Free Age of Z: A Tale of Survival by T. S. Frost Page B

Alexa.
     
    But most notable to Alexa was right after they crossed the state line into Connecticut. They just spent a harrowing week and a half skirting New York City, which was dangerously infested and not even worth attempting to go near, and both she and LS were feeling a little strained.
     
    So the change of scenery was nice, and when they passed through this tiny blink-and-you-miss it town that the zoms had clearly abandoned long ago in favor of better hunting grounds, neither one was particularly adverse to taking a day off to rest in the relative safety.
     
    There wasn't much of note in the town, but it did have a bookshop, and Alexa decided to poke through it just because. LS followed her, looking around the shop curiously, and they soon split up among the shelves to explore.
     
    The place was a bit of a mess–other travelers had clearly been through here in the past. Alexa found ashes and the twisted remains of torn up pages, and her inner nerd cried a little at tomes of knowledge now being reduced to fire-starting fuel in the new age, but there wasn't much she could do about that.
     
    She swung by the camping section first, but as expected, the survival guides, camping books, foraging and plant encyclopedias, and anything else of current value was long gone. She probably knew most of it anyway.
     
    She poked idly through the comics, paged through a few sci-fi novels, laughed–not without an edge of bitterness–at the enthusiastic display for the 'latest' walking dead bestseller that had come out a couple a weeks before Z-day, and frowned in disappointment at the pathetically small selection of non-fiction regarding physics, biology, and chemistry.
     
    Then, on impulse, Alexa searched through the store until she found the home and family section, and browsed the shelf until she spotted what she was looking for. Grinning, she snatched the floppy paperback from the shelf and searched for LS, intent on sharing her find.
     
    She found the clone in the children's section, which came as a surprise. What surprised Alexa even more was the book LS was looking through almost longingly: The Velveteen Rabbit, the cover read.
     
    Alexa didn't have to even guess which part LS was reading. Even without seeing the pages, it was fairly obvious, just by the almost wistful look on his face, and the way he focused on the book so intently; like he was trying to absorb every last detail.
     
    “You can keep it, you know,” Alexa told him. LS blinked and looked up at her with little surprised. Alexa was sure the clone had known she was there, but had also registered her as safe and not bothered to pay attention.
     
    LS considered her words for a moment, and then said slowly, frowning, “I thought we weren't supposed to carry what wasn't necessary?”
     
    “No, I think what I specifically said was 'don't carry what you can't carry,” Alexa corrected, “But seeing as you can throw motorcycles around without breaking into a sweat, I think you're good carrying around a book or two.”
     
    LS smirked a little at that, but his expression grew more solemn a moment later as he glanced down at the book. After a moment he closed it almost tenderly, as if taking a great deal of care not to damage it, and clutched it close almost possessively. “Yeah. I'll... just hold on to this, then.”
     
    “Great,” Alexa said. “Trade you, though.” And she tossed her own find at LS, deftly (but carefully) snatching the children's book from the clone's hands when he flailed hastily to catch it.
     
    He gave her a dirty look and then glanced down at the paperback in his hands. “' Baby Names of the 2000's '?”
     
    “Yup!” Alexa said with a grin. “We're getting close to the settlement, and cool as 'LS' sounds, I don't think it's gonna fly so well around norms. You're gonna need a secret identity. ” Her grin grew more conspiratorial.
     
    He frowned, and flipped idly through a few pages of names, but did not seem particularly