Free Lives We Lost,The by Megan Crewe Page A

leaving while they decide what to do next.” Like they were predators and we were the prey. They’d wounded us, and they were just waiting for the best opportunity to strike a killing blow.
Tobias started to pace. “We shouldn’t have left it,” he said. “What the hell do I do now?”
“What do we do, you mean,” Tessa said quietly.
“We walk,” Leo said. He jerked his hand toward the truck. “There’s a tent in there, we’ve got the camping stove and food and warm clothing. We’ll manage. But I say we get out of here before whoever’s after us comes back with help.”
“We’re going to walk all the way to Ottawa ?” Meredith said, her mouth twisting as if she’d tasted something sour.
We were almost halfway there already. I swallowed. “It’d be practically just as far trying to walk back to the island. And the vaccine won’t do anyone any good if we head back. Let’s figure how much we can carry, quickly, and get out of here.”
“We can find another car on the road,” Gav said without blinking an eye. “We’ll only have to walk until then.”
I wished I could be so confident now that our plans had just been turned on their heads. His conviction steadied me. “We could bring more if we had backpacks,” I said.
Tessa pointed to the discount store across the street. “I think I see sleds in the window. Those would carry a lot.”
“If we have time to get them.” Leo scanned the buildings around us and jogged over to the gas-station shop. In a few smooth movements, he hefted himself onto the dumpster by the side wall, leapt up to grasp the edge of the roof with his hands and elbows, and swung his knee up. After a brief scramble, he was standing.
Tobias stared up at him. “You some kind of rock-climbing expert?”
“Dancer,” Leo said. He turned, surveying the town and the freeway beyond. “I don’t see anyone right now. Grab the sleds. I’ll shout if there’s a problem.”
“Hey, are you helping, or are you going to stand around and moan while we get going?” Gav said to Tobias. Tobias’s jaw set. As he clambered after Gav to sort through the supplies, I turned to Meredith.
“Come on, Mere,” I said, as brightly as I could manage. Her body stiffened, but she pressed her lips together and nodded. She, Tessa, and I hurried toward the discount store.
The lock on the door was broken, probably by someone looking for food, but they hadn’t touched the sleds. We pulled down six of the biggest ones that had ropes to pull them by and ran back to the truck. The plastic bottoms rasped over the snow behind us.
Leo gave us the okay gesture from the roof. “So we have to take the tent,” Gav was saying. He started handing boxes and bags out to us. “And those two sleeping bags, and all the blankets. The food. Some of the water. We can refill the bottles.”
“I have some purification tablets,” Tobias said. “Here, we’ll want the first aid kit, and the stove and the extra kerosene. And the radio, of course.”
“I don’t think there are any stations to listen to these days,” Gav said.
“It’s a transceiver,” Tobias said. “Good one. Maybe we can get in touch with these scientists in Ottawa, if they’re there, get them to meet us halfway.”
Gav gave him a skeptical look. “We got room?” he asked me.
“I think so.” I took the bag of blankets and fit it into the sled I was keeping light for Meredith. “There’s space on that one,” I said, pointing to the next sled over.
“We’re bringing it,” Tobias said. “I’ll take that sled if it’s a problem for someone else.”
“You think there are any army bases on the way that could help us?” I asked him. “Lend us a new truck, at least?”
Tobias ducked his head. “No one came to check up on us in weeks,” he said. “We weren’t getting any broadcasts on the usual bandwidths, either. I think it was the same thing everywhere. People got sick, or ran away, or holed up just hoping to get by.”
“There were