The Survivor Chronicles: The Risen Read Free

himself back to his feet and walked over to
where Carl stood. Carl's gray eyes were attentive as he rubbed the
brim of his stained and faded Red Sox hat. His brown hair, longer
than John had ever seen it, curled around the edges of his hat and
the collar of his shirt. But then, John knew his own hair was the
longest it had been since his junior year of high school as it
tickled at the corners of his eyes. "I never thought I'd be so happy to be in New
York."
    "Me either," Xander agreed.
    John had been concerned that there wouldn't
be any happiness to be found after Bobby's death two days ago, but
he actually saw smiles on the tired faces of the people surrounding
him. Those smiles had been absent ever since they'd left the
graveyard behind. However, he hadn't been doing any smiling either.
He still couldn't get over how fast it had all happened. One minute
Bobby had been there talking and fighting with them, and the next
he was gone. He knew how fragile life was but he'd been living with
a false sense of security ever since Lee's death.
    He'd wrongly assumed the worst was behind
them, that since they hadn't gotten sick they would be able to
fight off the sick ones, and they'd be able to make it. The worst
wasn't behind them though and he wasn't sure it ever would be. He
lifted his head to study the highway winding through the mountains
on either side of the road. They had hooked back up with the
interstate less than a mile back, just outside of Danbury. He saw
no homes around him but vehicles were scattered across the roadway
and in the grass median.
    "How far is it to the cabin from here?" Carl
asked Al.
    "Normally about an hour, hour and a half,
but there are a couple of bridges between here and there that could
be a problem," Al answered.
    "I'm sure there will be more than bridges in
between that will be a problem," Josh muttered.
    John silently agreed with him as he stared
at the rocks lining the mountains on each side of them. "We should
have known about the bridges," Peter grumbled.
    John released a low groan that caused Carl
to shoot him a look. Peter hadn't said much since Bobby's death but
every time he did open his mouth, John had to fight the impulse to
punch him in his face. He didn't know what would happen if they did
make it to the cabin and they had to live with the guy for an
extended period of time. It wasn't a pleasant proposition.
    He didn't understand why Bobby had lost his
life, while this guy was still alive and being a dick every chance
he got. Life wasn't fair, he knew, but he would have traded Peter
in a heartbeat for Bobby. Unfortunately, that wasn't a
possibility.
    "We're going to run into obstacles
everywhere we go," Carl said. "Bridges may be the least of our
worries. Let's get back on the road."
    John turned and followed him to the rack
body truck. Rochelle walked by his side, her head bowed as she
stared at the grass that crunched beneath her feet. "We're almost
there kid," he assured her.
    "Are we?" she asked.
    That was an excellent question but he didn't
have the answer for her. "Just have to take it one mile at a
time."
    She gave him a wan smile before focusing on
her feet again. John draped his arm around her shoulders. He'd
noticed a change in her since Bobby's death. He kept hoping she was
just in a funk, or as much as he didn't want to think about it,
maybe it was even hormones.
    He knew Rochelle was trying to sort through
things on her own, but he kept expecting her to snap out of it.
Worry that she might not began to fill him. How could she just
bounce back to that stubborn and resilient girl they'd encountered
on the road after everything she'd endured?
    Don't leave me
kid , he pleaded silently but he didn't know what to do
to keep that from happening.
    She leaned against his side as he opened the
door and gestured for her to jump in. John went to climb in beside
her but he felt a hand wrap around his arm. He turned to find Mary
Ellen standing next to him. She nodded to the back of