Death's Awakening

Chapter Forty-One: Noah

Noah grabbed the gun from the floor beside the door and handed it to Parrish.

"Are you sure you want to come?" He looked at Parrish. She looked so small and vulnerable with that shotgun in her hand, but her grip was strong and from the looks of it, this wasn't the first time she'd ever held a gun. And if anything happened to her, he wasn't sure he could handle it right now. He wanted her here inside, safe.

"I'm sure," she said, her fingers tightening around the butt of the gun. "If I have to sit in this house with Karmen much longer, without some fresh air, I'm going to go insane."

He tried not to smile, but he couldn't help himself. Those girls had really been at each other's throats lately. Hadn't they once been best friends? He remembered them always hanging out at each other's houses when he first moved here. He had no idea what had torn them apart, but they obviously couldn't stand each other now.

Movement at the top of the stairs caught his eye and he looked up just in time to see Karmen disappear into his dad's old room. She'd probably heard what Parrish said, but could she really be that surprised?

"Karmen?" He called up to her before she had a chance to shut herself inside.

She poked her head out of the door and stared down at him. "Yes?"

"We'll be back in a few hours," he said. "We'll go out the back door. If we're not back by nightfall, you have to board it back up, okay?"

Some of the hardness in her face softened and she stepped into the hallway, her arms hugging her chest. "You'll be back, though, right?"

The way her voice wavered made his stomach flip. He hated to leave her alone. She was still pretty shaken up about what happened with his dad. And could he blame her?

But this house was the safest place for her right now. She would be fine as long as she remembered to board the door back up by the time it got dark out.

"Yeah, we'll be back," he said, wanting to comfort her. "Just if, for whatever reason, we can't make it back in time, you've got to remember to put the boards back up and lock the door, okay?"

She nodded and stepped toward the banister as if she wanted to say something else.

"Would you rather just come with us?"

Beside him, Parrish groaned. He didn't really want to take Karmen, either. She'd do nothing but complain the whole time and would probably slow them down, but she seemed so scared.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'll be fine, are you kidding? Some time alone sounds great right now. I'll probably just take a nap or something."

She did a good job pretending not to care, but he knew it was all an act. Underneath her fake confidence, she was terrified of being left completely alone.

"We'll be back," he said again.

She shrugged. "No problem. See you guys later."

Her voice caught on the words slightly, as if she were holding back tears. She turned and went back into the bedroom. He kind of wanted to go up and check on her. To make sure she was really okay. And more importantly, to make double sure she understood what to do if they didn't come home.

But they were already getting a later start than he'd hoped. They needed to get going. With the evacuation tomorrow, today would be their only chance to gather up supplies for the road.

He grabbed a second shotgun from the living room. He stuffed two boxes of shells into his backpack, then handed Parrish an empty backpack filled with old grocery bags.