After The Virus by Meghan Ciana Doidge Page A

the cliff either. Instead, they tackled him. B.B. was somehow in the mix.
    He tried to crawl, but they sat, crushed his legs and dug their heels into hard-packed ground. They found holds in the rock and anchored.
    His hearing came back with the roar of machine gun fire. They cringed and covered their heads, little good that would do against bullets.
    “You get off! You assholes, get the hell offa Tex!” Big swore. “Or I’ll forget I recently decided to believe in the sanctity of life.”
    One Ear and Buddy scrambled off him.
    Big, followed by ten other people with guns, shotguns and rifles, was striding in from the west.
    Thus freed, Will finally got to the cliff edge, but couldn’t see anything beyond rock and river.
    “Clarence, go up. See if you can put eyes on them girls,” Big ordered. Stupid, who apparently was Clarence, went from having his gun crammed under Buddy’s eye to scampering up the cliff Will had just come down in his rescue attempt.
    Big and another bearded man — Dale, according to what Big was saying — seemed to be trying to help him to his feet. But if he was going anywhere, he was going over into that river.  
    One Ear and Buddy were on their knees with hands on heads. Each had five guns pointed at them.
    Where the hell had all these people come from?
    Big seemed to be trying to soothe him by mumbling about “everything being okay” and them “figuring it all out.”  
    Stupid yelled from the cliff top, “I see the lady!”
    Will stopped struggling and turned toward Stupid’s voice. So many hands were on him, so much concern in the eyes of people he didn’t know. He turned to see Stupid up on the cliff. He was staring west with binoculars.  
    Stupid yelled again, “I see her, she’s got the little girl!”
    Will brushed off helpful hands and climbed the cliff.
    Stupid continued to narrate, “They’re riding the river feet first, like pros! No! They hit a rock, gone under.”
    Will’s heart stopped but his feet and hands didn’t. His fingers would be bloody next time he noticed.
    “Wait! No, there they are! Clinging to the rock! That river is some bitch, but they’re winning. That lady is a good swimmer, hey Tex?”  
    That lady is good at everything, his numb brain offered. I might wring her neck when I get my hands on her or at least kiss her really hard.  
    “The lady looks like she’s trying to get to the other side, and the girl is okay, ‘cause she’s clinging to the lady like shit on a log.”
    He realized B.B. was with him as he got near the top of the cliff. She was scrambling for footing, but the rock was crumbling underneath. She started to slip backward just as he grabbed for her collar and hauled her up the last few feet. They finally stepped onto solid ground.
    Stupid offered him the binoculars with an apologetic look. “They’re okay, but they got swept around that bend and out of sight, see?”
    Will scanned the river, following Stupid’s direction, but couldn’t see the girls.
    “I promise, Tex, I promise they’re okay,” Stupid stuttered.
    He felt like his brain was going to shut down, but was pretty sure this wasn’t the time for a reboot. Then Big had his hand on his shoulder.
    “We better get going if we’re going to get to them before dusk,” Big said. “Think they’ll know to wait for us, know we’re coming for them?”  
    Will laughed at that.
    He laughed at the thought of Rhiannon waiting for anything, for anyone. He laughed for her unbelievable courage and for that damn dive. The look between Big and Stupid made it pretty clear they thought he was going insane. So he stopped laughing and started giving orders.
    He was pretty sure they’d been waiting for him to wake up and take charge for a while now.

CHAPTER NINETEEN
    RHIANNON

    She sliced through the water, and within the peaceful grip of the thundering river, she momentarily thought about not surfacing at all. She could just surrender… life was such an endless fight, a