Z Children (Book 2): The Surge by Eli Constant, B.V. Barr Read Free Book Online Page B

more down. Then
one kid and three adults…reload. Three floors only took me seconds to navigate and
then I was at the door.
    Looking
up, I could see movement coming down from a higher floor…fast. So, ready or not,
I opened the door and stepped through into what I was sure would be more chaos,
more killing.
    * * *
     
    VIRGINIA
    “How
long will this take?” I couldn’t keep the nervousness out of my voice and I
knew I wasn’t instilling any confidence in Bonnie. We were standing in the damn
open. Ranger was not happy about it. and neither was I. Jesus, who
the hell is the adult in this scenario? The kid’s got more guts than I do. I’m
a middle-aged woman, for Christ’s sake. Act like it.
    “I’ve
never done this before, Gin. How am I supposed to know? We’re sitting here
sucking fuel through a sink hose and filling Clorox and milk jugs. It’s not
like I’m a wizard who can wave his wand and magically put fuel from one vehicle
to another. We just need to keep doing it until we have enough.”
    I
could hear her aggravation with me. It made my neck hairs rise in indignation,
but I can also understand. “I know, I know. God, I’m sorry. I’m just being a
nervous nelly.”
    “I’m
the kid. Shouldn’t I be the one acting all fidgety and scared?” She rolled her
eyes at me and exchanged a filled jug for an empty one. “If we separate and you
start taking these to the Hummer, then we could get it done faster.”
    “No.
We aren’t separating.” The thought of not being together, that scared the
living hell out of me. I was worried for myself, of course, but I wouldn’t let
anything happen to this little girl—yellow-bellied coward that I was. Maybe
that’s the real reason I disliked war—I was never brave enough to put myself on
the line, to face what could be the long kiss goodnight. I looked down at the
ground, mildly ashamed, but more than anything, settling into the acceptance
that I’d never be someone like JW. I could only be me, as brave as Virginia
Lynn could be. I’d faced death, been the cause of death. I’d saved people, kept
kids healthy. There was sort of a hero buried inside of me. I could rise to the
occasion now. Be better than I was.
    Focusing,
I looked at the three jugs left to fill before we had to trek over and empty
them to start again. At least we had the shopping cart so we didn’t have to
make more than one trip to take them all. It was pure luck that it had been on
the side of the street, full to the brim with empty recyclables—some of which
we were able to add to the jugs we’d salvaged and emptied from the hotel to
fill with gas—and two unopened jars of cat food. Maybe a homeless person’s
haul? Whoever it was from, for whatever reason it was left behind, I was
grateful.
    “Okay.
It’s not like I want to, but you want to get his done as quick as possible.
There isn’t another way.”
    “We.
Are. Not. Separating, Bonnie.” I moved closer to her and bent down so that my
body was a protective shield…not that there was anything around to protect her
from right now, but it made me feel less cowardly, like I had a little touch of
bravery in my body. God, I never thought of myself as someone who’d be so
irrational and fearful in a bad situation. I’d worked in ERs before, why
couldn’t I muster up that kind of response and resolve out here? Even with that
family, The Gadsons—my mind flashed back to the Mormons who thought the good
book would save them—I’d had some thought to try and help them. Of course, in
the end, I’d tucked tail and run. Definitely not cut out for the military .
    “Fine,
fine. No separating. But I’m not a baby, you know. I can manage.” Bonnie’s
voice was a bit sullen, but there was a touch of something else also.
Gratefulness perhaps? Grateful that the world wasn’t so gone that she had to
completely stop being a kid.
    I
watched as she exchanged containers again. To feel useful, I transferred the
full ones into the buggy. Eight,