Chapter Thirty-Two
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OAKLIE SLEPT MORE SOUNDLY than she’d expected. Dawn arrived and birds woke her up. It was strange to hear something other than crows. They’d left Tennessee and the animal plague far behind by now. Arkas was downstairs. She could sense him in the kitchen.
Glad to have a few minutes to herself, she grimaced at how greasy her hair felt. “I need to wash it, but I don’t have enough water to spare,” she grumbled. She joined the knight downstairs, carrying her gear. His backpack was already waiting near the front door.
“I made breakfast for you, female,” Arkas said, gesturing at the steaming bowl of soup.
“Thanks,” she said in pleased surprise. “You made tea, too,” she added.
“I filled a thermos, so we can take it with us,” he said.
Oaklie smiled at him and he grinned back. He sat down across from her and took the lump of wood out to resume carving. “It’s coming along nicely,” she said, examining the delicate flowers he’d finished.
“I have an excellent teacher,” he joked. “It’s good to see you’re in better spirits today.”
“It was a rough day yesterday,” she said. “That little girl was the first kid I’ve seen since the Rapture. It’s hard to believe someone so young could be a killer.”
He nodded in response, clearly unhappy that he’d had to end the girl’s life. “The weather looks clear,” he said to change the topic.
“We’re about two thirds of the way to New York now,” Oaklie figured. “We should make it the rest of the way there by this afternoon, depending on how bad the highways are.”
“We’ll need to be extra wary,” Arkas said, studying his carving critically before shaving another tiny piece of wood off a petal. “Things will be worse in the city.”
“In what way?” she asked, spooning soup into her mouth, then sipping some tea.
“Food production shut down along with everything else,” he reminded her.
“There won’t be any wild animals to hunt, or clean water to drink in the city.
If Rahab and his squad are here, then they’ll already be gathering humans to join them.
They’ll no doubt hoard supplies for their minions to keep them loyal. ”
“And if food isn’t coming in, then they’ll have to find it in warehouses, stores and apartments,” Oaklie said, feeling a sick sense of dread. “How many people will die from starvation or thirst?” she asked.
Arkas looked at her gravely. “Too many,” he replied. “The Rapture was just the beginning of the torment the survivors will go through. You’ve already seen disease sweep through your home state. Worse things will be likely to happen elsewhere.”
Eating her breakfast, Oaklie had lost her appetite, but finished it anyway.
She drank her tea, then left the dirty dishes on the table.
The former owners were no longer around to care and she didn’t want to waste any water washing them.
“We should head out,” she said. “I’ll take the first driving shift. ”
Arkas didn’t argue. He tucked his tools into the kit and placed them and his carving in his bag. He’d stashed their new supplies in the truck already, so they were good to go.
Oaklie followed the warrior’s directions, but it was mostly a straightforward route. She had to detour around pileups and backtrack a few times. It was slow going, since the roads were becoming more clogged the closer they drew to New York.
Stopping for lunch, she checked the map. “We’ll be there in maybe three more hours,” she gauged.
“I’ll take over driving,” Arkas said, dipping his fingers into her pocket for the keys. She sucked in a breath as lust surged through her at his close proximity. He gave her a knowing look and a smug wink.
“I need to pee,” she said, deliberately ruining the moment. She’d chosen a rest stop for truckers. The restroom would no doubt be disgusting, but it was better than stepping behind a shrub.
“I’ll keep watch,” her tall, blond and handsome companion said.
Oaklie hurried to the restroom next to the gas station.
No one was around, but she still felt uneasy.
Using a small bottle of hand sanitizer when she was done, she carried her roll of toilet paper back to the truck.
She stopped dead when she saw a buck and stared at the animal.
The deer was standing on the edge of the woods, looking right back at her.
He wasn’t as magnificent as the stag she’d carved, but he would grow into a fine creature.
“The animals are already becoming less fearful of humans,” Arkas said, walking over to her. The buck turned and sprinted under the cover of the trees. “Soon, they’ll be so numerous the ecosystem will be affected,” he predicted.
“Everything is already out of balance,” Oaklie pointed out, storing the scene in her mind. “It’s probably about time the animals took the planet back,” she figured. “Humans have done enough damage to it already.”
“Humanity will bounce back, but things will be far worse,” the knight said. “All of the good people are gone, so the population will be lawless maniacs until newborns become adults. That’s if any of them turn out to have white souls.”
“Thanks, voice of doom,” Oaklie grumbled. “You won’t be here to see it, but I’ll have to live with those maniacs who’ll be running loose killing each other.”
“At least you know how to defend yourself,” Arkas said, but she saw how disturbed he was that she would be all alone and have to fend for herself. “I need to teach you how to shoot,” he decided.
“Later,” she said. “We need to find your commander first.”
He nodded and they climbed back into the truck.
She ate a snack and drank what was left of her now tepid thermos of tea while her knight drove.
Mentally smacking herself at that thought, Oaklie knew she was treading on dangerous ground.
Arkas was everything she’d ever wanted in a man, but he wouldn’t be staying here for long.
He wasn’t hers and she wasn’t his, even if he was having trouble remembering that fact.
Spreading the map out on her lap, she waited for the next problem to crop up.
They managed to drive for half an hour before she had to direct Arkas around a traffic accident.
“That looks like a bad one,” she said as he circled around the pileup.
Fire had engulfed the vehicles, leaving charred skeletons inside.
“It would be a horrible way to die, trapped in a vehicle and burning to death,” Arkas said.
“I’ll add it to my list of things to avoid,” Oaklie said and was rewarded with a tight smile. The warrior was getting tense as they neared their destination. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes darted around, searching for danger.
He made it back onto the highway, but didn’t get far before there was another obstruction. “I think we’re going to have to drive through suburbs and take backroads to avoid the pileups,” Oaklie suggested.
“So it would seem,” Arkas agreed. “You’ll direct me?”
“I’m on it,” she said as he took the next exit to avoid the catastrophe they could see in the distance.
It was strange to be using an old-fashioned map instead of an app on her phone, but she was used to it by now.
She gave her companion directions that led them closer to New York.
They were lucky enough to avoid major problems for the next couple of hours, but Arkas had to drive slowly.
They were both wary about driving into another ambush.