“This is the first bird we’ve seen since the bug! This could mean the flu burned itself out. Since we’re immune, there might be birds that were immune, too. The bug might be totally done.”
“That’s all fantastic, but you’re not an epidemiologist.”
“Oh, right.” He dunks his body into the water up to his neck. “Still pretty cool, right?”
I grunt in the affirmative.
“So anyway, inStand by Me, that scene with the swamp in the woods.”
I move to him. My chest tightens with nervous excitement even as I reach out for his shoulder and pull him close to me. I lock eyes with him and say, “I had a dream about this place.”
“All right, I’ll stop! No Winkie’s Diner scenes.” He splashes me gently and his hand grazes my chest.
I smile but I don’t let go of him or move away. My heart’s flutteringand my stomach turns with anticipation. It’s the closeness here. Everything hidden by water but still there. It’s hard to breathe and I’m still staring into his eyes.
I watch as he swallows and tries to joke. His voice seems tentative. Like he isn’t sure if he should be joking or not. That’s new, especially for Andrew. It’s like he feels as nervous as I do. He says, “I swear even if they have electricity and DVD players in Florida, I am never watching that movie.”
I chuckle. The bird he was talking about has gone silent. The trees blow in a sudden light breeze, then something in the tall grass behind us shifts and I spin around.
There are two men walking toward us—two men I recognize.
If you asked me who were the two people I wanted to see least out of the surviving population of the world, it would be Harvey Rosewood and his friend Walt. Harvey has the rifle I dropped before I threw off my clothes.
It’s not loaded, but the pistols in their hands are scary enough. We’re way past their zone of influence, so Cara must have ratted us out. It’s the only explanation.
“Andrew.” My voice is low and full of caution, but he doesn’t catch it.
“Stop. I didn’t talk about leeches, so you can skip the creepy burnt homeless man behind the diner.”
“Andrew,” I say more sharply, and he finally realizes something’s wrong.
“What’s this here?” Harvey asks. Andrew spins, his eyes wide with horror.
“Where’s your gun?” I keep my voice low enough that they shouldn’t be able to hear me, but if Andrew takes too long to answer, they might hear his reply.
“Pack.”
It’s all he says, and I look down to see Walt carrying Andrew’s pack. It’s still zipped up. I got the handgun registered in Fort Caroline, so it’s the only weapon that has bullets. Henri’s multi-tool has a knife on it, but that’s tucked in my pants somewhere in the high grass.
“Did we interrupt something, boys?” Harvey asks. There’s a tone to his voice that sends a chill down my spine. I turn to Andrew and he looks pale.
“No,” I say, trying to remain calm. They haven’t raised their weapons at us. There’s no reason to panic yet.
“One of you dropped this, seems,” Walt says, holding up the bag. My heart’s racing and the river water is very cold, or maybe that’s just my blood.
“That’s mine,” I say. “Thanks, you can leave it on the bank.”
“I disagree, actually.” Harvey Rosewood smirks and the two of them share a look, but he doesn’t drop the pack. “But I think the most offensive thing is that you stole from us and then just decided to be this careless about our property?”
“It’s not your property,” I say. “It’s ours—and was before we met you.”
They share another look.
They’ve stopped moving at the edge of the water. I’ve kept to the water for my own modesty, but an idea comes to me.
I stand up, stark naked, and walk toward them. It has the intendedeffect, as for a moment they’re shocked at the nudity and look away. I approach Walt and hold out my hand.
“Mind if I put something on?”
