The Worlds We Make Read Online Free PDF

chance to catch us.”
    Anika frowned. “This one would be really easy to spot, though. I mean, the black against the snow.”
    “So we’d need a white car,” Leo said. “That could take a while. We’ve had trouble just finding any car at all that’s drivable.”
    He was right. Since none of us had any skill at hot-wiring, we needed to stumble on not just a white car capable of handling the snow, but its keys too. What were the chances?
    Tobias’s breath rattled through his scarves from where he slumped against the opposite window. We had to get him to the CDC as soon as possible.
    But we wouldn’t make it anywhere near Atlanta if we got caught because we were driving this dark SUV amid a sparkling snowy landscape. Or because we stopped to look for a different car. Or because one of us fell asleep at the wheel and got us into an accident.
    I brought my hand to my forehead. How were we supposed to pick the safest option when every one was so risky?
    The shadow of a telephone pole slid over the SUV’s hood, and a compromise occurred to me.
    “The black would blend in at night, if we put something over the headlights to dim them,” I said. “We could stop off for the day, find a place to hide, and we can all get some sleep. And then when it starts getting dark, we can keep going.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Justin said.
    Leo nodded. “I’d feel better about driving more if I could get a little real rest first.”
    We drove several miles farther, until we reached a campground with a cluster of abandoned rental cabins in a clump of forest. By then, Tobias was waking from his pill-induced sleep. He peered around groggily as we parked behind one of the cabins.
    “Shouldn’t stay in this one,” he murmured. “Tire tracks would lead ’em right to us. We walk”—he pointed—“through the trees so no one sees where the trail ends, and go to one farther down.”
    The evasive skills he’d learned in his military training hadn’t failed us yet. So we followed his instructions, looping through the forest to the cabin closest to the road, where we’d hear if anyone else drove into the campground. We crashed on the cabin’s living room floor, bundling in our blankets and sleeping bags inside the army-issue tent, to keep in the warmth in the absence of a fireplace. Tobias, since he’d slept plenty already, sat by the window to keep watch.
    When I crawled out of the tent hours later, Leo was already up, fiddling with the radio transceiver in the day’s fading light. “Anything?” I asked.
    “Nope. No CDC, but no Wardens either, thankfully.” He studied my face. “Did you sleep all right?”
    “Kind of hard not to when you’re that tired,” I said, with an attempt at a laugh that came out strained. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
    “If you need to talk, about Gav, or—” He stopped when I shook my head sharply. “You’re pushing yourself really hard,” he added.
    “I have to,” I said. My eyes flickered toward Tobias at his post by the window, and I lowered my voice. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
    “I know,” Leo said. “But you’re not alone here. We’re all in this as much as you are.”
    Well, he was, and Justin and Tobias. I wasn’t sure about Anika yet. But the coiled tension inside me loosened a little at his words.
    “I know that,” I said. “Thank you.”
    He cracked a smile. “Couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”
    As Justin and Anika roused, we disassembled the tent and gathered our things. Anika swore at the sleeping bag ties that kept slipping through her fingers when she tried to knot them, and Justin reached over to help.
    “I guess I’m officially pathetic now,” she said.
    “Just a little,” Justin said, and to my surprise he flashed a grin at her. Apparently sometime in the last few days, he’d finally forgiven her for trying to screw us over. When she’d come back asking for a second chance, he’d been the loudest opposition.
    Tobias was