Free The Book of a Few by Austen Rodgers Page B

that whoever hid them would have the key, but tinkering with them helped calm my nerves and rethink my position with Will. I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps it isn’t my call to make in the first place. We should let Taylor decide what we should do with Will, seeing as Taylor was his hostage.
     
    Something I don’t believe I mentioned before is that we have begun carrying radios while we are inside the Warehouse. I don’t know much about them other than they do not work outside. They are specially manufactured to be on a certain frequency, and use these miniature antennas to relay the signals all throughout the Warehouse. That way, the truck drivers wouldn’t have to listen to all the hustle and bustle going on inside the Warehouse. They are certainly good tools to have, even with their limits.
     
    Another thing worth writing down would be that it seems like things outside are becoming more active. I’ve seen more infected roaming around today than I ever have before. Funny thing is, they seem to stick together in small packs. Most groups are anywhere from four to six infected, and if you wanted to, you could probably run into a group that size every half an hour just walking around town. Luckily, we didn’t have to defend ourselves at all today. We had a few close calls, but we managed to stay largely unnoticed.
     
    Both yesterday and into today, I’ve been feeling rather miserable. While one could say that lately my view has been rather nihilistic, I prefer to think that I am simply seeing things realistically. I’ll never find Miranda. I know it. The chances of just crossing paths with her, which is my only hope of ever making contact with her again, are so slim. There’s just no way it’ll happen.
     
    I just want to know . Is she alive, or is she dead? Did she leave the state with her family? Honestly, if her family did tote her away, I’m absolutely infuriated that they didn’t at least leave me a goddamn note or a clue to go by. But if I think about it, I doubt that’s the case; I had a good standing with her family. I just want this crushing despair in my chest to go away.
     

Day Six

     
    Today started off absolutely lovely. I woke up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. I was drenched in my own sweat and a scream was on the tip of my tongue. I don’t feel like sharing the details of the dream. It was quite disturbing, and I couldn’t fall back asleep for a few hours. So, if I seem like a jerk at any point through the day, that’s why.
     
    When I got up, I found that Branden was missing from his usual sleeping place in the cage, and Will was awake. I asked Will if he knew where Branden was, but he just shook his head. Both Taylor and Joey have been sleeping in the Nurse’s office so Lisa could keep a closer eye on their wounds.
     
    Branden was a little challenging to locate. I found him in the refrigerated part of the Warehouse. He was grabbing himself a meal already, so I asked him if he would get Will some food. He grunted as a sign of his disdain.
     
    “ How long are we going to feed him for? This is a waste. Not to mention the horrible things he has done. Who knows if he got to someone else before he got Taylor,” he said.
     
    I was surprised by Branden’s hatred for Will.
     
    “ How long are you going to have this attitude?” I responded quickly and sharply. “You and I both know that if you were on the losing end, on the verge of starving to death, and someone came along and offered you a job that gave you exactly what you needed, you’d do it. It wouldn’t matter what the job is.” I felt like my mother for a moment when I realized my finger was pointed at Branden.
     
    “ I know you are having a tough time with your wife dead and son missing, but you need to grow up. You need to realize that everyone has lost something by now.”
     
    That made Branden even more upset. His face turned red, and he spouted back at me before he even gave himself time to