Chapter 8 #4
I followed him down an aisle, letting my gaze drift over his tall form. To have someone use their size and strength to keep me safe would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. And now…
Now it was all I could think about.
“I think this was a general store of some kind. It’s pretty slim, but there’s a chance we’ll find shoes.” His deep voice carried in the stillness.
It was dark in here, just a few shafts of sunlight sneaking through holes in the walls and ceiling.
The air was different back here. Heavier.
“Holy shit, I think I see some shoes.” The smile he flashed my way stole my breath.
The length of his strides grew until I wasn’t able to keep up with him, but I tried. He was almost at the end of the aisle when the blood in my veins buzzed with that familiar, uncomfortable feeling.
No.
“Cain, wait!”
A throaty snarl sounded in the dark, the sound of shuffling echoing from the pitch black.
No!
How could I have missed this?
I sprinted down the aisle, then went flying forward onto my hands and knees when my shoe got caught on something. Cain shouted, and I ripped my head up to see one of the Corrupted with its teeth clamped around his hand.
“No!” I cried, my blood filling with pure terror. I pushed to my feet, nausea roiling in my gut, and shot toward him. I couldn’t breathe.
I drew Cain’s machete from his waist and brought the blade down on the back of the Corrupted’s neck, severing its head from its body.
“Get back, Bowen!”
No. I wouldn’t get back, I needed to protect him, this was my fault—
More. There were more, there were—
I swung at the next one that came out of the darkness, the scream pouring out of me saturated with raw fury.
The blade caught it on the shoulder, barely halting its approach.
I drew back and swung again, hacking at its leg, this time hitting the mark.
It reached for me with a hiss, snatching the front of my shirt and dragging me down with it as it fell.
I yelled and started smashing the handle of the machete into its face. It caved in almost instantly, black blood spattering across my face and getting in my mouth. I kept hitting it until there was nothing left to hit, then staggered to my feet, looking for the next one.
This was my fault.
It was my fault, all my fault, all my fault, all my fault, all—
“Bowen!”
Cain’s body was curled around mine, those big hands covering my own and holding me still. His chest moved against my back like a heartbeat as he panted in my ear.
“They’re dead. They’re gone. It’s done. You can put that down, it’s done, you’re okay,” he rasped, smoothing his thumbs over my knuckles.
When I saw the blood beading on the back of his hand, a sob burst out of me and I dropped the machete to grab his hand.
There was a roaring in my ears. Cain spoke, but it was muffled. A choked sound erupted from my throat, and I delicately held his hand in my trembling fingers, staring at the bite.
No. No, no, no, this was all my fault. If I’d just—
What if he cut off his hand? Would that stop the virus from spreading? We had to do it now, to—
“Hey. Hey, hey, hey, calm down. It’s okay. I’ll be fine. It doesn’t affect me.”
He swiveled me around and splayed his hands over either side of my face, but his hand, we had to—to—
“Cain?” I gasped.
He cupped my cheek, then gripped my chin when I didn’t look at him. I raised my eyes to his. He was fuzzy in front of me, and I didn’t know…
Wait.
“What?” I licked my lips, glancing from his hand to his face and back again.
“I’m immune. The virus doesn’t affect me.”
The roaring in my ears began to die down, but I was still having trouble breathing. “You’re…you’re immune?”
Cain nodded. “Yeah. My dad found me right after a storm when I was really little, and I’d already been bitten and soaked in the rain, but I didn’t turn. He waited days, took me home and cared for me, thinking I’d turn at any moment. But I never did. I’m not a carrier, either. Just immune.”
His thumb stroked my chin as I stared at him, and when his words fully processed, it was like an enormous weight had been lifted off my chest. I swayed forward, dizzy with relief.
My forehead fell against his chest, and when he cradled the back of my head, holding me to him, it took a long time to realize the wetness against my face wasn’t just tears, it was also blood.
I pulled away, and Cain grimaced as he looked at me. “Yeah, we’re gonna need a nice long soak in the river when we get back.”
He didn’t look any better; congealed blood had splattered under his jaw and up his left cheek.
The panic that had seized me the moment I saw the Corrupted biting him wouldn’t fade. I struggled to focus, to try and sense if there were any other Corrupted around, but my mind and body were completely shot, drenched in an all-consuming fear as thick as tar.
Cain sifted his fingers through my hair over and over again. “It’s okay,” he said, staring into my eyes. Willing me to believe it. “You’re okay.” He rubbed his thumb beneath my left eye, a tiny smile lifting his lips. “I wanted to protect you but you beat me to it. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I nodded, turning with him as he repositioned his pack under his bow.
A noise from the back of the building made me still.
There weren’t any more Corrupted. I knew that intrinsically. Had I missed one? No, it wouldn’t have kept hiding after all that commotion.
So what was that…?
I swiveled around, unease slithering across my shoulders, searching the darkness for whatever had made that sound. Listening for another one, wondering if I’d imagined it.
“Bowen?”
I whipped my head around to find Cain standing in the doorway. His front was bathed in shadows, the sun shining on his back, limning him in a brilliant gold.
He looked like he didn’t belong in this world. Like he’d come from somewhere better.
Maybe he had.
“You coming?”
I looked back into the darkness, then shook my head. It was probably another squirrel or something.
Cain smiled at me and held out his hand, and when I slipped my fingers into his, the rest of the world faded away.