WILLA, стр. 27

Sam and I should’ve complained and argued that it wasn’t fair when Uncle Jamie finally decided to take Chase out of the rotation. Still, we’d known we were safer without the boy assuming responsiblity for our safety.

“When are you leaving?” Chase asked without a bit of concern.

“In about an hour, so anything you need to do before I go, do it.”

Chase left the table and went to the bathroom.

“If I’m not back by tomorrow afternoon,” Uncle Jamie told Sam and me, “leave. Head out of town. Go east. The creatures seem to be moving west. So go east.”

“Do you have a destination in mind?” Sam asked.

“No.”

“Well, we need a meeting place to wait for you.”

“If I don’t make it back here, then I’m probably dead. Don’t wait for me any longer than twenty-four hours.”

“But...” Sam started to say.

“No buts. You get as far away from here as you can. Stay out of the cities.”

“What do we do for food?” I asked.

“You’ll have enough to last a few days if you ration appropriately. After that, you’ll have to start looking for some. Try the stores first. Most will be empty, but you’ll have a better chance of not dying than you would if you broke into someone’s house.”

“There can’t be a lot of live people left, can there?” Sam asked.

“We’ve survived. Nearly our entire family was alive until a month ago. If we can hold out this long, then others can too.”

“I see your point,” Sam said, looking down at the table in resignation.

“Promise me that the two of you will look out for Chase.  I think that once he’s out of this house, he’ll come back to reality. But if he doesn’t, keep him safe. Keep yourselves safe,” Uncle Jamie said.

“You keep talking like you don’t expect to come back. Are you leaving us?” I asked.

“No, I’m not leaving, not for good anyway. I’m just going after supplies, but going to the market isn’t as simple as it used to be. Anything could happen to me outside this house. We have to plan for the worst. I don’t like it any more than you do, but it is what it is. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said, brushing away a tear. “I’m going to prep the closet.”

I hurriedly left the table.

The last time we’d stayed in the closet, we’d slept most of the time, and it had been uncomfortable. The area was large enough for the three of us to lay side-by-side, but what we hadn’t done was bring pillows or blankets or anything else in there with us.

I had Chase help me drag one of the mattresses into the closet once he was out of the bathroom. After that, we spread blankets, pillows, books, and weapons around the area. We purposefully didn’t put any food or water in there. We didn’t want to eat what was left out of boredom. Nor did we want to drink so much that we had to use the bathroom too often.

If Uncle Jamie were gone longer than the day, we’d have to sneak out for food. We’d gone long periods without eating or drinking, but not more than about eight or ten hours. We would be all right. In the old world, none of us would have had the self-control to ration, but it didn’t take us long to get used to it.

As promised, Uncle Jamie left forty-five minutes later. We were already in the closet when we heard the lock click. The three of us fell asleep half an hour later. Between training and guard duty, our closet time would be the longest any of us had slept in a long while. Exercising that much with very little food and water in your system was exhausting.

The three of us hadn’t been asleep for more than a few hours when we jerked awake at the sound of the front door smashing against the floor above us. Chase and I yelped, but thankfully, not loud enough for our intruders to hear.

I longed for a time when I could wake up on my own and not to the sounds of gunfire, screams, or breaking wood.

“What’s happening?” Chase whispered.

Sam’s only reply was to shake his head and point at the house above us.

I reached for our guns.