by Lake, D. K.
"Only you would go for a number two and get lost." Josh said, the grass rustling in front of me as he walked past.
"I like a little privacy." Nick replied.
Josh! Nick! I was so pleased to hear their voices.
I jumped up and was about to call out to them when Drew came up behind me and covered my mouth and pulled me down to the ground.
"Shh. Stay low!" he breathed in my ear.
I was lying on my front on the ground and he was covering my back, lying on top of me so I couldn't move. I tried to talk but it came out muffled, so I bit him to make him let go and tried my best to shove him off of me.
"Get off of me!" I said, trying to stand up.
"Alex, stop!" he hissed.
He dragged his hand down my arm and tried to pull me back down.
"I just heard Josh over there."
"You're hearing things. You're probably dehydrated."
"What? Drew, stop it! You're acting like a crazy person." I pulled against him.
I went to call Josh again and Drew tried to lunge at me.
"Drew! What is wrong with you?!" I snapped before bolting away from him.
I didn't know what had gotten into him. I ran through the field, my feet pounding the ground as I headed for the road. I burst out of the tall grass and saw Lane leaning against the front bumper of the little yellow camper van, talking to Tobias, and Rosie was sunbathing on the roof and sat up to see what was going on. Lane's head snapped up when he saw another person and our eyes connected. Drew shot out of the grass chasing after me and ran into me. He went to grab me but stopped when he saw the others.
"Alex!" Lane gasped and came over to me with his arms open and I jumped into them. The others must have heard us and they soon surrounded me in seconds and took it in turns to hug me. They were all here, and they were all ok.
"He found you!" Josh smiled and pulled me in for a bear hug the kind that nearly cuts off your air supply.
Wait a minute...he found me?
I pulled away and placed my hand on Josh's chest.
"He found me?"
"Yeah. Why'd you run off and leave us like that? You gave us a right scare."
"What are you talking about?"
"Uhh...the fire, you took off without us." Lane said annoyed.
"What?!" I said, taking a step back and Lane and Josh both shared a look.
"I woke up and you lot had already gone. Drew found me and said he never saw anyone else."
"Drew said he saw you running away from the fire and he told us to go and he'd find you and bring you back." Josh said, furrowing his brow.
I slowly turned my head and saw Drew looking our way. Things suddenly fell into place and made sense. This whole time he had been trying to stop me from finding the others. That night the fire started he lied to everyone and told them I had left but didn't they look for me? Then I remembered waking up nowhere near the knobbly tree and I think it was because I wasn't in the same place I had fallen asleep. The Pepsi! OMG. Drew had drugged me. But why?
By the look on his face, he knew I had figured it out.
"Alex?" Lane said, touching my arm.
"Where's Drew going?" Josh said.
I looked over my shoulder at Drew and saw him moving away from the group.
"One minute. Hold my bag." I passed my bag to Josh and then pushed my machete into his hands in case I did anything stupid with it. I was so pissed off.
Drew was already heading off on one of his little walkabouts, trying to avoid the conversation we were about to have. I jogged to catch up with him and grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
"You told me you didn't see anyone! That you just woke up and everyone had magically vanished. You lied to me, Drew!"
"No." he said, trying to laugh it off.
"No? Josh just told me what happened."
"He's lying."
"What? Stop lying! You're the one that's lying. I knew that Pepsi tasted a little off. I can't believe you did this..." I trailed off feeling exhausted, and emotionally drained. I felt so confused, so betrayed.
"Why did you do this?" I cried. "Drew, answer me?!"
He said nothing and just stared at me. I was so mad at him I just wanted to punch him. So I did.
I pulled my arm back and punched him right on the nose. It caught him off guard and he stumbled back with his hands covering his nose.
"Alex, listen to me-"
"No, you're a liar! Everything you say is a lie!" I screamed.
"That's not true. I only ever wanted to keep you safe, you know D.C. is a bad idea."
And there it was. He had separated me from my friends so he could talk me out of going.
He wiped the blood away from under his nose as Lane charged over and before I could stop him he had Drew on the ground and was punching him in the face repeatedly.
"Lane! Stop!" I cried.
Lane didn't stop and I didn't know what to do. Drew's face looked a bloody mess as Lane continued to pound his fists into him. Drew tried to defend himself and managed to hold Lane back for a second or two but Lane was so angry and weighed more than Drew that he didn't stand a chance.
"Josh, do something!" I cried and a second later Josh and Tobias intervened and dragged Lane off of Drew.
I stood there trembling, tears streaming down my cheeks, I barely felt Rosie's embrace as she put her arms around me to comfort me. Nick was standing next to me not doing anything, I didn't think he really understood what was happening. Tobias was a larger guy with muscles and easily held Lane back. Lane glared at Drew, his chest rising and falling, breathing hard. Drew was hardly moving. I wanted to go to him, but how could I after what he had done to me?
"Rosie, can you take Alex inside." Josh instructed.
Rosie gently guided me away and towards the campervan. I was so unsure of everything, Drew included. I looked back and saw Tobias taking Lane away to cool off and Josh was talking to Drew, waving his arms around. I climbed the steps into the small campervan, it was cute with a little kitchen area and a table and benches, and at the back, there was a small double bed, and I could see another sleeping area hidden in the roof. I slid into the seat and spun around to look out the window and saw Josh and Drew getting into a heated argument. Nick sat down in the driver's seat, watching me but not knowing whether he should bother me right now or not with a million questions. Lane stomped up the steps, followed by Tobias, and came over to me and slowly slid into the seat next to me.
"You ok?" he whispered, moving the hair away from my eyes so he could see me better.
"He told me you had all left me and I believed him." I pinched my nose and closed my eyes. "When I woke up I was all alone and couldn't find anyone."
"Shh. It's ok." Lane said, putting his arms around me.
"I knew there was something off about him when I first met him." Tobias said.
"You can say that again. The guy's obsessed with Alex, he fucking kidnapped her!" Rosie added.
Drew had kidnapped me and I had let him, falling for his lies, thinking he was saving me when he was probably the one that started the fire. The four of them talked among themselves as I sat quietly and leaned on the window, watching as Josh and Drew carried on yelling at each other.
"He must have drugged her." Tobias said quietly, talking about me as though I wasn't there.
"With what?" Rosie said.
"Josh told me he took a shit ton of drugs from Nick's lab." Lane said.
"And he knew what to do with them." Tobias said.
"But I thought you lost all your bags in the helicopter crash?" Rosie pondered, but I clearly remembered Drew shoving a few random things into his pockets when he was in Nick's laboratory. He must have known exactly what he was picking up, and how to use it.
A second later the door to the camper opened and Josh stepped inside.
"What's going on?" Rosie asked, leaning over the driver's seat to look out the front window.
"He's outside, waiting for a decision."
"D
ecision?" Rosie said confused.
"He wants to stay." Josh said.
"Stay? He drugged Alex and dragged her away when it was his turn to watch." Lane spat.
Drew's turn to watch? Drew had told me it was Lane's turn to watch. Another lie. Drew must have planned the whole thing.
"I know, he just told me everything." Josh said.
"The guy's a psycho, he started that fire!" Rosie snapped.
"Josh, if you don't get rid of him I will go out there and kill him myself." Lane growled.
"I'll tell him we all voted for him to go." Josh said evenly.
I stayed quiet and looked out the window and saw Drew sitting at the edge of the road with his head between his knees.
"Well, he can't stay! I mean are we even safe in here right now? What if he tries to set fire to the campervan?" Rosie exclaimed, searching out the window for Drew.
"He won't with Alex inside." Josh said automatically.
"Yes, because he's crazy about her. He can't be trusted, you need to get rid of him." Rosie insisted.
"Ok. I'll handle it." Josh said and was about to leave, his hand on the door.
"Alex," he called my name but I ignored him and he opened the door.
A few minutes later the door opened again and Josh walked back in.
"He's leaving." Josh said calmly.
"Is he?" Rosie said with her hand on her hip, looking at the window behind my head.
"Alex!" Drew banged on the glass behind me, making me jump, and I covered my ears.
"Get rid of him!" Rosie yelled.
"I'll get rid of him." Lane growled.
"No! Stay here! Tobias and I will make sure he leaves." Josh said, hurrying out the door with Tobias. I heard Josh telling Drew to stop hitting the glass and a second later I heard a scuffle and turned around to see Tobias wrestling Drew away from the camper and Josh was escorting them. Drew shrugged Tobias off and started to walk on his own, but he stopped once to look back at me and I thought he mouthed, "I'm sorry." but I couldn't be sure. I didn't know how to act or how to feel, it was hard to watch Drew walk away but I needed to. I thought about what he had done and it made it a little easier, but it still broke my heart to see him go. Another tear slipped down my face and I quickly wiped it away. There were more important things to focus on or cry about and Drew Caraway wasn't one of them.
Lane edged closer to me and wrapped his arms around me.
"I thought you were gone. I woke up and saw the fire and your sleeping bag wasn't next to me and I just flipped. I was calling your name over and over but you never replied." Lane said quietly.
Five minutes later Tobias and Josh returned to the camper and Josh walked in holding my pink suitcase.
"He told us where to find this." Josh said, sliding it onto the table.
"What is it?" Rosie asked, peeking over his shoulder as he opened it.
"It's mine. We found a cabin and loaded up with supplies." I said as Josh opened the lid.
"Is that chocolate?!" Rosie gasped.
"Water bottles." Josh said, taking a bottle out.
I didn't say much and looked around at the camper.
"We found it four days after the fire, and Lane got it to start and we drove as far as we could until the gas ran out. And we have been waiting around this area hoping you'd walk this way." Josh explained.
"We didn't know where to look for you but I knew you'd head to D.C. anyway." Lane said, kissing the top of my head.
"That was the plan." I mumbled, playing with the drawstrings on Lane's hoodie. "And I'm sorry." I breathed.
"For what?" Lane said.
"For everything that has happened, it's kinda my fault."
"No, it's not. Drew's got a screw loose. None of this is your fault. I'm sorry I didn't figure it out sooner and stop him. But you're safe now." Josh reassured me.
Safe? In a world of deadbies, no one was safe.
"Well, he's gone. I think that's the last we'll see of him." Tobias said, looking out of the window.
"I can't believe he did this." Josh muttered.
"I can't believe we let that psycho stay with us for so long." Lane said.
I looked out the window, searching for him, wondering where he was going to go. And deep down, after everything he had done, I knew I would always be searching for him.
Chapter 29
"We made it." I said, looking at the bridge in front.
"Just a few more steps and we'll be in Missouri." Lane said, standing next to me.
"Nearly halfway." Josh said, smiling at me.
"I swear it gets hotter every day." Nick complained, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"What are we waiting for?" Rosie said, grinning from ear to ear, she was clearly excited to get going and find this Eden she had told us about and possibly find her sister. She took the first step and Tobias smiled at us and followed her. I started walking and the three of them fell into step with me.
"I'm hungry. Do you think we could find any fish in that river?" Josh said, looking at the bridge.
"I dunno, but I don't think Rosie is going to want to stop now that we're in Missouri." I laughed.
Josh rubbed his tummy.
"Here, take one of these." I pulled my bag around and dug in the front pocket for a cereal bar and handed it to him.
"Thanks."
"Do I get one?" Lane asked nicely.
"No, you already had one! I saw you steal one out of my bag when I went to the toilet."
Lane huffed and I zipped my bag back up. We had ditched the pink suitcase as we had eaten our way through the supplies and distributed the rest between us.
I looked over my shoulder as we started moving along the road, searching for movement. No one had seen Drew since that day Josh had told him to leave. But every little movement in the bushes had me searching the trees for him, wondering if he was really gone for good this time.
Some nights I thought I could hear him whispering my name in my sleep, but that was crazy, right? He had been gone ten days. Ten nights I went to sleep wondering where he was, was he ok, and would I ever see him again? No one spoke about him, and when they did it was just to make a joke about him staking me or that he was nearby lurking in the bushes.
Sometimes I wished the jokes were true. Did that make me crazy, too? Crazy that after everything I still wanted Drew here. I missed him every minute of every day but I had to let him go. But I knew in my gut he was gone for good this time, there had been no sign of him.
"Alex, you ok?" Lane asked.
"Yep, all good." I lied, putting on a brave smile when all I wanted to do was cry like some emotional teenager.
As we approached the bridge I looked at the mess that had been left behind on it. There were large metal containers blocking the middle like a barricade and there were spikes along the edge with leftover deadbies stuck to them. Maybe not a mess so much, this had been done on purpose.
"Huh. That doesn't look very inviting." Josh said, chewing down his last mouthful and tossing the wrapper away.
"It could be a trap." Lane turned to us and we all slowed down a bit. It was too late to call Rosie and Tobias back as they had run on ahead and already made it around the tall metal containers and we couldn't see them.
We edged closer to the bridge. I scanned the trees for any sign of movement other than birds. Josh got closer and leaned over the side of the bridge.
"I don't see anything," he said. "This could have been here a long time." he added.
"Maybe." I said quietly, peering over the other side, careful not to touch the spikes but there wasn't anything down there other than murky water and a deadbie face down floating in it.
There is no way we are fishing in that. I thought.
Lane had already crept ahead and was squeezing between a pair of containers.
"Lane!" I hissed.
He didn't hear me and Josh quickly jogged around the obstacle course and slid between the containers.
"Why are these containers on the bridge?" N
ick mused, observing one of the deadbies that were stuck on the spikes and slumped forward, not moving.
"I dunno, to keep deadbies from crossing the bridge, and possibly humans." I said losing my train of thought when I saw a piece of a red flannel shirt tied to one of the spikes. I walked closer and touched the fabric, it looked the same color as the flannel shirt I had last seen tied around Drew's waist. I looked around and searched the trees, a little spark of hope shot through me. Was Drew leaving me secret messages? The idea that he was close by keeping an eye on me made me feel safer, but then again, this could be anyone's shirt.
I sighed and hurried after Nick and managed to snag my skinny jeans on some barbed wire and it tore the fabric. I cursed and took my eyes off Nick for a second while I untangled my jeans.
All of a sudden I heard a door creaking in deafening volume and footsteps.
"What the hell is that?" I screamed out of shock as Michael Jackson's, Thriller filled the air. It was so loud and frightened the life out of me, and was defining me as well. I covered my ears and looked up and saw Nick looking totally guilty.
"I think it's Thriller!" he yelled over the noise.
"Not the song, you idiot! What happened, what did you do?!" I shouted, panicking that the noise would attract deadbies all the way from New York it was that loud. Ok, maybe not that loud. But it was still frickin' loud!
"I walked into this wire down here." Nick pointed and my eyes went wide.
"Don't move!" I shouted and hurried over to him.
He had walked into some kind of tripwire. I quickly followed the wire to make sure it wasn't going to set off a crossbow or anything that might decapitate Nick's head. I followed it over to one of the metal containers where there was a large sheet hanging down. I ripped it down and saw the biggest sound system I had ever seen in my life. I backed out of the container and saw more speakers in the other containers. The tripwire seemed to only set off the music.
"Come on!" I yelled.
I had no idea where the others were and the loudness of the music was irritating. Nick was just about to squeeze through the gap between the containers when his face changed and he looked even more panicked and pointed over my shoulder. I knew what he was pointing at.