Free Mass Extinction Event: The Complete Fourth Series (Days 54 to 61) by Amy Cross

stares at me for a moment, almost as if he's trying to assert his will. “You know let us down, will you?”
    “Of course not,” I reply, even though I can tell that his expression of support is more of a challenge than a vote of confidence. “You can count on me.”
     
    ***
     
    “People are watching me this morning,” Melissa mutters a little while later, as we sit outside her tent and eat some of the bread from our daily ration. “I'm not imagining things, Thomas! They are keeping an eye on me!”
    “It's nothing,” I reply, glancing over at the women behind the food bench and seeing that they're looking this way, as if they expect Melissa to start coughing again at any moment.
    “See?” she says.
    Turning to her, I can see the fear in her eyes.
    “It's just because they heard you in the night,” I reply, hoping to calm her nerves. “This time tomorrow -”
    “I saw how it was with Jacqueline,” she continues, keeping her voice low. “She had bad lungs, so she often got a little out of breath. It was nothing but people started muttering about her, and before long everyone was convinced that she was sick. Like, properly sick. And look what happened to her yesterday!”
    “She had a heart attack,” I point out. “That was just a coincidence.”
    “People always have heart attacks around here,” she replies. “Always during the night, always when no-one's watching.” She glances around again, as if she's still worried that people are looking at her. “With someone like Jacqueline, it's kind of believable. She was never really very fit, and she was getting old, but how do you explain the fact that two people in their thirties have died the same way in the past few weeks?”
    “They have?” I ask, starting to worry.
    “There's nothing wrong with my heart,” she continues, “I just...” She looks over at Katie, who's playing down by the water's edge. “We should have gone with Hannah,” she adds after a moment. “I was scared, but she had the right idea. The longer we stay here, the closer we get to the day when...” She pauses. “It's going to happen,” she says finally. “It might take a day, or a week, but I'm next. I can't let that happen.”
    “You'll be okay,” I tell her. “I'll make sure nothing happens to you.”
    “You can't protect me.”
    “Mark listens to what I tell him,” I continue. “I know it sounds crazy, but he really does. I already told him you just have asthma, and he accepted that.”
    “He's already asking about me?” she replies, with fear in her eyes. “Oh God, it's worse than I thought...”
    “Melissa, you don't have to -”
    Stopping suddenly, I see that Luke and Bobby are over by the water's edge, talking to Katie.
    “Wait here,” I mutter, hurrying between the tents until I catch up to them.
    “It's never been this bad, has it?” Luke is saying as he crouches in front of Katie. “Have you ever known Mommy to cough so much?”
    “Get away from her,” I shout.
    “We're just checking on Katie's Mommy's health!” he replies with a grin. “Can't a couple of guys take a moment out of their busy days to ask if everything's okay? Where's your community spirit, man?”
    “Does she bring up blood?” Bobby asks, reaching out to pat the top of Katie's head. “Has she ever -”
    “Leave her alone!” Melissa shouts, racing over to join us and immediately scooping Katie up into her arms. “Don't you dare talk to my daughter!”
    “You're a little jumpy, aren't you?” Luke says, glancing at me. “Are you sure everything's okay here?”
    “If anything's wrong,” I tell him firmly, “I'll deal with it. You heard what Mark said.”
    “Sure,” Luke continues, taking a step back, “he trusts you. That's fine, but things change sometimes and he's trusted us way longer than he's even known you. If it comes down to a dispute kind of situation, I'm pretty sure I know which way he'll lean.” He turns to Melissa. “Hope you feel better soon, M'am.