N87 Virus | Book 1 | After the Outbreak Kadin, Karri (booksvooks TXT) 📖

her window. He looked like he should be coaching high school football somewhere.

“What’s your business in this area?” he asked. His stern voice was thick with his Southern accent. But his eyes were soft, kind.

“Just passing through. Trying to make our way north to find our families,” Trevor answered, adding a slight twang to his voice, almost identical to the accent of the Collector. The Collector grinned.

“Well it seems a lot of people are doing that these days since more borders are opening up. More areas are becoming clear every day.” As he spoke, another Collector made his way around the truck looking both in the bed and underneath it. A third Collector with dark sunglasses, whom Allison had not seen when they pulled up, knocked on the passenger side window causing Matt to jump. Matt rolled the window halfway down.

“What’s in the toolboxes?” the Collector asked, pointing toward the back of the truck.

“Just some supplies to get us through from here to there,” Matt said. Morgan shook next to him, her whole body tense. Matt wrapped his arm around her and held her tightly until his fingers turned white. Morgan squeezed her hands between her thighs. The Collector in the glasses waved to the other walking around the truck. He stopped his walk and hopped into the back. The clang of metal rang out as he opened up the toolboxes and rummaged through them, tossing items out into the bed of the truck. Each thud of their supplies landing on the truck bed tightened the knot forming in Allison’s stomach.

The should-be-a-football-coach Collector curled his lips, sneering at the man in the back of the truck. He tipped his head to Allison and mouthed “Sorry” before he walked away to the next car behind them. Heat rushed to her face and rose in her chest like a wildfire consuming everything in its path. Her heart raced, filling her ears with its rapid beat, drowning out the world around her. She felt the steering wheel bend beneath her grip. Trevor turned toward her, using his back to shield her from the Collector at the passenger side door.

“Breathe, Allison. Just focus on my voice. Breathe,” Trevor whispered. She closed her eyes, took some deep breaths, and pushed the feeling back down again, focusing on Trevor’s voice. “Good. That’s it. Breathe.” Trevor stroked her thigh but kept his eyes on the Collector in the back using the rearview mirror. The Collector at the passenger side door smirked, and he tossed an empty bag up to his partner.

“We are just taking a few things as compensation for all of our time. You wouldn’t even be able to go find your family if we hadn’t been clearing these woods. Keeping y’all safe. Now say thank you.” He tipped his glasses down, revealing gray eyes with no light in them as he stared into the truck, his gaze falling on Allison. His buddy jumped out of the bed of the truck with the bag filled with their supplies over his shoulder.

“Thank you,” they all ragged in unison, before Morgan broke out into a full sob.

“You are free to go. Now stay safe out there.” The Collector smiled as he patted the hood of the truck and the gate raised. Allison drove through the gate, driving slowly until the Collectors were out of sight, then she gunned it.

“Those motherfuckers!” Matt bellowed as he slammed his hands onto the dash of the truck. Morgan cried at his side, her shoulders heaving with heavy sobs.

“We need to check and see what they took,” Trevor said. “But we should put some distance between us and them first. Just in case they decide there’s something else we have that they want.” He slipped his hand from Allison’s thigh back to his lap. He placed his other arm around Morgan and patted her shoulder. She rested her head on his shoulder, tears dampening his shirt. Matt pulled out the map and pointed to a spot.

“There’s a town up ahead to the west that’s probably empty. We can find a place there, hide the truck, see what they took, and eat something. If we have anything to fucking eat. Maybe the town hasn’t been fully raided yet and we can find supplies to replace the shit they took,” Matt said with disgust.

“All right. Just tell me where to turn,” Allison said.

They stopped in the uninhabited town once known as Paradise Falls and discovered the Collectors had taken all of their ammo from their packs and most of their food. Thankfully, the bastards had missed a rifle hidden in the false bottom of the toolbox Trevor had added. A single precious box of bullets remained next to the rifle. They still had the weapons concealed on their bodies, but the only ammo for them was what they had in their clips.

“That false bottom thing was really smart,” Matt said as he high-fived Trevor.

“Yeah, I learned long ago to hide things from the Collectors. Some are cool but most are assholes who have let their power go to their heads,” Trevor replied. They hid the truck in an old mechanic shop while Trevor and Matt went to scavenge the town for supplies. Morgan and Allison lay in the bed of the truck waiting for the boys to return.

“I’m sorry I was such a crybaby back there. I just don’t handle Collectors very well,” Morgan said as she took a bite of the apple and handed it to Allison.

“It’s okay. I get it.” Allison took the apple and bit into it.

“When the outbreak first started we stayed in our home. No one knew what was going on, and the government said to shelter in place. We all thought it was like anthrax or something. I was only fifteen, and I was honestly more worried about not seeing my friends than getting sick. My parents were super strict on a normal day. The outbreak made that ten times worse. Matt stayed in his room doing