"What do you think is going to happen to us?" he asks suddenly, sounding scared, as he washes himself behind the opaque curtain. I take a step closer, before sitting down on the closed toilet lid. I take a deep breath. I ignore the silhouette of the man I love, as it moves behind the curtain.
"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. We have no idea where this is going, or how long it'll last, so it's hard to say. I think we'll find a way to make it through" I tell him, hoping to soothe him. Hoping he’ll buy my lie, even if I don’t believe my own words.
"Dammit" he shouts angrily, causing me to jump with alarm. "I can't get all the fucking blood off me, would you... could you help me... Never mind" he says, catching himself, but I know what he needs. I strip down to nothing, but then grab one of the towels, and tie it around my waist. I then hand him one over the shower curtain. I ignore the shame in his voice.
"I'm coming in, so wrap yourself if you feel self-conscious" I warn, before pulling the curtain back. I take in his appearance, and something races up my spine. Something I want more of. His hair is clean, no trace of the grime before. It's glistening with the droplets of water. The clean water rushes down his face, as I stare into his beautiful blue eyes. He has a towel wrapped around his waist, but his torso is bare.
"What do you need help with?" I ask him, trying to make it sound like it’s no big deal for me. It is though. I can see the doubt in his eyes, but he needs help, and I'm here.
"My back, I just can't. I slept on my arm wrong, and it hurts like hell, when I try to reach it" he explains, and I nod stiffly, before forcing him to turn around. I move closer, letting the water wash over me as well. I quickly clean his back, and as soon as all the blood is gone, I pull away.
"I'll help you too. Here turn around" he offers, turning me. I feel him scrubbing at my back, and the water beneath us is swirling with scarlet blood. I smile, in spite of myself. I'm in a shower right now with him, as he cleans my back for me. This is definitely weird. I never thought we would be here again, not this close.
"Do you think we're going to die?" I ask him, never turning to look at him. He continues to scrub my back but doesn't answer me at first. We stand there in silence, as the steaming water rushing down our bodies. Then we're clean, and he backs away. I turn to face him. I’m sure he won’t answer, but just as I’m about to turn the water off, his voice fills the silence.
"I... I don't know. If we stick together, then we might be okay" he tells me. I feel the fear that's been building within me, escalate. We are surrounded by dead people trying to devour us. How will we stop that from wiping us out? I feel myself shaking again. I realize in that moment that even though things are awkward, even though we aren’t together, he suggested that we stay together. He doesn’t want us to be separated.
The water runs cold shortly after the words do, and we continue to stand there, just savoring the feeling of clean water. I eventually reach down and turn the shower off. He looks into my eyes, before getting out. I'm left alone in the shower, while he goes to get clothes. I smile, in spite of the fear.
"You can come out now" he says, and I open the curtain. I'm alone in the bathroom, and he must've left the room completely because I'm left in silence. I'm left to ponder my imminent death, while he turns away from someone who would die for him. While he pulls away… as usual. I thought we were getting somewhere, but there he goes, disappearing again. I get that we’re in a strange place, but he is so hot and cold.
I quickly dress, trying to forget about the scene in the shower, the way he looked at me, the way he let his walls down, and the way he felt. He felt like he used to. Like he actually cares. I know he does, but most of the time, he doesn't feel like it. Most of the time, he leaves me feeling empty, and cold. Today, he made me feel whole, and safe. What was that moment? Was it just in my head? The confusion washes over me, as I head to the room to talk to everyone. I force Paul from my mind. I can't worry about him right now. I need to get home to my family, while I still can. I have to get home, even though my heart tells me that he is my home.
FOURTEEN
I enter the room, pushing all of the shower scenes from my mind, as I lay eyes on everyone. Riley and Drew are sitting against the wall by the sink, Emily, Brooke, and Ryan are sitting on one of the beds, Lana, Peyton, and Lily are standing by the air conditioning unit, and Thomas, Paul, and Chase are standing in front of me. Paul looks away quickly, but I see a smile on his face. I cross the room, and go to sit beside Riley, and Drew.
"We have to leave here" I say simply, as I sit down beside my sister. She grabs my hand comfortingly. Everyone seems to agree with me, but I keep getting weird looks from everyone, so I stand back up.
"What happened last night?" Emily asks angrily, her voice filling the silence. The accusation hangs in the air, for a minute before Paul interjects. He steps forward, situated between Emily and me. It feels so nice to have him defending me for once.
"We were busy almost being killed, so the attitude doesn't exactly help okay?" he says. Emily's face stiffens, as her skin grows hot. I can see the anger in her eyes.
"The fact of the matter is we need to leave" I interrupt, trying not to witness the beginning of world war three. They both look at me, and their expressions are so night and day. Emily looks livid, while Paul stares at me with what seems to be admiration. I look away.
"What did happen though?" Riley asks, and I nod. In that moment I realize I'm going to have to retell the events of last night, if we want to have a frank discussion about leaving.
"Yeah, we do want to know what happened. We thought you were both dead, and none of us could like sleep or whatever" Lana says, piping up for the other team. I sigh, before crossing the room to sit on the bed with Emily.
"We went down there last night, looking for the supplies we discussed before, and we were just finishing up when..." I begin, talking directly to my best friend, while the others listen, but Paul completes my sentence, succeeding in making me smile. He comes to sit right in front of Emily on the other bed. He looks directly into her face.
"When we heard the noises. We pulled the supplies in the room, but they started searching all over. That's when we thought of..." I interrupt him now, savoring the smile on his face. This is fun for some reason, completing each other’s sentences.
"We thought of the plan to hide in the tub, where the blood was. We figured they'd realize that we were dead, and we'd be fine. We laid there, and they came in, just like..." Paul moves over to sit by me, and then continues the story again.
"Just like we thought. Well we ended up having to sleep in a bloody tub because we thought they came back, and we were waiting for them to leave. It was awful, but anyway. That's why we have to go. They're going to come back." He finishes the story, as everyone nods in agreement.
"I'm all for leaving, but where the hell are, we going to go?" Thomas says, speaking up over the murmuring that is building in the room. We have to figure out some sort of plan. We all have different homes, and we are unable to leave in small groups. We have three cars.
"And no offense, but we don’t even know you guys that well" Lana asks, waving her hand at Chase, Brooke, Lily and Peyton. I turn to look at them, as she points.
I smile at the thought of Chase being a dad. He seems like the perfect dad to me. I realize that there is a slight stir of pride in my mind. Am I seriously over here catching feelings for a stranger? I realize in that moment that even though it might be a good idea, that moving on can only help me, it won’t work. I refuse to love anyone but Paul.
"Okay, so how are we going to do this then? Ryan says, breaking through the lapse in direction. “I’ll get some maps, and charts ready” he offers, before pulling out his laptop. I smile at his totally in character move. I look over at Riley, before I turn my head to Paul. He's looking over at his sister. I look away, trying to remove the connection I keep feeling. I need to get back to normal.
"I say we leave, in the three cars we have, and stop at a store a
nd buy some supplies, before we head our separate ways" Drew says, making everyone turn to look at him with curiosity. He’s looking at the maps app on his phone, trying to find the most effective route.
"What should we do about not getting separated? Like if we find ourselves in the streets like yesterday. I don't want to be lost in this city with those things..." Lana interjects. I understand her worry completely.
“Look, if we all leave this way” Drew begins, showing us his phone screen. “we can come to this intersection. If those people are watching, then we’ll know by then. We can all go in different directions. They’ll only be able to follow one of us. Then we can come back together at…” he pauses, searching for something. His inner firefighter is showing. He’s calm in the midst of panic. “Here. We can all meet at this rest area out of town” Drew suggests, showing us the destination.
"That's actually a really good idea babe. That way we can separate, if those looters are waiting for us” Riley says, picking at her fingernails.
“We need to pick groups though" I say then, taking the lead. This is a good plan.
“That’s a really good plan Ben” Chase says, giving me a nod of approval.
"The drivers are Emily, you and me, so let's build groups with that in mind" Paul says, cutting in. He doesn’t look at me in the moment, as he turns to Chase.
"I'll take whoever” Paul continues, and I look around for volunteers. Thomas, Peyton, and Lily choose to go with Paul.
"Can I go with Mr. Ben daddy, if that's okay?" Peyton asks, and I smile down at her. She smiles, when he reluctantly nods, and she runs into my arms. My ankle is a little sore, but I hug her tightly. That’s when I realize I’m in his car. I’m going to regret riding with Paul.
The car loads end up being Paul, Peyton, Brooke and me in Paul’s car. Chase, Lily, Riley, and Drew in Chase’s car. Emily, Thomas, Ryan, and Lana in Emily’s car.
I roll my eyes, before heading into the bathroom. I really just need to be alone right now. I have to ride in a car with him? I try to tell myself it won't be that bad, that we've made progress, but honestly, I'm going to have to smell him, to hear him.
*****
"Are you ready to leave Ben?" Paul asks, knocking on the door sharply. I splash water on my face, before leaving the privacy of the bathroom behind. I walk right past him, and right out the door. I will not miss this place.
"Did I do something wrong? I thought we were fine?" he asks confused. I turn to him, expecting to be rude, but it mistranslates, on the way out. It turns into a feeble, unintelligible mumble.
"Come on, it'll be okay. Let's get out of here. I'll even let you sit up front kiddo" he says, a smile playing at his lips. I smile in spite of my dread for this car ride. I always wondered what it would be like to go on a road trip with him, to laugh at his jokes from the passenger seat. To let him control the music, and to just spend that time with him. We’ve spent so much time together, but never a road trip. In the almost ten years we’ve known each other.
"I bet" I say flatly, as we come outside. Paul rushes to his car. The hood is dented from our wreck, but it doesn’t look as bad as I was expecting. It looked worse in the dark.
I turn my gaze to Emily, as I look back at Emily the urge to go with her rises. She mouths something to me, but I can't see it from this far. I wave at her, before sliding into the front seat. I look around, and tears fill my eyes. There it is. The pain, I knew I'd feel.
I turn my head, looking in the empty back seat. The jacket, the one too big for me, the one that smells just like him. The jacket he let me use as a pillow that night. The last night I was close to him, the night he broke me into a million little pieces, the horrible night that I still haven't come back from. I realize that I drove in this car a couple days ago, but the pain didn’t hit me then. I was too distracted by the chaos.
Paul gets into the driver’s seat and cranks the engine to life. I'm still captivated by the memories. I can almost see the full moon shining on the seat, as I climb back. I can see the dog tag necklace hanging from his bare neck, his shirt hung over the head rest of the seat. I can hear his breath, smell his scent. It's as if I've traveled back in time. I turn to face the front, as the girls slide in, ruining the memory. I feel the hopeless feeling creeping into my stomach.
"What’s wrong? He asks me, as he pulls out of the hotel. I look out the window, not trusting my voice enough to speak. He looks at me again, before looking in the mirror to the backseat, where I had been staring.
"I'm fine" I say, my voice breaking, as I reach for the radio. I turn it on to reveal some rap song, but it blocks out the possibility for talking, so I'm thankful for it. Anything to get him to stop talking right now. I'm feeling sick to my stomach now.
We pull down the street, leading to the highway. I remember at that moment that Peyton is in the car, so I turn the song. I find a reasonably decent song on Paul's phone. That's when I hear the first gunshot.
"What the hell was that?" I shout, jumping in my seat. I whip around, and to my horror; I see a truck full of people, one of them a woman. That must be the group from last night. They're pulling out of the hotel parking lot. Paul pushes his foot down on the gas, as we approach the intersection.
"We gotta split up" Brooke says from the backseat, holding Peyton's head down, as we slow to a stop at the light. I look over as we drive straight. Emily's car turns right, and Chase goes to the left. I hold my breath, wondering who they'll follow.
"They're coming after us" Paul acknowledges, as he speeds the car to a much higher rate of speed. Sure, enough the truck is speeding up behind us. Paul takes another sharp turn, as the second gunshot pierces the air. They found us. They found us, and now we’re all about to die if we can’t get away from them.
FIFTEEN
Paul whirls the car around, as we speed around another corner. I look back again, trying to get a good look. The truck is right behind us. The woman is leaning out of the passenger window, aiming a pistol at us. I look around quickly, and find a full bottle of water, so I roll my window down. Paul looks sideways at me, but makes no move to stop me, as I look back again. The truck is riding our tail, as I aim. I’m worried I’ll miss with all the movement. I throw the water bottle as hard as I can at the woman. She doesn't notice as it flies at her, so she gets off one more shot, before it hits her in her right eye, she drops the gun in her hand. It falls to the road and disappears somewhere, just as her last bullet shatters the back window of the car. Brooke screams in pain. I turn around to see that she was shot right through her hand. Blood is everywhere. I turn back to look at our pursuers. The truck slows down, as we round another corner. Paul takes the first left, and then turns down another road. I look back and see that we are finally alone. Paul speeds up, before turning down another street. I look around and see that there is a garage half open just in front of us. At that moment, I hear the revving of an engine, so I turn to Paul.
"Look, go in there. Hurry!" I shout, as he sees the garage. I hop out of the vehicle and run up the driveway. I jam the garage open with all my might, and Paul speeds inside. I run to the button and push it with earnest. The door sinks slowly, as we stand there with bated breath. I hear the truck growing closer, as the garage takes an infuriatingly long time to close. Not ten seconds after the garage closes, I hear the truck zoom past. I can hear the people in the bed of the truck, as they whizz past. That's when I notice the truck has stopped.
"All the back roads lead back to this one, so let's wait for them to come back around" the woman says over the rest of their voices. I walk over to the car and open the door. Sliding in the passenger seat, I gently close the door. Paul looks at me, and I can see the fear in his eyes.
"You wanna check out the houses? There could be some good shit in there" one of the men jowls, as I look to Paul with worry.
"No. there are some cops that live in this neighborhood, and I'm not trying to get shot today" the woman says. I smile, relieved.
"They'll be back in a bit, let’s j
ust wait" she continues. Paul jumps out of the car at that moment. I follow after him, as he heads into the house. The girls follow after us. I look around the garage at the empty police car parked beside us. I tense, as we enter the kitchen.
The first thing I notice is that we aren't alone. Someone is standing at the stove cooking. He whips around to look at us. His arm raises, and a gun is pointing right at me.
"Please, we're just looking for somewhere to hide from those criminals" Brooke bursts into tears, cupping her mangled hand. The man lowers his gun instantly, before pulling Brooke into his arms.
"You look like you've had a hard week with the sickness" he states, before turning to me. I can see the kindness in his eyes.
"We have. It hasn't been easy." I say, a shiver rolling down my spine, as we stand there in his kitchen. He breaks a sad smile, before opening the cabinet to pull down four more plates.
“Come with me miss, and I’ll clean up that wound for you” he says to Brooke. She smiles shyly and follows him out of the room. Paul walks away with her, leaving me alone with Peyton.
“Did you know that I’m in first grade?” she asks. I smile at her, as she bounces on the balls of her feet before me.
“Oh really? I loved first grade” I tell her. She likes that, so she launches into a rant about all the kids in her class.
“I have a loose tooth. Do you think the tooth fairy will still come, even if there are sick people everywhere?” she asks me sadly.
“Peyton, the tooth fairy will always come, as long as there are teeth being lost” I say. I don’t know how well I did with that, but I had to keep the magic alive for her.
“Did you know mister Ben, that I’m gonna be a big superstar one day? I’m gonna be just as good as Taylor Swift” she says, her eyes are shooting stars, as she beams up at me.
We Are The Hunted (Book 1): We Are The Hunted Page 10