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

one ever woke her for her guard shift. Her chest tightened with worry. She slid her boots on before rushing down the hall. Matt was at the table eating something from a bowl. Trevor was sprawled out on the couch, asleep and lightly snoring. Matt glanced up from his bowl and held up his hand, gesturing for Allison to remain quiet. She sat at the table with Matt. There was no sign of Morgan.

“He’s only been asleep for a few hours. I don’t want to wake him,” whispered Matt between bites. “I couldn’t sleep much so I just stayed on watch. I thought Morgan would be back by now.”

“I did too. Should we go look for her?” Allison opened a can of mixed fruit. I can’t believe she’s not back. This is all my fault. We should have looked for her.

“Yeah, I think we should. I feel stupid for letting her leave. I thought she would come back. We need to all stick together.” Allison nodded in agreement.

“I’ll wake Trevor,” she said.

The three friends explored the forest around the cabin, searching for Morgan. After an hour with no sign of her, Matt’s fear was apparent. He never stopped moving, his hair stood on end from his repetitive grasping of it with his hands, and his eyes were glossy from trying to hold his tears back. Trevor took charge of the situation. Using a map of the area he found in the cabin, he mapped out a search grid one mile around the cabin each way.

“I don’t think she could have gotten far in the dark,” Trevor said. “If we need to, we can go further out but what I have laid out already will take us some time. We will use the map and a compass to track the areas we have already searched so we don’t end up in the same place over and over again.” Trevor had the map laid out on a large boulder and pointed out the grid areas. They agreed and set out following Trevor’s lead.

Allison and the boys were spaced out six feet from each other as they walked the forest in a line. The scent of blood caught Allison’s attention. Her core warmed as her heart began to race. She glanced around until her eyes landed on a bloody handprint on a tree a few paces ahead.

“Guys, over here!” Allison yelled. She dashed over to the tree only to step directly into a puddle of blood near its base. Allison scrambled back, wiping her boot on the vegetation around her. Trevor and Matt stood next to her, aghast.

“That’s a lot of blood,” Matt said. He was frantic now. His forehead was creased with worry and he paced back and forth. He was sweating and probably getting dehydrated. His body was still damaged from the beating, evidenced by his bruising and worsening limp.

“We don’t know if it is hers. It could be anyone’s. It could belong to an Infected she killed.” Trevor’s voice was steady, but his face was as white as chalk. He turned in a circle looking all around the area.

“I should’ve went looking for her last night. I was so positive she would come back! Where the fuck is she?” Matt almost screamed. Allison walked around the blood puddle, looking for a blood trail to follow, but found none.

“Maybe she found a town and stopped there.” Allison didn’t know if she was trying to convince him or herself of this.

“Allison has a point. I bet there are quite a few towns near here that are full of people. Most people consider this area clear of Infected. Until last night I was among them. We can head toward the closest one and see if she is there.” Trevor spoke with optimism in his voice. As he looked at the map his face fell. “The nearest town is only half a day away, but it is in the opposite direction Morgan was heading last night. It’s highly unlikely she went there. The nearest town that is in the direction she was heading is almost a day’s walk away. We can’t make it today.”

“I’m going now. I have to know where she is. I can’t leave her. She’s all I have.” Matt reached for the map but Trevor quickly moved it out of reach.

“No. You are in no shape to go now. You have been going nonstop all day and let’s be honest, you are not in the best shape right now. It doesn’t do you or Morgan any good if you keel over dead in the forest looking for her because you refused to rest and hydrate yourself.” Trevor spoke firmly but with no hostility in his voice. “And she is not all you have. You have us. I know what she means to you. I know how important and rare still having family is now. We will find her. But we will do it safely and together.” As Trevor finished speaking, Matt lunged for the map. He was slow and Trevor was easily able to dodge him. Matt tried for the map again but this time instead of dodging him Trevor embraced him in a bear hug, pinning Matt’s arms to his sides. Matt went down to his knees and Trevor went with him still holding him tight. “I’m not going to let you do this. You are not alone. We will find her together,” Trevor said as he held Matt tightly. Matt was by no means small but looked childlike as he shook in Trevor’s arms. Trevor spoke with such authority and empathy Allison couldn’t imagine anyone not willingly doing exactly as he commanded in this moment. Suddenly Matt hung his head and began bawling; large tears streamed down his face and landed on Trevor’s shirt. Allison got on her knees behind Matt and embraced him as he leaned on Trevor crying. They stayed there, just like that, until Matt had no tears left in him.

“Let’s go back to the cabin,”