PODs (31 page)

“I’ll meet you outside.”

“You’re not waiting for me? I don’t want to be alone.”

“Hell’s bells, Evangelina. Are you trying to torture me?”

I grinned. “Maybe a little.”

David and I met the others outside for breakfast. I looked around and frowned. It was like there were two camps. The women scurried about on one side while the men stood around talking and laughing on the other side. The women fussed over the breakfast, stirring the grits in a pot hanging from a stand over the fire, and then hurrying to the other side of the camp carrying bowls of grits and cups of coffee to the guys and bringing back their empty cups and bowls to wash. Only when every man and boy had a full bowl and cup did the women dish out some of the nasty grits for themselves, finding a place to sit and gulp down their breakfast before the men decided it was time to start breaking down the camp.

I watched in disgust. It was like the clock had rolled back a century and the women’s only job was to take care of the men.

“Eva! Are you okay?” Jessica skipped over to me.

“Yeah. Why?”

“You weren’t around when I woke up. I thought maybe you weren’t feeling well and went out for some fresh air. You shouldn’t do that, you know. We need to stay with the group—safety in numbers.”

“I didn’t wander off. I was with David.” She studied me and I squirmed under her gaze.

“So you’re the one.”

“One what?”

“The reason David isn’t interested in any of the other girls,” she said with a smile. “They’ve all given it a try. He’s nice and funny and gorgeous. But he wasn’t interested.”

“Oh,” I didn’t know what to say. On the inside I was jumping up and down for joy. On the outside I tried to look calm. I didn’t want to seem like I was gloating, but secretly that’s exactly what I was doing.

“I can see why he likes you,” she said.

“What? Why?”

“You’re nice and really pretty. I like your hair. It shimmers like gold when you stand in the sunlight. You make a good pair.”

“Um, thank you.” I could feel the heat of the blush covering my face.

I stayed on the women’s side of the camp eating a bowl of bland grits. Jessica introduced me to the other “womenfolk.” Many were my age, some a little older, with a few who might’ve been in their thirties—the topsiders hadn’t been age-selected like those of us from the PODs. Although everyone in our group of survivors was healthy enough to keep up on daylong hikes, the oldest survivors were in their early to mid-fifties. While I talked with the women, I couldn’t help stealing glances at David. He stood with his hands on his hips, his jeans riding low, talking to the other guys. Now and then he’d look over his shoulder at me and grin.

Breakfast over, the women bustled about, gathering bowls and utensils. The bowls clanged together as they scrubbed the hardening food from the sides.

A man who looked to be in his late twenties, with a ruddy complexion and red hair, kicked sand over the fire; smoke billowed out, stinging my eyes.

“Dang it, Roy! I done told ya I’d do it. Now you smoked us all out!”

“Woman, that’s why we don’t go helping you none,” Roy called over his shoulder with a grin.

“I ain’t got any use for yer help,” the woman muttered, gathering dishes and walking away.

“That’s Judy,” Jessica whispered. “She and Roy have a thing for each other. At least, that’s what Devlin says. But Roy and Judy don’t know it yet.”

I laughed. “Who’s going to tell them?”

Jessica shrugged. “Not me. I’ve got my own love life to sort out.”

“Oh?” I tried to hide a grin.

“Yeah. His name’s Chris. He’s that one.” She pointed to a teenaged boy with shaggy blond hair wearing a rock band t-shirt. He looked over and smiled at Jessica. She blushed and giggled. “Devlin says I’m too young for a boyfriend. I tell him that’s okay ‘cuz Chris and I aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“No? Then what are you?”

“Soulmates,” she sighed, waving her fingers at Chris. He dipped his head and smiled, a small blush coloring his cheeks. “I’m going to go see if he got enough to eat.” Jessica skipped to Chris. I watched her cross the divide between the women’s side of the camp and the men’s.

“Are you ready to go shopping?” David asked, walking toward me.

“Are we going together, or are we segregated? The womenfolk shopping in one area while the strong, manly menfolk shop in another?”

He laughed. “I guess it does look like the women are segregated from the men. But it’s just how it turned out. We fell into a routine and it stuck.”

“Whatever. But I’ll tell you right now, I’m not washing anyone else’s dishes but my own. Well, maybe yours, if you ask right.”

“You’re going to start a women’s lib movement in the camp? That’ll really throw everyone for a loop.” He chuckled.

“No, that’ll throw you guys for a loop. It’ll be a nice change of pace for the girls. They’ll thank me for it.”

A stuffed bear met us at the entrance of the sporting goods store, holding a “welcome” sign. Canoes and kayaks hung from the ceiling.

“Too bad we can’t find a river and float away,” I said, staring at the boats.

David grinned. “I’m just glad this one hasn’t been looted. Most of the ones near the major highways have been stripped bare.”

Tents were set up for display in the middle of the store. I looked them over, choosing a four-person tent with windows on the sides.

“It’s too big, Eva,” David whispered in my ear, his breath tickling my skin.

“I’m just dreaming of having a mansion instead of a bungalow.”

David chuckled.

We grabbed some one-man tents and bedrolls. I found the backpacks and picked one big enough to hold the supplies I thought we’d need. When I put it on, it was so big and bulky I stumbled backward. Chris—who seemed to go wherever Jessica went—reached out to steady me.

“Maybe you need a size smaller.” He patted the pack. “You won’t be able to stand once it’s full of supplies.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” I took the smaller pack he held out for me. “Thanks.”

My pack in place, I looked around the store and found David and Devlin at a gun counter, filling their packs with ammunition. I walked over and looked in the glass gun cases. Shotguns lined the wall behind me; I knew a shotgun would be too big for me to handle, and I didn’t know anything about them. But the handguns didn’t look too complicated. In fact, they looked like the handguns I’d seen on television.

I walked around the gun case and pulled the door—it was locked. I grabbed a shotgun Devlin had left lying on the case and used the wooden butt to break the glass. Brushing away the shards of glass with my sleeve, I reached in and grabbed a medium-sized gun. It fit my hand just right and looked easy enough to work. I looked it over. I immediately found the lever that let the thing the bullets loaded into drop out.

Not hard at all
.

“What are you doing?” Devlin asked.

I thrust my hand out, showing him the gun. “I need bullets for this.”

“No you don’t,” he said.

“Why?”

“Because we take care of that kind of stuff.”

“You mean the guys form a circle and shoot at the infected while the girls stand around inside the circle like a bunch of ninnies.”

“Eva,” David said quietly.

“I got news for both of you. I’m not standing around doing nothing. I want something to protect myself with. Now what kind of bullets do I need for this?”

I thought Devlin would argue. But I saw him purse his lips to hide a grin. He looked at David and said, “Feisty. Sure you can handle her?”

I scowled. “I don’t need
handling.”

David rolled his eyes. “Give her the bullets.”

Gun and bullets safely tucked away in my pack, I patted it and winked at David. As I walked away, I grabbed a pink pocket knife and jammed it in my pocket.

“What do you need that for?” David sighed.

“You never know.” I smiled. “Besides, it’s pink.”

He snorted. “Well, that makes sense.”

Our next stop was a general store. It had everything from clothes to car batteries. I grabbed three days’ worth of clothing. That’s all that would fit in my pack. I also found a box of powdered milk and some canned meat. I shoved it all in my pack, the zipper skipping when I tried to pull it shut.

“Are you going to be able to walk with that?” Jessica asked.

“I hope so. Help me put it on?”

“Sure.”

She put one strap over my arm and then the other. I staggered a few steps backward, leaning precariously against a counter. Jessica giggled. Chris reached out to steady me. Once I got used to the weight and bulkiness, I was able to balance myself enough to carry the pack without falling on my butt. Jessica and Chris wandered away to fill their own packs.

“Are you sure you can carry all that, Eva? You don’t have to fill your pack so full,” David murmured behind me. His breath made my hair move, tickling the side of my neck. I turned my head and kissed him. I didn’t stop until Jessica came around the corner talking to me. I sighed and turned to listen to what was so important she needed to interrupt my mind-numbing kiss with David.

It seemed I’d made a friend in Jessica. She followed me around and chattered away. I liked it. It’d been a while since I had a girlfriend to talk to. Jessica reminded me of Katie—a bittersweet connection.

We left the store and found two cargo vans parked outside near the loading bays. Devlin broke a window on each, reaching in to unlock the doors. He climbed into the front seat of one and pulled down the sun visor.

“Of course. They’re never in the visor. Things on television are always easier,” he muttered.

He jammed a screwdriver into the steering column and pried away the plastic covering; it cracked as it came loose. Devlin pulled out a tangle of colored wires, bending two until they broke in half. Ripping away the plastic sheathing, he twisted two of the wires together and flicked a third wire across them. The van roared to life. He repeated the process on the second van.

“These should get us to the next town. They might not be very comfortable to sit in, though. Jessica, run into the store and grab some pillows and blankets. They’ll help cushion the back and make the ride a little easier.”

We made it to the next town before running out of gas and found a small motel to spend the night in, making a fire next to the near-empty shell of the swimming pool.

“Show me how to work this, David.” I pulled out my gun after we’d finished dinner.

“You don’t need that. Give it to me,” he said, reaching for the gun.

“I probably won’t need it, but I’m keeping it.”

“Eva, the men—”

“The men, the men. I don’t care about the men and their super-inflated egos. You guys probably will be able to keep all us poor, helpless
womenfolk
safe, but I’m not taking a chance. After seeing those things, I think we all need guns. This isn’t some western movie where we all run around in our frilly petticoats and Sunday bonnets.”

He grinned. “Can’t you take anything seriously?”

“I am taking this seriously. We all need to know how to protect ourselves.”

“So your idea of protection is putting a gun in the hands of someone like Jessica? She’s twelve, Eva!”

“Boys are taught to hunt at that age. If she’s taught how to properly handle one, I don’t see why she shouldn’t have a gun. Women are just as capable as men when it comes to hunting.”

“Evangelina…”

“David.” I glared at him.

“Fine. Go grab some of the pop cans left over from dinner.”

I ran to the area around the fire and picked up the Coke cans littering the ground, jogging back to David.

“First lesson. Don’t run with a loaded gun.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a total fool. The safety’s on.”

David walked a short distance into the forest. Twigs snapped when he stepped on them, and his movement stirred up the smell of rotting leaves and wet dirt. He balanced the cans along a fallen log before turning and walking back to me. It was already getting dark. The inside of the forest was nearly black. The trees were so thick, the moon’s rays didn’t reach the ground. I had to strain to see the cans.

“These are your sights. Line up the can here,” he pointed. “Don’t put your finger around the trigger, just extend it along the side of the gun until you’re ready to shoot. When you shoot, keep your shoulders relaxed and make sure your hips and shoulders are square to the target. Wrap this hand,” he picked up the hand not holding the gun and kissed it softly, “around the gun grip to help steady the gun. Make sure you are making contact on all four corners of the gun. The higher you grip, the steadier it will be. Both thumbs should be pointing at the target. Use your thumb to click the safety off, place the tip of your finger on the trigger, look straight at the target and aim dead center. Your sight should be crystal clear—the can slightly out-of-focus. Gently, but firmly, pull the trigger.” He stepped back. “Okay, give it a whirl.”