I’m not very hungry. The heat’s doing funny things to my appetite, and the thirst is awful. Still, when he offers me a cracker with a dollop of peanut butter on it, I know better than to refuse; not when my own supplies need to last. Though it’s thick and tough to swallow, I eat it because it has both protein and fats, and together it’s more filling than just the crackers are.
I think of yesterday’s meal of cookies and pancakes and wish that we had thought to save some for today. Of course, that means that I go on to think about what Mrs. B is baking today and… yeah. I stop that train of thought right there.
You left the Grave, I tell myself sternly. Leave it where it is: behind you.
After he finishes up his snack, Maverick decides we can wait a few more minutes before continuing. I don’t argue. Right now, I’ll take any respite he’s willing to offer.
At first, I think he’s feeling a little guilty that we’ve been moving since the fire went out early this morning, that he’s giving me the chance to recover before we resume our trek. Then, after a few minutes of continued silence, he clears his throat, and it hits me that he has some sort of ulterior motive.
“So,” the former cop begins, taking a lazy sip off of his bottle of water, oblivious to just how bad I want to snatch it from his hand, “last night. The lurkers.”
Yup. I was wondering when he was going to say something about that. Smart move, I have to admit, that he waited until he fed me, then let me sit for a few minutes after half a day’s walk. I’m not nearly as angry now as I was this morning.
Still super wary and suspicious, though.
“What about ‘em?”
“Can you tell me what happened? Not the fire going out,” he says without shame because we both know he did that on purpose when he thought he heard a rogue, “but the lurkers… how did you know?”
I shrug, playing dumb. “Know what?”
“How many there were. Telling they were out there… anyone can catch the lurker stink and know they’re there. But counting them without seeing them? I didn’t know it was possible.”
Really? “You don’t have sensors where you’re from?”
He frowns, thick lines furrowing his brow. “Sensors?”
“Yeah. You know. Survivors who have this strange ability to, well,senselurkers.”
“You’re fucking with me,” he says flatly. “I knowthat’s not possible.”
“Sure it is. Not everyone can do it, but there’s enough who can for it to be a thing.”
And until last night, I didn’t know I was one of them. So used to Hallie being the one to tell me when she could sense them coming, counting them for me while I busied myself with building a rig, I never paid attention ifIhad the same unique ability.
And why wouldn’t I? We were identical twins. If she could do it, it only makes sense that—given the opportunity—I could, too. It just took until I was out of the Grave, woken from a deep sleep on the edge of the woods, the lurkers lurking ever closer for my sensing ability to kick in, I guess.
As if thinking the same thing as me, Maverick points out, “You can.”
“I’m as surprised as you are. Back home, we had a handful, each one partnering up with a hunter whenever the lurkers got too close. Hallie’s the best one we have. She’s never wrong.” A lump rises in my throat, and it takes me a second to realize why: I was talking about Hallie as if she’s still alive. He might not have any clue who she is, and I’m not about to tell him, but it doesn’t make it any easier. “Anyway, I relied on her so much that I had no idea I could do it, too. She always sensed the lurkers, then I killed them.”
“What about now? Can you sense them now?”
That’s a good question. It took a good twenty minutes into our race through the woods before my stomach settled enough that I was sure we’d outrun the lurkers. Since then, I’ve had a twinge here or there, but nothing like the absolute certainty we had at least four on our tail.
Was it a fluke? That’s possible. At the very least, my stomach is calm, though the rest of me definitely isn’t. “No.”
“But you sensed them last night,” he reminds me. As if I forgot.
There’s nothing else I can do but admit it. “We’re twins, okay? Hallie and me… we must’ve had the same ability orsomething and I just didn’t know it since Hallie wasn’t there to sense them for me last night.”
Maverick caps his water bottle, slipping it back into his pack. Damn it. “Maybe we should’ve brought her along. Another little blonde girl who can sense lurkers might’ve worked in our favor.”
Was he trying to lighten the mood with his comment? If so, he failed. Miserably.
A muscle tics in my cheek. “That would be impossible.”
Maverick lifts his eyebrow. “Your sister have a better sense of self-preservation than you?”