“Knock knock.”
Dee pushes herself to an elbow. “Come in.”
Alex unzips the door and crawls in, already in her pajamas, her hair wild around her shoulders. “I wanted to find out the plan for tomorrow.” The air mattress jounces as she wiggles around to get comfortable. As she does, Dee rolls into her. “Sorry, sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Dee says, and once Alex is settled, she lays back on her pillow feeling strange with another woman in the bed with her. She shared a tent with Dan, but it was different. Alex is a woman, a lesbian. She’s alive and warm and interesting.
“So, plan. I hear Peter and Gloria are coming, no?”
“Yes. Peter has Will’s wallet.”
Alex rolls, moving her closer to Dee. The air mattress is a queen, but there isn’t that much room for two adult females and when Alex rolls, their legs press together and their faces are inches away. “Good. That’s good. He’s a stand-up guy.”
“Right.” Her whole body is alert, awake in a way it hasn’t been in a long while. She doesn’t want to feel these things, doesn’t want to betray Lana this way … but Lana is dead, isn’t she? She’s dead and Dee’s alive. And Alex is here.
No. She can’t. She won’t. Not now.
“Are you sure you want to come with me?” she asks, trying to distract herself, trying to ignore the thoughts that tumble in her head.
“Why did you decide to leave tomorrow?”
Dee considers the question. “I’ve been stuck. It’s happy here. It’s safe here. I haven’t seen one of them in three days. Haven’t heard them either. And I’ve been on the road alone for too long. Seen too many people die.” Alex has a mole on the side of her nose. She calls it her witch’s mole and she’s perfected the cackle that goes along with it. Dee knows this about her too. Idly, she wonders what it might be like to kiss Alex, but she keeps her own counsel on that. “If I don’t go tomorrow, I’ll never go. Because I don’t want to find out my boys are dead. I don’t want to know how they died. I don’t want to go and find the house empty and never know …” She swallows down the lump of emotion that threatens to overwhelm her. “But I have to know something. I can’t let my fear keep me from knowing.” She shrugs, making the bed jiggle. “I’ve been ready. I’ve just been waiting for my gumption to kick in.”
“Well, thank you.”
Dee stares at her. “For what?”
“Sharing your gumption.”
It startles a laugh out of her. “Okay.”
“Seriously. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have ever left this place, not seriously, not for anything. So thank you.”
It’s Alex who goes in for a kiss, though it’s a quick peck and not the soul-searching, start-of-a-romance kiss that Dee has been imagining, much to her shame. The kiss is nice, and it reminds her what she’s here to do—and what she isn’t.
“Get some sleep,” Alex says and the bed bounces like a storm-tossed sea as she retreats.
The door slides back into place with the buzzing sound of the zippers and Dee is alone.
34
Now
She slept though she didn’t expect to and when she wakes, it’s already ten thirty. “Shit,” she says and dresses, scrambling for her gear before pushing her way out of the tent into the morning sunshine filtering in from the windows above.
“There you are, sleepy head,” Alex says when Dee gets to the communal tables.
“I can’t believe I slept so long.” Maybe we should postpone until tomorrow when we have more time.
“You must have needed it. No worries, we have the SUV packed and loaded. Gary is ready to sound the sirens. We’ll have smooth sailing at least for a bit, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Why does she feel so unprepared? Why does she want to stay, to call the whole thing off?
Because I’m scared shitless.
“Here. Eat. We’ll go as soon as Peter and Gloria get back.”
“Back? Where did they go?”
“When they got here—the first time—they were on foot the last couple blocks. Their car died and they left it where it was and never went back. They had pictures, I guess, in the trunk. Too hard on them memory-wise but now …” She shrugs. “I guess they’re wanting to do a memorial for their dogs or something.”
It is a weird thing to risk their lives for, but Dee supposes they’re safer now than when they first arrived. “When did they leave?”
“Early.”
Dee twists around as if she expects to see them walk through the door that minute. “Early and they still aren’t back?”
Alex bites her lip. “I … I guess I just thought they wanted to have some time alone before …”
Dee pushes away from the table. “If they aren’t back yet, they’re in trouble. We should go look for them. Do you know where they went?”
Mel comes over, drying her hands on a dish towel. “I know. They gave me the location.” She finishes with her hand and then pulls a sticky note from her pocket. “Here. We can send a team for them. You don’t have to go.”
“I know. But we should. They were willing to go with me. I don’t want to leave them hanging now. You know?”
Mel squeezes her shoulder. “You’re a good one, Dee. I’ll get a couple people together and we’ll leave in five.”
Five minutes later, Dee, Alex, Mel, and Gary head out, weapons at the ready. They take the truck so Peter and Gloria can ride back with them when they find them. “When,” Mel says, “because the alternative is unacceptable.”
Dee understands she’s managed to put off leaving another day as the truck rumbles down the ghost-like streets. It’s eerie, even now, even though she’s ridden out before with these
