Earth(38)

The clouds closed up again and the combined energy fizzled out. We lowered our hands.

"Could this be a power source? For electricity?" I asked.

She nodded. "Biofuels. I was following research on the concept before Daybreak. It is totally possible, but there was a lot of development needed on the technology back then. Not sure if anyone pursues it anymore. Too many distractions nowadays, like…"

"Surviving?" I interjected for her.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Well, if plants give off their own frequency – does everything?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do people emit a certain frequency?"

"Yes, I suppose everything does. But you can't use a 'people frequency' as an energy source."

"No, no." I laughed. "I was thinking it might be useful for more of location purposes. Like finding someone."

"Kaitlyn?" Alex's voice startled us. "Ready? We want to cover some ground before we lose daylight."

"Sure." I turned back to Margie, trying to wipe Micah from my mind. "Thanks and…be careful. I'll see you in a couple days."

"You be careful too. Good luck, and kiss that baby for me." Margie hugged me.

"Okay." I turned away with an unexpected lump in my throat. Had I not spent so much time suspecting her, we might have had a chance to become good friends.

Alex glanced at me as we walked. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. In fact, really, really good." I took a deep breath. "Looking forward to keeping my feet on dry ground for a change."

"You and me both," Alex said.





Chapter 23





Theories





By the third day of walking, my feet were covered in blisters.

"Those boats made me go soft," I told Susan as she helped bandage them. "I never had this problem before."

Susan shoved a canteen in my face. "You don't drink enough water."

"What does water have to do with blistering feet?" I asked.

"Water has everything to do with your body." She put the last bandage on. "There – that should get you a few more miles."

I finished half the canteen under her watchful eye, then handed it back. As I laced up my boots, Alex joined us. He stopped, setting a large, clunky radio next to his feet on one side, and Bee on the other.

Bee popped up on her feet, hopped over the radio, and got busy pushing buttons and turning dials. She picked up the handset. "There? Over – come in. Over."

Alex beamed. "She uses better radio etiquette than you."

"Oh, shush." I tied my second boot and stood. "Trying to track down the other group?"

We had expected them to catch up with us by yesterday morning, but there was no sign of them. Not even this afternoon when Alex had backtracked to search for them. I looked up at the sun, slowly sinking behind the trees. It would be time to stop for the night soon.

"Yeah. They were supposed to be the faster group; I purposely divided them up by physical…prowess," said Alex.

Susan and I laughed, covering our mouths trying to hold in the snorts.

"Prowess?" I mocked him.

"You know what I mean," he grumbled. "Little Miss Bee, can I see the radio now?"

She shook her head ‘no’ and turned her back on him. "Over, over."

Susan and I were still laughing.

"That's just what I need; someone else to ignore me." Alex rubbed his temples. "You know what? You two try – I'm going to scout ahead."

He stomped off before we had a chance to apologize.

"Should we go after him?" I asked.

"Nah," said Susan. "Let him walk it off. He needs it."

I glanced at her. Of all of us, Alex had been doing the most walking. Constantly scouting ahead, and sometimes behind, he probably covered more than twice the distance we did.

A muffled, distorted voice came in over the radio. "Who is this? Over."

Susan grabbed the handset from Bee, and I grabbed Bee, searching my bag for honeysuckle to keep her quiet.

"This is…" Susan let go of the handset, then whispered to me, "Oh, geez. We didn't come up with call signs."

I rolled my eyes, taking the handset from her. "Margie? This is Kait—"

Susan ripped the handset right out of my palm. "Don't use your real name."

I took the handset back. "What else should I use?"

"Give that to me!" She yanked it back.

I lunged for it again, but tripped. I fell into her and we both ended up on the ground, wrestling for the handset.

Margie's voice continued to come over the radio, "Kaitlyn? What's happening? Are you okay?"

We both stole glances at Bee, ensuring we wouldn't roll over her. She did the right thing, backing away.