Page 25 of Before Their After

A warm droplet fell against my forehead. I ignored it, letting him feel as though he was making me strong, but knowing I was simply adding to it. I’d realized that I had an additional gift once it became a bittooeasy to talk him down during fits of rage over the past few months.

The journey had been far from complicated, but there had been several situations that were tough to get ourselves out of. That added on to time spent lost, and having nowhere to go … the anger had been justified. Nevertheless, unhelpful.

“We should try heading north now,” he said, breaking the silence.

“Newport’s only eleven days from here.”

His body jerked at the words. “That’s where we’ve been headed?”

Newport was a small coastal town in Oregon. Our mother had grown up there and we’d visited during the holidays while our grandparents were still alive. We hadn’t been back in years, but it was the perfect size to pass through with limited risk. Our mother’s reluctance to sell our grandparents’ house was only an added plus to provide us a nice place to recover.

I tensed, not wanting to trigger him, quietly pushing my power out to calm him. “I think it’s where we should head. I met a girl at the river a few days ago. She said that part of the country is done. All of it. If it wasn’t the undead, the weather would freeze out the rest.”

Seth stared out into the dark void beyond the cave entrance. Minutes passed, yet he said nothing. I closed my eyes, pretending to rest as I worked to force more of my power out. It was dark here, but his own heightened abilities made it where hecould see just enough to spot my lie. A shiver went through his body, not yet knowing about the extra gift I possessed.

That’s how I viewed them, as gifts. I wasn’t sure how they worked, or if they could be felt or go undetected. It wasn’t uncommon to run into others, my story was believable enough, but still caused pause, hesitation. It was a Hail Mary; I needed to give more, say more, to dissuade him.

There was nothing left for us up north, no family that would be waiting. At least none worth fleeing to. None that I could be sure wouldn’t lead my brother down a dark path he’d fall easy prey to. Our cousin could be rather … convincing. The similarities between her and Seth would cause nothing but trouble and questions they’d ensure they found answers to. Their relentless energy would be damning, and I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to know definitively that it was really only the two of us left. Couldn’t take that. Sometimes no answers are the best answers for everyone.

“It’s gotten cold, Seth. Even with the gear we’ve managed to get, it’s too cold to make it there safely. Let’s wait out the winter.” I shrugged. “Try again in the spring and hit the coast for a bit. At least we know the area, and if there’s people, maybe they’ll know something about the state of things up north.”

We wouldn’t. I knew that, but if it helped convince him, then to hell with it.

Minutes later, he turned away. “No later than spring, Reina.”

“Pinky,” I said. Cursing myself for making a promise I never intended to keep.

Responsibilities

SETH

I wanted to go home.This life, out on the road, stuck inside enclosed spaces and shimmying among the outskirts of abandoned homes and cities was not the life I’d been hoping to lead. There is peace in the fresh, open air. Now all there was, was death. The smell of death. The sounds of death. The actions … theneedto cause death.

From animals. From zombies. From people.

That was what took the largest toll. I wasn’t built for this. Losing James had nearly stolen my own life. Having to take more in order to ensure Reina and I were safe was an action I don’t think I’d ever like to get used to. People were sick. They’d lost their values, their morals, and their way long before we’d ever had to flee the ranch. Godless savages. Life had become kill or be killed. I don’t think that was ever going to change again. Not in my lifetime.

When the weather cleared and the storms slowed down, we could finally make our way back north. Reina’s reluctance to head home made me hesitant. Something wasn’t right. I didmy best not to push her, she’d never done well under pressure. Since she was a kid she’d talked about walking away and leaving the ranch, but this was different. She’d changed. It seemed less about what up north had to offer and more about running away from her life’s problems. Her problems were my problems now, she was my responsibility. I just wished she’d trust I was capable of taking care of us both.

Instead she was full of opinions and constantly putting her foot down on any sort of guidance I offered. I would follow my sister anywhere—that was indisputable. She was all I had left. So I bode my time, stopped fighting her and waited for the right moment to try to steer us in the right direction. My sister was stubborn, but she was also smart. She was right, we didn’t have the proper resources we needed to make the journey. Not in the current climate.

If there was one thing our father had instilled in us, it was to always be prepared. Without proper preparation, you were as good as dead. That’s how I knew Hunter was okay. He was out there, somewhere, probably doing his best to make his way to us as planned.

So I’d wait. One day the opportunity would present itself for a safe journey to be made. I’d get us there. Together, that was where what was left of my family belonged. There was no place to call home without them.

My Brother’s Keeper

REINA

I’m a liar.A manipulator. A fake. A phony.

I am my brother’s keeper.

It was my week to navigate, he’d trusted me to guide us to Newport. To get us safely to the coast. And I did get us to the coast at least. I’d avoided all road signs, told him we were taking the quickest route, that I’d double checked and even wrongly pointed to random markers on our map.

He had trusted me, and now we were too far south to make the journey safely. We didn’t have much ammo left, even with me forging my own bows. The powers I possessed were practically useless.Iwas useless without knowing how to wield them to our advantage.

He hadn’t said the words, but I could see it in his eyes every time we took a moment for me to practice, once we were able to confirm we were alone. We’d been lingering near the border of California, when Seth had heard of a place where we could work and recover. Excitement consumed him at the thought of gathering enough material and ammo to make it back north andreunite with family long-lost to us. Reluctantly, I’d agreed with hopes he’d change his mind. The settlement itself seemed fine from what he’d described; things couldn’t be much worse than being on the road for weeks at a time.

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