The Fallen (When the World Fell Book 1) by Elle Richards

Author:Elle Richards [Richards, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

Nine

Liv

None of the garages at the rear of the houses had vehicles in them, and by the time we were done searching, it was three-thirty in the afternoon—too late to be heading off on the first leg of our journey even if we had been lucky enough to find a car. Both of us were eager to stay on the move, but we agreed it wouldn't be safe while we were tired and lacking reliable transport, so… here we were spending one more night in the city.

Cruz and I sat on a beige couch in the house opposite where we originally pulled up hours ago. We’d broken in and had been using it as a base to stock all the items we found throughout the day. In the morning, the plan was to throw everything in the back of the car and see how far we could get on flat tyres and fuel dregs.

I glanced around the room, taking in the modern furnishings, the beachy knickknacks, and the collection of white-framed, family pictures on the wall. Two blonde parents and their equally blonde daughters had once lived here. They were smiling and wearing matching neutral-toned outfits in a country barn setting. Back in the day, they might have been one of those perfectly presented Instagram families.

Now... I wondered what had happened to them. The house was clean and tidy. They’d taken most of their clothes. It looked like they’d made a calm exit rather than bailing in a frenzy like so many others had done. I liked to picture them moving to a relative’s place somewhere rural, where they were as safe as anyone could be in the new world we’d inherited. Maybe they were thriving there and the girls were happy and healthy.

My gaze shifted to the window, and I let out an audible breath. “It feels peaceful here.”

We’d left the white shutters tilted at an angle that gave us a clear view of the street and stopped others from seeing inside. Neither of us had spotted any human activity the entire time we'd been in this area though, and only the occasional group of infected had stumbled past.

Cruz sat beside me on the three-seater couch, his legs spread wide, his fingers laced across his abdomen. The lean, chiselled abdomen I’d had the pleasure of ogling right after I freaked out in the house we were searching. I couldn’t believe I’d torn his shirt off him like we were in the middle of a heated make-out session—or that when my face pressed into his bare chest and his arms went around me, I’d found a place of safety and security I never wanted to leave.

“Is it because everything’s clean and organised?” he asked, rolling his head in my direction.

I slanted him a look, enjoying the amusement in his eyes. “Are you... suggesting I’m a neat freak? Is that what you’re doing?”

“If it walks like a duck...”

I scoffed and grabbed a patterned cushion from beside me, pitching it at him. He caught it and smiled.

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