Chapter 11

“Go,” Ford said as soon as he heard the gunshots. “Now.”

Evey ran to the edge of the giftcard store. She peered into the hall to see the Infected wandering out of stores. They were chomping at the air as they growled. Evey’s eyes darted to the escalator that was just a few meters away.

Ford grabbed Evey’s arm and ran. Evey struggled to keep up with his wide strides. He did not let go of her arm and pulled her down the escalator. She had to watch her feet to stop herself from tripping. This prevented her from looking at the hoard of Infected following them. The Infected were trying to push past each other, each having a greater craving for flesh and blood. Evey heard the cacophony of growls and screeches. She could not hear her own scream when one of the Infected touched her shoulder.

Once they were off the escalator, Ford dragged Evey toward the door. He let go of her to helo her through the shattered hole. He followed behind her and looked at the Infected running into the door. A few trickled through the hole.

“To the trucks,” Ford told Evey.

Before she could speak, Ford fired his gun. A line of Infected fell as their brains splattered on the pavement. Evey ran away, desperate to get to the twins. She needed to know that they were safe.

She passed Gomez as she ran. Gomez stood beside Ford and joined him in firing bullets. The Infected continued to charge through the door and tripped over the line of bodies.

Evey got back to the rest of the civilians. Harrington was holding onto a sobbing Nicole. Evey looked around for Ivan. When she could not find him, she understood why Nicole was a mess. She was crumpled in Harrington’s arms and crying out.

Evey watched the Infected fall as they were shot in the head. Evey could not take her eyes off the bodies wandering out of the mall. The air went silent and Evey’s ears rang when they stopped firing. Gomez swore as he lowered his gun.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said.

“Johnson is in there,” Ford said.

“Screw Johnson!”

The glass crunched under a pair of shoes. Gomez and Ford turned and raised their guns. Connar walked into the parking lot holding his hands up. The hedge clippers were in his one hand. His face twisted as he tensed his body, looking like he was prepared to be shot.

“Don’t shoot,” Connar said. “I don’t want to eat any of you.”

Ford lowered his gun. Johnson came through the shattered door. His brows furrowed as he looked at Nicole sobbing in Harrington’s arms. Johnson stepped next to Ford.

“What happened?” Johnson asked.

Ford lifted his chin to gesture toward Gomez.

“Tell him,” Ford said.

Gomez sighed. He snuck a glance at Nicole. She was fighting to get out of Harrington’s hold and charge into the mall.

“Her boyfriend died,” Gomez said.

“How?” Johnson asked.

“He was eaten.”

Ford looked across the parking lot to see Evey was at the truck. The backdoor was open and she was leaning in. He assumed she was talking to the twins. He hoped she had somehow washed the blood off her face. His eyes scanned her bare legs. Johnson cleared his throat when he caught Ford staring.

“We should get back to the trucks and keep moving,” Johnson said.

“I can’t take that girl anymore,” Gomez said. “She’ll kill me.”

“Harrington will take her,” Johnson said. “Gomez, take Anjo.”

Ford stepped away from his colleagues and headed toward his truck. He put his arm on top of the open door and peered inside past Evey. Josie had the teddy bear in her arms. Evey looked up at Ford. Blood was dried around her hairline, but most of her face was clean. She had a baby wipe that was stained red in her hand.

“Where’d you get that?” Ford asked.

“Fiona had them in her purse,” Evey said.

Ford looked over his shoulder to see everyone get into one of the trucks. He straightened before cocking his head to the side.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Evey nodded and closed the door. She walked around and got into the passenger’s seat. Ford pulled out of the parking lot and was the last one to leave. They road in silence and Evey was unsure where they were going.

—

Being on the deserted roads never started to feel normal. They would have to drive around the odd abandoned car, but other than that, they were the only four vehicles on the road. Evey held onto the door of the truck because Ford clearly did not care about the speed limit. There was no need to. It made Evey laugh to think that she had so many speeding tickets. Ford looked puzzled as he heard Evey giggle.

“I want to drive tomorrow,” she said.

“No,” he said, not bothering to look at Evey.

“Come on,” she said. “It’s either that or you teach me how to use a gun.”

“No.”

“Are you always this stubborn?”

“Yes.”

Evey crossed her arms over her chest and let out a huff of breath. She hated how Ford saw her as incapable. She was an asset to the team because of her medical skills, but she wanted to learn how to fight. She needed to know how to in order to keep the twins safe.

“I’ll just ask Johnson,” she said.

“Don’t,” Ford said.

She noticed Ford gripped the steering wheel tighter. His knuckles were turning white as his jaw hardened.

“Why?” Evey asked. “I have to learn how to kill those things and you’re not teaching me.”

“You’ll die,” he said.

Evey scoffed and shook her head.

“Remember the pharmacy?” Ford asked. “You almost died.”

“I could have killed her,” Evey said. “You didn’t give me a chance.”

“You’d be dead.”

Evey rolled her eyes. She was not used to arguing. She never bothered to, but now that her life was on the line she really cared. Not just for her own life, but also for the twins.

“Our deal still on?” Evey asked.

“Yes,” he said. “But don’t do anything stupid.”

Ford lifted the radio when he heard it crackle.

“Pull off the next exit,” Johnson said. “We’re in cleared territory.”

Evey pushed herself up in her seat and looked at the twins to see if they were asleep. Chester was falling out of Josie’s hold.

They drove into what appeared to be a normal town. When they got deeper in, Evey could see the bodies lying in the yard. Bullet holes were in their skulls and their eyes were fixated on the sky. Evey was relieved that the twins were asleep and did not witness it.

“Where is everyone?” Evey asked. “Where are the people that are Immune from this town?”

Ford shrugged.

“Johnson’s looking,” he said.

Evey looked in the backseat again to see Joey waking up. He yawned as he dug the heel of his hand into his eyes.

“Evey, are we almost home?” he asked.

Evey bit down on her lip. She did not know what would be home, but she hoped they would find it soon. She pictured them connecting with other Immune civilians and building back to normal. Nothing would feel normal to Evey without her mother or Lila.

“We are going to stop soon,” Evey said.

Joey yawned again as he nodded.

The trucks drove down one of the side streets and parked in the driveways of a few homes. Ford took the key out of the ignition. He put his hand on Evey’s arm when she moved to get out. His hand was rough against her smooth skin.

“Let me clear it first,” he said.

Evey knew what he meant. He was going to have to clear out all of the dead bodies. He needed to get them out before the kids saw. Evey swallowed past the lump forming in her throat.

“Do you need help?” she asked.

“I don’t want you to see it,” he said.

“I worked in the emergency department,” she said. “I have seen plenty of dead bodies.”

Evey’s eyes fell down to her arm. Ford was still holding onto her. He followed her gaze. He cleared his throat before looking at the backseat and letting go.

“Stay with them,” he said.

“Okay,” she said.

Ford got out of the truck and went into the house. The front door was unlocked. Evey was certain that the soldiers who Cleansed the town of the Virus were not concerned about locking the doors after killing the families. Evey climbed out and unfastened the seatbelts from around Josie and Joey. Josie’s eyes were barely open. Evey pulled her out of the truck and held her in her arms.

Fiona walked across the lawn and over to Evey. She crossed her arms and looked over at the priest and Connar who were deep in discussion. She sighed and looked back at Evey.

“They have been talking about zombies for the past hour,” she said. “Earlier it was about the validity of The Exorcist.“

Evey giggled and Fiona shook her head.

“Roger shouldn’t entertain his thoughts about the living dead,” Fiona said. “Johnson is constantly telling him that they are not zombies.”

“Because they aren’t,” Evey said. “Zombies are dead.”

“Whatever they are, I hope it doesn’t last long. I hear Johnson on his radio all night.”

“What is he doing?”

“Looking for other survivors.”

Evey turned when she heard the front door open. Ford walked onto the porch, dusting his hands. Evey held her hand out, and Joey grabbed it. She carried Josie, and walked with Joey, into the house. She froze in the entrance and looked at Ford.

“The backyard?” she asked.

Ford nodded. The lingering smell of decaying bodies hung in the air. She walked into the living room and laid a sleeping Josie on the couch. Joey jumped on the cushion beside her and she woke.

Ford said nothing as he left the house. Evey was relieved to see a candle on the coffee table. She searched for a lighter and found one in the drawer in the kitchen. She lit the white candle and let the smell of vanilla fill the room.

She went back into the kitchen to look for something to cook. She found a couple of cans of soup and heated them on the stove. She snuck glances at the twins as she cooked.

Ford came back into the house. He walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. Je crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Evey. She looked up at him and raised a brow.

“What?” she asked.

He narrowed his eyes at her and she could not tell if he was trying to think of something to say. She sensed he had a question he wanted to ask, but would not say it.

“You don’t talk a lot,” Evey said.

“So?” he asked.

“You just stare,” she said. “It’s creepy.”

Ford shrugged. Evey rolled her eyes at his reaction.

“Were you always like this?” she asked. “Or is this just an apocalypse thing? Act tough so that no one sees how scared you actually are?”

“It’s no act,” he said.

“So tell me something about you then.”

“No.”

Evey opened her mouth, but the sound of screeching stopped her. Ford ran and Evey was close behind.