“Lucy?” I called.
She casually entered the room as if she hadn’t been snooping. “Yes?”
“Could you take Jake to Kieran so she can help him with some of his medication needs?” I asked.
“Sure,” Lucy said grinning as she bounced on the balls of her feet. She was always happy to help out.
Jake held up his hand. “That’s not necessary.”
“It’s not but if we have what you need, we’ll gladly share,” I said.
“Well, thanks,” Jake said looking at his feet briefly. He wasn’t the type of man that typically accepted help.
Lucy and Jake headed toward the kitchen as Shawn descended the stairs. His eyes followed the sounds of their footsteps against the floor.
“Who was that?” Shawn asked.
“Jake Quinn from down the road,” I said.
Shawn crossed his arms as he stepped up beside me. “What’s he doing here? At this hour? Must have left his place pretty early.”
“He wanted to tell us about our new neighbors to the north,” I said.
“We don’t really know much about them other than they’re heavily armed,” Gage added.
“That doesn’t sound like good news,” Shawn said. His eyes shifted toward the kitchen. “What’s he doing?”
I chewed my cheek. “Lucy is taking him to see if we have the medicine he needs. That’s how he discovered the town had been taken over. He’d gone for a refill.”
“You make it sound so normal,” Shawn said. “Anyway, that was nice of him to come all this way to warn us.”
“It was,” I replied. “But I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do about any of it. We’re probably outnumbered and I’m not even sure that matters when they’re heavily armed.”
“I think you mean you don’t know what we’re going to do about it,” Gage corrected.
Shawn smacked him on the back. “She forgets we’re here to help.”
I wave my hand in the air, brushing away their words. It was annoying when they agreed because when they did, it always had something to do with me.
After several minutes, Jake came back into the living room with a worried frown. “You didn’t have what I need but I appreciate you checking. Too bad I don’t know more about medicines, there might be something I could use back there but I’m clueless when it comes to that stuff.”
“If you ever need anything, just let us know, okay?” I said with a warm smile. “Maybe you should stay the night. Get a good night’s sleep. We have more than enough room.”
Jake shook his head. “I appreciate that but I feel more comfortable in my own place.” He looked around. “You sure have a lot of people around here.”
“I do,” I replied. “And I need to keep them safe. Is there anything more you can tell me about the people you spotted?”
“Not really. Just stay away from them and hope they stay away from you,” Jake said sticking out his hand. I took it and shook.
“Would you like me to walk back to your place with you?” Gage asked.
Jake Quinn’s stomach shook as he laughed. “I’ve lived here for a long time. I know my way back home.” He noticed me watching him. Concern wrinkled my brow and he patted the back of my hand. “I’ll be fine.”
“Thanks for coming here to share the news,” I said.
“Yeah, of course,” Jake said. “Only wish I could have come sooner.”
“What will you do about your medicine?” I asked.
Jake pulled in a deep breath. “Not much I can do. Cut back on the salt, lose a few pounds, and keep praying.”
“Here,” I said taking a notepad from the coffee table. “Write down what you need just in case we come across some.”
Jake scribbled down a word I wasn’t entirely sure how to pronounce. I handed the piece of paper to Gage. He folded it and tucked it into his pocket.
“I should be on my way,” Jake said as he made his way to the front door. “Stay safe.”
“You too,” I said.
The second after he shut the door, Shawn tapped me on the shoulder. He looked down into my eyes. “We’re going to need to find more weapons.”
7
Joss
We entered a dark building. The only light came from several lit candles that seemed to be lighting a path toward the back of the building.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“Looks like it was a shop of some kind,” Robby said stopping at a door. “Guess we go through here.”
He opened the door and sounds of voices and an acoustic guitar filled the air. There was a narrow staircase leading to the basement.
“I saw something like this in a horror movie one time,” Caleb teased.
“Not funny,” Jenna said.
At the bottom of the stairs, we were greeted with cheese and raised glasses. A short man with an impressive beard walked over and shook Robby’s hand.
“Ha!” he said looking at us with glassy eyes. “Wasn’t sure if you were going to come.”
“We made it,” Robby said.
The man waved his hands and the voices quieted. There were at least thirty people in the room, suddenly all looking at us.
“I’m Dirk,” the guy said with a little wave. “My wife used to run this place. Now, she’s gone and I’m an officer. Our business donated to the town to use how they see fit.”
“Hi Dirk,” the crowd said almost unanimously before bursting out into a fit of laughter.
Dirk flapped his hands in the air until everyone quieted. “Shh! Quiet down so we can meet our new friends.”
“I’m Robby and this is my girlfriend, Joss.”
“Jenna,” she quickly added with a smile.
“Caleb.”
Dirk pointed at us as he repeated our names.
