Two blocks later, I slowed when I saw the entrance to Coby’s favorite toy store. He’d play with the train sets in there for hours if Dad let him. Brooks and Lonnie paused, looking back at me.

  “How many people survived?” I asked them.

  Lonnie shrugged a shoulder and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. “No one really knows, Janie.”

  “But not many,” Brooks added. His voice wasn’t harsh; it was matter-of-fact. “Most of the survivors were taken into government custody immediately. The people the military pulled out of places like this have been dead a long time, for the most part.”

  “Not all of them,” I said, remembering the hills of bodies from my first trip through the city.

  Lonnie shook his head slowly. “No, not all of them.”

  I started walking again, eyes glued to Lu and Jackson’s backs. Lonnie and Brooks walked on either side of me. “So why didn’t everyone give themselves over when everything started falling apart?”

  “It’s not easy, giving up everything you love to live at shelter,” Lonnie said. “It’s a one-way ticket. Word spread about that pretty fast.”

  I sighed in frustration. “Why? Why can’t people just come and go?”

  How the hell was I supposed to get Coby out?

  “It makes sense, if you think about it,” Brooks said.

  “What makes sense?” I asked, raising my voice without meaning to. “Imprisoning people to experiment them?” The military taking Coby would never make sense, no matter what justification someone slapped on it.

  Brooks’ jaw clenched. “It makes sense to have people in a controlled environment while they study the virus.”

  Lonnie rested his hand on my shoulder. “But of course that’s no reason for them to take your brother, Janie.”

  Brooks scanned the destruction in Savannah’s streets. “You weren’t out here when the city was falling apart. Gangs moved in packs, taking whatever they found. Then they’d die in the streets, some with arms still full of loot. People were safer with the government. Most didn’t even want to leave.”

  “What happened to the ones that did want to leave?”

  “They were shut up,” Lonnie said. I turned to him in surprise. I’d never heard him sound so grim. “Imprisoned, really imprisoned, with steel bars and everything. Just for wanting to leave and see if their families were still alive.”

  A cool drop of sweat rolled down my spine as I imagined it. Fathers and mothers imprisoned for wanting to find their kids. Families shattered. Just like mine.

  I bent to roll up my pant legs for an excuse to have a moment of stillness. A warm breeze ran through the street, and even though it must’ve been a one-hundred-degree afternoon, I had chills.

  The breeze grew stronger, until it whipped the hair from my face and trash started blowing from the gutters. A sheet of paper, blown from the sidewalk into the air and a little damp, wrapped itself around my calf. I peeled it off.

  Uncle Sam’s face, covered in a white gauze mask, stared up at me from the flyer.

  EPIDEMIC! Uncle Sam proclaimed. HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS.

  Beneath the picture was a set of instructions on how to make your own gauze mask, the same as the kind I’d seen on the soldiers from the day before. I looked up at Brooks and Lonnie, who were waiting for me a few feet ahead.

  “Why don’t you wear masks like this?” I asked, flipping the page to show them.

  Brooks snorted. “They don’t help. Remember the patrol from yesterday?”

  “Yeah, they were all wearing masks.”

  He nodded. “We had to wear them in the military. Everyone did. People still died.”’

  I picked up another flyer from the sidewalk. This one was bright red and a little metallic, like it’d been designed to catch the light.

  INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL

  CIVILIANS

  ALL of Chatham County, including metropolitan Savannah, has been declared unfit for habitation. The head of each household is report to their neighborhood’s government-managed safety zone to obtain a designated temporary residence and await further instruction.

  THIS ACTION IS MANDATORY

  PERSONS FOUND TO BE IN IGNORANCE OF WILLFUL NEGLECT OF THE LAW WILL BE FORCIBLY REMOVED

  I looked up as a shadow fell over me. Brooks stood there. “Come on,” he said, jerking his head to the side. “We’ve gotta go.” I stood, letting the flyer fall through my fingers.

  I’d seen enough of Savannah to know it’d never be the same. The virus had taken everything.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It took hours to get back to the warehouse, just like I thought it would. The last few rays of sunlight were just barely peeking over the treetops when we finally ducked under the chain link fence surrounding the warehouse.

  I trudged up the stairs, feet aching with every step. Lu and Jackson had gotten here way ahead of us and had already disappeared. I tried very hard not to imagine what they were doing.

  Lonnie collapsed onto the couch with a groan, his swoop of white-blond hair clashing magnificently with the tacky green floral pattern. Brooks settled into his overstuffed recliner and kicked off his boots. He crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.

  “You know what I miss most?” Lonnie asked.

  I looked from Brooks to Lonnie and sat in the wooden chair a la 1974 and hooked my arms over the back. “What?”

  “Spas.” Lonnie lingered over the word, drawing the syllable out like if he wished hard enough, a masseuse would materialize behind him and douse him in scented oil.

  It made me smile in spite of everything. “What else do you miss?”

  Lonnie gave it some thought and then his face lit up. “Crepes. Paper-thin and stuffed with cream cheese and blueberries or gooey chocolate and strawberries then dusted with powdered sugar.” He closed his eyes, licked his lips, and moaned.

  Brooks watched with a smile before turning to me. “What about you, Cora? What do you miss?”

  My face fell. What I missed most was my family. Coby and Dad, and even Mom, though I could barely remember her. But I didn’t want to go there now. I missed other things, too. Little things, like Dad taking me for pizza after a track meet. Reading romance novels with embarrassing covers late into the night. Air conditioning.

  “I guess,” I said, struggling to find the words, “something familiar.”

  Lonnie leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Like what?”

  “A routine, you know? Knowing what I’ll be doing from day to day and knowing what’ll happen tomorrow. Even coming home from school and having an avalanche of homework that’ll be due tomorrow. Because that means there will be a tomorrow.”

  Lonnie nodded slowly and my face began to burn as I watched Brooks from the corner of my eye. He was smiling at me. It felt like I’d divulged something personal, even though I hadn’t. “And chocolate, of course,” I said to lighten the mood.

  “What do you miss?” I asked Brooks.

  The smile slid off his face. “Nothing.”

  I shook my head. Why did he have to do that?

  Lonnie, vanquisher of awkward silences, started chattering about his favorite massage oils and the absolute best crepe recipes. Brooks knew a surprising amount about French cooking and seemed happy for the distraction. I wondered if anyone in France was still alive.

  My mind drifted back to what Charlie had told me. How the military had tracked my plates and raided our home. The guilt was a stab in my stomach. As soon as Brooks and Lonnie’s conversation lulled, I gathered the courage to ask a question.

  “Do you think Brother Charlie was right?” I asked. “About the cameras?”

  “Occam’s razor, Cora,” Brooks said. “The simplest explanation is usually the correct one.”

  “And you think Brother Charlie’s is the simplest?” I asked.

  “Do you have another?” he said. I shook my head, my throat hot with tears. “Then yes, I think it’s the simplest.”

  I would not cry. Not in front of Brooks.

  He sighed and leaned back in his seat, watching me with pity. “Look, don’t blame yourself for what happened to your brother.”

  “But it’s my fault, Brooks! They traced my plates.” I dropped my head into my hands, hiding the tears that threatened to spill down my face.

  “I don’t know how you two escaped notice for so long,” he said. “But you would have been found eventually. You’re just lucky you weren’t at home when it happened… and Coby’s lucky to have someone who loves him enough to look for him.”

  “Truth,” Lonnie said.

  As the sun finally set, the warehouse grew dark.

  “Lu and Jackson will be back soon,” Brooks said, staring toward the front door.

  Lonnie bit his lip and glanced in my direction, then back to Brooks. “How do you think it went?”

  Brooks’ head snapped around to look at Lonnie. “I’m sure they’ll tell us.” His next words were directed at me. “You can have my bed again tonight.”

  I stood uncertainly. “What are Lu and Jackson doing?”

  “None of your business.”

  I bit my tongue, realizing I was being dismissed. Brooks sat there, staring at me, waiting for me to leave. A vicious desire to bite his head off warred with the equally vicious desire for a soft bed to sleep in. I finally turned my back on him.

  Lonnie mouthed sorry at me as I walked by him toward the patchwork curtain that partitioned Brooks’ room. I snapped the curtain shut behind me and tore Brooks’ sweaty t-shirt over my head before wiggling out of his baggy black jeans and tossing the sweaty, crusty clothes in the corner.

  In my backpack was a sharp pocketknife. I retrieved it and went Brooks’ dresser. Stacks of his black V-neck t-shirts and jeans filled the third drawer. I pulled out a random shirt and pair of jeans and threw them on the floor.

  How did he freaking stand to wear this crap when it was a million degrees outside? Maybe the white hair helped. I gripped the pocketknife and hacked at the legs of the jeans, a few inches above the knee. Then I cuffed them. I wouldn’t win any fashion awards, but at least I wouldn’t die of heat exhaustion.

  I picked up the t-shirt and cut off the bottom and the sleeves, widening the armhole until it was large enough to give me plenty of air. It’d fall to about an inch below my navel and probably show the band of my bra, but I didn’t care.

  It’d finally gotten too dark to see anything else, so I threw the new clothes on and crawled into Brooks’ bed, feeling a vicious satisfaction. Voices murmured on the other side of the curtain, too soft for me to understand.

  I curled into a ball on my side and shut my eyes, dreading tomorrow and missing home more than ever.

  When I woke, I knew instinctively not to move. I cracked my eyelids a tiny bit and saw that the warehouse was nearly pitch-dark. A tiny rustling came from the curtains. The scrape of the rings against metal piping. Soft footsteps crept toward the bed. My throat went tight with fear.

  I held my breath and clenched my fists. I’d be ready if someone attacked me.

  Instead, all I heard was the crinkling of plastic and something small dropped onto the bed beside me. Then the footsteps started walking away.

  I opened my eyes a little wider, straining against the darkness. There was only enough light for me to see Brooks’ back. After he pulled the curtain shut behind him, I turned over to see what he’d left on the bed.

  It was a candy bar. Milk chocolate with caramel.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I couldn’t help feeling awkward the next morning. Brooks didn’t know that I saw him leave the chocolate bar, but I still couldn’t meet his eye. He seemed happy to ignore me from his armchair, too.

  “We’ll take the bikes into town,” Lu said as she sat on the vomit green couch.

  My head snapped up. “We’re going back into town? Why?”

  Lu and Jackson exchanged a glance. “We need more information on the army’s sweeps.”

  “I thought you’d found out everything you needed to know. The cameras are why the military’s been more active. That’s why they caught me.”

  “That’s not all we need to know,” Lu said as if that closed the matter.

  “And I have to go with you.”

  “Yes,” Jackson said.

  Lonnie stood from where he’d been sitting on the floor and stretched. “You’ll love the bikes, Janie. They’re so much fun!”

  For some reason, when they said bikes I thought bicycles. Not the case. When we walked outside, I saw what they’d meant by bikes. Four slim motorcycles with tires made for off-roading were leaning against the raised concrete platform that surrounded the warehouse.

  “Dirt bikes,” Lonnie said brightly.

  “Great.”

  Hang on. I counted the bikes again. Four. “Who am I riding with?” I turned to face Lonnie with a hopeful expression. “You?”

  He cringed. “Sorry, Janie. I can barely keep myself on a bike, much less anyone else.”

  Brooks strode to one of the bikes, a navy blue one, and our eyes met. I blinked and was transported to two days before, in my truck. Breathing him in, with his lips on my skin.

  I think he was there with me.

  He broke the stare with a smile. “Hop on, sweetheart.”

  “Um, no.”

  “You could ride with Jackson.”

  Jackson revved his engine on cue.

  No thank you. He’d probably crash the bike hoping it’d kill me. I clenched the straps of my ever-present backpack and walked up beside Brooks.

  “What are you waiting for?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure... you know... how to get on.” My face was probably fire hydrant red. But there wasn’t much room on the bike and if I was going to ride with him, then I’d have to get up close — really close — and personal.

  I raised my eyes to his. In the sunlight, his white-blond hair seemed to glow and his eyes turned gold. “Swing your leg over,” he said, “and straddle the bike.”

  Sweet Jesus. How did he make that sound so suggestive? Maybe I could get through it with minimal contact. I tugged the hem of my butchered t-shirt down, shuffled closer, and swung my leg over like he told me, but I was trying so hard not to touch him I lost my balance. Brooks’ hand on my rib steadied me. His touch sent an electric shock through me, making my breath catch.

  “Wrap your arms around my waist,” he said. “And don’t let go.” He turned around before I had the chance to look at his face.

  I slid my arms around his waist. The bike was so small that I had to lean my cheek against his shoulder blade. It was impossible not to feel the muscles of his abdomen through his shirt’s thin fabric, impossible not smell him.

  “Oh yeah,” he said over his shoulder, “nice outfit.”

  The trip into town on the bikes was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. The brigade hopped sidewalks and sped down narrow alleys, driving at a breakneck speed. Even Lonnie kept up, though he didn’t pop wheelies like Jackson. I’d told Brooks that if he tried that crap, I’d shoot him. He laughed at me.

  We were halfway down Washington when a sudden movement up the road caught my eye. A flash of white and the glare of reflected metal resolved into a group of four guys, strangers, coming out of a nearby office building.

  The brigade brought our bikes squealing to a stop.

  “Hop off,” Brooks ordered.

  My heart, still racing from the drive, somehow beat even faster. “Who are they?”

  “Get off the bike, Cora.”

  I swung my leg over the bike clumsily and stumbled a few feet. Brooks got off and dropped the kickstand before walking toward where Lu, Jackson and Lonnie were already standing in front of the group of strangers.

  I froze on the spot, my knees locking against my legs, but Brooks kept walking.

  The leader of the new group crossed his arms. He was holding a gun. I hoped it wasn’t loaded; his posture was too careless to be carrying a loaded firearm. Dad would disapprove. The other three in the guy’s crew stood behind him, their feet wide apart and arms crossed, mimicking their leader’s posture. One swung a long, heavy chain and the other two held knives.

  I wanted nothing more than to duck and run for cover, but Brooks and the others didn’t seem afraid. I pushed the air from my lungs and jogged to catch up with them.

  The guy with the gun was talking. “What’s the deal? Strolling around my street packing that much heat, y’all must be looking for a fight.”

  “No, Romeo,” Lu said. Romeo? Get real! He had to be six feet tall and two hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle. With a gun in his hand and three guys at his back, he looked anything but Shakespearean.

  But hadn’t I heard his name before? What had Jackson asked when I arrived at the warehouse…

  Is she one of Romeo’s?

  One of Romeo’s what?

  “We’re looking to exchange information,” Lu said.

  Romeo’s eyes wandered over to where I was standing half-hidden behind Brooks, and he tipped his chin in my direction. “Who’s that?”

  Lu looked at me and waited for me to introduce myself, so I rolled my shoulders back and straightened my spine. I refused to look like an injured gazelle to the pack of hyenas.

  I marched straight up to Romeo and said, “Cora. Nice to meet you.”

  He cracked one of the widest smiles I’d ever seen, teeth pure white. “Very nice to meet you too, Cora,” he said, voice dropping to a husky murmur. So that’s where Romeo got his name. “I know everybody in the city these days, but I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.” His voice lilted at the end, inviting me to answer, even though it wasn’t a question.

  “I haven’t been around, I guess,” I said, a little uneasy.

  “And why’s that?” he asked.

  “I don’t get out much.”

  Lu stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder, but there was nothing comforting in the gesture. It just felt condescending, like I was her property. I sidestepped out of her reach and found Brooks standing not too far away from me.

  “Cora came to us a few days ago,” she said. “She hadn’t left home since the virus hit. Nine months.”

  “Where’d she live?” Romeo asked.

 

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