The Nightworld - Jack Blaine [45]
Lara moves over next to me. “You know what I keep thinking about, Nick?”
“What?”
“That day—the day of the party. I was so excited that you might come. I remember watching the door every time the doorbell rang and hoping it would be you. And then, finally, it was.” She looks embarrassed. “I was so happy when you finally arrived.”
I can’t believe what she’s saying. I mean, I can, but it seems so strange to know that we felt the same way that day.
“Did you know that I—that I liked you, Lara?”
She looks down at her hands. “I thought you might. Just the way I’d catch you watching me sometimes. But I was never really sure. I hoped so, though.”
I have to kiss her then. And for the next hour, as we kiss, check the door, then kiss some more, it’s like everything goes away. I forget about the darkness, about my father being dead, about everything that’s happened. I forget about the future. It’s just the two of us, and this is the only world that matters. And every time I open my eyes and look at her, it’s like she’s the one bit of light still left in the world.
Finally Kath and Zeke come back from doing the laundry. “All of the jeans are dry!” Kath points to a stack of neatly folded pants. “All we have to hang up are the T-shirts.”
“Any sign of other people?” Lara asks as we help Kath drape shirts along the backs of the dining-room chairs.
“Nothing,” says Zeke. “We checked to see if there were any new clothes down there, or if it seemed like anybody had been there since we were last, but it all looked the same. I don’t think there’s anybody left in the building but us.”
I decide to broach the subject of leaving. “How long do you guys think we should stay here?”
“What do you mean?” Zeke sounds almost pissed off. So much for his better mood.
“I mean, if everyone is out of the building, how long can it be safe to stay here? We’ll run out of food in the immediate area after a certain amount of time, anyway.”
“People only know to come here if they’re trying to find us. They wouldn’t know where else to—” Zeke breaks off, and looks like he’s said more than he meant to say.
“It’s okay.” Lara shakes her head. “We’ll stay for a while longer, Zeke. We don’t have to make any decisions right now.”
Zeke must be thinking of Meagan and how she wouldn’t know how to find us. If she’s still alive. Lara’s remark seems to appease him, and the rest of the day is spent doing domestic things around the place. Since the electricity is back on, we get to have a hot dinner of canned ravioli, and Kath makes some sort of biscuits using only a mix and some water, and they’re delicious. I’m careful not to bring up planning again, and we all relax a little bit.
I can’t help thinking, though, about those men in my bedroom. I doubt they have a clue where I am, but I don’t want to stay in one place too long. I came here to see if Lara was safe. I planned to ask her to come with me to . . . wherever. Now I wonder if that’s such a good idea. She’s safe here, at least safer than she would be with me. If those men who killed my dad really are from the government, they won’t stop looking for the device they want, and they probably know by now that I have it. I had hoped that because the phones were out, they wouldn’t have had any way to track me to Charlie’s, but I realize now that if they’re government, they do. My phone will have given me away, even dead. They only have to look through the records of the texts I got before it stopped working to know that Charlie is a friend—from there it’s not hard to get an address. If it works like it does in the movies, they’ll be following every lead they get until they run me down.
Suddenly I’m glad Gus insisted on staying next door at his son’s house. I don’t think they would suspect he knew anything, even if they did know he was there.