Twenty-Two
Asia
I was sure I wouldn’t be able to look at him.
Not after I opened up so completely, sharing parts of myself I didn’t even want to acknowledge.
Yet here I was, sitting across the table from Jack eating a breakfast of oatmeal, nearly rotten avocados, and absolutely terrible coffee.
It was…nice.
It shouldn’t have been, but it was.
Jack saw parts of me that I hadn’t shared with anyone else. And he put aside his anger and my stupidity to really see me .
And he didn’t run.
I didn’t either.
I supposed that was growth.
On habit, I took another sip of coffee and then cringed.
“Jackson?”
“Hmm?”
He was nice enough to let me sleep a few extra hours, but didn’t look any worse for the wear. Still, I noticed something was on his mind.
But first things first.
“This is literally the worst coffee I’ve ever drank. Like even worse than the coffee in the vending machines up at county.”
He laughed. “Beggars can’t be choosers, Counselor.”
“Of course not. I just wonder how you managed to make it so terrible. Honestly, it’s a skill.”
He shrugged. “I aim to please.”
“And please you do.”
Jack lifted his eyes to meet mine. “Is that so?”
I chuckled. “Now who’s fishing for compliments? ”
“Never said I wasn’t.”
I laughed. “You gotta try harder than that, Jackson.”
“I should have known you wouldn’t make it easy.”
“Never do.”
But I wanted to.
Would have, if I had the ability to ignore the little voice in the back of my head.
“God, I just want to finish this terrible coffee so I’ll have the energy to fuck you till the sun goes down,” I murmured.
“But?”
I licked my lips, smiling as his gaze followed my tongue. “But we need to talk about whatever is on your mind.”
Jack sighed, the levity of the last few moments lost. “We have to leave.”
I let out a long breath. “I know.”
I knew I sounded anything but enthused, but Jack was right.
Staying here long term wasn’t viable.
That run-in was proof of that, and there was no way I could pretend that was a one-off. We were in the middle of a city of five million people. Eventually, some of them would find their way here.
“So where, exactly, are we going?" I asked, trying to ignore the presumption in the word “we.”
“Where’s your family?” he asked, completely unaware of what a grenade that question was.
I looked at Jack, trying to carefully choose my words. “My parents are out of the picture. But I have an uncle—well, he’s not a blood uncle, but it’s…complicated…”
I trailed off, but Jack smiled.
“Blood doesn’t make family,” he said like it was the simplest statement in the world.
I smiled, thankful for the reprieve. “He lives on the Tennessee–Arkansas border,” I said—though that may as well have been the moon.
“You never struck me as a country girl.”
“I’m not, but that—well, that’s a long story. Anyway, my uncle, he’s there.”
“Then that’s where we should go,” Jack said.
I caught his eye. “We?”
It was the last question I wanted to ask, but ultimately, it was the only one that mattered.
Jack shifted, and for one of the few times I’d known him, he looked uncomfortable, had an energy that was almost nervous.
It was gone in an instant.
“I have a brother. Evan. He’s sixteen. Look, Asia, I have to?—”
“I get it, Jack,” I cut in.
But that didn’t stop him.
“I have to get Evan, but I’m not going to leave you in this city. And it’s too dangerous to try to take you with me. Nebraska’s more than a thousand miles away,” he explained.
“Do I get a vote?”
“No.” His immediate response left no room for argument.
I broke his gaze, but then looked at him again.
“I’m not sure if my uncle would welcome me,” I admitted. I already shared my deepest vulnerability—so why not share this?
“He will,” Jack said like he had any idea what he was talking about.
“You don’t know Levi Griffin.”
“I know you call him family, so he wouldn’t turn you away,” he replied.
I fell silent .
What was there to say?
Nothing but the truth: I failed Uncle Levi, failed the man who loved me more than anyone else in the entire world. Failed the man who spent years helping me become a person good enough to call him family.
And maybe now, after everything, I’d done the one thing he’d never be able to forgive. I’d always been too chickenshit to ask.
Despite Jack’s efforts, I might not ever find out.
“Well,” I said, “if you think he can accept that I?—”
Whatever that great emotional moment was going to be was lost on the sound of an explosion.
Explosion?
I looked at Jack, but he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he stared at the floorboards. Or more accurately, the smoke that rose from the floorboards.
Then he was on his feet and moving.
“Grab the bag,” he said.
I moved on instinct. I was surprised how natural it felt. On the first day, Jack placed strategic caches throughout the house .
I thought it was overkill.
Jack reminded me that in this world overkill was survival.
I grabbed the bag, which held a weapon, some ammo, and a couple of days’ worth of dried food.
“I—I’ll head to the basement?—”
I was already moving but stopped.
“It’s…”
I started to speak, but soon doubled over in a fit of heavy coughing. Smoke was rising, thick, acrid, billowing from the basement.
I wasn’t sure how we didn’t it before, but now, looking down, I saw heavy plumes of gray-white smoke filtering into the house.
“That’s our way out!” I shouted.
“Not anymore,” Jack said.
He grabbed his own bag, pulled his weapon, and checked it with calm precision.
Like this was just an ordinary day.
“We’re going out the front,” he said.
“But…”
“There’s someone waiting. The fire was designed to push us that way,” he said. “They want to catch us off guard. We’ll catch them first. ”
Jack looked at me calm and focused.
Seeing his steadiness gave me what I needed to go on.
I nodded and gripped the gun in my hand. It felt familiar over the last few days. Now, I was grateful for that.
Even though my heart raced, I was strangely calm.
We just talked about how we wouldn’t be able to stay here.
Ironic that decision had to fruition so quickly—but that didn’t matter. I was as resolved to live now as I had been in that elevator.
“Let’s go,” Jack said.
He moved fast, and I tried to match his pace, glad I wore my boots. I only paused long enough to grab one of the judge’s oversized flannel shirts. The man had never hunted, fished, or camped a day in his life, so I could only assume the clothes were a part of his prepping.
I shoved the thought aside.
I was spiraling.
If I didn’t shut this down now, shock would set in, and I couldn’t allow that .
I had to stay focused.
I threw the flannel on, gripping the gun even tighter, and then followed behind Jack.
“Who’s gonna open the door?” I asked as we approached the front.
“You are,” he said.
My jaw dropped. I looked at him and saw the spark of amusement in his eyes.
“Jerk.” I let out a quick smile and allowed the moment of banter to ground me.
Briefly.
I stood next to him, my heart hammering as he reached for the doorknob, his body angled just enough to avoid the line of fire.
“You gonna disarm the alarm?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. Noise adds to the chaos. We can use that.”
I nodded, and then braced as Jack opened the door.
The alarm shrieked—as loud as anything I heard since we left the courthouse. And just like Jack predicted, it sent our attackers into a tailspin.
I spotted four figures and heard a gruff yell. “Find that and turn it the fuck off! ”
Jack was already on the stairs, and as I followed, gunfire erupted.
“Watch out, Asia!”
Jack’s voice was calm but also commanding. I used it to keep the fear and adrenaline from overtaking me.
I ducked and spotted two more figures in the distance. On instinct, I took aim.
“Don’t waste your ammo,” he said. “Just move.”
“We can fight them,” I said.
We were outnumbered, but walking away from the judge’s stash—and leaving our transportation seemed like a worse option.
“No. The place is gone,” Jack said.
“Okay,” I replied, though I felt anything but.
The judge’s house got farther and farther away, and with every step, relief and absolute terror warred in my chest.
“Right there. Stop.”
I was so caught in my thoughts that I didn’t notice the three men approaching.
But Jack did.
One moment I was staring; the next I fell toward the ground .
I braced myself to soften my fall, heard three soft pops and looked up in time to see them fall, one, two, three.
“Let’s go,” Jack said, low, urgent.
I didn’t hesitate, anxious to put as much space between the judge’s house and us as I could.
About a half hour and two or three incredibly fraught miles later, Jack said, “Where are we going, Asia?”
Like I had any fucking idea.
But I couldn’t say that, so instead I racked my brain, again sifting through my memories of the judge’s neighborhood, searching for a safe place.
“Up ahead. Mile and a half. There’s a body shop. It’s set off the road. Quiet. We can stay there for a bit,” I said.
Jack nodded, and then we ran.
More like sprinted—and somehow, I kept up.
Apocalypse cardio. Who knew?
When we reached the body shop, Jack slowed.
“Eyes open,” he said.
He didn’t have to say it once, let alone twice. I looked everywhere, pleased to see nothing out of place.
Until…
“Watch out,” I hissed as quietly as I could, but still too loud.
One of those things heard me.
Ed—I assumed it was Ed because of the name embroidered on his shirt—turned and lumbered toward me.
It was so different from before.
I was scared but not frozen.
Whatever Ed had been was gone.
I refused to let him take me.
Or Jack.
But before I could raise my weapon, Jack was there.
Dispatched Ed with three skull-crushing—literally—blows to the head.
“Come on,” he said, his voice low, urgent.
I followed, the sound of the garage door crashing down behind us.
Then silence.
And darkness.
I fished around in my bag and pulled out one of the lightweight lanterns. Together, we swept the large space .
Found nothing but vintage trucks and overpriced cars in various states of repair.
But nothing else alive.
Or alive again.
I looked at Jack, but before I spoke, I saw the glint in his eye.
Recognized what it was.
“Thank you, Jack,” I whispered.
I went to him, throwing my arms around his neck.
Kissed him.
He pulled away.
I frowned, then let my arms fall.
“This will have to do for now,” he said.
I nodded without really understanding.
“What was that about?” I said.
He sighed.
“Do you think now is the time for that conversation?”
“Jack, don’t do this,” I said.
“Do what?” he responded, his voice tense.
“Pull away from me,” I said.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking everything is about you,” he said in that ice-cold voice that was my least favorite.
“Point taken,” I responded .
I was proud I didn’t sound hurt.
Even though I was.
Even though I almost died, Jack pushing me away hurt more than the near miss.
So pathetic.
But, I wouldn’t admit that.
So I stayed quiet, letting the time tick by.
“Slight change of plans,” he said sometime later.
“What do you mean?”
I glanced at him, our eyes connecting in the dim lantern light.
“You have an uncle that lives on the Arkansas-Tennessee border. That’s where we’re going,” he said.
“Why?”
“Asia, I told you I wasn’t going to leave you alone, and I won’t. But once we get to your uncle’s—if we get to your uncle’s—then I’m gone,” he said like he expected me to argue.
I looked at him, then approached him slowly, moving like I was afraid he would run away.
I reached out, cupping his face in my hand.
“Asia,” he said, his voice strained.
“Jackson,” I responded .
He looked at me, his breath warm against my face.
“I just had to kill some more people in cold blood,” he said.
He wielded the words as effectively as a weapon.
But I didn’t fall for it.
“Did you do that for me, too?” I said.
He glared at me, like I was stupid to even ask the question.
I smiled. I couldn’t help it.
He scowled even deeper.
“Don’t do that,” Jack said, his voice stern.
“Do what?” I said.
His eyes locked on mine.
“Look at me like I’m some sort of hero. I’m not,” he said.
“Then you better stop acting like one,” I said.
I kissed him then.
Deep.
Certain.
Then pulled back.
“I’ll take first watch.”
His eyes shone with so much emotion, and I licked my lips, suddenly nervous about the revelation he was about to share.
Felt like I was on the verge of something momentous.
“I’m still wired up. I’ll take it,” he said.
He blinked, and whatever I thought I’d seen before was gone.
I let go first.
Jack didn’t try to stop me.