Free Devour: Death & Decay Book 1 by R. L. Blalock Page B

as she clung to her. At the end of the bed, a strange dog raised its head and stared at her, undisturbed by her fear.
    The room wasn’t her bedroom. Where was she? How did she get here? Then, suddenly, the events of the night before came flooding back: fleeing the highway, meeting Lydia and Nate, running through the woods. Liv relaxed her achy and tired body back against her pillow, holding Elli close.
    Liv’s fingers ran the length of Elli’s spine, up and down, and soon the child began to relax again. Elli’s grip on Liv’s shirt loosened slowly as she sucked feverishly on her binky. Her lips brushed against Elli’s head as she placed a gentle kiss there. Feather-soft hair tickled Liv’s nose as she rested her head on top of Elli’s own.
    Despite Liv’s desire to get moving, they lay in bed for a bit. As long as they stayed in bed, Liv could hope that order was restored. That maybe St. Louis was picking itself up and moving on. That everything was returning to normal.
    She didn’t believe it for a second, but she could dream.
    “Dadadadada.” Elli pushed herself up and away from Liv to look around the room. Usually, Liv would respond with: “Where is Dada?” Now, though, the words stuck in her throat.
    Where was Dada?
    Liv missed him terribly. Colin always managed to find just the right way to make her feel better. Sometimes he’d show up to her work with a small gift—never anything extravagant, but a small gesture that said that he knew her and paid attention. Other times, especially on the crazy days when work and school left her hardly a moment to breathe, he would cook dinner and have it waiting when she came home. Many times at night he would rub her back before bed. Most of the stuff he did for her was small but it was exactly what she needed.
    “Dada?” Elli asked again insistently, tearing Liv away from her reminiscing.
    “Where is Dada?” Liv finally choked out. Elli’s head whipped around as she looked from side to side. Finally, when Colin was nowhere to be found, she raised her hands up. As if to say, “Where did he go?”
    Liv picked up Elli and squeezed her tightly. “Daddy is at work, honey. He’ll be home soon.”
    “Oh-tay.” Elli nodded. The little girl wiggled out of Liv’s arms and headed for the edge of the bed, ready to move on now that the matter had been settled.
    Liv quickly snatched Elli up again and headed downstairs. The dog jumped off the bed with practiced ease and trotted after them. In the kitchen, Liv toggled the light switch and the light turned on. So far, the electricity had held out but Liv wondered how much longer they would enjoy this luxury.
    Had they been home, things might have almost been normal. Liv set Elli down in the kitchen as she fixed a small bowl of cereal and looked around for something for herself. The apples on the counter looked delicious. Fruit was hard to grow. It required a lot of resources and work. Changes in weather temperature or patterns were often enough to devastate the crops.
    She plucked one of the apples from the bowl and took a big bite. The taste reminded her of many nights when she was little. Her dad would read her stories before bed while she ate apple slices dipped in peanut butter. She cast a dismal look at the apple. She would have to savor them while they were still good. Who knew when she would get to have them again.
    The dog looked up at her glumly as she chewed her piece of apple.
    “I guess you’re probably hungry.” Liv cast about the kitchen. She had no idea where his owners kept his food. She hadn’t seen any big bags of dog food so far. After a few useless moments of standing around, Liv pulled open the fridge and examined the tubs of food. In one, she found a large hunk of meatloaf.
    “Here, buddy. I guess you get an extra special breakfast today.” She set the open Tupperware container down in front of the dog. The poor animal didn’t dig in like she’d expected. He just looked back at her with big