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

back around, Tobias was showing Leo a red plastic-looking gun.
“A flare gun won’t do major damage, but it’ll at least scare a person,” he was saying. “Makes a pretty loud noise, though, so don’t use it unless you have to. Anyone who doesn’t already know we’re here, they will as soon as you fire it.”
Tobias must have had a weapon on him too. Probably one that fired actual bullets. I remembered the woman I’d seen gunned down by a gang member in the street, weeks ago but still vivid in my mind.
“We’re not going to shoot anyone,” I said. “Not unless it’s that or get shot ourselves.”
“I don’t want to use it,” Leo said, tucking the flare gun into his coat. His stance was tense.
Gav joined us, holding a branch he must have found, as thick as his arm and nearly as long. “Better to be prepared than not,” he said, taking the last couple jugs in his other hand.
Tobias circled the truck, making sure all the doors were secure. “Our food’s safe in there?” Tessa asked.
Tobias gave her a thin smile. “It’s an army vehicle,” he said, patting the side of the truck. “No one’s getting in without a bazooka.”
We tramped down the road, past the fast food restaurants and a one-story motel, toward the more tightly clustered buildings in what looked to be the center of town. A layer of ice crusted the snow, and our boots crunched through it as we walked. The sound seemed horribly loud in the silence around us.
We passed a couple of nicer restaurants, a liquor store, and a jewelry shop. All the windows were shadowed. Meredith had paused to look longingly at a few beads scattered in the jewelry shop window, when three dogs trotted onto the road in front of us.
We all froze. The largest dog, what looked like a German Shepherd–mix, woofed quietly and continued on. The others, a bull terrier and a brown-spotted mutt, followed without a backward glance. All three still wore collars. Their tags jingled long after they slipped out of sight.
“Must be an awful lot of ownerless dogs in the world now,” Tobias murmured. “Maybe they’d be better off if the virus got ’em too.”
“There could be more,” Gav said. “You think a flare gun would work on wild dogs?”
“They’re not really wild,” I said. “And they didn’t seem interested in us.”
“We don’t know what else is around, though. Or how hungry they might be.”
“Well, we either keep walking or we go back for the truck and announce to the whole town we’re here,” Leo said mildly.
“I’m all for the truck,” Tobias said.
“There were just three,” Tessa said. “And we’re already here.”
“Exactly,” I said, breaking from the group to stride on down the road. “Let’s just get some gas and go.”
A few blocks up ahead, I spotted a couple of mounds of snow that looked vaguely car-shaped. I headed toward them, hearing the others catching up behind me. We were just a few storefronts away when movement up ahead made my legs lock.
A couple of figures in heavy coats were sauntering out onto the street from around a corner just beyond the second car. We waited as they approached. From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo’s hand slip into the pocket that held the flare gun. My pulse started skittering.
“Hey there,” one of the figures said when they were about ten feet away. His pale eyes glowered at us. “What’re you all doing?”
“We’re not trying to make trouble,” Gav said. He held the branch low by his side but clearly visible. “Just need some gas for our car.”
“This is our town,” the man said, but he didn’t move any closer. I wondered if it was just the two of them—there was no way they could fight all six of us, if it came down to that. “We don’t care for strangers coming in and taking what they want.”
“But we need it!” Meredith said. I reached for her, but she shifted away from my grasp. “It’s really important. We have to get to Ottawa, to give them the vaccine, so we can stop