Chapter Sixteen

On The Road

AIDEN

 

After we clear the junkyard, we stop to consult a map from an old atlas that Zach packed.

Interstate 90 is the most direct route by far, but we agree it’ll leave us the most exposed. So we stick to smaller highways and backroads. The route will take us through the rest of western Montana, across the Idaho panhandle, and finally into Washington.

If all goes well, we could arrive in Seattle in only a few days. That depends on how clear the roads are and how easy it is to find gas along the way.

We’re on the open road, and it feels great. The speed is exhilarating. I love to drive. I’m in my element. And this Camaro has horsepower to spare. I’d like to see a carjacker try to overtake me with this baby. Scratch that. I’d rather we not see anybody. But if we do, I’m ready.

As we drive along, I keep my eyes out for cars by the side of the road, but only if the cars aren’t too trashed. We’re checking for extra gas, but secretly, I’m also looking for unlocked cars and keys. I’ve found nothing yet.

Unfortunately, the Camaro only has an eight-track player. I’ve been aching to hear my mixtape, but Zach finds a Credence Clearwater Revival eight-track cassette in the glove box. So we race over the open plains of Montana, with the sounds of “Proud Mary” and “Fortunate Son” blaring over the speakers.

Zach’s window is down, and he’s letting his hand get buffeted by the wind. He looks over. “So, what did you want to do with your life? Like, before all this.”

“I wanted to study molecular biology. Thought I could cure cancer.”

“Wow. That’s quite a goal.”

“Yeah, well. Curing cancer wasn’t going to happen. It turns out I wasn’t particularly good at school. Too distracted.”

“Distracted by what?” Zach asks.

“By parties and boys, mostly.”

Zach lets out a little laugh. “Ha, I can relate. When I was touring the U-Dub campus, the boy selection looked pretty comprehensive.”

“Was your boyfriend planning on going there too?”

“Oh, Felix? No. He was staying on Vashon. That’s part of why we broke up.”

“Oh?” My head spins a little. Broke up?

“Yeah. It was my choice. We were high school sweethearts, and I’d be going to college. I kinda always knew it wasn’t going to be forever.”

This is a genuine surprise for me. I had worked up this scenario where Zach and his boyfriend were these star-crossed lovers trying to get back to each other. Things are rearranging rapidly in my brain, and my stomach does a little flutter. What the heck was that?

“He was my first love though. And I still care for him.” Zach lets out a shallow sigh. “He took it pretty hard. But it needed to happen. Still, it all feels a little insignificant considering the world now.”

“It’s not like you knew the world was about to end. You did what you thought was right at the time you did it.”

Zach looks at me with a melancholy smile. “Yeah. I suppose so. It’s all just so damn sad.”

Talking with Zach is comforting, and I want to open up to him.

“When Marcus died—” I choke on my words, trying to get the sentence out. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

Zach reaches over and puts his hand on my knee. “It’s okay. Tell me when you’re ready.”

His compassion is palpable. It gives me a little glowing feeling. But also, a pang of guilt. When it was a faraway idea, leaving Zach seemed easy and made sense. But each car we stop at could be the one that takes me away. And now the idea is harder to swallow.

“Let’s talk about nice things, huh?” Zach smiles. “What’s your favorite pizza?”

That’s such a Zach question. I laugh. “Pepperoni mushroom. No contest.”

“Not bad, not bad. That’s a classic. But can’t beat pineapple and anchovies.”

I make a horking sound. “Seriously?”

“Hey, don’t knock the sweet, salty, briny until you’ve tried it.”

“You’re ridiculous.” I laugh.

“Maybe a little.” Zach smiles.

“Favorite sport?”

“A tie between downhill skiing and sailing. My family’s sailboat is moored in Seattle. Without the ferries running, it’s the closest you can get to Vashon Island by car. That’s how I figured I’d get back home.”

I immediately think the coastline may not exist as he remembers it. But so many things have to go right between now and then, even to have to worry about that.

“I hope you find them,” I say.

“The odds aren’t great. But if there’s any chance at all… Either way, I just have to know.” Zach stares blankly at the road ahead.

None of my family survived, but I don’t bring it up. Nowadays, that’s the default assumption with new people you meet. But Zach still hopes to find them, and I’d rather not crush his dreams with the world’s harsh realities. These are things he’ll gradually learn the farther we travel. And who knows? He might get lucky with his family.

“Water polo,” I say, trying to fight through the melancholy.

“What about it?”

“That’s my favorite sport. I played in high school.”

“Wow, you must be quite the swimmer.”

I laugh. “Yeah, well, maybe not anymore.”

“Water polo was one of my favorite Olympic sports to watch.” Zach has a mischievous smile. “Lots of good eye candy.”

“You aren’t wrong.” I smile back. “Diving’s my favorite in that regard.”

“Oh? You have a crush on Tom Daley?”

“I might have a little crush on him, yes. Who doesn’t?”

We both laugh.

He leans his head back on the seat. “I probably miss Thanksgiving the most.”

“Big turkey fan?” I joke.

“Mashed potatoes.” Zach laughs. “No, just the family. I miss them.”

“Yeah, me too.” I think back to a time that feels like a different life. “My family ditched the turkey and made a big plate of green chili carnitas and tamales.”

Zach gasps. “Oh my god, that sounds so much better than dry turkey!” He shoots me daggers with his eyes. “Now, I’m hungry, dang it. Thanks.”

I laugh. “Sorry. I think maybe we have some canned corned beef hash in the back.”

Zach groans.

We keep going back and forth about all the other things we miss. It’s nice, and it makes the time go by. I enjoy talking with Zach. He’s clever and funny but never in a mean way. For having such a rough life over the last year, he sure has a positive spin on things.

It’s getting late in the afternoon when we approach the outskirts of Helena. The highway we chose goes along the southern edge. The larger the town, the more likely we are to run into Infected, people with guns, or blocked roads. So I always try to stick to the outskirts.

Of the few buildings we see, most have their windows smashed, or they’re burned-out husks. We pass by a gas station that is charred and still smoking. Zach shakes his head. “You know, in Elk Springs, this whole Great Collapse was theoretical for me. But it’s all gone, isn’t it?”

“Most of it, yes. Some groups like the one I came from are trying to rebuild. But we can’t build up too much until we can fight the Infection.”

“That’s what you’re transporting, right? Something that can help fight the Infection?”

Why did I bring that up? As usual, Zach’s intuition is spot-on. But he’s too smart for his own good. Even knowing about it puts him and my mission in greater jeopardy. If he were ever caught, they’d find some way to get it out of him. And what I’m doing is too important.

“Zach, once this is done, I’ll tell you everything. But for now, the less you know, the better off you’ll be.”

Zach doesn’t say anything but stares at the road ahead, slightly sighing.

I’m not ready to tell Zach the true details of my mission. Only a handful of people in the world know there’s a cure for the Infection stored deep within the emergency medical bunker at UW in Seattle. But they need the vials I’m carrying to make that cure viable. Within my little aluminum box is the power to save all of humanity. And also the power to destroy it. It wouldn’t take much to mutate the weaponized pathogen to get around people’s immunity. And then it becomes the ultimate weapon.

The only other person who knows this is the director of our bunker, Sophia Hughes. Except Connor—back from the dead—seems to have figured it out too.

*

ZACH

 

Aiden is going to have some secrets. And I have to be okay with that. But when you team up with somebody, you are putting part of your life into their hands. And having them keep things from you feels—well—scary.

I’m willing to live with that feeling for now. After all, without Aiden, I’d still be stuck in Elk Springs. In the worst case, the FLA would have captured or even killed me.

Not to mention, I really like Aiden’s company. After being on my own for so long and having my wits and decisions be the only thing keeping me alive, it’s so comforting to have somebody else. I’m safe around him. And safe is something I haven’t felt in a long time.

Aiden’s in the driver’s seat, with a look of concentration. The way his brows knit looks so handsome. He’s so in control, good at whatever he does.

I can’t stop thinking about earlier, his body on mine as I hotwired the car. It was so damn hot I could hardly stand it. Regardless of what’s happening in that brain, his body is clearly into me. I smile.

“What?” Aiden asks, seeing me staring.

“Nothing. I’m glad you want to drive.”

“I love driving. I freak out when someone else does. I’m a total backseat driver.”

I smile. “Glad it worked out.”

We’re making good progress on the road. We fill up with one of the five-gallon gas cans and stop at a few abandoned cars to siphon gas. Most of them are already dry, but we find a Honda Accord in a ditch with some gas left. Aiden even finds the keys for it and starts the car up. He’s been hoping to find us a car with better gas mileage. But the car is too deep in the ditch to get out, so we move on.

We’ve got about an hour before sunset when we roll into Missoula. It’s a bigger city than Helena, and there’s no easy way to get around it without going miles out of our way.

“I hate going through towns,” Aiden says, biting the inside of his cheek. “It’s unpredictable. Keep an eye out for anything strange, okay?”

“Okay.” I dart my eyes back and forth, expecting something to spring out at any moment.

But the city is empty. Not a soul to be seen. As we drive along residential streets, the houses all appear abandoned, with smashed windows and overgrown yards. Some are burned down to the ground. Most of them have a large X spray-painted on them, likely the tag of some looter who’s already cleaned out the house.

A couple of times, we drive up to a road blocked by cars, forcing us to double back. At one point, we have to motor over ten lawns to get past a pileup that stretched across the entire street. Despite all the cars around, Aiden doesn’t want us to stop and check any out. In the city, the risks of stopping outweigh the benefits.

We’re almost out of town when I spot a man in the middle of an intersection. Aiden is looking the other way and doesn’t see him approaching.

“Watch out!” I point toward the man, who’s now running straight at the car.

Aiden swerves, narrowly avoiding him. The car spins out and comes to a full stop on the other side of the intersection. The engine cuts out.

The man wears nothing but underwear. He’s got long, ratty hair and a big gray beard. The bulging veins in his neck mark him as one of the Infected. He’s screaming at the top of his lungs as he runs toward us.

“GO! GO!” I yell.

“Car’s dead!”

“Shit.” I reach for the ignition wires under the dash as Aiden frantically pushes all the manual door locks just before the man is on us.

He starts smashing his fists on the driver-side window. After several manic strikes, the window cracks but still holds. It won’t last for long though.

Sparks fly between the wires as I touch them together. “Give it some gas!”

The engine comes to life, and Aiden floors it. The man desperately attempts to grab the car but bounces off and lands hard on the ground. I keep my eye on him as we speed away.

Aiden was right to avoid towns. They aren’t safe. The world is a changed place.

I shake my head. “Let’s get the hell outta here.”