Read Waterproof for Free Online Page A

few seconds longer than necessary. It felt like she could read my mind and the terrible, fearful thoughts racing through it right now. “I need your help cleaning up. Daric’s out right now and his injuries are pretty severe. But we need to be ready to move in the morning.”
    “What about Alicia?” Zach asked, barely able to get the words out.
    “Hunter and Carrie are taking care of that.” I couldn’t tell if her clipped response was aimed at Zach or just the situation in general.
    “What do you need?” Max asked, diverting Sasha’s attention from Zach.
    “Gather what we can. In the morning, we’ll head south. Hopefully there weren’t any mercenaries nearby to hear this tonight.”
    “We’re going to need more water,” Zach said and I elbowed him in the side. Now was not the time to discuss another run.
    But Sasha surprised me with her answer. “Yes, I know. They destroyed some of our supply during the attack…” he r voice trailed off.
    “A small group of us can go. The water truck is still there. We can fill up what we can carry.” Zach pushed forward, against my nudges encouraging him to stop.
    “Yes, we’ll do that. But now I need you in camp packing up what’s left.” She grabbed Max’s hand and led him away.
    Zach and I continued walking toward the now sputtering fire. No one spoke and everyone had a job to do. Zach grabbed one of the towels sitting near the fire and brushed it lightly against my face. I cringed with the pain of my swollen cheek and bloody nose. Another reminder of what almost happened to me tonight. I suspected those visions would haunt me for a while. But then I thought about Alicia and scolded myself for feeling so selfish.
    “You need this more than me,” I said to Zach, snatching the towel from his hand. His chin had a nasty cut on it that had stopped bleeding, but looked pretty deep. As soon as I touched it, blood began seeping again. “Let me get you a bandage.”
    Before Zach could protest, I headed toward Trevor’s area. He was the one in charge of medical supplies.  With each step, I took an inventory of my surroundings. Max and Jackson worked together to pack up what was left of the food and water. Hunter and Carrie busied themselves with wrapping Alicia’s body in pieces of animal skin and dead leaves. With limited clothing available, it didn’t make sense to leave all of hers behind. They spoke in hushed tones, and when I listened closer, I realized they were praying.
    Sasha seemed to walk around without intent. After losing one of our own, she always distanced herself from the group.  It was her way of coping and everyone accepted it as such. I imagined it must be hard to feel responsible for the safety of so many.
    Trevor’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Are you okay?”
    I looked down to focus on his concerned eyes staring back up on me. He lifted his hand to touch my cheek, but I lightly brushed him away. “I need a bandage for Zach.”
    Trevor huffed. “Too bad. I need them for Daric.”
    “Trevor,” I sighed. “Now is not the time to be a dick.” I pus hed around him to grab the material myself.
    He quickly stepped in front of me and snatched the bag of supplies. “ Daric needs them more and if Zach would have listened to Sasha, those deserters wouldn’t have come here at all.”
    His words stung, but again, I held myself just as responsible. “I’m the one that killed two of them. You should blame me more than Zach.”
    “I do,” he snapped. “Alicia is gone and I doubt Daric will make it through the night.
    My gaze drifted over to the man lying on the ground. Even in the limited light, his pale face and unnatural stillness permeated the evening. Trevor had fashioned pieces of ripped sweatshirts around his neck, but the dark stains leaked through like death taking hold with bony fingers. Daric wouldn’t make it through the night. I felt tears slide down my face and didn’t bother wiping them away.
    Swallowing hard, I held out my