We hike until my throat dries out and the apples are gone. She sits down on a rock in the middle of nowhere and shakes her head.
I nod, "I know. We're lost." I whistle again and sit down next to her. The forest is silent, not a good sign.
I don’t even want to listen to the sounds of the forest. I just want to close my eyes.
"You have to stop, Em."
I frown at her, "What?"
Tears fill her eyes making them sparkle; they're so blue. Her lip quivers as she shakes her head, "You have to stop. I see it. He wouldn’t want this to end you. I see the anger and will to live are gone. They would want us to find the others and be safe."
She is still the fragile girl standing outside my door with big blue eyes, wanting to sacrifice herself for Jake.
My eyes fill with tears, "I just don’t know how to feel." My voice cracks. "He died for me. He died, but I coulda lived. I coulda lived through that bullet. I'm stronger than he was."
She nods, "I know, but he didn’t want you to get shot." Her voice makes the high moan of the infected when she whispers.
I close my eyes and shudder. The tears are coming faster than I can cry them out. They're choking me up.
A scent hits me as warm fur smothers me and huge paws wrap around me. He found us. I wrap my arms around his neck, digging my fingers into his fur. I feel her arms wrap around us too. He pants into my neck, making his crazy wolf noises. I can't stop shaking.
His smell is the same as always. He nips at me lightly. I nod, "I know. I'm sorry I left you again."
Anna cries into him too. The three of us sit at the top of a hill, weeping and hugging. His head lifts, looking behind us. I swear he's looking for Will and Bernie. His yellow eyes scan the hill and then me. I shake my head, sobbing harder. He puts his head into the wind and cries out the haunting sound he made when Meg died.
I lift my face, letting his song become part of the wind on my skin. He finishes and stands, like he's ready to go home. I am too.
Anna takes my hand, squeezing hard. She smiles, "We'll be okay."
I nod, wiping my face and follow Leo down the hillside. He keeps checking behind his shoulder to make sure we're still there.
He isn’t going to trust us for a while.
At the bottom of the hill, I recognize the road we’ve come upon. He walks, looking around nervously until we reach the entrance to the driveway. My heart lifts a little when we get in view of the house. It looks the same. No cars, no wars, no anger, and no strangers. Just a house, a rock pile grave, and a yard filled with memories I don’t want, but I love anyway. I love the fact I can close my eyes and see them all.
Star comes running out. Her eyes look behind us, but she knows when we get closer. Her eyes drop. Her destroyed expression becomes part of the memories I don’t want. Jake's face is next. He looks past us. His gaze settles on Anna's face. Whatever the look on her face is, it tells him everything he needs to know. He stops walking, watching her and waiting for her to change the news.
Star does something I don’t expect. She wraps her arms around me, "Is he gone?"
I nod once. She shakes, crying silently. "Will too?"
I nod again, hugging her back.
Jake sees us, his blue eyes glisten with the tears filling them. He shakes his head, "No way. No way. We just got him back. No, he's strong. You wait and see, he's gonna come." The tears leave his eyes, streaming down his face. Leo walks to him, rubbing against him.
Jack's son comes out of the house. His face falls. He presses his lips together and lowers his gaze. Sarah bursts from the house, leaping at me. I hug her and Star.
"You made it back." She looks past me, "Where's Will and Bernie?"
I shake my head, letting her down on the grass. Her little face loses the joy she had. She starts to cry silently, turning away from me. She walks to Meg's grave. Leo follows her, as does Andy when he comes walking out of the house. They sit next to the rock pile with their backs to us. Andy holds her hand. Somehow, it's the worst and best thing I've ever seen. Even Leo doesn’t mind Andy anymore.
Jake and Anna are sobbing, holding each other.
Star wipes her face, "How?"
I sniffle, "Bernie got shot by a guard in the city and I killed Will."
Jake looks at me but Anna shakes her head. She points at me, "He would have wanted that choice. You made it fair for everyone."
Jake shakes his head, "What?"
"Marshall knew about a missile in the city that could be launched, and it would take away all the power from the whole country. No trucks, cars, and technology. No city and breeder farms or work camps. No one doing better than anyone else. Me and Bernie found it, and with his last breath, he launched the missile. Will was on a machine that kept him alive, when the power went out… so did Will." I realize how cold it sounds as I say it.
No one says anything for a minute.
Finally, Star nods, "I'm glad Bernie got to fix his mistakes. It's always bothered him that he was part of it."
Jack's son points at the house, "We noticed the power was gone. Nothing is working."
Jake wipes his eyes, "Will would have done the same thing. He wanted this to end, always."
I shake my head. I don’t have anything to add to it. I don’t want to talk about it. I turn and walk to Sarah and Leo. I sit on my knees next to her. She looks at me with a tear-stained face. She sniffles, "I was just telling Meg to go find Bernie and Will and make sure they stay with her, so we can all find them again."
Her words are like a knife in my heart.
I stare at the grave, "She'll keep them entertained and busy until we get there."
Leo lays down and we sit in silence, grieving the same people for different reasons.
Chapter Nine
"Ten more people, Em. We can't keep this up."
I look at Sully, Jack's son, and shake my head, "What can we do? It's only two months till the snow hits. We can't turn people away."
He sighs, "Em, the entire camp is on its way. Jack told me how big that camp was. The place they go for winter has been taken over by other people."
In the last two months, the changes that have taken place have made everything harder for everyone. Everyone but us rebels, who were used to being cut off.
I shake my head, "We need to help them set up their camp here. How many houses are built?"
He shrugs, "Four."
I nod, "The barn can convert if it's needed. We need to make sure the fireplaces are set up."
He nods, "I know. I just wanted to tell you, ten more people have arrived, with word that a lot more are on their way."
"Great." I leave the kitchen, walking past people straggling in. I grab an apple and some seeds from the sunflowers, and go look for Anna.
She's still green around the gills and looking exhausted but she doesn’t stop. She points at the barn and tells the man with the armload of fire wood where it needs to go.
She smiles when she sees me. There is joy on her face; that is one of the few things keeping me going. I pass her the apple, "You have to eat."
She sighs, "Em, I ate like an hour ago."
I shake my head, "You eat this and I won't bug you for a couple hours."
Sarah stumbles over, running with Leo. Her face is lit up, "The meat racks work!"
I smile at her, "Did it dry them?"
She nods, "Just like the ones at the retreat."
Jake strolls over, bringing food and water. Anna gives him a look, "I'm fine!"
He gives me a curious look. I nod, "She seems good. She's only two-and-a-half-months pregnant."
He scoffs, "She's seventeen."
Anna points at him. He puts his hands in the air, "Fine."
Sarah rubs her belly, "I'm excited. I can't wait for the baby."
I sigh, "I can't wait until Star finishes getting the solar panels hooked up again. A hot shower is going to be bliss."
Jake nods, "A shower and a flushing toilet."
Anna shakes her head, "I still think we need to go ahead with our plan. I don’t want to be here with all these people."
Sarah frowns, "We can't leave Meg here." Anna nods, "I know, honey, but this place is getting too packed. It's going to become the retreat all over again."
Sarah doesn’t see what was wrong at the retreat. She doesn’t know about the things that were going on behind the scenes. Hell, I barely knew about them. Sarah likes the mansion. She likes having Andy with her, and of course Leo. They spend their time running around the yard. He still favors his leg but he's much better than before.
I glance around at the activity going on. Star is shouting at the people, leading them and directing them. People are carrying wood and dragging poles to build another log house and the barn has been converted into a metal working shop. Jake calls it the smithy; it makes me laugh.
Sully walks out of the house and I catch a glimpse and a smile from Star. Jake leans in to me, "They think they're being so sneaky."
I can't help but love seeing people happy and in love. It makes everything else seem less—less important and scary. I glance at Jake and wish I could see him the way I did before I met Will. Will who took up all the space in my heart.
"Don’t you wish we could all just have a ‘happy ever after’?" Jake and I look at Anna. We don’t say anything. She rubs her belly, "I wish every day Bern coulda known I was pregnant."
Jake sighs and walks off.
I shake my head, "Don’t pay attention to him."
She laughs bitterly, "Bernie would have had the same opinion of us being pregnant. He didn’t even want to have sex with me. He was such a stickler about the age thing—and the Will and Jake being massive thing."
I laugh with her but I'm scared of her having a baby. We barely got through Jake having a cut on his leg and Leo having a bullet wound.
I watch her face change a little and know she's scared too. She gives me an odd look, "Can we just go to the farmhouse? I have this funny feeling we should go there."
I nod, "Yeah. We need to help them decide on a leader. People need a leader."
Her eyes dart at Star, "Star and Sully should stay here and run this. It could be a work farm, just a free one."
I bite my lip and think on it. It makes sense to let them stay here and me, Sarah, Jake, and Anna go to the farmhouse. We wouldn’t overburden the well or the small farmhouse. The fields are ready to be planted again and the farm here has the seed from the camps. We could do it, but the idea of being alone with just the few of us makes me nervous.
Me and Leo alone is nothing but adding them means responsibility.
Against my instincts I nod, "Okay. I'll talk to Star." I turn away and walk to where she's shouting at the crowds. She points at the barn, "All scrap metal in the barn!" She turns and smirks at me, "What am I doing wrong?"
I laugh, "Nothing. I just wanted to ask you something."
She searches my eyes for a second, "What?"
"Would you want to stay here and help them run it or would you rather come with me, Anna, Jake, and Sarah to the farmhouse?"
She scowls, "We just got this place to the way we want it. We have enough people to turn it into a functioning farm, and the solar shit that was stored in the metal bunker is almost done being hooked up. We'll have power in no time."
I nod, "Anna wants to go. I think she's scared of having the baby here with all these people." I glance around discretely.
Star folds her arms, "I guess I can understand that." She looks at everything and then back at me, "But I want to stay. I'm not Star the massage lady, or Star, Marshall's bitch. I like this. I like being me here. Me and Sully can stay but when that baby is born y'all better send word."
I roll my eyes, "It's one day of walking."
She scoffs, "We'll have vehicles up and running by then. The diesel vehicles might be salvageable."
I wince, "Keep that information under wraps. We don’t want everyone to know that."
Her eyes harden, "You should have killed him, Em."
I nod, "I know."
The hard look becomes a sparkle, "Maybe we'll get the chance again."
I laugh, "Maybe. We're gonna head out tomorrow."
She nods, "Okay."
I smirk, "Andy is gonna stay."
She shakes her head, "Screw that."
I nod towards a lady with dark-blonde hair. She's standing in the middle of the yard, holding his little hand and brushing his hair from his eyes.
Star sees it and nods, "I think her baby was one of the ones Marshall took."
I shudder, "He was a sick bastard."
She nods, "Maybe we'll get a chance to kill them too."
I'm sure we look the same as we watch the lady and dream about murdering the baby killers. I still owe that to Meg. I know I abandoned it, but I still remember owing her.