Broken World (Book 6): Forgotten World (10 page)

“We will,” I say, reaching out for her.

Anne shakes her head and jerks away. She glances up just long enough to meet my gaze, and the look in them makes me take a step back. She looks guilty.

Her eyes go back to studying the floor. “Good.”

Anne spins around and rushes from the house. Running down the steps to the sidewalk then down the street. Away from her house, even. Where she’s going I don’t know, but I have a strong suspicion she won’t be with Sophia for much longer. There’s no fight left in her.

Sophia is sobbing behind me, and I tear my gaze away from the now empty street just as Lila wipes her own tears from her cheeks. Everyone seems to have said goodbye, and based on the expression on Sophia’s face, I’d guess she’s ready to escape this emotional torture.

“I need to go,” she says, inching her way toward the door. “Get dinner for the kids so they can get to bed. They have school tomorrow. It’s not perfect, but…” She shrugs but doesn’t look at any of us again. “I’ll be praying you make it safely.”

Sophia hurries from the house, dragging the kids with her. I stay by the door, watching her rush away. Knowing this will be the last time I ever see her or Max or little Ava. We face this possibility every time someone leaves these days, but it never gets any easier. Probably never will.

“That sucked,” Al says from behind me.

I turn, nodding.

Ginny wipes her eyes, and Lila pulls Al in for a hug. Parv doesn’t look torn up or ready to cry, but she has pulled away from the group and she doesn’t look happy. Not that she ever does, but right now it’s easy to pretend it’s because we just had to say goodbye to our friends. Not because this life sucks.

“At least it was a happy goodbye this time,” I say. “We’ll all be in relatively safe places. We all have a shot at starting over. It may be in two different cities, but we can at least have lives.”

“That’s true.” Lila pulls away from Al and gives him a little nudge. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” The teen clears his throat like he’s trying to push the tears back inside. When he looks up, he’s smiling. “I’ll be fine, and so will everyone else. Thanks to me.”

He holds that book up again. The one he said he was going to read through. This time there are tabs sticking out of it in multiple places, and in his hand he holds a couple bags.

“You find something good?” I ask, anxious to change the subject.

“Sure did.” Al holds a gallon Ziploc bag out to me. Inside is the book and a few other things. “I marked anything useful and gathered some supplies that might help us out. Then I went back to the bookstore so I could get more copies. I wanted all of us to have one in case we got separated, but I only managed to find three.”

“Good work,” I say, staring at the plastic bag in my hand. It has an odd assortment of things in it, but I trust Al knows what he’s doing. “I’ll put one in my backpack.”

“Awesome.” Al says, grabbing his own backpack off the floor. “I’ll take the second one. Who should I give the third one to?”

“Let me have it,” Ginny says. “I’ll stick it in my bag.”

Al grins and hands it over, looking proud of himself, and Ginny returns the smile.

I’m not sure if the book will help us or not, but it’s better than nothing. That’s for sure. If we do run into problems, that is.

By the time Axl, Angus, and Jon come back, it’s almost time for dinner. Ginny and I are in the kitchen making spaghetti when the men come in, and we rush out into the living room so we can check out what they got.

I freeze when I see the small stash laid out on the table. “That’s it?”

“All that asshole’d let us have,” Angus mutters.

Jon sets one box of bullets down, and I do a quick count in my head. We all have knives, of course, but we’ve been low on ammo for a while now. We were hoping to stock up before heading out—Hope Springs has more than enough. I’m just not sure why they didn’t let us have more than one measly box. And it isn’t like those bullets will work for all the guns we have.

“Why?” I ask, tearing my gaze away from the table so I can look at Axl.

“The group heading out already took their share from the armory,” Jon explains, “which means they wouldn’t give us any more of the inventory. They told us to ask Dax for weapons since we were going out, but—”

“The prick told us no,” Axl says. “Told us we’d be fine with knives since we was just ridin’ in the bus.”

Jon glances toward Ginny. “He was pretty pissed off by the time we got to him. Ripped me a new one for deciding to take you to Atlanta.”

“We saw him when we went to get supplies and he was furious.”

“He threatened to leave Ginny behind if she slowed the group down,” Lila spits out.

Jon’s face gets red, and he clenches his hands at his sides. “He threatened you? I’ll kill that asshole.”

“Just to leave me behind if things got bad,” Ginny says. “It’s not like he threatened to slit my throat while I was sleeping.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Jon shakes his head. “A threat is a threat. He’s crossed a line.”

“He’s crossed a lot of lines,” I point out. “But didn’t we decide we were better off going and laying low?” I look around, and everyone nods. “Is that still how everyone feels? We have knives and one box of bullets. How many of our guns will these work for?”

“They’re 9mm, so that’s good.” Axl looks at his brother. “We got three?”

“Yup,” Angus says.

“Three guns. How many rounds in the box?” I ask.

Axl’s gaze holds mine. “Fifty.”

That sucks, there’s no way around it. But we’ve been in worse places. There have been times when we had nothing but knives and we made it. Made it through horrible situations. This we can do. We’ll be on a bus, and the odds of something happening are slim. Well, not slim, but not high. Most of the population has been wiped out, so we could make it Atlanta without running into anyone. It’s possible.

“Okay, then,” I say, nodding. Trying to sound confident. “We have fifty rounds of ammo. No big deal. We’ll be okay.”

Axl nods slowly, and around him, everyone else nods as well. The room is tense, but we all know this is something we have to do. If we don’t go, Dax will just drag Angus there himself. Then none of us will be around to keep an eye on him. That’s not how we want this thing to happen, so we all go. And we will be okay.

“Two days on the road,” I say. “Then we’ll be in Atlanta.”

This time, no one nods.

10

“YOU READY?” AXL asks, easing onto the bed at my side.

When I nod, I keep my eyes on my boots. There’s no way I want him to know how uncertain I am, and if I look up, he’ll know it. It has to be written all over my face.

“All I have to do is finish tying my boots, then grab my bag.” My voice comes out amazingly calm, but the tremor in my body doesn’t go away.

Axl puts his hand on my knee, and I find myself looking up.

“Not what I meant,” he whispers.

“I know. I just don’t know how to answer. Am I ready to leave a city that’s been cleared out so we can be on the road yet again? No. Am I ready to put my life in Dax’s hands? No way. But I’m ready to be there for Angus. That I can do.”

“Thought you didn’t know how to answer,” Axl says, the corner of his lips twitching.

I laugh, but it does little to ease the tension in me. “I thought I didn’t, but I guess I was wrong about that.” I go back to tying my boot. Focusing on the task at hand instead of all the things that can go wrong. There are so many of them. “Tell me we are going to make it out of this alive,” I say after a few seconds.

“We’re gonna do what we gotta.”

“That’s not what I asked you.”

My fingers tremble so much I have to stop and take a deep breath. When the shaking in my hands has lessened, I try again, looping the laces through each other until there’s a bow. It looks like a five-year-old did it.

When I finally look up, Axl is staring at me.

“You want me to lie?” he asks.

“No.” I let out a deep sigh as I stand. My legs only wobble a little. “I just want it to be true.”

Axl stands too, and he forces me to turn to face him. His gray eyes hold mine as he runs his hands up my arms to my shoulders, never once taking his eyes off me. “It’ll be true,” Axl says firmly.

There’s so much confidence in his words that I find myself believing them. We are going to be okay. I have to believe it otherwise I’m not sure I’ll be able to force myself to leave this house.

Axl takes my hand, and together we head out of the bedroom.

Voices float down the hall from the kitchen. One is Jon, and the second is another man. Jim, I’m assuming.

“I didn’t mean you had to do something like this,” Jon is saying. “I only asked you to get her out if Dax did something stupid and I wasn’t around. I’m here. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“Made a promise,” Jim replies. “And I’m gonna keep it. Besides, what makes you think Dax isn’t going to do something moronic just because he leaves Hope Springs? The asshole is dangerous, and every decision he makes is dangerous.”

“I know,” Jon says, his words almost getting lost in the sigh he lets out.

So much for the confidence I felt a few seconds ago.

Both men look up when Axl and I step into the kitchen.

“Morning,” I say, heading for the coffee. “Figured we should get our caffeine fix before we head out.”

“Us too,” Jim says, holding a mug up.

I grab two mugs and fill them to the brim.

“Where’s Ginny?” I ask, handing a cup of coffee to Axl.

“She should be out in a minute,” Jon says. “Then we’ll get our shit and head out. Dax is going to be pissed if we’re late.”

“We’re not supposed to leave for another hour,” I say.

“Doesn’t matter.” Jim grins my way. “He’s going to be pissed off no matter what you do. Because he doesn’t want you around.”

“Too bad he don’t got a choice,” Axl says, leaning against the counter at my side.

Jim lifts his mug, still grinning. “You and I know that, but Dax is a little on the slow side.”

I snort, but instead of getting into a debate about how dumb Dax really is, I focus on my coffee. It helps keep my mind off what we’re about to do. Kind of. The worries are never gone completely.

By the time Ginny comes out of the room, the coffee is gone and the mugs have been washed, and before I know it, we’re heading out. Each of us with our backpacks slung over our shoulders and our knives strapped to our waists. Before heading to our meeting spot, we stop by the other house to pick up Angus, Parv, Lila, Al, and Joshua. Like us, they are all ready to go. Or as ready as they can be.

Then we’re walking. None of us saying a word as we head through town. The streets are still empty since it’s so early, and a silence has fallen over the town that sends a shiver shooting through my body. It feels deserted, forgotten even, and it reminds me of all the towns we passed through before we found Brady. How hollow they all felt.

“I’m scared about what could happen,” I say, holding Axl’s hand tighter as we walk. “But I’m also not looking forward to seeing more of the country. We saw enough. I don’t want to witness any more death or find any more bodies.”

Axl gives my hand a squeeze before letting me go. Before I’ve had a chance to feel abandoned, he has his arm around me. I press my body into his, allowing his strength to seep inside me.

“It’s there whether we see it or not,” Axl says.

“I know. With some things, though, I’d rather just live in ignorance.”

He kisses the side of my head as we round the corner and Dax’s group comes into view. There’s a big truck and a bus, both of which are decked out in steel plates. Just like Dax said they would be. The sight of them doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy, though. Not after how reckless Dax has proven himself to be.

Around the vehicles, the men and women who are going on this trip have already gathered. They’re loading last-minute supplies into the back of the truck, drinking coffee, and smoking. Laughing and talking like we aren’t about to go on the most terrifying journey they will ever take. Near the front of the truck, Dax is busy barking orders. He already looks like he’s in a pissy mood, so I steer the group toward the bus and away from him. If I can avoid him this entire trip, I will be happy.

“Let’s just get on the bus and wait,” I say.

No one argues.

We head toward the bus as a group, ignoring the many suspicious looks people shoot our way. Even Angus—who is supposed to be the priority on this mission—doesn’t get more than a nod. These people really aren’t happy to have us on this trip.

“It’s going to be a fun couple of days on this bus,” Lila says, rolling her eyes.

“No kidding,” I say under my breath. “You’d think we were the ones who started the apocalypse.”

“Assholes,” Angus mutters.

I trade worried looks with Ginny, who is pressed up against Jon’s side. She seems to be getting most of the dirty looks, which doesn’t make sense, considering what she told us when we first got here. Before we arrived, she was the town’s prize possession. Now they act like they’re ready to throw her in front of the bus if it will get them to Atlanta faster.

A guy I’ve never seen before steps in front of us when we’re still five feet from the bus’s open door. He’s tall and covered in tattoos that he probably believes makes him look tough, but there isn’t anything really scary about him. I was at the Monte Carlo with Tat. This prick has nothing on that psycho.

“You folks sure you don’t want to stay behind and let us do our jobs? We signed up to get this guy—” he jerks his head toward Angus, “—to Atlanta in one piece. Not to babysit.”

“Good thing you don’t need to worry about babysitting us,” Al says, holding up his stump. “We’ve been through things that would make you cry yourself to sleep at night.”

The guy’s eyes narrow on Al’s arm, then go to the kid’s face. “You lost that out there?”

“After I was bitten,” Al says.

“Shit.” The tattooed guy steps back, shaking his head. “Shit,” he mutters one more time before turning away.

“These guys are morons,” Al grumbles.

“They’re ignorant,” I say. “They don’t know what they’re up against.”

“Don’t matter.” Axl pulls me toward the bus once again. “We keep our heads down and we make it to Atlanta. That’s all we gotta do.”

I nod even though I don’t know if that’s true.

“There you are!” Dax calls from behind us.

None of us are thrilled about the idea of talking to Dax, but we stop anyway.

We turn as Dax jogs up, his usual smile gone. He looks us over, shaking his head like we’re the sorriest group he’s ever seen. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“We aren’t late,” Ginny points out.

“Right.” Dax frowns even more. “Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment before we left to lay down some rules. I’m in charge out there. Questioning me isn’t an option. This is my mission, and as long as everyone does what they’re supposed to, we will make it there okay. Anyone holding us up will be left behind. Getting Angus to Atlanta is our only priority. Understand?”

A couple men come up behind Dax, joining their leader in glaring our way. Like they’re letting us know they agree with Dax. I look around and notice they aren’t the only ones. Everyone seems to have stopped what they’re doing.

I knew people weren’t happy about this situation, but this is taking it too far.

“You can’t just toss people aside like they don’t mean anything,” I say, pulling away from Axl so I can get in Dax’s face. “We’re
all
here for Angus.”

Dax’s eyes flicker over me, and for a second, he doesn’t say anything. All around us, tension builds. Behind Dax, his men look ready to pounce, and at my back, things aren’t much better. We agreed to lay low, but only if this guy didn’t put us in danger. Threatening to leave us on the side of the road is the exact opposite of that.

“You’re risking everything by coming on this trip. It’s just more baggage that we have to worry about.”

“We aren’t baggage,” I say. “Which you would know if you’d bothered to get to know us. We survived out there for weeks while you were hiding behind this fence. Yes, you may have gone out on runs and looked for supplies, but you did it armed and using trucks to keep you safe. We camped in the woods with almost no food or supplies and very few weapons. All of the people standing behind me right now are survivors.”

“Fine,” Dax says, shaking his head. “You may be able to take care of yourself, but she’s a liability. Letting her come is stupid and I’m not going to let her drag us down. I have a mission, and I mean what I say. I’ll leave her ass behind if she does anything to mess with my end goal.”

My face gets warm, and I clench my hands into fists. I really want to hit this guy. Punch him right in his stupid, arrogant face.

“You ass—”

“Fuck that,” Angus says, stepping between Dax and me. “Don’t know what you folks do ‘roud here, but we don’t leave our people behind. Hollywood and me’ll be walkin’ through the gates of Atlanta together, so you better just get used to the idea of havin’ her ‘round. I told you folks when I first got here, they don’t go, I don’t go. I meant it.”

Dax glances around, but the look in his eyes tells me he knows he isn’t going to win this fight. Without Angus he has no mission, and it isn’t like he can knock him over the head and drag him onto the bus right in front of us.

After a couple seconds, Dax steps away from Ginny and lets out a deep breath. Then he smiles, which looks even more out of place than ever before.

“Sure. No hard feelings, okay? I’m just doing my job and sometimes I get carried away. Take things too seriously. I know it. That’s why I need people to keep me in check. I’m just an intense guy.” He chuckles as he glances around like he’s waiting for us to join in. We don’t, of course.

Axl slips his arm around my shoulders again and steps past Dax so he can lead me toward the bus, and the others follow. We may have settled that issue—for now—but the tension isn’t any less intense. Dax’s men look even more pissed, and our group is even less enthusiastic about him as a leader. This is going to be a miserable trip.

I head down the aisle. More than anything right now, I want to get moving and get this trip over with. We have a long day ahead of us, and I have a feeling I’m going to be biting my tongue every step of the way.

Rolling through the gates of Hope Springs fills me with even more dread than I thought it would. The uncertainty of what we’re going to find between here and Atlanta has me on edge, and the hostility surrounding us is suffocating.