“Thanks for looking over me, Dennis. I really do appreciate it.”
Dennis gave Brooke a dazed look.
“It’s fine,” Brooke said. “He just wants to go see his bike. I’ve got him.”
Shaking his head, Dennis went back into the building where Jon had been resting. Jon finally looked around after he did, seeing the settlement of Hope’s Dawn for the first time.
The settlement had been established in a residential area off of a country road. The houses had a little more space between them than a suburban neighborhood outside of an urban city. The homes that remained were in decent shape, but the settlers had built other structures, as well. Several tents were setup in a couple of the yards. And, looking beyond the homes, Jon saw a fence surrounding the entire area.
About a dozen people had made their way outside to watch Jon as he and Brooke made their way to his bike.
“How many people are here?” Jon asked.
“Around forty in total.”
A lot of mouths to feed, Jon thought.
“Here we are,” Brooke said.
They rounded the side of a small metal shed that had been built from scraps. Inside sat Jon’s bike and a man kneeling next to it.
“Get the fuck away from my bike.”
The scrawny guy startled, standing up straight and raising his hands. One had a socket wrench in it.
“Whoa, man,” the guy said. “Chill. I was just taking a look at it for you.”
“It’s okay,” Brooke said to Jon. “Mouse here is a good mechanic.” She looked at Mouse. “It’s cool. He just woke up from a long sleep.”
The walk from the building over to the makeshift garage had loosened Jon’s legs and, even though his body still ached and likely would for days, he was already feeling better.
Sitting on a table near his bike were Jon’s things. His jacket lay over a chair, and his weapons sat on top of a table next to several of Mouse’s tools.
“You tried starting it?” Jon asked.
“Oh yeah,” Mouse said. “It started just fine. Most of the damage seems to be cosmetic. From what I heard about your accident, I’m surprised.”
Jon went to the table and grabbed his things. He put them onto his bike and then put his jacket on.
“You got the keys?” Jon asked Mouse.
Mouse reached into his pocket and tossed them over.
Jon started the bike, revving it up. Even though it had been less than a day, it seemed like it had been an eternity since he’d ridden. After that accident, he felt thankful he’d ever get to ride again.
Letting the engine idle, Jon glanced at Brooke. “I appreciate what you did for me.”
“You’re leaving?”
Jon nodded.
“You can’t,” Brooke said. “You need to rest more. And I was really hoping you would—”
“I don’t belong here. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but it’s time for me to leave.”
Brooke bit her lip. She stared at the ground and shook her head.
Jon walked the bike out of the shed. More people had come outside, and they gawked at him. One of them was Terrence, the man he’d saved from the guys in the woods. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and he had purple bruises on his face and arms.
“You said before that you felt like you owed me,” Jon said to Brooke. He revved the bike again. “Consider us even.”
“Do you even know how to get home?”
“I’ll find my way.”
Brooke looked up at him for a moment before turning around and marching away. Jon watched her, wondering if he should say something more.
Just go, Jon.
He took a brief look around at the people staring at him before giving the bike some gas and racing out of the settlement, right through the open gate.
10
Jon cruised down the road more cautiously than he ever had. Until the previous day, he’d never had an accident on the bike. Maybe it had been good fortune, but Jon wasn’t usually one to believe in luck. Luck was bullshit.
But even if he was going at a slower speed and remaining more aware of his surroundings, Jon was back on the cruiser. And that in itself might have been a miracle. Jon couldn’t help but believe that luck had been on his side, as much as he hated to admit it. A wreck like the one he’d had should have broken bones and damaged his bike, maybe even totaled it. But neither of those things had happened. Still, he shouldn’t be riding now. He should already have been zombie food. But Brooke and others from her camp had just so happened to be out there. Had that been luck, or even fate? Also bullshit.
Jon gritted his teeth and shook off the thoughts. He fed the bike some gas and sped down the road faster, gaining his confidence back or finding a way to ignore his ill feelings. Riding faster did little for either.
The faces of the people at Hope’s Dawn crept into his mind. Seeing that many other people in one place had been strange, and reminded Jon of how much the world had turned to shit. The people had looked desperate. They’d stared at Jon like he was a ghost, but also some kind of savior.
Most of all, he saw Brooke. He didn’t know her at all, but he knew Brooke was a fighter. That much was obvious. She wasn’t going to give up easily, and Jon doubted he’d seen the last of her.
Jon slowed and turned onto the dirt path leading to his cabin a quarter of a mile away. When he throttled to accelerate, though, the bike didn’t respond. He felt the motorcycle die underneath him as if its injuries from the accident were finally catching up to it.
“Fuck. Come on.”
But the bike came to a halt, the engine shutting off.
Engaging the kickstand, Jon hopped off the bike. He
