“We can exit at Anderson,” Bryce said, trying not to see the stranded people on the side of the road.
Chapter Seven
Scarlet
We walked carefully along the river once again, this time on the other side of the bridge, making our way to a large, familiar tree. Just as I had said, there was a rope hanging from a thick branch. The rope was tattered and looked frail. We wouldn’t know how frail until we were swinging above the cold river water. The streetlights on each side of the bridge fell just short of where we stood. Good for hiding from soldiers—bad for swimming. With just a half-moon above, the water wasn’t just dirty, it was black like the night had settled inside of it. As if that wasn’t frightening enough, shufflers didn’t need to breathe, I imagined. That was probably why the soldiers were shooting at floating corpses, just to make sure they didn’t reanimate and crawl onto the shore and into town.
I shivered.
“You’re freezing,” Tobin said, removing his jacket. “Take this.” He held it out. I just watched him for a moment until he shook it once. It was covered in mud, but it was lined with wool. It would still help to fend off the cold. “Take it.”
Tobin huffed, clearly annoyed with my hesitation, and then draped the jacket around my shoulders.
“Thank you,” I said, hoping it was loud enough for him to hear. I slipped my arms into the sleeves, and then rolled them up so they didn’t swallow my hands. I would need them for the trip across the night.
With Tobin’s help, I crawled up the bark. The initial climb was tougher than I remembered. Back then climbing a tree was nothing. I hadn’t climbed anything in years. Tobin’s breath skipped while he struggled to keep his balance underneath me. I made it to the first branch, and then used the rest as a ladder until I reached the one just under the branch with the rope.
Tobin was breathing a bit harder than he had a few minutes before.
“Really?” I said. “I’m not that heavy.”
“No, ma’am.” He put his hands on his hips while he caught his breath. “You’re not. I’m just out of shape, and it’s been a long-ass day.”
I nodded. “That it has. Have you ever done this before?”
Tobin shook his head. His short cornrows moved with the motion, making it a little easier to gauge his nonverbal responses in the dark.
“Just pull in the rope and get a good grip,” I said, showing him as I spoke. The next part I couldn’t act out. “Lean back, and then step off. Let your bodyweight take you across. When you see land below, let go. It’s fairly easy from what I remember, but if you hesitate you’ll end up swinging back, and either in the water or hanging above it. The point is not to end up in the water. At least not tonight.”
“Okay. But, uh . . . how am I going to see land if it’s dark?”
“It’s not that dark.”
“It’s pretty dark.”
“Listen for me. I’ll tell you when.”
Tobin nodded, and I leaned back. My heart began to pound as I silently prayed to whatever god might still be watching over us that the two dozen things that could go wrong didn’t. “I want to raise my babies,” I whispered. “Please help me get across.” As I leaned forward, I stepped off the branch and held on tightly. Within seconds I was almost above the opposite shore. The only problem was the rope was at the end of its pendulum and was beginning to start its return. I let go, and my feet hit hard against the ground at the edge of the short cliff above the water.
Quietly as I could, I called to Tobin. “I’m over! Really lean back, it’s farther than I thought!”
A second later, I heard another vehicle, and I kneeled down in the tall reeds. I glanced over to see where Tobin was, and at the same time, saw that he was coming my way on the rope.
“Drop!” I said as loudly as I could without the soldiers hearing.
Tobin made a clumsy departure from the rope and fell to his knees. The spotlight danced over the water, and then highlighted the swinging rope. Voices shouted to each other, and doors slammed. They were going to search the area.
I scrambled to my feet, bringing Tobin with me. “We have to go,” I whispered. “C’mon!”
Tobin limped into the trees, and then we crawled on our bellies until we reached the border of where the streetlights touched the woods. A house stood maybe twenty yards away with a makeshift fence. I tried to remember who lived there, and if they had dogs. They probably did. Everyone in this town had a f**king dog. Most of them tied up outside so their owners could ignore them.
A muffled sound came from Tobin’s throat.
“You hurt?” I asked.
“If I said I might’ve hurt my ankle when I fell, would you leave me here to die?”
“Yes.”
“Then no, I’m fine.”
I smiled and helped Tobin to his feet. “Where does your sister live?”
“I’ve never come into town from this way. I’m not sure how to get there from here.”
“Do you know what street?”
“Padon. I think.”
“East or West?”
“I’m not sure, I . . .”
I sighed. “Tell me how you get there from the other side of town, and I’ll guess.”
“Just come in on the main road, see,” he said, talking with his hands, “and then turn right at that old armory, and then I go until I get to her street and take a left, and then I usually hit a stoplight right there. I’m not sure why there’s a stoplight. Ain’t no traffic in this damn town.”
“Tobin . . .”
He nodded once. “Right. I’m sorry. I go through the light and pass a grocery store, and she’s the second house on the right.”
“Weird.”
“Why?”
“That’s right next to my grandparents’ house.”
“Really?”
“Yes. We’re going to go straight down this street about five blocks and then hang a left. I’m going to drop you off at your sister’s, check on my grandparents, and then I’m going to get my daughters.”
“And then where are you going?”
“Red Hill Ranch.”
Nathan
Jill was crumpled against Skeeter, holding her bleeding, mangled arm up against her chest. She had it bent at the elbow, so I couldn’t tell exactly how bad her injuries were. Glass had broken just before she screamed, so I hoped over and over that she had just been cut and not bitten. Everything we knew about the walking dead told us that a bite was fatal.
Zoe had a hard time keeping up with Skeeter’s pace, so I pulled her up into my arms. Her little legs bounced as I chased Skeeter and Jill across the street and down the block to the First Baptist church. Its wooden exterior was in need of another coat of white paint. I couldn’t imagine why it hadn’t been done; the church was the size of Skeeter’s house.
“Heads up!” Skeeter said, raising his rifle.
A woman was walking toward Zoe and me. I wasn’t sure what to do. I was holding Zoe with both hands, and called out to Skeeter, running as fast as my legs could move. He stood still for a moment so he could let go of Jill long enough to aim and fire, and then he wrapped his arm around his wife again. I didn’t wait to see if Skeeter had hit his target. I didn’t have to. I’d never seen the man miss. After one more glance around, he took off into a sprint for the backside of the church.