Текст книги "Red Hill"

Автор книги: Jamie McGuire

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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 20 страниц)

“And then Butch went mawwwwwwwwwrrrr,” Zoe said, giggling.

Elleny giggled, too, and pretty soon we were all laughing.

“Daddy!” Zoe said, sitting up on her knees. She pointed to the door as Bryce opened it.

Joey came in after him, and then Scarlet. I ran to her and took her into my arms. Those first few seconds when she returned from clearing always pulled a huge weight off my shoulders, letting me breathe again.

“I’ve got yuck on me!” she warned.

“I don’t care,” I said, squeezing her against me, and then kissing her lips.

Scarlet pulled away, lowering her chin. “They’re leaving Shallot. Migrating.”

“Looking for food,” I said, thoughtful.

“If they’re hunting, I’ve got to step up my efforts.”

“Scarlet,” I began, but she held up her hand and smiled. “I’m going to wash up. We’ll talk later.”

She walked away, and I sighed. She had already made up her mind.

During dinner, Scarlet explained the basics of her plan. After dinner, while we were lying in bed, she explained it in more depth to me. She was hoping I would agree that it was the right thing to do, but I was running out of reasons to support her daily trips into danger.

“For the next week,” she whispered, “we’ll concentrate on clearing the road, that way we don’t miss any coming out of Shallot on this side. Then, we’ll eventually make another trip to Shallot. I don’t think they’ll be that many left in town, do you?”

I shook my head. “It’s hard to tell.”

“I think it will be thinned out. We’ll stay in Shallot until it’s clear, and then we’ll work on the road between Shallot and the other highway.”

I sat up. “Have you told the guys this?”

“I mentioned it on the way home. Skeeter and Bryce are on board. I’ll ask Joey if he wants to come.”

“Jesus Christ, Scarlet, when will it stop? When will it be enough?”

“Keep your voice down.”

“I’m trying. God knows I’m trying, but you have to tell me when this little project is going to be over.”

“Little project?”

I frowned. “Do you have any idea what I go through every morning when you leave? What I go through all day until you come back?”

“Yeah. I have an idea,” she said, crawling out of bed.

“God, Scarlet . . . ,” I said, feeling terrible. “I’m sorry.”

She left without saying a word, and I lay back against my pillow, looking up at the ceiling while I let myself drown in the guilt that washed over me.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Miranda

AFTER THE EIGHTH DAY IN a row of clearing, Scarlet and the boys took a day off. We had all been looking forward to it. While they were gone, Nathan and I took turns keeping an eye out on the roof. It was so damn hot that—even guzzling water—we would be nearly sun sick by the time we climbed down. And then we had to keep an eye on the girls. It was exhausting. I couldn’t imagine how the boys felt every day.

Ashley had been taking food into her bedroom, but today she decided to venture to the dining room. It was obvious we were trying to keep the conversation light. Ashley didn’t eat or speak much, but it was a big step for her to come to the table with us, and we all knew it.

It was my turn to wash the dishes. Joey brought in a bucket of water from outside, and then stuck around to dry as I cleaned.

“I hope it rains soon,” he said. “Not much water left in the basin.”

We hadn’t had any time alone together since the day we were on the roof, and even though I played it off, and even though he’d come in with bad news, I was almost giddy when he offered to help.

“You’re getting to be quite domestic,” I teased. Joey elbowed me, and I giggled.

Bryce walked into the kitchen and grabbed a towel. “I’ll do that,” he said to Joey.

“We’re almost done,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound like I just wanted to keep Joey in the kitchen with me—because that’s exactly what I wanted.

Bryce looked at us both expectantly, and then Joey and I traded glances.

“I was going to get some target practice in, anyway.” Joey and I used that to steal a few moments alone together a few weeks back, and I smiled, knowing it was an invitation.

“Better warn Skeeter,” Bryce called. “Wouldn’t want him to accidentally gun you down,” he grumbled under his breath.

The second the storm door slammed, I tried to think of a reason to go outside with Joey. Bryce and I finished the dishes, and he was putting them away. Scarlet, Nathan, and Zoe were playing some kind of homemade board game in the middle of the living-room floor.

“Miranda, Ashley went outside earlier. I’m going to check on her when I’m finished,” Bryce said, shutting a cabinet door.

“I’ll do it,” I said, trying not to sound as eager as I felt. My hands were shaking, thankful I had a reason, and excited that it was Bryce who had come up with one. That would mean fewer questions later. I tried to be nonchalant as I walked casually out the front door.

He wasn’t at the back of the house, where we’d met the last time. It didn’t take long before I realized I didn’t see Joey . . . or Ashley.

“Hey, Skeeter,” I called, looking up to the roof. He poked his head over the edge. “You see Joey or Ashley?”

Skeeter pointed south, but didn’t say a word.

I walked out to the barn, but Butch and I were the only two around.

Several emotions bubbled to the surface: confusion, worry, and even suspicion. Noises from behind the barn piqued my curiosity, so I peeked around the corner. Joey and Ashley were standing in the field together. She was holding the rifle, and he was trying to help her hold it correctly. He said something, making her drop the barrel toward the ground a bit. His hand was on her hip for a fraction of a second. They began to laugh, the ugly kind that produces tears. Joey even doubled over and steadied himself with his hands on his knees.

My face instantly flushed and my eyes filled with tears. At first I was angry with Ashley. She’d been walking around the house nearly comatose, not responding to anyone or anything. All she’d done for almost ten days was cry and sleep. Every time I tried to talk to her, she’d just get angry. But in the field with Joey, she was herself again. Laughing and joking like Cooper hadn’t been shot in the face right in front of her less than two weeks before. Suddenly, alone with Joey, she was just fine.

I stifled back a sob, letting the jealousy, and then the guilt, swallow me whole. Of course Ashley deserved to do something other than be miserable. How could I say that I loved her and then be angry with her for having a moment of peace? I slowly let myself slide to the ground and sat in the dirt. Sweat was forming along my hairline, and a drop finally fell just in front of my ear. It was like an oven, even in the shade, but Ashley and Joey didn’t notice they were baking with the sun shining straight down on them.

She was alone now, and so was Joey. They would talk about their loss, and find comfort in one another, and I would have to watch them because I had nowhere else to go. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the wall of the barn. God, I was a horrid, selfish bitch.

Joey’s and Ashley’s voices got louder, and I realized they were walking my way. I stayed very still and didn’t dare breathe, afraid they would catch me eavesdropping and crying over them like a crazy person. I was convinced they would both know why if they saw me. Thankfully, they were too busy impressing each other to see me, and continued to the house. I finally took a deep breath and let out a quiet cry. I said once that I wouldn’t want Joey if he were the last man on earth. Now I was just horrible enough to wish we were the last ones on earth so I could have him to myself.

That night at dinner, Ashley and Joey sat next to each other. They carried on about their afternoon and how awful a shot she was. For absolutely no reason at all, I was annoyed with Ashley’s voice and the entire conversation. No one else was talking, just listening to them go on and on and on about how funny that was, and how hilarious this was, and bragging about how much help Ashley needed.

“We’ve decided she needs some serious help, and this should be a daily thing until she gets better.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Nathan said, nodding.

“You’ve shot a gun before, Ashley. I don’t understand how you’d be so bad at it,” I said.

Ashley chuckled, and then when she realized I wasn’t amused, she stopped altogether. “I haven’t shot that much.”

“As much as I have. The way you guys are talking, you were confused on how to hold the damn thing.”

“Miranda,” Nathan said in his infuriatingly smooth voice.

“I’m just curious.” I tried a smile, hoping it would cover how crazy I felt, and how awful I was for being angry that my sister was happy.

Ashley looked down at the table, the light that had come back to her eyes snuffed out. “It was just never my thing.”

The corners of her mouth evened out, and she rolled her food around on her plate with her fork, returning to the same lifeless vessel that she’d been since Cooper died.

Bryce shot me a look. I didn’t have to ask him what he was thinking. I knew he was angry that I’d been so hard on her, and he should have been. I was angry with myself.

“I’m sorry, Ashley. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine,” she said, her face devoid of emotion.

I sat back in my chair, feeling judgment from everyone at the table. I deserved it, so I sat there, letting them glare, stare, or shake their heads. I wasn’t sure who was the angriest. I wasn’t brave enough to look up from my plate.

• • •

AFTER THE LIGHTS WENT OUT, Bryce tried to tug me out of the recliner. “You coming?”

I nodded. “I’ll be there in a bit. I’m not really tired.”

He nodded back, resigned. After he disappeared in the hall and closed the door, I stood.

Joey was breathing hard but regular, facing the floor in the last half of a pushup. His face was red and moist, and as usual, he was without a shirt. The veins were bulging from his hands and arms.

Noticing my feet next to his face, Joey looked up at me.

“Can I talk to you outside for a minute?” I said, and then turned to go to the front porch. Joey came out, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Now that we were alone, and he was half naked, I fought to recall why I was angry in the first place.

“What’s going on with you?” he asked.

“I saw you.”

“Huh?”

“With Ashley. Earlier. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Joey crossed his arms across his chest and shifted his weight nervously. “Um . . . teaching her to shoot?”

I laughed once without humor. “Oh, bullshit. You’ve taught me to shoot before. I don’t remember your hands being all over me like that.”

“My . . . what?”

“You heard me. I saw you!”

Joey’s expression morphed from surprise to mild anger. “I didn’t have my hands all over her, Miranda, you’re being ridiculous. And you knew what you were doing pretty well before we went out because you’ve shot before.”

“So has she!”

“Well, then she’s not as good as you are.”

“She is sad, Joey. Whatever you’re thinking? Don’t.”

“Don’t what? Maybe I’m stupid, so you’ll have to tell me exactly what you’re saying.” He was getting defensive, which only made me angrier.

“I’m saying Ashley is my sister. I love her. She just lost the love of her life, and she’s vulnerable. I don’t know how much more clear I can be, so let me just say it: I don’t want her to be taken advantage of.”

“You don’t really think I would do that,” Joey said, seething. When I didn’t answer, his expression changed again. “Do you really think so little of me that I would try to fly under the radar to get into her pants? While she’s grieving?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying, I’m—”

“Good, because if you really think I’m that big of a piece of shit, what have we been doing?”

“We haven’t done anything!”

“You know what I mean!”

“Wait, did you mean that when she’s not grieving anymore you’ll try to get in her pants?”

“What?” he said, clearly trying to remember when he’d said anything remotely close to that. He shook his head, completely flustered. “You have to know me better than that. You have to know how I feel about you. She’s your sister. I would never . . .”

“Yes. I do know you, and I know you’ve lost someone, too, so I thought maybe you felt like you two had something in common.”

“So it’s not that you think I’d pull a dick move like that, but you wanted to warn me not to make a dick move like that.”

“No! I don’t think you’re an asshole, I just think you’re both . . . maybe not thinking about what it means if you get together just because you’re alone.”

“So you came down here to make sure I wasn’t trying to get close with your sister because you didn’t think I would try to get close with your sister?”

“Yes!”

“You’re not making any sense!” He turned his back on me and walked a few steps in the other direction, and then turned to face me. “Or maybe you are.”

I watched him for a long time. I wasn’t sure if I was embarrassed or angry or both, but that smug smile that I hated and loved was spread wide across his face. I flipped my wrist and showed him my middle finger. “Maybe you are an asshole.” I turned on my heels for the stairs, but Joey flipped me around and then his mouth was on mine. After the initial surprise, I gripped his skin and pulled him against me just as his tongue slid into my mouth. He smelled like two days of sweat and dirt, and I’m sure I did, too, but I couldn’t get close enough to him. I wanted more of his mouth on mine, more of his arms around me, more of his hands on more of my skin, but he pulled away.

By the look on his face and the glimmer of sadness in his eyes, kissing me had brought back a memory. Maybe I deserved it, loving someone who loved someone else.

“Wow, I’m sorry,” he whispered, stumbling backward. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

“It’s okay,” I said, reaching out for him, desperate to make him feel better.

“I can’t do this to Dana.”

My eyes filled with tears. “You’re not doing anything wrong. I know you loved her, but Dana’s not here.”

“But Bryce is.”

His words sliced through me like an axe. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, but I was.

“We’re going all the way to Shallot again,” he said. “I’ve got an early morning and a long day, and when we get back, Skeeter wants to dig ditches around the perimeter. I need to rest.”

I nodded, stepping backward a few times before finally opening the door. It would have been just my luck to run into someone, maybe even Bryce, as I retreated into the living room with wet cheeks. When I walked in, I was alone. Nathan and Zoe had more than likely heard us go outside, and probably heard us yelling. Everyone probably heard us yelling.

I wiped my eyes quickly, and took a few steps toward the laundry room. I could hear Scarlet’s whisper in my mind. I wouldn’t. If she were still married to Andrew and stuck in this house with him and Nathan, maybe she would.

I lost my nerve, and then crept back into my bedroom, took one look at Bryce sleeping on my side of the bed, and sat in the chair in the corner. He usually fell asleep fairly quickly after his head hit the pillow, so he did that when he was waiting for me to come to bed, knowing he would wake up when I pulled the covers back to crawl in to my side. I wasn’t sure if I’d stayed with him so long because I loved him, or if I just didn’t have a good enough reason to ask for an ending. Either way, I was crawling in bed with the man who loved me, wishing he was the man I loved.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nathan

“NEED MORE WATER?” MIRANDA CALLED.

I poked my head over the edge. “Sure,” I said. It was hard to guess on top of the roof, but I was willing to bet the temperature was easily over a hundred degrees.

Miranda climbed the ladder with another large glass, taking my nearly empty one.

“You know what I miss?” I said. “Ice.”

Miranda smiled. “Oh my God. I do, too. But I’m sure we’ll get some this winter, and then we won’t miss it so much.”

I laughed. “You’re probably right.”

Miranda climbed back down, and I squinted from the glare. Scarlet and the others had been clearing for three days, and I hoped they would be back soon. I’d seen a pillar of smoke earlier that morning in that direction, and I hoped it wasn’t some sort of signal from them that they needed help. I didn’t bother telling Miranda. We couldn’t risk taking the girls, and it was too dangerous for one of us to go alone, anyway.

I ate lunch on the roof, and then climbed down, waiting to make sure Miranda got situated up top before I went inside. Elleny was tidying up after lunch, and Zoe was coloring on the few nubs left of her crayons. I hoped that if Scarlet had time to stop at the store in Shallot, she would think to pick up Zoe some more—if they had any—and then I laughed at how oddly normal that thought was.

“Nathan! I see them!” Miranda yelled. Her voice was muffled, so I wanted to be sure I heard her right.

“You see them?” I said, stepping out onto the porch. She didn’t answer, so I crawled up the ladder. She was looking through her scope, her lip quivering.

“What is it? What do you see?” Miranda looked at me then, her eyes red and threatening to fill with tears.

After they got a little closer, I squinted in their direction. “Don’t panic,” I said, realizing what had her so upset. “It might not be what you think.”

I turned, watching the group cut across the yard. I crawled down the ladder, with Miranda right behind me, and met Scarlet just in front of the porch. It was obvious the news wasn’t good.

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking to Miranda. “I’m so sorry.”

Miranda’s hands shook as she covered her mouth. “No.”

“We were pinned down. He was going to lead them away, but he never came back.”

Miranda sucked in a breath. Elleny and Zoe came outside. Elleny hugged Scarlet tightly, and Zoe hugged Skeeter.

“Are you sure? Did you look for him?” I asked.

Skeeter nodded, his eyes sad. “I found him. I put him down.”

Miranda fell on her knees and wailed, covering her face. Ashley came outside wide-eyed, and kneeled beside her sister. “Are you okay?” she asked. She looked up at us. “Where’s Joey?”

Bryce stared down at Miranda, blank-faced. “He didn’t make it.”

Miranda leaned forward and screamed, unable to conceal her pain. Ashley held her, glancing up at Bryce. He was tearing up, watching his girlfriend mourn Joey the way Ashley had mourned Cooper. Finally, it became too much, and he went into the house.

Skeeter looked over to me with a frown. “Am I the only one confused as hell?”

“Yes,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“Maybe it wasn’t him,” Miranda sniffed. Her eyes brightened with hope.

“It was him,” Scarlet said. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault.”

Miranda’s face hardened, and she stood, pushing Ashley away. “You’re goddamn right this is your fault. Everyone here thinks I’m the selfish bitch, but you take the cake, Scarlet! You got him killed! And for what? Your dead kids?”

“Miranda, that’s enough!” I growled. My tone surprised even me.

Miranda sucked air in through her noise. Ashley reached for her again. “Get off me!” she cried, exhaling in tiny sobs. “Get off me.” She climbed the ladder to the roof, crying alone.

Scarlet swallowed and looked up at me from beneath her brow. “Is she right?”

“No,” I said simply, taking her into my arms. I kissed her hair, unsure of what else to say.

Scarlet

NONE OF US WERE IN the mood to eat, so I just made the girls a plate of peanut butter crackers and called it good. I sat on the couch, drinking water, trying to forget the way Joey looked before Skeeter put a bullet in his forehead.

He hadn’t told Miranda the whole truth. Joey did lead the teds away from the safe house, and he didn’t come back, but when we went looking for him at first light, I was the one who had found him. I just couldn’t pull the trigger. Joey was stumbling toward me, his neck and arms chewed in parts to the bone. I knew it was my fault that he was dead, and I couldn’t be the one responsible for his death a second time. Skeeter held me with one arm while he put Joey down.

I took another sip, and then went out to the porch to wait. I could hear Miranda on the roof. Even though I knew I was the last person she wanted to see, I decided to join her.

“Hey,” I said when I reached the top rung.

Miranda didn’t even bother to respond, she just laughed once, incredulous.

I sat down a few feet from her. We didn’t speak; I just wanted to wait where I could see farther down the road. After about ten minutes, the sky turned, marking the beginning of sunset.

“You’re doing this so I can see that you still think they’re alive. So Joey didn’t die for nothing.”

“No, I’m just waiting for my girls.”

“You have two inside.”

I sighed. “I have two more inside, yes.”

“You know what? It doesn’t matter whether you think they’re alive or not. Their lives are no more important than Joey’s, or Bryce’s, or Skeeter’s . . . or Nathan’s.”

“Nathan’s?”

“He will die if something happens to you. Do you see Ashley? Empty and hopeless? That will be Nathan one of these days after you get yourself killed.”

The thought made me sick to my stomach, but didn’t change my mind. “I take total responsibility for Joey. You’re right. It’s my fault. But I can’t apologize for doing whatever I can to help my little girls get to me safely, and I won’t turn down anyone that wants to help.”

Miranda craned her neck at me. “No one else will say it, Scarlet, but I will: You can go fuck yourself and your stupid idea to clear the way for your girls. There are more infected out there than humans. You’re never going to clear them all, and one of these days you’re going to hack into one of their heads with your hatchet, and you’re going to realize too late that it was Jenna or Halle. But it won’t matter, anyway, because they’re fucking dead!” With the last words, Miranda screamed, clenched her eyes shut, and shook her head, her hair sticking to the sweat on her face.

I closed my eyes, trying to stop her screams from forming pictures in my mind. “Miranda . . .”

“Will you admit it, then?” she said, her eyes both angry and desperate.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen to me if I have to admit they’re not coming.”

“They’re. Not. Coming.”

A tear escaped my eye, and I quickly wiped it away. “I don’t believe that.”

“Scarlet!” Nathan screamed from the porch. He climbed the ladder, his eyes wide. “Are you looking?”

“What?”

“Look! Look at the hill!”

I narrowed my eyes to focus, seeing two small figures walking up the red hill. Skeeter was standing in the yard, yelling and waving his arms. The figures began to run, and it was then that I realized it was Halle and Jenna.

A sob exploded from my throat. “Oh my God!” I cried. “It’s them! It’s my babies!”

They were alone. I could barely process what that might mean, or what they’d gone through, but in that moment, the only thing I could do was scramble for the ladder.

Nathan climbed down a few rungs, and then jumped the rest of the way down, knowing I was in a hurry.

“Scarlet? Scarlet!” Miranda screamed.

I looked to her, and then to the field where she was pointing, seeing a herd of about two dozen infected limping and stumbling toward my daughters. “Oh, Jesus! No! No!” I began climbing down the ladder, but Nathan stopped me. “Stay on the roof! You’re the best shot! I’ll go get them!”

Reluctantly, I nodded and climbed back up to my perch on the roof. I knew he was right, and the best thing I could do for my daughters was to pick off the infected from high ground. Nathan, Skeeter, and Bryce, with various weapons in hand, ran off to reach my girls before anything else did.

Jenna and Halle were still running toward the house, but they would be cut off by the herd that was walking through the field toward them. They had no idea what was hiding behind the wheat, but they didn’t stop running, even when I began to shoot into the field.

“Jesus! Jesus, Scarlet!” Miranda said. She scrambled to the ladder and then climbed down, sprinting at full speed toward the road, screaming for the girls to hurry.

Ashley chased after her a few steps before Miranda pointed back at her. “Stay with the kids, Ashley! Stay with the kids!”

Ashley tossed her sister a handgun, and then looked up at me. I pressed my cheek against the rifle, looking through the scope. I pulled the bolt handle, aimed, and pulled the trigger, taking out the first infected. I leaned my face away. “Run, Jenna! Run to the house! They’re in the field! In the field!”

Jenna slowed down and looked around. She couldn’t see them coming.

“Run!” I screamed.

Jenna looked behind her, took Halle’s hand, and took off toward Nathan and Skeeter. I could hear the boys calling to my children, motioning for them to hurry. I could hear Halle’s frightened cry carry across the muggy summer evening air.

I pulled the bolt handle again, aimed, and shot. Grabbing another bullet, I loaded it into the chamber, and then repeated the process. I’d had so much practice over the summer that I barely had to look to load the bullets, but the more shufflers I put down, the more there seemed to be.

The first of the infected emerged from the wheat. Jenna stopped and leaned back so hard she fell backward, taking Halle with her.

I kept shooting, and the boys and Miranda yelled to get the attention of the herd. A wall of bodies was created between my friends and my daughters, with infected fanning out in both directions.

The girls hugged each other and screamed. “Mommy!” Jenna cried. “Mommy!”

I swallowed back my fear and continued shooting, focusing on the walking dead that were reaching for my daughters. I was sure Nathan and the others were killing every undead thing in their path, but the girls were defenseless.

My hands shook as I reloaded, but I forced myself to stay focused, to put down anything that got too close to my kids. Suddenly, Nathan emerged from the opposite field and grabbed the girls. They screamed at first, and then Nathan pushed them behind him. I aimed at the infected closest to him and put it down, but there were three more behind it, and I couldn’t reload fast enough.

Nathan shoved the closest one away, but as I was reloading a gunshot went off. The infected fell. Skeeter reloaded and shot again. Through my scope, I could see Nathan say something to the girls. They nodded, and then they disappeared into the north field.

My heart nearly exploded when I lost sight of them, but I continued to put down anything that tried to follow. A horrible, suffering scream made me search the area frantically through my scope. I settled on Bryce, fighting off shufflers in front of him, but being attacked from behind. From point-blank range, Miranda shot Bryce’s attacker in the temple, and then fell with her boyfriend to the ground. I couldn’t tell where he was wounded, but they were both covered in Bryce’s blood.

I pulled my chin away from my rifle, and then forced myself to reload and search for them again. Miranda was scooting backward, pulling Bryce with one hand, shooting with the other.

“No!” she cried, aiming at the shufflers closing in on her. “Help us!”

I shot one after another. Skeeter did, too, but Miranda only managed to get off two more shots before half a dozen monsters obscured her from view and then began to feed. When her screams of pure anguish filled the air, I closed my eyes tight. Skeeter’s rifle popped. Even after Skeeter ended her suffering, the echoes of her screams lingered in the surrounding wheat fields for a few moments.

I looked up, seeing Nathan, Jenna, and Halle emerge from the field and then run across the road and toward the porch. I watched the girls until Ashley corralled them into the safety of the house, and then I looked through the scope again. Nathan ran toward the herd with my hatchet to help his brother-in-law. As much as I wanted to go inside the house and hug my babies, I knew none of us was safe until the last of the herd was taken down.

In one moment, it was as if they were endless, and in the next there were only a few left. I shot, Skeeter shot, and Nathan hurled the hatchet. Bodies lay all over the road and in the ditches. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie; a massacre. Nathan and Skeeter didn’t return to the house, instead they stood over the bodies of Miranda and Bryce. They were lying together, chewed and bloody. Skeeter pulled out a handgun, and shot Bryce in the head. He’d already made sure Miranda wouldn’t come back. Spending another bullet wasn’t necessary.

I climbed down the ladder, and stood in shock as I watched Jenna and Halle push through the screen door and bury their faces against me. I wasn’t sure if I collapsed, or if they did, but all three of us were sitting in a sobbing mess on the porch.

Ashley stood over us for a moment, and then began running toward the road. Her wails were the background music to my reunion with my children. Elleny and Zoe stood in the doorway in shock, neither of them seeming to be able to make sense of what had just happened, nor of the scene on the porch. It seemed like everyone was crying, both happy and sad tears.

Night was falling, and Skeeter and Nathan guided Ashley back to the house. She was sobbing, fighting to stay with her sister. Skeeter had to force her the rest of the way into the house.

Nathan watched Ashley and Skeeter until they disappeared behind the door, and then looked down at my family, offering a small smile. “You have some incredible kids there.”

“Miranda?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

He sighed. “Bryce was attacked. She tried to save him. I couldn’t get to them in time.”

Halle’s face was buried under my arm, and her dirty fingernails dug into my skin. I kissed her head. “Come on, girls. I’ve got you. Let’s go inside.”

Nathan helped us up, and we walked inside together. The girls were filthy, and I couldn’t be sure, but I thought they were still wearing the same clothes they put on the last morning I saw them.

I couldn’t stop staring or smiling at them. It almost didn’t seem real.

“We saw your message,” Jenna said, trying not to cry.

I shook my head. “Where’s your dad?”

“He was bit,” Halle said in her small voice.

“He made us leave him,” Jenna said, her voice quivering. “He made us.”

“Ssh ssh,” I said, hugging them both. “How long have you been alone?” I didn’t know why I was asking. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, or that it mattered.