Thicker Than Blood (Thicker Than Blood #1)(20)
Leisel was crying again, and I felt like shit that I was the one who had caused her tears. But I was doing this to protect her, to get us somewhere safe. Pulling her into a hug, I planted a kiss on the top of her head.
“We’ll be fine. I promise,” I said, with far more reassurance than I should have been allowed to dole out.
Nodding against me, she attempted to stop her tears, but I was still left feeling awful. Leisel had known nothing but fear for the past four years, and I would do anything to ensure she’d never have to feel unsafe again.
Alex drove on. As we drew closer and the small town came into view, the niggle of worry already fluttering inside my stomach only worsened. There was no movement, nothing alive or dead that I could see, but looks were always deceiving.
Take Lawrence Whitney, for example. The threat that lay behind closed doors, lurking in the shadows, was always far more deadly than the danger in plain sight.
Chapter Nine
Leisel
The town of Covey was small, even smaller than Fredericksville, and it appeared to be utterly abandoned. As Alex turned slowly down what was probably once the main drag, I stared out the window in shock at what I was sure was once a quaint little village. Mom-and-Pop-type shops lined the street, a wooden sign boasting an apothecary hung haphazardly from a broken post, and there was an honest-to-God barber shop, complete with a candy-cane-striped pole.
I continued staring, trying to imagine what this place had looked like back before the infection, picturing happy people strolling the sidewalks. It was a place I would have gladly visited. I would have forced Evelyn to come along with me, dragging her into shop after shop, smiling as she laughed at my purchases and good-naturedly teased me for being so easily amused by simple things.
But that was then and this was now. And the now was a cracked and overgrown street, the earth beneath the pavement reclaiming the land and everything man had built on it. The stores were mere shells of their former selves with broken windows, missing doors, faded and cracked paint, and the ever-present aura of death.
It was a ghost town, a graveyard without headstones, a forgotten and decaying museum of what life used to be. And if life went on this way, if the infection continued to rage, eventually there would be no one left, the human race would soon be gone. In time, so would all of our towns and with them, any last shred of proof that we ever existed at all.
“Looks clear,” Evelyn mused, though her body stayed tense and alert.
Alex let out a small snort. “Looks can be deceiving.”
Her expression pinched with irritation, Evelyn slanted her eyes in my direction, rolling them ever so slightly.
I attempted to give her a smile in return, but didn’t quite manage one. My stomach churned with fear, my head pounded from anxiety, and with every mile we traveled, my fear of the unknown only continued to grow, increasing my discomfort.
“Lei?” she whispered, cocking her head in question. “You okay?”
“F-fine,” I stuttered hoarsely, but I was anything but fine. I tried to envision myself searching out these buildings for food or clothing, things that had once belonged to others—others who hadn’t been as fortunate as me—and my apprehension only grew. I felt like an interloper in this new and foreign world, and worse than that, like a burden on Evelyn and Alex.
What good would I be if we were attacked by an infected, or even by another person? What good was I even if we weren’t?
Closing my eyes, I inhaled slowly and deeply, the stale air of the truck smelling strongly of unwashed bodies. I let out my breath, wishing I could have a private moment alone, somewhere behind closed doors so I could block out the world. Just a minute was all I needed to regain my composure.
I took another breath and let it out, another fruitless attempt at calming my nerves. It was hot in the truck, the three of us pressed up against one another, Alex on my left, his right leg situated firmly up alongside my left, and on my right was Evelyn, her entire left side pressed uncomfortably against me. We were touching from our shoulders to our knees, unable to move even a fraction of an inch without the other being entirely aware.
When I cracked open an eyelid, the truck’s dashboard loomed in front of me, and beyond that abandoned cars blurred in and out of focus as we passed them, Alex swerving every so often to avoid garbage strewn in the road. His elbow would press into my bicep and every time, I cringed and closed my eyes, my breath lodging in my throat.
I needed out of this truck; it was too small and stifling. I needed fresh air and a moment alone. I needed a bath to wash away the blood, the sweat, and the stench of fear. I needed—
“Don’t worry, Lei,” Evelyn said gently, interrupting my panicked thoughts. “It’s going to be fine. I’m going to protect you.”
My eyes flew open just in time to see her reaching for me, more than likely to give me a reassuring pat or a comforting squeeze. The thought of it, of being treated or thought of like a useless child again, sent my emotions into overdrive, and I did something I’d never done before, never thought of doing before.
I slapped Evelyn’s arm away.
“Stop it!” I cried. “I’m not a child. It’s not my fault I don’t know how to use a gun. It’s not my fault I don’t know the first thing about surviving out here. It’s not my fault that I’m not as strong as you, or as brave. And it’s not my fault that I’m weak!”