Epilogue
No one wanted to stay awake much longer after Sasha’s findings. Everyone went back to their corners of the clearing, trying to come to terms with the news. The world was ending. Only a few would survive. And to no one’s surprise, we weren’t on that selective list.
Although, I wondered if the twins were. They had seemed intent on taking them, leaving the rest of us out here. Evidently, their plan for survival included as many children as they could manage. No point in saving an old man who was going to die before they could exit the bunkers.
The moon was high above me, the woods silent as everyone rested. I had offered to stay up on watch, knowing my mind was too restless to sleep. My eyes sought out Murphy, his body lying close to Alessia.
After she was gone, he hadn’t been the same. He toiled around the camp, refusing to do anything except start a fire. He had been a shell of himself and I worried with this news, it would only get worse. My best friend strived to be optimistic day in and day out, but there wasn’t a way to turn this around. We were fucked, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
My gaze fell to Alessia next. When she had walked into the clearing, I thought my heart had stopped. I never uttered the words aloud, knowing that the others needed to hold on to hope, but I truly thought we’d never see her or the twins again.
I was good at underestimating her. I had been doing that for months now, but a thrill ran through me every time she proved me wrong.
I couldn’t look at her too long, the bloody wounds on her arms and thighs making me irrationally angry. I wanted to find whoever put those marks on her and put a bullet through their skull.
On her other side, that asshole Warner slept. I didn’t trust him. He was too quiet, too observant. And his gaze never seemed to leave her, no matter what she was doing. I didn’t know what he was trying to do. Murphy and I had been watching over Alessia since the day we had found her in the woods, we didn’t need his fucking help to keep her safe.
As if he heard me thinking about him, his eyes popped open, sitting up fluidly. He scanned the area, that intense look he always wore painted on his face. When he spotted me sitting against a tree, he stood up, making his way over.
Sitting beside me, I didn’t say a word. If he had something to say, he could be the first to speak. I didn’t ask for his presence.
“What’s your plan?” He finally asked.
“Excuse me?” Why would I have a plan? Did he think I had more information than the rest of them?
“I know the look when you’re calculating all your options. I wear it enough myself. So what’s your plan?”
He was right; I was calculating all our options. We could spend a few more months in the woods before the temperatures dropped to unlivable. After that, we could find an abandoned house in the towns and try to avoid being caught.
But I didn’t like either of those options, they would end in our deaths come December. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what else to do. We had scanned all the other papers, trying to find some information about where these bunkers were, but we had come up empty. I’m sure the information was out there somewhere, but we didn’t have it. And even if we did, what were we going to do? Sneak our way into a probably severely secured bunker? Fucking right.
My gaze found Murphy and Alessia once again, their bodies moving closer as they slept. “My plan is to keep them safe.”
Warner nodded, smirking as his gaze zeroed in on the woman before us. “Then we’re on the same page.”
Turning toward each other, our gazes clashed. I didn’t like the guy. Sure as hell didn’t trust him. But for now, our motives were the same.
Standing up, I started walking toward Murphy and Alessia, ready to get some sleep. “You’re on the next watch,” I tossed over my shoulder and Warner chuckled.
Lying on the ground beside my best friend, I closed my eyes; the stars gleaming against my lids. Tonight, I was going to sleep, rest with the knowledge that for now we were all back together and safe. And when the sun rose, a new day ahead of us, it’d be time to plan our next move.