my lead into California—I know a few shortcuts."

Gary's response was clear. "We trust your instincts, Evie."

"Thanks guys." I glanced at Brian, wondering what he thought of my plan. Was he going to argue more with me?

He spoke slowly. "It sounds like a good plan, Evie. I'm just worried about Dev."

I bit my thumbnail. "Me too."

The first few hours were silent. I think we were both content to live in our own thoughts, but I needed to know what was going on around San Francisco to know the best way into the area. If they quarantined the surrounding cities, we'd have to find an alternate path in. The radio seemed the best source of information, but I was surprised to find very little coverage. In fact, I couldn't find anything except local stations broadcasting music, and there were very few of those. I switched over to the satellite radio and tuned to the stations that only broadcast news. Every once in a while they mentioned "civil unrest" in San Francisco, but they never went into details.

When we crossed the Nevada line, I got really frustrated. "Damn it! Why aren't they saying anything?"

He gave me a sympathetic smile, but it was so similar to Dev's that my heart fell seeing it. "They're covering it up, Evie. They've done it before."

I nodded and tried to relax, but I was so petrified that I was wrong. What if the broadcast had really been about rioters? What if they were an isolated incident and there weren't any other Infecteds in San Francisco?

"Maybe…" I clenched my jaw, but pulled my courage together. "Maybe we should turn back." I grabbed the walkie talkie, but Brian stopped me. Just then, my prepaid phone rang obnoxiously and vibrated in my hand.

I started shaking again. This was it. I put the phone to my ear. "Dev?"

"Baby, I only have a minute." His voice was shaking. "This is the worst I've seen it. I don't think—I love you, Evie. Please know how much I love you, I—"

"Stop that," I yelled. I wasn't about to have him say goodbye to me. "Tell me where you are."

He sounded so defeated. "It doesn't matter, baby. I'm nowhere near you, and by the time you get here, it'll be too late. They've already wiped out six members of our team. This strain of the infection is fast—they're full-strength in less than a day, not two weeks. This is the worst I've seen."

"You're in San Francisco, right? I'm less than three hours away, Dev. Tell me where you are."

"Three hours?" he asked in confusion. "How did you—"

"I saw the news report. I knew you were in Sacramento. Where are you now?"

"South San Francisco, but I don't want you coming here. You can't get here anyway—they've torn everything up." The gunfire in the background was so loud I could hardly hear him.

I sat up straighter, ready for a fight. "So get out of there, and meet me somewhere."

"I—I don't know if we can—they—it's bad." Several screams ricocheted through the phone and into my ears.

I clenched my fist in frustration. "Are you hurt? Is Harm?"

"No, we're okay right now. Just some scratches, but—"

"Then get the hell out of there!"

"Evie, we can't—it—it's breaking out down in San Mateo then they think Sunnyvale. They'll likely pull us from here and send us down there where we might make a difference. I don't know this area, baby. I couldn't even tell you where to meet me. Just go hide, don't come here."

I was yelling now. "I will
not
leave without you! San Jose, Dev. Get to San Jose with Harm. Meet me at our old house. Harm knows where it's at. You can do it, Dev. Get to San Jose. Please?"

"I don't know if—"

I hated manipulating him, but dire circumstances were certainly presenting themselves. "I'm going there whether you like it or not. Either you can leave me there to wait for you and get attacked, or you can fight like you've never fought before and meet me there! It's your choice, damn it."

He groaned, but it was barely audible with all the yelling in the background. "Okay, baby. I'll be there." He sounded a little relieved. "You're really three hours away?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Three hours. We'll be there. If I don't—"

I growled. "Then I'll wait there until I die."

"Damn it, Evie."

"I'm not giving you a fucking choice, Devlin!"

He was quiet for a few seconds before he quietly answered, "Okay, baby. I'll be there. I love you."

"I love you too." The phone beeped, telling me he'd hung up.

I wanted to tell Brian what he'd said. I wanted to get on the walkie talkie and share it with Gabriel and Gary. Instead, I cried and shook. I was vaguely aware of Brian patting my shoulder, and it helped me calm down. He had to make it, he just had to. I didn't want to imagine a future without him and Harm. They had to be okay.

I quickly calmed myself down—crying didn't help a situation, but it had allowed me to let go of some of the tension. I picked up the walkie talkie and cleared my throat, trying to make my voice a little stronger. "Dev just called. It's really bad there. He's afraid he won't make it. I think I should go get them alone. I don't want to put any of you at risk. Please consider this. He says it's the worst he's ever seen."

Gabriel spoke first. "You go, I go, kid."

Gary's clear tone came through the walkie talkie next. "Same here. He's my friend, too, and so is Harm."

I turned to Brian and raised my eyebrows at him. He shook his head. "He's my child, Evie. I'm the one who should be saying I'll go in alone. Clearly, that's pointless where you're concerned. I think we suffer from the same problem of not wanting to be without him."

I nodded and stared down at the walkie talkie for a moment, wanting to cry again. I couldn't, though. I needed to go back into strong-girl mode. I sat up straighter and pulled my chin up, speaking clearly into the walkie talkie. "Okay. We're meeting in San Jose. We need to move as fast as we can. It sounds like it's spreading from San Francisco down to Sunnyvale, which means it hasn't hit inland. We'll stop in Manteca and leave the trailer. We can move faster without it and stop back on the way out of California to pick it up. We'll split up the weapons then too. Copy that?"

"Got it, Evie." Gary's voice was hard as steel, but I wasn't surprised by that. Gary was always solid, and we'd been through this before, just not on this large of a scale.

The next few hours were excruciating. At the last gas fill-up, I took over driving since I knew the area better than Brian. We were only two hours away, but already, the traffic heading out of the Bay Area was getting heavier. I wasn't sure how we would get back out, but I couldn't think about that yet.

On the road, I switched back to local radio. Most stations were playing the emergency broadcast I'd heard in Bishop telling everyone about the conditions of the quarantine. Brian scanned the stations, and eventually landed on one that was reporting. The female voice was calm, but she was speaking very quickly.

"Every major freeway is congested as residents flee from the area. The National Guard requests that everyone stay inside their homes, barricade their doors and windows, and wait until they can regain control of the area.

"The fires in San Francisco are still burning uncontrollably as the group of Infecteds have attacked and killed several firefighters who attempted to put out the flames.

"Meanwhile, farther south, reports of gangs of Infecteds raiding houses and killing at random have increased. The National Guard encourages everyone in the areas of Los Altos, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara, to evacuate immediately as the threat of several rapidly spreading fires increases. Those in the area of Palo Alto and Redwood City, while currently safe from fire, have seen a concentrated outbreak of the infection. Residents are warned to be on the lookout for symptoms of aggression and violent behavior from anyone in your household. The National Guard encourages citizens who suspect a family member of being infected to stay away from them at all costs.

"Evacuation via 101 South and 680 North is next to impossible as traffic is at a standstill. Several accidents are blocking on-ramps and areas of the freeways. The National Guard encourages citizens trapped on these freeways to remain inside their locked vehicles until help can arrive."

Brian turned off the radio. "I just can't hear any more of that."

I nodded. I knew exactly how he felt. I knew the cities she had mentioned, could see them in my mind's eye. I just couldn't believe it all. At this rate, it would be across all of the Bay Area before we could get there. I just had to hope we weren't too late. I had to pray Harm and Dev were still alive and could make it to our meeting location.

When we got closer to San Jose, I was thankful there was still a little light out because I really had to put my memory to the test. People were using both sides of the freeways trying to get out of there. I had to take side-streets to get anywhere. Again, I had no idea how we would get back out of the mess. It had been three and a half hours since I'd talked to Dev. I only hoped we weren't too late. Several times, we encountered accidents or fires and had to find another route, but eventually, we made it into my old neighborhood.

It was like something out of my nightmares. It had always been a lively neighborhood with kids playing in the streets or people out running. Now, it was a ghost town. Everyone's blinds were drawn, a lot of doors and windows were boarded up, and no one was on the streets. I quickly navigated to my old house—the one I'd shared with my parents for several years before they were taken from me. Seeing it again made me miss them so terribly and wish for my daddy to be right behind that door where he could make everything better. But I couldn't afford to lose my strength to grief, so I focused again on the street, hoping for Dev and Harm to appear.

Brian had his shotgun ready with a handgun in his waistband. I still preferred a shotgun and had it across my lap with the car doors locked. I parked in the middle of the street and felt a little guilty about it. But really, it wasn't like someone was going to come along and tell me not to block their driveway.

I anxiously watched the minutes on the clock pass by. Finally, after ten minutes, a black vehicle came down the street. Brian and I got our shotguns ready, just in case. My heart started hammering in my chest as I watched for signs of Dev or Harm. When the car pulled into the driveway across the street, I nearly jumped from the SUV, but then I saw a female get out of the car. I was so disappointed, but I just kept staring at her hoping she might turn into Dev and Harm or someone with their group. She looked directly at me, and I noticed her eyes were not green. I also recognized her as someone who had been a good friend, which eased away the disappointment I was feeling. She smiled and waved.

"Do you know her?" Brian asked as she signaled for me to come to her.

"She's a good friend."

"I don't think you should leave the car, Evie." He was shaking his head and looking far too much like Dev with his eyebrows pulled tight together and his sharp jaw clenched. It sent a small stab of pain to my heart and pushed me out of the vehicle all the more.

"Maybe she can give me information about what's going on nearby. I'll just be a minute."

He stared at me for a long moment then nodded. "Here, take the walkie talkie, and tell them what you're doing."

I grabbed my shotgun, and got out of the SUV. Putting the walkie talkie to my mouth, I explained, "She's a good friend. I just want to see if she has any information for us."

Gabriel's voice was stern. "Be careful."

Placing two fingers to my forehead, I swept them away quickly in salute to Gabriel and walked across the street.

She was speaking at a normal volume, but I knew that for Vicki, it was as close as she could get to whispering. "Piper? I can't believe it. What are you doing here—and now of all times?"

I kept my voice low. "Have you seen Harm?"

She was still smiling, but it didn't really reach her voice or her eyes. "Not since you guys moved away. Why?"

I figured there was really no point to lying now, not with the infection hitting them. "He's part of the team fighting the Infecteds. He's meeting me here."

She seemed to understand; after all, every girl in the neighborhood had drooled over Harm in uniform at one time or another. "I haven't seen him, but they've been showing pictures of the soldiers fighting on TV." She jerked her chin-length blonde hair toward her front door. "Come in, and you can look and see if he's in any of the pictures."

I nodded and quickly told the others what I was doing by way of walkie talkie. Turning back to Vicki, my curiosity got the best of me. "Where were you going, Vicki?"