Ryder’s eyes shifted to meet mine. His forehead was wrinkled as his shoulders rose and fell with each hurried breath.
Logan pulled Charlie into his arms. Her body was rigid with anger and fear.
“It’s not safe, and it’s definitely not smart. We know what’s back there… remember?” Logan said his voice softer than I thought possible. “Jacob may already be aware of the situation. Maybe he always had been.”
It really was like Charlie was their little sister. They had a bond. One that I suddenly felt terrible about getting in the way of.
“We’re not going back,” Ryder said crouching down to look into her eyes. It was like he was trying to push the idea out of her mind. “Logan’s right. The risk is astronomical. We probably wouldn’t even make it back.”
“You’re just staying because of her,” Charlie said trying to get out of Logan’s arms, but he held her tighter. “Argh! I hate this!”
I wanted to tell her what Ryder and I had discussed last night, but it wouldn’t matter, her mind was made up about me. I pulled my backpack over my shoulders and drew in a deep breath. My eyes were down, I couldn’t look at any of them. I started walking away.
“I’m not staying because of anyone. I’m staying because I want to,” Ryder said his voice getting quieter as I left them behind.
“You really don’t care if all our friends die?” Charlie shouted. It sounded as if she wanted to make sure I heard her.
“Of course I care. Emery, wait!” Ryder shouted, but I could tell he wasn’t coming after me.
“Well, I’m going! I’ll go back alone if I have to,” Charlie said, and I picked up my pace. I never wanted the company anyway. This journey was supposed to be my own. They forced their way along.
Good riddance.
Chapter 7
There was someone was coming up behind me. I could tell without looking over my shoulder that it was just one person by the sounds of their footsteps.
It wasn’t surprising when Shawn caught up with me.
“Emery… please… hold… on,” he said between breaths.
“No!” I said turning toward him. I saw Logan, Ryder, and Charlie over his shoulder, all heading my way. “This is ridiculous. I didn’t make them come along with me in the first place.” I raised my voice. “You are all free to do whatever the hell you want.”
I turned on my heel and marched through the snow. My destination was waiting. I was done with Charlie and her tantrums and the delays. It was time to get where I was going.
I wasn’t sure if it was the sun above that was making me warm, or if it was my anger.
“Well, don’t take it out on me. You found me remember?” Shawn said.
“I did, but if you don’t want to be here, you’re free to go too.”
Shawn touched my sleeve, but I jerked it to the side. I frowned wishing I hadn’t pulled away.
“Emery, I want to be here… unless you don’t want me to be.” The sadness in his voice was apparent. “I’m not even sure I’d leave if you told me to.”
A short breath exited from between my lips. “I want to keep walking. If you want to keep walking, by all means, join me.”
Shawn walked along at my side without another word. It wasn’t long before I could hear three sets of footsteps crunching into the snow behind us.
I pressed my teeth together. The idea of dealing with Charlie made my blood boil. When she stepped in front of me and stopped, I thought my head was going to explode.
“Can we talk?” she said her hands balled up into tight fists.
I turned to Ryder knowing full well that somehow, he was behind the confrontation. But maybe it was time Charlie, and I had it out. It was time to discuss everything that was going on between us.
“Sure.”
Shawn looked at me with wide eyes. “I’ll just… walk with them.”
He dropped back with Logan and Ryder. None of them moved until Charlie, and I did. They stayed back, giving us our privacy.
Charlie let out a long sign. “I just wanted to apologize to you.”
“You don’t have to,” I said. Even though I was glad she was apologizing, it was probably only because Ryder told her to.
“I know we haven’t gotten along, and probably never will—”
“Nice.”
She blew out a puff of air between her pursed lips. “It broke my heart.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“That’s what he says too.”
“You know,” I turned to her. “You didn’t like me long before that happened.”
I was referring to the kiss she walked in on, but I didn’t want to say the words. It would probably only cause more problems.
“Because….” Charlie hesitated. “Because I knew the second he asked us to go after you how he felt.”
“Well, I can’t do anything about that,” I said, staring out at the horizon. The sun felt so warm I started to take off my jacket. “Are you hot? I’m hot.”
“Yeah, I guess it’s warm,” Charlie said scrunching up her eyes at me. “Anyway, I just wish you could see it from my point of view. I’ve known him my whole life.”
I straightened my spine. “So, I’ve heard. Several times.”
“You didn’t have to deal with girl after girl knocking down his door.” Charlie sighed. “It’s been everyone but me. It’s like he’s been torn away from me again and again and again. I just don’t know how much more of it I can take.”
“Maybe, you need to accept the fact that it’s never going to be you.”
She winced as though I’d punched her in the stomach. I wished I could take the words back.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “That came out all wrong.”
Charlie swallowed. “Whatever. We’re stuck together, so let’s just make the best of it. How does that sound?”
“Fine by me.” My words spilled out much sharper than I had intended.
“So, we’re good?”
“As good as we can be,” I said doing my best to keep my words from sounding sour. I couldn’t imagine a time that Charlie and I would be anything more than fine with each other. And it seemed as though that was OK with both of us.
“OK,” Charlie said dropping back presumably to walk with Ryder and Logan.
Shawn was back at my side in seconds. At some point, he had taken off his jacket too.
“Warm huh?” he asked, before lowering his voice. “What was that all about?”
“She wanted to apologize. All is well.” I held out my arm and let the sun dance on my skin. “I can’t decide if it’s actually warm, or if it’s just slightly warmer and to us, it feels like a summer day.”
“Either way it’s better than snow, right?” Shawn asked.
I nodded enthusiastically. “You got that right.”
We kept walking, continuing to veer slightly to the east but still heading mainly to the south. The snow on the ground seemed to be diminishing before my eyes.
My mom had been right. It was going to be warmer in the south. Maybe my family should have made the move, and things would have ended differently.
Then again, we’d had so many supplies it would have been impossible to give that up to explore the world. My parents had done a lot of traveling, or at least that’s what they’d told me. They’d found their safe place and stayed put. That was what I wanted too. I wanted to find my safe place and stock it with everything we’d need to survive until our time was done.
“Hey! Look at that,” I said squinting as I pulled on Shawn’s arm. Ryder, Logan, and Charlie had fallen a bit behind. “Water!”
Shawn and I picked up our pace to a jog. When we got closer, I stopped and stared.
The sunlight hit the tiny little waves making them sparkle like little crystals. My mouth dried at the sight.
I dropped my backpack and inched closer to the water. I licked my lips and knelt down on the rocks to scoop up some of the water into my hand.
“It’s warm,” I said surprised by the temp
erature of the water. I slurped the liquid and closed my eyes. “This is amazing.”
Shawn and Ryder were next to me in seconds. Ryder let the water run between his fingertips and Shawn took a drink just as I had.
Shawn nudged me with his elbow. “How deep do you think it is?”
“I don’t know why don’t you test it out?” I joked.
“Yeah?” he asked narrowing his eyes at me.
I leaned closer. “Dare you.”
Shawn looked at the others before scanning the horizon. “OK. All right.”
He widened his stance and dropped his jacket to the ground. His eyes were focused on the water as he peeled off his shirt.
“What?” he asked with a smirk when he caught me staring.
I swallowed hard. I’d been busted admiring his physique. “Your arm.”
“Yeah, it’s much better.” Shawn kicked off his boots and pulled off his socks. I looked away, mostly, when he undid the button of his pants. “It still aches sometimes. Pretty sure I’ll always be able to predict when it’s going to rain.”
Shawn pulled down his pants and stepped into the water. Both Ryder and Logan laughed when he shivered.
“You’re nuts, man,” Logan said.
“It’s not that bad,” Shawn said cupping his hands in front of himself. “You should try it.”
I hadn’t tried very hard, but I couldn’t hold in my laugh.
“You think this is funny?” Shawn asked lightly kicking a little water in my direction.
“Hey!” I said wiping a few drips off of my cheek.
I couldn’t deny how amazing Shawn looked. The curves of his solid muscles, but mainly it was his eyes that had me. There wasn’t anything I could do about the magic in his eyes.
When the water came up to his knees, he started washing himself.
“Oh!” he said. “It feels amazing to get clean. I’m not even joking you guys should jump in, if only for a second.”
Ryder looked over at me and then at Logan and Charlie. He pulled at his shirt. “Fuck it.”
In a matter of seconds, he was wearing nothing but his boxers. He shrieked as he stepped into the water.
“Holy shit!” Ryder said. “How can you stand this?”
“You’ll get used to it,” Shawn said.
Ryder looked amazing. When our eyes locked and his smile faded, I knew he’d been able to tell what I’d been thinking. The only problem was it frustrated him that there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
“OK,” Charlie said standing up. “I can do this.”
“Go wash your hair,” I said smiling at her.
She tugged on her pigtails and raised her eyebrows. Charlie quickly undressed. “It really needs it. Come on you two don’t be party poopers.”
“Someone should keep watch,” Logan said with his hands on his hips.
“Don’t be silly. We can see for miles!” Charlie said placing her foot in the water. “Ahhh! Oh my God!”
“Go on,” Logan said glancing at me before spinning in a slow circle to check our surroundings. “If you want.”
I blew out a puff of air between my lips. “I’m not sure I want.”
“Who knows when you’ll get to do this again?” Logan said.
I looked out at the others cleaning themselves. Charlie squeaked when she sat down so she could try to wash her hair.
“Anyone have any soap?” Charlie asked.
I straightened my spine, and Logan grinned at me. He looked surprised.
“You’re doing it?” he asked.
“Yeah. You should too,” I said pulling off my clothes and folding them into a neat pile. “There’s really only one way across.”
“Shit,” Logan said. “I don’t want to get my boots wet.”
I cocked my head the side and took several quick steps into the water. Holding back the noises that threatened to escape.
“Then you better take them off, huh?” I said.
I made my way closer to Shawn and Ryder where the water was a little deeper. They both stopped and looked at me at the same time.
I ignored them as I splashed the clean bubbling water over my skin. It felt as though I was washing away everything that had happened. A fresh start. Other than being chilly, it felt good.
“What are you thinking about?” Shawn asked as he splashed me to get my attention.
“Is that how it’s going to be?” I asked splashing him harder.
He laughed and cupped his hands to scoop up some water. I tried to get away, but before I knew he was pouring the water down over my head. My hair flopped down over my eyes, and I shivered. The water dripping down my neck reminded me that it wasn’t summer.
“Oh God!” I said hugging myself.
“I’m sorry,” Shawn said standing next to me. He was laughing as he put his arm around me. “Are you OK?”
“I’m fine.” I shivered again. Ryder was watching us. “It was a bit of a shock apparently.”
Shawn chuckled. “Apparently.”
When I shivered again, I became more aware of how close our bodies were. Shawn’s wet skin against my wet skin. I could feel both how warm and cold he was at the same time, and it made my pulse race.
He looked deeply into my eyes, and it felt like I’d forgotten how to breathe.
“We should get our stuff to the other side,” I said clearing my throat as I stepped back toward my stuff.
Logan was already dressing back on the other side the of the river. I hadn’t even realized he’d washed up in the river.
I grabbed my things and held them over my head as I waded to the other side.
“What? Party’s over already?” Charlie said with a small frown. Her pigtails drooped down over her bony shoulders.
“We should get going,” Logan bellowed.
Everyone started moving, but I could still feel Shawn’s eyes on me. The others grabbed their things, and in a matter of minutes, we were all dressed on the other side of the small river.
I hadn’t noticed the strange structure when we’d been in the water, but after I took several steps forward, there was no way I could miss it. My eyes narrowed as my head tilted side to side, trying to determine what I was looking at. In the distance, hidden by several large rocks was a strange curved wall.
“What is that thing?” I asked.
Ryder took several careful steps forward. “Looks like dried mud.”
“We should keep moving,” Logan said, taking a step in the opposite direction.
I nodded and started to follow him when I heard something sloshing in the water behind us. My hand went for my gun as I quickly turned around.
Before the guy could say anything, my gun was aimed at the hairy spot between his heavy eyes.
He held up his hands. “Don’t shoot!”
Chapter 8
I could see the fear in his eyes, but I didn’t lower the gun. The hairy guy’s fingers shook as he held them up for me to see.
“Don’t see many people around here,” he said forcing a smile. There was a bucket near his feet, but I couldn’t tell what was inside. “What are you all doing out here?”
“Passing through,” I said, shifting my eyes down to his bucket. “What’s in there.”
His hairy eyebrows pressed together. The muscles at his neck tightened, and I caught a glimpse of his barely noticeable marking.
Renegade.
“Mud,” he said, grimacing as he lowered his hands. “Ah, shoot me if you want. I’m too old for all this shit anyway.”
“You alone?” I asked, not that I was about to believe him.
“Nah, the wife’s inside taking care of the youngins.” He dismissed my gun with a shake of his head and picked up his bucket. He rolled his eyes as he hobbled closer. “Put that thing away unless you plan to use it.”
My nose twitched, but I lowered my gun nonetheless. We followed him as he walked toward the structure.
“Of course, I’m alone. Wish that wasn’t the case, but it has been for quite some ti
me. Years now I think.” He stopped and tapped his lower lip with his finger. “Come to think of it, I can’t even remember the last time I spoke to anyone besides myself.”
“Where did you come from?” I asked.
The man shrugged. “Hid upstream a bit when I saw you coming, but you all seemed harmless.”
“What are you doing out here?” Ryder asked nodding at the structure.
“You like it?” The man asked looking proud. “Working on a wall. It’s working pretty well.”
The odd wall was in the shape of a semi-circle. It was about three feet tall at its highest point and at least a foot thick. I could tell it was a work in progress.
“What’s it for?” I asked.
“Protection,” the man said squinting at me. “Keep my home safe.”
“Your home?” I asked looking around.
He clicked his tongue. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”
I remembered how Jacob had used the basement of an old building for his shelter. Perhaps this man had done the same.
The man stepped up next to Logan and looked him up and down. “Go on, kick it.”
“Me?” Logan asked.
“Yeah, you. Right there,” the man pointed at the middle of the wall.
“I don’t really feel like I need to,” Logan said looking confused.
The man rolled his eyes. “Just try it, you big lug. Kick the wall.”
Logan groaned and stepped up to the wall. He pulled back his foot a bit and gave it a half-hearted kick.
“Well, I’m probably twice your age, and I can kick it harder than that. Give it a real go.” The man waved at him.
Logan let out a heavy sigh before kicking the wall significantly harder than he had the first time. He grabbed his foot and started hopping backward.
“Ha-ha!” the old man said jumping in place. “It’s like cement!”
“Yes. Very nice,” Logan said aiming his dark eyes at the man.
The man slapped him on the back. “You’ll be fine.” He laughed. “Rub some dirt on it. Ha!”
“Very funny,” Logan muttered.
The man started making his way back toward his home. He stopped and turned around, looking at each one of us carefully.
Ravaged Land: Divided Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Books 1-3 Page 19