red hill - jamie mcguire

Epilogue
Scarlet
JENNA WAS FOCUSED , IGNORING THE sweat dripping into her big brown eyes. She rested the butt of the
rifle against her shoulder. It was her fifteenth birthday, and Skeeter would call her at any moment to
walk with him into the field. For whatever reason, he’d decided that on everyone’s birthday, he
would challenge them to a shoot-off. The winner would get a can of peaches, a delicacy we saved for
special occasions. Somehow, even though Skeeter could beat any one of us on his birthday, he always
seemed to lose by a hair on everybody else’s.
“I’m going to beat him for real this year, Mom.”
“Oh, yeah” I said, glancing around the perimeter. It was my turn on watch, even though it had
been over a year since the outbreak and the few teds that stumbled by were so far decayed that we
didn’t need to make much effort to put them down. Shoving them to the ground and stomping their
heads usually did the trick. The act was a lot like crushing an empty soda can; their insides were
mush. Even Elleny had put a few down that way.
We still took turns, though, on top of the roof of the farmhouse. A surprise attack was still
dangerous, especially on a day like today when everyone would be running around, celebrating,
forgetting to be careful.
I glanced down at the crosses under the oak tree. The soil on the graves now had grass growing
from the settled mounds.
Ashley stepped off the porch and looked up at Jenna and me, holding her hand over her eyes to
shield them from the glare. “Are you coming or what” she said, smiling.
Jenna managed a half-smile. “Just getting my sights lined out.”
“You’re going to surprise him,” I said, nudging her arm.
“I’m going to surprise everyone.”
With that, Jenna crawled to the ladder carefully and climbed down to the porch. She caught up
with Elleny, and they interlocked arms. Over the last year, they had bonded and become best friends,
both bearing a truth no child their age should carry. Elleny, with the nightmares she endured from
Kevin, and Jenna, with the guilt of leaving her father to die. Except for that first night, she didn’t sleep
through the night for months, tortured by the last moments she’d spent with her father. Elleny
understood her pain in a way no one could, and they’d become inseparable.
“Mommy!” Halle called, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “You comin’ down”
“No, ma’am. I’m on watch.”
“Aw,” she whined, kicking at the dirt.
Nathan stepped off the porch carrying Zoe in one arm, and scooped up Halle with the other. He