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think
we need some sort of a plan. We don’t have infinite ammo and we’ll
definitely need food. We know they’re breaking into houses. We need
to make this place as secure as possible.”
    Lane was shaking his head. “We have to leave.
There are too many windows and any wood we have is at the shop. We
can’t board them properly.”
    I frowned. “So what do you want to do?”
    “I think we need to get to the shop. The
windows there can be boarded, there’s the fridges, the little deep
freeze. We pack up all the food we have here, bring it there. I
don’t know how bad this is going to get, but if we lose power, we
have the generators there. They won’t last forever, but they’re
better than nothing. We’ll pack clothes and blankets…”
    I raised an eyebrow at him and he stopped
short.
    “Now, who looks like they think they’re in a
zombie movie.” I smiled despite the horrifying situation we were
in. I was glad to see his jaw relax and his eyes soften.
    Little Ashley made one of those adorable baby
sounds and I found myself wondering if I was going to live long
enough to have one of my own. Lane broke eye contact with me and
headed back to the kitchen only to return with four cups of coffee
and a Boston cream donut with a candle in it.
    He flashed me a lopsided grin and shrugged.
“I might not get the chance to give it to you later. I’d hate to
miss one year just because we’re stuck in a zombie apocalypse.” He
placed the donut in my hand and pressed his lips to my forehead.
“Happy birthday, Freckles.”
    I blew out the candle and cut the donut into
four. “Do you remember when I turned sixteen and my foster mom beat
me with a chair leg because she said she knew what sixteen year old
girls did and I should be punished ahead of time so I’d think twice
about sleeping around?”
    He nodded, his jaw clenched at the memory. “I
climbed up to your room right after it happened.”
    “And you helped me run away.” I took a deep
breath. “That’s always been my number one worst birthday. Until
today. I think that today officially takes the award for the worst
birthday ever.”
    “I got a hold of Max and Lizzy. They’ll meet
us at the shop. Jason, John, Brent and Grant are all MIA. No one’s
answering their phones.” Pete looked like he was going to be sick.
We were more than a company; we were a family.
    “What about the four community service kids?
Did you try them?” Lane stuffed our last blanket into a bag.
    Pete nodded. “Nothing.”
    “We’ll try again when we’re at the shop.” I
slung a backpack stuffed with canned goods over my shoulder and
opened the door so we could pack out last load into the trucks.
When we were done, I did a once over of the house and met Lane at
the door as he came to see what was taking me so long.
    “Wait!”
    Lane bumped into me as I turned back toward
him.
    “What about Iggy?” We both looked at our
iguana.
    “I gave him lots of food and water. We can
come check on him in a couple of days.” Lane gripped my shoulder.
“We can’t bring him, Gabs.”
    I took a deep breath and swallowed the lump
in my throat. “I know. I just…”
    Lane waited until I looked up at him. “He’ll
be fine.”
    I gave a small nod and gave the massive
terrarium one last look before running to the truck and smiling
reassuringly at the questioning look Pete was giving me from his
half ton. Lane climbed into the one ton. My heart sank as we left
our driveway. I glanced at Lane who looked exactly how I felt.
Bewildered, terrified, yet determined. He caught my look and gave
my hand a squeeze.
    We drove ten minutes through the city and
another ten out of town without any more sightings of the Yellow
Eyes. We kept the radio on the local station for the first part of
the drive, though they weren’t reporting anything new. Everyone was
advised to stay indoors and to lock their doors. I reached over and
changed the station so that the satellite radio would come through.
Every