Free Alaskan Undead Apocalypse (Book 3): Mitigation Book 3) by Sean Schubert

started to feel that way. I guess we went looking for hope and found you.”
    DB smiled and nodded his head. He looked over at Ricky and smiled some reassurance, though Ricky’s deadpan expression did little more than acknowledge his own understanding.

13.
     
    Hope can be a funny thing. She’s the pretty sister of reckless Luck and the mother of Possibility. The progeny of idealistic parents, Hope can appear under the most random of circumstances or never show her welcome face. Fickle and unpredictable, Hope was always welcome by those who sought her.
    Now walking along the highway at DB’s direction, Neil was discovering a newfound respect for Hope and her euphoric elixir as the four of them approached a seemingly abandoned touring van, a blue and gray Ford Econoline. The van looked like any other vehicle stalled along any stretch of rural highway awaiting its owner’s eventual return. To look at it, one would never guess that it was now a home to an endangered species. Which was, Neil surmised, the desired intent. If it looked abandoned, maybe it would be passed by without a second look back. A gamble borne of Hope but kept alive by Luck.
    Neil’s first thought was that it was unrealistic and perhaps a bit naive to believe that the ruse would work long-term. He wondered if DB had any plans because Neil would like to hear them. Most pressing upon his thoughts, though, was to learn why DB was this far north. If he had come from Kenai, he would have passed by the Portage and Whittier access road. Why? As seasoned as DB appeared, the prospect of Whittier being a safe haven from the infection had to have occurred to him. With its lone access through a tunnel cut through a mountain and the city’s ability to close that tunnel, it seemed to him that Whittier was as likely a place as any to find safety.
    Neil was almost too afraid to ask when his mouth involuntarily spilled, “What about Whittier? Why didn’t you...?”
    DB turned around, screwed his face into a doubtful question, and then continued on. “Della!” he shouted. “It’s just us. C’mon out.”
    To Neil’s surprise, a matronly woman with skin so dark it shined, emerged from the opposite side of the road. She forced her large frame up the side of the ditch, stopping as she got her feet onto the pavement. In tow, she had two children, neither of which appeared to be hers, and an old Golden Retriever who wagged his entire body at the sight of DB. The dog yelped with excitement and ran across the road toward its human. Their reunion was enough to make both Emma and Neil smile. DB’s rough exterior softened somewhat as he showered the dog with affection, rubbing his ears and patting his head.
    Though malnourished and wearing threadbare rags for clothes, the woman and two children didn’t look wide-eyed with fear. With the calm, searching eyes of the Sphynx, the woman DB called Della scanned her surroundings and the new faces with DB. The whites of her eyes flashed like neon bulbs against the contrast of her flesh. Neil knew immediately that, though she possessed the appearance of a kindly motherly figure, this was not a woman with whom to trifle. She exuded strength and wisdom and caution.
    Behind her, like a pair of needy ducklings, were the two children. The older of the two was a white boy who appeared to be about as old as Jules perhaps. The other child was barely more than a toddler. She had the skin tone and facial features of an Asian, maybe of Korean descent.
    Neil couldn’t conceal his pleasure. He said warmly, hoping not to offend, “Well DB, you’ve got yourself quite a family here. Who would’ve thought?”
    DB tried to hide his smile by spitting and looking away, though his body language betrayed his more austere veneer. There was little reason or attempt to do so though when he looked back at Neil.
    “I ain’t never really had one really; a family that is. I wasn’t home enough when my ex-wife and boy lived with me. I was always