Free The Seventh Day by Tara Brown writing as A.E. Watson

the large double-door outhouse. Lissie and Joey go inside. The
wind blows Julia’s dark hair in front of her face. “Lou, you think my mom is
okay?” She pulls the hair back so I can see her brown eyes again.
    “Yeah. I do. Our parents are smart people.
Your mom’s an engineer—she’s smart.” I know this because I have always
wanted to be her when I grow up. She let me come to the college where she
taught robotic engineering and take part in the events the classes would have
with building things. I wanted to be a robotic engineer, once upon a time.
    This week I want to find my dad. If I find
my dad and the karmic cost is that I have to work at the supermarket the rest
of my life, that’s cool. It’s not like my plans are ever set in stone anyway.
Last week Sasha almost had me convinced we should take a year
off and backpack Europe .
    Now I’m not so sure Europe is there. My
eyes keep a steady scan of the gravel road and tree line. I don’t know what to
expect, but with the girls outside with me I feel safer. I feel braver.
    I truly am a chicken.
    I should feel safer with them in the house,
but I hate being alone out here. It’s quiet and creepy. And just when I think I
should be focused on survival, my brain won’t stop thinking about the fact my
friends are down there. I can’t do anything but wonder how they are. Have they
made it somewhere safe?
    My bestie from Laurel, Sasha, is out of
town. She texted me the morning before everything went bad. She was on her way
back to Laurel. I doubt she made it back, but her dad is a trainer for the Griz
at the University of Montana, so she’s probably still alive. She only sees him
in Missoula every other weekend or if there’s an important game on. He’s a
beast of a man and there is no way he would let her get hurt. Not to mention,
she can run faster than anyone I know, even Joey, which is saying something.
    Sasha is the star of our lacrosse team. She
is a savage, and if any one of my friends is alive, it’s her. Tanya being in
the city makes me nervous.
    Loud thumping behind me makes me jump
again. I’m wide-eyed and holding my breath when I see it’s just Joey and Lissie
running down the plank from the outhouse. They’re laughing and smiling. I wish
taking a poop would make me feel that much better.
    Joey points. “You wanna go while we’re out
here? We can take a watch.”
    My stomach turns a little. I nod. “Scream
if anything even moves and run back inside. Barricade the door.”
    “WAIT FOR ME!” Julia screams from the
outhouse.
    “They will. It’s okay.” It’s amazing how
fast we all settle back into panic and fear. Nothing has changed, but just the
prospect of being alone in the outhouse makes her almost lose it.
    I guess I’m not the only chicken. ‘Course
they’re ten and eleven. I’m seventeen and a senior. They’re in sixth grade.
    Julia comes out wiping her hands from the
icy-cold hand sanitizer my aunt keeps up there in huge bottles.
    I point at the door. “Stand there and don’t
move. Don’t screw around. Just wait for me and then you can go back inside.” I
walk the plank to the outhouse. When I get inside, the toilet is warm. I would
hate that normally but today it’s nice. It feels a lot less like being alone.
    My tummy rumbles and I close my eyes for a
second, just letting myself go for the minute I need.
    When we are all back inside I decide I
don't care that it’s daytime; I need the comfort of it, so I get the fire going.
I lie down on the couch and close my eyes. No matter how hard I try to pretend
my parents are here and we’re skiing, all I can see is Mr. Baumgartner’s eyes
looking up at me from the window in the door. My fingers ache from the memory.
A single tear slips down my cheek as that image is accompanied by the memory of
closing my own mother into the bottom of the stairs.
    I need my dad.
    We’ve
been here two days. Where is he?
    “Lou?” I open my eyes to Lissie’s face
right in mine. I back away.