Page 9 of Hero

Letting the dog out, I let him sniff around the yard and the house. Zed brought water in from the well this morning, so I pour some of it into an old metal bowl and set it on the floor for the dog to lap up.

Then I start unloading the truck.

The assholes clearly cleaned out the entire household of the family they killed. There are clothes. Bedding. Dishes and utensils. Pots and pans. Vegetables and tomatoes canned in glass jars. A few rifles and a good supply of ammunition.

Slightly guilty over my excitement—since an innocent family was killed for these supplies—I fill up our cabinets and closet with the loot. Some of the men’s clothes might fit Zed, and I pick out as many of the women’s clothes as I can make work. There aren’t any little girl’s clothes, but I’d already found some for Rina at the other house.

I lay out her clothes on her bed and work on cleaning up the doll so it’s a little nicer. I’ve just finished when I hear voices approach.

Because I recognize them, I’m not worried. I lay the doll on Rina’s bed and walk outside to greet Zed and Rina.

“What is it, Essie? What is it?” Rina has started to run, her red-blond braids flapping behind her. She’s staring with wide blue eyes at the truck.

My name is Esther, but Rina has always called me Essie.

It occurs to me then that the girl has never seen a pickup truck before. We had a working ATV for the first few years of her life, but ever since we ran out of gas, it’s been parked unused behind the shed.

“It’s a pickup truck,” I tell her. “It’s like a car, but it’s made with that open storage area in the back to carry things.”

“Where did it come from?” She’s still staring at the truck in wonder as she steps toward me for a hug.

Tightening my arms around her briefly, I release her and meet Zed’s eyes. He’s been following at a slower pace, his eyebrows lifted slightly in an unspoken question. “I found it in town. And it actually had gas. It was filled with stuff. Wait until you see everything I got!”

Rina squeals and runs inside to investigate.

Zed moves closer to me, his eyebrows lifting higher.

“Looters in town. They raided a farmhouse and stole all their possessions. I took care of them.”

For years after I first met him, I had Zed pegged as obnoxious and lazy. Even after Impact, he made some bad decisions. That was why he got Rina’s mother pregnant, when they obviously should have known better. He wasn’t even dating Marie seriously at the time. They were just hooking up. He did at least step up after she got pregnant. She didn’t have anyone else to take care of her, so he did, which was why she moved here to the cabin with him.

She died from a fever when Rina was one, so the girl has no memory of her mother.

Zed is still big, broad-shouldered, and solidly built with close-cropped hair and blue eyes like Rina. He narrows his eyes at me now.

“I was safe.”

“Were you?”

“Yes. I’m here, aren’t I? And I got the truck and all the stuff.”

“And you couldn’t have gotten away without confronting them at all?”

Yes, I could have gotten away, but I thought the risk was worth it. I’ve never liked him challenging my decisions. My jaw tightens as I meet his gaze.

He doesn’t like me taking risks, even ones that are worth it. He also doesn’t like it when I need to kill, since it used to tear me up inside. It doesn’t anymore—as long as I’m killing people who hurt others indiscriminately like the men I shot earlier today—but Zed still doesn’t like it. He looks displeased, but he doesn’t say anything.

That’s the thing about Zed. He’s by nature easygoing, and he never seeks out conflict. But when it comes, he doesn’t have to say a word to make his opinion known.

I’ve never known anyone who can make me feel so guilty. Not even my mother.

And my taking the risk isn’t even the hardest thing I have to tell him.

“Oh, by the way,” I begin, glancing around the front yard. The dog ran off a little while ago—I assume to do some exploring and learn its new territory.

I don’t have time to lay any groundwork for the news. Rina starts shouting from inside. “Doggie! Doggie!”

Zed’s eyebrows shoot up higher than ever.

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