The next day, their food ran out. In the evening Finn crouched and made a fire while Summer sat on Noah's lap and let him pull the tangles out from her hair. She flinched and let out a small cry when he accidentally yanked on a knot at the base of her neck.
Sorry, he said.
It never hurt when Tina did it, Summer remarked softly.
Tina's not here, Finn snapped.
Noah glanced over at him, not really surprised by Finn's bitterness. Finn kept his gaze on the wood he was stacking for the fire. Noah turned his attention back to Summer's hair. A moment later, there was a loud clatter as Finn growled in frustration and knocked over the stack of wood.
Fuck, he said.
What's wrong, Daddy?
Nothing, he bit out through clenched teeth.
Finn… Noah started.
What! Finn shouted. Summer started to cry.
Noah sighed. Come on, man. Don't take this out on Summer.
I'm not taking anything out on anyone.
Look, I miss her too, Noah said.
You miss her! Tina and I were together since everything went to shit! She was there when Rachel disappeared! She was there when Quinn threw herself off a bridge! You were not! Tina's gone, and she's left me stuck with a cripple and a kid who can't fend for herself!
Finn! Noah barked. Summer doesn't need to hear this!
Finn huffed, raking his fingers through his dirty unkempt hair. I-I'm sorry, he said. I didn't mean that.
Late at night, Summer was still awake, Finn's arms wrapped around her. Noah was sleeping on the other side of the fire.
Daddy? she whispered.
Mm.
I'm hungry.
I am too.
How long will it be before we find more food?
I don't know, Finn mumbled, still half-asleep.
Are we gonna die?
No. Not anytime soon.
How do you know?
I just do. We always find food, don't we?
I guess.
We'll be okay.
What if we run into the bad guys again?
Hm?
Noah can't run. He's gonna get eaten.
Don't worry about Noah. Go to sleep.
I miss Tina.
So do I. Now go to sleep.
Do you think Tina's with Mommy now?
Probably.
What do you think they're doing?
I dunno. Watching us, maybe. Making sure we're okay.
Are we?
Yeah, we are.
They walked into a city just as the sky was beginning to turn dark on the fifth day since Tina died. The buildings were in various stages of decay, some almost fully standing, some no more than ruins. No grass had begun to grow through the cracks in the street, and the trees that had once lined the sidewalks were long dead. Grey corpses, dried and desiccated from years of exposure, littered the streets. Men, women, and children lay facedown in the road or slumped in doorways or sat in their rusted-over cars.
Summer whimpered and hugged closer to Finn's side. Finn squeezed her shoulder with his free hand, the other arm hefting two of their supply bags. The third bag was strapped to Noah's back, and he was limping along using a fat branch as a crutch. He barely looked at the corpses – he'd seen far worse.
We should try to find some stuff, Noah said. You know, food, matches. Maybe a blanket or two.
Finn shook his head. It's too late now. We'll scavenge in the morning.
I don't want to sleep here, Summer said, staring at the mummified body of a dog on the sidewalk.
We have to, Finn told her. It's almost dark and I think it's going to rain tonight. We have to sleep under a roof.
Summer didn't say anything more.
They spent the night in what had once been a restaurant, curled up together on the floor of the dust-covered kitchen, and were woken up in the early hours of the morning by the sound of rain pelting against the crumbling roof. Finn took some of the pots and pans and put them outside to collect water as the sky gradually lightened behind the ashen clouds.
Daddy? Summer asked as Finn came back inside. She shivered under her coat.
What is it?
Are we gonna have to stay here again?
Maybe. It depends.
On what?
Finn coughed into the crook of his elbow and sat down on the floor, still exhausted. Summer sat on his lap, leaning into his embrace. It depends on how long it takes us to find what we need, he said.
Where do you think we'll find food?
I don't know, there's lots of places that might have food. We should also stop by the hospital and see if there's anything there for Noah.
Summer sighed sleepily and wound her skinny arms around his neck. Tell me a story.
Finn coughed again and leaned his head back against the wall. Okay, which one do you want?
I don't know. Something happy.
Noah didn't wake up until late morning, after the rain had finally stopped. Looking around, he saw that Finn and Summer were no longer with him. He grabbed his crutch and with a grunt of effort that left him dizzy, he pulled himself up to stand and lean against the wall. He brushed his hands over the slowly-healing stump of his amputated leg and winced when it stung beneath the bandages. The flesh was still raw and very little of it had grown skin, so hindered was his healing process by his lack of nutrition. He scratched at his ribs where they protruded beneath the minimal flesh on his torso and limped into the outer room to search for his companions.
He found Finn leaning back against the wall and snoring with Summer asleep in his arms. Hey, he whispered. Wake up.
Finn snorted awake, rubbing his eyes. What time is it?
I dunno, midday maybe. We should go look for food.
Okay. Summer, it's time to wake up.
They found in the restaurant's freezer an old flat of soda cans and each took two. The soda was still fizzy after years of sitting and Summer giggled when it tingled against her tongue.
Finn smiled at her. We used to drink this stuff all the time, he said.
Summer gulped down the rest of her can. It feels funny.
Finn coughed and stood up to fill one of the bags with the rest of the sodas, then helped Noah strap the bag to his back. Then he filled their water bottles with the water collected in the pots and hoisted the other two sacks over his shoulder. They all headed out onto the street.
About an hour later, they found an old gas station mini-market that by some miracle had not yet been cleared out. They filled their sacks with packages of stale biscuits and crackers and cookies, old candies that had long gone hard, and bags of crumbling potato chips.
This stuff won't last us as long as canned food, Finn stated. But it's better than nothing.
They found the hospital after several hours of searching. By this time, Noah's leg was incredibly sore from hobbling all over the city, and his crutch was beginning to wear away the skin on his hands. Big red blisters covered most of his palms and his hip was beginning to hurt with each movement. He'd fallen several times and twisted his ankle once, but he was becoming practiced at moving around on his remaining leg.
The inside of the hospital was as dusty and ash-covered as every other building in the city. There were several corpses in the lobby and most of the patient rooms had bodies in them as well. Eventually they found a large closet containing shelves of old medicine and surgical supplies. A thick cloud of ash wafted over them when they opened the door, and Finn had to turn away as a coughing fit took over his lungs for a minute.
You okay? asked Noah.
Yeah, Finn wheezed. Yeah, I'm good. He took a gulp of water and went into the closet, Summer following close behind.
What is all this stuff, Daddy?
It's medicine. For sick people.
Are we going to take any?
Some of it, yeah. Hey, Noah! Look what I found!
Finn reached into the corner behind one of the shelves and withdrew a pair of metal crutches, brushing the dust off of them and covering his mouth as he coughed again. Noah leaned against the doorway and tossed his makeshift crutch aside in favor of the new ones, pulling one under each arm and taking a few test steps. The padding had mostly worn away, but they were better than using a stick.
You could probably run with those, Summer said.
Noah grinned. Yeah, probably.
Finn examined the labels on the medicine bottles until he found some that he thought might be of use in the future and shoved them into a bag, and then they all headed back towards the street.
Come on, Summer, Noah said. I'll race you.
A/N: Please leave a review!