He leans his head back on the seat. “I probably miss Thanksgiving the most.”
“Big turkey fan?” I joke.
“Mashed potatoes.” Zach laughs. “No, just the family. I miss them.”
“Yeah, me too.” I think back to a time that feels like a different life. “My family ditched the turkey and made a big plate of green chili carnitas and tamales.”
Zach gasps. “Oh my god, that sounds so much better than dry turkey!” He shoots me daggers with his eyes. “Now, I’m hungry, dang it. Thanks.”
I laugh. “Sorry. I think maybe we have some canned corned beef hash in the back.”
Zach groans.
We keep going back and forth about all the other things we miss. It’s nice, and it makes the time go by. I enjoy talking with Zach. He’s clever and funny but never in a mean way. For having such a rough life over the last year, he sure has a positive spin on things.
It’s getting late in the afternoon when we approach the outskirts of Helena. The highway we chose goes along the southern edge. The larger the town, the more likely we are to run into Infected, people with guns, or blocked roads. So I always try to stick to the outskirts.
Of the few buildings we see, most have their windows smashed, or they’re burned-out husks. We pass by a gas station that is charred and still smoking. Zach shakes his head. “You know, in Elk Springs, this whole Great Collapse was theoretical for me. But it’s all gone, isn’t it?”
“Most of it, yes. Some groups like the one I came from are trying to rebuild. But we can’t build up too much until we can fight the Infection.”
“That’s what you’re transporting, right? Something that can help fight the Infection?”
Why did I bring that up? As usual, Zach’s intuition is spot-on. But he’s too smart for his own good. Even knowing about it puts him and my mission in greater jeopardy. If he were ever caught, they’d find some way to get it out of him. And what I’m doing is too important.
“Zach, once this is done, I’ll tell you everything. But for now, the less you know, the better off you’ll be.”
Zach doesn’t say anything but stares at the road ahead, slightly sighing.
I’m not ready to tell Zach the true details of my mission. Only a handful of people in the world know there’s a cure for the Infection stored deep within the emergency medical bunker at UW in Seattle. But they need the vials I’m carrying to make that cure viable. Within my little aluminum box is the power to save all of humanity. And also the power to destroy it. It wouldn’t take much to mutate the weaponized pathogen to get around people’s immunity. And then it becomes the ultimate weapon.
The only other person who knows this is the director of our bunker, Sophia Hughes. Except Connor—back from the dead—seems to have figured it out too.
*
ZACH
Aiden is going to have some secrets. And I have to be okay with that. But when you team up with somebody, you are putting part of your life into their hands. And having them keep things from you feels—well—scary.
I’m willing to live with that feeling for now. After all, without Aiden, I’d still be stuck in Elk Springs. In the worst case, the FLA would have captured or even killed me.
Not to mention, I really like Aiden’s company. After being on my own for so long and having my wits and decisions be the only thing keeping me alive, it’s so comforting to have somebody else. I’m safe around him. And safe is something I haven’t felt in a long time.
Aiden’s in the driver’s seat, with a look of concentration. The way his brows knit looks so handsome. He’s so in control, good at whatever he does.
I can’t stop thinking about earlier, his body on mine as I hotwired the car. It was so damn hot I could hardly stand it. Regardless of what’s happening in that brain, his body is clearly into me. I smile.
“What?” Aiden asks, seeing me staring.
“Nothing. I’m glad you want to drive.”
“I love driving. I freak out when someone else does. I’m a total backseat driver.”
I smile. “Glad it worked out.”
We’re making good progress on the road. We fill up with one of the five-gallon gas cans and stop at a few abandoned cars to siphon gas. Most of them are already dry, but we find a Honda Accord in a ditch with some gas left. Aiden even finds the keys for it and starts the car up. He’s been hoping to find us a car with better gas mileage. But the car is too deep in the ditch to get out, so we move on.
We’ve got about an hour before sunset when we roll into Missoula. It’s a bigger city than Helena, and there’s no easy way to get around it without going miles out of our way.
