I sucked in a breath. “I know. It’s just… just… I’m so pissed off. They shouldn’t get away with this. Eva shouldn’t get away with this.”
“This is her kingdom,” Leah said.
“She wants everyone to know it, too,” I said. “How does she get people on her side? How do they not see right through her?”
Leah shrugged. “Because they don’t know her.”
“Not everyone in this town can be fooled, can they?”
“Who knows?”
Another knock at the door silenced us both completely. My heart slowed and my breathing softened.
Three knocks at the door was a record for us. And it was much too many.
Leah started toward the door and I grabbed her hand. I shook my head.
My lips pressed together. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to force my voice to work. “I’ll get it. They could be coming for you.”
12
Stevie
I let out a long breath when I saw it was two unarmed people. They were looking around the property with scared, confused eyes as they hugged themselves.
More survivors. That’s all it was.
For the most part, they appeared healthy. They were just soaked to the bone. People were staring out of the window of the next house over. Two of them stood on the porch, watching the couple.
I opened the door and stepped out to greet them. Gage and Shawn both followed me.
“Hello,” I said lowering the shotgun when their eyes landed on it.
“They sent us over here… those from the other house,” the man said. “Said you could help us.”
“What kind of help are you in need of?” I asked.
The man looked at the woman. “Shelter?”
“We have that,” I said. “Are you passing through?”
“Is there another option?” the man asked with a half-smile.
I smiled back. “Everyone you see here was passing through at one point. They come and then they stay.”
“By choice,” Gage quickly added.
The man and woman exchanged a glance. I took the opportunity to look them over.
The woman’s clothes were torn at the elbow and the knee. There was a snarl in her hair on the left side of her face that had a twig stuck in the center. Her skin was as gray as the sky and drops of rain speckled her face.
The man was taller than her by a solid six inches. They didn’t appear to know each other well since they didn’t get all that close to each other but there was a trust between them. If I had to guess, they bonded after our world had been changed by whatever they had done in an effort to fix climate change.
I guess it was fixed. In that it wasn’t changing. The rain didn’t let up. A drizzle… a downpour… or a storm. It was always something. And it was always wet.
“Well, we’re from a government rescue program. We’ve got off course. We never expected to find so many people here,” he said looking around. He quickly stuck out his hand. “I’m Henry and this is Clara.”
I took his icy hand in mine and shook. There was strength in his grip. They definitely hadn’t been out there struggling for food and water.
“I’m Stevie, and this is Gage and Shawn,” I said jerking my chin at each of them in turn.
“This is quite the place you have here,” Henry said.
“Thank you,” I said.
He placed his hands on his hips. “Can we come in and talk?”
I glanced at Gage over my shoulder. He gave me a quick nod.
“Sure,” I said.
As we entered the living room, Clara squeezed my arm. “I hate that we’re getting your nice home so wet and dirty.”
“It’s not a problem,” I said. “Where did you say you came from?”
“Oh,” Henry said. “We didn’t say. Far up in the mountains, there is an army base. They’re bringing all the survivors there.”
“We’re being rescued?” Ella asked as she walked into the room.
Henry chuckled and Clara’s shoulders squeezed up as she smiled.
“Yeah, we’re here to help,” Henry said.
“Oh, my God!” Ella said clapping her hands. She turned and looked toward Noah. “We’re getting rescued!”
Everyone in the house filed into the room except for Lucy and Kieran. They were likely busy in the kitchen preparing the next meal.
“How far away is the base?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a hike,” Henry said. “We’re a bit tired and hungry. This is going to sound insane but we lost some of our stuff when we were chased by a lion.”
I smirked. “Doesn’t sound that insane. We’ve seen them and gorillas too. Say, did you go through a town to the north of here?”
“No,” Henry said shaking his head. “We came from the west. Why do you ask?”
“We received word it wasn’t safe,” I explained. “Thought maybe you had more information.”
“Sorry,” Henry said with a shrug. He hesitated for a long moment as he looked around. “Quite the group you have here. Might you have a few bites of food you could spare?”
My lips pressed together into a smile. “Of course. Lucy?”
There was a sharp gasp around the corner. She straightened her clothes as she approached. Lucy was always nearby… listening around some corner or another.
“Would you mind?” I asked without bothering to finish my sentence. I was confident Lucy already knew what I was going to say.
Lucy curtsied awkwardly and dashed from the room. Sounds of movement in the kitchen followed by the sounds of a metal bowl crashing to the ground.
My eye squeezed together slightly and Clara grinned. Henry cleared his throat.
“More people to our north. We’ll have to check that area next,” Henry said.
“Didn’t you say the army base you’re from was to
