Among Monsters (Page 27)

We reached Kellyville just inside of two hours. Rotting bodies were lying flat in the grass and in the streets and hanging over porch railings. Vacant cars were everywhere, and Dad checked each one for keys. He even searched a few of the bodies nearby for keys. The infected had moved on, so I took special care in looking for any signs of life in the houses, but I found nothing—no curious eyes peeking out from covered windows, no women trying to flag us down.

“It’s completely empty,” I said.

“Looks that way. Let’s keep moving,” Dad said.

Just twenty minutes after we left the city limits of Kellyville and turned north onto Highway 123, Halle made the first comment. I was surprised she’d lasted that long.

“My feet hurt,” she said. “My toes are rubbing.”

“Your feet are growing,” Dad said. “We’ll have to find you some bigger shoes.”

We tried to keep her mind off the hike, but another twenty minutes later, she whined again, “I’m hungry.”

“Already?” Dad asked.

“Yes. Can we get a snack?” she said.

“Not yet,” Dad said. “We have to walk for five-and-a-half hours today, remember? Another hour, and we’ll be more than halfway done for the day. That’ll be lunchtime.”

“That’s going to take forever,” she grumbled.

“We’re more than halfway to lunch, if you can think about it that way,” I said.

“Really?” she asked.

“Really,” I said.

At lunchtime, we found a shaded spot that had a little bit of elevation, so we could see if anything was coming. Dad unfolded the paper towels and handed us our sandwiches, and I divvied out the water.

“Look at that,” Halle said, pointing to the sky.

The pillar of smoke was still billowing from something, but now, it was white instead of black.

“Is that Shallot?” I asked.

Dad looked up. “No, it’s too close. Shallot is farther away.”

I stared up at it, squinting against the sun. “It’s been burning for a long time.”

Dad shrugged. “It’s not burning. The smoke is white. It’s smoldering. Debris from an explosion can smolder for months.”

“What do you think exploded?” I asked.

“Most likely, something made of metal. I guess we’ll find out when we pass it by,” he said.

Halle was surprisingly upbeat. “When we see Mom, I’m going to hug her first, okay, Jenna? I got dropped off at school first, so it’s been longer since I’ve seen her.”

“Good point,” I said. “Okay, you can hug her first.”

Dad winked at me.

“And I’m going to sleep with her the first night,” Halle proclaimed.

“Where am I going to sleep?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember the farmhouse that well. I bet the doctor has a couch.”

“What if I want to sleep with her, too?” I asked.

Halle made a face. “Where are you going to sleep, Daddy? Will you and Mom get married again?”

Dad nearly spit out his water. “Your mom and I are friends. I think we get along better that way, don’t you? We can still all live together at the farmhouse.”

“Do you think anyone else is there?” I took a bite of my sandwich.

“What do you mean?” Dad asked.

“Like, maybe the doctor. It is his house, and it’s a good place to go. Maybe his family is there. He has two daughters, but they have boyfriends,” I said, feeling inclined to warn him.

He chuckled. “I think I’ll live.”

“What if someone else came along whom Mom liked? What if she’s there with him? Kind of like you and April?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.

Halle giggled, and Dad began to pack up.

“All right, girls. Lunch break is over. We have another few hours to walk, and we need to find a good place to set up camp unless we come across a house. Keep your eyes open.”

“What?” Halle asked, frozen.

Dad stood, looking down at her. “We need to find a safe place to set up the tent.

“We’re sleeping outside?” she asked, her eyes wide. She actually began to tremble at the thought. “I don’t want to, Daddy. I want to sleep with Mom tonight.”

Dad offered an apologetic half smile. “We’re not going to make it to Red Hill tonight, Pop Can. We’ll make it most of the way to Shallot before dark. We’ll set up camp, and then we’ll walk again tomorrow. It’ll be okay. Jenna and I are going to take turns keeping watch, and it’s a full moon, so we’ll be able to see before anything gets too close.”

She shook her head. “No. No, Daddy.”

Dad hugged her. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Halle. I promise.”

He helped her put on her backpack, and then we set out again, walking down the hill. We returned to the road, heading north on Highway 123. The tune began to play in my head, Halle’s high-pitched voice singing her made-up song, as it did every time I thought about the directions Mom had taught us.

123? 123!

We crossed the paths of just a few infected and one small group of four or five, and we had no trouble either sneaking past them or waiting while Dad took them out. The sun bore down on us, and every part of my exposed skin was turning pink and feeling raw. We had less than half a bottle of sunscreen, and Dad and I had agreed that Halle’s pale skin would need it more than either of us, who tended to tan instead of peel.

By late afternoon, we still hadn’t found a good place to camp, so we continued on. I was beginning to wonder if Dad was hoping to come across a house, but I didn’t remember anything but pasture and cattle being between Fairview and Shallot.

I ended up putting on Dad’s pack and carrying mine, so Dad could give Halle a piggyback ride for a few miles. The sun was getting lower in the sky, and I was getting nervous.

“Dad?” I said finally.

“I know.”

“It’s getting late.”

“I know.”

We walked another two miles, and I wrinkled my nose. “What is that?”

Halle held her wrist to her face. “Ugh! What is that smell?”

Dad stopped abruptly. “I don’t believe it.”

Halle peeked over his shoulder. “What is that?”

I caught up to him and stood there with my mouth hanging open. On the top of a hill was a rock that said Shallot.

“We made it. We’re here,” Dad said.

“Look,” Halle said, pointing to the sky. “The white smoke is from here.”

Dad’s expression changed from surprise to relief to intenseness. “The hill is obscuring what could be on the other side. I don’t know what the smoke is about. If Shallot has a lot of infected, we might have to run or act quickly. Jenna, don’t shoot unless it’s absolutely necessary. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. You have to do what I say, when I say. Understood?”

Halle and I agreed, and I set her back on her feet.

I gripped Halle’s hand. “Don’t let go, no matter what.”

Halle nodded, worry beginning to shadow her face. We had no clue what we were walking into. Shallot was about the same size as Fairview. A stalled car was on the highway, and there was no way to know how many people had stopped here on their way to wherever.

I hoped that we would run into Brad and Darla right off the bat, and then they could take us to where they were staying.