about Regan, about Sirois, or about the war between the militia and the military.
“If you can escape from the soldiers I suppose you’ll be all right,” Sam said, unable to keep the doubt out of her voice. She was too smart to buy Red’s brief explanation, and Red could tell that she knew there was more to the story.
“There’s really no need for any of you to leave at all,” D.J. said. “You can stay here with me for as long as you need.”
Riley got up from his chair and went to Red’s shoulder, tugging on her sleeve. “Yeah, let’s stay, Red. It’s so much better here than out in the woods. And we can have kimchi and rice every day.”
Red’s mouth twisted. She’d thought it might come to this. Sam and Riley were under no obligation to stay with her, and it was probably safer for them if they didn’t go any farther. Still, there was a little pang in her heart when she considered leaving them behind. It wasn’t easy to be on your own all the time, and the two of them had made her feel human again.
“You can stay, if you’d rather,” Red said gently. “But I have to keep going. My grandmother is waiting for me, just like D.J. is waiting for his son. I can’t let her wait forever.”
“Oh, right,” Riley said. “Your grandma. I forgot.”
They’d only been together for a few days. It wasn’t as if they were lifelong friends. It would be better, much better, for Sam and Riley to stay here.
Except for those patrols that came around every day. And that man, the shaggy-haired toothpick who’d picked something up off the lawn.
That something had been nagging at Red ever since she saw him, nagged at her in the way little worries do and making it impossible for her to completely relax.
One worry at a time, Red.
“Look,” Red said. “They can’t be that far away, not if they’re coming through here on patrol every day. And it’s pretty obvious they’re mostly sticking to the roads. Since they don’t double back, then they’re walking in a big circle, or something resembling one.”
She pulled out her map. In order to continue more or less in the correct direction of Grandma’s house, she and Sam and Riley would have passed through this collection of houses and followed the state road until it connected with more forest farther north.
This was what she’d been doing all along—frog-hopping from wooded area to wooded area, avoiding settlements if possible. Most people likely weren’t aware of just how much land was still wild in the United States, even if that land was only pockets between civilization.
“These guys are not going to want to be far from a road,” Red said. “They’re using it to transport anyone they capture, and any supplies they need. Despite the walking patrols they’d still be pretty dependent on their vehicles.”
“So their camp, or base, or whatever you’d like to call it, won’t be in the woods,” D.J. said, leaning over the map.
“If they walk along the state road here—and we know they do, since they pass us every day—then they can connect up with Sparrow Hill Road here”—he pointed to the spot—“and could follow along it for another mile or so before turning south again.”
“And if they follow the southward road here,” Red said, “they’ll come back to the state road, because it curves like a backward J there before straightening back up this way. How big would you say that loop is?”
“Perhaps six miles, give or take,” D.J. said.
“Six miles. That means a walking patrol doing a twenty-minute mile could follow the whole loop in about two hours. And you said that’s how long the patrols usually take.”
“And since it’s not the same men every time,” D.J. said, following her train of thought, “then a fresh patrol can go out quickly when the first group is ready to rest.”
“So if you’ve got it all figured out,” Sam said quickly, “then you don’t have to go out to investigate, Red. We can just avoid those roads.”