“Sorry about the pharmacy. Hard to trust people.” The burly man lowered his head, his apology appearing sincere.
“That’s what you all do? Go around trapping people? We would’ve starved in there,” Nick said through gritted teeth. He knew he should let it go. The men had lowered their weapons. They were no longer a threat. Yet, what they did, what could have become of him and Kate, still burned a ring of anger in his chest.
“If you don’t have the upper hand these days, you don’t have anything at all,” one of the men said. “You might’ve done the same.”
The man was not wrong. Nick had thought his time making questionable decisions to protect the people he cared about had ceased with the war. In fact, it had only just begun.
“Listen, man. Sorry for what happened. We just gotta protect our people and keep the city in check. Tumbleweed, you should stop by and see Ryan and Grace. They’d love to see you.” The burly man smiled, his shotgun resting against the gut jutting over the top of his pants.
“I’ll do that. Thank you. Stay safe,” Kate replied. The man tipped his head in her direction, offered a nod of respect to Nick, and the men turned around to continue their trek home.
Nick settled his hand on his gun, just in case the men changed their minds. Kate breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, thinking back to Ryan and Grace’s hospitality. Her time spent with them seemed as though it was years ago. Time in this new worldtraveled with simultaneous swiftness and stagnation. It marched on nonetheless.
Chapter 5
Nick and Kate entered the hospital’s basement to find the research rooms empty. Nick wanted to ask the doctor questions about the cure, yet it appeared he would have to save them for another time. Perhaps he was on the upper levels with his son, Adam.
Nick and Kate packed up their belongings. Kate secured several vials of the cure and needles to accompany them. Nick stocked up on ammo for his rifle, loading the green-tipped rounds into magazines.
He slipped the magazines into the webbing of a ballistics vest strapped to his chest. The armor he wore was not the most protective, but it would absorb a rifle round with ease. How the occupants of the hospital acquired the vast amount of tactical gear was beyond Nick.
The need for an arsenal of bullets took him back overseas when his environment was constantly under siege. Every step taken on foreign soil had to be calculated. With every action, he braced himself for consequences in the harshest form.
When Nick came home from the war, he imagined the loss of fear would be a comfort. He could relax in his home, enjoy the company of his friends and family, and cease worrying at every turn. Yet, a vast emptiness accompanied it.
The fall of society and the need to protect a woman he had never met before were not his idea of finding purpose in the world. Nick slung the rifle around his back and decided there was no other option than accepting his fate. Clearly, his destiny was not to find a happy middle ground. It was either crushing depression or outright war. If war meant having Kate by his side, he would ready himself for battle.
Kate packed both of their bags with snacks for the road, a few bottles of water, and a box of medical supplies she restocked from the hospital’s wares. She set the stuffed bat atop everything, offering it a doting smile before zipping it up. The machete, which had now become her weapon of choice, hung from the straps of the pack.
The pair headed out into the world. They moved in the direction of the apartment complex, finding things much as they were upon arrival: a landscape frozen in its last moments of breath, covered in gore and empty of life.
As they passed the gas station, Kate clutched Nick’s hand in hers, recalling the emptiness and the panic she felt without him there. The measures she had taken to survive on her own were wrecked when Nick crashed into her life. Not all at once. It took time and patience. No matter how closed off Kate was, Nick was persistent and kind without becoming discouraged. And when Kate thought he was gone, she was lost.
The complex looked strange in a different light of day. The pair’s steps were calm. The threat of danger was low. Though Nick was uneasy about the unfamiliar place, Kate exuded peace.
Kate knocked on the door to unit 213 and the two waited, listening to muffled sounds of movement within the apartment.Though Kate was at ease, Nick’s hands hovered over the rifle. Where Kate was trusting, Nick was prepared for humanity at its worst.
The door cracked open, and a cautious Ryan peered through the gap.
“Oh, shit! It’s Tumbleweed!” Ryan grinned and opened the door. When Nick came into view, Ryan paused to look him over. Nick realized he probably was not presenting an effective impression of safety: hands near his gun, hovering over Kate in a domineering manner, and eyes narrowed. “This your man?”
“Yes, you can trust him,” Kate said.
Grace rushed past Ryan and embraced Kate in a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay! I’ve been so worried about you. I told Ryan we should have visited with you at the hospital, but the people there…”
“No worries. I was fine.” Kate closed her eyes as she held Grace, her kindness like a beacon of sunshine flooding into her heart.
Grace pulled back and examined Nick. “Is this—is he… you talked about losing someone. I thought he was dead.”
“I thought so, too. Grace, Ryan, this is Nick. We got separated at the hospital. When you all took me there for my arm, I… found him again.”
Grace and Ryan studied Kate’s face as if waiting for more to the story. When Kate offered nothing else, they smiled and gestured for them to come in.
“We can’t stay long,” Nick said.
“We’re heading north to Fort Vanguard. You all can join us if you want,” Kate added.
Grace and Ryan exchanged an expression of uncertainty.
