wormwood, pt. 10

"Winston? Shouldn't you be in the middle of the woods or something?"

"I drove back into town after the quake. Thought I'd see if you died on my carpet or something. Nicole with you? Is she all right?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Listen, the city is kind of a mess right now. Do you have all your supplies with you?"

"I think so, I--"

"Good. Stay there. Nicole and I are going to try to get some supplies and get out of the city. Text me the name of the town you're in and we'll try to meet you there. It, uh, may be some time."

"I don't have time to wait until--"

"Good bye, Winston." She hung up.

Nicole flicked her cigarette to the ground. "We heading out of town?"

"Probably. We might even meet Winston there. We've got better things to worry about right now, though. We need to find out where FEMA's made camp." Her phone rang again. She ignored it and watched the barricades for a while. "We may need to do some climbing. And some running."

"Always with the running." Nicole smiled and cracked her knuckles. "It's my favorite part."

"Good. But first, I need you to walk around the block and tell me what you see. Odds are pretty good there's a way out of here."