Free Charged by Casey Harvell Page B

“C’mon.”
    My house is empty when we get there. I change quickly, throw some clothes and some more supplies in my bag, and leave my own note for my mom. We find Mason’s house empty too. It’s discouraging, and we take a minute to figure out our next move.
    “Let’s go up to the attic.” Mason suggests. “We can at least have a better view of what’s going on outside.”
    It’s a good thing we did, but my heart falls as I look towards the downtown area, the place where all of our parents work. It looks like a war zone, completely impassable. My heart breaks, thinking of my mom. She’s working at the hospital. If people came in, infected, there would be no hope for her. Staring at the smoke and throngs of people running, I know we can’t go there, can’t look for our parents. Brie starts to cry, and Mason’s cheeks are wet. None of us have to say anything, we all know.
    I’m the one to break the silence. “We have to go.” My voice is numb.
    Brie nods. Mason tears his gaze from the window. “I have some camping stuff, in the garage, should I grab that, too?”
    “That’s a good idea. We’ll grab some more food and water. Do you have a map by any chance?”
    He directs me to a bookcase and I grab a map of northern New England. Turning to go, something metal catches my eye. I pick up an antique compass, holding it flat in my palm to see if it still works. It does, so I shove it in my pocket.
    I take the map and lay it across Mason’s dining room table. The three of us stand over it, trying to plot the best way out of town. Once we decide on a course, we strap on our packs and make sure Mason’s house is locked up as tightly as mine and Brie’s.
    Like bad deja-vu, we all stand huddled by Mason’s back door, peeking out, just like we had to at my house and Brie’s before. Though our luck has run out with the backyards, other people have taken to fleeing through them, too. At least they’re leaving the houses alone. I stare nostalgically at my house, not knowing if I’ll ever see it again.
    “Stay together.” Mason reminds us, opening the door and snapping me out of sobering thoughts.
    Taking a deep breath, I follow Mason out the door. As we step into the chaos, we join hands. Mason leads us west. We hear loud screaming behind us, and suddenly people begin to race past us. I turn, and see an even larger mob heading our way. They must be running from the infection. It’s the only thing I can think of that would cause that level of fear.
    Beside us, a young mother, carrying a young child, stumbles to her knees. Mason releases my hand to help her up, and we huddle around her as a throng of people hammer past us. My back is hit multiple times, and I know I’ll have some bruises to show for it. Out of the corner of my eye, about five people packed feet from us, I spy an open garage.
    “Mason!” I scream. When he looks, I jut my chin in the garages direction. He nods, and slowly Mason, Brie and I shuffle ourselves and this woman and child into the garage. Mason slams the large door down behind us. The relief of being out of that mess of bodies is immediate.
    The woman clutches her obviously frightened child to her. “Thank you, thank you so much.” She says between gulps of air. The little boy peeks at us through his mother’s hair.
    “No problem,” Mason says. Then he turns to me. “There has to be a better way to do this.”
    Chewing on my lip, I try to figure out how we can do this. I turn to the woman. “I’m Kat, that’s Brie and that’s Mason. Are you trying to go somewhere particular?”
    She shakes her head. “I’m Becky. This is Nate. I don’t think that there’s a safe place left to go.” She takes a deep breath, and looks me in the eye, terrified. “When I looked out our large window upstairs,” she stutters, “I-I, saw it. It looked like a swarm, from a distance. But it shimmered in the sunlight. I’ve been watching the news. I grabbed Nate and what I could carry and