The Cure for Sleeping

Chapter Ten

"Avery and I are leaving." Thea announces to the room, daring us to disagree. We've spent three days of relative peace in the church, punctuated with arguments between Thea and Josh, Thea and Noah, Thea and... well, everyone.

I look up from my book. She has her bag slung over her shoulders, and my backpack is swinging from her hand. "Are we just?"

Thea glowers and tosses my bag at me, where it lands with a flat thump on my chest. "Get up."

Noah reaches over my shoulder and flips the page of our book. This is the only fantasy story that we could find, and instead of fighting over it we just decided to share. Noah seems to be healing well, and has been up and walking around the confines of the church. His ribs resemble a child's finger painting, smudges of blue and purple dotting a pale canvas. He only cringes a little when I poke at them. I call that an improvement.

"Where are you going?" Josh asks. At some stage he found a tennis ball under one of the pews, and now he's lying on his back, bouncing it off the wall and into his hand, back and forth.

"We're getting tampons. Do you want to come?" Thea snatches the ball out of the air, looking rather pleased with herself. Josh goes red from his neck right to the tips of his messy hair. He mutters something back to her.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"I'll just stay here. And guard Noah. Right, Noah?" Josh tilts his head back, eyes wide and pleading.

Noah is every bit as uncomfortable. "Right. We'll stay here. We'll, um, keep watch until you get back."

"Sure you will."

Hazel sits perched on a pew like a good little churchgoer. She snorts. "Any particular reason as to why I'm not coming?"

"None right now, but I'll have an excuse ready by the time we're back. Now get up, Avery." She kicks at me, nudging my shoulder with her booted toes. With a sigh, I pass the book to Noah, who doesn't quite touch my hand, and rub life back into my legs. Thea gives me a grin that says I knew you would come and strides out of the church, proud and vicious. I feel like I'm going to regret this.

Its early morning, the air the thin kind that stings your cheeks and frosts your breath. We look both ways, checking for Insomniacs rather than cars, and cross the street. I worry that there might be some nearby, that we should get off the roads, but Thea shoots the concern down with a wave of her hand. Apparently, Hazel has set enough traps around the church to give a drill sergeant anxiety. If anything was within a half-mile radius of the church, bells would be ringing and the thing would be screaming. Heedless to say, we'd know about it.

Reassured, I give it a few blocks of slinking down the street before I ask her. "Where are we actually going?"

Thea smirks at me. "Got rid of the two of them pretty well, didn't I?"

"Hazel didn't fall for it, but Noah and Josh looked ready to run."

Thea tilts her head back and laughs, fluid and echoing. "Ah, boys. Happy to talk about broken bones and cuts until their tongues drop off, but speak of a little blood and they cringe like daisies."

"So, destination?"

"We're going to go find Eli."

My toe catches on a crack in the pavement and I stumble. If this is Thea's plan, I've just signed up for a day of gallivanting around Manhattan during the apocalypse. Elijah could be anywhere in the city; there's almost eight hundred square kilometres of abandoned buildings, derelict shops, and dark alleyways that he could be hiding in. We have no idea where to start, no weapons, and there are Insomniacs everywhere.