Break Free The Night (Book 1) (11 page)

“
Along with a few barrels of gasoline and some medical supplies
,”
Jack interrupted Quinton.

He nodded
.“
We leave all this in several stations along the perimeter of the cities. Just in case there are some survivors coming up from the south
.
”

“
And how long will you be staying here
?”
Anna asked tentatively, looking from Nic
k’
s rigid back to Quinton. He noticed her eyes shift and paused to search each face in the room before he answered. Kaylee did
n’
t know what he saw in her gaze, she was
n’
t sure herself what she was feeling, but it did seem as though he stared at her for an awful long time.

“
W
e’
ll give you some time to think about this. Perhaps a week
,”
he answered softly
.“
I think
I’
ll retire now. Jack and I have been scouting all day. Jack
?
”

“
Right behind you, Quinton
,”
Jack answered cheerfully. And without a backwards glance, the two newcomers left the group to their thoughts.

Chapter Six

             
“
Hold up, tha
t’
s an eight thrown on an eight
,”
Emma said, grabbing Andre
w’
s wrist as he went to put his card on top of the growing pile
.“
So, yo
u’
re skipped. I
t’
s Kayle
e’
s turn
.
”

             
“
This is a stupid game
,”
Andrew grumbled as he pulled his hand, and his card, back.

             
“
Yo
u’
re just lucky she did
n’
t penalize you, she is the President, she coul
d
—
”
Jack cut off and Kaylee looked up to him in confusion, fumbling her hand as she did. She was about to throw her last ten, it would have brought her down to only six cards, though that was still two more than Emma. Jac
k’
s look was all too innocent, an expression Emma shared, and Kaylee cast her eyes around, searching for the source of their synchronization. 

             
“
Oh geez
,”
Andrew mumbled, dropping his cards as he slammed his thumb on the table.

             
“
Thumbs, right
,”
Kaylee exclaimed, placing her thumb on the edge of the table all too late. Emma laughed and gestured for Andrew to mark Kayle
e’
s blunder down.

             
“
You are terrible at this
,”
Jack rumbled underneath a laugh
.“
Yo
u’
re actually very lucky we ca
n’
t play this with alcohol. Yo
u’
d be smashed
.
”

             
“
So, if we have to take extra cards for every mistake we make, how are we ever supposed to catch up
?”
Andrew asked grumpily. He was frowning as he looked from his cards to the pile in the center of the table. Kaylee had been skipped after she was the last to put her thumb down and now Emma was looking apologetically at Jack.

             
“
Sorry Jack, i
t’
s not that I do
n’
t like you or anything
.”
Emm
a’
s grin was just a bit too smug as she drew one of her remaining four cards and threw it towards the middle. It was an eight. Jack grinned with his hands raised in defeat.

             
“
So, i
t’
s my turn now
?”
Andrew asked, the lack of excitement evident in his tone. Kaylee grinned towards her sister, knocking her with her knee. It was extremely obvious that Andrew was not enjoying the game Jack introduced to them, though whether that was the fact that he could
n’
t seem to win a hand or because a steady dislike of Jack seemed to be growing Kaylee could
n’
t be sure.

              Kaylee could
n’
t seem to make her mind up about Jack. One minute he was very nearly annoying the life out of her and the next she found him strangel
y…
fascinating.

              The things he had done! Of course, Kaylee knew they could just be stories, tall tales and fabrications designed to impress her group. But Quinton never seemed to contradict him and though Jack told the stories with conviction, it never seemed like bragging.

              He and Quinton had literally been a two man wrecking crew through the lower half of the United States. Once they had decided to decimate the areas of highest infection contamination, no city was too big for them. Birmingham, Memphis, Nashville, Fort Worth, Tulsa, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Pittsburg were all in the process of becomin
g“
livabl
e”
again; at least that what Quinton called it.  He continued to insist that they were making the world livable again, Jack just seemed to enjoy blowing things up.

              Kaylee was
n’
t quite sure how she felt about it all. In this process of taking their world back, Jack and Quinton were destroying some of the very best things that civilization had built up, were
n’
t they? Was Clevelan
d’
s Terminal Tower or St. Loui
s’
s Gateway Arch still standing? Or were those skylines forever altered? Did Memphis and Nashville still hold their many museums, or did some become rubble to contain the roaming infected. They were questions Kaylee both wanted to ask and was afraid to have answered. There were moments when she wondered if it mattered either way, it was
n’
t likely she be going to see for herself. But it did feel almost tragic, that these places where people had lived and worked and fought and died for were now nothing more than graveyards, a few of those not-yet-dead still wandering over them.

              Andrew had played his hand, and Kaylee had fumbled until she was able to throw a King, Emma had frowned at her but also threw a King.

             
“
Again, sorry, Jack
,”
Emma muttered
.“
She left me no choice
.”
Jack grinned good-naturedly and everyone else had to knock out of their turn.

              Emm
a’
s opinion of Jack had changed in the last three days. His friendly nature and casual charm had won her over easily and it was
n’
t unusual to see them chatting and joking. Unfortunately it was usually at Kayle
e’
s, or even worse, Andre
w’
s expense. Andrew did
n’
t take well to it at all, but Kaylee knew no harm was meant, at least on her sister
s’
part. Quinton had also helped to soften Emma. He had been teaching her the finer points of handgun and rifle tactics and she had taken to it with unchecked enthusiasm. Of course, their father had no idea that Emma was spending so much of her free time on the roof taking pot shots at parked cars.

              Nick had holed himself up in his bedroom. Kaylee thought he was most likely pacing and staring. He did come out for meals and for the weekly chores. There was still crop tending, canning, fruit dehydration, safety checks, and raids to be done, as well as the normal maintenance that had become necessary throughout the year. The rainfall had been less as of late and Bill and Nick had set up collection points in other locations than the top of their building, the hinges on the main doors were rusting and cracking from the general abuse outside, and the one generator they had was breaking down regularly now when they did monthly tests.

              And, of course, there was the general undercurrent of argument that Quinton and Jac
k’
s arrival had brought. Nick remained adamant against joining them. Anna and Bill thought ther
e’
d be no other time.

             
“
Nick
,”
Bill had argued in a hushed tone the night after Quinto
n’
s speech
.“
Ther
e’
ll be no second opportunity if we let this pass. We ca
n’
t stay here, the
y’
re our best shot of getting out
.
”

              Kaylee had been rounding the stairs, heading for the supply room and a new tube of toothpaste, when she overheard their low argument.

             
“
Ther
e’
s no rush
,”
Nick insisted, his eyes on the tabletop.

          
 “I’
ve always said Andrew and I would stay with you and the girls; but Nick,
I’
m a fool if I do
n’
t take my boy and go with them
.
”

             
“
And you think Andrew would leave the girls
?”
Nick asked. Kaylee thought she could detect a note of shame in her fathe
r’
s voice at his use of this ploy. She felt he should feel ashamed at delivering this low blow, but she also knew he was right. Andrew would never leave them.

             
“
Nick
,”
Anna interrupted
.“
You need to be fair. W
e’
ll all stick together but we ca
n’
t be selfish. You need to see wha
t’
s best for all of us
.
”

             
“
Wha
t’
s best for my girls is for them to be protected
,”
Nick said, his voice a low and pleading whisper
.“
I do
n’
t know what
I’
m more afraid of, that there is
n’
t anyone left, or that there is.
I’
m very afraid of what finding people would mean for my daughters
.
”

              Neither Bill nor Anna responded, though Bill did shove away from the table and stalk past Kaylee to his room. He had
n’
t even seemed particularly bothered that she had heard them, just gave a look that was an odd mix of sympathy and anger.

              Emma was grinning like the Cheshire Cat when Kaylee had finished knocking out. She was practically bouncing in her seat and Kaylee rolled her eyes at how ridiculous her little sister got when it came to winning a silly card game. Jack gave a hearty laugh as Emma threw her pair of Queens. He rapped his knuckles on the table immediately.

             
“
You, on the other hand, are excellent at this game
,”
he said with an affectionate push to Emm
a’
s shoulder
.“I’
ll bet that last card is a two
.
”

             
“
Yo
u’
ll have to keep playing to find out
,”
she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him. Andrew scowled but knocked once on the table.

             
“
Andrew! You in the kitchen
?
”

             
“
Yeah
!”
Andrew yelled, answering his father and pushing back from the table
.“
Guess tha
t’
s it for me. Dad needs help with the doors. One of the frames is giving way again
,”
he continued, not sounding at all disappointed to have to leave the game
.“
Kay, do you have laundry to do
?
”

             
“
Nope
,”
she answered, placing her cards on the table
.“
Finished already
.
”

              Andrew grunted his understanding, shifting his feet where he stood. He seemed reluctant to leave now and Kaylee thought she knew why.

             
“
Andrew
!
”

             
“
Coming, coming
!”
he shouted back. He gave the group one last rueful glance. Jack was looking politely towards Andrew, his hands folded across his chest. Emm
a’
s leg was bouncing and she was staring from the pile of cards in front of Kaylee to the pile lying in the center of the table.