Chapter One
"It's been three days..." Silas says as we lay together underneath an enormous pile of blankets that we collected from the house we're currently sleeping in. The garbage can fire burns in the middle of the room near the cracked window, though it's nearly burned out and that's okay since we need to get up. He doesn't finish his sentence, but he doesn't have to.
We've been up and down the river bank, searching for Dad, Jack, and Ryan, but we haven't found even the smallest trace of them. We went miles upstream, just to turn around and walk back to do the same in the other direction. We've moved camp each night, encountered zombies, dodged men patrolling in the woods, and walked miles and miles until both our feet were blistered...
"Tell me again." I say, rolling over to face Silas and he lets out a sigh, he knows what's coming. It's the same thing we've gone over since that first night. I just can't let it go though. "You're sure you saw them jump?" I ask and Silas nods.
"Positive." He tells me for tenth time at least. "They jumped in before I did, right after you. I was the last one in the water" He confirms and I let out a deep breath as my mind critically scans over this small piece of information. I want so badly for it to mean something, to be the clue to cracking the mystery of the rest of our missing group, but it's still just a small piece of the much bigger puzzle and I can't make it reveal anything more to me than it did yesterday, or the day before.
I don't even realize I'm chewing away at my lip until Silas presses his finger to my bottom lip to stop me. His touch sends a small thrill through me, but I brutally ignore it.
"Do you think...?" I can't bring myself to finish the sentence, but I don't have to. Silas knows. He always seems to know what I'm thinking, sometimes better than I do.
"I don't think they drowned." He confirms and I slowly release the breath I've been holding.
"How do you know?" I press and he lets out a sigh and rolls onto his back and puts his arms behind his head. I know I'm annoying him, but he surprises me when he reaches out his arm and pulls me closer against his chest, rather than snapping at me like he might've done even a few days ago.
"I can't know for sure, but this is what I think..." He says and I'm hanging on his every word. "We haven't found any bodies." He winces when my eyes go wide. "Think about it." He tells me. "There are three of them missing, even if someone didn't make it; the odds are in our favor that someone survived, and the fact that we've found no one." He shrugs. "I think they're all together somewhere and they've holed up to recuperate."
I want so badly to believe him, except one thing doesn't ring true. My Dad. He wouldn't just hole up. He would be sick with worry wondering where I was and he would be out looking for me- if he could, and that's the part that scares me so badly. Why haven't I found out along the river looking for me? "Silas..." I start to say, but he interrupts me by pressing a kiss to my lips.
"It's daylight now. I think we should get up and get back to searching." He tells me and I nod as I try and find enough energy to throw the blankets back and get moving.
Silas finds his motivation before I do and once he throws back the blankets and the cool air hits me, I get up as well and pull on an extra sweater and my coat. I go to the bathroom, using a bucket of river water to flush, and then meet Silas back downstairs where he hands me a granola bar. I shudder as I take it, but my body needs the fuel.
Silas pours another small bucket over the fire in the garbage can and it hisses and spits, smoking like crazy as the flame goes out. We don't want to accidentally start a fire, who knows how long the blaze would go unchecked now that we can't just call the fire department, plus it would be a pretty big giveaway to the men in the woods that we're still in the area.
