Page 15

She nods. He’s not angry with her, but she’s angry enough with herself for the both of them. “Right.”

This is her first real weapon, pulled from a mother who couldn’t protect her family and given to her so she can protect hers.

The kitchen knife before didn’t count. She had to snatch it off Jason after he died, and the dull blade made it difficult to get a clean stab.

A shiver runs through her spine as she remembers how it got stuck twice in his skull and she had to shove the trash can between them while struggling to rip it free.

Her pulse skyrockets, pumping anxiety through her veins as the memory blanks her gaze and traps her all over again.

Cole’s tap on her arm snaps her out of it, his worried voice reminding her she’s miles from that subway station. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She’s not, but complaining is useless and there’s nothing to be done about ghosts.

“Not much else back here unless you want that leftover cake.”

Her nose wrinkles at the rotten evidence of an employee party. “I’ll pass. Let’s load this stuff up and check out the next store.”

The window glass is broken at the drugstore, and the shelves mostly empty but not everything is gone. After Cole puts down two stragglers, she begins browsing what’s left.

Instantly, she zeros in on a pack of condoms. The ceiling may as well have cracked to let in a single sunray highlighting the box for how quickly she fixates on it.

Her attention flits back to Cole, who’s none the wiser, three aisles over.

Quickly, Olivia rips open the package and takes one, shoving it in her bag before she can talk herself out of it.

Doesn’t have any illusions that he’ll wake up one morning and decide she’s desirable enough to sleep with.

No harm in taking one, though, even if she doesn’t think she wants that again from anyone.

Better to be prepared.

He’ll never know.

She veers away before having second thoughts and turns back to grab a small bottle of lube and rip open the magnum-size box next to the regulars, pilfering one of those, too.

Cole’s got thick fingers and wide shoulders.

It stands to reason that other areas might also be well endowed.

Not that she’s been thinking about that.

Olivia shakes her head. The idea of a magnum-sized dick coming anywhere near her at the moment isn’t something she’s eager about, but the stirrings of attraction she’s been trying to deny are already brewing.

As time goes on, she may feel differently.

So, she has multiple condoms in her bag, in case the stars align in the distant future when she’s not such a damn mess.

“Sixty percent alcohol in that.” He points to Listerine on the shelf when she joins him again. “If we run outta other stuff, it’ll clean a wound. I found a small camping grill, too. Some matches. Once we find somewhere to hunt, I can get us real food.”

“You’re good at this. Knowing how to keep going and make it all work.”

He shrugs. “Not much different from how I lived before, just without all the dead people back then. It’ll be easier to hunt with a bow. We won’t waste bullets.”

“Then we need to find a hunting store?”

“Mhmm. Or a hunter’s cabin. Then we can take someone else’s stash. I think we’re still a while from good hunting grounds, though.”

“It’s okay. We’ll get there when we get there.”

He pauses, a crease forming on his forehead. “Do you hear that?”

She doesn’t hear anything and shakes her head.

“It’s coming from behind the building. Stay here.”

“What? No. No way. We stick together.”

For a moment, she expects him to argue. It’s safer in here with all the rotters managed. They have no clue what’s emitting the mysterious noise out back, but one thing she will never be on board for is splitting up. She’s seen that movie and it never ends well.

He only huffs and leads them outside and around the back, the high-pitched crying finally reaching her ears.

It sounds like another baby, she thinks, hoping like hell it’s not.

The last thing they need is a second child to try to keep alive when the first one is already a full-time job.

It’s only a mild relief when they’re greeted with the source of the commotion.

A small cat in a pink harness, tethered to its owner by a leash, hops in place across a pond.

“Nope.” Cole shakes his head. “No. No way.”

“I didn’t even say anything yet.”

“Well…we can’t.”

She sends him a side eye, noticing the worry in his face, how he’s begun to pace a few steps back and forth at the edge of the water.

“Fuck,” he growls. “We can’t just leave it like this. Have to cut it loose at least.”

“It’s pretty close. I don’t think the water is deep—”

“I can’t.” He cuts in, his tone hard with a panicked edge to it. “I um… I got a thing.”

“A thing?”

“About water.”

She frowns, taking a moment to connect the dots before they fall into place. “Oh, okay, I’ll do it. Hold the baby.”

The cat’s cries have grown more frantic during this conversation.

Now that salvation is within reach, its attempts to escape its harness become increasingly desperate.

There’s not a chance she could simply leave it there.

Poor thing already looks thin and starving to death isn’t a good way to go.

If they left, this would weigh on her. She already carries enough guilt for a lifetime.

Cole, on the other hand, is not supportive of her crossing the pond to save the animal, despite seeming to agree on the rescue mission. “You can’t go in there. We dunno how deep it is. There’s a current. That rotter she’s hooked to is still moving.”

“Cole.” She turns to face him, shoving Lucy into his arms. “We are not leaving this cat to die. The water is barely knee-deep. I can see the bottom. The rotter isn’t going anywhere, a whole tree is holding her down.

It’s perfectly safe for me to wade a few feet across and cut the leash.

You’re right here. If something does happen, you can help. Right?”

He’s silent for a moment before nodding, though he doesn’t appear any less stressed about this plan. She isn’t sure if he’s more worried about the rotter or the water, but as she begins to step into the pond, the agitated way he sharply inhales as if she’ll get sucked under answers that question.

“I’m fine,” she calls out, halfway over, turning her attention to the cat. “Hey there, we heard you all the way inside the building.”

It’s a gray tabby with a white chest and little white socks on all three legs.

The right front leg is missing. A half-healed wound remains, suggesting a close encounter with the owner’s teeth before the cat learned to stay out of harm’s way.

She wonders if they got caught in one of the recent storms and that’s how the tree landed on the woman who still tries to eat the cat at the end of her six foot leash.

Staying clear of reaching hands, Olivia cuts the leash. She wishes she was brave enough, skilled enough, to put the rotter down, too, but she still has limits, and getting closer is one of them.

She expects the cat might run off once it’s free, but she soon has an armful of fluff instead. It climbs up her leg and into her arms, the purring engine at full blast. Olivia laughs, reflexively hugging the animal closer as she carries it back across the water .

“I know we can’t keep it,” she says sadly. “But let’s try to find her a safer place to let loose, okay?”

To her surprise, Cole doesn’t argue. He nods, giving her a once-over. “You’re okay?”

‘After getting in the water’ is left unsaid, and she wonders what happened to him to instill such a deep fear. He has been bold and unbothered by the horrors of this world since she met him, but a pond is his weakness.

“I’m good.” She offers him a gentle smile, running a free hand briefly down his arm in a comforting gesture before returning it to the cat in her grip. “Let’s find a place to stay the night.”

After getting back on the road again, it’s not long before another downed tree and several wrecked cars have them miles off course. They find a temporary refuge in a one-story house with a white fence, secluded and deserted. It’s easy enough to break in and make themselves at home.

There are three bedrooms, but they gravitate toward the same one without a word. Sleeping apart isn’t safe, and she doesn’t want a wall between her and Cole should something happen.

The bed is big enough to share, and she’s not against it.

Knows he’d stay on his side and respect her space, but suggesting it is difficult and in the end, she can’t find the words.

She hands him a couple of pillows instead when he spreads out a blanket on the floor and hates that she can’t even be brave enough to offer him a soft bed when he’s done so much for them already.

“Should we sleep in shifts?” she asks.

“No, it’s alright. The doors are locked. Got a chair blocking this one. If anyone tries coming in, we’ll hear it. ”

Lucy is nestled into a portable mini bassinet they found earlier, attempting to chew on a fist that her kitten onesie protects.

The actual kitten has made herself at home on Cole’s chest and Olivia smiles down at the image, watching the production of one-pawed air biscuits. “Are you a cat person?”

“I never gave it much thought.” He strokes the animal’s fur with a slow hand and fingers the air tag embedded into a pink collar after removing the tile tracker that hung low enough to catch on something.

“Never had pets growing up. Thought I might get a dog someday but it’s a lot of responsibility to care for something like that.

Didn’t trust myself with it. Someone loved this one enough to put two tracking devices on her before they knew those would be useless now.

She deserves a chance, and she has better odds with us than out there alone. ”

“What does her name tag say? I haven’t checked it yet.”

He flips the muddy metal tag around and wipes it clean with his thumb. “Flower.”

She smiles up at the ceiling. Flower got lucky today.

The fact that Cole worried he wouldn’t get pet ownership right proves he’s exactly the type to have taken wonderful care of one, but she doesn’t push, choosing to shift topics rather than risk making him uncomfortable. “It’s starting to get dark earlier.”

“Mhmm. The higher we go in elevation, the faster it freezes, too. Have to be ready for that.”

Winter presents its own set of problems and she hopes like hell they’ll have reached the farm by then. She doesn’t want to imagine freezing out here with a baby, moving from place to place.

As they settle into their respective beds, she grows restless. It’s still early, but she’s always willing to take advantage of a quiet moment for a nap, except now there are a dozen different winter scenarios playing in her head.

“Tell me more about this farm?” she asks. “What was it like?”

“Had apple trees you could pick from in the fall. Animals to pet. Sheep and some cows. Couple horses they’d hook up to a sled in the winter. Right in the Blue Ridge mountains, views for miles.”

“Sounds beautiful.”

“I used to wish I could live there. Used to think maybe one day I’d have something like that of my own, but that was never gonna happen.”

“It could now.”

“Only because the owners are probably dead and there’s no one around to keep us out. Didn’t earn it.”

“You’ve survived. That’s the price we pay for what we want, right? Someone pretty smart told me that once.”

“Maybe they were onto something.”

“I think so.”

“It’ll be nice for Lucy out there,” he continues. “Safe as anywhere can be now.”

“I can’t wait to see it.”

She’s half worried someone else might have gotten there first. Or that the owners are ready and waiting with their shotguns, but no sense in dwelling on it tonight.

It’s the best plan they have and they’ll find out soon enough if their destination will welcome them with open arms or shove them out the door.