My hands are shaking. I don’t even remember dreaming last night. I must have been in a deep sleep. I pull my hands close to me and warm them under my armpits.  I should have just dumped the pistol in the trash with the journal. What is wrong with me, thinking I need a gun? The rule for taking guns away from the common citizen is probably because of people like me in the first place. Crestwood probably started with a bunch of crazies waking up in the middle of the night, shooting neighbors they thought were greyskins.

I pull my hands away from my armpits and rub them through my hair. I can feel the grease from going a couple of days without a shower. Before I had come to Crestwood, a shower was something that could get me killed. Sure, there were plenty of them around, just pick a house. But greyskins love to hang out in abandoned houses.

I turn on the water as hot as it will go, but the lack of steam tells me there will be no hot water this morning. I let out a sigh and pull off my clothes and step in, letting the cold water take my breath away. Sometimes the water’s cold, sometimes it’s hot. Today it’s freezing. At least I’ll be alert.

I’m not expecting Gabe to meet me when I walk out of the apartment building, but he’s a pleasant sight. Smiling, he walks up next to me. “Your coming out today,” he says.

“What?” I stop in the middle of the road and stare at him.

“I got it cleared. You’re coming out with us. The soldiers.”

“Just like that? I’m a soldier?”

Gabe holds out a hand as if to steady me. “Oh, well, I didn’t say that. I said you’re coming out with us. In order to be a soldier, you have to show us how you can handle yourself.”

“Oh, well that’s not a problem,” I say. “Is there like a shooting range you use or something?”

Gabe shakes his head. “No. We’re going outside the walls. A supply run. And you’re coming with us.”

My eyebrows turn downward. “What if we don’t encounter any greyskins?” I ask.

His words turn my insides to ice. “We will,” he says. “Where we’re going is a hot territory.” My heart pounds as he reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder. “But you already know that’s where the best stuff is. Be ready. We leave in a few hours.”

Chapter 7 - Waverly

“Yeah, looks like you got it good,” Gilbert says as he stands over the dead greyskin. He turns to face Ethan. “And you said it was right after I got in the SUV?”

Ethan nods.