Year One (Chronicles of The One #1)(99)

Kim leaned up in her seat, gestured. “Is that a mall?”

“Yeah. Indoor/outdoor place. Kind of an outlet.”

“Could be handy. Have you hit it yet?”

Now Aaron turned slightly in his seat. “We tried a few weeks ago. Another group had claimed it. They weren’t friendly.”

“You’ll find Aaron has a tendency to … underplay,” Jonah decided. “They started shooting at us before we’d even turned into the parking lot. About, what, twenty of them?”

Aaron moved his shoulders. “About. What they lacked in strategy, they made up for in firepower. If they’d waited until we’d gone into the lot, they might have picked us off.”

“It’s worth another look, right? Twenty people probably didn’t strip it,” Poe pointed out. “And maybe they’ve moved on. I mean, why live in a mall when there are houses?”

Jonah sent Aaron—who said nothing—a sidelong look. Sighed. “Aaron’s mentioned that, a few damn times. We’ll circle back after the hospital.”

*

As Jonah’s group turned off toward the hospital, Eddie stared out the side window of the scouting pickup. “There should be more people. And yeah, I know I’ve said that before, but, man, there should be more people. How far have we gone?”

“Twelve miles. Not far.”

“Maybe another ten, then we should check out some of the side roads. Maybe we’ll find another settlement like ours, get some word of what the fuck from anybody who’s come up from the south.”

Before Eddie had finished the sentence, Flynn whipped the wheel right, rattled the truck onto a skinny road that immediately curved hard right.

“Jesus, Flynn! I said—”

“Engines.” He pulled the truck off the road, stopped it where the curve and the trees blocked it from the main road. “Wait.”

Flynn jogged over a hillock, then—and though he’d seen it plenty now, Eddie still gaped when Flynn simply merged into one of the trees.

Sort of … became the tree. A weird-ass, and, hell, pretty damn cool elf thing.

But it still gave him the way-out willies to watch it happen.

“Just hold on, boys. Stay,” Eddie ordered Lupa and Joe as he eased out of the truck, crouching beside it with his rifle ready.

He heard the engines now, bikes mostly to his ear. That deep, throaty roar. Coming hard, coming fast. By the tree—in the frigging tree—Flynn would have an unobstructed view of the road.

Eddie hoped he wouldn’t have to use the rifle; was resigned to using it. He’d shot a man—a big, burly Raider—during an attack on their group south of Charles Town, West Virginia.

It wasn’t a moment he’d ever forget. It wasn’t an act he wanted to repeat.

But …

The roaring built, blasted, then began to fade. On a shaky breath, Eddie pushed to his feet.

Flynn slid out of the tree. “Raiders.”

“You sure?”

“Five motorcycles—three of them doubled with women riding pillion. A truck, four inside, two in the bed. A camper. I could only see two in it. Skull and crossbones painted on the side. They had a naked man strapped to the roof of the camper. Dead.”

“Christ. Just when you think the world can’t get more fucked-up. Good ears, dude.”

Elf ears, Eddie thought, which meant he might not have to kill anybody today.

“They’re heading away from New Hope, so that’s something.” Relieved, Eddie looked back toward the truck. “Might as well keep on this road, right? No point taking a chance of them turning around. No point taking on that many.”

“We should walk first.”

“Because?”

“They can hear engines, too. And some of these plants?” Flynn gestured to the small grove of trees. “The wildflowers and weeds? They can be useful. We should dig some up.”

“Supposed to be scouting, not gardening.” But Eddie signaled to the dogs so they leaped out of the bed of the truck as Flynn moved into the trees. “Gotta be some houses back through here,” he continued as Flynn crouched down to dig with his knife. “Not on scavenging either, but it doesn’t hurt to look. Somebody might be holed up. It ain’t right nobody’s nowhere.”

Lupa let out a soft, warning growl that had Flynn rearing up, stumbling back as the girl flashed out of a tree, knife slicing.

Eddie lifted his rifle, lowered it as Flynn danced back a second time. “Uh-uh, just no. I’m not shooting at some kid!”

“She’s old enough to slice me open,” Flynn snapped back.

Lupa solved the problem by leaping up, knocking the girl back, standing on her shoulders while she sucked in the air the fall had stolen.

Flynn moved fast enough to blur, wrenched the knife out of her hand before she could jab it at Lupa.

“He won’t hurt you. We won’t hurt you.”

She aimed a fierce look at Flynn out of golden brown eyes. “Don’t touch me. If you do, I’ll hurt you.”

“Nobody’s touching nobody.” Eddie swung the rifle back over his shoulder, held both hands up. “Everybody chill, okay?”

Joe bellied over to her, licked her face. Her lips trembled as she closed her eyes.

Flynn sheathed his knife, stuck hers in his belt. He crouched, put a hand on Lupa’s head.