Break Free The Night (Book 1) (10 page)

             
“
By livable, you mea
n
…
”
Nick trailed off though it was obviously a question. His features hardened as he spoke.

             
“
Cleaning up the infected
,”
Jack answered, kicking off the wall and approaching the table. He pulled out a worn, dirty piece of paper from the pocket of his jeans. He threw the map of the Unites States, looking like it had been torn from a textbook and checkered with red and green and yellow squares, on the table in front of them. Bill understood immediately.

             
“
Yo
u’
re focusing on the places with the highest population densities
?”
he had asked, though the glint in his eye suggested he already knew the answer to his question.

             
“
Yup
,”
Jack answered, shrugging.

             
“
We were
,”
Quinton corrected
.“
Until we got the idea of Alaska in our heads
.
”

             
“
So is there anyone there? What have you heard
?”
Anna had prompted, leaning forward across the table.

             
“
Probably not much more than you. But think about it
,”
Quinton urged in a low voice and now his eyes lifted from the table to pierce the group around him. Kaylee noticed how each person, with the exception of Jack who was probably immune to him by now, had shifted forward towards Quinton
.“
I
t’
s dark there for such long periods of time. And when the infection first took hold and sprea
d
—”

             
“
October
,”
Anna whispered, eyes lighting in realization.

             
“
October
?”
Nick asked, shifting his gaze from across the table towards Kaylee and Emma and back to Quinton. It was very obvious that Nick did not want this kind of talk in front of his daughters and that that desire was warring with his desire for information.

             
“
The sun sets in Barrow, Alaska by November 19
th
for two months
,”
Jack answered, grinning as he snatched his map back off the table.

             
“
But is anyone there
?”
Nick asked, argument in his tone
.“
Just because i
t’
s dark there does
n’
t mean anyon
e’
s left. They could have been eaten just like the rest
!”
Kaylee had flinched at her fathe
r’
s angry tone and Emm
a’
s eyes had widened in shock. It was becoming more and more often that Nick would lose control, even in front of his daughters. Kaylee had heard him scream before, heard him rant and argue with Bill, and on one horrible occasion heard him sob as he leant into the window overlooking their old street, but it had been the exception, never the rule. Lately he had been altering between periods of total withdrawal and over reactive anger.

             
“
Does it matter
?”
Quinton asked, squinting down at Nick from where he suddenly stood
.“
We could stay holed up, ignoring the world around us, and letting humanity die out; or we could fight. Fight for our land and our right to live free from fear.

             
“
There are places in this world where you do
n’
t have to sleep through the day and live through the night, where tomatoes do
n’
t grow on rooftops, and your daughters could go outside without the fear of being devoured
.
”

             
“
The
y’
re too young
,”
Nick snarled
.“
The
y’
re too young to travel with no guarantees of wha
t’
s out there or how to get to it
.
”

             
“
But there are place
s
—
”
Jack attempted to continue but Nick cut him off.

             
“
Yes, there are places. If there are still survivors left than there are places where my daughters would be treated as currency, not as people. Do you think I do
n’
t know what the concept of survival could mean for them
?”
He stole a sideways glance at Kaylee and Emma, both of whom were watching him with carefully blank faces.

             
“
We could protect them
,”
Quinton offered in a quiet tone.

             
“
Like hell you could
!”
Nick shouted. Bill placed a restraining hand on Nic
k’
s shoulder.

             
“
Calm down, Nick
,”
he whispered
.“
Le
t’
s listen to what they have to say
.
”

             
“
This is
n’
t right. I wo
n’
t have them auctioned off to the highest bidder
,”
Nick muttered, pushing away from the table. He got up and paced to the living room. Kaylee knew his forehead would be pressed to the glass of the window, his eyes on the street but his ears still listening to the meeting in the kitchen.

             
“
W
e’
re not like that
,”
Jack muttered, staring down at his half finished apple, seeming to try to summon the desire to want another bite.

             
“
Even if yo
u’
re not
,”
Anna spoke quietly
.“
Some will be. W
e’
re not stupid
.
”

             
“
I have to say I had
n’
t really considered it
,”
Quinton offered in an even voice
.“
I suppose yo
u’
re right. It was never a concern of mine before. But that does
n’
t mean there are
n’
t options and starting over will someday need to be a goal of all humanity, if we are to survive this
.
”

              The noise of a chair being kicked sounded from the living room.

             
“
We think so too
,”
Bill said, addressing Quinton
.“
But we know i
t’
s impractical here. W
e’
re just not sure exactly where we would go
.
”

             
“
If you come with us, w
e’
r
e
—”

             
“
No
,”
Nick insisted, rushing back into the room, his hands slamming down on the table as he glared towards Quinton
.“
Did you hear them, Bill
?‘
Taking out the infected
.
’”

             
“
Nick
,”
Anna warned.

“
What does that mean to you exactly
?”
Nick continued, switching his gaze from Quinton to Jack
.“
Yo
u’
re killing them, are
n’
t you? The
y’
re people and yo
u’
re killing them
!
”

“
W
e’
re not
.”
Jack said evenly, crossing his arms as he stared at Nick with distrust in his gaze. Jac
k’
s jaw was set and his arms tense, the muscles standing in contrast
.“
Atlanta was the first and
I’
ll admit, what we did was
n’
t right. But w
e’
ve learned from that
.
”

“
Was
n’
t right
,”
Nick sneered, pushing away from the table and pacing the length of the kitchen once again, his eyes darting towards the living room windows.

“
We destroyed it, every last part of it," Quinton said and his voice was cold and hard. It was the angriest he had sounded yet. "We wo
n’
t be doing that again but we will isolate the largest population areas. The hope is that the food supply will run out and the infected will die off naturally
.
”

Every eye was once again on Quinton; and Jack, sensing that Quinton had regained control of the meeting, leant back into the wall, his jaw relaxing.

“
But let me understand
,”
Quinton continued, his voice a deep rumble once again
.“
You do
n’
t kill them? Not ever
?
”

“
The
y’
re people
,”
Kaylee spoke into the silence of the room in a small voice. Nick spared her one glance before he stopped his pacing, his back to the group. Bill and Anna kept their eyes on the tabletop. Kaylee looked around the little group
.“
They are
,”
she insisted
.“
The
y’
re sick. How is it our right to end their lives
?
”

Jack opened his mouth to reply but a look from Quinton quelled his response. The silence enveloped them once more.

“
Well
,”
Quinton began
.“
We had come here for supplies and with your permission will take enough gas to get to the next town. We wo
n’
t take any food or medical supplies that we can get elsewhere. As I said, our goal is Alaska. Any of you are welcome to join us, but the plan is to continue isolating towns as we go
.
”

“
What does that mean exactly
?”
Anna asked
.“
Isolating towns
?
”

“
It means a lot of explosions
,”
Jack answered with a grin.

“
We destroy all means of escape from each city
,”
Quinton clarified
.“
Bridges, major roadways, sometimes we demolish buildings to block the way. The infected are caught within the confines of the city and from there, the food sources dry out
.
”

“
And anyone uninfected left in the city
?”
Bill asked. Nick scoffed and paced back into the living room.

“
We do a complete sweep first. We take all the supplies we can and leave a sign explaining when we were there and where w
e’
re goin
g
—”