red hill - jamie mcguire

were to see them.
The helicopter’s blades were still whirring, so the man in front spoke loudly. “My name is
Corporal Riley Davis, sir! I’m looking for a Skeeter McGee!”
Ashley grabbed Skeeter’s arm, her eyes wide.
“That’s me,” Skeeter said.
“I have a Ms. April Keeling in the helo. We picked her up from Fairview. She said there might be
survivors here, including you, sir!” the corporal said. The corners of his mouth turned up. “Glad to
see she was right!”
Skeeter turned to Ashley. “April! From the church!” He turned to the corporal. “Her kids”
“All well, sir.”
“The ash,” Nathan said. “The blast. You know anything about it”
“Yes, sir. The air force has been ordered to target the largest concentrations of infected, sir.”
“But is it radioactive” I asked.
“No, ma’am,” the corporal said. “The fallout is just debris from the initial blast. They’ve been
targeting all the major cities.”
“So there’s nothing left Of anything” I asked.
“The cities have been overrun, ma’am,” Corporal Davis said. “They’re torching everything. We’re
picking up survivors farther out, though.”
I looked to Nathan, and then back to Corporal Davis. “Define everything How far reaching is the
outbreak”
The corporal’s face fell. “Everywhere, ma’am. It’s everywhere.”
Nathan shifted. “Will they bomb outside the cities”
“They’re leaving the countryside alone, don’t you worry,” the corporal said, tossing his gun onto
his shoulder.
I blew out a sigh of relief, and looked back to the kitchen. The girls were peeking around the
corner. I signaled to them that it was okay for them to join us. After a few moments of hesitation, one
by one they scurried to my side.
The corporal glanced to the children. “We would have come for you days ago, but the ash clogs up
the helos. I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have much time. Is this everyone in your camp We’ve been
instructed to collect all willing survivors and bring them to our compound.”
Nathan looked at me, and then back to the corporal. “Compound Where”
“About seventy klicks south of our position, sir. McKinney hospital.”
“That’s not a compound,” I said, my mind racing. We’d gone so long without seeing anyone; it was
a lot to take in all at once.
The corporal smiled. “It is now. We’ve built walls and reinstated the running water. Working on
electrical now.”
Ashley turned to Skeeter, a wide grin on her face at the prospect of those luxuries.
“How many survivors so far” Nathan asked.
The corporal’s mouth pulled to the side. I could see he wanted to give us better news. “Not as
many as we’d like, but new civilians come in every day. I’m sorry, sir, but we should get going. It’ll