red hill - jamie mcguire

Chapter Seventeen
Nathan
“GOOD MORNIN’,” WALTER SAID, GREETING the kids with rifle in hand.
Miranda worked to produce a smile, seeming tired and cranky. “This is my boyfriend, Bryce.
That’s Cooper.”
I nodded to them.
“Now that the pleasantries are over,” Walter said, gesturing to the station, “looks like we have a
situation.”
It was obvious why they’d had trouble. Two infected were inside the station, pushing excitedly
against the double glass doors. One of them was a young girl, not much older than Zoe.
“Yeah,” Cooper said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “We’ve run into them before.”
“It should be just the two,” Bryce said. “Unless more wandered inside. I put down a male. He
should still be lying by the cash register.”
Walter motioned for the boys to follow him. “Better let us take care of this, Nate. I don’t want you
to think about this every time you look at Zoe.”
Regardless of the coward I might have looked like, I turned my back and tried not to listen as
Walter and the boys eliminated the infected inside the gas station. Miranda kept an eye on the
situation, but Ashley did as I did and looked the other way.
“Clear,” the soldier said. The jargon and tone confirmed my suspicions.
I stayed with the girls while Walter helped them look for a switch to turn on the pump. The
owner’s resistance to new technology was fortunate. I wasn’t sure we could have got it to work if it
had been one of the newer ones.
“Okay!” Walter said. “Pull up the lever, and listen for it!”
“For what” Miranda said.
I pulled up the lever, and the pump buzzed. “For that.”
With a big grin, Miranda began pumping the gas, and Ashley opened the trunk and pulled out three
large gas cans.
“We’re in business!” Miranda said to her boyfriend.
He jogged to her side, and then interlaced his fingers on top of his head when he saw for himself.
“Oh, thank God.”
“I’ll go get my car and fill it up, too, and then we can be on our way. You can pull up to the house
and wait once you’re finished here. Load up what you can.”
Miranda nodded. “Will do.”
They were all bouncing and smiling, excited that we would be leaving soon. Once I made the