Free Impact by Chrissy Peebles

them. Kate wanted to give you a really girly one with a pink abalone shell acrylic handle.”
    “Hey! It was just...pastel,” Kate said, scrunching up her face in disapproval, “and I loved it.”
    “Not so manly,” Claire said. “I made her put it back.”
    I looked at everyone and smiled. “Thank you. I love it.”
    We talked for a while and ate some cake. After all the laughter died down, the topic suddenly switched to the notes we’d obtained and what we planned to do with them. I was hoping all that could wait till the next day, as Max had said, but we always had survival and saving the world on our minds, even while licking vanilla frosting off our forks.
    “We have to get those notes to some competent scientists ASAP,” Nick said.
    “Agreed. You should leave immediately,” Max responded. “Everything has thawed out, so the roads will be easier to travel. The weather’s getting better every day. I’ll gather a good team to go with you and make sure you get to where you need to go. Where are you heading?”
    “It won’t just be me,” Nick said. “The people I came here with will go with me, and that includes my sister.”
    Max’s gaze narrowed. “Are you so sure about that?” he asked, looking over at Val. “I thought she said her place is here. Maybe you two need to have a long talk.”
    My brother turned to face Max. “You know I like you, but I’m not leaving my sister here!” Nick said, slamming his fork down on the table.
    Suddenly, I was overcome by that familiar out-of-control feeling. “Val comes with us,” I said.
    “Hey! I’m right here,” Val chimed in. “Please don’t have a conversation like I’m not here.”
    Max turned toward her. “You’re right, sweetheart. Are you planning to leave with your brothers?”
    She blew out a long breath. “I haven’t told them I want to stay, but thanks for letting the cat out of the bag.”
    At that point, my birthday party took a sudden turn for the worst. I knew an argument was going to ensue, and things were quickly spiraling out of control. “But Val...” I said, looking questioningly at her.
    “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I truly am. I know it must be hard for you two to accept, but—”
    “But what?” I interrupted, since her words hit me to the very core. “How can you not come with us? Why?”
    She clung to her oversized coat. “I’m sorry, but there’s really nothing on that island for me. My life is here now, with Max.”
    “Nothing on the island?” I retorted. “How can you say that? Our mother, father, and grandmother are there. They’re your family too.”
    “We don’t even know if they’re still alive,” she whispered. “I could go with you and fight more zombies, only to find out they didn’t make it and then be arrested for being some kind of a freak. If I get caught on that island, they’ll just put me outta my misery with one of their supposedly humane shots. I can’t risk losing my life, losing Max and this wonderful community who treats me like family...and for what? To be executed or maybe even killed on the way back, with all those zombies and raiders?”
    “Don’t say that,” I said. “You have to come.”
    “I haven’t been happy in a long time. Here, I’ve got Max and plenty of friends. I’ve got a safe place to live and a great apartment. The zombies can’t get me here, and for the first time in my life, I feel content, maybe even normal.”
    “There’s no normal in this world,” Nick said.
    “Then let me rephrase that. Here, I feel as normal as I’m gonna get. On that island, I probably won’t feel anything but a firing squad,” she clarified sternly.
    “Val,” Nick said, “you’re our sister, and we love you.”
    “And I love you and Dean. You’re the only family I know for sure that I have left.”
    “Then come with us,” he begged.
    “Just go take those notes to the right people, people who can create a reliable cure. This isn’t a final goodbye. I know