100 Days in Deadland (Deadland Saga, #1)(13)

“So?”

I shrugged. “No reason, I guess.” I swallowed and redialed the number I called nearly every day of my adult life. I tried not to think about how my parents could’ve been calling my phone over and over and not getting an answer. And if they hadn’t been trying to call…I tried not to think about that at all.

After the fourth ring, the call went to voicemail. My heart panged.

Hi. You’ve reached the Ryans. We can’t come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, we’ll return your call as soon as possible.

I took a deep breath and tried to sound cheerful. “Hey, Mom and Dad. I hope you’re okay. I wanted to let you know that I’m out of town and safe. And I’ll see you soon.” I went to hang up, then added, “I love you.”

I also sent a text message to them before I opened my email though the phone’s web browser. Nothing but the usual spam. I sent off a quick email, filling my parents in on where I was and assuring them I was safe. I left out the parts about Melanie and Alan and sleeping tied up the night before.

With that done, I handed the phone back to Clutch. “Thanks.”

He gave me an almost gentle look before he reached behind him and plugged the phone back into its charger.

I thought back to the gunshot this morning. “Any zeds pass through the area yet?”

He paused. “Just one.”

Something in the way he spoke made me look up. “You knew him, didn’t you?”

After a moment, he gave a tight nod.

“Sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

After that, the news reporter’s voice was the only sound as I finished my breakfast. The military had set up roadblocks and bombed bridges, but I suspected Clutch was right. They were facing a losing battle at containing the zeds.

The reporter ran through a list of every major city considered no longer viable, which was government-speak for saying the military had pulled out and the city had been overrun by zeds. He could’ve saved ten minutes by saying nowhere was safe, because there didn’t seem a city left unaffected in the States. Contact had even been lost with Hawaii and was spotty with Europe and Asia. The northern parts of Canada and Alaska seemed to be the only places still keeping ahead of the outbreak, and I imagined masses of survivors were heading north already.

Clutch got to his feet, and I moved into action, taking his plate and heading into the kitchen to clean up. He disappeared down the hall, reemerging once I’d finished, with knives and guns strapped to his chest, waist, and thighs. Yesterday, I would’ve been terrified. Today, I felt protected. He may be dumping me off, but at least I’d be safe as long as I was still with him.

Which wouldn’t be for much longer.

A sense of doom weighed me down as I laced up my stained Docs, tucking the long johns into the boots. I tied the oversized shirt at my waist so it wouldn’t get in the way in case I had to run.

Coming to full height at over a half-foot above me, Clutch nodded, and I followed him silently out of the house and toward the big rig. Every step I took dripped dread onto my veins. When we reached the truck, he opened the passenger door and climbed up and inside. I waited under the sunshine, leaning against the tin building, while he spent the next several minutes examining the cab. Done, he hopped out and looked me up and down.

My muscles tensed, and I held my breath. Clutch would send me off on my own soon. While I wanted to make sure my parents were safe, I couldn’t imagine how I’d possibly get to them without getting myself killed. I’d barely gotten out of town yesterday. To head back to the city after a day of those things infecting others…I shivered.

“We need to get you gloves if you’re going to help hang boards over the windows. Those hands of yours will get all sliced up otherwise.”

It took me a long moment before his words sank in, and my clenched jaw inched open. Without thinking, I squealed and hugged him. “Thank you!”

I let go about the time he pushed me away.

I held out my hands. “I won’t let you down. I swear it.”

“It’s just for another two days,” he said, holding up two fingers. “As I told you before, I don’t have the supplies to take in an orphan. Then you’ll be on your own. Got it?”

I nodded, hoping, praying that I’d be able to convince him otherwise within two days. “Deal.”

“Okay, Cash,” he drawled. “Let’s get this place secure.”

****

Three days later…



Clutch and I got along just fine. His clothes were huge on me, but it was nothing that an extra hole in one of his tactical belts couldn’t fix. He liked things quiet. When he did talk, he barked out military jargon and acronyms I didn’t know. I felt the nervous need to fill the silence. Even with a bad shoulder, he was a hell of a lot stronger than me. Without caffeine, headaches shortened my temper. When Clutch ran out of chewing tobacco two days ago, he got cranky.

But I never complained. Not once, even though more than once I had to walk away to cool down.

After all, Clutch was the only thing that stood between me and a world full of zeds.

“When the power goes out, we can’t count on the generator. It’s damn fussy and works only some of the time, and when it works it’s noisy as all hell,” Clutch said while we worked on setting up an early warning system around the perimeter. “As soon as we use up the perishables in the freezer, we’re going to have to ration.”