PART 11, SECTION 5

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Someone tossed another juniper branch onto the fire. Sparks twisted up into the night sky. Above us, amber firelight danced across the cliff's face.

The woman I'd thought looked like a librarian may have overheard my dad, because she smiled at me and said, "You know, I honestly never thought I'd laugh again." She was leaning back into the arms of the mechanic who'd helped hold Doug Bottorff down. They must have only just met, but they looked like an old couple already, easy in one another's arms. "The last I heard," she said hesitantly, "the disease has spread outside the quarantine zones even faster than inside. It's become a full-scale global epidemic. The FEMA airdrops have slowed, and I guess they're planning on winding them down altogether soon—if FEMA even exists any more. I honestly don't know."

She shook her head at this overwhelming reality. The listeners nearby grew quieter.

"This may be the end," she said carefully. "But if the whole world is crumbling down, we're in the best place we can possibly be. Right here, right now. This maybe the last island where a little happiness can exist anywhere." The mechanic supportively kissed the top of her head as she said this. "And I, for one," she added, "plan on taking every last chance for a little joy and happiness that I can get." 

Most of the refugees who were crowded around the fire nodded and voiced their support for this sentiment.

Somewhere in the distance arose the distinct sound of a couple making love. People snickered and smiled, shaking their heads, amused at the surprising revelry we all seemed to have stumbled into under such unlikely circumstances.

The rhythmic moaning echoed faintly across the canyon, and now a woman's voice cried out in pleasure.

Chris said, "Ah, yes. Love is in the air."

Everyone erupted in easy laughter. Even I couldn't help but smile.

Chris held up his water canteen as if toasting to the librarian's words, and everyone else laughed and raised whatever they happened to be holding.

Now that he'd finished his story, Chris took a seat on the stone ledge between my dad and the mechanic.

"You know." Chris looked to the librarian. "You're totally right about how lucky we are here. We're the only people anywhere, in the whole world I guess, who have access to this TGVx strain." He looked to me and my dad with gratitude. "If you two hadn't eaten those semi-raw eggs, we'd be royally screwed."

My dad rubbed his forearm, again. I could see that it was bruised yellow and dirty brown from the extraction needle, just like my forearm was. "You think..." he turned to Chris warily, "...you think this is going to work in the long run?" 



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Please VOTE 🌟 before continuing. xxBailey

DEAD IN BED By Bailey Simms: The Complete Second BookWhere stories live. Discover now