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  “We should eat something. We’ve been walking for hours; we need to keep our energy up,” Joel said.

  “I’m not hungry,” Ashley said and turned away from him again. There wasn’t anything he could do or say to soothe her. What they’d seen was horrible, but it wasn’t anything out of the scope of possibility.

  And it would get worse. As things were now, with supplies still relatively flush, people were managing to hold it together for the most part—but what would happen when supplies started to run short? What would happen when the bottled water stopped being a given and instead became a rarity? Joel would cross that bridge if and when they came to it.

  Carefully, he removed the bag from his back and unzipped it. He hadn’t paid much attention to the things he was grabbing before they’d left the meditation center, but it surprised Joel how well he’d managed to pack. There were energy bars, a whole bundle of bananas, and various canned things. He’d even managed to grab a can opener from the kitchen.

  He snatched one of the bananas out of the bag and peeled it before taking a huge bite. On any other day, in any other context, it would’ve been the most unremarkable banana he’d ever eaten in his life, but given that he didn’t know where his next meal might come from or when it might be, he savored it.

  “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Joel asked through a mouthful of banana.

  “Yes, I know where we’re going,” Ashley said. “But if you think you know better, I’ll be happy to pass the reins to you.”

  “I trust you,” Joel said. Ashley chuckled.

  “Well, that’s a change of pace,” she said.

  “It’s not like I have anyone else,” Joel said.

  “That makes two of us,” Ashley said. Joel sat down on the leaf-covered ground and took another bite of his banana. Though she looked like she would prefer to be anywhere else in the world, Ashley sat down next to him.

  “How’s your arm?” she asked.

  “About as well as could be expected,” Joel said. Truthfully, it was killing him, and despite Ashley popping it back into place for him, he wasn’t sure it was healing. Even if it was, Joel couldn’t be sure it was healing appropriately. He might never be able to use his arm in the same way again, but if that were all he had to pay for all of this, for having survived a plane crash, he would take it.

  “Do you want some ibuprofen?” she asked. Joel didn’t know Ashley had brought any, but given the medical supplies she’d pulled out of her bag back at the center, maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise.

  Though he craved the relief the pills might give him more than food or anything else, he didn’t want to be careless with the supply. Ibuprofen may have been one of the most common drugs in the world before, but it would be one of the most sought-after things now, and there was no guarantee they would be able to find more if they ran out.

  “Maybe later, I’m fine for now,” Joel said. “I think we should set up camp here for the night. It’s getting dark, and I don’t want to be wandering around without being able to see who we might come up against.”

  “I was afraid you might say that,” Ashley said with a sigh. “But I guess you’re right. There’s no better place for us to camp out. If we haven’t come across anyone yet, I doubt we will.”

  “Probably not, but you never know. Why don’t you try to get some sleep? I’ll take the first watch,” Joel said.

  “You say that like I’ll be able to sleep in the first place,” Ashley said.

  “Well at least try. Where we’re heading, there probably won’t be many more opportunities like this to get some decent shut-eye,” Joel said.

  “Are we crazy for doing this?” Ashley asked, and Joel chuckled at her.

  “Of course we are. But what other choice do we have?” Joel asked.

  “None,” Ashley said. She gave him a half smile and rummaged around in her duffel bag. She tugged out a scratchy wool blanket and draped it over herself as she laid back against the lumpy roundness of the duffle bag, using it as a pillow.

  “Tell me about your family,” Ashley said. “If I’m going to risk my life to help you get back to them, I should know something about them.”

  “What do you want to know? There’s not a whole lot to tell,” Joel said.

  “Is it just your wife? You have kids?” Ashley asked.

  “I’ve got a wife and two kids. There’s Nate, who’s eighteen, and Cass, who’s sixteen going on forty,” Joel laughed, though just speaking his children's names sent a pang of anxiety through his heart. While he and Ashley had been wandering through the woods, he’d been able to forget about them for a while, to let go of his worry. Now, however, he couldn't think of anything else.

  “They’re okay. If they’re anything like you, they’re okay, I know it,” Ashley said. Joel didn’t know how to respond. He hoped she was right, but he found it hard to believe.

  After the shooting they’d seen on the bridge, he could only imagine how bad things were in LA. The gangs and assorted thugs in the city would be having a holiday in this kind of environment. They’d probably been looking forward to something like it for their entire lives. No amount of law enforcement could contain them, and coupled with the people who were willing to set aside their morals and break into other people’s houses for supplies; they would probably be unstoppable anyway.

  “Maybe,” Joel said. It was the best he could muster. He refused to believe anything had happened to them, but he also couldn’t be sure and didn’t want to think about it either way. “What about you? You married?” Joel asked. It struck him then how little he knew about his traveling partner.

  “No, definitely not,” Ashley laughed, staring up at the sky. The sun had set and had it not been for the light from the moon, Joel wouldn’t have been able to see Ashley in front of him.

  “Then why are you going back to the city?” Joel asked.

  “My dad,” Ashley admitted. “He’s not the greatest guy in the world, and Lord knows we’ve had our differences, but he’s older, and I can’t imagine what things must be like for him all alone right now.” The armor Ashley seemed to carry, the determination not to let anyone see any sign of weakness from her, had fallen aside.

  Joel felt sorry for her. Outside of her father, she seemed to have no one and nothing, and as much as the anxiety about his own family ate at him, at least he still had a family.

  “I’m sure he’s okay too,” Joel said, trying to return Ashley’s favor.

  “Maybe,” she said with a smirk and rolled over. Clearly, she didn’t want to talk anymore, and Joel didn’t press the issue. She needed sleep, or at least as much as she could get, and eventually, they would have to trade shifts.

  Joel tried to make himself comfortable enough without risk of nodding off to sleep. Without the sun in the sky, it was next to impossible to tell what time it was—not that time meant anything anymore—and Joel didn’t know what to do with himself. It wasn’t like he could pull out his phone to kill a little bit of time.

  Instead, he looked up at the sky, tried to make sense of the random chaos that was the stars. He’d never seen them without light pollution from the city, so they burned brighter than he’d ever seen.

  It was hard to believe that just yesterday the sky had opened a portal to hell and unleashed something that’d taken all of their modern conveniences away, but it had. Now, though, it looked serene.

  A branch cracked in the distance and Joel froze. He strained his ears for any distant sound but heard nothing. Most likely it was just an animal, intrigued by their presence in its environment, but what if it wasn’t? What if someone had followed them?

  Ashley sat up, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Joel held a finger to his lips, cautioning her not to make a sound. Even if there was someone else in the woods, it was entirely possible they might pass by—assuming they hadn’t heard he and Ashley talking. Joel kicked himself mentally for that; he should’ve known better, should’ve tried to keep as silent as possible for this very
reason.

  What seemed like an eternity slipped by as Joel waited with his shoulders so tense it hurt, pain radiating through his injured arm, throbbing in the back of his head.

  So when he saw Ashley’s eyes go wide and felt the cold of metal against the back of his skull, prodding at the wound, he didn’t dare move.

  13

  Ashley stared at the gun in the man’s hand.

  He pulled back the hammer, the click so loud in the otherwise quiet forest that it sent the insects scattering, and Ashley drew in a deep breath. How had this man found them? And how had they been so stupid as to let it happen?

  “Don’t move, don’t scream,” the man said. He wore a beard and was at least a hundred pounds heavier than Joel. There was no way that they could take him on, even if they managed to get the gun away from him, but they had to do something.

  Ashley nodded. She couldn’t be hasty; she had to take things as they came. The only thing she could do was watch. Though the man was armed and huge, he seemed to be alone and had no weapons other than the gun pointed at the back of Joel’s head.

  She stored that in her mind. If they got the gun away from him, if they were able to talk him down, they might be able to survive this.

  “What do you want?” Ashley asked.

  “Shut up,” the man snapped, jamming the barrel of the gun further into Joel’s skull. Joel winced and stared at her, silently pleading with her to do whatever the man said. As valuable as their possessions were, and their supplies, they weren’t worth his life. Like anyone else after the EMP, they could always steal more things, scavenge for what they needed.

  “You, bring me your bag, and don’t try anything funny,” the guy said. Ashley looked at Joel for guidance, and he blinked a few times at her. She took that to mean she should follow the guy's orders, so carefully and slowly she stood and picked up the duffel bag.

  “Come on, hurry up,” the man said. Ashley walked over to him, and when she was less than five feet away, she stopped. “What are you doing? Bring it over here! I’ll blow your boy’s brains out, don’t think I won’t.”

  Ashley hoisted the bag up and, using all her upper body strength, hurled it at the man. It hit him square in the chest, and while he was off balance, she charged, tackling him to the ground. Joel was on his feet in seconds, but Ashley didn’t need his help.

  She’d learned more than one way to disarm a man, and though he still held the gun, Ashley used both hands to grab his wrist and smash it repeatedly against the ground until he released it with a grunt.

  Stars clouded her vision when the man’s other hand connected with her jaw, sending her tumbling off him and across the ground. She spat out blood, its tinny, metallic taste filling her mouth, and got back to her feet as fast as possible. The man rolled over and tried to get to the gun, but Joel kicked it away from him. Ashley ran for it, but by the time she got there, the man’s hands were already around it.

  Ashley jumped on top of him, using her legs to pin his arms down. Following her lead, Joel ran around and stomped on the man’s fingers with a sickening crunch, sending a scream of pain out of him that echoed throughout the rest of the woods. If no one else had known they were there before, they would now.

  With his useable hand, and Ashley still pinning down the man, Joel picked up the gun and aimed it at the man’s head.

  “Don’t do it,” the man mumbled, and Ashley saw tears forming in his eyes, though she wasn’t sure if it was a result of his smashed fingers or fear. Anyone would be afraid while facing down the barrel of a gun—and possibly the end of their life. Ashley knew that better than anyone.

  “Why not? You would’ve done it to us in a heartbeat,” Joel said, crouching down to place the barrel of the gun against the man’s temple. “Why shouldn’t I open you up like a melon right here, right now?”

  “I’m not alone,” the man stuttered. Ashley looked at Joel and immediately glanced around the woods. He might’ve been lying, but then again, he might not have been. They had no way to tell. If this big hunk of a man had managed to sneak up on them, they might have her and Joel surrounded, and if their attacker had a gun, his friends would too.

  “Bullshit,” Joel said and jabbed the gun into the man’s skull. He whimpered and tried to squirm out from underneath Ashley but she had him pinned, and her strength was probably more than he would’ve guessed. “Where did you come from?”

  “The same place as everyone else, asshole,” the man said, and Joel chuckled.

  “So you thought you’d sneak up on the two of us and take our stuff? Is that really what we’ve resorted to?” Joel asked.

  “We’ve all gotta survive somehow.”

  “Indeed we do,” Joel said and cocked the gun.

  “Please, don’t,” the man begged, and Ashley made eye contact with Joel. She shook her head at him. She’d already seen enough bloodshed in one day; she couldn’t bear to see more. Besides, this guy might have useful information. If he wasn’t alone, if they killed him, his friends would no doubt rush in and take her and Joel down when they least expected it just for revenge. They needed friends now, not enemies.

  “What’s your name?” Ashley asked the guy.

  “Why the hell do you want to know, bitch?”

  “If you want to stay alive, you’ll tell me your fucking name,” Ashley shouted. Her raised voice carrying through the woods would tell anyone else who might be watching she meant business.

  “Mark,” the guy said.

  “Well, Mark, I would say it’s nice to meet you, but it wouldn’t be true would it?” Ashley asked.

  “Fuck you,” Mark spat.

  “What are we going to do with him?” Joel asked. “We can’t let him live. If he’s not alone, and we let him go, he’s just going to run to his friends.”

  “Then we’ll take him with us. If he does have friends out there, they’ll follow us, or maybe they won’t. I guess it depends on how much they care about you, right, Mark?” Ashley asked.

  “Fine, take me with you, I’ll kill you both in your sleep,” Mark said.

  “Please, let him go,” a voice called from somewhere in the woods. Ashley froze, and her entire body caught fire with goosebumps. He wasn’t alone after all, but whoever was with him didn’t sound like they were a threat. The voice seemed female and young.

  “Who’s there? Wherever you are, show your face,” Joel called into the forest, keeping the gun on Mark’s forehead. “I don’t want to hurt him, but I will if I have to.”

  “Don’t, please,” the voice said again, and over the rustling of leaves and crunching of twigs, they stepped forward. The girl was younger than Ashley had guessed, maybe twelve at the most, and tears and snot stained her face. It could’ve been Mark’s younger sister, possibly even his daughter. Ashley looked down at Mark, then to the girl, and decided there was no way she could hurt him.

  Mark probably never meant to hurt them. He just wanted to scare them, take their stuff to give himself and this poor girl a better chance at survival. She couldn’t blame him for that; they were doing the same thing.

  “Sasha, stay where you are,” Mark shouted to the girl.

  “That your daughter?” Joel asked. Mark laid in the dirt heaving without saying a word.

  “Yes,” Sasha said.

  “Sasha shut the fuck up!” Mark shouted, but it was too late. Joel was ruthless, that much Ashley had already learned, but as a father himself, would he dare to take the life of this man in front of his daughter? Ashley couldn’t allow it.

  “We don’t have to be enemies,” Ashley said.

  “I think it’s a little too late for that, don’t you?” Joel asked.

  “No, it’s never too late. These two are just trying to survive, the same way we are,” Ashley said.

  “Now’s not the time for you to turn into a softy on me,” Joel said. “This guy would’ve killed both of us if he’d gotten the chance.”

  “Jesus, Joel, he’s got a daughter,” Ashley said, more or less pleading with
him. They weren't yet at the point of ruthlessness. It wasn’t too late; she and Joel could still hold on to what made them human.

  Because once Joel pulled the trigger, if he did, he couldn’t take it back. It wouldn’t just be Mark’s life ended; it would change all their lives, and not for the better. This young girl, Sasha, would be left without a father, presumably alone in the world. She’d never stand a chance.

  “So then what we do? Are we supposed to just take them along with us?” Joel asked. “No, not happening.”

  “So you’d kill a father in front of his daughter?” Ashley shouted. They were probably drawing more attention to themselves than they already had, but Ashley didn’t care. All she could think about was the little girl standing not even twenty feet away from her, her face covered in tears as she waited to see what became of her father.

  “Sasha, run!” Mark shouted at her, but she shook her head, frozen to the spot.

  “It’s okay, Sasha, you don’t have to be afraid of us. We won’t hurt you,” Ashley said to the girl, but she seemed unreachable, her eyes locked on the gun held to her father’s head.

  “Goddammit, Sasha, run!” Mark shouted again but fell silent when Joel prodded him once more with the barrel of the gun.

  “Shut up!” Joel shouted at him, and Sasha squealed, falling to her knees.

  “Please, don’t!” she said.

  “Joel, calm down, we can settle this. Maybe we can trade something, send him on his way,” Ashley said. Mark had stopped struggling beneath her, so she eased up a little bit of the pressure, her hands still on the square of his back where his shoulder blades met. She was willing to give him some space, but she wasn’t stupid.

  “He doesn’t have anything to trade. If he did, he wouldn’t have tried to rob us,” Joel said.

  “You don’t know that! Maybe they have something hidden in the woods somewhere—” Ashley started, but she never finished the sentence because Mark threw shoved himself off the ground, sending Ashley sprawling, and seized Joel by his wounded arm.

  Joel’s screams filled the forest, and he dropped the gun as he tried to free himself from Mark’s grasp, but he couldn’t do it. Mark smashed his forehead into Joel's and Joel crumpled to the forest floor. Ashley scrambled to her knees, desperately clawing at the ground for anything she might be able to use as a weapon. Her hands landed on a large stone, heftier than both her fists combined. She scooped it up and charged at Mark, colliding with his back just as he’d wrapped his hands around the gun.