Valiant by Merrie Destefano

Author:Merrie Destefano [Destefano, Merrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult, scifi, science fiction, aliens, dystopian, romance, time travel
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2018-10-29T22:04:53+00:00

27

Billy’s gone for almost an hour. The clock is ticking, and I really don’t want to get stuck here for the night. While we’re waiting for him to get back, Natalie shows us where she and Billy stashed some supplies from the coffee shop.

“We were supposed to get supplies back at Century Unified,” Natalie grumbles as she grabs a pair of scissors from the counter and cuts through some thick plastic packaging. Inside is a shipment of food that must have arrived recently and never got put out on the shelves. We stuff sandwiches, cookies, and chips into a knapsack.

“But we had to leave all those behind,” Natalie continues as she sets down the scissors. “The military took it. So we grabbed all this stuff and hid it as soon as we got here. There wasn’t much left.”

Justin reads a label and lets out a chuckle. “Who would make a quiche sandwich?”

It’s good to hear him laugh.

“Well, that one’s definitely for you,” Natalie says, picking up on his mood shift. “I’ve seen you eat peanut butter and turkey before.”

“Because peanut butter and turkey are awesome together.” He winks at me, and I grin.

“Soon as this apocalypse is over, I’m having you over for dinner. I’ll show you what real food is. My mom’s the best cook in the world,” Natalie says. Then she sits back on her heels, a faraway look on her face. She blinks fast, like she’s fighting tears.

I put my hand on hers.

We’re in an abandoned coffee shop, but I can smell her mom’s japchae, can taste the garlic and soy sauce on the tip of my tongue.

“I’d like that,” I say.

“Me too,” Justin says.

Natalie gives us both a thin smile, and her voice comes out soft. “It’s a date, then.”

We’re going to get through this somehow. I’m not losing anyone else on my team, and if it means setting up post-apocalyptic dinner dates, then that’s what we’ll do.

Justin gathers up all the empty bottles he can find and fills them with water from the tap. Fortunately, the shop hasn’t reached its daily water quota yet. We put together a stockpile of five bottles each.

We’re still stuffing most of our supplies into Justin’s knapsack when Billy roars up on a brand new solar-powered Kawasaki.

“We should go get a few more bikes before they’re all gone. Good for our new mission, right?” he says. He points at Natalie. “Hop on.”

“Can you guys be back here in half an hour?” Justin asks. “I don’t know if that cop was telling the truth about curfew, but I don’t want to be outside any longer than we have to. Especially not in the dark.”

It’s already dark, so we’d see a Xua if it ran past—it’d be lit up like a Christmas tree, edges glowing, silver shimmers everywhere else. But if one of the aliens turned to smoke, we wouldn’t see it at all.

Night is even more dangerous than day.

Natalie jumps on the back of the motorcycle. It looks like some of the tension inside her has vanished at the prospect of having something to do.

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