The Kill Order

“Are you okay?”

Trina. Great.

He quickly wiped at his face and turned toward her, hoping that somehow she didn’t know he’d been bawling his eyes out while sleeping. But one glance at her killed that hope. She looked like a concerned parent.

“Um, hey,” he murmured. He felt so awkward. “Good morning. How’s it going?”

“Mark, I’m not an idiot. Tell me what’s wrong.”

He looked at her, trying to communicate with his eyes that he didn’t want to talk about it. Then he saw Deedee, leaning against a tree a few feet away, peeling the bark off a twig. Her face wasn’t necessarily happy, but at least that look of utter gloom was gone. That was a start.

“Mark?”

He turned back to Trina. “I just… I had a bad dream.”

“About what?”

“You know what.”

She frowned. “But what part of it? It might help to talk about it.”

“I don’t think so.” Mark sighed, then realized he wasn’t being very nice. She was just trying to help him feel better. “It was right before the water rushed in at that concourse. When we fought off those wa

Trina’s gaze fell to the ground. “I wish you could stop having those dreams. We made it, and that’s all that matters. Somehow you need to let go of the past.” An apologetic expression came over her face. “I mean, easier said than done. I guess I just wish you could let go of the past. That’s all.”

“I know, I know. Me too.”

He reached out and patted her on the knee, which seemed stupid in that situation, but Alec and Lana were just returning from getting fresh water from the stream.

“How’s she doing?” he asked Trina, shooting a glance at Deedee.

“Really well, I think. She hasn’t opened up yet about much, but at least she seems comfortable around me. I can’t imagine the terror that poor thing was going through after she was left behind.”

That stirred up the anger once again inside Mark. “How could they? I mean… what kind of losers…”

Trina nodded. “Yeah… but I don’t know. Desperate times and all that.”

“Yeah, but she can’t be more than four years old!” He was doing that combination of whispering and shouting at the same time. He didn’t want Deedee to hear, but he couldn’t help it. It made him so angry.

“I know,” Trina said softly. “I know.”

Lana stepped up to them, her eyes showing that she understood how he felt.

“We better get on the road,” she said. “We’ll figure things out.”

The day dragged and dragged.

At first Mark was wary of the people from Deedee’s village, still worried about the direction she’d pointed when they’d asked her where they went. If the girl had been right, that meant they were out here somewhere, doing who knew what. He had no real reason to fear them-they were just people like anyone else. Ru

After a few hours of not seeing any sign of them, he relaxed into the drudgery of walking, walking and then more walking. Through the forest, crossing streams and pushing through the brush. Wondering if there was any purpose in going to this place they sought.

It was midafternoon and they’d stopped for a break. They were eating granola bars and drinking water from a nearby river. Mark thought constantly about how there was one thing they always had. Plenty of water sources. At least there was that.

“We’re getting close,” Alec said as he ate. “We might have to be more careful-they could have guards surrounding the place. I bet there’s a lot of people who’d like to have a nice bunker or whatever it is as their new digs. I bet the place was packed with food for emergencies.”

“We sure did have an emergency,” Lana muttered. “Whoever these people are, they better have some good explanations.”

Alec took another bite and pushed it to the side of his mouth. “That’s the spirit.”

“Do they not teach ma

Alec chomped on his bar. “It is?” He croaked a laugh and little pieces of granola shot out. Which made him roar even harder. He choked out a cough, composed himself, then was laughing all over again.

It was such a rare sight to see Alec acting like this, Mark didn’t know how to respond at first. But then he soaked it in, chuckling right along even though he’d forgotten what was fu

“You’d think someone farted, the way you’re all getting on,” Lana said with a deadpan look.

That sent everyone into an even bigger fit that went on for several minutes, resparked every time it began to die down by Alec making gassy noises. Mark laughed until his face hurt and he tried his best to stop smiling, which made him laugh even harder.

Finally it did settle down, ending with one big sigh from the former soldier. Then he stood up.

“I feel like I could run twenty miles,” he said. “Let’s get moving.”

As they headed off, Mark realized that the dream from the night before seemed like a distant memory again.

CHAPTER 22

Alec and Lana were much more cautious during the next part of their journey, stopping every fifteen minutes or so to listen intently, looking for telltale signs of guards or traps, keeping more to the cover of the trees whenever possible.

The sun was sinking, maybe two hours from fully setting, when Alec stopped and had everyone huddle around him. At some point it seemed like the two adults had decided to stop worrying about people keeping their distance from each other. They were all in a small clearing completely surrounded by thick oak trees and towering pines-older ones that hadn’t been completely consumed by the sun flares-standing on dry, brittle undergrowth. The clearing was in a little valley between two midsized hills. Mark was still in a good mood and was curious about what the older man had pla

“I’ve tried to do this as little as possible,” Alec said, “but it’s time to look at the workpad and make sure my scribbled map is still accurate. Let’s hope my aging brain hasn’t failed us.”

“Yes,” Lana added. “Let’s hope we’re not in Canada or Mexico by now.”

“Very fu

Alec powered on the device and pulled up the maps feature, finding the one that had the Berg’s voyages documented, all the lines converging in one spot. He also retrieved his compass. While everyone else stayed quiet and observed, he spent a minute or so studying the workpad, ru

“Yep,” he grumbled. “Yep, yep.”

Then he crouched back down and studied the maps for another full minute, making some small changes to the paper version. Mark was getting impatient, mainly worried that the man had concluded they were way off course. But his next words put that to rest.

“Oh, I’m good. Seriously, after all these years, you’d think I would stop amazing myself. But here I am, still doing it.”

“Oh, brother,” Lana moaned.

Alec tapped the map just to the left of the spot that marked the center of the Berg routes on the workpad screen. “Unless I’ve got that virus eating my brain and don’t know what I’m talking about, we’re standing right here. Probably five miles from the place this Berg parks every night.”