In the morning, we let Ryder sleep as long as possible while the rest of us load up the boat. Naomi and I load up the last of the MRE’s, and I catch her looking at me a few times. Finally, I can’t take it anymore. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I look at her, and she sighs. “I keep thinking about that other girl in the tent with us. I don’t know what happened to her. One minute she was with us, and the next she was gone. I feel bad because it’s been like five days that she’s been on her own and she’s probably dead right now, and I didn’t even know her name.”
“You didn’t know her name?”
“She wouldn’t speak. She didn’t say a single word the entire time she was there. She just did a lot of whimpering and sniveling, not that I blame her. What those monsters do to women is deplorable. I just wonder what happened to her, and if we should take the time to look for her when we get to the mainland.” I snort, and she narrows her eyes at me. “What was that for?”
“You think we should leave Ryder here because he’ll be a burden, but you think we should take the time to stop and search for a woman that’s most likely dead. I don’t believe it. How can someone take life for granted like that, and then completely flip their thinking around?”
She sighs. “I know you don’t wanna hear this because you’re in love with the guy, but there’s still a very real chance that he’s going to die in the next few days, and you should begin preparing yourself for that. If he doesn’t get an infection, it could still be a zombie that gets him, or even blood loss. If he overexerts himself, he might bust open that hasty stitch-up you did.”
“He’s going to be just fine,” I say tightly. “Ryder can survive anything.”
She shakes her head sadly. “I hope for your sake that you’re right.”
“I am.”
“Hey!” Reese shouts from the house. “You guys ready to go? Ryder’s up, sorta, and we’ll be leaving in a bit.”
I head back up to the house at a run, and burst into the living room. Ryder is sitting up in his makeshift bed of pillows and blankets, and he’s got a bowl of oats and blueberry stuff that I recognize from one of the MRE packs. He’s trying to balance the bowl in his lap while using his left hand to scoop the food into his mouth.
He looks up at me and smiles slowly. “I’ll be damned if I’m gonna be fed like a baby.” He looks slightly uncomfortable with all of us watching him eat, but he shrugs it off and keeps trying. He spills almost as much as he eats, and I smile.
“Are you sure you don’t want help?”
“I am a man, and men feed themselves.”
I laugh, and try to hide it in a cough. He just smiles, and goes back to trying to spoon oatmeal into his mouth. He does a little better, but I still have the strangest urge to reach over, take the spoon from him, and do it myself.
When he’s finished, he sets the bowl aside, and looks up at Reese. “Alright, let’s do this. Help me up, and we’ll get going.” He sets his jaw, and Reese takes his arm. Ryder winces in pain, but grits his teeth and lets Reese pull him up. When he stands, he’s shaky and a little unbalanced, but Reese steadies him with a worried look.
“Are you gonna be alright to move? We can stay another day if we have to.”
Ryder snorts. “One more day isn’t going to help me any. We might as well get going; I don’t wanna be here if those remaining Warriors come calling for us. Better to get a head start now.”
It takes us a while to get Ryder down to the boat, and he’s in intense pain the entire time. He has to stop twice to catch his breath, and I worry about him. Tobe puts her hand on my shoulder, and watches with a frown on her face. “He’s practically helpless.”
“He is not!” I snap, and instantly regret it. Her face crumples, and I sigh. “I’m sorry, Tobe. I just don’t like him being so…weak. I’m used to thinking that Ryder will be able to protect us, but now he can’t. That puts more pressure on us, and I’m not sure if I’m gonna be able to keep him alive like he did for me so many times.”
I sigh. “If he gets hurt or dies and it’s my fault, I don’t think I could live with that guilt. Or with his loss.”
Naomi looks at me with raised eyebrows. “You’ve never been in love before, have you?”
“No,” I say, clearing my throat. “I don’t wanna talk about this anymore. Where’s Melissa? Isn’t she coming?”
The front door slams shut, and we all turn around, and gape. Melissa’s long blond hair is completely gone; she’s shaved her head down to the skin, and she looks so lost and confused that I instantly pity her. She walks past us with her head down and climbs into the boat. Ryder and Reese both stare, and they exchange quick glances, but nobody says anything.
Without another word, we all get into the boat with what’s left of our supplies, with our wounded group leader, and his younger brother taking the lead. We have no idea where we’re going, or if we’ll all make it there in one piece. It feels like we’re starting out again, but this time with no clear direction or plans.