Broken World (22 page)

Mitchell squeezes the briefcase tighter.
“We’re not risking it.”

Axl takes two quick steps forward,
getting right in Mitchell’s face. “You listen here. You ain’t in charge and you
ain’t callin’ the shots. We ain’t leavin’ that little girl behind, so you can
just get over it.”

Mitchell doesn’t even blink, and he
doesn’t back down. “I won’t be going if she does.”

“What’s going on?” Winston comes in from
the other room.

Everyone has stopped what they’re doing.
They watch us. Silently. Whose side will they be on?

“He wants to leave Emily behind because
she’s been bitten,” I say. Emily’s eyes are still wide, so I hold her hand.

Winston turns toward Mitchell. “That’s
not happening. We’re taking her and if you insist on making it an issue, the
deal’s off. You can find your own way to the shelter and we’ll go somewhere
else.”

“You’d give up a chance at shelter for
her?” Mitchell sneers. He clearly thinks Winston is a moron for making the
decision.

Winston stands up straighter. “It can’t
be the only safe place in this country, so we’ll just find another.”

Mitchell chews on this bottom lip while
he studies Emily. She looks terrified, so I sit down next to her and pull her
into my lap. She snuggles her face up against me and my heart aches. If only I
had been able to keep her safe.

“What if she turns? What will you do
then?”

“We’ll take care of it,” Axl says. “But
till then, she’s with us.”

“Can you live with that?” Winston gives
Mitchell a challenging look.

Mitchell swears under his breath and
throws himself back in the chair. “Guess I have to be. But I won’t ride in the
same car with her.” He turns and looks at me. “And you keep her away from me.
Understand?”

“Fine,” I say, hugging Emily tighter.
Her little fingers curl around a chunk of my hair.

Winston turns toward the door. “Good.
Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s head out.”

24

I
SIT IN THE BACK OF THE NISSAN with Emily cradled in my lap. She’d be safer in a
booster, but there aren’t any other cars on the road, so the chances of us
getting into an accident are slim. Having her against me like this makes me
feel better. She’s getting more responsive by the minute. Her face isn’t as
pale and she twists a few strands of hair around her fingers. Maybe things will
turn out okay.

Axl drives and Angus sits in the
passenger seat, spitting into his can while he reads the atlas. Trey’s behind
us, driving the Cadillac with Parvarti, Al, and Joshua, so we now have plenty
of space. Everyone else is spread out between the minivan and the Explorer.

“It’ll be ‘bout five in the mornin’ when
we get there if we drive straight through,” Angus says. “Should probably stop somewhere
to sleep. Probably ain’t safe to drive with no streetlights.”

“Yeah,” Axl says. “I was thinkin’ the
same thing. Gonna be hard to convince moneybags, though.”

“Don’t matter ‘cause he ain’t in
charge.” Angus spits again and stares out the window.

“We’re out of the city,” I say. “He
can’t complain about that, can he?”

Axl scoffs. “I got a feelin’ he can
complain ‘bout pretty much anything.”

I roll my eyes and look down at Emily.
Her brown eyes meet mine, but she doesn’t smile. A dark, red spot about the
size of a quarter shows through her white bandage. We need to change it soon.
It shouldn’t still be bleeding, should it?

Getting out of the city wasn’t hard, not
with the cars. Only a few bodies were lumbering around in the parking lot of
the hotel when we came out, and getting by them was simple. The roads out of
the city were clear of cars, and we only had to maneuver around a few bodies.
It really didn’t take us long at all.

We’ve been driving for a little over two
hours now, and it’s getting close to seven o’clock. I’m tired and hungry, and
Emily has to be, too. She didn’t have lunch and she refused any snacks. I’d
like to stop soon. The problem will be finding a good place.

“Holy shit!” Angus suddenly yells. “You
see that? Turn the damn car ‘round!”

My heart races and I squeeze Emily
tighter, like I’m trying to protect her. Too little too late. By the way Angus
is yelling, I expect to see a fire or an accident or a horde of bodies walking
across the road. But there’s nothing.

“What?” Axl asks, slowing the car but
not turning around.

“That store! I shit you not. It was
called Gun World!”

Axl slows even more and does a U-turn
right in the middle of the interstate. He’s in the lead and all the other cars
follow him. I lean forward, craning my neck in search of the sign that has
Angus so excited. Sure enough, right in front of us is a huge store with a red
sign that says
Gun World: Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Gear
. There’s
even an indoor shooting range.

“Good. This’ll give us a chance to load
up.” Axl maneuvers the car onto the exit ramp from the awkward angle. “Need to
teach some people to shoot, too. Get in some practice and make sure everybody’s
prepared. Especially with a bow. Bullets ain’t gonna last forever.”

“Good thinkin’,” Angus says.

We pull into the parking lot and I can’t
believe it. The front windows are intact and the doors are shut.

“I can’t believe no one has broken in.”

Axl pulls to a stop in front of the
store. “Yeah, you’d think somebody woulda busted in by now.”

The sun’s shining when we climb out, and
the parking lot is empty. An overwhelming silence looms over us. The clear sky
and sunny day are at odds with the desolation that lurks around every corner.
There’s been too much death and tragedy for things to look this cheerful. It
should be overcast and raining.

“Seems quiet,” Axl says.

“Most people probably died in their
homes,” I say, but a shudder runs through me. “Not going to be a lot of bodies
on the streets if they’re locked in.”

Angus spits into his can, something that
I’m starting to get used to. “Yeah. Maybe a smaller town like this ain’t so
bad. If they can’t get out, then there’s no problem.”

The other cars pull in and everyone
climbs out. No one even has to ask why we’re here. Sophia and Jessica start
pulling boxes of food out of the car to take inside. Everyone looks pretty
tired.

With Emily clutched in my arms, I follow
the brothers toward the store. When they smash the window, the sound of shattering
glass breaks through the silence and my heart speeds up. I can’t stop myself
from looking around. I expect bodies to appear and rush toward us. But there’s
nothing.

The store is pitch black. I stay with
the other women at the front while all the men except Mike and Mitchell head
toward the camping gear in search of lanterns. Mike pushes a shelving unit in
front of the window to block the hole. Mitchell stands off to the side by
himself, glaring at me occasionally.

A soft glow starts at the back of the
store, growing brighter as more and more flashlights and lanterns are turned
on. In no time that section shines with artificial light. They must have turned
on every lantern in the place.

“Come on back!” Axl’s voice echoes
through the building.

I head back with the other women and
find camp chairs and tables already set up. We eat a quick lunch and I try my
best to coax some food into Emily, but she won’t take a bite. She lies on a
small cot Axl set up for her, curled up in a sleeping bag and clinging to her
stuffed dog. I’m getting more and more worried about her as the day goes on.

“Does she have a fever yet?” Joshua
kneels next to her.

“No, she’s cool and I cleaned the bite
not that long ago. It finally stopped bleeding, and it’s not red or swollen. It
doesn’t look that bad.”

Joshua’s eyes are full of worry as he
listens to her heartbeat. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s just in shock.”

“Maybe,” I say. But I’m not convinced.

Axl comes out from the shooting range
where he’s been busy setting up lanterns and lighting the room so he can teach
people to shoot. It’s a good idea. I’d like to get some time in with a bow.
I’ve never shot one, and Axl’s right. We’re eventually going to run out of
bullets.

“Everybody’s gonna learn to shoot,” he
says firmly, looking around the room.

His authoritative attitude makes me
smile. It’s kind of hot.

People head back to the shooting range,
some excited like Al, and some a little reluctant like Jessica. Angus and Axl
giving shooting lessons? This should be interesting.

Before long, I’m alone with Sophia and
Ava. I haven’t spoken to Sophia since Emily disappeared, and I don’t know quite
what to say. I don’t blame her really, but I’m still angry and I need to direct
it at someone other than myself or I’ll go insane. She’s a convenient target.

“I’m sorry,” she says suddenly.

I squirm in my camp chair while gunshots
echo through the store, and I say the first thing that comes to mind, “It’s not
your fault. It’s mine.” Saying it out loud actually makes me feel lighter.
Blaming her was wrong.

“At first I thought so. But Arthur told
me what he said to you and I realized he was right. We need to look out for
each other.” Her eyes shimmer in the soft glow of the lanterns. “I thought you
were a bad mom, running off like that. I shouldn’t have judged you. I didn’t
realize you had just been reunited. What you did was brave.”

I stare down at Emily. Her eyes are
closed and she’s so tiny. Helpless. “I should have done more. Obviously.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re
still learning. I had six years to figure out how to be a mom, and there have
been plenty of times when I had no idea what I was doing. I can’t imagine
jumping into it in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. As if it isn’t hard
enough.” Sophia stops talking. She puts her hand to her mouth and looks away.

This is about more than just Emily.
“What’s wrong?”

She glances over her shoulder. When she
looks back and her eyes meet mine, she exhales. “I haven’t told anyone yet. I’d
just found out, right before the virus hit. Only my husband knew.”

My throat tightens. Deep down I know
what she’s going to say, but I don’t want to acknowledge it because it’s just
too scary and awful.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispers, and I can
barely hear it over the sound of gunfire.

“Oh my God,” I say before I can stop
myself. Shit. That probably wasn’t the best reaction. I put my hand on top of
hers. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I should have said
congratulations.”

“No, you were right the first time,” she
replies. “I just don’t know what to do.”

I have no idea what to say. No matter
what I say I’m going to make it worse, so I just stay silent and let her talk.

“I didn’t get to see my husband before
he died. He worked at the hospital and got sick in the first wave to hit the
West Coast. He refused to come home because he didn’t want to expose Ava and
me. We still thought they were going to be able to control it then.” She shakes
her head, and a tear slides down her cheek. “I was so mad at him for not coming
home, and when I couldn’t get in touch with him two days later, I knew. It was
devastating, knowing we weren’t going to be able to see him. But after I found
out about the bodies coming back I was so grateful. What if he had died in our
apartment? What if he had attacked me or Ava?”

“That would have been awful,” I say. “He
was a good man to protect you like that.”

“The best.” She lets out a heavy sigh.
“What if the baby isn’t immune?”

My vision blurs and I blink away the
tears. I hadn’t thought of that.

“At least we’re with a doctor,” Sophia
whispers.

The birth control pills I got the other
day at Walmart come to mind. I haven’t started taking them yet. Sex hasn’t
exactly been on my list of priorities, except that brief moment with Axl, but
Sophia’s story scares me. I need to start taking them.

People wander out of the shooting range
and Sophia leans toward me. “Don’t tell anyone about the baby, okay?”

I squeeze her hand. “It’s between you
and me. But I do think you should tell Joshua soon.”

She looks away. “I know. I will in a day
or two. When I’ve been able to process everything a little bit better.”

Emily moans and I turn toward her. She’s
still cool. Almost unnaturally cool. She keeps whimpering in her sleep.
Hopefully, she’s just dreaming and she’s not in any pain.

“She’s going to turn,” Mitchell says.

My head snaps up. He stands over me, and
a dark shadow looms across his face. He has a new toy in his hand, and he
flexes his fingers around it. A big shiny handgun that he no doubt learned how
to use.

“Stay away from her,” I warn him.

He shrugs. “I will, as long as you can
assure me you’ll be willing to do the right thing when it happens.”

“I won’t let her suffer and I don’t want
her walking around like that.”

“Good.” He walks away.

I look at Sophia, and she frowns at
Mitchell. “That man is trouble.”

I’m becoming more and more worried about
him as the day goes on. Maybe Angus was right. Maybe we should have let the
dead eat him.

It’s getting late. People begin laying
out air mattresses and sleeping bags. There isn’t any more gunfire coming from
the shooting range, but Axl is still back there with Angus, Trey, and Winston,
so I can only assume they’re shooting bows.

“Arthur, would you mind watching Emily
while I go back to the shooting range?”

“Of course,” he says, smiling at me.

“You can come get me if she wakes up.”

He pats my arm. “It will be fine. I’ll
stay with her.”

I smile and get up, then head back to
the shooting range. I almost bump into Angus and Winston as they come out.

“You gonna learn how to shoot, Blondie?”

“I wanted some time with the bow.”

“Axl’s a good shot,” Winston says.

“He had a good teacher,” Angus grumbles
as he walks off.

I roll my eyes.

Winston just laughs. “He’s not used to
such mixed company.”

“Well, he’s going to have to get used to
it.”

Winston nods and walks off, and I head
back to the range.

Trey’s shooting the bow and Axl stands
off to the side. “Nice shot.” He looks over at me. “You wanna learn?”

“Yeah, I thought it would be useful.”

“I’m about done here,” Trey says.
“Thanks, Axl.”

Axl nods and Trey walks out, patting me
on the back as he goes by.

“He’s good with the gun.” Axl puts the
bow down and picks a different one up. “Guess his brother was a cop, taught him
how to shoot. Picked up on the bow pretty fast too. He’s tougher than I
thought.” He motions for me to come over. “Let’s do it.”