He frowned. “You just got your arm sewed up, and you’re going to hike out of town? It’s going to be dark in a few hours.”

“I’m a big girl.”

“Not very smart though.”

I craned my neck at him. “Here’s your blanket.”

“Keep it,” he said.

I sidestepped, but he countered.

“Get out of my way, Reyes.”

I tried to step around him, but he blocked me again, sighing.

“I’m getting ready to go back out on patrol. Give me five minutes, and you can ride along.”

I looked at him in disbelief. “I can’t ride along! I have to find Shepley!”

“I know,” he said, looking around and gesturing for me to keep my voice down. “I’m going out that way. We’ll both keep an eye out for him.”

It took me a moment to reply. “Really?”

“But at dark …”

“I understand,” I said, nodding. “You can bring me back here.”

“I’ll ask around. There will be a Red Cross shelter. Maybe FEMA will be set up by then. You can’t spend the night here. You’ll never be able to sleep.”

I couldn’t smile, but I wanted to. “Thank you.”

He fidgeted, uncomfortable with the appreciation. “Yeah. Cruiser’s out this way,” he said, gesturing to the parking lot.

I slid Shepley’s backpack over my shoulders and then followed Reyes outside, under the stormy sky. My hair still damp, I twisted it and then knotted it into a bun, away from my face. My feet slid against the wet soles of my sandals, my toes already aching from the chilly air.

“Where are you from?” Reyes asked, pressing the keyless entry on his key ring.

We both settled into our seats. The fabric seats felt warm and soft.

“I grew up in Wichita, but I go to school in Eakins, Illinois.”

“Oh, at Eastern State?”

I nodded.

“My brother went to school there. Small world.”

“God, these seats are like memory foam and velvet.” I sighed, leaning back.

Reyes made a face. “You’ve been uncomfortable for too long. They’re more like toilet padding and tweed.”

I breathed out a laugh through my nose, but I still couldn’t form a smile.

His eyes softened. “We’re going to find him, America.”

“If he doesn’t find me first.”

Shepley

Rain spattered on my eyelids, tapping me awake. I blinked, covering my eyes with my hand, and my shoulder instantly complained … then my back … and then everything else. I pushed myself upright, finding myself sitting in a field of green plants. I guessed it was soybeans. Debris was all around me—everything from clothes to toys to pieces of wood. Fifty yards ahead, light glinted off the twisted metal of a bicycle. I grimaced.

My shoulder felt stiff as I tried to stretch it, and I growled when the sting turned into fire shooting through my arm. My once white T-shirt was soiled with mud mixed with crimson at the site of the pain.