Shocked (4 page)

“We don’t want your stuff.” Lucas says.

“We’re trying to get somewhere, that’s all.” I add.

The man visibly relaxes. “Okay, then. Maybe you can ask your boyfriend here to lower the gun?”

My eyebrows shoot into my hairline. “He’s not my boyfriend.” I say at the same time Lucas says, “No.”

Lucas looks at me now. “Really? He’s not my boyfriend? What does that have to do with anything right now?” The gun is still set on the guy.

“Well—he asked!” I point out. “He doesn’t seem like he’s dangerous. If anything, we’re intruding and holding him at gunpoint. You should put the gun down.”

“Yeah, so he can attack us or call his friends? I don’t think so.” Lucas has a hardness about him that I haven’t seen before. I kind of don’t like it (at all).

Doggie dinnertime must end because before I can answer Lucas we again have dogs surrounding us. “Call them off!” Lucas says a bit more loudly than I think he should.

“Lower your gun.” The guy counters. The dogs creep closer.

One of them suddenly charges towards me. Before any of us can react it knocks me to the ground. Its large paws pressing into my chest and holds me to the ground. The monster leans forward and attacks—licking my face enthusiastically?

Turns out that Billy (previously known as ‘the guy’) and his pack of hounds weren’t so bad. Shortly after Titus (the large hound that pummels me with affection) decides to severely invade my personal space both men remove the large pup. This forces them to work together and ultimately defuses what can be a very bad situation.

Billy’s general disregard for dirt is somewhat appalling. He easily makes up for it with his laid back demeanor. Once all things human and canine settle down he insists we follow him to the neighbor’s for a hot meal. He explains that being a bachelor and all, he doesn’t use the kitchen unless it’s the microwave. Lucas shrugs when I look to him so we file around the side of the house, this time down the driveway to the road.

It becomes more and more apparent that this area is still uninfected; that the nanobots have yet to reach here. Sure three-hundred miles is a lot, I just haven’t seen any real people in some time. If you take into account that a large chunk of my recent past contains a stint in a medical facility against my will (complete with medical professionals or soldiers that don’t classify as humans due to their blatant lack of humanity) then it’s been practically forever.

My anger surges, like it always does when I think about that place. In our now dark surroundings the shimmer of light that slithers across my hand is highly noticeable. Luckily Billy is in front of us leading the way so he doesn’t notice. Lucas catches it and rewards me with an elbow to the side. The look of apology I send back is genuine. The shimmer is still out of my control when my anger seeps out.

Billy leads us up another driveway. The house at the end is in seemingly better shape than his own. About ten feet from the door the smell of food hits. It smells delightful and makes me instantly ravenous. Billy points to the swing on the front porch. “Why don’t you two rest for a minute while I—er, announce us.”

I’m grateful to sit down and sink into the fore-mentioned swing. I look at Lucas to see what he’s waiting for. He still manages to look a bit suspicious and hesitant. I roll my eyes and pat the seat on the swing next to me. Finally he sits, though he refuses to look happy about it: his spine rigid and in no way relaxing into the comfy cushions like I’m doing. If not for knowing that good smelling food is inside, I can fall asleep right here.

The moment that the screen door thwaps shut behind Billy Lucas hisses at me. “This could be a trap!”

“Lucas,” I hiss back, “I don’t think this is a trap.” Inside, a child giggles as though to confirm my words. “I’m tired, I’m hungry and that food smells freaking awesome. Don’t. Mess. This. Up.”

Lucas has no response and at least has the decency to look contrite before the screen door bangs open. Billy returns followed by a cute couple.

“This here is Kim and Scott. They’re real nice and probably more setup for an overnight guest than I am. Kim, Scott, this is Lucas and Kat. They’re trying to head southwest.”

It’s Kim that rushes over first. “You walked here? You must be exhausted! And hungry, come on inside, supper’s just about ready.” Next thing I know, they steer us inside the blessedly clean and infestation-free house.

They push us politely into the dining room where Kim hastily rushes about setting two extra places at the table. A sweet-looking light haired little boy already sits, antsy in his chair. “Hi, I’m Josh!” He says brightly.

I can’t help but grin back at him. He reminds me of Nate. “Hi, Josh! I’m Kat, this’s Lucas.” I stick my thumb out behind me.

“Are you gonna stay an’ eat?” He looks imploringly to his mother.

“Yes, Josh.” She smiles when he whoops loudly.

Once we sit the food comes out and it looks as good as it smells. It’s hard to keep my manners in check. I manage to. A glance over toward Lucas confirms that he seems to be having a hard time too. It sure has been a long day.

By the time we finish the food on the table is nothing but a memory. The baked ziti and garlic bread that we eat is incredible. Even though there’s enough to feed an army, we annihilate it. It tastes even better than it looks and smells.

Everyone is just so great and we insist on helping clear all of the dinner plates. With that done Kim throws some clean sweats at me and shoos me into the bathroom. I assume a small part of it has to do with the fact that I smell funny and have something that shall not be named stuck in my hair from hiding under Billy’s porch. I wouldn’t want me lying on my sheets like this, so I don’t blame her one bit. Besides, showers rock!

When I finish Kim follows the same routine with Lucas. She offers to throw my clothes through the washer—which I exuberantly accept and offer to do myself. She insists it’s no bother and she tells me to relax. She points me towards the door to their spare bedroom. Inside the walls are a warm, sunny yellow and the bed looks big and soft. After pointing out where a few things are, Kim gently shuts the door behind her. The bed looks far too nice to pass up. My legs and feet hurt from miles of hiking. Now that my belly is full with a good warm meal and with that nice hot shower, I can barely stand up straight.

My thoughts lose coherency even as I walk towards the bed. I collapse onto it and my eyes weigh down. A deep sleep takes over immediately.

Waking up is almost always disorienting anymore; for lots of reasons. Rarely do we spend more than a night or two in one spot. Sometimes it’s just leaning up against a tree. So it’s no wonder that the comfort of a clean warm bed is making me a very non-morning person. The sun’s beaming in my face, but right now I want to ignore it and go back to sleep
. I’m still tired from yesterday, dammit!

I roll over dramatically and bask in comfort when I smack into something hard…warm-and definitely not there when I closed my eyes.
Lucas.
Much more awake now I move to sit up (and read him the riot act) when a heavy, well-muscled bronze arm wraps around my waist and pulls me close.

Okay, I freak out a little now. I wiggle and push but the arm is like a damn finger trap. The more I move, the tighter his grip gets. He presses me to him: my back to his front. Then his arm begins to move slightly, and I’ve had enough.

“Lucas!” I whisper loudly as I dare. “Lucas, knock it the hell off!” When he doesn’t respond I drop my elbow back into his stomach. That seems to do the trick because he releases me before falling off the bed into a heap on the floor.

“What the hell?!” He says a little too loud. “I was having a really good dream!”

“Shh! Don’t go waking up everyone. You got all grabby and wouldn’t let go, so I had to make you.” I glare at him. “What are you even doing in here?”

He wipes a hand down his face. “Kim sent me in here. I think they assume we’re a couple and I figured we’d be safer together. I was going to sleep on the floor, but…”

Yeah, yeah. The bed, I get it
. “Well, you can’t be mad at me.”

“No,” Lucas says softly and looks at me thoughtfully. “No, I’m not mad. I am most certainly awake now, though.”

“Yeah, me, too,” I stand up and make my escape from the awkwardness that fills the room. “Dibs on the bathroom.”

He doesn’t say anything while I leave the room. I try not to overthink the awkward moment that passes. I try not to think about the last time I felt safe inside someone’s arms. I try not to think about Mason—because if I do I will start to cry.

It’s hard saying goodbye to everyone, even Billy. We try to convince all of them to come with us, but they don’t want to leave their home. I can’t even throw some energy around to push the infection back. It may bring General Carch’s wrath down on them and that’s not how I want to repay them for their kindness.

We say goodbye to the kind family first. They insist we take extra food, water and clean clothes. Billy walks with us a bit and gives us some advice about the local land, places to avoid, that kind of thing. It probably won’t hurt to pay attention, but I can’t. My mind wanders with a ton of questions
. Too many what ifs and how comes.

What if I get to the camp and Brie, Mason and Jared aren’t there? What if something happens to one of them? What if they lose Baby Bear somewhere? What if I never see any of them again?

Why is this area uninfected? Not everywhere has been yet and this is certainly in the middle of nowhere, but it’s been too long since I’ve seen survivors. It scares the crap out of me…and gives me a sense of hope. So many have been lost, but there’s still a chance to save those who are left.

Lucas and Billy clap hands loudly and I even give him a quick hug, holding my breath until I’m back in my own airspace. He deserves it—he really helped us out. He’s a great guy…personal hygiene aside.

Then we’re off. After we’ve put some space behind us, I say to Lucas. “Did you even tell them why we were there or where we were headed?” I still think it’s strange that they didn’t ask many questions at dinner—of course I figure that’s because little ears were present. Then I fall asleep and I have no idea what Lucas tells them, if anything.

“Not really. They didn’t ask too many questions after Josh went to sleep. It’s almost like they knew that it’d be better for them not to know.”

I consider this for a moment. “That’s good. Very smart of them not to dig too deep,” then it clicks. “They were off the grid before all of this insanity, weren’t they?”

Lucas nods. “They’ve been living like that for years. There’s a whole community, but Kim, Scott and Billy were adamant that we should keep this involving a few people as possible. I guess some of the visitors they’ve had recently weren’t very nice and the community isn’t being very hospitable now.”

“That’s good, too. The less people to witness us here the better.”

Something about Kim, Scott and Billy makes me feel like I can trust them. Plus, they won’t want to upset their community. Even if Carch finds her way there, there’s no reason for her to suspect we went through, much less find who helps us.

There’s a lot of up and down hiking. The pre-spring foliage is thick enough to keep us under cover. It’s especially helpful when we hear a helicopter fly overhead. Lucas makes me hug the nearest pine tree, mumbling something about heat signatures. I don’t argue with him: just clutch my evergreen until the sound of the chopper is long gone.

There’s an abundance of creeks in this area. Soon it becomes noticeable that we are climbing an incline. Before long Lucas stops and pulls out some water and his map. He studies it for a moment, flattening it on a nearby rock before he calls me over. “Bell Mountain,” he looks around. “Yep. Billy said that we could probably get through this whole area without seeing too many people, if anyone at all. It’s a federal wilderness area or something. And he gave me this.” Lucas drops his pack on the ground and pulls out a small pop-up tent and sleeping bag, which I eye warily. “Don’t worry, the sleeping bag came from Scott.” Phew. “It’s one of those double ones, and it’s clean.”

“How much ground do you think that we’ll be able to cover today?”

He looks at his watch and shrugs. “At least another couple of miles. Then we should find a place to hunker down for the night.”

“Sounds good to me,” I take another swig of my water and screw the cap back on, putting it back in the netted pouch on the side of my own backpack before adjusting the straps. “Let’s go.”