Carrion (The Bren Watts Diaries #1)

Chapter 97

"That was really close!" Logan said.

"We all made it!" Peter whooped. "I mean, I had my doubts, but...Bren. Wow."

"Not everyone," I said, biting my lip. "Charlie's dead."

Peter waved his hand. "Ah, we know he's gonna die anyway. We're not actually going to keep him in the group, right? He's one of them."

"I thought he was okay," Logan said.

"I was thinking of letting him tag along," I admitted.

"You serious?" Peter asked in disbelief. "Oh...okay then. Here I thought you were just joking, and you brought him along as bait."

I winced and tried to ignore Peter's words, knowing deep down that a part of me was thinking the same thing. "Uh...no. That's not what I want," I said, but it felt hollow. I was glad the others dropped it.

I followed the exit road until we arrived at the east gate. There was no one guarding it—the gates had already been blown outward as if a massive truck had plowed through it in a mangled mess of wood and metal. I guessed the guards had made a run for it, and possibly some of the survivors went this way, too. But there were still hundreds of survivors in the darkness, illuminated by their flashlights, some half-dressed, bloodied, and wounded, all running away from the burning mall toward the destroyed gate. A few tried to call for us to stop, but we didn't have enough room for everyone, and I'm certainly not going to trust them not putting a bullet behind my back once this was all done. All I could do was watch them desperately beg us to stop as I drove past. Thankfully, none of them decided to jump in front of the vehicle.

After we cleared the gate, I let out a shaky breath when I didn't see any vectors—and people—following us, and I relaxed.

Haskell tapped on the back window, and Peter slid it open. "So? Where to? What's the plan?" Haskell asked, cool air blowing into the opening.

"We're going to meet Jun and Alfie south of the wall, but we're supposed to go back through where we came. Now I don't know where that is," Peter said.

"I have a vague recollection of where we are. I hope we won't have to stick out here for a while. Thousands of vectors are now roaming the town, and I don't want to face them again," I said.

"Is Jun that new guy?" Haskell asked.

"Yeah. He got a bow and arrow, so you won't miss him when you meet him," Peter answered.

"Ah. Like Hawkeye?"

"Yeah."

"Is he any good?"

"Er...you know...can you shoot with a bow and arrow?"

"Uh, no?"

"Then, he's better than you."

"What did I say about you being a comedian back at West Point?"

"That I'm good?"

"Stay away from the stage."

"Ah. Now I remember."

"Speaking of comedians," Logan interjected, "This is gonna be a joke looking for Jun and Alfie in the dark. I'm sure they're probably in hiding now that the mall is destroyed and the Alphas are out and about roaming the city. It'll be like looking at a needle in a haystack."

"We can drive around there. Maybe we can find them if we're careful," I said. "If we don't, we can go back to the safe house. I mean, that's the plan if we miss our time window, which is about any minute now. Maybe we should go back to the safe house."