“No.”
Zach started eating in a hurry.
“Slow down, Zach. Even if you finish, you’re not excused.”
Zach groaned.
“I asked Zach and Brenna to go on the supply run today to find birth control. These pills will help prevent pregnancy. At my age, it’s a risk to have more children. Do you understand what that means, Uan? If you choose to be with me, I can’t give you kids. You won’t have children of your own.”
He looked at us then Mom.
“I will have children of my own. I will have Brenna and Zach.”
Chapter Six
I washed the pot and wondered what would happen next. Mom had her pills and Uan’s definite interest. Hearing that she wouldn’t ever have his baby hadn’t scared him off.
Glancing over my shoulder, I considered the pair as they sat on the back porch. Mom was bundled up in a blanket on Uan’s lap. Their heads were close as they talked to each other. I was glad she had someone.
“How soon before she gives him the green light to move in, you think?” Zach said, taking the pot to dry.
“Probably not very long. A few days at most. She’ll want to give him some time to change his mind.”
“Do any of them ever say no?”
I snorted.
“Not that I’ve ever seen.”
“What are you going to call him?”
“Uan for a while. Dad, if he deserves it.”
“Really?”
“You heard Mom. We’ll be the only kids he’ll have. I think he’d like being called Dad.”
Zach was quiet for a minute.
“If he deserves it,” he agreed.
After we finished up with the dishes, I went through the cupboards to look at our supplies.
“Damn. This is amazing.”
Zach grinned.
“Two full totes, one for each of us. And, I got to pick what went in them.”
He’d organized everything by type, putting the canned goods in a lower cupboard and the boxed stuff in the upper cupboards. We even had two bags of flour and other baking ingredients.
My mouth started to water for the biscuits that I knew Mom would make.
I paced the back of the truck, moving to keep warm. I’d gotten smarter each trip, not just about how I did things but about how the supply runs were handled in general. On the second trip to Harrisonville, we’d approached from the north. Garrett had explained that the group never came in for supply runs from the same direction twice because of infected traps. The infected were getting too smart. We’d left with more supplies than the day before, thanks to a supercenter, and I had managed to stay on the roof without freezing my ass off. To top my amazing day, Thallirin hadn’t tried to talk to me during our trek home on foot, and Mom had made biscuits.
Thinking of the flaky treat, I pulled a wrapped biscuit from my pocket and took a bite. Even cold, it was amazing.
My footsteps were quiet as I turned, scanned the surrounding trees, and walked the length of the truck trailer. While two of the trucks were the canvas-backed military kind, the third was hard-backed. The cargo bay kept the humans warmer and safer, and the solid surface made it possible for me to move around when on guard duty.
A thick tree to the right caught my attention. I didn’t stop to stare but kept moving, noting it again during my sweeping glance.
“An infected is watching us from the south,” I said quietly. “It’s standing against the tree.”
Thallirin, who was on the south side, scanned the trees.
“I see it. Two others behind it.”
He jogged over to the other fey and spoke quietly. That fey nodded and took off at a sprint toward the trees. The infected I’d noted didn’t move, not even when the fey reached the tree line. It just stood still for its death. Frowning, I looked around. Nothing else moved.
“That was weird.”
“Why?”
I looked down at Thallirin.
“The ones smart enough to watch us are also smart enough to run. Why was it watching, and why didn’t it run when it knew it was spotted?”
He grunted and continued to patrol the area.
I put away my biscuit, more alert now, and glanced at the position of the sun. It’d been at least two hours since the main group had left for town. My gaze shifted to the houses in the distance. It had been a long wait on the first two runs, too. But we hadn’t seen any infected before. At least, not out by the trucks. Did seeing them mean it was worse in there?
My stomach twisted with worry, and I wished I was with Zach. We knew how to look for supplies. How to watch out for each other. I knew Ryan wasn’t his sister, but I couldn’t help but feel a little mistrust toward him at that moment. Would he place as much value on Zach’s safety as I would? Probably not.
I stopped pacing and rolled my shoulders.
“Are you cold?” Thallirin asked.
“No. Worried. I wish I was with Zach.”
“He will be safe.”
I looked down at Thallirin.
“If you’re so sure of that, then why am I up here and not out there?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. We both knew Zach’s safety was no more a guarantee than mine.
Moving again, I paced with greater purpose, as if my effort would hurry the clock. When the first runner appeared, coated with steaming gore, my throat tightened.
“We cleared four blocks,” he said, scooping up snow to rub over his face. “There were more infected. Ryan wants us to bring two trucks closer to hurry the loading.”
Two of the fey jumped into the driver’s seats of the supply trucks and rumbled away before I could scramble off the trailer roof. I watched them turn, then back up toward the start of the neighborhood. Did they think we would need to leave fast?
I hurried toward the roof of the cab, sliding down the windshield to the hood. Thallirin hovered, ready to catch me if I fell. I ignored him and monkeyed my way down the grille and bumper.
“I don’t drive stick,” I said, “But I think we need to turn this one around, too.”
Thallirin walked over and opened the passenger door, waiting for me to get in.
I could waste time and say I’d keep watch from the outside, or I could get inside so he moved it faster. Looking at the flurry of activity around the two distant trucks, I hustled toward the door. His hand rested on my back, helping me as I stepped up into the cab. I didn’t complain. The step was slick with cold and snow, and I’d almost slipped.
“Do you think those infected were lookouts? Are more coming?” I asked as soon as Thallirin got in.
“You’re safe.”
I rolled my eyes at his placating non-answer, like I was some child needing reassurance, and watched as he started the truck and began the process of a Y-turn. How could a creature with no prior knowledge of vehicles already know how to drive a stick after a few months when I’d been on this planet for almost eighteen years and still couldn’t drive one? The fey made me feel like such an underachiever at times.
As soon as the truck was facing the other direction, Thallirin got out, leaving it to idle. I swiveled in my seat to watch what was happening. As far as I could tell, the trucks were being loaded as fast as hell. Several fey were running our way with people in their arms.