I Hope You Find Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

anything
else to hear. My ears popped a few times and though my head hurt,
it seemed my hearing wasn’t permanently damaged. I could hear the
cracking of glass behind us, the collapsing of walls and the
rushing of fire. It sounded like a distant waterfall.
    We went back toward the bay, leaving the
airport behind us, but before we left the intersection I panicked.
In our rush to leave the airport I hadn’t considered a place to put
my next message. Exhausted, I sat down on a bus bench and scanned
the street. By morning there wouldn’t be much of the airport left.
With no one to put out the fire, it could burn down half of
downtown, or worse.
    Another series of booms erupted somewhere out
of sight and the fire cloud above the airport doubled instantly.
The ground beneath us trembled and Zoey cowered behind my legs. The
rational thing to do would be to go back to the bus depot and leave
a note there. I had no idea what I would write but at least it
would be proof that I was still alive, if anyone was looking for
me. If anyone is left. I thought to myself.
    I closed my eyes and leaned into the bench,
with Zoey slumped between my feet, panting heavily. Connor sat to
my right, riffling through his bag. I heard him open a zippered
compartment and the unexpected crunch of plastic made me jump. When
I opened my eyes he was holding out a bottle of water and gestured
to Zoey.
    “Wash her face off, and make her drink.
Hopefully we didn’t inhale too much of that smoke.” He said. His
voice was hoarse, thickening his accent.
    “Thanks.” I replied, my own voice just as
strained.
    I watched him settled up against the bench,
his hands gripped together behind his head. Without thinking I
blurted out, “I know it might seem weird but I feel as if I’ve seen
you before.”
    He leaned forward slowly, putting his arms
onto his legs and lowered his head, running one hand aimlessly
through his dark hair.
    “Guess I have one of those faces.” He
mumbled, with a flick of his hand in the air, as if to dismiss the
topic.
    So change the topic I did.
    “What do you think happened? At the airport,
I mean?” I asked him, after Zoey had lapped up half the bottle of
water from my cupped hand.
    I downed what was left in a few gulps, not
realizing how hot and dry my throat really was till the cold water
passed between my chapped lips. Connor finished his own water,
before he rested his elbows onto his knees and put his hands to his
head. From that position he looked almost juvenile, small and
fragile. I immediately felt embarrassed by this thought. Based on
the little amount of time I had spent with him, there didn’t seem
to be anything weak about him. Despite his young looking frame, his
face showed his maturity; not in an aged way, but in a wise way. I
guessed he was in his early thirties, somewhere around my age.
    I flinched when he sighed loudly and sat up,
rubbing the back of his neck and looking at me as he said, “I don’t
know what happened. The fire wasn’t burning yesterday. Someone
could have set it.” He said the last few words carefully,
deliberately, as if he wanted me to consider them.
    I sat up straighter. “Why? Why would someone
try and blow up an airport?” I asked him, a hint of incredulity in
my voice.
    “Who the hell knows? But obviously we aren’t
the only people out here.”
    “No, I guess not.” I went silent, and it
dawned on me that being alone might not be as bad as finding more
people alive. The idea that someone would deliberately set the
airport ablaze made me nervous. Was someone trying to keep those of
us left from leaving…or keeping someone else away? I remembered the
voice on the street earlier that seemed to whisper in my ear, the
old couple on the shore that disappeared before offering to help,
the touch on my back that seemed to belong to an invisible hand.
None of it made sense to me but it was obvious we were not alone, not completely.
    “Well, look,” I said, as I stood up and