I wave her off. “It’s fine. Congrats, I guess. Did he know before he left?”
She nods. “I told him after I took the tests.”
Shit, now Ireallyhave to fight the rising tide of panic threatening to crash over me. Not only is our food situation and the potential of Tobias missing weighing on me, but now there’s going to be a fuckingbaby. Nothing better have happened to the bastard because I am not ready to help raise his kid.
And if something has, then it’ll be my job to track his ass down and drag him back.
Future Ollie Problems
Olivia
After a shit night’ssleep, Tobias still hasn’t returned.
Lauren and I are quiet as we go about our morning routine. Both of us know there’s no way he should be gone this long, not with where he was going. Which means something happened to him that’s stopping him from coming home. Neither of us want to voice that knowledge, so I go out to feed and tend to the animals while Lauren sorts out our tiny breakfast.
There’s a pang of grief in my chest, and I wince as I rub my sternum.He’s not dead, just missing, I remind myself.There’s no point grieving him ifhe’s still alive.
Harlow whines and licks my arm to draw my attention to her. I give her a small smile and pet her shoulder. The scent of breakfast wafts over to me, turning my stomach, but I force myself to grab a bowl and eat.
I’m almost done when Lauren finally speaks. “You’re going after him?”
My stomach roils even as I nod. “I’ll ride Bean over to Andy’s first since it’ll be quicker and see if he knows anything.” Hopefully, he does, because I don’t really know where else to look after that.
She reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“What other choice do we have?” Out of the two of us, I’m the one with the skills—even though they’re untested—to survive outside of our little haven. Lauren may have been a fantastic nurse before the dead started walking, but she has no way of defending herself. I, at least, know how to use a bow.
Her brow furrows with concern and she swallows hard. “Okay, but you’ll stay safe, won’t you?”
“I’ll do what I can.” It’s all I can offer her since I can’t promise her that the same thing that happened to Tobias won’t happen to me.
“Good. I hope you find him.”
So do I.
Uncomfortable silence descends once again since neither of us want to bring up the possibility that I’ll be dragging home a corpse. Just that idea alone is enough for me to almost lose my breakfast. I force myself to finish the bowl and wash up before going outside to saddle up Bean.
Ketchup makes an appearance as I’m placing the saddle on the mare’s back, chirping and squawking when I don’t immediately greet her. I rollmy eyes as I finish fitting the saddle and securing the girth before turning to the noisy magpie.
“Yes, hello you noisy drama queen,” I say as I stoke a finger down her chest.
Satisfied with my greeting, she turns away and begins preening her feathers. I smile and shake my head as I finish getting Bean ready for the journey. I shove a first aid kit, a water canteen, and protein bars into the saddlebag, and attach my extra quiver of arrows.
With Bean is ready to go, I grab my Horse Bow, clip my quiver to my left thigh and hip and go to find Lauren.
She’s sitting out in the garden, a pensive look on her face. She glances up as I near her. “You got everything you need?”
“Yeah. I’ve got water and some food just in case. I’m also taking a radio, so keep one close.”
She presses her lips together and nods. “Stay safe out there,” she says quietly after a beat of silence. “But if you can, please bring him home, even if he’s…” She swallows hard.
I swallow hard, my throat thick with emotion. “I’ll try,” I croak. While I want to promise her I will, I’m not sure I can keep it. Especially since I might not come back. “Take care of yourself, Lauren.” I turn and go to grab Bean.
Harlow and Ketchup follow me as I mount up and ride up the field toward the back gate of the property. Since the world fell, Tobias decided that to keep us safe, we needed to keep the cottage hidden. We spent a week digging up hedges and trees and planting them in front of the driveway to hide the cottage from the road. Now the only way on or off the property is through this gate.
Lauren silently watches me with morose eyes as I manoeuvre Bean and Harlow through the large metal gate and close it behind us.
This is the furthest I’ve been since the dead started walking and society ate shit. And I only have a faint idea what waits for me on the other side. Death? No doubt. Horror? Most likely. Pain? Definitely. But hopefully my brother is out there, too.
