The man snorted. “I can’t believe how everyone has turned on each other. Even our neighbors. They wouldn’t let us inside their house, for god’s sake. What’s your story?”
Max tried not to move as he let the conversation wash over him. The world ending? People looting regularly? What had happened since he’d been imprisoned? “Same,” he said.
The woman’s eyes narrowed and she eyed him up and down. “There’s a couple guards looking for an escaped prisoner. We ran into them not too far from here. Know anything about that?”
Max kicked the prison orange under the hangers in an attempt to hide it, and looked back at the clothes on the rack, pretending to peruse them. “Nope. Good to know, though. Thanks for the heads up. Maybe we’ll just keep this conversation to ourselves. Don’t want us all to be caught for stealing.”
The couple whispered to each other as if trying to decide what to do. He heard clothes being pushed around and the scrape of hangers sliding over metal bars. He winced and hoped that the woman wouldn’t have reason to come closer to this section of the store. He looked around for something to defend himself with and wondered how threatening he would look if he lobbed a pair of stilettos at them.
“Ah, maybe you’re right,” the woman said. The sound of clothes being pulled off hangers filled the room after a moment of awkward silence. “Okay. I think we’re good.”
“You’re taking three coats?” the man asked in a whisper.
“Of course,” the woman said. “Who knows when I’ll get the chance to get more clothes again? With everyone squabbling for even socks, this place is a gold mine.”
“We should check out the rest of the warehouse,” the man said, “and see if there are any other things we’ll need.”
“Good idea,” the woman said and looked back at Max. “Good luck to you. Even if we didn’t see you here.”
“Ditto,” Max said.
The door squeaked again. Max was suddenly alone. Relief washed over him. That had been way too close. He slung a backpack over his shoulders and eased to the front of the store. Looking out into the hallway, he didn’t see the couple. He snuck through the door and felt worried about leaving his jumpsuit in a pile on the floor. It was one link to where he’d been, but he didn’t want to go back and retrieve it. As soon as he bolted outside, he began to walk in the direction of the interstate.
If the world had really gone to hell, then it was only a matter of time before Colin and his friends got out of prison and sent someone after him. He knew they’d never let him go that easily.
Where should he go? Desperately, he thought about running to Galena to find safety with his sister at the hotel. Hide there. Enjoy the small pleasures of life with his family. But doing so would bring danger to their door. Just thinking about Kathleen when he’d been arrested—her anger and disappointment—hurt more than he’d expected. The way she tried to smile through her fear and tears when he’d last seen her had nearly broken his heart. He’d had to show her a side of himself he’d wanted to keep hidden: the reckless Max with a streak of cruelty that was only tempered by his enormous love for his family. The way he used to be able to get away with anything with the right amount of coercion. She knew he’d been like that when they were young, but now that they were older, he wanted to be friends with her instead of just her jailbird brother that she avoided talking about.
What if he showed up at her house and she wouldn’t let him inside? He’d lurk around the hotel like a stray, pleading for shelter, food, and scraps of attention, praying she didn’t see him as the black spot on their family. That he was unwanted. He’d make all kinds of promises: I won’t do it again, I was wrong, I didn’t know what I was doing, I made a mistake.
Please forgive me, Kathy. Please, please, please.
He closed his eyes, wishing he had a drink of water. He remembered the way Kathleen had grabbed his hand on her last visit. The alarm on her face when she’d recognized one of his enemies staring at him in the visitor’s lounge. Even though she’d been disappointed in him, she knew he was in trouble and he’d had to shake it off, tell her it was no big deal, even though he’d feared for his life.
He might as well take the chance and throw himself on her mercy. Await her judgement. If he’d lost her respect, fine. That was to be expected. If he’d lost her love…well, better to know it now, at the end of the world.
He tasted metal in the back of his throat. Twilight had settled into a dark wash of blue-black. Stars twinkled above him. He took a deep breath of fresh air, infinitely better than the recycled air in the prison, and began to plot his course for the River Rock Hotel.
8
Even though Matthew had dreamed of normalcy ever since he walked out of an antique shop and found his truck dead, it still felt strange to wake up and find himself in an actual bed—his own bed. The covers were pulled up tight around his shoulders, and the pillow cradled his head in just the right way. If he kept his eyes shut, he could imagine that the last week had never happened. He could pretend that the shotgun propped against the wall didn’t belong to him. That he could get up, stretch, and walk to the bathroom where the lights would work and he wouldn’t have to worry about the toilet not flushing or conserving water.
He barely
