“Why me? Why do I have to shoot the ted?” Scarlet asked.

“Because you’re the best shot,” Zoe said.

“I like you,” Scarlet said, smiling only with her eyes.

“I like you, too,” Zoe replied.

Scarlet lifted her arms and let them fall to her thighs. “All right, I’m sold on ted. Anyone disagree?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Good choice, Zoe,” Cooper said.

Zoe smiled wider than I’d seen in years, and in that moment, it was easy to believe everything was going to be okay.

Chapter Twenty

Nathan

ZOE HAD BEEN SPENDING A lot of time outside on the porch before and after her studies with Ashley. Scarlet may have inspired her, I couldn’t be sure. When Zoe was asked what she was doing, she would barely explain.

“Waiting,” she would say. She alternated between examining her fingers as they rested in her lap and squinting to see beyond the hill.

I’d learned not to ask what she was waiting for. She wouldn’t tell me. I worried that she was missing her mother, but if Aubrey wasn’t who or what she was waiting for, I didn’t want to upset Zoe by bringing it to her attention. I worried that being safe wasn’t enough for my daughter. Then again, she seemed happy and hadn’t had an episode in over a week, so maybe I was so used to having something to worry about with her that I was overthinking things.

“Zoe?” I said, joining her on the porch. She’d been waiting quietly for nearly half an hour, and Ashley was waiting for her at the table. “Miss Ashley has made up some multiplication flash cards for you to try.”

“I don’t really like math,” she said.

I smiled. “I don’t really like math, either, but sometimes we have to do things that aren’t fun.”

Her expression was thoughtful. “We have to do that a lot.”

“Some days more than others. Are you ready?”

Zoe shook her head. That took me off guard. Zoe had never flat-out told me no before. I wasn’t sure how to react.

“Why not?”

She pointed at the road. I turned, seeing a man and a girl just clearing the hill. At first I was startled, but then I realized they weren’t sick.

“Is that Scarlet’s family?” Zoe asked.

“No. I mean, it doesn’t look like them.” The man was very tall and lanky, with his bald spot obvious from and vulnerable to the morning sun. His arms were abnormally long, and the closer they came, the longer they seemed to be.

“Scarlet!” I called, wanting to mentally slap myself the second I yelled her name. Just like I feared, she came running out the door, already breathing hard from hope and anticipation.

“Is it them?” she asked, just as they came running for the farmhouse.

“Oh, God, no, I’m sorry,” I said, feeling like a complete ass.

Scarlet kept her eyes on the pair, swallowing loud as they approached. Her whole body tensed and leaned in such a way that it looked like her heart was breaking on the outside of her body.

I reached out and grabbed her hand, unsure of what else to do.

“Hey,” the man said, holding the girl’s hand loosely in his. His head, lips, and nose were badly sunburned, his eyes were sunken, and his cheekbones had just begun to protrude. The girl didn’t seem as affected by the elements or hunger as he did, but she didn’t lift her eyes from the ground. Even though she was tethered to the man by the hand, she didn’t stand close to him.

“I’m Kevin. This is my daughter, Elleny,” he said, breathing hard through his smiling lips.

“Hi, Elleny,” Scarlet said, her smooth mom voice automatic and natural.

When Elleny didn’t acknowledge her, Kevin shrugged. “She’s been through a lot.”

Scarlet tilted her head. “How old are you, Elleny?”

“She’s fourteen,” Kevin said. “Is this your place?”

Scarlet looked at Kevin, and then at me. He was a little weird, but Scarlet and I both knew we wouldn’t turn away a child. “Pretty much. There’s water and food inside,” she said, gesturing toward the door. “But you’ll have to leave your weapon outside.” Scarlet looked down to the fire poker in his right hand.

Kevin wasted no time, laying down the poker and pulling Elleny along with him.

Scarlet showed them around the kitchen while I got Zoe situated at the table with Ashley.

“Who is that?” Ashley whispered.

“Survivors,” I said. “A father and daughter.”

Ashley made a face. I knew what she was thinking. Kevin looked like a skeleton, and Elleny was nearly plump, the baby fat still bulging her cheeks just enough to make her look younger than fourteen. Her green eyes and chestnut hair were opposite Kevin’s ice-blue eyes. Her round features stood out from his boney face and pointy nose.

“Zoe doesn’t look like me, either.”

“Yes she does,” Ashley said, smiling down at my daughter, who smiled back.

Ashley and Zoe worked on her times tables and read for about half an hour, and then they worked on an old puzzle of Ashley’s, putting together all fifty of the United States. Once they were finished, Zoe returned to the porch again.

“So what do you think?” I said to Scarlet. She was cleaning out the refrigerator, throwing away uneaten food.

“This is a goddamn waste, that’s what I think.”

“About Kevin.”

“I told him they could sleep in the doctor’s bed until we get things figured out. He didn’t say if they’re staying or going on. I figured you and Zoe could sleep downstairs for now. I didn’t really want them down there with all the weapons and supplies. Oh, unless you think that will bother Zoe?”

“No, no. I’ll explain it to her. She’ll have plenty of time to prepare.” I looked into the living room and saw Elleny sitting alone on the couch. I walked toward the porch to start the process of preparing Zoe for the move, and saw Kevin sitting next to my daughter, side by side, on the top step. He had his arm planted on the porch, a bit behind her.

“Zoe,” I said, opening the door quickly. “I need you inside for a minute. We need to talk.”

Kevin immediately pulled away his hand, but his expression was calm and relaxed. “You got a cute little girl there.”

I nodded, holding the door open for Zoe to pass, and then brought her to Ashley’s door and knocked. Ashley opened it and allowed us inside, even though I could tell she was surprised.

“Zoe,” I said, kneeling in front of her. “First, we don’t know Kevin, yet, so until I say otherwise, what is he?”

“A stranger,” she said confidently.

“And what is the rule about strangers?”

“We don’t talk to them.”

I nodded. “Good girl.”

“I told Kevin the rule, but he said he was a nice man, and he had met you, so he wasn’t a stranger.”

This made my stomach turn, although I reasoned that Kevin had a daughter of his own, so maybe he just knew how to talk to children. “Meeting someone and knowing them are different. Until I say it’s okay, I don’t want you to be alone with Kevin. Deal?”

“Deal,” Zoe said.

Ashley and Cooper were standing next to us in a silent exchange. They would look at each other after certain points of my and Zoe’s serious talk, never speaking, but having a conversation, nevertheless.

“Next, I need to tell you that to make room for Kevin and Elleny, you and I are going to move downstairs.”

Zoe made a face, but I was prepared. “I like our room.”

“I do, too. This is just for a little while, and then we can have our room back.”

The skin between Zoe’s eyebrows creased.

Ashley kneeled beside us. “Zoe, how about you and I bring your things downstairs and I’ll help you decorate it just the way you want?”

Zoe thought about this for a while, and then nodded. She still wasn’t happy with the move, but her already agreeing, and without a fight, was momentous. I couldn’t hide my appreciation to Ashley, and when we stood, I reached out with one hand and pulled her against my side, pressing my cheek against her hair in a half hug.