Jenna heaved a long sigh, forced a small smile, and climbed slowly to her feet. “You’re right about not knowing how much time is left, but Bret needs time to come to terms with losing you. I also need time. We’ve lost a lot, this isn’t our world anymore.”
“No, it’s not.” I took hold of the hand she offered me, squeezing it tightly. I’d lost all my friends, I didn’t know what had become of one. But I’d just found a friend where I never thought I would and I was not surprised to realize that Jenna would be a good friend. “I’m glad we had this talk.”
She grinned at me. “Me too.”
CHAPTER 4
It was harder moving through the dark, especially without a flashlight, but I felt strangely safer with only the moon and stars to guide us. It was stupid to feel that way, we had been attacked more than once at night, but I couldn’t help it. Though it was harder to see, we made surprisingly good time and reached the edge of Plymouth before daybreak.
Lloyd consulted the GPS. “We can cut through Myles Standish; use the state forest as cover. It’s only seven miles but the terrain will slow us down.”
“And we’d…” Jenna pondered softly, her eyes distant.
I frowned at her, but it was Bret that asked the question. “And we’d what?”
Jenna bit on her bottom lip, her shoulders were set tight, and then they slumped. “I might as well tell you,” she mumbled. I bristled, disliking the fact she had kept anything from us, especially after our talk earlier. “I wrote a note for my parents before I left. I told them that I would try to meet them in Plymouth at my Aunt Lucy’s house. If they’re still alive…”
Her voice trailed off, the underlying hope beneath it nearly palpable. “Then they would go to your Aunt Lucy’s,” I finished for her.
“Yes,” she breathed, tears shimmering in her bright eyes.
“Where does she live?”
“State road, it’s only four miles from the hospital, but…”
“It’s on the opposite side of where we are,” Lloyd finished for her, his eyes narrowed on the display screen.
“How opposite?” Bret inquired.
“It will be five miles from the tip of the state park, apparently another four to the hospital after that,” Lloyd answered, his eyes narrowed on Jenna. His annoyance and impatience were evident as he stared hard at her, hoping that his military cold look would cause her to cave. Jenna shifted nervously, looking guilty and frightened, but she showed no signs of backing down. And I didn’t blame her. If I thought there was a chance my mother was still alive, I would do anything I could to get to her.
“How far is it to the hospital from the tip of the state park?”
“Three point nine.”
Bret’s breath hissed out of him, I grimaced. Jenna tilted her chin up, her eyes narrowed slightly. “So it’s either another seven miles…”
“Or another thirteen,” Lloyd finished.
We grew silent; I could feel the tension in the air. “Well thirteen isn’t so bad,” I said softly.
“That is not the mission!” Lloyd said sharply.
“Lloyd…”
“We were given explicit instructions on our goal, and our approach.”
I was surprised by Lloyd’s insistence, but then again I had never been through boot camp, or military training. As far as he was concerned he had his orders and he was going to obey them. Jenna looked stricken; her eyes were wild with fear. “We were never told which route to take,” I said softly trying to make him see reason.
“We were told to take the safest and most direct route possible. This isn’t even on course.”
My patience was quickly unraveling. Jenna had a chance to see if her family was still alive, and we were going to take it. “Her parent’s lives…”
“Our lives, the lives of many!” Lloyd interrupted angrily. “The needs of many greatly outweigh the needs of a few.”
“Lloyd!” I said sharply, shocked by his words.
His air of youthfulness vanished as he leveled me with a withering glare. My eyes widened slightly as I took an involuntary step back. “I am not the bad guy here. You are the one that wanted to do this mission, and we will do it.”
“It’s only a slight detour.”
“It’s a six mile detour along more populated roads.”
I looked helplessly at Bret and Jenna. Bret was thoughtful, his hands clasped behind his back as he rocked on his heels. Jenna looked about ready to cry, but there was a growing air of fury around her. “I’ll go by myself.”
“No one is going anywhere by themselves!” I told her. “Lloyd…”
“This is not a democracy.”
“We are not in the military!” I snapped at him.
Lloyd’s jaw locked. “I am, and I have my orders.”
“Enough!” Bret finally inserted. “We are not separating; we are not deviating from the mission. Part of our goal was to try and find survivors. Jenna has a lead on where we could find some. It is part of the mission Lloyd, it may take us a little longer, but it is still part of the mission.”
I couldn’t stop the admiration and relief that filled me as I turned to Bret. I would have sat here and butted heads with Lloyd for hours until one of us just gave up or I completely lost my temper. Leave it to Bret to find reason and logic to use against the stubborn soldier, instead of anger and hostility.
“We cannot leave here knowing that we chance leaving survivors behind,” Bret continued, his tone level and encouraging.
Lloyd was silent for a few moments, thinking over Bret’s reasoning. “You’re right,” he finally relented. “We cannot leave the area without first seeking out the possible survivors.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, Jenna let out a small cry of delight as she threw her arms impulsively around Bret. I bit back a smile at Bret’s look of shock and disbelief as he awkwardly managed to hug her back. “Address?” Lloyd barked out.
Jenna was beet red and grinning brightly as she pulled away from Bret and rattled off the address.
***
I was regretting our decision, regretting the fact that we were now standing on the edge of the main street in Plymouth staring down the tree lined roads. There were trees but they weren’t much coverage, and the two and three story buildings offered no protection from anything above. A few of the buildings had been destroyed. I didn’t have to ponder what had been capable of doing that, I’d been unfortunate enough to watch one of the larger octopus/tick/jellyfish things level the antique store our mother had been in the basement of.