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could revive him to shoot him again, I would. This hurts that
bad,” she joked.
    “I’m
glad to hear it. You know, that man was drawing his knife back to stab me in
the heart when he heard the shots. I literally owe you two my life. Is there
anything I can do to repay you?”
    “Some
painkillers would be a start.”
    “We
don’t have anything like that, but since it’s just for medicinal purposes,
alcohol can be used as a painkiller. Give it a try,” he said and passed the
bottle to her.
    Zoe
took a big drink and quickly swallowed. Her face turned beat red as she did,
however, and she looked disgusted.
    “You
know what? You don’t have to repay me at all, if that’s your idea of it. That
is terrible, Max! That was the most awful thing I’ve ever tasted,” Zoe said.
    “It’s
an acquired taste.”
    “That
was my first drink. It could’ve been better, but thanks. I don’t know what we
have left to live for, but there are still little victories I guess.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “I
got shot, but I’m still here, and I just enjoyed my first taste of alcohol.
I’ve got a lot of firsts to enjoy. You probably have a lot of stuff you want to
do, too. I’m sure you daydreamed about what you would do if you weren’t in
prison before all this happened. Maybe we can do everything we wanted somewhere
down the line if we just keep moving.”
    “I
think you’re right. Speaking of moving, though, we’ve got a new companion. His name’s Walter. He’s the guy who saved you. When we move
out tomorrow, he’ll be joining us. I don’t know how any of this is going to
work out, but I think we’re all going to have to band together for this to even
have a chance at working. We need to be like a family who’s willing to die for
each other.”
    “I
would say we’re well on our way. You took a big risk for me, and we took one
for you. As for Walter, we’ll see. Maybe he’ll be as valuable as Rebecca has
been.”
    “I
can’t believe it, but a thirteen year old is teaching me about my life now.”
    “Face
it. I’m smarter than you, Max. I’ll be fourteen in a little under two days.
Don’t forget. The world might have ended, but I did take a bullet for you. I
think that requires some birthday
celebration.”
    “I
won’t forget. Get some rest. I’ll be right outside the room if you need
anything.”
    “Okay.
You can leave the rum, if you want.”
    “I
thought you didn’t like it.”
    “Well,
I thought you said it was an acquired taste.”
    “I
don’t think you should acquire it just yet. Get some rest, and maybe I’ll let
you try to reacquire it again when you’re sixteen.”
    When
Max got out of the room, he sat back against the wall in the hallway and
thought. They needed to be like family to survive, but was that how he was
already thinking of them? Zoe and Rebecca had saved him, and then Walter had
saved the little girl who meant so much to him. It seemed so unlikely, but they
had all lost their families. Was it possible for them to find one in each
other? He thought so. As he found a comfortable spot to rest his eyes until
morning, he smiled for the first time since everything happened. Max didn’t
know how, but everything was going to be all right. He could just feel it.

 
    Chapter 7
    Ghost Town

 
    The
following morning, Max woke up early and found that Rebecca was the only one up
from their group. Some of the people who were imprisoned there before them were
awake, too, but they were keeping to themselves. They didn’t trust Max or
anyone from the group. He understood why. He wouldn’t trust anyone if he had
just been imprisoned and seen two of the people from their group kill others.
As he stepped into the next room with Rebecca, she turned and handed him
something that he didn’t know if he would ever see again.
    “I
think we’ll need this if we’re going all the way to Texas,” she said and handed
him a cup of coffee.
    “I
didn’t think I would ever get to drink another cup.