aren’t you?” he said quietly as we grabbed our blankets. “You knew we’d find someone, and—there they are.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be really happy until we’re right there in the CDC,” I said. Tobias’s worries buzzed inside me. “It still feels like a long way to go.”
As soon as I’d said it, I wished I hadn’t. Leo’s face fell, just fractionally, before he caught it and pushed his mouth back into a smile.
“Well, we haven’t let ‘a long way to go’ stop us yet,” he said. “It’s getting to be our specialty.”
“No kidding,” I said, managing a small smile in return.
Justin and Anika fell silent as we ducked into the tent. I slid under the spread sleeping bags, setting the cold box between me and the thick canvas wall. As soon as I was lying down in the darkness within, exhaustion crashed over me. I let it drag me down into sleep, like a swimmer too tired to fight the undertow.
I drifted and dreamed, the images slipping by in blurs and fragments. I was being suffocated by the sense that I needed to reach out, that someone— Gav? —waited in the fog just inches from my fingers, when a shrill dinging pealed into my ears and through the haze. I jerked upright, my pulse hiccupping.
The others were scrambling up too. I kicked away the sleeping bag and fumbled with the tent’s flap. The room outside was dark with the passing evening. My head snapped around, following the dinging noise. The kitchen. I stumbled out and hurried down the hall.
In the fading light, I didn’t immediately recognize the objects in the shadows on the counter. But as the others came up behind me, my vision adjusted. I groped for the off switch on the back of the old-fashioned alarm clock that I didn’t remember being here in the morning. Its hands marked the time as seven o’clock.
“What the hell?” Justin said, pushing his rumpled hair away from his face. “Did you set that, Kaelyn?”
“No,” I said, and Leo broke in.
“Is that…” His voice trailed off, and we all stared at the counter.
Just beyond the alarm clock lay a large black pistol. A pistol that, I was pretty sure, belonged to Tobias. Beside it sat a flashlight, a pack of batteries, a compass, and a granola bar. Things he’d been carrying in his coat.
My heart plummeted. I turned and ran to the stairs. “Tobias?” I called as I pounded up them. “Tobias!”
The door to the bedroom was open. I jerked to a halt on the threshold, one glance confirming what deep down I’d already known.
He was gone.
Leo and Justin had followed me upstairs. Justin pushed past me into the room, swiveling to survey the furniture as if Tobias might be hiding somewhere.
“What the hell!” he said. “He acts like he’s so mature and responsible, and then he just takes off on us?”
“I don’t think it’s like that,” I said. The words Tobias and I had exchanged earlier swam up through my memory with an uncomfortable chill. “He was worried he’d get us caught before we made it to the CDC, once he got sicker. He did this to help us.”
“Oh.” The flush of Justin’s anger drained from his face.
“He probably hasn’t gone far yet,” Leo pointed out. “Knowing him, he wouldn’t have left us without someone on watch for very long.”
Which was why he’d set the alarm clock—so we wouldn’t be sleeping for hours unguarded.
“Come on,” I said, hurrying back to the stairs. “We have to find him. Before—”
Before he did something even more stupid. Oh no. I considered the items we’d found on the counter. He’d left behind everything he’d had on him, except his bottle of sedatives. Maybe he didn’t think it was enough just to walk away from us. Maybe he was planning on eliminating the “problem” completely, like the woman in the attic.
I raced to the back door. Several sets of footprints marked a path through the shallow snow across the backyard, down the hill, and into the forest at its foot. The tracks we’d made
“I’m not sure I’ll be really happy until we’re right there in the CDC,” I said. Tobias’s worries buzzed inside me. “It still feels like a long way to go.”
As soon as I’d said it, I wished I hadn’t. Leo’s face fell, just fractionally, before he caught it and pushed his mouth back into a smile.
“Well, we haven’t let ‘a long way to go’ stop us yet,” he said. “It’s getting to be our specialty.”
“No kidding,” I said, managing a small smile in return.
Justin and Anika fell silent as we ducked into the tent. I slid under the spread sleeping bags, setting the cold box between me and the thick canvas wall. As soon as I was lying down in the darkness within, exhaustion crashed over me. I let it drag me down into sleep, like a swimmer too tired to fight the undertow.
I drifted and dreamed, the images slipping by in blurs and fragments. I was being suffocated by the sense that I needed to reach out, that someone— Gav? —waited in the fog just inches from my fingers, when a shrill dinging pealed into my ears and through the haze. I jerked upright, my pulse hiccupping.
The others were scrambling up too. I kicked away the sleeping bag and fumbled with the tent’s flap. The room outside was dark with the passing evening. My head snapped around, following the dinging noise. The kitchen. I stumbled out and hurried down the hall.
In the fading light, I didn’t immediately recognize the objects in the shadows on the counter. But as the others came up behind me, my vision adjusted. I groped for the off switch on the back of the old-fashioned alarm clock that I didn’t remember being here in the morning. Its hands marked the time as seven o’clock.
“What the hell?” Justin said, pushing his rumpled hair away from his face. “Did you set that, Kaelyn?”
“No,” I said, and Leo broke in.
“Is that…” His voice trailed off, and we all stared at the counter.
Just beyond the alarm clock lay a large black pistol. A pistol that, I was pretty sure, belonged to Tobias. Beside it sat a flashlight, a pack of batteries, a compass, and a granola bar. Things he’d been carrying in his coat.
My heart plummeted. I turned and ran to the stairs. “Tobias?” I called as I pounded up them. “Tobias!”
The door to the bedroom was open. I jerked to a halt on the threshold, one glance confirming what deep down I’d already known.
He was gone.
Leo and Justin had followed me upstairs. Justin pushed past me into the room, swiveling to survey the furniture as if Tobias might be hiding somewhere.
“What the hell!” he said. “He acts like he’s so mature and responsible, and then he just takes off on us?”
“I don’t think it’s like that,” I said. The words Tobias and I had exchanged earlier swam up through my memory with an uncomfortable chill. “He was worried he’d get us caught before we made it to the CDC, once he got sicker. He did this to help us.”
“Oh.” The flush of Justin’s anger drained from his face.
“He probably hasn’t gone far yet,” Leo pointed out. “Knowing him, he wouldn’t have left us without someone on watch for very long.”
Which was why he’d set the alarm clock—so we wouldn’t be sleeping for hours unguarded.
“Come on,” I said, hurrying back to the stairs. “We have to find him. Before—”
Before he did something even more stupid. Oh no. I considered the items we’d found on the counter. He’d left behind everything he’d had on him, except his bottle of sedatives. Maybe he didn’t think it was enough just to walk away from us. Maybe he was planning on eliminating the “problem” completely, like the woman in the attic.
I raced to the back door. Several sets of footprints marked a path through the shallow snow across the backyard, down the hill, and into the forest at its foot. The tracks we’d made
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