Chapter 8
Last night, David dropped me and Chase off at our cabin before leaving with Maverick. Because of that, I have no idea which one of the cabins he’s staying at, or if he even agreed to bunk with the retired Marine at all.
Looking for the third member of our travel party seems like a good idea as much as a distraction for Chase, and though it takes a second before he agrees and we say our “take care”s to Nicky, he does head off with me.
The run-in with the handyman riled poor Chase up.
Something about the way he was glaring at Nicky even as we were walking away reminded me of that day back at the Grave, when we had that assembly at Madison High.
I had no idea that the moment Maverick Brooks stepped onto the stage would one day end with Chase and me at Camp Sunnyside, but there are a few moments that stick out at me.
My jealousy over Audrey, the pretty nurse, is one. Chase’s jealousy when Tony Morello came over to me to say “hi” before insinuating that I should spend some time alone with him.
Dick. He had to have known that I wasn’t the Holden twin he’d banged before. That was Xandra, and while the whole Grave let me believe I was her, it’s kind of fucked up that one of her past lovers would try to get me to fuck them when I didn’t know better.
Sure, I subconsciously knew to keep my distance from Tony, but I haven’t forgotten the murderous expression on Chase’s face when he caught the other man talking to me, almost as though he knew exactly what Tony was suggesting.
Then again, everyone in the northside of Madison knew about the on-and-off fling between Tony and my twin.
He was the boy she picked to give her virginity to when we were in high school, and one of the guys she’d call whenever she wanted to get laid, no strings attached.
If I was Xandra, it would make sense that he’d flirt with her, but knowing that I was Hallie…
no wonder Chase tried to make his way over to break that up before the assembly began.
Chase always had a bit of a jealous side. It’s obviously darker than I ever guessed, now that I know what went down between him and Scott Green, but once he got it through his thick skull that I didn’t want anyone else, he seemed to get over it.
Not now. I know why, too. With the state of our current relationship up in the air, I’m not surprised he took an innocent conversation and expected the worst. I wanted to get Chase away from Nicky as much as I wanted to leave the handyman behind, but it doesn’t take long for us to realize that we have no idea where to find Maverick without approaching other survivors.
I’m not comfortable with doing that. Instead, I gave the tote bag of things I got at the trading post to Chase, and the lure of going back to the cabin with a plate of food so that we can eat, shower, and put on our new clothes is too enticing to resist.
And if Chase saw the box of Plan B that I plan on taking as soon as possible, he’s smart enough not to say a damn thing.
Then again, I know he definitely found the stash of condom packets at the bottom of the bag because he not only convinced me to take a shower with him, but he palmed one of them and had it stretched over his dick before we even started the shower spray.
You know. Just in case.
It isn’t until we finally venture out into camp again hours later to search for some dinner that we finally stumble upon Maverick.
We grabbed breakfast at the pavilion earlier. Annie said that survivors can either eat together or on their own. We make a plate and go from there, and that’s what we did for breakfast.
Dinner is an entirely different affair.
For dinner, there are a handful of charcoal grills working.
Sandwiches made from canned tuna and iffy mayo are laid out on a tray.
A spread of fresh vegetables taken from the communal garden behind the cabins is on another.
A vat of meat-free chili is hung over a fire pit set just beyond the pavilion.
It smells fucking delicious, though I have to admit that my nose wrinkled when I saw the platter of charred meat that was fresh off the grill.
I wasn’t a vegetarian before the Turning, but once the stores of meat dwindled down after the first few weeks before we realized we needed to hold onto our supplies or start looting abandoned grocery stores and empty houses, I started side-eyeing any meat that didn’t look like chicken.
I can’t help it. Beggars can’t be choosers, I get that. Still…
“What do you think that is?” I ask Chase.
“Sorry, babe, but I think it’s rabbit.”
My stomach twists. When I was a kid, we had a lop bunny with brown-and-white fur that Xandra named Lance for reasons that only made sense to my twin. He was the only pet we had growing up, and I sobbed for days when he died at the ripe old age of nine.
I was fifteen then, and Chase was the one to pull me into his arms and give me the ol’ bullshit routine that Lance was in a better place. So, no surprise, but he agrees with me and says, “I think we’ll pass on the meat.”
We both also pass on the tuna sandwiches, loading our plates up with the veggies, the chili, and some fresh baked bread. We’re just about to leave the pavilion and head back to cabin four—our cabin—when a familiar voice calls out from one of the picnic tables.
“Kid? Hey! Chase, over here.”
Maverick is sitting at a corner table with a woman.
She has curly black hair that’s loose around her pretty face, though the pair of dark shades are hiding her eyes.
I can’t tell if they’re black or if they’re blue.
I’m leaning toward it being Veronica solely because the only time I’ve seen Delilah, she had her hair slicked back into such a tight bun, it didn’t even look like her hair was curly. Maybe it isn’t. I have no idea.
But the way this woman is turned in her seat, leaning flirtatiously into Maverick despite the eyes of every other survivor nearby watching her… yeah. I definitely think it’s Veronica.
So does Chase. Taking my plate from me, he sets it down opposite of Maverick. His goes next to it. Together, we take a seat.
“Still wearing the shades?” Chase asks her.
She shrugs. “Like I said, they make me look good.”
They also make it so that it doesn’t seem so unusual that her identical twin is also wearing sunglasses, but for a completely different reason.
I murmur “hello” to them as I pull my plate closer.
Maverick looks over the table at me. “Holden?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Okay. Just checking. It’s good to see you, Holden.”
Considering we were up each others’ asses for weeks, it was a little weird not to see him at all for nearly a whole day. He looks a bit better, too, some of the color returned to him. Mav’s not as pale as he was, and his eyes are almost back to normal.
I notice, however, that while Veronica has a decent amount of food on her plate, Mav has a piece of bread and that’s all. Shit. I don’t even think he nibbled on it.
Same thing happened with Chase. When a lurker is known for its insatiable appetite, the best way to prove to another survivor that you’re not in danger of Turning is to act as though you’re not hungry.
Whatever the Doctor did to Maverick, it’s been twenty-four hours and he hasn’t Turned. He recovered, instead, and I don’t want him to think I’m afraid of him. So, just like I did with Chase, I offer him some of my food to let him know he can eat on my watch and I won’t go running for a lighter.
A wistful smile tugs on his lips as he accepts the slice of cucumber I hand him. He doesn’t eat it, choosing to lay it on his plate instead, but the gesture was there.
Veronica is watching the two of us, a slight furrow to her brow. A second later, she snaps her fingers.
“Ah. I get it. You’re Holden. That makes a lot more sense now. I was wondering if we had another rebel sneak in when I wasn’t looking when Caroline showed me last night’s list. I thought you were Alexandra.”
I don’t want to get into it. Considering how chummy Maverick and Veronica are, he can tell her after Chase and I head back to our cabin for the night. For now, I just shake my head. “I was, but I’d rather go by my other name now.”
“No problem. It’s like my name. I don’t mind Vee, but my name is Veronica.
It drives me batty when people shorten it to Roni.
” She nudges Maverick. “What about you, handsome? We still calling you Maverick or you want to be James again?” She glances across the table at us before Mav can answer.
“But not Jimmy. I didn’t know the cop and his wife before this shitshow began…
that was Dee who was tight with Lindsay Brooks, not me…
but even I know that the only one who got the privilege of calling this fella ‘Jim’ or ‘Jimmy’ was his mama and his wife. ”
Maverick doesn’t deny that. “Maverick, please. Or Mav,” he adds, and I’m glad since I’ve been referring to him by the shortened version of his old police academy nickname almost from the moment we met. “James doesn’t exist anymore.” A beat. “And Jimmy died during the Turning.”
I know at that very moment that while Maverick will still call me “kid” when he’s in the mood, there is no doubt in my mind that he won’t have a hard time remembering that I’m Holden now. Just like how Jimmy died, thanks to the monsters at the NRI, Hallie died with Xandra.
All that’s left now is Holden.
Veronica wants something from us.
That much is obvious. Sure, we got lucky that she was coming to rescue Delilah and she let us come along for the ride out of Manhattan.
She could’ve booted us from the SUV once we crossed back into New Jersey.
As far as Maverick knew, her base was near the Pulaski Skyway.
We met her around there last time, and if she let us out near the woods where we first met, we never would’ve thought of her as more than a rogue with access to a retired Marine, fuel, and a vehicle.
Oh, and a twin sister who was part of Project Phoenix.