Praying for Rain (Praying for Rain Trilogy, #1)(59)

A howl rises over the sound of burning metal, pushing us to move faster.

“You okay, man?” Wes asks Lamar, changing the subject. He doesn’t want to talk about what we might find inside this place any more than I do.

Lamar just nods, staring straight ahead. Quint’s smart-ass little brother hasn’t said a word since he came to, but at least he can walk. And follow directions. That’s actually an improvement for him.

When we get to the bottom of the ramp, we find a chain-link fence circling the perimeter of the mall property. The sounds of gunshots, terrified screams, and revving engines fill the air—probably Pritchard City rioters, based on the direction of the noise—but they obviously don’t care about looting the mall.

They’re smart enough to know there’s nothing left to loot.

We walk along the fence until we find a spot that’s been flattened. Then, we cross the parking lot and head toward what used to be the main entrance.

We pass a few cars with For Sale signs in their broken windows, kick a few hypodermic needles along the way, and eventually make it to a row of tinted glass doors. One has been broken out already, which makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

We’re not the first ones here.

The bulldozer hood won’t fit through the door, so we set it down on the sidewalk and stare at each other.

“I’ll go first,” Wes says, pulling the gun from his holster.

“I’m going with you,” I announce before glancing over at Lamar. “You stay with him.”

But Lamar’s not listening. He’s staring at his big brother like he hung the moon.

And then fell from it.

“Don’t you dare touch that glass,” I add, pointing to Quint’s neck. “He’ll bleed out. Do you hear me?”

Lamar nods once but still doesn’t look up.

When I turn back toward Wes, I expect him to argue with me about coming with him, but he doesn’t. He simply offers his elbow for me to take and gives me a sad, exhausted, exquisite smile.

“No fight?” I ask, wrapping my hand around his tattooed bicep.

Wes kisses the top of my head. “No fight,” he whispers. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

Something in his words makes my cheeks flush. I should be afraid of walking into an abandoned mall with no electricity at night in the middle of a fake apocalypse, but as Wes tucks me behind his back and pulls the broken door open, the only thing I feel is a giddy, girlie sense of belonging. I would follow this man to the ends of the earth, and the fact that he’s willing to let me only makes me love him more.

Wes guides us through the open door and eases it closed with the tiniest click. We tiptoe over the broken glass like professionals, and Wes leads the way with his gun stretched out in front of us. The shopping mall is pitch-black inside, but the sound of people talking in the distance has me gripping his arm even tighter.

I tug on his good shoulder and push up to my tiptoes so that my mouth is level with his ear. “Do you hear that?” I whisper. “It sounds like they’re in the food court. Maybe, if we hide out in that first store by the entrance, they won’t know we’re—”

“Freeze!” a man shouts from the end of the hall.

Instinctively, I hold my hands up and step in front of Wes. “Please,” I shout back even though I can’t see who I’m speaking to. “Our friends outside are hurt. We just need a place to spend the night.”

“Rainbow?” His voice softens, and I recognize it instantly.

It’s one I’ve heard say my name a thousand different times in a thousand different ways. It’s one I never thought I’d hear again, and after I met Wes, never wanted to. It’s the voice of the boy who left me behind.

“Carter?”

I thought April twenty-fourth was going to be a new beginning.

Turns out, it’s just the beginning of the end.