What the hell?
She tries to turn the engine back on, but it just clicks. The gas sign blinks up at her.
“Oh, no … it ran out of gas …”
Liv feels like kicking herself. How could this have happened? The tank had around one third left when they got here; she remembers checking it.
How long was I out for?
She checks her watch and lets out a gasp. It’s nearly three in the afternoon. She slept through most of the day.
She looks back over at the house, and that same question pops into her head again: Why hasn’t Dan called for her yet? Is he okay in there? Did something bad happen?
Then, as Liv watches, the board is removed from one of the windows. A face appears. It’s a woman. Very tall. She’s got fair, freckly skin and red, stringy hair. Her eyes fix on Liv.
Liv feels her heartbeat kick into overdrive as she stares back at the woman, expecting her to do something, to send some sort of signal, to hold up a sign—anything!
But the woman just stands there, her expression set in stone.
Then, after several seconds, she looks down and begins to bring the board back up.
“Hey, wait!” Liv exclaims, waving her arms as though the woman hasn’t seen her. “Hey! No, you can’t just … what the hell?”
The woman disappears from sight as the board blocks the view into the house.
Liv sits there, breathing fast.
That was not a good sign. She didn’t look very friendly. And where was Dan?
Scary thoughts begin spinning around her head. Thoughts of Dan being dead inside the house. Thoughts of the woman bringing the board back down, only to point a gun at Liv. Or even worse, of her simply leaving Liv to die of thirst in the van, surrounded by zombies.
Calm down and think, she demands, forcing control over her mind before it can run wild completely. You still have options here. And you don’t know for certain what’s happened to Dan; he could still be alive.
That last thought makes her look down at the bottom of the van. The well cover is right below her. Liv climbs over the seat to the back, lies down on hands and knees and places her mouth close to the floor.
“Dan!” she calls out. “Dan, can you hear me? Are you still down there? Hello, Dan?”
THIRTEEN
William must have been nodding off, because he wakes up as something nudges his shin.
He looks up to see the black soldier towering over him. The light coming in from the windows is a lot brighter now. The soldier is offering him a grey plastic bag.
“What’s that?” William croaks, reaching up to take the bag.
“Breakfast,” the soldier informs him, then moves on to pass out the next bag to the guy next to William.
William feels his stomach roar by the mere sound of the word. He rips open the bag to find a loaf of bread, two strips of beef jerky, a can of something and a bottle of water. He begins chowing down, giving Ozzy one of the jerky strips.
He looks around to see the other passengers also beginning to dig in, some looking hungrier than others, a few not even touching the food bags.
“Where are we?” William asks the guy next to him.
The guy just shrugs, opening the can of what appears to be beans.
William gets up as the black soldier walks past him again on his way back to his own seat at the front. “Excuse me?”
“That’s all you get for now,” the soldier tells him automatically. “Please sit back down.”
“No, I wanted to ask you something. It’s very important.”
The soldier stops, looks at him, but says nothing.
“Uhm, I was wondering where we are? Like, right now?”
The soldier doesn’t even glance towards the windows. “We just entered Danish airspace. We’ll reach our destination before evening.” He turns to walk away.
“Wait, please! Can I ask you a favor? Could you drop me off?”
The soldier raises one eyebrow. “Are you serious?”
“I am. There’s something I need to do in Denmark. It’s very important.”
“We’re not making any stops,” the soldier tells him. “Unless you spike a fever, you’re not leaving this vessel until we reach the camp in Tunisia.”
“Please!” William says as the soldier is about to turn away again. “Let me just talk to you for two minutes, uhm …” He looks at the patch on the soldier’s chest. “Sergeant Everton. I promise you it’ll make sense.”
“Listen, sir,” the soldier tells him, his tone changing to one of decreasing patience. “You’re not on a bus here. We didn’t bring you along as a favor. We’re operating under orders. We’re bringing you to Camp Future in Tunisia, and that’s it. Now, please sit down.”
“Why not Finland?” William blurts out. “Why aren’t you bringing us to the camps in Finland?” As the sergeant is about to answer, William goes on: “I know they’re not full. My mom is going there. She said there’s still plenty of spots left.”
That last one she didn’t actually say, but he can tell from the soldier’s face that it hits home. It’s only for a second that his stonelike expression changes, though, before returning to unreadable.
“Our orders are to take you to safety,” he repeats slowly. “That’s why we’re bringing you to Tunisia.”
“Safety from what?” William goes on. “Why isn’t Finland safe?”
This time, the sergeant’s eyes flash away from William to briefly check the faces of the other passengers within earshot, before they return to rest on William. “I advise you to stop talking, sir. Otherwise, we might have to drop you off after all.”
“That’s what I’m asking for,” William says, feeling his pulse rise. He puts his palms together and lowers his voice just enough that the soldier can still hear him. “Please, Sergeant, just listen to me. What I have to tell you is very important. I think I know why you’re taking
