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“I…forgot I had it.”

“Jesus,” she said, and looked away. “Never mind. Show me where we are.”

He turned the flashlight down one side of the hallway, then swiveled around and did the same to the other side. There was a nightstand with a vase and dead flowers draped over the lid behind them. And beyond that, just a solid wall. The other side, on the other hand, showed an intersection about twenty yards further down, pointing left and right.

“Can you hear her?” Peter whispered.

She shook her head but then realized he probably couldn’t see. “No. Can you?”

“No…”

“There’s only one way to go. Can you find any windows?”

He moved the flashlight along the walls. First one side, then the other. They only saw old, discolored, peeling wallpaper. “Nothing,” he said.

Of course not. Because it’s a trap. They lured us in here.

You idiot!

“Keep beside me with the flashlight,” she said. “If I turn, you turn. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Do you have your gun out?”

“Oh.” She heard him pull the 1911 out of his waistband and cock back the hammer, the soft click sounding overly dangerous in the blackness. “Okay.”

God, she hoped he didn’t accidentally shoot her. The chances of that happening had been pretty high back in the gas station with the lights to see with. Now, with only the flashlight, she had a very bad feeling.

“Peter,” she said.

“Yes?”

“See what you’re shooting at before you shoot, okay?”

“Okay,” he said uncertainly.

She sighed, then said, “Let’s go,” and started forward into the darkness.

11

Keo

Lake Dulcet was a city of 23,000 or so people, about half the size of neighboring Lake Charles. It had a decent downtown and the surrounding areas were a concrete jungle like every other city. Despite the sun, it would have been a pleasant walk if Lorelei, who hadn’t said a word when they first met earlier in the day, didn’t suddenly transform into a chatterbox.

The teenager talked about everything. The ghost city around them, the fact that they were walking instead of driving, or how she needed a haircut. Keo tuned her out the best he could, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“Can’t we get a car?” Lorelei asked. “There are so many cars around. Can’t we use one of them? I’m tired of walking. How long have we been walking? It feels like days. Weeks. Months. Right, Carrie?”

“Uh huh,” Carrie said absently.

Lorelei reminded him of Shorty. Annoying. Carrie was more like Zachary. Quiet, unless she needed to say something. Lorelei liked to talk, even if no one was responding to her.

“Look, there’s a truck,” she said behind him now. “It’s nice. I like the color. Can we use that truck? Keo? Are you listening to me?”

“No,” Keo said.

“Carrie?” Lorelei said. “What about the truck? Can we use that truck? My feet are so tired. I think my legs are about to fall off.”

“We’ve only been walking for three hours,” Carrie said.

“It feels longer. It feels like months.”

“Well, it hasn’t been months. Now be quiet for a bit, okay?”

Lorelei sighed and lapsed into silence. Keo was able to once again enjoy the stillness of the city and their unhurried footsteps. They kept to the shades provided by the buildings while Keo kept both ears open for the first sound of pursuing vehicles.

There were three trucks, likely more than two men in each one. Well-armed men playing soldiers. The uniform didn’t bother him, but the weapons did. He had the submachine gun, but he was now saddled with two civilians, which put him at a disadvantage. All it would take was one of those cars to stumble across them by accident and he was screwed.

He thought about Zachary and why he was following up on a dead man’s promise.

You really are the dumbest man alive, you know that?

Carrie had walked up beside him. “She’s got a point.”

She had light brown eyes, and despite the bruising around her mouth and cut lips, she was more attractive than he had given her credit for this morning. Like most women he had met since the world went to shit, Carrie had very few extraneous pounds on her, which helped exaggerate what he guessed was a generous B-cup under that white T-shirt.

He looked away before she could catch him sneaking a peek. “What’s that?”

“Why didn’t we circle back to the marina after the soldiers left and take one of those trucks? They looked in pretty good shape.”

“They weren’t. I checked when I first got there. No gas, and the batteries are dead.”

“Oh.”

“Besides, listen.”

She did. “What am I listening for?”

“It’s quiet.”

“And?”

“Sound travels these days. Even if we could find a working vehicle, you don’t think your friends would hear a car rumbling down these streets? There are three of them out there looking for us. All it takes is one. Right now, they don’t have a clue where we’re going. That’s our advantage.”

“Do we know where we’re going?”

“South.”

“I was hoping for a more concrete answer.”

“South, until we fall into the Gulf of Mexico.”

“Funny,” she said, then glanced up, shielding her eyes against the sun. “You think we’ll make it out of the city before nightfall?”

Keo didn’t have to look at his watch before he answered, “No.”

“What time is it?”

“Two in the afternoon.”

“You didn’t even look at your watch.”

“I don’t have to.”

“It doesn’t get dark around this part until after six. So we have four hours or so?”

“Sounds about right.”

They walked in silence for a moment. Behind them, Lorelei was loudly unwrapping something. A few seconds later, he got a whiff of one of the Teriyaki-flavored Jack Link’s jerky he had given them before taking off. One of the few foods he was carrying around in his pack from last night.

“She’s eating again?” he asked.

“She eats like a horse,” Carrie smiled. “Were you in the Army?”

“What makes you think I was in the Army?”

“You’re really good with that rifle.”

“It’s a submachine gun.”

“What’s the difference?”

“One’s a submachine gun, and the other’s a rifle.”

She smirked. “So were you in the Army or not?”

“Not.”

“So how are you so good with that…submachine gun?”

“Experience,” Keo said.

“Were you living in the marina?”

“I was lying low on the sailboat that they sunk. Me and a couple of guys. After we tested out the silver bullets, we were heading south down the lake. First Song Island to check up on it, then the Texas coast for me.”

“What happened to your friends?”

The same thing that happened to the rest of the world. Their numbers came up.

“Bad luck,” he said instead.

“That’s it?”

“Yup, that’s about it.”

She didn’t say anything after that, but he caught her sneaking a look at him every now and then. Not really at him, but at the scar along the left side of his face, very visible under the bright sunlight. Pollard’s good-bye gift.

“What?” he said.

“How’d you get that?” she asked.

“I cut myself shaving.”

“Must have been one hell of a shave.”

“You have no idea.”