Page 124 of His to Burn

The others had wound down. Bridget softlyhummed to herself while sorting out the rest of the salvaged food. Lourdes sat with her back to the door, eyes closed but not asleep. Even Caitlin pulled her knees to her chest and tucked into a corner with a half-empty bottle of hot, fancy water resting on her knee.

Asia shifted beside me, and her thigh brushed mine. I tried to ignore the effect, which was almost impossible.

I stood, needing space. “I’ll take first watch.”

“You sure?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll take the second. Wake me up in three hours,” she said.

I nodded and then walked toward the door, knowing I wouldn’t wake her up. I’d let her sleep as long as she needed.

So I sat in the darkness, listening for danger.

But mostly listening to her breath.

Wondering how I would manage to live without it.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Asia

Six Days on the Road

“Those new socks still holding up?”Jack asked.

I momentarily turned my attention away from the seemingly endless rolling hills in front of me and grinned at him. “Perfect. And I have five pair left.”

He looked surprised. “I figured you would have given the others away.”

“To be honest, I haven’t offered again. I will share all of the stale potato chips and Viennasausages we find. But these socks? They are mine.”

I met Jack’s eyes, refusing to feel bad. He flashed a quick smile and continued walking. His shoulders relaxed a little bit. It was a rare thing to see, and told me he was at ease—if only for a moment.

I appreciated him for the distraction.

The past few days were rough. We still didn’t run into any more people, and only saw a handful of zombies, but the trek itself was hard.

We looked for vehicles but didn’t find anything big enough for all of us, or two working vehicles that would accommodate us. Plus, we stayed off major highways, but even the county roads were so choked with traffic that driving was nearly impossible.

So we were still on foot.

We made it about a hundred miles, if my math was correct, and still had nearly four hundred to go.

It was wearing on everyone.

Except Jack, it seemed.

He carried his overstuffed duffel like it weighed nothing, his pace steady and unbothered.Looking at him, I was almost overcome with the urge to kiss his stubbled jaw.

Instead, I said, “This walk doesn’t seem to be bothering you.”

He shrugged. “You get used to it.”

“When am I gonna get used to it?”

He glanced over at me, smirking. “You’re doing all right, Counselor.”