red hill - jamie mcguire

Chapter Twelve
Nathan
LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR down the road, I noticed a small sign that read HIGHWAY 123 . Another small
two-lane, it ran all the way to Kansas. It was less than an hour away, and if I remembered correctly
from my and Skeeter’s last hunting trip, there was only one small town between where we were and
the state line. Beyond that was nothing but farmland and ranch land for miles. Maybe we could find an
abandoned farmhouse in the middle of nowhere where we could set up camp. Maybe we would get
lucky and it wouldn’t be abandoned, and the occupants, old or new, would let us stay.
My mind was drifting when I turned onto the highway, so it must have been instinct, or at least a
choice on a subconscious level. Either way, Zoe and I were headed north.
“We’re not going back to get my papers, are we” Zoe said. She didn’t try to hide her
disappointment.
“I’m sorry, honey. I don’t think it’s safe.”
“So I’m not going to school tomorrow”
“No.”
“Won’t you get arrested if you don’t take me to school”
“Not if everyone else stays home from school, too.”
That answer seemed to appease Zoe for the moment, but I knew she would only form a list of more
questions to ask at a later time. The end of everything was hard for everyone. Especially children.
Even more so for children like Zoe that didn’t handle change well. My daughter had required a
routine since birth. Rules and boundaries were her safe haven. I wasn’t sure how I could provide that
for her now.
I watched Zoe’s head bounce subtly with the tune in her head. Once in a while the splash of
freckles across her nose would move when she scrunched her nose to sniff.
“You’re not getting a cold, are you”
Zoe shook her head, willing to let me make small talk. “I don’t think so. I wash my hands a lot.”
I nodded. “That’s good . . . ,” I trailed off, noticing something ahead. At first, I thought it might
have been a car stalled in the road, but then I saw movement. A lot of movement, fluid and slow.
When we came closer, I saw a herd of those things surrounding a vehicle. The car alarm was
bleating, and the dead seemed to be agitated by the noise. They were wildly trying to get inside the
vehicle. I couldn’t see whether anyone was trapped within. I didn’t want to.
“Daddy”
“Hang on, Zoe,” I said, turning the wheel off the highway and into the town. The first houses were
within a block of the highway. I drove faster than I should have, but I was hoping to get around the