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The sun is lowering toward to the horizon by the time we’ve sat down in front of the fire. Max made it a pretty pleasant area and I’m impressed. There are four large logs in a square surrounding the fire in one of the small holes he’d dug in the ground, and he stacked a nice little pile of wood to last us at least a few days. He also dug smaller holes that make up a circle around the campsite, each with their own little wood pile next to them, to keep the rotters at bay. So far, the only thing effective against them, other than a knife through the skull or decapitation, is fire.
We used to do the same thing back in my community until it backfired on us. The fires repelled the dead but attracted people, and not all the living that are left are good. Many of the living are even more dangerous than the dead. However, none of the living has confused me more than the three in front of me.
3
WILLIAM
Emily sits on the log next to Griffin, who’s pretending like she doesn’t exist. I’m sure that if she had a choice, she would choose the log farthest away from him. But he had to go and give her a metal bracelet. He’s concerned that she’s a danger to herself, but I think it might all be a misunderstanding. She has far too much fight in her to give up like that, and she’s too smart for her mind to be gone.
I haven’t done much since the dead rose. I practically became a lawn ornament after Griffin found me and gave me a reason to fight. That’s all I needed, was a reason, even a small one. I wonder what her reason is.
She stares into the fire, deep in thought. She’s so lost in her head that she doesn’t notice me walking toward her, or the bowl of stew I hand out to her. It makes me curious to know what’s going on in her head. Even more than that. I need to know. It’s a strange feeling that I’m not used to, not with anyone outside of my two friends.
I sit down next to her on the log, which is becoming fairly crowded now, spurring her from her thoughts. She startles and looks at me like she forgot there was anyone else around, and when I hold out the bowl of stew to her, she looks down at it with guilt. “I didn’t expect to get anything tonight. I destroyed some of your food, after all, and that’s not easily replaceable.”
“Did you do it on purpose?” I ask. She shakes her head. I thrust the bowl into her hands, forcing her to take it. Then I hold out a plastic camping spoon. “You didn’t intentionally harm us, so we won’t intentionally harm you.”
She takes the spoon from me in surprise and whispers, “Thank you.” Then she gulps it down so fast that I hand her mine next. “I can’t eat yours. You need food, too.”
“I ate mine already, this is only what was left over.” It’s a lie, but she clearly needs it more than I do. Besides, it’s not like we don’t still have more food. We may not be rolling in an endless supply, but we always have something. I’ll find something else to eat later.
She finishes my bowl of stew and then sets it down on the ground with the first one. The motion causes a tug on the handcuffs, so Griffin looks over at her for the first time tonight, and I take the opportunity to help her out some.
“My name’s William. What’s yours?”
She looks at me quizzically. We exchanged names earlier, but when I nod toward the man beside her, she catches on and plays my game. “Emily.”
“Nice to meet you, Emily. The one over there inspecting his new toy,” I nod toward Max sitting on the ground against the log on the other side of the fire and playing with the morning star, “is Max. The guy you’re chained to is Griffin.”
She gives me a small smile. Griffin hasn’t made her feel welcome in the least, and that irks me. This is the first time since the dead rose that we’ve had a stranger stay with us. We should have been more welcoming, whether or not it’s against their will. Instead, all we’ve done is treat her in a way that makes her want to run, and I don’t like that. We shouldn’t have to lose all of our humanity in order to survive. It’s clear that she isn’t interested in hurting us. “Where are we?”
“Somewhere safe,” Griffin answers, and Emily rolls her eyes. Then he catches my glare over her head and clears his throat. “About a couple hundred miles from where we picked you up, give or take.”
The blood drains from her face so fast that it nearly turns translucent in the firelight. I scoot an inch closer to her. “Is there something, or someone, back there that we took you from?”
The look in her amber eyes tells me I’ve hit the nail on the head. “Who is it?” She leans forward with her elbows resting on her thighs, wringing her fingers together. I reach out a hand and cover hers. “A family member? A boyfriend?”
She takes a few more moments to answer, and when she does, her voice is low. “A friend. She’s sick.”
“How sick?” I ask, leaning in closer.
“She really needs this medicine.”
“So that’s a no on the boyfriend front, then?” Max plops down on the ground in front of her, a grin on his face. He moves the empty bowls to the side. I’m not the violent type when it comes to my friends, but I have the urge to punch him in this moment.
A strained laugh is her response. “The last guy who tried to be my boyfriend ended up only doing it to use me. Took all the supplies and left the gate open, letting the place flood with rotters. That was almost sixty-nine days ago.”
“That’s a fun number,” Max says darkly, but he’s void of all humor.
“No, wait…which day is it? The dead rose?—”
“Two hundred and sixty-five days ago,” Griffin says, his words sharp enough to cut stone.
“Sixty-seven days ago, then.”
Griffin’s body tenses on the other side of hers, and I can see the muscles in his forearm flex when he makes a fist. He glances at her with incredulity, as do I. Griffin is the only person I’ve known to keep track of the days like that. Her doing that too wars with the information that someone was so cruel to her, something that we understand more than I wish we did.
This kind of information is something that’ll make us set the world on fire for a girl we don’t even know. It hits us harder than she may ever understand. I can feel the fire melting into lava deep inside of me with the need to find this person and rid the world of his presence. An anger I didn’t realize I have erupts inside of me, but I force it down. She doesn’t need anyone else blowing up at her right now. Griffin is more than enough. So I squeeze her hand, and she turns her amber eyes on me. “I’m sorry that someone did that to you, Emily. I don’t know you, but I can guarantee you didn’t deserve that.”
