The front room of the office is much the same. A vintage bright-red vinyl sofa looks pink under a thick layer of dust. Old engine parts and car magazines are strewn about haphazardly.
A small back room off the office serves as Ezra’s bedroom. An unmade bed sits in the corner. Spread throughout the room are piles of dirty laundry. The same musty smell permeates everything. I shoot Aiden a worried look, and he looks back with tight lips and arms crossed.
“Doesn’t look like he’s been here for a while.” Aiden looks around the room. “If he left, let’s hope he didn’t take his car.”
“This junkyard was his whole life. I don’t know where he’d go.”
“You’re assuming he left of his own accord. I’ve heard rumors of slave camps around here. Slavers go around, rounding up survivors.”
I glare at Aiden. “You’re not making me feel better.”
“Sorry. I know he’s your friend. Just trying to be prepared for the worst.”
“Let’s keep looking.”
We leave his bedroom to head to the yard. Aiden slowly opens the door from the main office, and we make our way out, glancing back and forth. Neither of us makes a sound. I’ve given up on calling out for Ezra since it’s clear he isn’t around.
We make our way to the metal garage in the middle of the yard. I reach down and pull up the large rolling door.
Sitting near the back of the building is a ’67 Chevy Camaro. It’s painted black with two white stripes down the hood. I have to admit it looks pretty cool.
“Well, he didn’t take the car. There she is.” I gesture toward the Camaro.
Aiden does a catcall whistle. “Nice! Maybe not the best gas mileage, but hell, if the car runs, I ain’t complaining.”
We both walk toward it when it hits us—a smell I’ve gotten all too familiar with in the last year. The unmistakable scent of decaying flesh.
I scan the room, then reel back from a grizzly sight—human remains.Ezra. But the clothes are all tattered, and much of the flesh is gone as if it’s been ripped away. It’s practically a skeleton.
I gasp and put my hand up to my mouth, horrified. Aiden comes over to me and lays a hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Zach.”
I’m numb, but the need for human contact overwhelms me. So I turn to Aiden and hug him. He’s a little taken aback and starts out hesitantly but then wraps his arms around me. I’d only met Ezra a handful of times, but he was the only person I had spoken to in the last year—my lifeline to humanity.
“What happened to him?” I ask.
Aiden sighs. “Honestly, it looks like a wild animal got to him.”
And then I get a definitive answer. Not a wild animal. A starving one. Standing between us and the exit is Daisy. She’s growling loudly, with slobber dripping out between her bared teeth. She’s always been a good-sized German shepherd, but now, she’s emaciated. Her bones poke out beneath her skin. Ezra must have died of a heart attack or something, and poor Daisy was left without any food. From the looks of her it’s been weeks or even months.
We both freeze. Daisy faces me, about ten feet away.
“Day—zee,” I call out in a singsong voice, but she growls more and starts barking.
“Real sweetheart,” Aiden whispers.
Aiden slowly reaches for his rifle, but I whisper forcefully in his ear. “No! It’s not Daisy’s fault. She’s literally starving. There has to be another way.”
“Okay. So what do we do?”
“She’s blocking the door. On three, we need to make a break for the car. Okay?”
“Okay. Do we know if it’s unlocked?”
I sigh. “We’ll know soon enough. You take the driver’s side. Okay, one…two…three.”
We let go of each other and make a mad dash for the car. Daisy immediately pursues, her paws slipping underneath her as she fights for traction on the slick cement floor. Aiden faces toward the car and has a slight head start on me. Daisy detects this and chases after me, the closest target.
Aiden reaches the driver’s side door.And it’s unlocked. He swings the door wide.
