Page 68 of After the Burn

Dust coated everything.

The vehicles, the gear, and all the people.

One by one, they climbed down and immediately began unloading. Fuel, food, and medical supplies came first, then a crate of batteries. That earned actual applause from several bystanders.

I understood that reaction completely.

One of the scavengers tossed a backpack toward a woman sitting in the truck bed. “Get your ass out and pull your weight.”

I widened my eyes in astonishment. Given how precious women were supposed to be in this town, his tone shocked me. Even her being on the scavenging team surprised me.

She caught the backpack without looking. “Fuck off.”

One of the other men, clearly the one in charge, pointed toward a stack of crates. “Start unloading those.”

The woman looked at the crates, then at him, then back at the crates again. “Fuck off, Charlie.”

“You already said that, you crazy bitch.” Charlie’s face started turning red.

She shrugged and climbed out of the truck.

I smiled at the men's irritated grumbles. It was nice to see a woman who didn’t give a shit what the men wanted and still spoke her mind.

She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, with sun-kissed skin and dark blonde hair tucked under a worn baseball cap. She wore an oversized flannel shirt draped off one shoulder and loose-fitting blue jeans.

She looked exhausted yet still beautiful despite the dust and dirt.

“Wren’s already thinking about wandering off before we unload all this shit.” A boy who couldn’t be much over sixteen muttered as he got out of the Honda Civic.

Another man on the team pointed toward the back of the first truck. “At least unpack that one before you disappear.”

Wren stopped, dropped her backpack, then saluted him with a wide smile.

Maybe she was ex-military?

Everyone started laughing, and the lady next to me muttered, “It’s a damn shame to see her like that.”

Before I could question Harper, the woman looked up and spotted me at the front of the crowd.

Her smile vanished, and the backpack she’d just picked up slipped from her fingers.

For several long seconds, she simply stared.

I looked around at the people beside me, but they looked just as confused as I felt.

The woman was looking at me as if she’d just found something she’d been searching for years.

Then tears filled her eyes. “There you are.”

The words were so soft I almost missed them. I glanced behind me, then beside me, then back at her.

Wren laughed through her tears. “There’s my sweet sister.”

Harper stepped to my side. “Oh, no.”

I looked at her. “Oh no, what?”

Harper didn’t have time to answer before Wren was running toward me. She looked as if she were afraid I’d disappear if she moved too slowly.