Shattered World (Shattered #3)

Chapter Two

O ur departure from the train station was easier than anticipated. Due to the unexpected influx of people, it was easy to slip through the crowd with a few shoves.

Once we exited the initial chaos, our bodies flowed with the wave of others, traipsing through the streets littered with homes and businesses. The sight of so many people shocked me. I was so used to desolate streets, my senses were in overdrive.

The buildings around us weren’t large, but a distance away, the skyline was littered with tall buildings and I knew that was Chicago. I had no clue where the bunkers were located, where information would be held, but my gut told me we needed to get to the city.

Peeling off of the crowd, footsteps followed behind me as I stepped over broken glass and into an abandoned pizzeria. We had always wondered if the destruction of our towns was happening around the world and months later, I finally had the answer. It seemed no part of the country had been spared.

“What are you thinking, Lessy?” Aiden asked, his gaze scanning the inside of the restaurant.

Murphy stood at my side, gripping my hand tightly in his, giving me encouragement. “We need to get to the city. Everyone in this area is either working with the government or has no clue what’s going on. I think if we get to the city, we’ll be able to find some answers about the bunkers.”

“Any idea on how to get there?” Mina asked.

Sasha laughed at her side, her eyes wide. “Or how long that’s going to take? I thought we were finally past the endless walking.”

“I have no idea.” I glanced between the two. “On either account. But the buildings are hard to miss, so we at least have a reference point.”

All heads nodded in agreement, no one else having a better idea.

“What about food? We haven’t eaten in almost a day.”

My eyes widened at the sound of Elizabeth’s voice. Neither she nor the twins had spoken since the train left Montana. I knew the silence had been due to grief. But as our eyes met, her face set in a stern expression; I realized the grief had taken a backseat to the determination of a mother desperate to save her kids.

“We’ll have to stop tonight for a place to stay. We’ll find food then,” Murphy said, and Elizabeth gave a single curt nod.

“What are we waiting for, then? I haven’t walked in two days, feels unnatural.”

My lips quirked up at Sasha’s dry humor, the closest to a smile I would get for a long time to come. Not waiting for any more conversation, I headed out of the restaurant, Murphy at my side, my eyes set forward to the skyline.

The walk was easier than any we had done in Montana. There were no woods to traipse through, no long highways to wear you out. There had to be hundreds of suburbs in the area, all leading to the city.

However, even the easy steps didn’t help with the exhaustion, especially as all our stomachs started to twist with hunger.

Lucas was the first to start complaining, his soft whispers to his mom about being hungry too loud in the quiet streets. The crowds we had left behind had either stayed in the area or were already holed up in a safe space for the night. But not us.

Unfortunately, Lucas’ words had a domino effect, and soon, none of us could ignore the pangs of hunger.

“If we don’t stop soon, I’m going to eat a leaf off of one of these trees,” Aiden groaned, flicking a branch from a large tree in a yard we passed.

“You should. You missed out on months of eating nothing but leaves in the woods.”

Aiden smirked, nudging his shoulder against mine. “She jokes.”

“She’s trying,” I admitted, and he slung his arm over my shoulders.

“There were two dates the trains were leaving. They still have a chance,” Aiden whispered, quiet enough that no one could hear, specifically Murphy, who walked behind us with Sasha and Mina.

At some point on the train, after the tears faded, I had the same thought. Our train had been one of the first, but that didn’t mean it was the last. Rainer and Warner were two of the most resourceful people I knew.

But hope was a fragile thing. I knew that better than most people. How long had I held onto hope in those woods, only for it to be shattered by reality?

“I can’t think about that,” I told Aiden.

He looked at me with a somber expression, his lips pursed, and I knew he wanted to say more. To protect me from the heartache. But this wasn’t a physical threat he could throw himself in front of, and he knew it.

“Oh, please let there be food in there,” Sasha exclaimed loudly from behind us, picking up her pace until she was in front.

As she continued to walk, I squinted in the darkness, spotting the gas station on the corner of the street. There were no lights, similar to the rest of the area we had walked through, but the shadows of the gas pumps were a dead giveaway.

At the thought of food, my stomach growled loudly, and my feet picked up their pace, everyone else following suit. When I stepped into the small store, Sasha was already inside, the crunch of chips sounding.

“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had junk food?” She said around a mouthful of food, the words barely audible. “Mina, I found oreos! Your favorite.”

Mina scurried past me, grabbing the container from Sasha’s outstretched hand, a loud sigh of contentment spilling from her lips as she shoved the cookies into her mouth.

Everyone clambered into the store, raiding the shelves of all the junk food, shoving their mouths full. Murphy was pouring a bag of chips into his mouth, his grin wide as he chewed.

“This isn’t very sustaining,” I said, scanning the shelves for cans of food I could shove inside my bag.

Who knew when we would stumble upon food again? Although, the odds seemed much more likely. This wasn’t Montana, where towns were spread out and cities far and few in between.

A flick against my forehead had my gaze darting from the shelves and back to a still grinning Murphy. “Stop being Rainer, it’s creepy. We can get all the healthy food after you rip into a bag of cookies and enjoy food for the first time in eight months.”

My heart sunk at the reminder of Rainer, but I did my best to shake it off. Murphy was right. Now wasn’t the time to be logical. There were so few moments we got to enjoy, and what was the point of surviving if we didn’t take the opportunities we had?

“Cookies? No. But if you can find me some powdered donuts, I’ll eat a hundred.”

Murphy tossed his bag of chips to the side, replacing them with pretzels, and swung an arm around my shoulder. Placing a kiss against my forehead, he led me down the aisles. “Your wish is my command.”

It didn’t take us long to find the donuts and the second I placed one in my mouth, I moaned softly. You forgot how good sugar was when all you ate was meat and rice and beans.

“Good, right?” Murphy asked.

“So good,” I said, the two of us sharing a soft smile.

I didn’t know how long we stood inside the gas station, downing bag after bag of food, but it was long enough that my stomach began to ache from the sweets.

“I think I’m in a food coma,” Sasha voiced.

“I think I may throw up,” Mina added.

All of us sat against the counter, our bodies wiped from the long walk and the excessive amount of food. Even Elizabeth and the kids had joined in, their bodies scattered among ours, Stephanie leaning against my shoulder. It was the first time in a while I felt like we were a cohesive unit again, even if there were still three gaping holes.

“Don’t you dare throw up,” Aiden told Mina, pointing a finger in her direction. “That would be a waste of all the good food we just ate.”

Mina groaned but thankfully, nothing came back up. We all sat in silence for a while longer until a soft snore sounded to my right. Stephanie had fallen asleep against my shoulder and I knew that was our cue to get out of here and into one of the houses on the street.

Keeping my voice low to not wake her, I said, “Everyone, grab as much food as you can and put it in your bags. Then we can get some sleep.”

Our movements were sluggish as we stood, walking back down the aisles, smarter about the food we grabbed this time around, although we all still grabbed some of the junk. It was the small things.

We didn’t walk far for our home for the night, the house across the street abandoned and empty. Aiden helped Elizabeth carry Lucas and Stephanie to bed for the night, the three of them squeezing into the king-sized bed in what I assumed was the master bedroom.

There were four other bedrooms throughout the house. Mina and Sasha took another one on the second floor, Aiden sliding into the third. He glanced back at me as he stepped over the threshold, shaking his head when he realized I’d be heading downstairs for the night.

“Good job today, Lessy,” he said and my heart swelled with pride.

Murphy took my hand in his, leading me back down the stairs and into one of the two bedrooms on the first floor. My gaze couldn’t help but land on the empty room, thinking about how it should be filled.

Murphy’s gaze followed mine, his hand squeezing my fingers. Climbing into bed, he wrapped me in his arms, placing a sweet kiss against my lips. The house was nearly filled, but it had never felt so empty.

I had told Aiden that I couldn’t think about hope, but in the darkness, the words spilled free. “There’s another train,” I whispered against Murphy’s chest.

He sighed deeply, pulling me tighter, our legs tangling together. “There’s another train.”

In the dark of the night, wrapped in each other’s arms, it was the only time we could give a voice to the hope that would always remain in our hearts.