She ignored her former hospital supervisor and kept walking toward the exit. What was he blathering about? His claw-like fingers grabbed her arm, and she ground to a halt. She wrenched her arm free and glared. His sweaty face was gaunt, his cheeks sunken and filthy. Was he sick? His graying hair was disheveled, and he needed a haircut. An apocalypse was no reason to be unkempt.
One of his scruffy sons grabbed for Mira. She arched her back and hissed, her sharp white teeth on display. A low growl emanated from both cats.
“Don’t touch my cats,” Lissa said. They’d only get one warning.
One of the other boys snatched Luna’s leash from Lissa’s hand. He bent down to grab the tabby. Luna exploded in a hissing rage of teeth and claws. He screamed in high-pitched agony that stabbed Lissa’s brain like a knife. Drops of crimson blood fell to the floor, and he cradled his hand.
“Fuck me,” he said. “That creature mangled me. You’ll pay for that.”
She stooped for the leash, keeping one eye on the Blackburns. It wasn’t the first time the discerning sharp teeth had injured someone. “You’ll want to clean that, so it doesn’t get infected.” She reined in a smile.
“Your cats are dangerous,” said Mr. Blackburn, his eyes now gleaming slits. “And your days with the group are numbered.” He gripped her arm once more.
Lissa didn’t break eye contact. “My cats keep me fed and the apartment vermin-free. If the authorities kick me out, I’ll be fine. It’s you who will be affected the most. You’ll have to bully someone else and steal their take.”
“That’s rich. You’re a dirty thief who hunts rats,” said his oldest. He didn’t complain when he was eating rat meat. Hypocrite.
“Let go of me,” she said, her voice tight and full of anger. “We’re headed out.”
Mr. Blackburn released her arm and barred his yellowed teeth. “We’ll see you when you get home, Rat Girl. Make sure you bring us our share, or Bruce will take your tithe another way. We need travel supplies.” He glanced toward his oldest son. “Isn’t that right?”
The Blackburns had been talking about leaving for months. She wished they would.
“I’ll be waiting.” Bruce puckered his lips and made moist kissy noises.
Her stomach churned. Lissa shrugged, maintaining her outward mask of indifference.
The youngest, still clutching his bleeding wrist, glared, his gaze filled with malice as she pushed open the door to the outside world. Shit. She’d have to watch her back. Why was she still here?
A fantastic start to the day. They’d have to get several rats today to pay off the Blackburns, or she’d have trouble getting upstairs. She sighed. Socks or food? The best hunting was near the occupied buildings—the rats were plentiful where there were people. She hadn’t been on the second floor lately. They’d welcome her presence with the cats. Still, with winter coming, her feet would stay cold without decent socks. The Blackburns and their demands could wait. Errands first.
Wind whipped the branches of the boulevard trees, tossing discarded yellow leaves into the air. Clumps of the ever-present pale gray volcanic ash sprinkled with tiny black cinders lay in drifts across the cracked pavement. A gust kicked up the fine dust, spraying it into the air like mist. She pulled down her ski goggles and rounded the corner of the building.
Lissa frowned. Massive military transport trucks were parked in a row down one side of the street—dozens down this block and the next. She swallowed. Usually, there were only three. What was happening? She angled past the front of the line, headed toward the suburbs where she might scrounge new socks. They’d relaxed the guards in some of the distant neighborhoods over the summer. Should be a piece of cake to get in and out today, especially if most of the soldiers were busy here.
Several infantrymen in khaki walked past, loading crates of supplies onto the front trucks. A feeling of disquiet ran up her spine. Was the military pulling out? With them gone, the place would be anarchy.
Despite her desire to remain unseen, she stopped across the street—a respectful distance from the hive of activity. “What’s going on?” she blurted.
A man in uniform paused. “We’re packing everyone up tomorrow and heading east. They’ve built some new camps for the displaced.”
“Everyone? Even civilians?” She couldn’t keep the dismay from her voice. She didn’t want to journey to another refugee camp across the country. Plus, a camp sounded temporary, not at all like a home.
“Affirmative. The provisional government in DC has finally given the order for a full-scale evacuation of the West. There was an announcement yesterday. Where were you?”
She’d been out, and none of the residents of 6B mentioned it when she’d returned. No surprise there. She didn’t mix much with the others. Safer that way. “What if I want to stay? I’m waiting for my husband.” The hollow words left her heart aching. Derrick’s business trip to San Francisco had probably been his last. California had been ground zero for the largest asteroid impact.
“If he’s not here by now, he’s not coming. Make sure you pack light.” His gaze flicked downward. “No pets on the trucks.”
Lissa clenched her jaw. She wasn’t leaving Mira and Luna—they weren’t just pets. She’d adopted them as kittens two years ago. They were family and the only things of value she owned, not including the wedding ring hanging around her neck on a chain. Derrick had already been missing longer than they’d been married.
“Thanks for the information,” she said, revising her scrounging plan. She needed to find more portable food than what her cats could catch. And a better way to carry it than her too-small daypack. Possible plans to bribe someone to sneak her cats aboard a transport rolled through her mind. She lifted her chin. She wasn’t leaving without Mira and Luna.
Once past the military trucks and away from the apartment block used to house the refugees for the last sixteen months, she created a new list. She’d need a sleeping bag, more socks, another pair of warm pants, maybe some vitamins, toothpaste, and deodorant. She had her cats, her knife, and her pack. What else would she need for the journey east?
She bit her lip and decided to gamble and hunt further afield.
Two hours later, she and her cats, having crossed the boarded-up, empty downtown, reached the deserted streets where rich people used to live in grand houses. She’d run across this swanky neighborhood a few months ago but had remained on the fringes because of the patrolling soldiers. Had anyoneentered the buildings since the mass exodus? This area was far enough from the centralized refugee apartments that the houses might have supplies—the occupants having departed in the first wave of evacuation in their loaded cars. Back when there’d been fuel for anyone besides the army and the gangs.
