His eyes search mine, and I don’t know
what to say. He has me shaken. At least I think it’s him. Maybe it’s the
near-death experience, or maybe I’m just weak. Everything feels jumbled right
now.
“YOUR
BROTHER STARTED PACKING UP the second he heard she was better,” Joshua says
between bites of his burger.
Axl pauses mid-bite. “Well, we ain’t
goin’ yet. She’s still sick.”
I sip soup by the spoonful while they
eat giant burgers that smell amazing. I had no idea how hungry I was until
Joshua walked in with the food. It wouldn’t work, though. Swallowing the soup
hurts.
I clear my throat, which feels like
someone scraping the inside of my esophagus. “We can go. I’m feeling a lot
better.”
Axl shakes his head, but he doesn’t say
anything. He isn’t convinced.
“The café wasn’t nearly as busy as it
was a few days ago.” Joshua takes another bite, but it looks forced. Like he’s
lost his appetite.
I clear my throat again. It feels like
something is trying to claw its way out of my throat and a shudder runs down my
spine. God that hurts. “What’s been on the news?”
Axl shakes his head. “They’re bein’ more
honest ‘bout what’s happen’ now. That’s somethin’ at least.”
I look back and forth between him and
Joshua, waiting. Joshua lowers his head and his mouth tightens into a grimace.
Axl keeps eating.
“What?” I croak.
“They’ve finally come out and admitted
the virus isn’t contained. They’re saying some infected people snuck out of New
York.” Joshua doesn’t look up. He pushes his burger aside.
Axl snorts. “President died. VP’s in
charge now. They’re still sayin’ most people are immune.”
“All official news reports correspond to
what the government is saying, but the Internet is full of crazy stories and
rumors.” Joshua pushes the fries around in his Styrofoam takeout box. Every
word he mutters sounds more dejected than the last.
“What kind of crazy stuff?”
“Conspiracy theories. Chemical warfare,
terrorist attacks, a plot to overthrow the government.” Joshua stares at his
half-eaten burger like he can’t remember why he ever wanted it in the first
place.
“They’re sayin’ that ninety percent of
the population is gonna be dead by the end of the week. There’s even crap ‘bout
bodies coming back from the dead. Stupid shit like that.” Axl talks with his
mouth full, and the words come out muffled. But I get the point. No one has any
idea what’s going on for real, so they’re grasping at straws.
The door bursts open, and Angus saunters
in. “You ain’t dead.” His lip bulges and he grips a soda can in his hand.
“Good. Let’s get the hell outta here.”
Axl’s burger falls to the floor when he
jumps up. “She’s still sick, Angus. We gotta hang out ‘nother day.”
Angus’s face turns red and his jaw
tightens.
He looks like he’s about to explode, and
I don’t want to cause problems. “It’s fine, Axl. I’m well enough to sit in a
car.”
Axl starts to protest, but Angus speaks
up before he can say anything. “Well, good. Get your shit together so’s we can
get the hell outta this town.” He turns toward Axl, his expression hard. “Got
that,
brother
?” The challenge in his eyes is unmistakable.
Axl’s jaw tightens. He nods.
Angus smiles and turns to the door.
“Thirty minutes,” he calls over his shoulder.
Joshua stands up and tosses the rest of
his burger in the trash. “Guess we need to get packed.”
Axl doesn’t say anything. He starts
packing up our stuff, not looking at me. I bite my lip and try to think of
something to say. The brothers are close. I get the impression I’ve somehow
screwed that up. I don’t think this is the first time a woman has messed with
the dynamic of their relationship, either.
I set my soup on the nightstand and
climb off the bed on shaky legs. I have to rest for a minute because I’m dizzy,
so I close my eyes and wait for the room to stop swaying. When I’m more stable
I walk over to my suitcase, still sitting on the other bed, and start packing
it up.
“Sit back down,” Axl snaps. “I’ll take
care of that.”
“I can do it, Axl.” My hands shake,
though. The little bit of soup I ate wasn’t enough.
He walks over and puts his hand on top
of mine. I look up into his stormy eyes, and my heart skips a beat. We’re so
close, and he’s done so much for me…
“Let me do it,” he says in a soft voice.
I sit down on the bed, right next to my
suitcase. He stares at me for a few seconds more with his hand on top of mine.
The contact makes my skin tingle. It’s not right. Finding myself attracted to
him when I’m so sick, when the world is falling apart around us.
He finally looks away and goes back to
packing up the room. Joshua looks back and forth between Axl and me a few
times, but he doesn’t say anything.
“So where are we, anyway?” I ask.
“Vega, Texas,” Axl says. “‘Bout
forty-five minutes from New Mexico.”
We didn’t make it very far before we
stopped. I’ve really slowed them down.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t hafta be sorry. You didn’t get
sick on purpose.”
“I know, but if we hadn’t stopped…” I
look at Joshua.
He watches me with a frown on his face.
“I still wouldn’t have made it in time.” His voice sounds thick with emotion,
and he has to turn away.
“I’m sorry.”
He nods, but doesn’t look up.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m not going home. Thought maybe Axl
and Angus had the right idea. Get to the coast and find a good place to wait
this out. I don’t want to go back to Arizona.”
Yeah, the brothers have a good plan.
Maybe when I get Emily we’ll tag along.
I sit on the bed and watch the men pack
everything up. It’s strange not to help. It makes me feel awkward and useless.
I should help, but to be honest I don’t know if I have the energy. It’s amazing
how much being sick can take out of you.
When everything’s packed, we head out to
the car. Joshua and Axl carry the bags. I trail behind them, trying to make my
exhausted body cooperate. Thankfully, the Nissan is parked close.
“Let’s get the hell outta this ghost
town,” Angus says, grabbing the bags from Joshua and loading them in the back.
There are cars everywhere, but few
people. I peer in the window of a gray sedan parked next to us. The driver sits
behind the wheel. His head leans back and his mouth hangs open. His eyes are
closed, but I don’t think he’s sleeping.
Axl opens the back door for me. “Go lay
down. You look like you’re ‘bout to fall over.”
I climb in, taking one last look over my
shoulder at the gray sedan. I have a bad feeling about what’s coming.
I get stuck in the third row with Joshua
while Axl sits up front with his brother. Angus insisted. He’s pissed we lost
so much time sitting around, waiting for me to die. Any leeway I may have made
with him before is gone completely now. Plus, I get the feeling he’s not
thrilled with all the attention Axl gave me. I have no idea what he’s thinking,
but I can’t deny the twinge of disappointment that surged through me when I
found out Axl wouldn’t be sitting in the back with me.
* * *
My head pounds when I wake up. In the
front seat, Angus curses. I sit up too fast, and my head thumps harder.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I wait for it to ease up. I open them when we start to
slow. We’re approaching another checkpoint, and it takes about two seconds to
figure out why Angus is upset.
“We’re in a shitload of trouble now,”
Axl says, looking out his window at the bodies of two soldiers.
Angus puts the car in park. I lean
forward, trying to get a better look at what’s going on. There are no military
vehicles and no living soldiers in sight. From what I can tell, the two bodies,
which are slumped over next to a makeshift shelter, are pretty fresh. They
probably haven’t been dead for more than a day.
“Was it the virus?” Trey asks.
“Only one way to find out,” Angus says,
opening his door.
Axl follows him. The rest of us watch
silently from the car as they walk around the area. Once they’ve thoroughly
checked the soldiers out, the brothers head to the shelter instead of back to
the car. Probably looking for any supplies they can take. It’s what I would do.
After a few minutes, exhaustion sets in
and I have to sit back. I’ll rest while I wait for the lowdown.
I don’t get a chance though, because
Parvarti turns to me with worried eyes. They always look worried. “How are you
feeling?” she asks meekly.
I nod, which makes my head ache, and
clear my throat to talk, which makes me wince. I’m a mess. “Like shit,” I
croak.
She bites her lip. “I’m glad you’re
okay. And, I’m sorry I didn’t come check on you when you were sick. It’s just…I
saw so many people die in New York.”
I start to shake my head but think
better of it. “Don’t sweat it. We barely know each other.”
She relaxes, but doesn’t say anything.
“Are you going home still?”
She shakes her head. “No, I’m going to
Berkley with Trey.”
Trey absentmindedly pats her shoulder.
He’s too preoccupied with watching the brothers to do anything else. They seem
closer than they were just a few days ago. Maybe it was sharing a room with
Angus that pushed them together even more. I can’t imagine that was any fun.
Parvarti isn’t going home, and neither
is Joshua. We don’t have any stops between here and California.
Angus climbs back in while Axl carries a
few things to the rear of the car. “Looks like the virus, alright,” he says.
“No other injuries that we could see. I figure these two got sick, kicked the
bucket, and the others took off.”
“They just left the bodies?” Parvarti
looks like she’s about to cry.
“People do some crazy shit when they’re
scared.”
Axl climbs in and slams the door. “Let’s
get the hell outta here.”
We drive through New Mexico without
stopping. Even Angus doesn’t grumble about eating some of our provisions. We’ve
passed too many cars pulled off to the side of the road. Too many discarded
bodies. We’re all anxious to get off Route 66.
We cross into Arizona low on gas, but
every station we’ve gone by the last few hours has been out.
“We ain’t gonna make it,” Angus says
from the driver’s seat. “We got maybe fifteen miles to go till the next town,
we’ll be lucky if we make it ‘nother five.”
We make it six.
The sun is low on the horizon when the
car drifts to a stop at the side of the road. Luckily, we’re next to a
relatively flat area, although a lot more sandy than any of the other places
we’ve camped so far.
Before anyone even has a chance to get
out of the car, Angus is giving orders. “Let’s get camp set up first off. Make
sure we got a fire goin’ and some food. After that, either Axl or me will hike
on down the road and get some gas.”
“What if they’re out, too?” Parvarti
asks.
“Then we’re shit outta luck, that’s what.
Got no control over that, so there’s no reason to worry about it ‘til the time
comes.”
He climbs out without another word. I
don’t like the idea of us being stuck here alone with Angus. Hopefully, he
decides to go for gas.
It doesn’t take long to get camp set up.
Trey seems to be a fast learner and puts the tent up by himself without a
problem, while Parvarti and Joshua collect wood for a fire. Axl refuses to let
me help, something that causes Angus to roll his eyes and glare at me more than
once. I hate just sitting back and watching, but it’s probably better this way.
I don’t think I’d be of much use. My fever seems to be gone, but I still feel
like crap.
Once the camp is set up, Angus heads for
the car. “Better get a move on.”
“You ain’t goin’ alone,” Axl says,
following his brother.
“Which one of these pansies you want me
to take? The Doc? Or maybe the drama queen over there?” Angus tilts his head
toward me.
“Shut up, Angus. I’m serious. You need
backup.” He turns and looks us over, pursing his lips like he does when he’s
thinking. “What ‘bout Trey? He’s a big guy. Probably be useful in a fight.”
Angus grunts and frowns, clearly unhappy
about the situation. “What’d you say, homeboy? You up for a walk?”
It’s probably one of the least offensive
things Angus could say to Trey, considering the other things I’ve heard him
mutter under his breath, but I immediately tense up. I’m not sure how Trey’s
going to react. Angus watches him with a steady gaze, waiting.
Trey just nods. “Whatever I can do to
help.”
Angus gives him a smug smile and turns
to his brother. “Lookie there, the boy can take orders.” He chuckles to himself
as he goes back over to the Nissan.