Leo grinned back. If Dal was alive, he’d be with Lena. The news station was right next to the downtown plaza where Lena had gone for the anti-nuke rally.
Somehow, Dal had made it from the junior college campus to the radio station. Lena was safe with him. Leo felt the truth of this in his bones. Dal was with Lena, and his best friend would protect his little sister with his life.
That didn’t answer the question of where their father was. Thinking of Mr. Cecchino left Leo with a dry mouth.
“Dal said all of West County is under attack,” Anton said. “Not good. And it sounds like Rossi is overrun, just like Bastopol.”
“They’re okay,” Leo said. “They’ll be back soon.” He had to believe that. Otherwise he’d lose his fucking mind.
With Dal’s message playing on repeat on the radio, he returned outside and hefted up a box of cooking supplies. Nonna had planned on cooking for eight full-grown men from San Francisco for two-and-a-half days, which meant this was the first of many food boxes.
“Over here, Leonardo.” Nonna gestured to the kitchen table. “Let me see what I have to work with. I’ll have to change the menu to stretch our supplies.”
Leo set down the box and unpacked it for his grandmother. He made several more trips to the truck and brought up the remaining food boxes. By the time he was finished, the kitchen table and most of the narrow countertop was filled with food.
There were canned tomatoes and other canned vegetables. Cartons of eggs and several containers of flour. Jars and jars of homemade chicken stock. Two jars of bacon grease. Several loaves of fresh-baked bread. Bags of dried beans. Fresh slabs of bacon from a pig Mr. Cecchino shot only two days ago. There were even several fresh apple pies Nonna had baked that afternoon. Fresh balls of pasta dough were tucked into a row of Ziplocs.
It looked like a feast. In reality, they had four teenage football players in the house, plus Leo. The five of them ate like machines. And there would be Dal, Lena, and Mr. Cecchino when they made it back.
They’d have to ration. If they were sparing with their food, they might be able to stretch it for ten days. Leo’s family could hunt. Nonna knew a lot about the plants in the forest. They might be able to forage for other food if needed. They could sneak back down to the house and grab more supplies if the coast was clear.
“This will have to do,” Nonna announced. “I—”
Dal’s message on the radio abruptly cut off.
“What the hell?” Anton shouted at the radio.
Static. Then the blare of the emergency broadcast station returned.
Leo felt his stomach sink into his feet. He had to remind himself that Dal had looped his message, which meant he probably wasn’t in the station when the person who shut off the message showed up.
Dal was smart. He’d survived the hell of his childhood. He could survive a few fucking Russians. At least, this is what Leo told himself.
It was the only thing keeping him from tearing back down the road and driving to Rossi.
“Dammit!” Anton smacked the coffee table in frustration.
“Language, Antony,” Nonna barked. “I will not have filthy mouths in my house.” Leo knew she would have smacked the side of his head if Anton wasn’t on the other side of the room.
“Sorry, Nonna,” Anton said automatically. He turned to Leo. “We need to know what’s going on out there. One of us should drive back to Bastopol and have a look.”
It didn’t help that these were the very words running through Leo’s brain. He knew it was an idiotic idea. They’d barely made it out of Bastopol. But not knowing what the hell was going on was like an itch that couldn’t be scratched.
Thankfully, it made it easy to shoot down the idea simply because Anton had suggested it. “No,” he told his little brother. “No one goes anywhere until Dad gets back with Lena and Dal.”
“We could ride bikes,” Anton began. “That would make it easy to get off the road and hide if—”
“No one goes anywhere until Dad gets back with Lena and Dal,” Leo repeated.
“But—”
“Antony.” Nonna gave him a fierce look. “There are supplies to bring inside. Now.”
Anton shot a dark look at Leo before stomping out the front
“Two more armloads of firewood,” Nonna told Bruce. “Then you can start a fire.” Her eyes narrowed. “You do know how to start a fire?”
“Yes, Nonna.” Bruce ducked back outside.
Nonna waited until the two younger boys disappeared out the door before turning to Leo. “I’m worried about the sick boy,” she said in a low voice. “I don’t know what the Russian poison is doing to him. His fever is too high. We need a way to cool off his body.”
“We need ice,” Leo said.
“There is no ice.” Nonna pointed to a stack of towels that Anton had dropped onto the sofa. “Take the truck down to the creek with Anton. The water there is always cold. Soak those towels in the water and bring them back. We’ll pack the towels around his body.”
“Okay, Nonna.” Leo snatched up the stack of towels, grateful for something constructive to do. Even if he did have to do it with Anton. At least arguing with his little brother would keep worry at bay until the rest of their family got back to the cabin.
Chapter 13Detour
DAL AND LENA HUSTLED through the streets of Rossi, joining the crowd of people fleeing from the plaza. Most of them were unharmed except for the dart punctures. The few exposed punctures he saw were red and puckered, some of the skin already edged with black.
Dal kept them in the center of the crowd, where they would blend in. He and Lena scanned the people, searching for any sign of Mr. Cecchino.
