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Thirty-Two

luke

“My legs still work.” Tim draped one arm around Varesh and the other across my shoulders. “It’s not like I’m dying, you know.”

“Please don’t joke.” Tension lines bracketed Varesh’s mouth, and he appeared about two seconds from losing it.

“Sorry, love. Humour’s my coping mechanism.”

“Oh, believe me…” Varesh forced a smile. “I know.”

With my weapon in my free hand, we half carried him through the reception area.

Ava held the main door open for us, examining Varesh first, then Tim. Something clicked behind her eyes, and she stood back, gesturing with a grand sweep of her axe for them to pass through.

“It’s nice to see you getting your steps in,” she said to Tim.

“Cheeky. Want to go for an espresso martini?”

“This early?” She smiled. “Maybe a latte—but only if you’re paying.”

He gave her a grateful smile. “Of course.”

“In that case, I’ll have a doughnut, too.”

His burst of laughter triggered a longer bout of coughing, and we had to stop until it passed.

Varesh rubbed his back, and Ava’s eyes met mine. She looked like she wanted to close them and wish this all away.

When Tim was ready again, we shuffled sideways through the door and staggered down the gravel drive.

Ava hurried ahead, stepping through the double gates. She stayed up front as we followed her out onto the street, her eyes never on one spot for more than a few seconds.

The road had changed again in the short time since our scouting mission.

Thirty metres in the other direction, an infected man with a badly broken arm wove between two parked cars.

On the opposite side of the road, an infected woman in activewear had tried walking through the mud and got stuck, her arms flailing as she fought to free herself. Her leggings were completely ripped on one side, leaving it hard to tell where the material stopped and her ravaged skin began.

Through the car pileup, the family who’d climbed the fence yesterday stood outside the warehouse watching us leave, the mother with the baby on her hip and the father close by. They all looked the same as yesterday. Tired and human, like the rest of us.

“They made it,” I said to no one in particular.

“Good news to start the day,” Varesh said.

When the father caught sight of Tim, he ushered his family back inside.

“Keep going,” I said to Tim, my chest heavy. “We’ll be there in no time.”

“Liar.” He grunted, lifting his foot to clear a discarded boot.

We shuffled past the car where the woman had been waiting to find out her fate, and Ava didn’t look inside. I shifted my arm higher around Tim and made sure my eyes stayed straight ahead, too.

Varesh stepped over a pothole and lifted Tim, helping him avoid the dip in the road.

Tim stumbled, and I had to reposition my arm.

“Sorry,” he said.