The Ashes of Pompeii (Purge of Babylon, Book 5) (21 page)

“No,” she said. “He didn’t do anything to me.”

Nate looked relieved. She wondered how long he had been thinking about that, tormenting himself with what was happening to her at Josh’s hands. Gaby didn’t know if she should be grateful or annoyed. Maybe she was overthinking it. Nate was one of those gallant types. An idealist. If the world hadn’t ended, he would have become an Army officer and served his country dutifully and likely retired a war hero, one that was well-liked by his platoon. Or unit. Or whatever it was they called groups in the Army.

“But anyway, back to their comply-or-die question, it was a no-brainer,” Nate was saying. “When I told them about my military background, they were happy to let me enlist. Like I told Danny, most of these guys are average Joes. Office drones, salesmen, construction workers, you name it.”

“Why did you decide to become one of them?” Gaby asked. She was thinking about all the soldiers she had seen, the ones she had shot at, and the ones she had killed. The men from Mercy Hospital, the ones in Dunbar, men like Mac and
(the other)
Lance that held her captive in L15…

“It was the only way I was going to get to leave the towns,” Nate said.

“I thought anyone could leave.”

“That’s what they tell you, but it’s a lie. You’re never seen in town again, but it’s not because you found someplace better. You just…disappear. I don’t know what happens exactly. No one I’ve talked to does; but then, we’re all pretty low on the totem pole. Maybe the guys higher up know.”

I bet Josh knows.

What happens to those who leave the towns, Josh? Where do they go? What becomes of them?

“How did you escape?” Nate asked.

She told him about waking up in L15, then escaping with Peter and Milly before getting captured again in Dunbar by Harrison’s men. He smiled when she got to the part about reuniting with Will and Danny later.

“He’ll be okay,” Nate said. “Will, I mean. I’ve never met a more capable guy in my life.”

“I know,” she nodded. “I would worry if it was someone else, but it’s not. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got to Song Island and found out he already beat us there.”

Nate nodded back, but she could tell he didn’t actually believe her. Which wasn’t a total surprise to Gaby, because she had a hard time believing it herself.

*

They didn’t say
anything again for a while. There was a lot to talk about, but she didn’t want to do it in the back of a moving truck with the wind tearing away every other word between them. Besides, there would be time for everything she wanted—needed—to ask him later.

She glanced into the cab window to break the monotony of staring at Nate across from her. Annie was consulting the map in her lap while Danny drove. They were aimed south the entire time, except for a few minutes where they had to take detours. But for the most part, it was always south, toward Song Island. Toward home.

They were approaching the southern city limits of Lake Dulcet, with the downtown far behind them now, when Gaby heard something that made her sit up. It wasn’t a gunshot, another car engine, or any of the alarming noises she had been waiting for since they abandoned the interstate for the streets.

It was a man’s voice shouting at them.

Nate heard it too, and he looked around before settling on a group of office buildings behind him. There were two figures on the rooftop of what looked like a big box warehouse store, both jumping up and down and waving their arms frantically above their heads to get their attention. The sun was behind them, but both had the shape of men clutching guns in their hands. If the intention was to flag them down, swinging assault rifles wildly back and forth was probably the dumbest thing they could have done.

The Chevy slowed for a bit—not much, just enough for her to notice—but it didn’t stay that way for very long. It picked up speed again three seconds later and continued on. Businesses and storefronts flashed by them again, including the one with the two figures on the rooftop still waving after them, though they had stopped jumping enthusiastically when they realized the truck wasn’t going to stop.

Nate turned back around and looked across at her. “You think Danny saw them?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything. He started to ask another question, but stopped himself and looked down the street instead.

In many ways, he was still the same Nate she remembered (and missed dearly when she thought he was dead), but he had also changed a lot. His smiles didn’t come out quite as easily as before, and when they did, she couldn’t tell if they were genuine or forced. Maybe somewhere in between. As much as she noticed the slight change in him, he probably saw the same thing in her. Beyond the physical (bruises and broken noses didn’t heal overnight), she wasn’t the same girl she was when they had first met in Lafayette.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the truck and wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep. Maybe when she woke up she’d finally be at Song Island, back home again. She tried to imagine that the hard steel vibrating behind her was her soft mattress back at the hotel. Of course it was like trying to convince herself the blood and dirt on her tongue was milk chocolate.

“Gaby,” Nate said.

She opened her eyes and looked across the small space at him.

“You’re still as beautiful as I remembered,” he said.

“Bullshit. My nose is broken and I have scars all over me that are never going to heal properly. For the last few days, I’ve purposefully stayed away from shiny surfaces so I wouldn’t have to look at myself.”

He surprised her by chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, unable to hide her annoyance.

“That you think you’re still not the most beautiful girl running around out here.”

“You know we’re probably going to die tonight, right?”

“You mean at the island?”

“Yeah.”

“So we’re racing like crazy to get to this island of yours, just so we can end up dying there tonight?”

“Yup,” she said. “How you like them apples?”

He laughed. “I like ’em just fine, as long as you’re there. How about you?”

“We’re all going to die one of these days anyway. If my time comes, I’d rather it be at home with my friends.”

As soon as she said it, Gaby knew she meant it. Every single word of it. She had managed to survive when so many had perished, but if her time came tonight, or tomorrow, or the day after that, she would embrace it with open arms. Just as long as she had the right people by her side. Her friends…

“So where do I fit into that scenario?” Nate asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, “but we’ll figure it out.”

WILL

They only stopped
once so Ray and Leo could take a leak. Natasha didn’t move from the back of the truck, and neither did Will. He opened one of the MRE bags they had shared with him and spooned out some meat loaf.

“Mississippi, huh?” Natasha said.

He nodded.

“Which part of Mississippi?” she asked.

“South.”

“Where, south?”

He chewed slowly, enjoying the taste. Natasha never took her eyes off him the entire time.

“Hattiesburg,” he finally said. Then, before she could ask anything else, “We took I-59 down before switching over to the I-10. We were originally headed for New Orleans, but it was too big, and you know what that means.”

“The creatures…”

“Yeah. So we headed west instead, looking for someplace smaller where we could get lost.”

“You found that along Route 13?”

“Uh huh.”

“That’s a pretty obscure road. I wouldn’t even know it existed if I didn’t live in Dunbar all my life.”

“We had a map and we were looking for a quiet place. Route 13 is pretty desolate, which was what we thought we needed.” He took a sip from a refilled bottle of water. “It worked for us. For a while, anyway.”

“I’m surprised you guys never went into Dunbar.”

“We had everything we needed, brought most of it with us. Maybe we’d have to start looking for more supplies eventually, but we never got that far.”

“How long were you there?”

“A couple of months.”

He wasn’t sure if he had been convincing enough, because Will didn’t look up at her as he spun his tale. But when Natasha finally took her eyes off him and watched the others coming back from wherever they had gone to do their business, he figured he had probably done a decent enough job.

“I’m sorry about your daughter,” Will said.

She didn’t reply.

“Leo told me about her,” he continued.

“Leo talks too much,” she said.

“I heard that,” Leo said, climbing back into the truck.

“You were supposed to,” Natasha said.

“He understands, Nat,” Leo said, settling in across from Will. “He’s lost someone, too, remember? We all have.”

Natasha didn’t respond. Instead, she closed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest and pretended to go to sleep. Or maybe that was just her way of letting them know she wasn’t interested in this conversation anymore.

“You lost someone?” Will asked Leo.

The older man nodded. “I guess you could say I was luckier than most. Some friends, but no family to lose when everything went tits up.”

Leo opened another bag of MRE and sniffed the contents before peering inside. He must have liked what he saw, because he produced a metal spork from his pocket and devoured the food with a flourish usually reserved for starving homeless people.

Ray climbed up behind them and walked to the front, where he banged on the cab window. “Let’s go, guys! We’re losing daylight!” He glanced at his watch. “We’re cutting it close. I don’t like it.” Ray banged on the window again. “Drive faster!”

“Fuck off!” Olsen shouted from inside.

The Ford started up and they were moving again a few seconds later. The truck began picking up speed, and although he couldn’t see the speedometer, Will guessed they were topping off at around sixty miles per hour, judging by the speed with which the concrete barricade was flashing by in front of him.

Too fast. We’re going way too fast.

He wanted to get to Song Island as soon as possible, but he also remembered all the accidents and ambushes he had endured on the road in the last year. Of course, he didn’t expect someone with a rocket launcher to pop up in front of them, but the possibility existed because Josh’s soldiers had free rein of the state’s armory. The machine guns up and down Route 13, including the one perched on the roof of the truck’s cab right now, were proof of that.

“Ray,” Will said.

Ray looked up from a bag of jerky. “What?”

“We’re going too fast.”

“So?”

“There could be hazards on the road. Barnes is going too fast.”

Ray smirked. “Relax, Mississippi. You want to get down there before sunset, don’t you?”

“He’s right,” Leo said. “Tell them to slow down.”

“Jesus Christ, what are you two, grandfathers?” Ray said. “Keep your diapers on. There’s nothing on the fucking road. It’s been a year since the end of the world, for God’s sake.” He looked at Will. “And besides, you got all the way over here from Mississippi just fine. We’re not even going that far.”

Will was hoping Leo would press the issue—it would have been better coming from him—but the older man had already gone back to eating his MRE. Nearby, Natasha had opened her eyes and was staring at him intently. There was something about the way she was eyeballing him that made him think he hadn’t really thrown her off the scent at all.

He leaned out and looked up the highway. It was flat and empty, with no vehicles other than theirs for miles in any direction. No wonder Barnes didn’t see any problems with going sixty miles an hour along this stretch of road. Maybe he was worried about nothing; maybe Ray was right, after all.

Yeah, that’s the ticket.

*

He was expecting
it. He had turned all the possible scenarios over in his head and how he would react to each one, but as mentally prepared as he was for it to happen, the
how
still caught him by surprise. It was worse for Natasha, Leo, and Ray in the back of the truck with him, because when the tires blew, no one was ready for it.