The sounds of the gunfire faded away into the Yet-To-Be, as I bought me and Zoe to two days ago.

It was raining.

Heavily.

Luckily, this made Zoe’s reawakening far more swift.

She tried to speak, but the blood in her mouth – mixed with the sudden appearance of rainwater – made her choke and splutter.

I pushed her into a sitting position and let her spit out all that bad stuff.

Eventually, she spoke.

“What the fuck’s going on?!”

“Nothing I didn’t expect might happen.”

“What?”

“C’mon, Zoe. We need to get to a dry place.”

“And where do you suppose we might find one of those, Captain Obvious?”

“Trust me…”

• *

Supporting her on my shoulders as she limped on her left leg, I helped her into the nearby woods by the road.

I seated her by a tree that had the most shelter from the rain, then I searched for—

“What are you looking for,” she screamed.

Fifteen steps from the tree, I reached in under the drenched leaves and twigs and mud, and pulled out the Quick-Fold Tent I’d left there.

“This.”