Two Alive, стр. 94
“They said dinner was BBQ beans and cornbread again.” Castle chuckled.
“I love BBQ beans.” Burrows laughed and both the men started laughing.
Miles looked around through the trees and even though they were safe for the time being, he still felt like they were being too loud. But he didn’t want to tell them to be quiet and get in anymore trouble or make anyone else mad at him. Lance hadn’t stopped giving him the evil eye and it made Miles feel uneasy. When they came to a tree with shrubbery and leaves piled up, Miles found his and Antonio’s bikes, buried and hidden away.
Miles stood his bike up and looked at Alana, “Sorry I squeezed your hand so hard. I just wanted to protect you.”
Alana nodded, “Thanks. But it’s ok. I can protect myself too.”
“Nobody is going to protect you from your dad when we get back.” Julia snapped and crossed her arms.
Alana just rolled her eyes in silent protest.
“Do you want to ride my brother’s bike? I don’t think he’ll mind.” Miles grabbed the other handle and offered the mountain bike. Alana shook her head and turned him down.
“So, what, you get a bike and we have to walk?” Lance put his hands on his hips. “How far do we have to go?”
“Not far. I just… I can’t remember the way without my bike.” Miles said back.
Castle scoffed at him, “Don’t you remember anything? Do you even know where you’re going?”
“Castle! Do you want to wait back at the van?” Julia threatened.
Both Miles and Castle said no at the same time. “I can’t keep track of everyone if we’re separated.” Miles said. “I have to keep track of everyone.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t gonna stay at the van anyway. Which way kid?” Castle pushed on and Burrows followed, both men taking the lead.
“Stay together please. Don’t go too far from your partner.” Miles called after the men but they kept on, followed by Manson, Lance and Clint.
“Don’t worry mio, we’ll stay together.” Torrez said to the boy. “You’re the map. You know where to go.”
Miles smiled and nodded. Then he went off, wheeling his bike while following Burrows and Castle, leading from behind them. He pointed left and right and told them where to go and what to look for. Miles directed the group through the woods, moving cautiously and pointing them in the safest directions. There weren’t any infected in sight, but Miles was still cautious. He warned Dr. Manson about getting too close to a body slumped up against a tree, but the doctor didn’t listen and still took swabs from the corpse’s wounds. Burrows and Castle were loud and obnoxious, hooting and laughing at any dumb joke made between the two of them. Even after Miles warned them again to be quiet, they just continued on.
Lance wouldn’t stop second guessing everything the boy said. If Miles said go left, Lance asked what was right. When Miles said go right, Lance asked why they went left in the first place. He was eager to find what remained of his wife and urged Miles on like a tracking hound.
“C’mon, which way now? Where are we even going?” Lance stopped to look around but could see nothing but trees in every direction.
“We’re going the right way. We just keep going this way.” Miles pointed straight ahead. “We just keep going this way.”
“Are you sure? We’ve been going this way for what seems like hours!”
Miles laughed, “It’s still early though.” He looked up at the sun high above, pouring light through the branches. “It’s still early. There’s plenty of time to find your people and get back before it gets dark.”
“So if there’s so much time, then why do we have to rush back in such a hurry.” Manson was clutching his duffle bag strap across his chest, making his way through the brush and looking out through the thicket. “We should venture out and find more samples of the virus.”
“What are you going to do with the samples Dr. Manson?” Alana asked, keeping her distance from Julia who wasn’t far behind her.
“I plan to make a cure of course.” Manson replied matter-of-factly.
“A cure? For real?” Clint stumbled and tripped over a rock, too busy trying to hear more from the scientist and not looking where he was going.
Torrez helped the one-eyed man up, “You ok old timer.”
Clint thanked him and dusted himself off, “You can make a cure… Dr. Manson?”
Manson simply responded, “Ha.” Then went quiet for a long time while the group continued on.
“Is… is that a yes or a no?” Clint asked hesitantly.
“Of course I can make a cure. It’s actually quite fortunate that someone like me has been able to survive this long and get this opportunity. All the scientific minds that where in the cities trying to come up with some explanation to the cause of this virus are all most likely dead. If not from the infection, then from riots and looting and the collapse of government. I’m the world’s only hope now.”
Julia rolled her eyes, “Ay dios mio.”
Manson looked back at her briefly then turned away, “You’ll thank me one day, doctor.”
“I’m sure I will, Bob.”
Manson went quiet.
“There is no cure.” Lance said after a few beats. “Whatever the hell this thing is, it’ll kill everybody off until there’s nothing left. And whoever’s left will just have to dig their way out from under the bodies.”
Everyone looked at Lance feeling the pessimistic vibe. “Poetic.” Torrez said with a raised eyebrow. “Even if it’s dark as hell.”
“The old man said the world would go back to the way it was.” Miles said, still looking up. “It would go back but it