39

Tessa led them somewhere free of corpses or angry centipedes. They settled into the building’s upper floor.

Summer peeked through the curtained windows. A glowing spear shone down the street. Its light thinned the roving crowds into a moderate hustle.

She glanced back into the room, Mensha stood in the corner, having tended to his leg wound. There was far less blood than she expected and she wondered how much of that was due to the cut’s location or Mensha’s growing control. The latter more likely option, bothered her. She liked the way he was and though she might appreciate of muscle she feared that he’d become a stranger. She sighed and checked the problem onto her list.

Her gaze swept over Tessa, the woman fussed about the children. Her eyes and fingers scoured them for imagined injuries all the while she whispered incessantly. The eldest huffed at the attention and tried unsuccessfully to divert her concern to the younger ones. Who mostly shuffled and grumbled when her ministrations found them.

It was something she’d seen a hundred times before in the orphanage. Yet her desperate sincerity chilled Summer. Tessa wasn’t their parent, had she seen them. Were they amongst the faces, she glanced past, in her unwillingness to make people of cold bodies? She glanced at their taught faces, and the woman in the grass came to mind. She turned away.

She didn’t want to know

Tessa rose and turned her bleeding smile at Summer, An awkward silence hazed the air.

“Ahem,” her partner, coughed with such disregard that she smiled. “Introductions?” he with a raised brow.

Tessa blinked and her facade fractured, “Yes, I’m Tessa as I’ve said. This is Jeremy, Nick, Jess, Stace, Allen, and Lane.” She rattled the names gesturing from oldest to youngest.

They were clean surprisingly so seeing Summer had already gone through several sets of clothes in the last few days. Things were simplified when you could take what you needed. The second thing she noticed was their refrain.

Besides Lane their youngest, they embodied tension. Manifest in fugitive glances and intense stares. The teen in particular looked like he expected them to lunge at any moment.

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This would take a delicate hand, she could see why Mensha declined to help. He could be very blunt and she could see the analysis hidden behind his bored eyes. She didn’t think Mensha would want to abandon them, he had a soft spot for kids, but it was best not to test.

She summoned her most disarming smile. “I’m Summer,” she said meeting their eyes as she did. ”And Mensha, here is my fiancée,” Mensha offered a token wave. She wanted to share the circumstances of her proposal, but she’d probably break into tears or inconsiderate smiles. She couldn’t, not when they were caught in grief.

“So, ah,” Tessa said her earlier authority slipping, Summer glanced at Mensha, her partner’s eyes shone with mute annoyance and amusement. At least, someone was enjoying themselves.

“You’re wondering how we found you.” She offered, Tessa nodded her firm mask returning. Their audience’s attention sharpened, especially Nicks.

She took a deep breath, ”Well when the world ended,” she paused, the words tasted strange like she’d lost something in the admission. She glanced at Mensha his inscrutable eyes reflected her uncertainty.

“We thought we might be the only people left, but, I didn’t want to believe that.” She didn’t need to force the emotion filling her voice. Her desperation welled and mixed with the weight that so often pressed on her shoulders and urged her forward. They craved voice, more than the subtle inflection in her words. She tamped them down. Not the place, not the time. A frown touched Mensha’s lips “So we wandered into the streets in hopes of finding people, and I’m starting to believe we were quite lucky nothing much tried to kill us.” She chuckled, “That or things are getting worse.” They stare, Tessa offered a conciliatory grin. Well, Mensha liked it.

Their attention stuck to her like glue, even the littlest stared, with rapt focus. Like her rambling words were the world’s first and only story.

“We found an apartment,” Realization, swept through the room, and she felt the weight of her next words. These people were so fragile, would they break if she spoke of the bodies, the Red? Would their beaten hearts shatter?

How many of these moments did she have? Where her resolve was supported by nothing but a few good thoughts, and few words could consign her to despair? She didn’t like the answer, but at least she had someone to fall on.

“We found a man,” she said and tears bead in resolute teen eyes, “and followed the trail of the people he’d protected.“ Her voice softened to a cotton whisper. The boy was all but weeping, “We used Mensha’s powers to find the trail when it ran cold, and it led us to you.” She sighed, “There’s a lot we left out but that’s the gist.”

“Did, you find any survivors?” Tessa whispered her voice blended with the silent sobbing behind her.

Jerico’s contorted writhing features flickered past her mind, “He didn’t make it,”

She no