Page 29 of Once Upon an Apocalypse

“Would you like to try the terrace first?”

I nod my head, unsure if that will be easier, but willing to give it a try. My mom turns on her heel to head back up the stairs and I follow closely behind. As we approach a wall of windows, my breathing becomes erratic, so I grab my mom’s hand. I give her all my trust as she guides us outside. I feel the brisk fall air on my face before I open my eyes. It reminds me of the last time I was out in the open. When I was free.

Summer was moving quickly into the chill of autumn. I was with Jonah. We lived together in my family’s house. For months we lived rough. But we were free. The trees had just begun to turn from their vibrant green color. I remember thinking how we wouldn’t survive the winter if we couldn’t find enough resources.

Maybe we would have died if we never got captured. That’s an interesting thought. And perhaps it’s true. We had no idea what we were doing. Surviving one day at a time.

My mom squeezes my hand, bringing my mind back to my body. I take a deep breath and slowly open my eyes. It’s as if I transported my memory to the here and now. I knew it was fall just by looking out of the window in my room. But breathing it in, feeling the chill of fall air makes it feel like the bunker never happened. That Doctore was just a distant nightmare. For a single moment, I thought that Jonah and I made it here together.

I walk to the railing of the terrace and look out at the campus grounds. A pond filled with ducks surrounds the top of the football field I saw from my room. A large building sits to the left, likely an athletic center. Beyond that building is a wall that looks like it’s made from cinder blocks, rocks, and headstones? The wall extends behind the building I’m currently in and wraps around to the other side. I’m assuming it continues all around campus, but I can’t see where it ends.

“How big is this place?” I ask my mom. When I turn to look at her, she is smiling out at the view in front of us.

“We were able to enclose most of the campus and part of the town. It took over a year. An extremely long, terrifying year.”

“I can imagine. And all this,” I say as I spread my arms out, “is safe? There are no zombies?”

“No biters. It’s safe, Lori. I promise.”

Just then, the sound of shouting breaks our peaceful moment on the terrace. My mom and I look down to see Amos holding up a woman with the help of another. Two men follow hastily behind. As if sensing our presence, Amos looks up, locking eyes with me for a moment, then turning to my mom.

She nods and bolts inside, sprinting down the stairs. I follow at a slower pace, not wanting to hear bad news. Today is supposed to be a good day. The two men that were walking behind Amos hold the front doors open for him and the injured woman. I stay behind, peeking around a corner.

As Amos talks to my mom, she nods, giving him her full attention as she examines the injured woman. She calls out instructions and the two other men hoist the woman up and bring her into a small room down the hall. Then my mom looks around until her eyes land on me.

She hurries over to me, saying, “I’m so sorry, Lori. I can’t take you on that tour.”

“It’s okay, mom. I understand. Is everything okay?”

“Dana, a leader from one of our sister communities, fell off a roof, and it looks like she broke her leg in two places. It’s going to be a difficult time setting her bones, so I have to be quick about it. She’s already been like this for a day.”

“Go. I’ll be okay. And what’s another day being cooped up anyway?”

My mom looks at me with such sadness in her eyes. “Amos!” she shouts. A second later, the man himself is at my side. “Can you take Lori around campus? She’s moving into the room right across from yours. So after you show her where everything is, you can be the gentleman I know you to be and walk her to her new home.”

Amos salutes my mom as she hurries away, then turns to me with the most beautiful half smile, his golden eyes glinting in the dim light of the hallway. “Are you ready, Copperhead?”

I roll my eyes at the nickname but can’t help the smile that forms on my face. The stiffness already loosening the second time. I hesitate for a second as we reach the front doors. Just a second. Then I take a step toward freedom and my new life.

Chapter 21

“Let’sgrababiteto eat,” Amos says after showing me most of this beautiful campus. The building I had assumed was for athletics has an indoor track, basketball and squash courts, and a pool—though drained and unusable at the moment. There’s also a gym which is where Amos trains the patrol units that go out scavenging for resources and protect the perimeters of campus. After seeing the sports center, we walked around the football field where he pointed out the field hockey field and past that, a large pedestrian bridge, which Amos explained is guarded 24/7. The other side of the bridge is past the barrier they had built around campus.

There are barricades on the bridge and the stairs on the other side are impassable for even the freshies to figure out how to climb. But it is still a passage for humans seeking shelter and one of the three entrances into The Valley. The second entrance is a large gate for vehicles a few yards away from the bridge. The third entrance is on the other side of campus.

I was surprised when Amos guided me over to another bridge. This one is built over sunken train tracks that divide the campus in two. Spikes line the walls around the tracks to prevent anyone or anything from climbing over them.

This side of campus is made up of two quads. The social quad and the academic quad. Though The Valley is no longer a functioning college, the academic buildings are still used as classrooms for the younger survivors.Because math is still important in the apocalypse?I rolled my eyes when Amos explained that they also provided courses for adults who want to enrich their minds.

“We need to keep our knowledge and history alive. Education is the best way to hold on to our humanity,” Amos had said.

His words stirred something inside me. Humanity. He’s trying to save humanity. So was Doctore. But in an extreme and violent way.

“So,” I say to Amos as we sit down in an industrial atrium. He hands me a sandwich he’d grabbed from the little food stand in the middle of the large sitting area. “What’s this building used for now?”

“Is that really the question you want to ask, Copperhead?” Amos looks at me dead in the eyes, as if he can read my thoughts. I mean, of course I have a million questions swirling around my head. But will he actually answer them? Let’s find out.

“Okay. What do you know about Doctore?”

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