Read Until the End of the World (Book 3): All the Stars in the Sky for Free Online Page A

see us, they’ll probably hide. Wouldn’t you?”
    “They might shoot first and ask questions later,” Kyle says. “Back home, anyone who wanted a piece of us wouldn’t take the chance. You think these people are as lucky?”
    Kyle’s right that it’s different out here. I want to believe that most people are basically good, but desperate people do desperate things—I’d probably steal and lie to keep the kids alive if I absolutely had to. Others might want what we have, which isn’t much compared to what we had in Vermont, but it’s a lot to people living on the edge. We’re living on the edge now, and the difference between life and death this winter lies in our gas tanks and weapons and the tiny pantry of the RV.
    “There’s a lake with a beach up ahead,” Nelly says.
    We need to wash off the reddish-brown and black juices left by our ride through the pod. We’ve been opening the vehicle doors with rags, and I freak out whenever Bits or Hank go near the exterior, so this is time well spent in my book. The lake is surrounded by open fields and small clusters of trees that aren’t hiding any undead. I make the kids stretch their legs with the promise that the movie will resume after intermission, and then I stand on the shore with Peter while we wait for our turn with the sponges and buckets.
    “Sparky doesn’t like the water,” Bits calls.
    She’d insisted Sparky needed exercise, but it’s clear she likes the novelty of walking a cat. Sparky sniffs at the water’s edge and jumps back. Bits’s laugh echoes across the water when Hank picks up Sparky and pretends to walk her across the lake’s surface.
    “They’re good for each other,” Peter says.
    “Like a brother and sister who don’t fight all the time. Eric and I did at that age. It drove my parents crazy.” I wish Eric were here to fight with. To do anything with.
    “My sister and I did, too. My mother would send us to one of our rooms and tell us to play until we could be friends.”
    “How’d that work out?” I ask.
    “It worked until we got out of the room.”
    I laugh and watch the kids dry Sparky’s paws. Hank folds the towel and drapes it over his shoulder; Bits would’ve dropped it on the ground and forgotten it immediately. “Henry and I had a deal. I told him I’d take care of Hank if anything happened.”
    “We will,” Peter says.
    I nod. The lake is huge and marshy, reflecting the gray of the now overcast sky. I tell myself we will hit the mountains. It’s just going to take a little longer than we’d hoped. We’ll have time. The more northerly our route, the longer it will take any northbound Lexers to reach us.
    “You know, for someone who’s a big crybaby, you’ve hardly cried at all,” Peter says.
    “When we get to Alaska I’m going to fall apart. So watch out.” Maybe he thinks I’m kidding, since he laughs. Boy, is he going to be surprised.
    “Just don’t do anything stupid,” he says. “Promise?”
    “I promise I won’t. You promise me?”
    His nod is comforting. I need him for more than just raising two kids—I never would’ve gotten through this summer without him. I think at this point Peter might know me better than Nelly and Penny do, and he still likes me in spite of it, even when I’ve been at my most unlikeable.
    “What are you two doing lollygagging over here?” Nelly asks. “I’m not cleaning off that crap without y’all.”
    “You don’t want me on your cleaning detail anyway,” I say. “I’m such a slob, with junk drawers everywhere, right? How much help could I be?”
    “Nice try,” Nelly says. “But no. The soap’s been sitting long enough.”
    He hands us ponchos and rubber gloves. The others fill buckets for us to rinse and scrub until it’s as clean as cold water can make it. When we’re finished, I walk to where trees grow near the lake, strip to my tank top and roll up my jeans. I pant as I step into the cold water with a bottle of soap. This is an insane