The Life Beyond by Susanne Winnacker Read Free Book Online Page A

something.”
    “You
are
doing something. Mom and Mia need someone to take care of them.”
    “But that’s not enough. You’ve risked too much already. Please, Sherry, let me go with Joshua to the other side. You can go back and look after Mia and Mom.”
    He looked so desperate but he was asking for the impossible. I put my hand on his shoulder. “Bobby, I have to go with Joshua. We know what we’re doing. I don’t think you realize what you’d be getting yourself into. And besides, Joshua would never agree.”
    “But —” he began, his voice pleading.
    “No,” I said finally. “Promise me you’ll be strong for Mom and Mia. They need you more than I do.”
    He shook off my hand. “Okay,” he muttered. Keeping his head down, he loaded his arms with water bottles and walked out.
    A twinge of pity went through me. Taking the last water bottle I went outside to Rachel. “Here, drink some water,” I said, holding it out to her. She took the bottle but didn’t drink any of it.
    Joshua and Tyler were bent over the engine of a baby blue Ford Mustang, covered in dust and rust. I walked over to them.
    “It’s not working, is it?” I whispered.
    Joshua straightened with a sigh. “It needs oil.”
    I nodded toward the oil bottles scattering the ground. “What about them?”
    “Useless. They’ve been in the sun for years.”
    “Let’s look inside. We need to look for cameras and food anyway,” I said.
    “Don’t worry,” Tyler said. “I’ve got this covered. I’ll search the gas station for tools. I think I can fix it.”
    Joshua slung a backback over his shoulder and took my hand. “We’ll be back soon,” I said, my eyes on Bobby, who sat beside Rachel. He didn’t look up.
    Joshua didn’t speak as we walked toward the entrance to the large Walmart. Our steps rang out over the empty parking lot. Eventually I couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Are you angry with me?”
    “Not at you. But your brother —” He shook his head.
    “I know. It was stupid of him,” I said. “But I do understand.”
    “You do?”
    “Yes. Put yourself in his situation. What would you have done?”
    Joshua laughed. “I’d have ignored all warnings and gone on my own rescue mission.”
    “Exactly.”
    The entrance loomed a few steps in front of us. I pulled my gun, and Joshua and I slowed. The ragged remains of the broken glass front glittered in the sunlight like fangs. We stepped inside.
    Most of the shop was dark. I couldn’t make out more than dim, shadowy outlines. Joshua turned on his flashlight as we walked further in. Everything looked eerily neat and tidy, with only a few items littering the floor. Apparently there hadn’t been enough survivors in this area to raid the store.
    “Where should we head first?” I whispered.
    “Pharmacy. I think it’s over there.” He pointed the beam of the flashlight toward a sign a little way down that said “Prescriptions”. I stayed close to Joshua. Except for the glow from the flashlight everything was black. Joshua shone the beam on the row of small packages and pill bottles. I didn’t recognize most of the drugs.
    “What will help Rachel?” I asked, anxiously.
    “I’m not sure,” Joshua said.
    My fingers froze on a pack of Tamiflu. I grabbed all the remaining packs and stuffed them into Joshua’s backpack. I picked up bottles of pills I’d never heard of and thrust them at Joshua, desperately. Without a word he stuffed them in our bag, before taking my hands in his. In the dim light, his face looked grim and hopeless. “That’s enough, Sherry.”
    I nodded, suddenly aware that my hands were shaking.
    “Come on, we need to look for cameras and food,” said Joshua, putting his arm around me for a moment.
    We were silent as we crept through dark rows of cleaning supplies and toilet paper. A promotional display was stacked with chocolate bars as high as my shoulder. Maybe they were better than the one in the gas station store. At least, these had