red hill - jamie mcguire

happy, when they were probably huddled alone somewhere, scared to death.
Patrolling the road made me at least feel like I was doing something to help get them to Red Hill,
but it wasn’t enough. If they didn’t get there, soon, I would have to go look for them.
I stood up, trying not to wake Nathan as I slipped out of the room. Just as I reached the kitchen, the
French doors opened.
“Scarlet,” Nathan whispered. He hadn’t been asleep that long, but his eyes were heavy.
“Everything okay”
“Yeah, I’m just going to bed.”
“You’re not going to stay with me tonight”
“I don’t know that I should. It might upset Zoe.”
He smiled. “That’s really sweet of you to think of her, but I don’t think that’s it. Talk to me.” He
took a few steps into the living room.
“I’m going to take the boys into Shallot tomorrow. I just need a good night’s rest. I’m not used to
sleeping with you, yet. I have trouble falling asleep anyw—”
“Into Shallot As in, you’re going into the town of Shallot” He shook his head, stepping closer to
me. “But it’s overrun.”
“That’s why we have to clear it out. What if Andrew takes the girls there for supplies, or looking
for shelter”
Nathan gently cupped my shoulders. “Scarlet, you haven’t seen that place. The whole town was
turned. That’s at least three hundred infected.”
“Teds.”
“Whatever. You can’t clear out that town. You’ll get yourself killed.”
I smiled and kissed his cheek. “Don’t you know by now that I can take care of myself You’ve
heard the boys’ stories at dinner.”
“Yeah, and it scares the hell out of me. I have tried to understand, but I can’t let you do this,
Scarlet. It’s reckless.” For the first time, his tone was firm.
My face burned. “You don’t get to tell me what to do just because we fucked in the yard.”
He was surprised by my reaction, but the only thing he did in response was frown. “Don’t do that.”
That caught me off guard. Andrew had always been so quick to come back at me with angry words
that I wasn’t prepared to resume a fight picked with someone who stayed calm. “Then don’t tell me
what to do.”
He gently grabbed my hand and kissed my palm. I tried to pull away, but he held on to it. “I can’t
begin to know what you go through every day waiting for your girls. I’ve never met them, and I’m
worried sick about them. You can push me away all day long, but I’m in love with you. I love you,
Scarlet, and it would destroy me if anything happened to you.”
For just a moment, I let guilt seep in with his words. In that moment, I thought about staying there,
with him, where it was safe. I thought about waiting for the girls, so I could be sure to be at the ranch
waiting when they arrived. But then I thought about Jenna and Halle walking past Shallot, and running
into a herd. Even a small one would be a death sentence. They were just little girls. I couldn’t be sure
that Andrew was with them to protect them or help them make decisions.