Took Me Yesterday (book 2 of The Tomo Trilogy)

You Can't Win This

We arrived in the city as the sun set over the rumble, cement turned to dust, bricks becoming rocks. Splinters of wood stuck out like makeshift crosses, the death of an entire city. I feared breathing it in, but I was too exhausted to fight it. Tasia was the opposite.

"We shouldn't have stopped," she said.

My exhausted heart didn't care. "We'll figure it out."

After so many hours in the train, my sore legs begged to be stretched, my bad ankle popping as I stepped to the edge and jumped off. I landed on the gravel trail, and the rest of the group followed.

"Maybe something's wrong with the tracks," Tasia mumbled, looking right then left, as if expecting something. Or someone.

I saw nothing, so I looked to Argos for his reaction.

His tail wagged like I'd taken him to a brand-new forest to explore rather the destruction of a civilization. Still, it was nice to see someone happy. He was beyond happy.

Cats were everywhere.

He immediately began to chase them, holding himself back from ever actually catching the creatures, but he barked every time he got close.

"I love this place already," Lily squealed, twirling around as three cats ran from her, terrified. Only one hung near, and I was pretty sure it wanted to be fed. Sure enough, Lily had a handful of cat food in her pocket. I didn't question it. She loved Saga, her black cat, as much as I loved Argos. But I got to bring mine with me. Hers was probably gone forever. Knowing her, she probably had the food in her pocket and forgot about it when we ran. Holding onto it wouldn't do any good.

"I'll name you Epic," Lily said, picking up the tricked but now-fed cat.

"Epic?" Tasia questioned, raising an eyebrow at me like I could explain. I shrugged.

"Yes, Epic," Lily emphasized the name. "Epic, as in a long poem." She pressed her nose against the white cat's nose, but this time, it seemed happy to return the nuzzle. "Saga would love you."

"Saga as in?" Tasia teased.

"As in an adventure," Lily clarified. "I name all of my cats after literature. I got the idea from Sophia."

Argos. The Odyssey. I didn't even know Lily paid me any mind.

Tasia sighed, watching the white-haired girl with the white furball. "I suppose it wouldn't be fair to make her leave it behind."

Something in her tone told me she was a cat person, too.

I absentmindedly found Argos by my side, but lost any concentration and finally looked up. The roads were barely distinguishable from the rubble, and every inch of destruction tore at me. These were homes, shops, hospitals, diners, demolished to wreckage that would never heal. I couldn't even imagine what it must have looked like, though I tried.

"This is why I stand with the Tomerys," Tasia said, closer now, her hands planted on either hip. "Topeka will look like this one day."

"What?"

Her amber eyes met mine with a fire. "We'll have to destroy before we can rebuild." She said it like it was a simple thing. "And then, we'll rebuild like they have."

I was about to ask where this rebuilding was, but Tasia continued, "The Phelps Massacre wasn't the first, and it won't be the last." She started marching before I could demand answers. "Keep up, you two. We should find shelter before that sun disappears for good. We'll figure out what's wrong with the train tomorrow—"

"Tasia." Lily froze on top of the hill, clutching the cat against her chest as she looked off to the right and behind me. "I don't think shelter is our biggest problem right now."

She wasn't wrong.

People, dozens of them, were approaching. Every single one of them held a gun. Some held two. They moved quickly and with precession, never once dropping their eyes to look at the ground. None of them tripped on miscellaneous debris either. They'd done this before. More than once.

They were feet from us before I could even count their heads, close enough to make out tattoos like Lyn's, except they had done so on their face. Their arms, legs, and torso were covered with thick, brown and black leather. They blended in with the city's remains.

Slowly, I pulled two knives out from my side sheaths. Argos must have seen too, because he stood in front of me like a shield. Lily ran over and jumped behind us both. Tasia didn't move. She stood her ground, pulling out her pistol like we stood a chance against the small militia. But she never lifted it.

"Sophia," Lily's breath skimmed my neck, "you can't win this."

I gripped the knives harder. Someone from the crowd shouted, but my thundering heartbeat drowned them out. Still, I knew enough to whisper demands to Argos. "Stay down, boy." I would not risk him being shot, and apparently, Tasia wouldn't risk me. She laid down her pistol.

"Keep your guard up, girls," Tasia said, letting out a laugh loud enough for the people to hear, "and for Phelps' sakes, Sophia, drop those stupid knives."