They’d only narrowly escaped the crowd when they’d been hiding in the RV. There were only so many chances they’d get before their luck would run out.
As they made their way through the trees, they saw a small clearing. The ground was bumpy and muddy… it was some kind of field.
“We’re too late,” Ethan said grabbing Kate’s arm before she stepped out between the trees.
It took her a second before she realized that The Unholy were feasting on Emily and Claire. Sullivan was missing. Some of them stood there looking down at their unmoving corpses. A few more were crouched down with their faces digging into their flesh.
“They’ll turn,” Kate said, setting the back of her hand in front of her nose. She could smell that the process had already started.
She counted seven Unholy plus the three on the ground that would turn soon if they weren’t eradicated. Kate wouldn’t have been worried to take them out before she knew what some of The Unholy were capable of. Now, she knew that if one of them let out a scream, she’d be risking all their lives.
“Let’s go,” Ethan said pulling her back. “They’ll wander off.”
Her feet felt stuck to the ground. If it were her, she’d crave a blade to her brain… she couldn’t help but think that Emily and Claire would want the same.
“It was their choice to leave,” Ethan said as if he could read Kate’s mind.
Kate pressed her lips together, so she didn’t let out a sigh. Her eyes zeroed in on the bags lying on the ground near their bodies. Ethan followed her gaze.
“We’ll get them in the morning,” Ethan said tugging on her arm.
Kate nodded reluctantly and let Ethan pull her back into the trees away from The Unholy. Away from their supplies.
They made their way back to the barn in silence. The night was quiet, and Kate was almost sure she could hear the sad groans as Emily, and Claire turned into The Unholy.
As they walked up to the barn, Will pulled open the door and waved them closer. Jasper was standing behind him with his hand pressed against the back of his head.
“Hurry!” Will said. His voice floated through the silent night air. “We heard them.”
Ethan grabbed Kate’s hand and picked up his pace to a jog which Kate easily matched. When they got to the door, Will jumped out and pushed his way between them.
Kate was knocked to the side and took several clumsy steps to the side before she regained her balance. She turned and saw Will on the ground next to an Unholy. It wasn’t just any Unholy, it was Sullivan, but he’d turned.
“Jesus,” Ethan said his blade in hand as he grabbed Sullivan by the back of his shirt and yanked him away from Will. He didn’t hesitate to plunge his blade into Sullivan’s skull.
The blackness oozed down the side of his face, and Ethan pushed him away. He reached his hand down to Will to help him up. Will swallowed but took his hand and followed them inside.
“That was close,” Ethan said after they closed the door and locked it.
Will stepped to the back of the room, his hand over his shoulder. Kate couldn’t stop staring at him. If he hadn’t acted as fast as he had, Kate wouldn’t be standing there.
“Thank you,” Kate said, ignoring the knot in her stomach.
“Of course,” Will said keeping his eyes focused on Kate. “I’d do anything for you.”
Kate smiled even though she was sure Will’s words had agitated Ethan. She hoped he wouldn’t make a big deal about them because after all Will had just risked his life to save her.
Will winced and his body jerked. “I don’t have much time,” he said, letting his hand fall away from his shoulder. Even in the darkness, Kate could see the blackened veins spreading up his neck.
Kate gasped so sharply it felt as though it had pierced through her lungs. Both hands covered her mouth as tears flowed down her eyes.
Ethan sniffed hard and took a step toward Will. His fingers wrapped around the knife handle.
“Wait,” Will said holding up his palm. “I know what you need to do, but just give me a moment. A moment with Kate.”
Chapter 21
Ethan didn’t turn to look at Kate, but the whiteness of his knuckles vanished. His shoulder slumped down, and he stood in front of Kate.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ethan said.
Icy tears streamed down Kate’s cheeks. She couldn’t stop them, not that she had tried. Her fingers trembled, and she wasn’t sure how much longer her legs would hold her up.
“Will,” she choked out. “You can’t… there must be something….”
She stepped closer and eyed the wound at the top of his shoulder. It felt as though she could see the blackness spreading throughout his body. The arm of the shoulder that had been bitten was already turning gray.
“Kate,” Will said taking her hand into his. The one that still looked perfectly normal. It was warm, and she couldn’t stop staring at it. She wanted to stop the poison.
“This is my fault,” she said forcing herself to look into his eyes. They were just as bright blue as ever.
Will chuckled. “Please, this should have happened at least thirty times before I’d even met you. My luck has run out.”
“You should have let him take me,” Kate said between tearful gasps.
“Are you kidding? I get to go see my boy.” Will smiled, but she could see the fear and pain in his eyes. “I just wish it didn’t hurt so bad.”
Will doubled over, and Ethan was at her side, ready to do what was necessary. He straightened himself and locked eyes with Ethan.
“I’m okay, but it’s moving fast. Take good care of her,” Will said, and each muscle in Ethan’s face tightened one by one as he fought back his own tears.
“Of course,” Ethan said. “I’m really sorry.”
“Sorry?” Will asked.
Ethan swallowed. “For being such an asshole to you.”
“Don’t give it a second thought. I know with these good looks it’s hard not to see me as a threat,” Will said smiling as the veins in the right side of his face webbed outward.
Will reached out his good hand, and the men shook. It felt to Kate like her heart was actually breaking.
“Will,” she said. Kate wanted to beg him not to leave. She didn’t want to lose him.
“I know,” Will said. His body jerked to the side in a way that seemed impossible. “Okay. It’s time.”
“No,” Kate said. “Please.”
Will swallowed and fought to keep the small smile that was on his face in place. “Keep going. Don’t give up. He’s waiting for me.”
Ethan raised up the blade but hesitated. He shook his head, and Will grabbed his hand with his good one, tightening his fingers around Ethan’s wrist.
“I’ll help you,” Will said.
“Okay,” Ethan managed to eek out the word.
“Jasper,” Will choked out in a voice that hadn’t sounded like his. “Take her away.”
Jasper nodded and grabbed Kate’s wrist. She yanked it away, but he wrapped his arms around her body and forced her to turn away.
Kate couldn’t stop crying. When she heard his body fall to the floor, there wasn’t anything she could do to stop her knees from giving out.
Nikki and Jasper helped her to the wall. It was like she was a rag doll and they were propping her up on a shelf. She barely recognized them through her tears and the pain.
It felt like a fog set in around her as Jasper walked over to Ethan. They whispered for several moments before Jasper came back to tell Nikki something. To Kate, it felt as though he was speaking another language, but he went back over to Ethan, and she knew what they were doing. They were taking Will outside.
He wouldn’t turn. The Unholy wouldn’t want anything to do with him, but he deserved better than to be laying out near some random barn.
It wasn’t right.
It wasn’t fair.
But there wasn’t a damn thing Kate could do about it.
She wip
ed away the tears, but they appeared faster than she could clear them away. Garrett tried not to stare at them as Nikki sat down next to her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly.
They all sat in silence. The only noise Kate could hear was the ringing in her ears.
If she and Ethan wouldn’t have gone out there to try to save the others, Will would still be alive. He wouldn’t have died saving her. Kate believed it was her fault that Will was gone, and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to forgive herself.
She had to hold on to his words. He was going to see his son again, and it looked as though he’d honestly believed it. Kate hoped it was true, because knowing he would, might be the only thing that could hold her together.
Will had been one of the good guys, and Kate knew there weren’t many of them left. Or at least that was how it had seemed. He was someone she could trust, and that was definitely a rarity.
With him gone, it felt as though there was a part of her missing. Maybe that was how Will had felt after losing his son. To Kate, it felt like someone had taken a vital organ and her body was struggling to function.
Losing people had been a normal occurrence, but losing Will was painful. Torture. She’d never find another person like him.
Kate wasn’t sure how long Ethan and Jasper had been gone, but when she heard the door open, she looked up at them. Through the fog surrounding her, they looked different.
Her eyes were sore as she tried to blink away the surrounding haze. The pain that pulled at her fibers made her want to scream out in pain, but of course, she couldn’t. She had to keep still. Silent.
Ethan sat down next to Kate, leaving several inches of space between them. He coughed and sniffed hard as he turned in her direction, unable to meet her red eyes.
“When we were out there, there was a light inside the farmhouse,” Ethan said, his voice soft but gritty.
“There were shadows inside,” Jasper added.
Kate swallowed so hard she was afraid she was going to choke, but the feeling passed. Her fingertips moved up to her throat, and she pressed down as if forcing her voice to find its way out.
“What are you saying,” she asked.
“I’m not exactly sure,” Ethan said. He twisted his fingers together intensely before pulling them apart and pressing his palms down hard against his thighs. “But I think there are people inside. People living here.”
“So, what do we do now?” Nikki asked.
“I don’t know,” Ethan said shaking his head. “In the morning… we’ll decide in the morning.”
Nikki sighed. “What if we don’t make it to morning?”
“Nikki!” Jasper said, his eyes bulging out of his head.
“What?” Nikki said gesturing at the wall where the others had been. “We’ve been halved.”
Kate’s stomach twisted thinking not of the others but of Will. The others had done something incredibly stupid, Will had done something beyond brave.
“Sorry,” Nikki said lightly elbowing Kate. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine,” Kate said.
Garrett stood over them, his arms crossed and his eyes on the door. “Maybe I should go out there and check out the situation. Maybe I can see who’s inside.”
“No way,” Ethan said shaking his head. “We’ve lost enough tonight.”
“Maybe they can help us,” Garrett said unable to disguise the strange mix of fear and hope in his voice. “I’m fast… maybe I can learn something.”
Ethan’s jaw tensed. “Get the idea out of your head.”
“I want to help,” Garrett said as the veins popped out of his arms.
“If you want to help, keep watch,” Ethan said looking at Kate. It was almost as if he was waiting for her to object, but Kate didn’t. Even if she would have had the energy, she still wouldn’t have argued. They were going to need the help now more than ever.
Garrett offered him a single nod. “You got it.”
He walked over to the door and peered out of the window. Jasper sat down on the other side of Nikki. She sighed as she rested her head down on his shoulder.
“You should try to get some rest too,” Ethan said, pulling Kate closer. She couldn’t help but stiffen when he touched her.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be,” Ethan said. “I was such a jerk to him, and he saved your life. He just tackled The Unholy, no weapon in hand or anything.”
Kate swallowed down the tears that threatened to flood out of her eyes. She was surprised that there was even anything left.
“That should have been me,” Ethan said. “I should have been there to protect you. I never even heard the thing coming.”
“Neither did I. If I wouldn’t have made us go out there,” Kate said pressing her eyelids down tightly to squeeze away the images. She didn’t want to relive what happened, but it kept replaying over and over in her mind.
Ethan wrapped both of his arms around her. The hug he gave her was just as much for him as it was for her.
“I should have been nicer to him,” Ethan said, his voice cracking.
Kate’s lip quivered as she sucked in a harsh breath. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Ethan nodded and eased her down to the ground with him. They laid there together, waiting for morning, her back against Ethan’s chest and his arm holding her tightly in place as if he was afraid she might just vanish.
But disappearing from Ethan was about the last thing in the world she wanted.
Chapter 22
The next morning, they were standing around waiting to go outside. It was like they were waiting for some kind of sign that would tell them it would be safe.
They decided that first they’d attempt to recover the backpacks, and then they were going to go to the house. Together, they were going to walk right up to the front door and knock.
But after everything that happened, none of them were all that excited to leave the barn. Kate pushed the thoughts of Will’s body out in the weeds from her mind as she combed her fingers through her hair.
“Okay,” Ethan said pacing around like he was about to be in a boxing match. “Are we ready to do this?”
“You guys can wait here,” Garrett said. “Maybe it’s better if I go alone. Then if something happens it’ll just be me.”
“And what if you get jumped along the way? How many Unholy have you eradicated?” Ethan asked.
Garrett looked away. “I wasn’t given the opportunity. Simon thought I wasn’t ready, but he was wrong. He was wrong about a lot.”
Kate cocked her head to the side as she looked Garrett up and down. He was young, at least he looked young, but he seemed to have a certain fight in him.
“I always get looked at like that,” Garrett said nodding at Kate. “I’m twenty-two, and just before all this shit happened, I dropped out of college. My dad wanted me to be a lawyer, and I wanted to piss him off. If you give me the opportunity, you’ll see I’m a lot tougher than most people give me credit for.”
“Understood, but we’re all sticking together,” Ethan said. “At least for now.”
Garrett offered him a single nod. “You got it. Ready when you are.”
Nikki’s hand was at her neck twisting her black necklace charm between her fingers. She was trying to hide it, but she was terrified.
Jasper rubbed her back, and she smiled up at him. Nikki didn’t want them to see just how frightened she was.
Kate wasn’t sure how she felt. She was still numb, and if she let it, the pain could overtake her.
“Ready,” Kate said.
“Let’s go,” Ethan said leading the way. He hesitated at the door for a moment before he looked out of the small clean spot on the window.
His hand moved up, and he unlocked the door. Kate’s heart jumped inside her chest as he opened the door and the morning air hit her face.
The air was filled with the stench of The Unholy. It was so thick it felt like syrup at the back
of her throat that almost made her gag.
“It’s terrible,” Nikki whispered. “How many of them were there?”
“Not that many,” Ethan said shaking his head. He continued toward the trees, leading the group through the area where they’d seen The Unholy feasting on Emily and Claire.
The only sounds in the area were those they made as they waded through the tall grasses. As they stepped out toward the clearing, Kate could see that Emily and Claire’s bodies were no longer on the ground. They were out there somewhere, and Kate hoped she wouldn’t be the one to come across them.
“They’re gone,” Ethan said, and it took a moment for Kate to realize he wasn’t talking about Emily and Claire.
“Who would have taken them?” Kate said mostly mumbling to herself. It wasn’t like Emily or Claire would have any interest in the supplies. They wouldn’t have been smart enough to even think to hide them after they’d been turned. Nor would they probably have even cared to.
Ethan didn’t answer, but his head turned toward the house. Kate followed his gaze and stepped closer.
In the daylight from the clearing, she could see the house better. It was a rather large, two-story building with windows on every wall. She could tell, even at their distance, they were boarded up.
“They must have been out here,” Ethan said.
“Do you think they heard the commotion last night?” Kate asked.
“Let’s go find out,” Ethan said taking Kate’s hand as they stepped out into the open.
Kate couldn’t take her eyes off of the home. It was like she could feel eyes on them as they approached.
They were about halfway to the home when Kate and Ethan nearly tripped over something. Ethan regained his balance and helped steady Kate as he looked down.
“What the…,” Ethan’s voice faded as his moved along the ground.
There was a long line of eradicated Unholy that seemed to go on forever.
“Guess we found the source of the smell,” Kate said.
Falling Darkness Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller - Books 1-3 Page 45