DEAD IN BED By Bailey Simms: The Complete Second Book

PART 12, SECTION 3

"Umm . . . No," Chris said to Lindsay. "Not gonna happen. No way."

"I've been stuck in this quarantine zone for months," Lindsay said flatly. "If you've got a way out, we're coming with you." She stared evenly at Chris with her beautiful eyes. "How are you possibly going to stop me? Besides you'll need help distributing the TGVx."

Now Shawn rode up from the stream on a horse of his own.

I asked quietly, "I guess you want to go too?"

Shawn nodded and answered firmly. "I'm going too."

He took Jake from Lindsay, sat him on his own saddle, and cleaned the kids nose with a handkerchief.

Chris looked at me, concerned.

I shrugged. "Why not? They want to go." Lindsay looked deadly serious. I knew I wouldn't be able to change her mind. "She's right. It's not like we can stop them."

Now someone else rode up from the stream behind Shawn.

It was Ian.

He wore long black riding coat that he must have scrounged from the donation bins. He clutched loosely at his horse's reigns. Even though he was gaunt and wizened, even though he hadn't been able to cut his hair or shave, and even though he barely had the strength to hold his shoulders upright, something sparked to life inside me and erupted into flame.

"You too?" I asked him quietly.

"You couldn't keep me behind for anything, Ash. If you're all really planning on treating whole cities' worth of positives, you're gonna need as much as help as you can get."

Ian's horse pranced, and he brought it gingerly under control.

Chris shook his head. He looked over at Ian. Then he looked at Shawn and Lindsay. And then back to me. "Whatever," he mumbled, raising an eyebrow. ". . . Awk-ward."

Lindsay had already saddled Kaypay up for me. I climbed on.

Chris pulled himself onto his own horse. "We're gonna freak Ruben out," he muttered to me. "I don't think he's seen this many people at once since the seventies."

A day's ride took us over a couple of low mountain passes. Then we crossed a network of fire trails through miles of scrubby pines. Finally, we reached a tiny cabin. It was almost entirely concealed by thick undergrowth.

As far as I could tell, it was abandoned.

"Let me go ahead first," Chris said. "Ruben doesn't exactly like—"

A gunshot thundered out—or, actually, a burst of gunshots in quick succession.

The horses startled. Ian and Shawn both reached for the Home-Guard-issue pistols they still carried. Lindsay covered Jake's head. 

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