Read Online Lives We Lost,The by Megan Crewe - Free Book Online Page A

last night. It looked like we could make it to Ottawa in three days, as long as the snow didn’t get much deeper.
    As long as we could find gas.
“That exit looks good,” Gav said from the backseat. He pointed to a lane where the wind had left the snow shallow, and Tobias nodded.
“Do you think there’s any chance some places still have electricity, Leo?” I asked.
His coat rasped against Tessa’s as he shifted behind me. “There were a few power stations still running, the last I heard,” he said. “But most of them had broken down. And that was more than a month ago.”
“If we can find a station that has power, Kaelyn and I should be able to get the pumps running,” Gav said, squeezing my shoulder. “We’ve had some practice.”
My stomach twinged as we passed a frost-crusted McDonalds sign at the edge of the town. I didn’t even like burgers that much, but I’d have all but killed for one now. A little taste of our old, normal world.
“Here we go,” Tobias said, turning the wheel.
He pulled up beside a row of pumps that claimed to have full service, though the shop across from them was dark. The hoses lay in a tangle beside the pumps. I eased Meredith off my lap and stepped outside into the January chill, shaking the feeling back into my travel-numbed legs.
“What should I do?” Meredith asked, her eyes wide.
“Just wait here, okay?” I said. Gav hopped out, and we hurried to the station shop together.
The inside had been ransacked: shelves toppled, papers and boxes crushed underfoot. I picked up a newspaper to check the date. November 16. That was two weeks after we’d lost all contact with the mainland on the island.
The paper felt strangely thin, and as I paged through I realized it was missing most of the usual sections. No sports, no entertainment. I wondered if the government had canceled those events to prevent people from mingling in public places, or if the organizers had stopped out of their own fear. After a glance over the headlines— US president pleads for calm in face of global pandemic. Utilities failure imminent —I dropped it onto the counter. I knew those stories. I’d seen them for myself on the island; could see them now in the desolation of yet another town.
Gav flicked the light switch on and off, getting no response. We squeezed behind the counter and peered at the various controls. He sighed.
“Doesn’t look good.”
“I guess it would have been too easy if we could have filled up the usual way,” I said. “We’ve got the siphon tube.” Leo had brought it with the rest of our supplies from the SUV.
We scanned the area as we came out, but there were no vehicles in the station’s lot or outside the big discount store on the other side of the street.
“No luck,” Gav said to the others. “We’ll have to go farther into town and find cars to siphon from.”
As Tobias reached to turn the key in the ignition, Leo grasped the back of his seat. “Wait,” he said. He peered through the window toward the town. “If there are any people around, showing up in an army vehicle . . . it might startle them. Give them the wrong idea.”
“You don’t figure we’re safer in this than walking around?” Tobias said.
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Leo said, his voice tight. “A lot of people are upset with the military right now. I’ve seen people jump a guy who wasn’t even a soldier, just for wearing a camouflage jacket. Okay? If you’ve got weapons, let’s carry them in case we need to defend ourselves, but I’d rather leave the truck.”
“Sounds all right to me,” Gav said. “Keep a low profile, get in, get out, maybe no one will even notice us.”
He shot a dark look at Tobias, who lowered his gaze. At least, I noted, Tobias’s parka was plain gray, with nothing clearly army about it. “Fine,” he said. “But let’s make it fast.”
I grabbed the bucket and the now-empty jugs from the back of the truck, handing some off to Tessa and Meredith. When we came