red hill - jamie mcguire

“You’re doing this so I can see that you still think they’re alive. So Joey didn’t die for nothing.”
“No, I’m just waiting for my girls.”
“You have two inside.”
I sighed. “I have two more inside, yes.”
“You know what It doesn’t matter whether you think they’re alive or not. Their lives are no more
important than Joey’s, or Bryce’s, or Skeeter’s . . . or Nathan’s.”
“Nathan’s”
“He will die if something happens to you. Do you see Ashley Empty and hopeless That will be
Nathan one of these days after you get yourself killed.”
The thought made me sick to my stomach, but didn’t change my mind. “I take total responsibility
for Joey. You’re right. It’s my fault. But I can’t apologize for doing whatever I can to help my little
girls get to me safely, and I won’t turn down anyone that wants to help.”
Miranda craned her neck at me. “No one else will say it, Scarlet, but I will: You can go fuck
yourself and your stupid idea to clear the way for your girls. There are more infected out there than
humans. You’re never going to clear them all, and one of these days you’re going to hack into one of
their heads with your hatchet, and you’re going to realize too late that it was Jenna or Halle. But it
won’t matter, anyway, because they’re fucking dead!” With the last words, Miranda screamed,
clenched her eyes shut, and shook her head, her hair sticking to the sweat on her face.
I closed my eyes, trying to stop her screams from forming pictures in my mind. “Miranda . . .”
“Will you admit it, then” she said, her eyes both angry and desperate.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen to me if I have to admit they’re not coming.”
“They’re. Not. Coming.”
A tear escaped my eye, and I quickly wiped it away. “I don’t believe that.”
“Scarlet!” Nathan screamed from the porch. He climbed the ladder, his eyes wide. “Are you
looking”
“What”
“Look! Look at the hill!”
I narrowed my eyes to focus, seeing two small figures walking up the red hill. Skeeter was
standing in the yard, yelling and waving his arms. The figures began to run, and it was then that I
realized it was Halle and Jenna.
A sob exploded from my throat. “Oh my God!” I cried. “It’s them! It’s my babies!”
They were alone. I could barely process what that might mean, or what they’d gone through, but in
that moment, the only thing I could do was scramble for the ladder.
Nathan climbed down a few rungs, and then jumped the rest of the way down, knowing I was in a
hurry.
“Scarlet Scarlet!” Miranda screamed.
I looked to her, and then to the field where she was pointing, seeing a herd of about two dozen
infected limping and stumbling toward my daughters. “Oh, Jesus! No! No!” I began climbing down the
ladder, but Nathan stopped me. “Stay on the roof! You’re the best shot! I’ll go get them!”
Reluctantly, I nodded and climbed back up to my perch on the roof. I knew he was right, and the