“Sergeant,” A young man said popping his head around the corner. “A quick word.”
“I’ll be right back,” She said and headed out of the room.
“I’m going to kill you, you bitch,” Jessica stated after Tracy had left. “Knocking me out with a damn sucker punch…”
“Oh give it a rest would you?” I said. “There wasn’t enough time for your bullshit. You may have gotten away with your crap before but life is on the line now, you need to get over yourself. Also sweetie I hate to tell you this, but I took you down with one punch, you really think you could kill me?”
Jessica opened her mouth to speak but shut it. She opened it again and said, “Just keep your ass away from me.”
“Gladly, you ungrateful pain in the ass.”
“Ungrateful?” Jessica asked.
Before I could answer, Natalie snapped “Yeah, pretty damn ungrateful. We gave you a ride. We didn’t have to but we did. You could be nicer.”
“Jessica, you really could be,” Joey agreed.
Jessica made a face at him and stormed out of the room saying nothing else. I really hoped that from now on I could avoid her.
Tracy came back in the room, passing Jessica. She looked like she was about to try and stop her but decided against it I guess.
“Where was I?” She asked.
“Talking to Japan,” Pierce said.
“Oh, right. The little we got from them, they sounded like that they might be on to something,” She said.
“On to something?” Cindy asked voicing all of our confusion.
“Yes. They said cure several times in short conversations. We’re not getting our hopes too high about it but there is a real possibility we could be on to stopping this thing.”
I felt a lump in my throat. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But I didn’t understand why she was telling us. I was about to ask when Natalie did for me.
“Why are you telling us? Isn’t it classified?” She asked.
Tracy laughed. “A cure? Classified? No, and I’m not saying that tomorrow or even any time in the very near future this will be over. I just think you have a right to know as people who have been out there and seen it. There may be a light at the end of this tunnel. After this entire struggle, we all need that hope. Maybe with it, you all will be able to get some sleep tonight.”
I could feel us all nod in unison with understanding.
“Come on, let’s get you all settled,” She said.
Chapter 10
Tracy mentioned that we would possibly get our guns back soon as she showed us all to our rooms but they would wait a few days. It was part of their screening process which she wouldn’t tell us what that process involved exactly.
We were shown to our rooms which were in the dorms near the white Chapel. Natalie and I were roomed together. I fed Milo and sat on the bed.
“I was thinking we can stay here a couple nights before heading on,” I said.
Natalie looked at me, “Can’t we stay?” She asked.
“Do you want to?” I asked.
She shrugged, “At least give it a try. I mean, I’m tired of being out there. I’ve been out there a long time and I just want to stay someplace where I can feel safe.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything.
“You don’t want to stay?”
“It’s not that,” I began. “It’s I’m just not sure I trust people anymore.”
Natalie giggled at me, “You’re talking to the queen of not trusting people. But we have to learn. You heard the Sargent, someday life is going to go back to normal and we have to live in civilization again.”
I gave her a weak smile, “Yeah, I’ll believe that when the cure actually happens.”
We took Milo for a walk around the grounds.
I plugged in my cell phone since there were generators. I hadn’t charged it in a few days so it had died. Normally I would’ve freaked out about that but the likelihood that I missed a call was slim to none.
After plugging in the phone, I wasted no time and went straight to bed. I was exhausted and my rear still hurt from falling on top of the van.
I was able to get some sleep though was woken up a few times by Natalie talking in her sleep. She obviously was having weird dreams. I tried to wake her up by calling her name but it didn’t work.
I woke up to the sun shining in the window. Out of habit I lifted the phone and checked it. Of course there was nothing there. The phone didn’t even tell me the time anymore because the towers didn’t give off a signal.
After I got dressed, I took Milo for a quick walk. Natalie was still asleep. She seemed to finally be resting well so I didn’t want to bother her.
As I was walking the grounds, I saw Tracy. She was leading a group of people to the dorms where we were staying. Obviously more people had come by this morning. It was a family of 5 and a blonde woman. From the distance I didn’t realize who it was until one of the little girls screamed “Milo,” and I realized it was Jerry and Maria’s oldest Abigail. She broke out into a run to meet us in the field where I was walking Milo.
I made my way to meet her halfway. She dropped to her knees and began to pet Milo. He was licking her face and she was giggling.
“Cate, I can’t believe it,” Maria said as she gave me a hug.
“You know each other?” Tracy asked confused.
“We were staying at the same complex together,” I said.
I noticed that Jerry’s face was badly
