Page 55 of Outbreak

He doesn’t have to tell me twice; my body relaxes into his heat, and a peaceful sleep takes me.

CHAPTER 44

Rue

The sun rising over the mountains is the most beautiful, serene view I’ve ever seen. Steam billows from the coffee cup in my hand, the grey fuzzy blanket tucked around me on the porch swing, just as Ghost promised last night. He’s in the kitchen, cooking us breakfast and letting me soak in the view.

When I woke up this morning, he was already awake. He brought some of our bags in from the truck and was just bringing them into the room when I opened my eyes. He shocked the shit out of me when he pulled my lost phone from one of his bags and handed it to me. It was charged when he turned it off, and I’ve been staring at it since I got out here.

The world is so different now. It turned on a dime when the outbreak happened, and the chunk of metal and glass feels foreign in my hand for some reason, like it’s from a time I can barely remember living—even if it was like a week ago.

I think I’m also scared of what I’ll find. My friends. I have no idea if they’re alive or dead—or undead. I don’t know if they tried to reach me. I don’t know how I will handle not being able to talk to them once I power it on.

The glass wall opens up as Ghost brings out a tray of food and sits it on the little table in front of the swing—breakfast fit for aqueen. There’s scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, buttered toast, and golden pancakes that smell like cinnamon.

“Hey,” I say softly, sitting the phone on the blanket next to me. “This looks amazing.”

“I had all your favorites, even the orange juice,” he says, pouring some in a cup from a glass pitcher on the tray. He swallows hard and sighs. “Reaper stocked everything for us. We’ll be good for a while on fresh food, and we have the basement stocked with nonperishables. We won’t have to leave the mountain for a long time if we don’t have to.”

“I’m really sorry about your friend. You can tell me about him if you want,” I say, taking the glass from his hand before he turns back to grab both plates and sits next to me on the swing. We eat, and he tells me about Reaper. They worked together. Reaper was the one who set him up with his ‘job’. He’s very illusive about what he did, but from what I can gather, it wasn’t legal. I don’t pressure him to tell me. He’ll open up about it when he’s ready. Ghost takes our empty plates and sits them back on the table when we’re done, then comes back and picks me up, putting me in his lap and covering me back up with the soft blanket.

“You still haven’t turned it on?” He asks, nodding to the blacked-out screen laying next to us.

“No… I guess I’m scared.”

“Do you want me to do it?”

I should let him. But I know this is something I need to do. “Can we do it together?”

“Of course,” he says, handing me the phone. I take a deep breath and hold down the power button. The screen lights up a moment later. After a few seconds, messages from Noah pop up, one after the next.

Bitch where are you?

Don’t make me have to go back out and find you.

For fucking real? WHERE ARE YOU?

RUE MONROE! You better not be fucking dead! I will kill you.

Seriously. Rue. Shit’s getting weird here. People are dying. I can’t find Mallory either.

My mom called. She wants me to come down to Florida. Her facility is safe. If you get this, come there. Here’s the address.

81218 St. Andrews Parkway, Panama City, FL 32408

Oasis

Grief and hopeflood me in equal measure as I read his messages. He was still alive as of a few days ago. But Mallory—no!I can’t go there. She’s fine. She has to be.

“Do you want to go?” Ghost startles me out of my spiraling thoughts.

I swipe the stray tear away that leaked out before looking up at him in confusion. “What?”

“To Florida.”

“Oh. I– I don’t even know if he made it,” I say, my voice cracking with emotion.

“Losing Reaper and Viper, I realize you have to cherish every second you have with the people you care about. I know you care about Noah and Mallory. If you want to go, we will go.”

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