“It wasn’t—”
He shakes his head, holding up a hand to stop the lie. “It’s okay, I get it. Things are tough and you’re looking out for your people. And most of your people can’t look out for themselves anyway. I’m saying thank you for real. What you did shows great leadership.
“I want to take a few more people into the mall tomorrow and do a full sweep,” Cal continues. “Every square inch, for as long as it takes. I’m sure it’s been mostly picked over by now, but you guys got lucky, so maybe we’ll get lucky again.”
“Okay.”
“Ask your people if any of them want to join. We’ll split everything we find based on our people. Sound good?”
That means they get more than we do, but they also have more storage space in the trucks and RVs. Also, they have more people to help search.
“Sounds good.”
He holds out his hand and we shake on it.
Andrew
THE NEXT DAY AROUND LUNCHTIME, THE NOMADSand Jamie and the others came out and said they hadn’t found anything except for some leftover food. Then they went right back in to keep searching.
Waiting in this parking lot is driving me crazy. Fort Caroline or the Keys—or both—could be getting closer every day, and we still aren’t moving toward our own goal of getting Amy and Henri-Two to Bethesda.
Or toward figuring out what Jamie and I are going to do. We could go back to the cabin, yes, but what about everyone else? We’d be leaving behind people we’ve grown to care about.
I’m starting to worry about Jamie. He’s gotten so guarded and anxious.
He was shot by the same people who are actively hunting us now, so I get where that fear and paranoia come from. But it isn’t like him. At least not like the Jamie I fell in love with. These people are helping us, so why wouldn’t he want to share antibiotics with them? We know they’re trustworthy—they didn’t turn us in to Hickey and the others.And they soughtusout and decided to help us.
“Would you mind helping me distract her?” Daphne has Henri-Two in her arms while Amy is trying to take a nap. Henri-Two has been teething and it’s keeping her up most of the night—and therefore also keeping Amy up. I’ve been up, too, but that has more to do with the pain in my arm than Henri-Two.
Taylor, who has been sitting quietly next to me with the Kid, gets up and grabs a blanket, laying it out beside me. I motion for Daphne to put Henri-Two down. The muscles in my shoulder aren’t as sore as they were a few days ago, but there’s no way I can pick up Henri-Two and hold her for long. If she tries to crawl away from me, I can snatch her back or call Daphne over for help.
Daphne sets her down on the blanket and goes to get teething toys. I try my best to distract Henri-Two with my good arm, hiding a wince as the muscles in my bad one radiate pain. I lie on my back, and she begins playfully batting at my face.
“Yeah, girl,” I say. “I know we need to get back on the road, but how can we when I’m like this and you’re up all night yelling at your mom that your teeth hurt?”
She makes a series of squeals in return.
“Great point.”
“She’s good at those.” Daphne sits down with some toys and a handheld fan and starts fanning herself.
“You okay?”
“Just sore from sleeping on asphalt,” she says. “And tired from the same.”
“Ditto.”
“Excuse me?”
I look up to see a thin girl with dark brown skin who looks to be about Cara’s age—a couple of years older than Jamie and me. Next to her is a younger Black boy who looks like he’s around the same age as Taylor. And also like he doesnotwant to be here.
“Hey,” I say.
“I’m Niki,” she says. “This is my brother, Jamar.” Jamar scolds Niki under his breath and she turns to glare at him. I should have seen the resemblance immediately. Niki’s hair is shorter than Jamar’s—Niki’s cut as short as possible with scissors, while Jamar’s looks like a grown-out fade he’s stopped upkeep on—but they have the same nose, and Jamar’s ears stick out slightly more than Niki’s, hinting that she grew into hers like he’ll one day grow into his.
Niki continues. “There aren’t many kids in our group around Jamar’s age...” She turns her attention to Taylor. “I was hoping the two of you could maybe hang out? If you want?”
Taylor looks at us, almost as if she’s about to ask permission, but then realizes she doesn’t need to and nods. “Sure.” The Kid looks up at her as she stands.
