Read Online Until the End of the World (Book 2): And After by Sarah Lyons Fleming - Free Book Online Page A

feeling.
    Nelly climbs up next to me. His hair is crazy and his clothes are askew, but his eyes are sharp.
    “Who’s with him?” I ask “I can’t remember.”
    “John,” Nelly says.
    It doesn’t make me any happier that two of my most favorite people in the world are down there, but my heart slows; John’s the best marksman I’ve ever seen. Now that I know it’s him, I can tell by the reports that carry our way. Slow and steady. Boom. Boom. Boom. Nelly puts his arm around my shoulder when I shiver.
    “They’re fine,” he says. “Don’t worry. Talk to me about something.”
    “Okay. How’s Adam?”
    He shakes his head and snorts.
    “It was your idea, Nelly!” I say. “The least you can do is talk to me about it.”
    “Okay. He’s fine. I like him.”
    I keep my eyes on the road. “ Like like?”
    There’s no response. We have to be close to twenty shots now, but those head shots are hard. “Nelly!”
    “Yes, Cass. Like like.”
    “So, what base—”
    “Cass?” Adrian’s voice comes through the radio.
    “I’m here.”
    “They’re all down. You guys can come help with clean up. But be careful, there might be others in the woods.”
    I close my eyes. “Okay, we’ll be there in a minute.”
    ***
    Bodies cover the grass around the lookout. Adrian and John lean on the walkway railing, looking very pleased with themselves. I climb the ladder they lower, and when I get to the top Adrian pulls me to him. I grip the back of his coat and exhale.
    “I was fine, sweetie,” he says.
    “I was still scared. What if it’d been me here?”
    “I would’ve been terrified.”
    I let go of Adrian and hug John. “Good job, you guys.”
    “It was fun,” John says, smiling under his beard. “I’ve missed the range.”
    “Awesome. Well, let’s not make a habit of it.” I look around the clearing. The others have begun to drag the bodies into a pile, and the trailer’s on its way down to move the bodies to the field we use for that purpose. “I don’t think we should have anyone down here anymore. It’s not worth it. Any people who show up can come to the first gate.”
    “I think you’re right,” John says, and starts down the ladder. “I’ll help with disposal.”
    “We should go clean up, too,” I say to Adrian.
    “Okay,” he says. He pecks my lips, and a familiar smell carries over the aroma of rotten brain cavities that permeates the air.
    I open my mouth in shock and put out my hand, palm up. “Give me one.”
    He puts on a puzzled expression. “Give you one of what?”
    “I know you have Twizzlers! I can smell them.” We have a bit of a candy habit, and there’s not much of it left around here.
    “I found them in the bottom of the food locker,” he whispers. “Don’t worry, I saved you one.”
    “One? One lousy Twizzler? That’s worse than none! And after I raced down here to save your life.”
    Adrian winks. “So little faith in me. I saved most of them for you and Bits. I’ll give them to you later.”
    The guys toss the bodies into the trailer while Ana, Jamie and I watch the woods. This is one time when I take full advantage of being female—if I don’t have to lift a heavy, stinking body, I’m not going to complain. A branch snaps, and I spot movement in the trees. Ana’s head whips my way when I make the short whistle we use to call each other. There’s another flash of something pale, coming closer now that they’ve locked on us. There are five of them, so I hold up five fingers right before they step into the clearing. Some Lexers seem to move at the same speed as last summer, while others seem to be dragging their feet even more than they did. Thankfully, this group is the latter.
    My stomach churns with the usual mixture of fear and disgust. I’m not like Ana—I always want to run away, but I’ve trained myself to stand and wait when it makes sense to do so. Still, it’s difficult to fight against your body’s survival instincts. I tell myself that