“Don’t talk to me about what’s not fair. Both of your parents are still breathing.”
“Exactly!” she cried out. “So come with us—let’s leave this awful place behind!”
I stared at her in the near darkness. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed varsity cheerleader with a cheery disposition, Mackenzie had checked all the right boxes for me. She’d been the cheer to my game and the easygoing smile that had always countered my ever-present scowl. Only now, ever since the world had gone insane, I’d come to realize that all she’d ever really been to me was a means to an end, a helping hand in getting me out of this do-nothing town. In reality, the feelings I had for her had never been more than tepid, at best.
“Luke won’t leave Willow,” I ground out. “Fuck, Luke won’t even leave his bed.”
“And you won’t leave Luke,” she finished in a harsh whisper.
I stared at her, disgusted. “Yeah. He’s my little brother, remember?”
Chuffing, she shook her head angrily. “Then I guess that’s it.”
“Guess so,” I bit out.
Her eyes flashed in the candlelight. “We’ve been together since sophomore year and now I’m leaving and that’s all you have to say?”
“What the fuck do you want from me?” I demanded. “Jesus Christ, if you’re looking for someone to beg you to stay, look somewhere else. This is bigger than you!”
Mackenzie blinked hard, her tears spilling over just as she spun away with enough force that her candle went out. Leaning back against the wall, I was staring blankly at the empty space Mackenzie had vacated when a coughing fit erupted throughout the hallway.
Moving quickly down the hall, I entered a dimly lit room on the right. A low fire crackled in the fireplace, casting shadows over the figures on the bed.
“Logan,” Willow breathed. “Can you hold her still—make sure she doesn’t fall? I need to get her some water.”
“Go,” I told her, taking a seat on the bed as Willow rushed from the room. Her mother offered me a weak smile; shriveled and emaciated, with dark circles ringing her eyes, she looked nothing like the vibrant, bright-eyed woman she’d once been.
“Logan,” she whispered. “Logan, once I’m gone… I want you to take Willow and Luke and… and get out of here. You can’t stay… here. You need to… go south… where it’s warm. Find… food.”
She began to cough again, deep, rattling spasms that shook the entire bed. As blood sprayed from her mouth, I grabbed a nearby towel, already stained with her blood, and wiped at her chin.
“And keep Willow… safe,” she wheezed once she could speak. “She’s a smart girl… but she’s stubborn. Too… stubborn for her own good. Promise me… you’ll keep my… baby… safe.”
My throat tight, I gripped her hand between both of mine. “I promise,” I whispered hoarsely. “I’ll keep her safe—you don’t need to worry.”
“You’re a good… boy,” she rasped. “You’re not…like… ” she trailed off as she began to cough again. And this time she didn’t stop.
A few hours later, she fell into unconsciousness.
By the end of the week, she was dead.
“Come on, Willow,” I quietly gritted out. “Where’s the girl who never backs down from a fight—who’s always up in everybody’s face?”
A flood of memories flashed, the thousands of reckless things she’d done throughout the years. Stupid things, selfish things, but also brave things, too. Yeah, she was definitely brave. And stubborn. And overwhelming. And…so…goddamn all-consuming.
“I knew a woman like that.”
The short-haired woman from earlier, the one who’d claimed this camp as hers, was standing in the doorway, holding my bag and tool belt in her hands.
“She was always primed for a fight.” Entering the room, the woman placed my things by the door. “And never afraid to speak her mind, and sometimes she was brave to the point of stupid.” She paused at the edge of Willow’s bed.“The infection took her,” the woman continued wistfully. “I’ll never get over it. A spirit like hers deserved so much better than to die in a bed.”
I snorted softly. “Willow says that shit all the time—how she wants to go out in a blaze of glory.”
The woman smiled. “Your Willow certainly does seem to have a lot in common with my Evelyn… and if Willow is anything like she was then I know she’ll fight this with everything she has.”
My Willow. Shaking my head, I said, “She’s not mine—we’re not together.” I fumbled to get the right words out. “My brother and her—they were together.”
The woman’s gaze shot to mine, the faraway look in her eyes fading fast. “I see. I guess I just assumed you two were together—you seemed like a man desperate to save the woman you love.”
