Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 754(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
I yanked my mind from those thoughts and back to the present. Isaac was lucky in that the bullet appeared to have gone straight through his arm without hitting bone. But the wound was swollen and red around the edges and if it wasn’t infected yet, it was dangerously close. I slathered it with antibiotic cream and pressed a bandage over it. “You’ll need oral antibiotics too,” I told him.
He let out a huff. “Where the fuck am I gonna get those?”
“I don’t know. But you’ve gotta make it a priority.” This kid was young, probably in his early twenties, and he was obviously alone and directionless, but I was already tasked with taking care of myself and two other people. I couldn’t collect more along the way if the three of us were going to survive. As it was, tonight we’d only had the meat of one rabbit between us, and still had thousands of miles to travel. It’d get warmer the farther west we headed, but for now, it was winter and cold as hell, at least at night.
“Maybe one of the farms around here has some medicine they’d give you,” Emily said. “Even animal antibiotics would help, right, Tuck?”
“Farms,” Isaac murmured as I picked up the crate to move it back where it’d been, and he started putting his heavy flannel shirt back on. “Lots of people will be coming from the cities looking for farms,” he said. “I’m sure many who left sooner than me have already made it to some.”
“Too many, and those farmers will have to start shooting,” Charlie said. Charlie could be a real useless dick, but he wasn’t wrong on that count. And what this meant was that we were far from the only nomads on the road, looking for food, shelter, and any help that might be extended. We were competing now for limited resources.
And we still didn’t know exactly what was unfolding everywhere, but now we knew enough to understand that this was a big fucking catastrophe.
Conditions had just gotten a hell of a lot more dire.
twenty-six
Emily
Day Six
When we woke in the morning, the winter sun streaming through the wide slats and broken sections of the barn, Isaac was gone, and so were our horse, Tuck’s map, and Charlie’s shoes.
“What the fuck?” Charlie yelled, picking up the soggy sneakers that had replaced the ones he’d set next to his sleeping bag before bed, and then threw them against the wall. They met the wood with a slap, the sole of one coming off completely, a dark water spot showing exactly where they’d hit.
“He seemed nice!” I said, my disbelief clear in my tone. He’d stolen from us after we’d offered him warmth, and water, and medical help?
Tuck had paused the folding of his sleeping bag, but now began moving again, wrapping the tie around it and pulling tight. “He was nice,” he said. “But he was also scared. And alone. I heard him get up and leave this morning, but I thought it was for the best. He must be good with animals, because the horse didn’t make a sound when he led her off. I can only figure that he swiped the map last night while I was discarding the animal guts.” He glanced at Charlie’s feet. “And I obviously didn’t see him switch out the shoes before he left.”
I groaned. “Abram expected us to take good care of the horse. I hadn’t even named her yet.” Which was obviously for the best now as she was no longer ours. “Do you really think Isaac will take good care of her?”
“As well as he’s able. But horses, like cars, attract attention. That attention isn’t always good.” Tuck swung his backpack over his shoulder. “Honestly, she was slowing us down. We can walk faster.”
Charlie let out a bark of laughter. “We can walk faster? Oh great. We can walk faster. Except that I have no fucking shoes! Because of you!” He jabbed his finger at Tuck, and I stilled at the look on Tuck’s face, worried that Charlie was pushing him too far. In a minute he was going to walk out of here and leave us behind. “This was your fault,” Charlie said. “You wear those—” he pointed at the ruined shoes on the ground “—and give me yours.”
“I’m not giving you my shoes.”
“Give me your shoes and I won’t report you for the drugs.”
Tuck laughed bitterly, his eyes narrowing. “Go ahead and tell the authorities. In fact, be my guest and go right now.” Tuck’s voice was cold and even, and I detected a warning in it.
I was tempted to step between their argument like I’d done each time, but I didn’t. I’d already decided Charlie and I didn’t have a future after this journey from hell was over, and likewise, I’d never see Tuck again once he delivered me to my parents, so what was the point? Let them solve their own issues like men if they needed to.