Page 5

Linda

The whole bridge situation caused a delay, just like Noa predicted.

Instead of being at the base in a couple of hours, we spent that time trying to find a feasible way over the river.

The first bridge we came up to was destroyed, I don’t know how or why.

The second and third had blockades as well.

It’s like every thug on this side of Florida had the same idea – create bottlenecks on the way to every traveler’s destination.

Now Axel is cranky because we’re running out of gas and the last few abandoned cars we passed had already been siphoned. “It’s gonna take us weeks to walk there,” he grouses, his fingers tapping against the steering wheel.

“Don’t worry, Ax, we’d die in a matter of days, not weeks,” Noa replies with a cynical tone. I gape at her dark humor. I’m just not used to people talking like this. It makes me wonder what kind of household they grew up in.

“Do you guys have any other siblings?” I ask.

Noa betrays her surprise at my question by slightly lifting an eyebrow, something I see because she’s always facing me instead of the road. How she’s not feeling nauseous is beyond me.

“Not sure,” she says with a shrug. “We’re half-siblings as it is.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Axel chimes in. “Same mommy, different daddies. And fuck knows where they are and how many other kids they have.”

That’s so sad. I can’t imagine not being able to call your dad when you’re in trouble as a kid .

“But you two grew up together?” I lean forward, bracing my arms on their backrests. I can see Noa’s smirk at my nearness from the corner of my eyes.

“Yeah, thanks to Noa,” Axel says with a warm smile I haven’t seen on his face before. It makes him look more like his mischievous sister. “She made sure we stayed together, taking care of me, even though she’s just a few years older.”

That confirms that theory.

“Yeah. I still can’t leave you on your own,” she sighs wistfully, making him punch her arm playfully.

“What about you, pretty girl? Got any pretty siblings?”

I squirm at Noa’s question, or rather the way she phrased it. Everything she says always comes out so… seductive.

“No,” I murmur. “Just me and my parents. They had me later in life.” Thinking of them hurts my heart. “They’re both retired now and living the good life… or I guess they were.” I lean back and rub the center of my chest where a sharp pain made itself known. I really need that cardiologist.

Noa turns back fully and levels a serious look at me. She’s about to say something rational, isn’t she? “Where are you from? Is it a city? Are there military bases nearby?”

Her line of questioning lifts the heaviness from my shoulders. I straighten and smile at her, hope unfurling its wings.

“Our house is actually really close to Fort Hunter Liggett,” I say. “It’s totally rural and they probably got there super fast!”

“See?” she whispers with a huge grin. “They’re there, waiting to hear from you.”

I laugh with relief. While the safety of my parents was a constant worry at the back of my mind, I didn’t realize how much it influenced my mood until she dispelled it.

On a hormone-fueled impulse, I close the gap between us and kiss her on the lips.

Flushing, I lean back again, pushing my hair out of my face.

“Ugh,” Axel says with a groan. I may have forgotten about him again.

Noa gives him a victorious smirk, then points to a diner just ahead. “Let’s see if any of those cars have any gas left. ”

“Sure thing, boss.” I can almost hear the eye roll and can’t help but laugh. Was it fate that I happened to be standing with this family when the aliens came? Where would I be now if Noa hadn’t stopped me to chat?

We pull into the parking lot next to a few parked cars and pile out. They all have smashed windows. Did they not start? Or were the thieves after something else? I shudder when Axel slams a truck’s door closed and the frame rattles.

“The fuel hatch was closed on this one, so chances are there’s still something there,” Axel says, unwinding the hose in his hands. Noa brings him our gas canister.

“Yeah, or the thieves kindly closed it after,” I mutter, wrapping my arms around myself. An odd wind picks up, tugging on my hair.

Axel chuckles at my joke and I blink in surprise. I guess I really am winning him over. I scoff and earn a questioning look from his sister. I shake my head and laugh inwardly at my stupid pun. Winnie’s winning him over.

As I look around the abandoned parking lot, I can hear the sounds of liquid hitting our empty canister and Noa’s quiet hoot.

It’s so eerie here. All that’s missing is a tumbleweed rolling down the road.

Bored, I peek into other cars around me.

Most are pretty trashed, the doors all open, including the trunk, their supplies already ransacked.

When I get to a black sedan at the end of a row of cars, I don’t have any hopes of finding something useful.

Just as I’m about to leave, something glints at me from the back footwell. What is that?

I crouch down. I hope it’s not a snake or something.

I’d hate to bring my stupid face in for target practice.

I nudge some scattered papers out of the way and grin at what I see.

Speaking of target practice. It’s a small revolver!

The looters must have missed it. I carefully pick it up and push on the barrel.

My breath leaves me in awe when I see it’s fully loaded.

My luck today is all over the place. Bet I’d find a winning lottery ticket and obviously have no way to cash it in.

The distinctive sound of a shotgun being cocked pulls me away from my musings like a splash of icy water.

“Don’t move,” I hear in the distance. “Drop the canister.”

I freeze even though I realize they’re not talking to me. I shuffle to the edge of the car and look around to where Noa and Axel are siphoning gas. A man is standing not far from them, aiming a shotgun at Noa, who has her hands up in the air.

“Where’s the other girl?” the man asks.

“What other girl? It’s just us,” Noa replies, making the stranger growl in frustration.

“Do not lie to me, little girl, I’m not blind!”

“Just relax, man,” Axel says calmly. “You want the gas? Take it. Want me to get a car going for you? No problem. Just stop pointing that gun at my sister.”

The man laughs raggedly. He looks like a vagrant and his voice fits someone who smoked two boxes a day for forty years. “I’ll take your car, boy, and I’ll take your sister. And the other girl, too.”

My gorge rises at the way he says that. I think I’d rather take my chances with the aliens.

“You try to take anything with a pulse, you and me are gonna have a problem,” Axel growls and my palms grow sweaty. How is he planning to stop him?

The man turns his gun on Axel with a chuckle. “Like to see you stop me if you’re dead, boy.”

“No!” Noa screams, taking a step forward. The man swings his weapon back at her.

In an instant, something takes over me. An entity that cares little about what the old Linda thought was right and wrong.

I stand up straight and extend the arm with the gun in it.

Taking the briefest moment to aim, I pick my target area, wait for the man to start moving the shotgun back to Axel, and pull the trigger.