“I could have gotten her to the doctor earlier or called 911,” I said. “My mom didn’t have anyone except for Erik, apparently. She never even mentioned anyone coming by to mow her lawn.”
“That was nice of him,” Sam said, scrunching up her nose. “What is that smell?”
“I’m not sure?” I said, covering my nose with the back of my hand.
We didn’t take more than five steps when I spotted the source of the stench. My fingers dug into my clenching stomach.
“Oh, my God,” I said before turning to the side and dry heaving.
“Holy shit!” Sam said, grabbing my arm as she hopped backward.
Three dead bodies were on the ground, side by side, as if someone had put them there. Their faces all turned to the right.
“Let’s move,” Sam said.
“How long do you think they were lying there like that?” I asked, tempted to look back. It was like a car accident—I couldn’t look away.
Sam covered her mouth. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Let’s just get the medicine and get out of this hell hole.”
It was hard to believe that people would flock to the town every summer to fish, shop, eat, and drink. Before the solar storm, people would have been in the town. Where were they all now?
“The smell is just getting worse,” Sam said.
I sucked in a breath and pointed. The front lawn of another nearby home was decorated with two people, face down on the ground.
“I don’t like this,” I said.
There was movement in the corner of my eyes. I twisted my neck so sharply a stinging pain shot down my right arm.
The men's and women’s brown and tan camouflage blended in with the burned wood. I grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled her back.
A short, beefy woman holding a shotgun raised it up. Her lip curled as she aimed it at my head.
The man next to her rubbed his palms together and chuckled.
Her head turned slowly, and she flicked him a look that showed her utter annoyance. “This area has been claimed. I reckon you should turn back.”
17
We didn’t need to be told twice. I pulled on Sam’s arm, taking ten steps backward before bolting back on the same path.
Our knife and gun wouldn’t have done us any good. I glanced back several times to make sure we weren’t being followed.
My vision started to close around me as my breaths quickened. I couldn’t get enough oxygen.
“Sam,” I said in a gasp.
“No, Mel. You can’t,” Sam said, her words begging me to hold on to whatever I could just to make it into the trees and out of sight. “You can do it, okay? I know you can.”
My breath pinched my lungs. “Sam. I. Can’t.”
“You can. It’s not much further,” Sam encouraged.
She slowed her pace slightly to run beside me. Sam had always been faster. A faster walker, a faster runner, a faster typer, everything was faster with Sam.
“We’ll get back, and we’ll go to Erik’s. He’ll know what to do,” Sam said. “We’re almost there. Just keep going a little more.”
I glanced back again. The top of my head was completely numb from the lack of oxygen I was taking in. Panic was trying to encapsulate me.
They weren’t chasing after us. The group was small dots as we sprinted to put distance between us.
It was foolish. The peninsula wasn’t large. If the group wanted to find us, it likely wouldn’t take them long.
“Okay,” Sam said, slowing her pace to a jog. “I think we’re okay for now.” She turned to me and studied me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, but my breaths were still too fast. The numbness was spreading down my neck. If it went any further, I’d collapse.
“Take a deep breath,” Sam said, noticing my frantic breaths. “In and out as slow as you can. It’s okay. Nothing happened. They just wanted to scare us.”
“They. Did. A. Really. Good…,” I said, my exhale slowing, “job.”
“I wonder if they killed all those people,” Sam said. “And if they did, why did they let us go?”
I pulled in a slow breath as my vision widened. My shoulders tingled as the numbing in my head subsided.
Sam gasped. “Maybe they were the ones snooping around that night.” Her eyes popped out. “Maybe they took your medicine!”
“Why would they take only my medicine?” I asked rhetorically. “They’d leave the water and food but take the medicine and lock up after they left?”
“Perhaps they were just messing with us,” Sam said with a shrug.
“I guess it’s possible, but they didn’t really seem like they were the type to just go around messing with people.” I pressed my hand hard against my forehead in an attempt to push what had happened further away. “Did you see how they were all dressed? Like a uniform.”
Sam nodded. “And with guns. Like, do you think that’s necessary?”
“I don’t know. What if they know something we don’t? What if things are even worse than we know?”
“Maybe Erik will know,” Sam said.
“I’m sure he told us everything he knows,” I said, gripping the bat tighter.
“And maybe he didn’t,” Sam said.
We walked together in silence for a long time, taking turns looking over our shoulders. It felt like our trip back home was taking twice as long as the trip to the town had taken.
“What if someone really did get in the house and take the medicine?” Sam said, her brow wrinkling. “Is that even possible? We locked up.”
“Are you trying to freak me out?” I asked.
“No, I was just thinking that maybe we should put finding a vehicle that works higher on our to-do
