Cruel World(51)

The afternoon passed into evening uneventfully. Quinn stood at the front bedroom window that faced the hidden ocean and listened for nearly an hour, one of the AR-15s leaning against the wall. No gunshots or yells or even a car engine filtered into the small development. The surrounding neighborhood was quiet as well, with only squirrels and birds moving among the branches of the trees. What had happened to the brothers? Were they dead now because of his actions? Probably. But what choice did he have? In the recesses of his heart he knew that given the chance, the two men would’ve gunned them all down for the contents of their vehicle.

Movement drew his attention on the next street over, and he pulled a pair of small binoculars to his eyes that he’d rested on the windowsill.

A stilt walked down the center of the neighboring street, its elongated head stuck forward, sharp shoulder blades jutting in the evening sun. It didn’t look his way and continued south, stopping only to sniff the air once before disappearing through a garden in a large house’s backyard.

“Anything?”

His hands lost their grip on the binoculars, and he barely caught them before they clattered to the floor. He shook his head and turned to find Alice standing in the doorway.

“Sorry I startled you.”

“It’s okay. One of them just went by on the next street over.”

“Really?” She came into the room, stopping next to him so that her shoulder brushed his upper arm. “Let me see,” she said, holding out a hand for the binoculars. He gave them to her and she scanned the houses and sidewalks methodically. Quinn looked at her, how dark her hair was compared to her skin. The delicate bones in her wrists. He’d never noticed someone’s wrists before. She dropped the binoculars from her eyes and he glanced away, surveying the same area she had.

“I don’t see anything now,” she said.

“No, I think it kept going.”

“One of them wouldn’t be as much of a problem as a pack. We could handle one of them.”

“Yep, they die just like we do. Where’s Ty?”

“Sleeping. I made a bed in the room across the hall for him.”

“Good. Did you see I parked the Tahoe below the window?”

“Yeah, why?”

“If we have to leave in the middle of the night, we can go out the window and land on the top of it. Then we don’t have to go out the back door. Easy escape route.”

Alice appraised him, jutting her bottom lip out like he’d seen her do when she agreed with something.

“That works. You already checked the window?”

“Yeah, it opens nice and wide, and it’s already unlocked.”

“Good. We’ll find another vehicle we can take tomorrow before we go look for mom.”

Quinn hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. When do you want to go?”

“In the morning, before noon. That’ll give us enough time to get somewhere safe by sundown, and for you to get home.” She looked at him, and he kept his face slack, not meeting her gaze but instead watching the quiet homes across the street.

“Perfect,” he finally said.

“Perfect,” she echoed and moved to the door. “I’ll get some food going.” He nodded once and heard her move down the hallway to the stairs. His eyes roamed the cars lining the second street over. A shadow was slumped against the steering wheel of a late model minivan. Unmoving. The entire world seemed to have stilled in the evening light.

“Perfect,” he said to the empty room.

~

They ate sitting on the floor of the kitchen, Ty at Alice’s side and Quinn across from them. Quinn’s meal was a type of Mediterranean chicken, spicy and not at all dry like he’d thought it would be. Although they weren’t able to warm the food in anything since there were no appliances in the house, everyone’s food disappeared quickly, and there was little talk between bites. When they finished, Alice wrapped the disposable containers in a garbage bag she found beneath the kitchen sink and set it in a corner.

“To keep the smell down,” she said when he looked at the bag.

They moved into the living room, and Quinn opened one of the windows looking out into the front yard, leaning his rifle against the wall beside it. Alice brought a blanket from the small pile of supplies in the kitchen and draped it over Ty, who smiled as she sat down beside him on the living room floor.

“It’s going to get cold tonight,” Alice said, hugging Ty close to her side. Quinn glanced at her and then at the gas fireplace mounted in the living room wall.