Three

          I sleep more soundly than I should. Reed stays in the single bedroom of the cabin while I get the only couch. Despite it not being the comfiest and putting more than a few knots in my back, it’s far better than anything I’ve slept on since I woke up.

            The springs squeak as I sit up on my arm and look around through foggy eyes. Everything is still dark, the only light faintly leaking through one of the dirty windows. I blink a few times to get out of my sleepy daze and realize that I’m the only one up. Reed’s bedroom door is still shut tightly while Cole and Jagger are asleep on the floor, lying on a makeshift bed of cushions and blankets.

            I let my hand fall down beside me and give a resting Bullet a scratch on the head before rising into a sitting position. My head is still throbbing from the previous day and despite welcoming this new clean feeling, now I can see all my fresh bruises in their purple glory. Every part of me is sore, especially my feet. I rub my face with my hands and decide to go outside.

            The floor creaks gently as I walk barefoot across the wood, making my way to the door. No one stirs as it creaks open and I step out into the early morning. Unusually I slept right through the night, which is a first for me. Each time I sleep I wake up at the smallest of sounds from being on edge of danger constantly. Someone could sigh in their dreams and I would shoot upright, my hand already grasping my shotgun.

            I lean forward on the railing like I had last night and stare out into the woods. Everything looks normal, as if it’s untouched by the chaos happening just miles away.

            “I didn’t take you for an early riser.”

            Immediately I turn to the right and reach for my shotgun – only it isn’t nearby. Another first, not having it by my side constantly. I had mistakenly left it inside.

            “I didn’t mean to scare you,” Reed says, rising to his feet from the wooden chair he was sitting in. He closes the space across the deck and joins me by the edge.

            I laugh humourlessly. “Your safe house makes me feel safer than I should.”

            Reed smirks and leans on his forearms, looking up into the dim sky. “But you filched, so you must feel somewhat unsafe.”

            I shrug and turn away, looking around the small clearing. “You never know.”

            Neither one of us responds, leaving the sound of the early morning birds chirping the only thing to break the silence. I don’t remember the last time I heard birds.

            Reed turns to me unexpectedly. “Thirsty?”

            I shake my head. “I’m fine.”

            “You’re probably still dehydrated,” he continues. “You should keep drinking water. You don’t want to lose consciousness again.”

            “Probably won’t be the last time,” I mumble, and Reed’s lips falter before he strands straight up. He heads into the house despite my protest and returns quietly with a bottle of water. When he hands it to me, I avoid his gaze. I still don’t know whether to trust him.

            “They’re still asleep.”

            “Because they feel safe,” I reply, twisting off the cap. “They haven’t felt like that in a long time.”

            Reed nods as I take a sip from my water. “You three must have been out there for a while. You’re lucky you guys made it here alive.”

            “We were five,” I deadpan, setting my water bottle down on the railing top. “Four before I just showed up.”

            I feel Reed’s eyes watching me but I don’t dare say anymore. “There’s always casualties. I’m sorry.”

            I shrug and look away.

            “What do you mean you just showed up?”

            I shake my head and let go of the plastic bottle. “I think it’s you who should be answering questions.”

            After I had returned inside last night Jagger was already asleep and Reed was setting a blanket down on the couch for me. Once he left I stayed up for a bit, whispering to Cole about what had happened earlier. He said that he didn’t know, but Reed’s story didn’t add up. Something about it – and him – seemed off.

            “How did you find us down there?” I ask, meeting his gaze. Instantly Reed looks away with his eyes, but he doesn’t move his head. “How did one person manage to come down there and save us and just drive right out of there. How?”

            “You really cut to the chase, don’t you?”

            “And you really like to avoid answering my questions.”

            “Radio signal,” he says, his smirk diminishing. “When Cole scanned his card on the reader, it sent a signal to my radio. Not one you listen to music on, but a military communication one.”

            “Why do you have that?”

            “My uncle was in the military.”

            I keep my eyes fixated on him, staring, watching. But not once does he look my way. The entire time he avoids my gaze, only occasionally flicking towards me before blinking towards the other direction.

            “What happened to Fort Saunders? How come nobody answered the door?”

            “Nobody answered because nobody is alive. They’re all dead, except for the few – like me – that got away. Everyone who could escaped.” He shakes his head and looks down towards the ground. “We were breached. Some of the dead found their way inside and attacked. We were fighting and things were looking good until the army showed up. Then they started-“

            My eyes grow wide and I feel my heart start to pound in my chest. Suddenly everything seems even more surreal than before. “The army? The army is here?”

            “Yes, but they’re-“

            I grab Reed’s shoulders and practically start shaking him. “Why are we not going to them? Why aren’t we listening for radio messages on where to go that’s safe?”

            He finally meets my eyes and when I look into his, I see that something’s very, very wrong. He looks horrified. Slowly, I drop my arms to my sides and take two steps back. I feel like I’m about to hear that my dog has died.

            “They’re not here to help the survivors, Sloane. They’re killing them.”

            I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

            “Nowhere is safe anymore, they’re attacking all the quarantines and safe houses. They’re killing the zombies and the humans. They think it’s too big of a risk to keep the survivors alive, that they’re either already infected or going to be. When they attacked the fort, I hid. When they swept the area I stayed low and heard them talking. They’re saying the infection is airborne, that whoever is alive now isn’t going to be for long.”

            “But we’re fine,” I whisper. I feel like I’m choking on my words. “It’s not airborne. If it was, we would already be undead.”

            “I know, but they don’t.”

            I walk away from Reed and lower myself onto the steps. As I sit down, I realize my hands are shaking. I’m trembling, I’m stunned. I can’t believe this. The military isn’t helping us – they’re killing us. Without the quarantines and safe houses, we have nowhere to go.

            “What are we going to do?” I murmur to myself.

            “We’re going to stay alive.”

            I turn around to find Jagger standing outside of the screen door, his arms folded across his chest. His expression is hard but reveals nothing. I can’t tell if he is still mad.

            “We can’t stay here forever,” Reed says, taking a step closer to us. “I barely had enough food for myself to last a few weeks. With the four of us – five, if you count the dog – we’ll have to be going on raids within the week.”

            “I don’t think staying here is a good idea,” I admit.

            Regardless of our fight last night, Jagger nods. “I agree. How will we escape if we need to? How will we do raids when we only have an ATV to bring things up here? We’ll alert the zombies sooner or later. I think we need to come up with a plan.”

            Reed grimaces and mirrors Jagger by folding his arms loosely across his chest. “I assure you we’re safe here.”

            I wrap a lock of my clean hair around my finger and let it go. “You can, but I’m not. We should warn the other quarantines before they’re attacked.”

            “They’re already dead,” Reed says quickly. Jagger and I turn to him at the same time, both of us trying to hide our shock. “And the ones that remain – if there are any – will be attacked before we can get there. We should just stay here and go out on a raid in a few days. If you guys want to leave when we get back, that’s fine. We should just lay low until the military is out of the city.”

            “We were just there,” Jagger says. “There were only zombies, no soldiers.”

            Reed raises his chin and I start to wonder why he’s being so defensive. He saved us and acted above us this entire time, and now he’s trying to get us to stay like we’re the only people he’s ever known.

            “You sent a signal when you scanned the card. Why do you think they’re there right now?”

            Jagger shakes his head and moves his gaze to the ground. Stress crosses his face as he runs his palm along his cheek, wiping away his discomfort.

            I don’t agree with Reed, but I meet his gaze anyways.

            “Okay,” I say slowly. “We’ll wait to make a decision until after the raid.”

            Relief washes across Reed’s face before he heads towards the door. “I’m going to make some breakfast. Want me to wake Cole up and send him your way?”

            Jagger turns around to face him and nods. “Yeah, thanks. We should tell him what’s going on.”

            Once the screen door swings closed Jagger instantly meets my eyes. Neither one of us says a word but we both know what the other one is thinking. Something else is going on.

            Cole rubs his face sleepily and yawns as he pushes open the door, stepping onto the wooden deck beside Jagger. He leans against the wall as he holds open the door for Bullet but doesn’t open his eyes. For a moment, I think he’s sleeping. Then he lets the door swing closed.

            Bullet sits happily beside me and I begin to scratch his head.

            “What’s up?” Cole mumbles.

            “Reed wants us to stay here for a few days until we go on a raid. After when we have supplies and come back, he says we can make a decision.”

            Cole’s eyes fly open and he looks confused and angry all at once.

            “What the hell-“

            Just as he begins to speak Jagger grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him away from the screen door, ducking their heads down so their faces are just millimetres away from each other. I can’t hear what they’re saying but I know Jagger’s telling him what just happened and adding a few choice words into the mix.

            “What’s going on?”

            Jagger stands up quickly and spins around to face Reed, who I hadn’t heard to come stand on the other side of the door. Even Bullet, who has better hearing than all of us combined seems shocked. Cole grimaces as Jagger pushes him away, scratching the top of his blonde head with his fist in the process.

            “Just playing,” Jagger says lightly before straightening up. “Breakfast ready?”

            Reed’s suspicion quickly goes away and he nods. “Cereal’s on the table.”

            As soon as he turns around I move my gaze to Jagger and Cole. “We’ll talk later,” I mouth to them. “In private.”

            They both nod and we head into the house, spending the rest of the morning pretending that Reed doesn’t have something going on that we don’t know about.