"Lola, please!"
It was Greer that finally shouted the words on everyone's minds. The house had grown almost completely quiet except for Mary's pacing, and Lola frantically searching the fuzzy radio for a signal. "You're not going to find anything. People are still panicked. No one is stopping to send out signals on old radios."
Lola's eyes shot blue daggers in Greer's direction before they softened, Colin laying his hand on her shoulder until she finally slapped the radio off and sank into the couch. Greer seemed uncomfortable by Lola's out of character silence, and shifted on her feet before pretending to make herself busy looking through the kitchen.
Francis had gone to look in the garage for things that could help them, and Bash was settled on the couch opposite Lola and Colin, beside Kenna. It was almost ironic, Mary thought; a group of people gathered around a living room, staring a television with no picture, and windows that were boarded shut. She hadn't paid much attention to the conversation before that, and had almost welcomed the mind numbing sound of the static over Lola's radio. When it silenced, she was left trying to sort through the mess of thoughts still in her head. They had all gotten somewhere somewhat safe but what of everyone else? What of anyone else? Would it even be worth them hiding there, or would they all be running in moments anyway? Mary at least hoped for the former in that situation. The whole group was walking on tired legs by that point. Stopping was inevitable if they stood any chance at recuperating and moving forward. Forward seemed to be the direction everyone insisted on but there wasn't a single one of them in the group that knew where forward meant. Bash had said something about getting far enough away that they could set up a reasonable shelter. But that was only assuming that far enough away would lead to safety and not more chaos. They assumed that it would. Boston was the final safe zone, set up by the government to house anyone left in the United States and the eastern part of Canada, so they assumed that anywhere outside of there would simply be empty.
"Mary.." Aylee's voice was barely above a whisper but it drew Mary's thoughts out of her head and slowed her pacing until she was facing the girl standing next to her, with deep set worry in her eyes. The way her head was tilted, Mary could tell that the worry wasn't about the overall situation as it was with her or the others, it was personal concern. Aylee was always doing that; reminding them to stop and take time to care for each other and themselves instead of always the situation at hand. And with the world like it was, there was always a situation at hand. "Mary, you should come sit. We're here to rest our legs, not work them more." There was a half hearted, gentle smile on her face and Mary nodded, settling herself onto the couch when Bash and Kenna moved over for them.
"I found pretzels." Greer announced as she walked back into the living room, loud enough to startle Lola who had been deep in thought once more. "Oh good," she looked toward Mary, "you've stopped wearing a hole in the floor."
Kenna sprung up from the couch, grabbing the bag of pretzels from Greer's hands. "I never thought I'd be so thankful for carbs."
"Be careful." Lola interrupted. "They're salted. We don't have too much water."
Kenna ignored Lola's warning and dove into the bag before passing it to Bash who passed it down the couch so everyone could take some. Mary took a handful and allowed herself a moment to eat it before her restlessness took over once more. "I'm going to check on Francis."
Lola stood up immediately after her. "Not alone." Neither girl said another word before both exited the house to find the garage where Francis had said he was going. As soon as the door shut, though, Mary broke the silence.
"Everyone is so quiet." Her eyes moved to Lola's face, always scanning for her reaction.
"It's been a long few days. They're tried."
"You're not?"
"Are you?"
Mary's head fell and she didn't answer. She understood the nature of the hypothetical question. Both she and Lola had been determined to get them out of the Boston, to keep moving, to meet up with Francis and Bash. Being the leaders meant taking responsibility and taking responsibility meant always thinking, always worrying, always planning, never admitting weakness or defeat. Or at least, that was what they'd say it meant.
Lola hadn't been showing any signs of weakness or defeat for months, and it had nothing to do with the attack on Boston. She'd spent all of the summer caring for her two sick brothers. The virus took a number of lives, but Lola's brothers were the only ones that hit close to home. She'd grown tougher since. Mary couldn't help but notice that lately her face looked more mature. But perhaps, deaths aside, that could be said for all of them. War did that to people.
"We shouldn't have sent him out alone." Mary finally spoke again, shaking her head.
"There aren't any crawlers for miles, Mary. They travel in packs. We'd have seen them. He's fine."
Mary nodded and pressed her lips together to keep from saying anything else. Most days she and Lola and Greer alternated their optimism and pessimism. It was just enough to keep all of them from going insane with worry as they likely would without it.
And Lola was right. The moment they approached the garage, Francis's blonde hair could be seen rummaging about through the window. Mary knocked on the dirtied glass to alert him of their presence so as not to startle him by barging in while Lola pressed the door open. "Francis what have you been doing all of this time? We were worried."
"Mary was worried." Lola corrected quickly, her eyes widening when she saw Francis had a box stacked beside him. "You find anything?"
"I found a radio."
Lola's eyes fell. "Yes, we found one inside too. Useless. There's no signal anywhere, and Greer might throw it out the window if we try again."
"Everyone inside is getting irritable and restless."
"You're getting restless." Lola corrected once more. "Everyone inside is getting tired and defeated looking. Sleep and some supplies might do them some good." She glanced back to Mary, laying a hand on her shoulder. "And you."
Mary nodded but turned her attention back to Francis, who was digging through the box again.
"That isn't all. There's also these." He pulled out a small carton. The packaging was black with red lettering across the front, in a shade that Mary would recognize nearly anywhere.
"Francis is that-"
"Toxin samples. Yes."
Inside the box were four tubes, each individually labeled and each containing a deep,purple-red liquid.
"Put those down, Francis." Lola demanded, with a colder harsher tone to her voice than before.
"There are boxes of these cases, probably hundreds of vials just-"
"Francis, put them down!"
When Francis looked back up from the box, Lola had an unusual panic in her eyes and their hand placement had switched to Mary's hand on Lola's arm, her own eyes set sternly on Francis.
"Okay… okay." With slow movements he put the small box of toxin samples back on the boxes stacked beside him.
"Lola, they're only poison if you drink them." Mary spoke quietly to try and remind her friend. "I'm sure Francis wouldn't drink them"
Clearly upset by her own actions and panic, Lola nodded and straightened her back. "I know, but it's best to be careful. The real question is why are they here?"
"Whoever lived here was probably stockpiling them, before they were discovered to be dangerous. They must have left them out here when they headed for Boston."
"No that doesn't make sense." Mary shook her head. "They wouldn't have access to them in this number. The poison danger was discovered long before people were allowed to acquire more than one per household."
"Unless whoever lived here worked for the distribution company."
Both Mary and Francis fell silent, all three of them thinking the same thing after Lola spoke. Everyone knew the company that distributed the toxin were terrorists. It was what had started all of this war in the first place. Or well, the crawlers had. First it was them, slowly damaging society, tearing people to bits, and then after the crawlers came the "miracle cure" that was nothing but the start of a deadly virus. Both things together were enough to whittle the United States down to nothing but a few scattered hopefuls seeking salvation, and the remnants of entire communities boiled down to one man with a dead family and a suitcase, or two young children who managed to make it out.
"If that's the case, maybe it would be best for us to keep moving." Mary bit down on her lower lip, and couldn't help but notice Lola take a glance out the window. "There might not be crawlers around but that doesn't mean the terror group isn't using somewhere near here as a base. They'll kill us if they find us."
"Or turn us into test subjects."
"That's optimistic." Francis responded dryly, before turning back to the box on the table. "All I found was a few bits of rope, nails, and a pocket knife aside of those vials. Maybe we'll just take the knife and the rope. Should we bring one of these cases?"
"No." Lola's answer was fast and firm.
"But if someone gets bitten-"
Francis tried to reason but Lola cut him off. "And risk infecting everyone else just to ensure they are permitted a comfortable death? We can't."
Mary glanced to her and back to Francis but she knew Lola was right. The toxin was created by a group disguised as a medical research lab. It was supposed to cure people who had been bitten by or had become crawlers. And it worked. Many people that had begun showing signs or effects of a bite saw their symptoms fade. They didn't thirst for human blood or flesh, and they calmed. But when the calmness passed they simply found death. Some had thought it was still a good idea, a way to offer their bitten loved ones a merciful ending to their lives, rather than to be forced to shoot them through their heads or something more gruesome. However, the small comfort of peaceful deaths was quickly overlooked when the toxins proved to contain another deadly virus. A string similar to the one that caused people to become crawlers, except that this one was airborne and contagious. It caused bodies to become dead just like the crawler bite did, except with no hunger, so that they slowly got sick and simply deteriorated. The virus spread across the country from anyone who had tried to use it on their bitten loved ones, and soon it was killing entire towns. Lola's brothers included. Mary understood that Francis may want the option of easy deaths should anyone they were with every be bitten, but she also understood Lola's hesitance, her aversion and the pain and coldness in her eyes at the thought of possibly infecting any of their friends with the virus that had taken so much from her.
"She's right." Mary answered finally. "If someone gets bitten, we have no option but to do things the hard way. We shouldn't risk anyone." She didn't like the idea of a brutal violent death more than any of them dead, but it was the only choice, and even Francis knew that as well, as he gathered the rope he'd found and the three of them headed back for the main house where the others were waiting.
As soon as they rounded the corner back through the front door they had come through before, Bash was coming down the front steps. "Mary.." he started, stopping in his quick step. "I was just coming to see if you two had run into trouble."
"Alone?" Mary pressed him, with a scolding lift of her eyebrow to match the tilt of her head.
"Well I-"
"It's okay. We're leaving here anyway." Lola cut in, tugging Bash with them and walking back into the house before he was allowed to ask any questions and they were standing in front of the others.
Everyone's eyes turned to the door at the abrupt way they walked in. Colin stood off the couch as though he'd been worrying himself, and Kenna and Aylee dropped the prezel bag they'd still been nursing. The girls were quick to notice the change in the way Mary and Lola were carrying themselves and sat up straighter, questions already knitting their eyebrows, and pursing their lips.
"We have to go." Mary began explaining, directly to the couch where her three best friends were sitting. "It's not safe here."
"What do you mean not safe? Mary, we just stopped." Greer was concerned, but there was a distinguishable frustration in her tone.
"Mary, Greer's right. Everyone needs their rest."
Francis stepped forward, explaining further on Mary's behalf. "We found something, in the shed. There were boxes of the toxin and not just a couple. Boxes upon boxes, upon boxes. No one would have access to that many, in their original packaging unless they worked for the distributor."
Kenna's eyes widened in understanding first, then Bash's and the rest of the room's followed suit. Bash lowered his voice near Francis's ear. "Are you implying that we're somewhere near the terror group?"
"We're either near them or they used to live here. But I doubt any of us want to take our chances."
Lola cut into their conversation as if to remind them that the rest of the room could still hear them despite their hushed tones. "And if someone who lived here did have access to the toxin, anything we come into contact with might make us sick."
"That seems a bit extreme." Bash replied. But Mary shook her head from behind Lola and he didn't argue further. "But you're right then, we should get out of here as soon as we can. Greer, if you found any other food that's sealed, toss it in your bag. Kenna, look and see if you can find any candles, paper, knives or anything else. Aylee, you and Mary go upstairs, look for warm clothes and any extra bags, and wrist watches as a bonus. Colin, guard the back door on look out, and Francis take the front. I'm going to test the pipes and look for more water. Lola go back to your radio, if there is anyone near by, we may actually get a signal from them, and at least we'll know for sure but don't leave Greer's sight. We'll leave in ten minutes."
Mary stood beside Bash, almost opened mouthed as though she had orders on her tongue of her own but he'd taken over them. She didn't mind it though. It was nice to not be the one giving orders for a change, to let some of the responsibility fall off of her shoulders, and take Aylee and walk upstairs. Bash was good at knowing when things like that were needed.
"How much further away do you want to go?" Aylee asked Mary, above the shuffling of the two of them digging through the drawers and closets in the third upstairs bedroom.
"At least a few blocks west. I don't know. That might bring us even closer to them. There's no way to be sure."
"And there may not even be a them." Alyee's suggestion was gentle but she paused anyway, waiting to see the way Mary reacted to it.
"There has to be. No one would have left here and left all those boxes there. They belong to someone. Someone who is near by enough to want them, to know we're here if they come by." As Mary talked she didn't look up, just shoved a sweatshirt that she found into the extra back pack they'd tugged out from under the bed.
"And you're sure there's no way that you're just hoping there is because you're afraid to sit still here?"
Mary paused and looked up at her for a moment and then shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Aylee. Either way, we need to get further away than we already are. We never should have stopped here in the first place.
"We'd been walking nearly twenty four hours, Mary." Both girls looked up to find Kenna answering from the doorway. She had a pair of scissors in her hand and a pack of matches. "Sooner or later, we're all going to need to stop and to rest. If walking for a few more hours will put you, and Lola and Bash at ease we will, but there's no sense in exhausting-"
Kenna's lips kept moving but Mary didn't hear what she said. Instead, her heart stopped and her hearing dulled as the sound of cracks and bangs and shattering glass filled the room. She hit the floor just as quickly as Aylee and Kenna did, but all three girls lifted their heads to see one another before covering them again with their hands as another round shattered the glass near them once more. "We have to get downstairs!" Mary shouted over the noise, and as soon as the other girls acknowledged her suggestion, they all moved towards the door, keeping as low as they could. Lola and Greer were at the bottom of the stairs, hiding behind the wall there with their bodies pressed against it. Greer caught Mary's eye and waved her hand for them to come down. Once given the clear, Mary sent Aylee down the steps first, and Kenna after her, and then followed them, ducking once more as another round of shots went through a nearby room's windows.
"Who do you think it is?" Greer finally asked, as all the girls caught their breath against the side of the wall, piled nearly on top of one another.
Kenna nearly rolled her eyes before answering. "Well it definitely isn't crawlers, given that they're using guns."
Greer rolled her eyes right back at her, before turning to Mary. "I managed to keep ahold of the bag of food. We should get out of here somehow if we can."
"The front door." Lola cut in. "The shots are coming from the-" She paused before she said the words, her eyes widening in horror and Mary saw her move to stand before she even did but couldn't stop her. Colin's name was on her lips and Lola was lunging towards the back door before anyone could tell her not to. Mary's air caught in her throat, and Aylee reached for Lola's hand, missing by only inches. No one saw Bash but thankfully he'd seen Lola, just as he'd come around the corner and he grabbed her by both shoulders. "Colin-" She started arguing with him but Bash's grip held firmly on her arms.
"Can take care of himself. We need to run while they're still in the back."
While Bash argued with Lola, Francis ushered the other four girls to their feet, still keeping low as they moved toward the front door.
"Bash, I have to get him. We can't leave without him."
"You will get yourself killed." Bash lowered his voice so only Lola could hear him. "Do you think any of those girls are going to let you walk out that back door on your own? Do you think Mary will? Are you willing to risk their lives Lola? You've watched death. Are you willing to risk forcing them to watch you die?"
Lola's eyes stilled almost completely, the icy blue of them for once not alive with energy. She swallowed a lump in her throat that appeared to somehow stick on the way down but stopped fighting his hold and said nothing else. Kenna appeared at Bash's side, taking Lola's hand and leading her out with the others, Mary staying close by Francis and ushering Aylee and Greer out the front with them and into the van Francis and Bash had found.
"We can only drive a few blocks before we'll have to abandon it, but it'll be enough to put some distance between us and them get in and stay low. They're going to fire on us as soon as they hear us pull away."
Mary paused, looking to both men who were preparing to climb into the front seat. "And if they do? You can't stay low and drive."
"We'll be alright, Mary. Get in." Francis opened the door quickly and ushered the girls into it. There was nothing in the van save for a few empty crates. It was probably used before to move things. Maybe even those boxes in the shed, she thought, but didn't say the thought out loud. The girls sat as low as they could on the floor of the van, and as soon as they drove away, the shots started, just as Francis had said. Mary could feel Lola beside her, wanting to stand, to try and see Colin, so she slipped her hand into hers instead, Aylee's already tightly grasping her hand on the other side, and Kenna and Greer clutching one another's across from them. A bullet pierced the side of the van, low enough to go right by the girls, and Kenna screamed. Mary took in a deep breath, and for the first time in days, shut her eyes. Even if it wasn't for sleep. She pressed her hands into Lola's and Aylee's, and her head against the wall of the van, and prayed to any God that would listen that they kept moving. Always keep moving.