Saturn County

Ten | Fireworks

July 4.

"either way, we're not alone. i'll find a new place to be from."

It was the Fourth of July, and Daisy Quinn was dead.

At least, that was the word on the street for the past two weeks. Mai Walker knew better than to believe every last rumor whispered like dust on the pavement. All she knew was she was missing from the county and in the end it didn't matter how that truth had come about. Dead or alive, they were functionally the same. She hoped she was alive, but that she'd never return. It was probably best for Mai if she never saw Daisy Quinn again in her life.

Her friends didn't seem to think she was dead either. Mai had kept her distance since first arriving at the mall. Quinn clearly didn't trust her presence; she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd been witness to the attack outside just before her entry. In her defense, that boy outside wasn't carrying much—just a canteen and a drawstring bag. With that little inventory on his back, he must have had a campsite. He must have had friends to stay behind and stand guard. That was the only reason she'd targeted him: she was out of food, water, and just about everything that could have proven valuable. He looked like he could afford to share. She thought she'd been alone, but something had put Quinn on edge. Perhaps she'd seen it, or perhaps it was Emma, the little bird who lurked in the corners where no one else bothered to look.

So Mai had stayed quiet, residing in the Hallmark store in the day and scavenging for supplies at night. She was nowhere closer to Lucy, but she'd learned the lay of the land. Hank Coldwater and the water tower pit fights. The Condor Gas Gang. Rumored cannibals somewhere between Hillside and Merriam Township to the northwest. The Ravens near the mall. She'd thought Daisy was the Ravens herself all along but maybe she'd been wrong if she was killed. If. She still wasn't sure. The rumors hadn't stopped, and the rumors blamed the Ravens.

The truth was she was afraid of her search for Lucy. So long as she avoided bad news she could keep believing she was alive, and the deeper she dug the more likely to find out she was wrong. Who was she kidding, Lucy's parents had money. If they were still alive, the whole family was safe and sound in some sanctuary city. If her parents hadn't made it, and if Uncle James hadn't made it, and only if she had found safety since March or whenever the world imploded up North, would this trip have been worth it. Mai was tired, and lonely, and scared out of her wits to think too far into the future.

If Lucy wasn't there in Saturn County, then Mai had walked along Lake Michigan for nothing.

All that's to say that by the Fourth of July she could not keep justifying lying on the floor of the Hallmark store, haunted by the rows and rows of birthday cards and funeral cards and feel better cards (she was somewhat surprised how well stocked those were, despite the plague). There were anniversary cards and postcards and more trinkets than she could count. Daisy had told the truth when she said that nobody would bother raiding the store.

The store might have been safe but there was nothing there. Her resources were low and she shook hands with death every time she ventured out to score supplies of any variety. She'd thought once she made it to Saturn County, the journey would be over. Chicago went up in flames early; she was on the road by April. She'd frozen and starved but she made it with nothing to show for her effort. She was still alone, she had no food, and she had no plan. If she kept on this way she would never find Lucy, and the truth was she would probably die. She didn't walk along Lake Michigan to die on the floor of a Hallmark store with no one to mourn her but the Sesame Street birthday cards. So something had to change.

Daisy's friends were probably the worst place to start. The mall had all but cleared out since the news broke that the Ravens were encroaching near the mall. Besides, Daisy Quinn was a bitch and invincible. If the Ravens got her, then no other lame kid stood a chance. But Daisy's friends had stayed. At first she'd thought they were in shock or mourning, but as the days passed they stayed still. Most of them, at least. She'd seen the girl with the blue hair and her friend pack their bags not long after Daisy went missing and they hadn't been back since, but beyond that the rest had stayed. They didn't even seem upset, which is partially why she believed Daisy was alive. Someone should have broken by now.