Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
God, she wouldn’t cry, not when she had to be so strong right now.
She wouldn’t forget, and she wouldn’t disappoint her father or mother. She’d survive, she’d make sure Lucy did as well. Screams and shouts were in the distance, a car alarm, the sound of a gun going off. It was dangerous out here and would only get worse.
She turned around to look at the neighborhood she’d once ridden her bike through. This place had so many memories but now it was just a desolate, empty wasteland. Front doors were open, trash littered around the street and yards. She didn’t know who’d stayed or who had fled. She couldn’t stick around and find out, either. Sasha had to get Lucy and herself out of here, away from people in general.
Now more than ever, that’s what was the most dangerous.
If they didn’t get sick there were other things that could kill them. People would be savage, taking just like her father had warned her about. Her uncle’s cabin was hours away, nestled on several acres of wooded land. Unless someone knew where it was it was hidden, off the grid, it wouldn’t be found. Maybe some of her family had made it there? Maybe her aunt and uncle were waiting to see if they’d come?
There was no electricity or running water. She used to hate visiting the cabin for that reason alone. Swimming in the lake had been the only entertainment in an otherwise Wi-Fi and electricity barren vacation. None of that mattered now. In fact, being off the grid during all of this was exactly what they needed, exactly how they’d stay alive.
“Goodbye,” she said softly as she faced her house again, talking to her parents, who would no longer hear her.
She climbed into the driver’s side seat and shut the door, put the key in the ignition, and cranked the engine. She could do this. Glancing over at Lucy, Sasha reached across and took her sister’s hand in hers. She gave it a squeeze until Lucy looked up at her, the curtain of her hair parting and showing her bright blue eyes.
“Everything will be okay,” she said, those words having been spoken more than once since this all started.
Sasha meant them. She’d make sure everything was okay. She would not lose Lucy.
She would make them survive.
Driving through the city was pure anarchy. Cars lined up at gas stations, traffic bumper-to-bumper, people yelling, horns honking … it was stressful and crazy and she was scared as hell.
Something was on fire in the distance, the scent of smoke strong in her nose, the sight of black clouds clear over the horizon. Sasha rolled up the windows and locked the doors. Things were too hectic and crazy. Everyone was panicking, survival mode kicking in. The thought of somebody trying to take what was theirs, their supplies, the clothes off their back, was too much of a fear.
It seemed like everybody was headed out of the city, a smart move, but it meant that everything was at a standstill. Sasha looked over at Lucy, watching as her sister worried at her bottom lip, her white teeth biting at the soft flash as she stared out the passenger side window.
Sasha grabbed her phone and went to her music, finding Lucy’s favorite song and hooking it up to the Bluetooth stereo. Soon the lyrics filled the interior of the car, an upbeat song that didn’t match what was going on in their lives. But still her sister looked out the window with detachment.
Sasha faced forward, her hands wrapped around the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles white. She started singing the song softly but with each passing second, she raised her voice, got into the music. She needed to get Lucy out of her shell, at least for this one moment. She needed to remind her that there was still life outside of the devastation.
For a full minute, she sat there and sang, bobbing her head, shimmying and dancing on the seat. She kept glancing at Lucy, hoping to get a small smile at least. She nudged her in the shoulder, singing as high and loud as she could, her voice cracking, the fact she was butchering the song not lost on her.
Lucy finally glanced over at her and lifted an eyebrow, then finally that smile cracked, her lips curving up and showing Sasha that her sister was still there, still had hope.
Bent, not broken. That’s what they were. They’d heal. Sasha would make sure of it.
Chapter Four
The beginning or the end?
It had taken her four hours to finally make it to the cabin. The traffic had been horrible, but at least the GPS still worked. She didn’t know how long that would be, didn’t know when or off the phones would end up going down, if things would eventually get fixed.