The Maplethorn Initiative (Book 1, The Maplethorn Series)

Prita's House

Keegan was on the couch when Cam came downstairs the next morning. From the angle of his hair, Cam assumed Keegan must have laid down for at least part of the night, but the controller was back in his hands, and he was busy saving the world from zombies on the Lashtons' big screen.

"Hey," Cam said sleepily.

"Hey," Keegan replied without taking his eyes off the TV. "Is there breakfast?"

Cam opened every cupboard in the kitchen one by one. "There's cereal—that's probably been here since September. And..." He opened and closed the refrigerator. "No milk."

"Still better than the chow hall!"

"We could put water on it," Cam suggested, only half-joking.

"Just bring the box."

"Because I'm your mom now?"

"All that's missing is the Bloody Mary and the cigarette," Keegan said, hammering his controller with a thumb.

"Gross! What's in a Bloody Mary anyway?"

"Cold tomato soup and window cleaner, as far as I can tell."

"You've had one?" Cam asked.

"I tried it when she wasn't paying attention," Keegan answered. "Which was always."

Cam set the cereal box on the coffee table and plopped down next to Keegan. "Is there another controller?"

"Under the TV. It's super cool that your girlfriend likes video games."

"She has two brothers," Cam said, digging out the second controller. "It's probably theirs."

Keegan poured cereal into his mouth while Cam logged in. "Still awesome," he said through a wad of half-chewed breakfast.

•  •  •

Cam and Keegan were almost two hours into the apocalypse when Prita arrived. Keegan had the TV volume up so high no one noticed the dark-haired girl in the puffy pink jacket until she was blocking the screen.

"Um, hello?"

"Prita!" Cam's controller went skidding across the floor, and he jumped over the coffee table, sending the empty cereal box flying.

"Okay, pause," Keegan said flatly.

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, Cam buried his face in Prita's hair and took a deep breath. "You're here!"

"Don't sniff me," she warned. "I had to take the train then rent a bicycle. I'm gross."

He laughed and pulled her closer. "You smell like clean blankets and girl shampoo."

"I can't believe how much I missed this," she said, brushing her lips against Cam's neck.

"I can't believe how much I want to throw up right now," Keegan added, just loud enough to be heard.

Prita broke the embrace, grasping Cam's hand instead. "Rude!" she spat, glaring at her second houseguest while tightening her grip on Cam.

Cam seemed to be unable to do anything more than grin until he realized he still hadn't introduced the guy on the couch. "Uh, Prita, Keegan. Keegan, Prita."

"Nice to finally meet you, Pri-tah," Keegan said, giving the last syllable extra emphasis.

She raised a defiant eyebrow. "Are you making fun of my name?"

"No. Sorry. It's just cool," he insisted. "Is it Greek?"

"My mom is from India, and my dad is the whitest Caucasian man you'll ever meet," she explained icily. "Not that it's any of your business."