No way to contact Cate, I slipped my phone back into my pocket. I had no way of knowing if she was alright. If she had survived as long as I had. I didn’t know what was worse. I’d lost Jackie and Adam but I knew what had happened to them. I knew they were gone; I had no way of knowing about Cate. I could only imagine what fate she was met by. I prayed she was still alive but I could not know for sure.
Even if I was able to get on a ship and make it to California and then somehow be able to get a car to get to Arizona, how would I find her? There was no way she would stay home. It seemed no one had stayed home. It didn’t feel safe too. But there was maybe a slight chance she had. She could, I guess. Though I wouldn’t bank on it.
I tried to not think about it anymore so I paid more attention to my surroundings. Jamie was feeling the heat bad. She lost a bit of color in her face and looked extremely tired. Phoebe and Robert seemed to be doing alright but Phoebe was turning a very bright red color. Freddie was wasting water, drinking it and then pouring it on his face. Jamie told him to stop and he snapped at her.
The only one who seemed to be doing alright was Daniel. I got the feeling he hiked and spent much more time outdoors than the rest of us.
“Does anybody need a break?” he asked.
“Yes,” said several people at once.
We came to a halt. I sat down and was joined by Phoebe and Robert.
“How you holding up?” she asked.
“Alright, you?” I said.
“Been better,” she smiled and drank some water.
“Where is our daily rain? It can come at any time now!” Jamie stated.
“Stop complaining Jamie,” Freddie snapped.
“Well, not all of us have been wasting water pouring it on our faces like you so why don’t you give her a break?” I said.
“Listen you lit…” he began.
“You’ve been pouring water on your face?” Daniel asked.
‘Yeah, a little, to stay cool.”
Daniel ripped the gallon of water out of Freddie’s hand. Freddie was so taken by surprise; he didn’t try to get it back.
“Hey,” was all he managed to say.
“You’re not going to waste water Freddie. We need it to drink if we hope to stay alive.”
“Well we wouldn’t need it if we had just stayed home instead of going on this stupid trip to nowhere.”
Daniel glared at him, “It wasn’t safe at home, besides I don’t recall anyone saying your ass had to tag along. You can go back anytime you damn well please. Believe me you’d be doing everyone a favor.”
“Daniel,” Jamie said but it wasn’t very loud.
Daniel let out a sigh and turned, walking about ten feet before leaning against a tree.
“I don’t need you to fight my battles Jamie; I can handle your stupid brother.”
I snapped, “listen shithead, she was just trying to defend you which you don’t even deserve so instead of being such a jerk about it be appreciative that she actually cares about you. I mean honestly Daniel could probably kick your ass in his sleep.”
I heard Daniel laugh but he didn’t turn around.
“You have a lot of opinions for someone who just joined our group about three hours ago,” Freddie barked.
“And you have a lot of opinions for someone without a brain.”
Phoebe laughed. Freddie chewed the inside of his cheek but said nothing. He turned and walked to the opposite direction of Daniel. Jamie followed him.
“Well, that’s fun then.” I said and stood up.
I walked over towards Daniel.
“You’re not really scared of anything are you?” he asked seeming somewhat amused.
“There’s nothing scary about Freddie. Besides, after your daughter almost rips off your face, very little is scary anymore.” I didn’t mean to say it. I didn’t really want to discuss Jackie with these people. I didn’t want Freddie to have a reason as to why I might be incapable of handling myself.
“What?” Daniel asked, looking concerned.
“Um,” I began, feeling unable to back out of it now, “My kid, Jackie, she turned. She killed my husband and tried to kill me and that’s why I’m here.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Me too. Don’t tell anyone please. I don’t know why I told you. I really don’t want to make it a big deal.”
“It is a big deal.”
“Yeah, but it’s my big deal. No one else needs to know about it.”
He nodded, “They won’t think you’re weak because you lost your family.”
I felt unnerved then, like he could see through me and I didn’t like it at all.
“I know but….”
“It’s okay; I won’t say anything to anyone. If you need to talk though, I’ll listen.”
I nodded, “thanks.”
“We ready yet?” Phoebe asked. “If I sit here to long, I’m going to fall asleep.”
“Yeah, we should head on.” Daniel agreed. He patted me on the shoulder as he walked by.
I let out a sigh, feeling strange. Life didn’t feel like life anymore. I felt like I had fallen into some kind of strange dream.
I turned and joined them as we continued onward.
Chapter 10
I didn’t want to be in the back alone anymore, I felt like walking food back there. So
