She turned to meet his eyes, but the light behind him turned him into a dark shadow with pitch black eyes. Seeing him like that only made her think of The Unholy swarming Ethan and Ned more.
Will’s expression shifted into a frown. Kate turned back to the window just as something outside made a loud clanking noise.
Everyone in the room shifted. Their eyes glowed in the darkness as they all listened. Kate’s heart was pounding so furiously, her fingers pulsed.
She took a step toward the door, but Will grabbed her shoulders and held her in place.
“He’d kill me if I let you go out there,” Will said failing to keep his voice down.
“They might need me,” Kate said, her hand hovering just over her hip.
“Maybe they just tripped,” Will said tightening his grip.
Kate held her breath as she listened in the silence. Just before she drew in a breath, she heard it.
A moan. They were out there.
Chapter 15
Kate attempted to launch herself at the door, but Will dug his fingertips deeper into her shoulders. She whipped her head around and glared at him in the darkness.
“Let go of me,” she hissed.
“If you go out there, you could make it worse for everyone in here,” Will said so quickly his words bumped into one another.
“They might need me!” Kate said her eyes glassy. She shifted her shoulders and broke free of his grasp. Kate didn’t hesitate before slipping out of the door.
Her eyes darted around in the darkness, stopping when they landed on The Unholy two feet in front of her reaching toward her. Kate’s hand moved fast as she plunged the blade into its head. The movement had been swift. Automatic. An attack that she’d perfected long ago.
She pushed the lifeless being out of the way and slowly stepped toward the side of the house. Kate couldn’t hear anything. She took another step and gasped when she saw Ethan kneeling on the ground.
“Ethan?” she whispered.
His head jerked sharply. “Kate,” he said inside a breath, “help me get him inside.”
Kate looked around, but all she saw was a scattering of a few Unholy. She moved quickly and together they helped Ned inside.
“What happened? Was he bit?” Kate asked.
“No,” Ethan said shaking his head. “They didn’t even get close to him. I don’t know what happened.”
Ned couldn’t answer. His head was drooped forward and his body so weak, they carried his weight.
They turned the corner, and Ethan noticed The Unholy on the ground. “You got jumped?”
“I was ready,” Kate said opening the front door. Will was waiting on the other side, and at first, Kate couldn’t tell if he was angry or worried.
He closed the door behind them without making a sound. “What happened?”
Ethan and Kate lowered Ned down to the floor. His head flopped back, and his arms rolled out to the side, his fingers loose.
“Jesus! What happened,” Will said placing his fingers on Ned’s wrist. “It’s weak. Ned?”
Silence.
“Ned!” Will repeated.
Ned’s lips parted, and his jaw slackened. He grabbed his wrist again but dropped it to press his palms against Ned’s sunken chest.
“Oh my God,” Emily whimpered as she chewed her fingernails.
Will stopped and pressed his ear to Ned’s chest. He shook his head as he rose up and started compressions again.
If Will noticed Ned’s head roll to the side, his eyes half-open, he ignored it.
“Will,” Ethan said breaking the silence. He placed his hand on Will’s shoulder, but Will abruptly jerked it off. “He’s gone.”
“No,” Will said still pushing down on the man’s chest. “I can… I just… all I need….”
Will pulled back. He placed his hands on his knees as his shoulders rounded forward. Will knew Ethan was right. He knew Ned was gone.
There was a rustling behind Kate that sounded loud in the silence. She turned and saw Sullivan digging through the backpack Kate had been using as a pillow.
“What are you doing?” Kate asked as she reached down and yanked the bag out of his hand by the strap.
A small ripping noise sliced through the air, and several bottles dropped onto the ground rattling as they stopped at Kate’s feet. She looked at Sullivan with wide eyes, but he shook his head as he stood.
“I was getting Will some water,” he said holding the plastic bottle out toward Kate. “That’s all!”
Will reached back and picked up one of the bottles. His eyes squeezed together as he peered at the handwritten labels in the darkness.
“What is it?” Ethan asked picking up an inhaler. He turned it in his hands as he looked at it.
“Heart medicine,” Will said softly. He swallowed, but it looked as though it was painful.
Claire stepped up next to Ethan and tapped his shoulder. “Can I have that?”
Ethan glanced at Kate and then at Will before shrugging and handing her the inhaler. She smiled and stuffed it into her pocket.
Will held up another bottle. “Anti-depressants and this one is typically given to patients with diabetes.” He looked over at Sullivan. “These were in the bag?”
“I don’t know anything about it, they fell out when she pulled the bag away!” Sullivan said holding his palms up.
“Why do we have these?” Will asked.
Emily’s arms were crossed as she leaned back against the wall. “If no one needs those….”
“Needs what?” Will asked sharply.
“The anti-depressants,” Emily said, her voice floating through the air like a feather. “Before all this, that was my prescription.”
Sullivan released a loud sigh. “Those were mine.”
“Which ones?” Will said, but his eyes were already on the diabetes medication.
Sullivan held out his hand and looked at the bottle. “I haven’t had them in a while. When I ate Kate’s bar… I needed it.”
Will stood up and looked at the last bottle in his hand. His eyes slowly shifted down until they rested on Ned’s still body.
“And the heart medicine was for Ned,” Will said. The silence grew thicker until Will raised his arm and threw the small plastic bottle against the wall. “God dammit! This could have saved him.”
Kate reached out and placed her hand on Will’s forearm. “We don’t know that.”
“Why didn’t they tell us about the medicine?” Will asked running his fingers through his already wild hair.
“Maybe they would think you wouldn’t take us if they did,” Claire said with a shrug.
“Is this what the evaluation was about?” Kate asked.
Claire shook her head. “They didn’t ask me. That woman though, she seemed to know a lot without asking.”
“She was good at guessing,” Ethan growled.
“So good she could pick the correct medicines?” Will countered. “I don’t think so.”
Ethan clenched his fist at his side. “How do you know so much about all of this anyway? About medicine? Helping Ned?”
“I didn’t help Ned,” Will said anger darkening his eyes.
“He was a nurse,” Kate said looking down at her feet before Will could scold her with his eyes.
“Not that it makes any difference,” Will said as he sat down on the floor resting his wrists on his knees.
Kate sat down next to him. She wanted to comfort him, but she couldn’t with all the eyes on them.
Sullivan walked over to the candle and poured the contents of his bottle into his hand. He started chuckling.
“What is it?” Ethan asked.
“Apparently they couldn’t spare much. This won’t help. At least not much,” Sullivan said pouring the pills back into the bottle. He tucked it into his front pocket and placed his hand over it protectively.
“Guess they felt better sending along something even though they probably knew it wouldn’t be enough,” Kate said.
Ethan pressed his fingertips against his forehead. “There was probably plenty in the stupid storage facility. Bottles and bottles.”
“Let’s go back there… tell them what they can do with their little gift,” Sullivan said.
“We’re not going back,” Ethan said.
“What? Why not? It wasn’t a fair trade,” Sullivan said his chin jutting outward.
Kate stood holding her hands out. The room felt warmer as everyone’s blood started to boil.
“It was a fair trade,” Kate said.
“For you,” Emily said shifting her eyes away.
Kate cocked her head to the side. “I didn’t see you stepping forward to lead.”
“Kate’s right,” Ethan said stepping forward. “What’s done is done. If we go back there, they’ll just pull out their guns. Not to mention I’m not even sure we can get back there with that crowd of Unholy that might still be between them and us.”
“So, what do we do?” Sullivan asked.
“We keep going,” Ethan said.
Sullivan released a laugh from deep inside. “Going to what?”
Ethan opened his mouth but snapped it shut. His shoulder rose, hardening for a moment before he released his breath allowing them to sink back down.
“When we figure it out, you’ll be the first to know,” Kate said, raising a brow. “Don’t forget you have the option to leave anytime you want. No one is keeping you here against your will.”
Kate gestured to the door, but Sullivan looked away. She straightened her spine.
“That goes for anyone,” Kate said. “If you don’t want to be here, go. I have nothing to offer anyone, except the opportunity not to travel alone. None of us are promised a tomorrow, but I think it’s fair to say we all want one. Maybe if we’re together, we’ll be more likely to get one.”
Everyone looked down at their feet. Nikki took Jasper’s hand into hers and smiled at Kate.
Ethan stood next to Kate, their shoulders touched as he looked toward the window. He cleared his throat.
“Get some rest,” Ethan said. “Morning will be here before you know it.”
“What do we do about him?” Emily said rubbing her upper arm with her palm.
“Ned?” Will asked with a sharpness to his voice.
Emily nodded.
Ethan walked across the floor and pulled the dusty sheet off the bed. He frowned as he draped it over Ned’s body.
“Shouldn’t we bury him or something?” Emily asked.
“With what?” Sullivan asked shaking his head slightly.
“I don’t know,” Emily whined. “Who can sleep next to a dead body?”
Sullivan rolled his eyes.
“We can’t do much, putting him outside will be like bait to them. We don’t have a shovel, not to mention us being outside would also be like bait,” Ethan said, letting out a slow breath. “Lay down. Try to get some rest.”
After a while, everyone settled down. Kate was pretty sure Emily popped one of her pills when she heard a soft gulp turn into a heavy cough.
Will hadn’t moved. His head still hung low, and Kate knew he was blaming himself for not having saved Ned.
She didn’t want him to feel bad. It wasn’t his fault. If they would have known about the medicine… and then again maybe that wouldn’t have helped.
At least where Ned was, he wouldn’t have to worry about running from The Unholy. He was safe from their poison, unlike the rest of them.
Kate rested her head down on the backpack. She needed sleep because she needed to be ready for what tomorrow would bring.
Chapter 16
The sun was just inching over the horizon when the group set out. They hadn’t known what to do with Ned’s body, so they left it inside the house. Hopefully, if The Unholy somehow got inside, they wouldn’t have any interest in him now that he’d passed.
They walked in a large cluster through the trees and out into a clearing. It wasn’t long before they found a road. Grass grew over the edges, and there were thick cracks in the pavement that looked like black bolts of lightning, but it had to lead somewhere.
What they didn’t know, was if it led anywhere they’d even want to be. They debated for a short time as they walked down the road. Some worried there would be trouble at the other end of the road, and others had hoped there would be food, water, medicine, maybe even help.
Kate didn’t even know what she wanted to be at the other end. A bed. A place where she could put her head down without constant worry. Somewhere she could sit down and be with Ethan. Reconnect.
Everything felt strained and stressful. She didn’t blame anyone but herself. What they were dealing with was her fault. It all spiraled out of control when she killed Simon.
The mess they were all in was because of her actions, at least that’s what she believed. And she also believed she was a terrible person for wanting to run away from all of it to be on her own.
Kate wanted to convince them they’d be better off without her, but she knew Ethan wouldn’t ever let her go. Or Will for that matter. But they must have been able to see her weakness by now. Her faults. Her mistakes. They should have been sending her on her way.
“You okay?” Ethan asked squinting as he turned to her. The sun was bright… blinding… warm.
“Tired I guess,” Kate said responding quickly.
“I think we all are,” Ethan said rubbing her shoulder.
Kate smiled, but her thoughts drifted back to what things had been like before. She’d been on her own, and things had gotten difficult, but she didn’t have to worry about anyone except for herself.
Now, she didn’t know what to do, or where to go. What she wanted was different from what each one of them wanted, or at least that was what she assumed.
“It’s weird,” Ethan said glancing at the group over his shoulder. He turned back and faced the wide-open road in front of them. “I’m standing here right next to you, but I miss you.”
Kate completely understood the feeling even though she couldn’t put it into words. The only thing she could do was let out a frustrated sigh.
“Things will get better,” Ethan said.
“You don’t know that. We could end up in a place just like before. Another camp led by another crazy person,” Kate said. “Maybe that’s all any of us have to look forward to.”
“I won’t let that happen to us,” Ethan said looking into Kate’s eyes.
Kate swallowed and looked away. “Us, as in me and you, or all of us?”
“Especially you and me.”
“Maybe we should have gone with Laura and Tommy,” Kate said.
“Maybe,” Ethan replied. “Is that what you want for us? A place of our own, to hide away from the world. Struggling to find supplies?”
Kate chewed her cheek for a moment. “I think so. What else is out there for any of us? There is no one out there working to rebuild the world we once had. Look around,” Kate said waving her hand, “it’s all gone.”
“If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll do,” Ethan said.
“What about everyone else?”
“Are you asking about everyone, or Will specifically?”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Everyone, but that includes Will. We can’t just abandon them. Only Jasper is armed. It would be wrong.”
She couldn’t look at him for fear he’d recognize that there was a small part deep inside that was entertaining the idea. But she couldn’t do that to any of them considering none of them would even be in this position if it hadn’t been for her.
The one thing she couldn’t shake from her mind was the fact that there might not be anything out there. Maybe what Simon had created was all there had been. For all she knew, The Unholy had spread so far and wide that everything had been destroyed. Maybe she’d be stuck wandering with the group for eternity… perhaps she was in purgatory for the murder she’d committed.
“What’s that?” Emily murmured from close behind Kate. She hadn’t hear
d her approach, and it caused a shiver to run up Kate’s spine.
“I’m not sure,” Kate said narrowing her eyes as she focused on the small black dot in the distance. It appeared to be moving. Its shape rocked back and forth slowly as the dot seemed to increase in size.
“Stay back,” Ethan said stretching out his arms as if he were herding them.
There was no chance that the dot hadn’t seen them, but it continued forward seemingly without fear. It was strange to Kate that the dot would keep moving toward them when there was no doubt it could see just how outnumbered it was.
Kate’s eyes carefully scanned the ditches, and between the scattered debris at the sides of the road. She tried to peer into the thickened weeds, but she didn’t see anything.
When the dot was close enough, Kate could see that it was a man. He had a long beard, and a bandage wrapped around the outside of his leg. The man was pulling a wooden cart behind him.
“What should we do?” Emily asked in a hushed voice. “Should we turn back?”
Kate shook her head.
Emily grabbed Kate’s shoulder and pulled until she faced her. “He could be dangerous!”
“He’s outnumbered,” Kate said.
Emily’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something, but Ethan turned and set his eyes on her. Emily jerked back as if he’d said something hurtful even though he hadn’t opened his mouth. She seemed to sink away as she disappeared behind Claire.
“It’s going to be fine,” Ethan said, his voice as rough as the road under their feet. Kate caught him glance back at Jasper, and she didn’t miss the small nod Jasper offered him.
She wanted to ask Ethan what the look had meant, but the dot was drawing nearer. So close in fact that he was no longer a dot, and now she could see he was smiling.
“Be prepared,” Ethan said in a hushed voice that was meant only for Kate.
Kate saw Will step up to her other side out of the corner of her eye. She turned, and they locked eyes for a brief moment before she refocused on the man with the cart.
“I always am,” Kate said, but she wasn’t even sure if she believed her own words.
The man stopped at least twenty feet away from them. He held up his hand, palm outward.
Falling Darkness Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller - Books 1-3 Page 42