My eyes widen. “You have enough power for awashing machine?” Fuck, I can’t remember the last time I had the luxury of a machine washing my clothes.
Andy nods and grins. “It dries clothes, too.”
“How?”
“I went a bit overboard with the solar panels and the wind turbines at the start of this whole shebang and my batteries only store so much, so I have to use the electricity somehow,” he says with a shrug. “Just stick your clothes in there.” He points toward the white washing machine on the other side of the kitchen.
Oh fuck. Maybe he does have a working freezer. I eye him as I move toward the washing machine. “You’re not a serial killer that’s gonna stuff me into your freezer, are you?” I blurt and then cringe.What the fuck, Ollie?
He barks out a laugh and shakes his head. “Fuck no. That’s a waste of freezer space,” he says, his eyes dancing with mirth. At least he’s not offended by my weird, off-the-wall remarks. Honestly, the guy is growing on me, especially since he’s giving me Hob Nobs.
I load my dirty clothes into the washing machine and close the door. As I move over to the table to grab the biscuits and tea, Andy switches on the machine, pours in some soap, and starts the cycle.
My eyes roll and I stifle a moan as I bite into the first biscuit after dunking it into my tea.Holy fuck, they’re even better than I remember,I think as I devour the biscuit in two bites.
Andy regards me from across the table with amusement. “Glad to see you’re enjoying them,” he says with a chuckle as he finishes his own biscuit before turning serious. “Right, let’s get down to business.”
Oh, that doesn’t sound good.
“I’m going to assume that you came all this way to find your brother, correct?”
I nod. “He said he was coming to trade with you after searching a nearby town, but he never came back. Lauren—his wife—and I are worried something happened to him.”
Andy presses his lips into a grim line. “Well, unfortunately, you and Lauren were right to worry.”
Oh God. His words are like a punch to the gut. Suddenly I’m not hungry and the remaining sweetness of the biscuit turns to ash in my mouth. I swallow around the lump in my throat. “What happened?”
Please don’t let him be dead. Please.
Andy scrubs his face with his hand and sighs heavily. When he meets my eyes, I can see the grief and pain shining in the murky blue depths. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Ollie, but your brother is gone. He’s been taken.”
Suicide Mission
Olivia
“Taken? What do youmean,taken?” My voice is high-pitched and tight.
It’s like the floor has opened up beneath me, dropping me into this new, dark reality. My insides feel like they’re on a roller coaster, roiling and dipping as nausea claws at my throat. It’s getting harder and harder to breathe around the familiar vise of panic tightening around my chest.
Andy drowns the rest of his tea and places the cup onto the table before answering me. “You saw the state of the place out front?”
I swallow hard and nod, my mouth suddenly dry as I remember the bloodstains and bullet holes gouged into the front of the cottage.
“The farm got attacked while your brother was here.”
My eyes widen. “Attacked? By zombies?”Oh God, has Tobias been taken by fuckingzombies?Do zombies even take people?I thought they just attacked until they either bit you, ate you, or both.
Andy huffs and shakes his head. “Not by zombies, by people. A gang.”
“A… gang?” Gangs are still a thing? I would have thought people would have better things to do than create a gang, especially since laws don’t exist anymore. And, you know, it’s thefucking apocalypse! What do they do? Sell drugs and arms to zombies or something?
“Yes, a gang. Probably one of the most notorious gangs in the country; the Scourge.”
I snort. “The Scourge?Really?” I’m trying to figure out if Andy’s pulling my leg or something. He looks sincere, but maybe the guy has a mean poker face or something.
“Yes, really. They attacked yesterday with about ten men. Between me, your brother, my daughter and her partner, we fended them off. Until they brought out infected with them.” A haunted expression flashes on his face. “It was bloody chaos and in the middle of it, Rachel and your brother got separated from us and taken.”
It takes a moment for his words to sink in. I have so many questions. They’re buzzing in my head like angry flies banging against a window, but I latch on to the name of his daughter; Rachel. “They took your daughter, too?”
