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  When they returned to the pavers Malcolm went off to talk the others into volunteering and Quinton headed over to the station wagon to check in on Craig.

  The rear door was open and Lorraine was sitting on the tailgate, staring into the back. When Quinton looked inside, he wasn’t surprised to find Craig crashed out on the pile of sleeping bags and pillows, snoring softly.

  “Any problem taking the meds?” he asked as he leaned into the wagon to check Craig’s pulse.

  “He put up a bit of a fuss, saying he didn’t need them but I got them down him about half an hour ago.”

  “Good,” he said, happy with the young man’s strong and steady pulse. “Seems like he’s doing good, considering he’d still be in the ICU if he was at a hospital.”

  Lorraine nodded and then glanced over his shoulder at the group gathered around Malcolm. “What’s that about?”

  “We found a car dealership when we were scouting. We’re going to go there and get fuel.”

  “That’s a good idea,” she said. “Jackson said we were getting low when he topped up the tanks earlier.”

  “We’ll also have a chance to get some newer vehicles, ones with quality shocks and suspension.”

  “I think Craig would kiss you for that.”

  Malcolm approached the station wagon, finished with the others, and Quinton got to his feet. “You get the volunteers you wanted?”

  “Yup.” Malcolm didn’t seem ready to give him more than that, turning his attention towards Lorraine. “Though I could use one more.”

  “Me?” Lorraine asked. “Why me?”

  “You’re a great shot with an eye for distance shooting. I need you watching the perimeter while we’re working.”

  “I’m not that good,” she protested but Malcolm shook his head.

  “You are that good. You took out three of those boys when they rolled up on us at the park.”

  “Yeah but I was the reason everything went south in Marysville,” she said, her voice timid and Quinton could see guilt in her eyes.

  When they had been in Marysville searching for supplies, they had been stopped by a group of locals who had wanted to take Lorraine. Of course, nobody was going to let that happen and the locals had shot Craig. It had been the first in a series of events that had led to Quinton and his sisters joining the group.

  “Lorraine, that’s ridiculous,” Quinton told her. “You’re the reason Craig is alive. I never would have been able to get through that surgery without your help.”

  “But Craig would have never needed the surgery if it wasn’t for me,” she said. “I don’t want anybody else to get hurt.”

  “I know you don’t. You care,” Malcolm said, “And that’s why I need you to come with us. You’ll watch our backs and with your deadeye you’ll make sure nobody else gets hurt.”

  Quinton watched as a small smile of pride tugged at her lips and she stood a little straighter. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  “Thank you,” Malcolm said, reaching out to touch her lightly on the shoulder, “And I know Craig will thank you if we bring him a car with decent shocks to ride in.”

  “Who else volunteered?” Quinton asked.

  “Jackson--”

  “No, I’m not going to have some junkie watching our backs,” Quinton interjected.

  Malcolm crossed his arms over his chest and stared him down. “Good thing it’s not your decision.”

  Quinton glowered at Malcolm. “Look, you want to bring him along with the group, fine, but coming along on this? Come on, you can’t depend on him.”

  “You know the things we’d need to fix a transmission?” Malcolm asked and Quinton shook his head. What the hell did that have to do with anything? “You know what kind of fan belts would fit in our cars? You know anything about carburetors or gaskets?”

  “I don’t see what--”

  “If any of our vehicles break down on the road, do you know how to fix them?”

  “No, but--”

  “Jackson does. He knows exactly what tools and parts we need for repairs on the go. We can’t clean out the entire service centre and bring it all back here for him to sort through so we’re bringing him there.”

  Quinton hated that Malcolm had a point. It wasn’t like they could call a tow truck or pop into the local auto shop now. If they broke down, they’d be dead in the water. The vehicles gave them the advantage of moving through the area fast and efficiently.

  He thought of the other cars that had passed them on the road. As a mobile convoy, they were intimidating. As a group of stragglers walking along, arms filled with all the supplies they could carry, they would look like easy pickings.

  “Alright, fine, who else?”

  “Claudia.”

  It took Quinton a few moments to react, not quite sure that he’d heard the man correctly.

  “What the hell, Evans?” Quinton said, looking back to the others to see Veronica, Jackson and Claudia huddled together by the weapons bag in the back of Jackson’s van. “You can’t seriously be considering letting her come.”

  Malcolm shrugged his shoulders. “She volunteered. She knows how to shoot so there’s no reason she can’t go. We need people to go and there are only so many from the group I can ask. It was going to be one of your sisters.”

  “And your sister and your girlfriend stay behind, of course.”

  Quinton saw the moment that Malcolm realized what he was implying.

  “Don’t.”

  Malcolm was clearly pissed, warning flashing in his eyes but Quinton wasn’t afraid of him. “Tell me, did you even ask the people you care about to help or is it only the rest of us pawns you’re willing to sacrifice?”

  Malcolm stepped up to Quinton, crowding into his space until their noses practically touched.

  “You want to know why Janet and Kim aren’t coming?” His breath was hot on Quinton’s face as he growled. “Same reason your other sister isn’t coming. They’ve got kids.”

  “Those girls aren’t Veronica’s kids.”

  Malcolm took a step back, looking him up and down. “Come on, Doc, you can’t be that stupid. You see it, same as the rest of us. Those little girls became her kids the moment we left Shenandoah.”

  Maybe he did know it. After all, the plans he’d been working out in his head if they were forced to flee involved bringing the girls with them. He knew Veronica would never leave them behind. And that made them hers, didn’t it.

  Still, that didn’t make it okay that his little sister was joining them.

  “But Claudia is just a kid.”

  The angry tension in Malcolm’s eyes morphed into sympathy.

  “I know. Look, I don’t like that I’ve got to ask a kid to do this. If I could do this on my own, I would. I don’t see the rest of you as pawns to be sacrificed to protect my own family.”

  Quinton let out a snide laugh. “Come on, man, if you had to choose between saving Janet or Claudia, you’d pick your sister, no question.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “You honestly expect me to believe that you’d let your own sister die to save mine?”

  Malcolm smiled. “See, this is where you and I differ, Doc. You think those are the only options in this scenario. Me, I’d try to save both, even if it meant I died trying.”

  “You can’t expect--” he started but Malcolm held up a hand to stop him.

  “Look, Doc, I get it. You’re trained to triage. You evaluate all the cases and focus on the worst. You’re taught that you have to choose between A and B. So it’s hard for you to see it from my perspective but I was trained as a Marine. I learned that the unit is the most important thing. I learned that without all the parts of the unit you can’t survive. You let any part fall and you might as well be dead. For me it will never be a choice between anybody because the answer will always be everybody.”

  Quinton couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How, after everything he had seen, could Malcolm still be such a...good guy?

  Damn, did
Malcolm ever make Quinton feel like a piece of shit. He knew his father would have liked Malcolm, despite being a Fed. His father had always been an honourable man. When the looters had come to their neighbourhood his father could have sniped every last one of them before they had heaved their first Molotov cocktail but he had waited, wanting to give them the chance to do the right thing.

  And even after they had lit the other houses on fire, he had only fired a warning shot, still giving them one last chance to run away. He had been a good man, an honourable man...but he had died because of that honour.

  “You’re an honourable man, Evans,” Quinton said, his voice tinged with bitterness. “I’m just not sure honour has much of a place in this world now.”

  “Sure it does. So does love and kindness and morality. We gotta remember that if we want to stay human. You spend enough time fighting to stay alive, survival starts to become the only thing you care about. It’s easy to lose the parts of us that make us something more than just animals when you live like that.”

  He looked at the man, feeling like there was a double meaning to his words. He remembered his conversation with Janet the night before and wondered.

  “Did your sister talk to you?” he asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

  “No, why?” Malcolm replied, looking genuinely confused.

  “Never mind,” he said, waving him off.

  “Look, Doc, you got an issue with Claudia coming, you talk to her about it. You convince her to stay, I’m fine with it, but if she still wants to come, I’m not turning her away.”

  Damn straight he would convince her.

  He stomped over to the trio standing around the minivan, the sight of Veronica and Claudia flanking Jackson causing his anger to spike. He knew it was completely unreasonable but he didn’t care.

  “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

  “Loading a shotgun,” Claudia said mildly.

  “You know what I mean,” he replied. “You aren’t doing this.”

  “You can’t tell me what to do, Quint.”

  He turned to Veronica. “You’re okay with this?”

  “Yes. She’s a better shot than either one of us. Dad always said she was the best out of all of us.”

  He watched his younger sister exchange a grateful smile with his older one. Of course, Veronica had her siblings’ backs when it was something reckless and stupid but when he was actually looking out for the greater good of the group, she was nowhere to be found.

  “I can do this,” Claudia replied, fire and determination in her eyes.

  “No, you can’t do this,” Quinton started but Claudia was already walking away and Veronica stepped between them.

  “Quint, leave it, she needs to do this.”

  “She’s just a kid and after everything she’s gone through…she needs to stay somewhere safe, not go running into the middle of danger.”

  “You really think staying here is any safer than where you are going?” Veronica asked. “Come on, you know better than that.”

  He didn’t want to admit that she was right. It really didn’t matter if she stayed here or went to the dealership. There was no guarantee that the paver’s wouldn’t be set upon by freaks or, worse, other survivors.

  And at least if Claudia was at the dealership, he could keep an eye on her. Better than being separated from both of them.

  Quinton flicked his gaze over to Jackson who was zipping up the weapons bag. He’d also prefer having someone he could trust watching his back if he was going to have to go in there with some junkie.

  “You sure you’re up for this?” he asked, giving the scruffy man a skeptical once over.

  “Pretty sure stealin’ a coupla cars is more up my alley than yours, Doc,” Jackson replied, unblinking as he stared him down. “Ya sure yer up for it?”

  “You want me to see if somebody has a ruler for you boys to settle this?” Veronica said.

  “I ain’t the one with the problem,” Jackson told her and walked away.

  “You keep telling yourself that,” Quinton said to his retreating back and Veronica rolled her eyes.

  “Would you just leave him alone? Please, sister to brother, do me a solid and stop.”

  He looked over at her and realized how stressed she looked and his voice softened. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, I just don’t need you two fighting.”

  She was upset but he couldn’t understand why. What made Jackson so special?

  “Who is he to you anyway?”

  She looked over her shoulder where Jackson had gone. “He helped me when he could have just left me behind. It would have been safer for him to leave me but he didn’t because he wanted to do the right thing.”

  “And you brought him and those girls to this group. You’ve paid your debt to him.”

  “It’s not about owing him. He’s a good man, whatever you think, and I want to be surrounded by good people.”

  He could see that any campaign against Jackson was not going to get a good reception with her so there was no reason to keep picking at it.

  “Fine, whatever. Look, if things go south for you here or us at the dealership, we meet up on the other side of the bridge at Marsh and First.”

  He’d made note of the intersection west of the bridge that would be easy to get to whether in a car or on foot.

  “Is that where Malcolm wants us to rendezvous?” she asked.

  “No, it’s where I want us to rendezvous. Either way, I’m making sure I leave that dealership with a car for us. No more depending on other people to give us a ride. We’ve got to have a plan to get out together if things go to shit. We can’t be worrying about the others.”

  Veronica looked at him, her lips parted in shock. “Do you even hear yourself right now? The others. You know who is included in the others? Women. Children. A woman with child.”

  “They’ve all got someone else looking out for them,” he explained. “Us? We’ve only got each other.”

  “If you really feel like this, then why did you agree to join up with the group in the first place?”

  “Because Malcolm has as solid a plan as any and it has the same likelihood of working out as anything else. But just because I agreed to this doesn’t mean I haven’t considered how it could fail. If that happens we need to cut our losses and go.”

  She looked at him like he was a stranger. “Cut our losses? How can you talk about people like that?”

  “Because it’s what’s going to keep us alive. It doesn’t matter if you’re attracted to them, you can’t become attached.”

  Veronica threw her head back and laughed. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. All of this has been because you want to project your issues onto me. Look, Quint, you want to close yourself off because Janet sparked your interest, that’s fine, but that’s your issue, not mine.”

  He couldn’t believe her. She actually thought that this had something to do with Janet?

  “That’s not what this is about at all,” he protested but she was quick to cut him off.

  “Give your arms a rest on shovelling the bullshit because I ain’t buying it. You tipped your hand, little brother, so why don’t we let it drop for now?”

  He grabbed her hand. “Just promise me that if things go wrong here, you go to that intersection. Me and Claudia will be there, okay?”

  “I will be there but I’m bringing everybody here with me and you better do the same.”

  And that was his older sister. A soft hearted woman who always wanted to help people. He knew that people would call him the noble one, working to become a healer of the sick and dying but he hadn’t been in it for the people. He liked the challenge of becoming a surgeon, learning how to take the human body apart and put it back together.

  Veronica had loved a challenge too but she also loved people. She wanted to help them be their best and it had been easy for her to decide to teach. She wanted to help shape the minds of the future, even if those minds resided in the
bodies of snarky, bratty teenagers. She was the noble one who wanted the best for everyone and would fight to make it happen.

  “Take care of yourself,” he said, pulling her into a hug that she returned without hesitation.

  “You too and keep an eye on Claudia.”

  “I will.”

  Despite his need for a backup plan, he did sincerely hope that they wouldn’t have to use it. He liked this group and he wanted them to stay together as long as they could but he wasn’t willing to sacrifice his family for them.

  Subject File # 742

  Administrator: How do you deal with putting down infected people?

  Subject: I try not to think of them as people.

  Administrator: Is that easy?

  Subject: It is when you are staring into their white eyes and can smell the blood on their breath. You get that close and you see there’s nothing human left inside.

  The walk to the dealership didn’t take long as Malcolm kept them on the opposite side of the ridge where the terrain was flat and more forgiving. They had followed railroad tracks that ran parallel to the highway, winding their way towards the dealership. The group was quiet as they trekked along the rails, each of them focused on the task ahead.

  Malcolm just hoped it went smoother than the last time they’d gone out looking for supplies. Their previous mission to Marysville had been a failure from all angles. They’d failed to get the supplies they’d gone for and ended up losing three of their people in the process.

  Which was the last thing he should be thinking about going into this. He didn’t need to be thinking about the past. He knew where they had made their mistakes. Today everyone wore masks over their faces to protect them from accidental infection. They had plotted out possible escape routes based on their observations at the house.

  With all that in place, he needed to put the past behind him and keep his eyes on today’s prize.