V-Day: (M-Day #4) (28 page)

“
Yeah, well I
’
ve seen you with some of your hookups.
”
I paused to make a gagging noise.
“
Made me want to throw up and gave me nightmares
…”
I laughed at Ty
’
s horrified expression. He glanced at Nyx and then back to me again, shaking his head ever so slightly. I laughed.
“
Please, I
’
m sure she knows what a player you used to be.
”

Nyx grinned at me.
“
I have a pretty good idea, but you know, when this is all over, I wouldn
’
t mind hearing
—”

“
Nope!
”
Ty interjected, his eyes even wider.
“
You are never being alone with my sister. That could only end badly for me.
”

Evo clapped her hands together loudly.
“
Yakity-yack-yack! We
’
re not in the clear yet, people! Just because we think we might have the solution doesn
’
t mean we have time to stand around and bullshit. Let
’
s go!
”
She sped up her clapping.
“
Let
’
s go! Let
’
s go! Let
’
s go! We need to find us a boat and
…
a compass?
”

I nodded.
“
Yeah.
”
Shit.
“
Where the hell
…
?
”

“
I can figure it out,
”
Zee said.

I chuckled to myself.
“
Of course he can.
”

Max met my gaze.
“
Annoying isn
’
t it?
”

“
Extremely,
”
I agreed.

I returned my gaze to Riley, watching him as he hunched over to snag weapons from Evo. I frowned. There was still so much we had to talk about
—
things that I
’
d rather left unsaid. Like his rape.
How the hell am I supposed to tell him what happened?
Unless he somehow knows and simply wants to pretend it never happened? I could understand that position.
But
…
secrets. I don
’
t want them anymore.

I decided I would tell him, when the time was right. Now wasn
’
t it. And maybe it would never come. It was hard to say what was best for Riley. I was going to have to think long and hard about a lot of things to do with us. Now wasn
’
t the time for being pensive either.

Just survive first, then try to answer the hard questions.

The eight of us were split into two small rowboats, and yeah we were rowing just like Evo had suggested. The vote had been to use something that wouldn
’
t run out of gas, but my arms weren
’
t virus-powered-strong and I was getting tired faster than everyone else seemed to be.

Zee had made some kind of survivalist style compass out of a piece of metal, a string, and cardboard. Somehow he
’
d magnetized the metal, but I got bored watching him after a while. Armed with that little thing, and a map we pillaged from a corner store, Zee claimed he could find where we needed to go. So I
’
d given him the coordinates and off we went.

Nervous anticipation churned in my stomach. I had no idea what we were going to find at
‘
home base
’
when we got there.
If we actually get there
. Riley reached over and squeezed my knee, sensing my distress. He smiled at me, showcasing his dimples, and yeah, I felt better. With Riley and my brothers by my side, even if we walked into a shit storm, it wouldn
’
t be that bad. But mostly it was Riley. I loved my brothers, they were my blood, but anyone who said you could live on that kind of love alone was full of crap. Funny how it took the apocalypse for my family to get their love lives on track.
Maybe some people just aren
’
t suited for normal life.
I definitely didn
’
t think Evo and X were, they were thriving in this new world. Although I
’
d give almost anything for a normal life with Riley. A house with a white picket fence, a few kids, a dog. My heart squeezed as I thought about Cujo.
I wish I could have saved her.

“
I hope there
’
s some chocolate where we
’
re going,
”
Nyx said wistfully, gazing down at the water as it sloshed against her oar.
“
It
’
s been a while since I
’
ve had any. I almost forget what it tastes like.
”

“
How grateful would you be for a Snickers bar right about now?
”
Ty asked without looking at her, the corners of his mouth curling up.

“
Pretty fucking grateful.
”

“
I hope you mean that.
”
He dropped his oar into the boat, the wood clattering loudly. He dug into his pocket, and whipped a king-sized Snickers out, waving it in front of Nyx.

She squealed as she bounced up and down causing the boat to rock.
“
Oh my God! I love you so much!
”

I sniggered and leaned in to whisper to Riley,
“
So that
’
s how he finally got good at relationships.
”

Riley chuckled.
“
Yeah, back before M-Day a girl wouldn
’
t drop her panties for a candy bar.
”

Salt water hit me in the face. I glowered as I swiped at my burning eyes.
“
Hey! That stings!
”

Ty glared at me even though his lips were twitching up.
“
Don
’
t mock my game. I merely provide what my woman wants. She wants chocolate, she gets chocolate.
”

“
Yeah, whatever.
”

“
You want chocolate?
”
Riley eyed the candy bar.
“
I bet I could take him. It wouldn
’
t be the first time.
”

“
I don
’
t want chocolate, because baby, I am chocolate.
”
I winked at Riley and Nyx burst into a fit of laughter.

“
Yeah, you
’
re definitely Ty
’
s sister alright.
”
She waved in Zee
’
s direction who was in the other boat, his face drawn in serious lines.
“
What happened with Zee?
”
She was right; Zee was the
…
intense one in our family.

I shrugged.
“
He
’
s the oldest.
”

We fell into silence after that. Ty picked up his oar and joined back in on the rowing. The sound of water slapping against the oars was kind of peaceful, and hope was keeping my mood afloat, but underneath it all, there was an undeniable tension. No one wanted to say it, but we all knew that whatever we found at the end of this trip was going to change everything for all of us.

It was hard to say how long we
’
d been traveling. It felt like years, but it was probably close to hours. We
’
d made haphazard canopies for the boats to protect from the worst of the sun, but it still bounced off the water, and people like Nyx, Riley, Evo and X with their lighter complexions were looking a little worse for the wear, although none of us were doing all that great. With no new product being manufactured, sunscreen was no longer an option since the expiration dates had come and gone leaving all of it useless.

All conversation had halted hours ago, and the tension had skyrocketed as everyone cast furtive glances around at the endless horizon of water. What if I remembered the coordinates wrong? Or what if they were no longer positioned in the same place? Maybe with all the trouble they
’
d upped their anchor and set sail for better waters. Maybe
—

“
Do you see that?
”
Nyx rose up slowly, pointing slightly to the right in front of us. She squinted and cupped her hands over her eyes.
“
Is that
—
could it be
—”

I stood abruptly almost capsizing the small boat. Riley grabbed me around the waist and pulled me down.
“
Are we close to the coordinates I gave you?
”
I shouted to Zee.

He turned around, a small smile tipping up his lips.
“
Yeah, we are.
”

With renewed fervor all of us in both boats paddled as fast as we could manage. My arms burned with the exertion. A few moments later the boat that I had been hoping to find filled my vision.
“
Thank God,
”
I muttered.

Ty turned to me, his mouth hanging open.
“
That
’
s not a boat, Vi, that
’
s a goddamned Aircraft Carrier.
”

I shrugged.
“
If it
’
s on the water it
’
s a boat to me.
”
What did they think I meant, a little yacht or something? I
’
d thought I
’
d made myself clear when I
’
d said there was an array of boats and submarines and such.

“
So now what?
”
Zee called over his shoulder. They
’
d stopped paddling so our boat could pull alongside theirs for easier conversation.

“
I think I need to go first. If everything is still fine there then they
’
ll recognize me and I can smooth the way for you guys.
”

“
Halt where you are!
”
A wetsuit clad head popped up from the ocean a few feet away, pointing a spear gun at us.
“
Identify yourselves if you can.
”
That
’
s new.

I stood slowly, my hands in the air. Before I could even open my mouth, the guy pulled back his goggles.
“
Moore, that you?
”
He scanned everyone else
’
s faces.
“
What happened to
—”

“
They didn
’
t make it.
”
I couldn
’
t quite tell who I was talking to but he seemed to know me, thankfully.

He nodded once.
“
Infected?
”

“
No. Killed by some of them though.
”

He nodded again.
“
I
’
d rather die than become one of them. No one here infected, right? Just have to ask.
”

I glanced around briefly, locking gazes with Riley for a moment before answering.
“
No. No one here is infected.
”
The
‘
I
’
word would be greeted with extreme bias, no matter what I said at this point. I just had to get everyone on board and then I could talk to the scientists and convince them that the virus wasn
’
t the same in everyone. I wasn
’
t going to take any chances with everyone
’
s lives.

He smiled.
“
Glad to see you made it back in one piece. Let
’
s get you and your new friends onto the ship then.
”

Relief punched into my gut with such force I almost lost my balance.
“
Sounds good to me.
”
Several more heads popped up and started swimming to the ship in front of us.