red hill - jamie mcguire

I nodded and smiled. “Impressive.”
He winked at me, and then we met everyone else at the front of the store.
Joey had several boxes of condoms, a first-aid kit, matches, a box of trash bags, and four bottles of
water in his arms.
Bryce saw the condoms and was instantly defensive. “Seriously”
Joey wasn’t fazed. “Each one can hold up to two liters of water. Seriously.”
Bryce’s shoulders relaxed, and then he looked to me. “We can just wheel this to the Bug. I’m sure
no one will say anything.”
“Funny,” I said.
As we returned to the car and practiced our Tetris skills loading it up with our finds, the boys
began talking about searching the houses and garages for gas cans. Joey suggested that if we had to,
we could syphon gas from one of the vehicles.
“Depending on what we find and how quickly, we’re talking about spending a few nights here.”
“No,” Ashley said. “Miranda, tell them. We need to get to Dad’s.”
I looked to Bryce. “Dad is probably worried sick about us.”
Joey didn’t wait for Bryce to answer. “We’re not going anywhere until we get gas, and I think we
can all agree that we need more than just a tank full. Let’s be smart about this. We have resources
here. Let’s use them before we move on.”
Bryce made a face. “When we found you, you’d run out of gas.”
“Exactly,” Joey said. “Learn from my mistake. It’s no fun being stuck in a car with those things
trying to get in, and this car is a convertible. It won’t protect us.”
“Those things can’t even work a swinging door,” Bryce snapped.
“You wanna risk it” Joey said.
Bryce looked at me, and then back to Joey, shaking his head. “No.”
“It’s settled, then. We search until we can fill the tank and as much extra as we can. You guys can
break up into groups if you don’t want to let the girls search alone.”
“I’ll go by myself,” I said.
“No,” Bryce responded instantly.
“I’m not helpless. I can handle a gun.”
Bryce reached for my fingers. “Maybe I don’t want to go by myself.” He used his most charming
smile, the one I could never resist. I nodded, and his hand squeezed mine.
Joey rubbed his neck. “First thing’s first. We need to set up camp. The ideal place would be away
from other houses. On the outskirts of town, maybe.”
“Okay. That’s like two blocks away,” Ashley said.
“Let’s walk. We’ll find something,” I said.
Joey kept talking as we walked. “Several exits. Good visibility.”
“Now you’re just being picky,” I said.
Joey smiled at me. I tried not to, but I smiled back.
Ashley was right. It only took about twenty minutes to find a location that fit Joey’s description. It
was a yellow house on the end of a long line of houses, but it had a large field in front of and behind