Read Online Wanderers by Susan Kim - Free Book Online Page A

sky and finding shelter was more important than figuring out a detour. They backtracked to the exit, then continued past it until they reached another town, less than a mile away. The center of the village was tiny—not much more than a handful of stores clustered around a four-way intersection—and showed the aftereffects of the earthquake. Yet it would do as a place to spend the night.
    Most of the townspeople, including Rafe, headed into one of the few buildings still standing, a building called RITE AID . There, a few curled up on the trash-strewn floor to sleep. But a few remained outside. Silas took the tools that let him break into buildings and wandered off to see what he could find; Skar, too, disappeared into the nearby woods with her bow and remaining arrows. Joseph released Stumpy from her carrier and Kai squatted in the dust, watching the cat stalk and pounce on grasshoppers.
    Esther and Caleb took two of the free bicycles . They continued down the road past the ruins of houses until they found what Caleb had spied on the horizon: a dented sign that loomed overhead on a giant metal pole. It read STOP & SHOP . Beneath it was a brick building, its large window frames edged with shards of broken glass and the entrance gaping open where swinging doors once hung.
    Inside, dust motes danced in the air. Trash was strewn everywhere—not only long-discarded food cartons and packages but also an old mattress, sodden newspapers, the remains of a fire, dead leaves.
    Caleb and Esther worked their way down aisles of filthy shelves, going quickly to take advantage of the failing light. They avoided the piles of cans that bulged, leaking the foul, black liquid that used to be vegetables, baked beans, tuna fish, soup. They bypassed several shelves of once-colorful cardboard cartons, which they knew only held the rotted dust of ancient cereal, mixed with insect casings, rat droppings, and mold.
    But on one high shelf, empty except for spilled flour, Esther came across a windfall: a white and blue box.
    â€œHey,” she called. “Look what I found.”
    By the time Caleb showed up, Esther had already torn it open. Inside were two neat layers of small yellow cakes, ten in all, each individually sealed in clear plastic. He took one out, tried to squeeze it, and sniffed it. So did she.
    â€œPretty hard,” she commented; “but seems like they’re okay.”
    They were called Twinkies. True, the yellow cakes were stiff as dried mud and filled with white stuff that was just as unyielding; but they were sweet and relatively edible. At least, Esther thought, they wouldn’t kill you. She closed the lid and placed box with care in her backpack.
    â€œAnd look what I found,” Caleb said. Fumbling in his pack, he revealed two small jars. They were dusty and covered with grit; but when he brushed them off, she saw that the glass and lids were intact and that they were filled with amber liquid. GOLDEN BLOSSOM , the label read.
    When he wrenched one lid open, it gave a satisfying pop. He stuck one finger in and pulled it out.
    â€œHere,” he said.
    Esther parted her lips and tasted. The honey was cool and sweet, tickling her throat in a delicious way as she swallowed; she ran her tongue over his finger even after it was gone. When she glanced up at him, he was smiling. His face was streaked with dirt, and he wiped a cobweb from his brow.
    â€œI also found some sugar and a bag of beans,” Caleb said, “so I think we’ll be okay for a few days.”
    â€œEven with the one extra person?”
    Esther bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to say anything, but she couldn’t help it; the question had just popped out. In the growing darkness, she could hear Caleb exhale.
    â€œYou want to talk about it?”
    â€œI do.”
    Esther knew it hurt Caleb to talk about his late brother. Yet she was filled with not only an intense curiosity about the new girl but also something she had