Chapter 13

The girls helped load the last few supplies onto the back of the truck. Jamil had scounged some pieces together that the boys might be able to use to fix their bikes. They couldn't part with much, but it was enough to help them out in the short-term.

As Grace passed a couple of jerry cans to a young Lost Boy with red curls, she heard Diego yelling to his people in Spanish, presumably encouraging them to hurry it up - judging by the tone.

"He sure seems eager to get back," Grace murmured to Zoe as she folded up a sleeping bag and handed it to her.

Zoe placed it on the back of the truck. "He doesn't like to be away from camp for too long, especially with the boys there on their own. I would have stayed behind had it not been a couple of Masons knocking on our door."

Grace looked back over at Diego who had strayed from the truck to compliment Matt's baseball cap.

"You like baseball?" he asked the youngest Mason, who was watching the group load up with a quiet curiosity.

"No. I just found it," Matt admitted, shrugging.

She noticed Diego take a step closer. "You're the kid who helped kill those chinches yesterday, huh?"

Grace wrinkled her nose, turning back to Zoe. "What are chinches?"

"Diego's word for those big bugs."

"Skitters?"

"Yeah, those."

"Bashoo! Bashoo!" Grace turned her head back in time to hear Matt enthusiastically recall the moment the two skitters' heads exploded. She felt her chest tighten at the thought of it.

Diego seemed impressed. "That's pretty good," he said. "Reminds me of some of the boys in my crew. You'd make a good Lost Boy."

Grace snorted. Was the guy trying to poach her brother or something? Whatever he was doing, she didn't appreciate his encouragement of Matt's risky antics.

"Matty!" she called. "Why don't you play with the other kids? We have work to do."

Matt rolled his eyes. "That's my sister," he muttered to Diego. "She thinks she's in charge of me. She and my dad are mad at me for trapping those skitters." He huffed. "Everyone treats me like I'm just a little kid."

Grace clocked Diego glancing back at her before turning back to her little brother. "What you did was brave, man. My family is made of brave kids like you. You'd fit right in."

"Matt!" Grace snapped, a little too loudly. She had grabbed the attention of some of her companions around her, including Matt and Diego. Matt gave her a disappointed scowl before running off. She was about to curse under her breath when she heard Zoe's exclamation beside her:

"Jeanne!"

Grace turned around to see Jeanne coming out of Weaver's tent, the captain following behind her. The girl smiled warmly at Zoe who had run towards her, grabbing her wrist and leading her to Grace.

"Jeanne Weaver, Grace Mason," she introduced eagerly.

"Hi," Grace smiled politely at her.

"Nice to meet you," Jeanne replied, blue eyes twinkling in the sunlight. Grace thought she could just about see the resemblance between her and her father as they stood side by side. It was in the eyes, the cheekbones. The strong, defiant look just underneath Jeanne's warm and friendly smile. "And Zoe - this is my dad."

Captain Weaver offered Zoe a friendly nod. "I've heard a lot about you, Zoe."

Zoe frowned at him. "I've heard a lot about you too, captain," she said, disapprovingly.

Grace felt the tension rise as Jeanne gently nudged Zoe's shoulder, telling her off.

Zoe cleared her throat. "Uh. You know, your wife and daughter saved my life."

Weaver looked proudly at his daughter. "That's my Jeannie," he said with a smile. Grace had never seen Weaver look at anyone like that before. He looked happy. It was clear how relieved he was to have his daughter back. Grace knew if she could bring back Jimmy or her mother, she'd never want them to leave her sight again. But unfortunately, as she knew, life didn't work like that, and it appeared Jeanne was about to leave again already.

Diego appeared behind them, touching Jeanne's back lightly. "You ready?"

Jeanne nodded.

"I wish you'd let me come with you," Weaver frowned.

"We'll be fine, Dad. They need you here. I promise I'll be right back."

Grace cleared her throat. "Actually, captain, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to escort them too."

Weaver glanced between Zoe and Grace before nodding. "Alright. You can join Maggie and your brothers dropping the supplies off. But don't be too long."

"Yes, sir."

The girls and Diego headed for the vehicles. Grace noticed Zoe give Jeanne and Diego a quick embrace before they hopped on their quad bike. Then Grace spotted Hal and Maggie at the head of the truck.

As Hal was opening the driver door, Grace swiftly stole the keys from his grasp.

"We have the truck," she announced, beckoning Zoe and waving the keys playfully.

Hal rolled his eyes. "What, so you can look like the big heroes when you roll in with all that swag?"

"No, because I'm the better driver," she countered. "Don't want any of this stuff ending up in a ditch do we?" she teased. "You guys can take the bikes."

Zoe cackled as she opened the passenger side door. "Sorry, Hal. You look sexier on a bike anyway."

Grace cringed as she jumped up into the driver's seat.

Hal stifled a laugh, shaking his head whilst Maggie raised an eyebrow behind him.

"This girl's a bad influence on you, Grace," he said jokingly, slamming the driver door closed.

"You love it," Zoe said huskily through the open window, giving him a quick wink.

"Let's just go," Grace shuddered, starting up the engine.

Zoe giggled, waving at Hal as they set off.

"I forgot how fun it was messing with your brother," Zoe smirked, watching the world go by in the passenger window.

"Well, be careful what you say," Grace warned her, keeping an eye on the road up ahead. "He has a girlfriend...kinda."

"Kinda?"

"It's complicated."

"Was it that girl behind him? Maggie? I sensed that death stare she was giving me. Someone's a little jealous."

"Uh, actually…" She shook her head. "Nevermind. Point is, it might just not be as funny as it used to be."

Grace expected Zoe to come back with some retort, like she always would do, but instead she sat back in her seat and shrugged one shoulder. "Alright," she said. "Speaking of your brothers, I hardly recognised young Ben when he came strolling into my camp all American Sniper. The kid's doing puberty right."

"Zoe!" Grace chastised through laughter, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "Anyone else in my family you want to objectify?"

"Well, now you mention it, your dad always had this sexy professor vibe but I've gotta say, that scruffy bearded look is really doing it for me."

"Ew!" Grace gave her a playful punch in the arm.

"Alright, watch the ribs!" Zoe chuckled, defeated. "I'm kidding! But can you blame me? All the eligible bachelors in my camp are taken!"

Grace raised her brows at her. "Diego?" She clocked Zoe's expression. "You like Diego?"

"Diego's a solid ten," Zoe shrugged. "But he likes Jeanne and they're a cute couple. They're both such good friends to me. I wouldn't want to ruin that. Just...there's not much on the menu in apocalypse times."

Grace couldn't help but snort. It was just like Zoe to compare boys to food on a menu. But she had to admit, the old Zoe probably would have jumped Diego whether he had a girlfriend or not. Maybe she realised how valuable having allies was nowadays. More important than having boyfriends, anyway.

"How about your love life, Grace? Any hot, scruffy men vying for your attention?"

Grace stared at the dark road ahead, scoffing under her breath. She was silent a beat as she pictured Jimmy. She remembered his face when they met up the night he died, how special he made her feel just from the way he looked at her. Maybe that was the closest thing to romance she'd ever get.

"Remember the boy I told you about? Jimmy? Well...he was kind of in love with me."

Both of Zoe's thin brows drew up curiously. "Really? You didn't love him back?"

A long second passed as Grace felt her fingers gripping the steering wheel. "I did love him. Not the same way, but I did. I wish he knew how much." She quickly wiped the moisture from her eye. "I wasn't looking out for him the way he always looked out for me. I let him get hurt. And now he's gone. And I never told him how much he meant to me."

"Hey, I get it," Zoe said softly. "I feel the same way about my boys. I love them like family. If something happened to them…" She trailed off, forcing a smile at her. "I'm sure he knew how much you cared about him. You have a big heart. Always have. You look out for people. Even me."

Grace let out a small laugh and looked back to the darkened road, Hal and Maggie illuminated by her headlights on their bikes just up ahead. She could just about make out the black shadow of a factory building in the distance. They were close.

It was quiet as they pulled up outside, Jeanne, Diego and the other boys stepping off their quad bikes beside them. It soon became clear something was very wrong as they noticed a vehicle alight outside the entrance, the flames reaching upwards, creating an eerie shadow over the factory doors, which were wide open.

"Uh, guys?" Ben said nervously, spotting the debris outside the building as he slowly got off the back of the truck.

"That doesn't look good," Hal mumbled, joining Grace and Zoe as they jumped out the front seats.

"The boys!" Zoe exclaimed as she rushed inside, panicked.

"Zo-!" Before Grace could call out to Zoe, Jeanne had beat her to it, racing after her.

Grace exchanged a quick look with Hal before following the rest of the group inside.

It was a mess. Grace assumed things didn't usually look this chaotic. Boxes had been strewn across the floor, clothes and toys and other junk spilling across the large room. Furniture had been overturned. Then Jeanne found a bloodied piece of clothing on the ground.

"Robbie's jacket," she said chillingly as Diego placed a hand on her back.

Grace saw the worry in Zoe's face. Then a sob sounded in the distance.

"Help!" it wailed.

Zoe and Jeanne ran towards the voice like a shot. Grace followed, Diego and her brothers close behind. They found a young boy curled up in the corner, tears streaming down his face.

"Jonny?" Zoe dropped down beside him, taking him in her arms while Jeanne rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"Jonny, are you alright?"

The poor boy was terrified, crying into Zoe's shoulder.

"Chinches. They took everybody!"

"Hey buddy, how long ago was this?" asked Diego.

"I don't know," Jonny sniffed, shaking his head helplessly.

Grace felt her heart break watching him. He couldn't have been much older than Matt. He looked pretty shaken.

"Wh...Where are they? Where did they take them?" Zoe cried, looking around her anxiously.

Grace sensed Ben step forward beside her. Looking over, she saw the grave expression on his face. She knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"They're going to be harnessed."