Chapter 19

 Evey woke when she heard Josie and Joey running up and down the hallway. She pushed herself up and dug the heel of her palm into her eye. The twins were giggling and she listened to them chase each other.

Her gun and knife were sitting on the nightstand. She rushed to get out of bed and pulled a pair of shorts and a T-shirt out of the dresser. She strapped the knife and gun to her thigh before hurrying out of the room. Josie and Joey smiled at Evey before running down the stairs.

She followed them down into the living room. Through the large window, she could see the four soldiers gathered in the middle of the street. Connar was walking out of the home across the road and she could see Fiona on the porch next to that house.

Evey went outside, her curiosity getting the better of her, and walked up to the group. Ford looked over at Evey and shook his head. He did not want her near, but she was not going to listen to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and forced herself into their conversation. Connar had done the same and his eyes went wide when he saw the gun on Evey’s thigh.

“First a knife and now a gun?” Connar asked. “Not fair. I want to kill some zombies too.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that they are not zombies?” Johnson said.

“They’re zombies,” Connar said. “And I want a gun.”

Harrington looked over at Johnson. He shrugged his shoulders, but Johnson shook his head.

“He’s a kid,” Johnson said. “I don’t want him to have a gun.”

“So I have to be a snack to one of those things?” Connar asked.

“I’ll teach him,” Harrington said. “If we’re traveling and get attacked we are going to need as many people as possible with a gun.”

“There may not be a lot of traveling left,” Johnson said.

“Why?” Ford asked.

Johnson let out a deep breath and stood straighter.

“I made communication with other survivors,” he said. “I think the others should be here with us.”

Evey smiled. She was positive that there were other Immune people out there, but she did not know what the chances of making contact would be. She could get the twins somewhere safe. She could put them somewhere where one of the soldiers would not worry about the children slowing them down.

“Go get Nicole and Roger,” Johnson told Connar. “Gomez, bring out Anjo.”

They nodded before going to the homes. Johnson waved Fiona off the porch and over to the group. She furrowed her brows as she hurried over.

A few minutes passed in awkward silence as the rest of the civilians joined. Nicole’s eyes were rimmed red from crying continuously since Ivan’s death. Anjo yawned before scratching the back of his head. Roger did not look like a priest anymore as he was wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

“What’s going on?” Fiona asked.

“I made contact with a group of survivors,” Johnson said. “They want us to join them.”

“Where are they?” Anjo asked.

“Toronto,” Johnson said.

Ford scoffed and shook his head.

“No,” he said.

“What’s so bad about Toronto?” Evey asked.

“It’s suicide.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’ll be swarmed with Infected cannibals.”

Evey furrowed her brows. She looked over at Johnson. He was chewing on his lip.

“If that is true, how come there are a group of survivors?” she asked. “They should be dead.”

“They’re in the hospital looking for a cure,” Johnson said.

Evey’s smile grew wider. She clasped her hands in front of her chest.

“A cure?” she asked. “Yes, let’s go.”

“You crazy?” Ford asked. “We’ll die.”

“You don’t know that.”

“We step into Toronto and we’ll be dead.”

Johnson cleared his throat to stop Ford and Evey from fighting. They stopped talking and looked in his direction.

“They want to fly us in,” Johnson said.

“Where are we supposed to get a plane?” Gomez asked.

“They are going to send a helicopter. They said there is one on the roof of the hospital,” Johnson said.

“Where would they send a helicopter?” Gomez asked.

Evey sucked in her bottom lip as she thought. She snapped her fingers when an idea came to mind.

“The field,” she said.

“What field?” Johnson asked.

“Ford took me to a field to learn how to shoot,” she said. “It’s big enough for a helicopter to land.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Johnson said. “I could tell them to meet us at dusk.”

“I don’t like it,” Ford said.

Anjo held his hands out.

“Let’s back up for a moment,” he said. “A cure? Who is going to find that?”

“They have doctors and scientists,” Johnson said. “You’re a doctor. You can help them.”

Anjo’s jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.

“I’m supposed to help?” he asked.

“I can help too,” Evey said. “I’m a nurse. I can contribute. I think it is a great idea to go. We could-“

Ford put his hand on Evey’s shoulder. His touch cut her off and she looked toward him. He narrowed his eyes. He lifted his chin to gesture toward the house.

“Go check on the kids,” he said.

“You’re not kicking me out of this conversation.” She shrugged his hand off her shoulder. “I think we should go to Toronto.”

“She’s right,” Johnson said. “We can’t survive out here long.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nicole mumbled. “We’re all going to die.”

“I say we kick some zombie ass and go to Toronto,” Connar said. “As long as I get to have a gun.”

“There is safety in numbers,” Johnson said. “The more people we are with, the greater our chances of survival. Do we all agree to go?”

“No,” Ford and Anjo said in unison.

Evey put her hands on her hips.

“You two can stay behind then,” she said. “Good luck.”

Ford opened his mouth, but Johnson spoke before Ford had the chance.

“No one is staying behind,” Johnson said. “We are all going to Toronto.”

Ford glared at Evey. It was a cold stare. She refused to shrink and look scared, so she straightened her posture.

“If we die, I am blaming you,” Ford told Evey.

He stormed toward the house. Evey’s heart sunk in her chest. The twins were in the house alone. Would he take his anger out on them?

“We’ll go to the field at dusk,” Johnson said. “I’ll let Ross know.”

Evey nodded before rushing off to the house. Her hand wavered over the knife on her thigh. She’d kill Ford if he hurt the kids.

He slammed the front door. He stopped and turned when Evey burst into the house. He furrowed his brows as he watched her pull the knife out of the sheath.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Don’t touch the kids,” she said.

Ford rolled his eyes. Evey tightened her grip on the knife.

“For fucks sake,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt a kid.”

“You killed my sister,” she said.

“Do you not listen? She was Infected. I have told you that multiple times.”

Lila may have been Infected, but she was not a cannibal in Evey’s mind. To her, she was an innocent little girl that had dreams and aspirations. The soldiers took that away within seconds with a bullet.

“If there was a cure she could have been saved,” Evey said.

“There is no cure for Thyestean,” Ford said.

“Thyestean?”

Ford’s jaw was hard as he gritted his teeth. Evey raised a brow, encouraging him to further explain. Instead, Ford turned around and went up the stairs. Evey slid the knife back into the sheath. She was going to follow him, but Josie ran toward her.

A teddy bear was clutched in her hands. She wrapped her arms around Evey’s legs. She looked up and smiled, showing off her crooked baby teeth.

“Can we have breakfast?” Josie asked.

Evey looked up the stairs. She wanted to chase Ford and ask him more questions. He barely spoke as it was, so she doubted he would answer her questions. She reached down and ran her fingers through Josie’s blonde hair.

“I think all we have is dry cereal,” Evey said.

“No milk?” Josie asked.

“The fridge no longer works. Let me see if it is okay.”

Evey took Josie’s hand and they walked into the kitchen together. Evey’s thought about what Ford said.

Thyestean.

What did it mean?