What Little Remains (The Fallout Trilogy Book 1) by Gabriella Wise Page B

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base and Appleheart are few, the main difference being that I don’t know
everyone here. I don’t know what their past or their future will hold.
    Just like in Appleheart, there is hardly room to breathe or
even think without someone seeing. Everyone knows my business because of my
involvement with Ricky.
    I went from a small town to a fish bowl.
    “This is totally worth it,” Nicole says, bumping her hip
against mine.
    I smile. “This is exactly what we needed. No testosterone.
No overly interested people. No chaos. No rules.”
    Nicole pulls out a compass that we “borrowed” from Ricky and
hands it to me.
    “You know how to work this thing?”
    I shrug my shoulders. “I hope so. If worse comes to worst,
you packed enough food for a week. When Ricky gets back and realizes that I’m
not there, it’ll take him five minutes to find me.”
    “I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Nicole says, a small smile
on her face. “Ricky would leave me here.”
    “ Nic , you know I wouldn’t let him
do that,” I say. “Plus you could easily find your way back on your own.”
    Nicole rolls her eyes, not amused. “But seriously, have you
noticed that he doesn’t bring anyone back anymore?”
    “I noticed.”
    I noticed a long time ago, but Nic bringing it up resurfaces the memory. Ricky and I had a conversation about it.
His mood had changed after he stopped bringing people back. He was more
stressed and stretched thin.
    “I just find it odd that you aren’t bringing any people back
anymore,” I say, sitting down at the table.
    His back is to me so I can’t see his face. “People have
already settled at this point,” after a pause he continues. “Look at us.”
    “True,” I say, biting my lip. “But then why haven’t you run
into anyone yet? If they are out there, why haven’t we come across them? Or
them us?”
    “I don’t know,” he sighs, rubbing his hand on the back of
his head.
    “But—,” I start.
    “Charlie,” Ricky cuts me off, spinning around. “Drop it.”
    I was just wondering what was going on, and he bit my head
off. Talking to him about his mood proved to be a bad move, so I just left it
alone.
    He apologized that night, saying that he was just stressed,
and I brushed it off. Looking back, now I’m not sure that was the best
decision.   There was a twinge in my
stomach for the longest time after we had that fight, but I eventually forgot
about it. I was so wrapped up in my own stuff, and, after he shut me down, I
just couldn’t bring myself to ask anymore. It wasn’t something that absolutely
affected the little bubble that I was living in. And then his mood started
improving, but the number of people he started bringing back was decreasing to
none.
    I push away my suspicions, trying to enjoy the day.
    “I think it’s odd,” Nicole continues. “And even if he’s not
bringing other people back, isn’t it weird that he hasn’t run into any other
groups of people?”
    I shrug my shoulders, trying not to let the sinking feeling
in my stomach ruin today. “I don’t know. But right now, it doesn’t matter.
We’re having a good time. No more talk of Ricky.”
    “No problem,” Nicole agrees.

Chapter 8

 
    We find the clearing around midday, and it is beautiful.
Tall weeds overrun most of it. Some of the weeds are beautiful yellow
wildflowers, others are thorny-looking purple flowers, and some small white
blooms pop up every now and then.
    Nicole and I both stand at the edge of the field in awe. It
couldn’t be a more perfect day. The sky was a vibrant blue with fluffy white
clouds. The sun was soft and warm with a cool breeze. The field rose to a slight
incline on either side, trees surrounding the field like Mother Nature put a
fence around it.
    “Wow,” she says finally, stepping into the field. Grass
folds under her feet, flowers bowing down to her. “Beautiful.”
    I nod my head, not wanting to step out onto the flowers. I
didn’t want to destroy this bit of