9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Micah
T his side of winter isn’t pretty.
In fact, from my vantage point, it’s worse than I had imagined.
I squat on the opposite side of the meadow, soaking wet from the snow. The sun beams down on me, with blue skies soaring above, as I watch two survivors I barely recognize sitting by a fire.
Wild, hungry, and wind-burned.
Soulless.
It’s like winter sucked every ounce of life out of them and spat frozen zombies out the other side. It’s creepy as fuck watching them transfixed by the fire without blinking, staring at nothing but smoke and embers since the wood is too wet to burn. Unmoving in a way that’s not natural.
No hope exists here anymore—or anywhere. It will be a long, slow, agonizing descent for all of us now. This island is killing them, and soon, they will turn on each other. The sooner they realize that, the better.
The walk back here was treacherous, even for me. The spring melt made it worse than the trek on that cold winter night when I brought London away from here. My calf muscles are burning as I squat in place for nearly half an hour, watching them, not ready to make my presence known until I have eyes on everyone. I sit detached, suppressing the weight of my emotions pressing against me. I refuse to let them consume my mind.
It’s every man for himself now, and I honestly don’t give a damn about the people who helped my brother’s killer.
I notice Thomas first, based on his sheer size. He seems like he is doing just fine—physically, at least—as he rises and stalks across the field to what looks like their cooking site, set up in the middle of the meadow. He’s down about thirty pounds, his hair to his shoulders and his face covered by the hood of a New Ocean hockey sweater. I grimace when he turns and I get a good view of his missing hand, which was healing before I left him. I made sure of that.
Still, it pains me to see it. It reminds me of all the blood soaking into the ground around him and the agony he endured. The putrid stank of the puss that seeped out of his injury. London covered in it as I severed his wrist. It’s a memory I’d rather forget, so it was easier not to be around him.
Jade rises from her spot by the fire and follows him to the creek. The water is high, nearly cresting the bank from the snowmelt. She looks skinny, too, as to be expected.
Then James emerges from what used to be my shelter, looking strong and sturdy, his face all serious and shit.
Jade, Thomas, James.
Ollie, Nathan, and Serena are still not accounted for.
I scan the rest of the camp, finding their food covered by a tarp, and I have to say, I’m impressed they didn’t eat all of it. They have a bit left, but not nearly enough to last them more than a couple of weeks unless they can figure out how to sustain themselves solely on the land. The site itself seems well-organized and intact, though.
I make a mental note of how easy it would be to sneak in here and take everything. They must not realize that I am an enemy stalking them because I’ve been eying up that food for the last hour. London and I could survive out here for so much longer with only the crumbs they have left. They would be fine since the creek has plenty of fish, and I left them a small knife to make do with.
Plus, my shelter is well-insulated—they are alive because of it. They should be thanking me; I built it with the intent of surviving in it myself and used fabric from the airplane to shield it from the cold weather. And it was good enough for me, so it should be good enough for them.
You’re fucking welcome.
Serena finally follows James out of the shelter, and the four of them sit together now, engaged in conversation. Muffled voices carry across the meadow. I don’t want to make myself known until I have eyes on every person alive or, at the very least, their dead body. I can’t take any chances without knowing their headspace.
Desperate people do weird shit.
I also take note that Ezra and Naomi aren’t here, either, which doesn’t surprise me. After what Ezra did to Thomas, I can’t see them welcoming him with open arms. However, I am surprised Naomi is not here with Serena. Thinking of Naomi always triggers a subtle twinge of shame in me.
Fuck, I did that girl dirty.
I don’t hate her, despite London’s contempt for her. She’s the only person I am curious about other than London, although I’d never admit that to London because I know she’d castrate me.
A snap of twigs has me on full alert as Ollie slips out from the forest, a mere ten feet from where I’m hiding. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end because I didn’t even fucking see him and he could have stumbled right on me.
I have to be more careful.
I sink deeper into the shadows and continue watching. A few minutes pass, and they still don’t notice me. James and Serena are cuddled by the fire. I can’t really tell what state they are in, but they look healthy enough. James was always a tough little shit, so it’s unsurprising that he’s taken care of her.
Suddenly, I realize I’ve only seen Ollie. No sign of Nathan yet, and he’s never too far away from Ollie. Those two are stuck together like glue.
So, where the fuck is Nathan ?
I watch them for about ten minutes until I am certain Nathan isn’t with them, and I then step forward just as Thomas and Jade step back to the fire.
Thomas sees me first and tilts his head in an unpleasant greeting.
Yeah, I know. I look like shit. So do you, buddy.
He keeps his expression neutral and flexes his jaw. “Where the fuck have you been?”
I step closer, keeping my chin high. “Not even a hi or a how are you? Okay, I see how this is going to go.”
The rest of them snap their heads up and stare at me. I run my hands through the facial hair on my chin and try not to smirk at the peach fuzz on the rest of them. James immediately stands in front of Serena, and the other three exchange looks.
I glare at him, trying not to roll my eyes since sarcasm won’t help the situation. “Relax, Turbo. I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m just here to talk.”
James’s stare is unwavering, and his body language is tense, which is less than ideal for me right now. Especially since I still don’t have eyes on his other dipshit friend. Serena stares at me, all wide-eyed and curious, but says nothing. Jade’s reaction is the one that surprises me the most. Out of all of them, she’s changed the most, and it’s got nothing to do with her appearance. She tilts her head and narrows her eyes at me with an expression I can’t interpret as anything but contempt.
I’m starting to regret making my presence known so soon, but I need information from them, so it’s a risk I’m willing to take.
“Where’s London?” James asks, causing Serena to wince. James seems oblivious to her reaction. I get it; London has that effect on people. Serena has a right to be jealous, but London’s mine. Like fuck I’ll let her near James. I see the way he looks at her.
“She’s safe,” I mutter, keeping my eyes locked on Jade as she jerks her head toward Thomas.
James lifts his spear as if that will scare me and squints while Thomas sits next to him .
Interesting.
“I don’t think I like the fact that she isn’t with you right now,” James says.
I lift my chin slightly. “I don’t really care what you think.”
“Is she alive?” Jade asks, causing me to shift my attention to her. The command in her voice is unmistakable in the way she says it. Jade, the blushing girl who could barely hold a conversation in my presence our whole lives, seems to be the one in charge.
What kind of question is that? And when the fuck did I become the enemy?
My lips curve into a smile. “Yeah, she’s fucking alive.”
They are quiet, all five of them staring at me, waiting for me to do something. I live for awkward silence, so I wait until they get uncomfortable enough to say something.
Surprisingly, it’s Thomas who speaks first. “Why are you here, Micah?”
I relax my tense posture, changing my smirk into a grin, but keep my grip firm on my bone weapon. These aren’t my friends. Not anymore… Not with the frostbite evident on the tips of their ears and noses.
“I came to see if any of you had a razor.” No one laughs, even though I think I’m fucking hilarious.
Thomas jerks to his feet. “This shit isn’t a joke. You both left us out here, man.” He’s eyeing me like he wants to tear me apart. “You’re looking pretty good for someone trapped outside all winter.”
Thomas could mutilate me if he wanted, so I don’t relent on my rigid stance. Thomas would win physically, but I am much quicker and could get him down if needed. But I won’t. He’s pissed at me, sure, but he’s loyal, and ultimately, he won’t hurt me.
James, however, is an entirely different fucking problem as his jaw flexes and his hands shift into fists. “Tell us where she is, Micah. I want to see her. It’s not enough for her to just be alive. She needs people in her life, man. And you’re clearly out of your mind.”
Out of my mind? What gave them that idea? I shake my head. “Not fucking happening. But you can go ahead and tell me where the others are. ”
“That’s not how this is going to work, Micah,” Jade says, tossing another log into the fire, looking almost bored. It’s as if they anticipated this conversation, like they expected me to pay them a visit.
“Tell me, then, Jade, are we going to have a problem?”
They all stare at each other, having some silent conversation like a little fucking family. How cute.
James shakes his head and slides his arm around Serena. “You know what, Micah? You are the fucking problem. We get that you lost Maison, so I’ll give you a pass, but we’ve lost people, too, so apologies if your shit isn’t at the top of our priority list.”
An icy jolt hits my core.
“Nathan didn’t last through the winter, Micah,” Jade says calmly.
Well, fuck.
I keep my face neutral as I stay outside their circle. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I say, and I am genuinely sorry. I guess that explains his absence. I just… don’t have the energy to care. Over the last few minutes, I’ve realized that taking London away was the right call, and so was tying her up in the cabin so they don’t have access to her.
I’ve become the enemy; they blame me for something that was inevitable.
“Why should we tell you anything?” James asks while Thomas grimaces, clearly having turned his loyalty elsewhere. And honestly, that’s fine by me. One less person I have to give a shit about. “And how much food do you have left, Micah?”
I catch Jade’s eyes, the vacant stare she’s giving me. Then she blinks at me twice, which perks my attention.
She’s trying to tell me something.
I focus on the guys, trying not to expose her. It’s time to leave. I won’t get shit from them, not unless I give them something in return. “Well, this was fun. I guess I’ll be seeing you.” I turn my back to them and start walking away with the full intention of circling back to meet Jade, assuming that’s what she was trying to tell me.
“I mean it, Micah,” James yells at me, and I do my best to ignore him, even though I hate empty threats. “Go back to wherever the fuck you and London are hiding and stay away from here. Or better yet, bring London back here, and you fuck off.”
I freeze, my adrenaline spiking. It’s not the reaction they want from me right now. And here I thought I was being nice. Ever so slowly, and probably more theatrically than needed, I turn around and step toward them.
My voice increases an octave, and I suppress the lurch in my stomach. “Listen to me real fucking carefully. I don’t give a fuck about Nigel, Ezra, or any of you. I plan to find them. You can count on that. But if you breathe London’s name again or threaten to take her away from me one more time, I will fucking kill you.” I direct my gaze to Thomas so he can properly comprehend as well. They all jump to their feet at my threats. “I will kill you, too, buddy. You won’t win over her. None of you will.” Thomas visibly tenses, and I jerk my head toward Serena and Jade. “I won’t touch the girls, but if you’re dead, I can’t see them lasting too long out here, so why don’t you back the fuck down.”
Serena’s breath hitches, and she covers her mouth. Jade glares at me, shaking her head and placing a comforting arm around Serena.
The flicker in James’s eyes is the exact emotion I was trying to evoke. Even Thomas stands down, and I draw my eyes to his stumpy wrist, reminding him that I have no qualms about doing what I need to do when pressed. He knows me well enough to believe I’m not fucking around. He’s scared, and right now, I need them to be scared of me. I don’t want them to do anything stupid, like coming to find us.
“I’ll be seeing you,” I say as I walk away for real this time.
I should feel guilty for leaving them and for leaving London the way I did.
But I fucking don’t.
If London had come with me, she would have ended up staying here. She denies it, but I’ve watched her unravel day by day, and she’s better off with me, even if she doesn’t believe it.
I plan on going back to her as soon as possible and making it up to her. She might be mad for a little while, but she won’t be able to resist me once I get my hands on her again.
“Was threatening us really necessary?” Jade asks dryly, without turning around, as I approach her by the river about five minutes away from the others. She must have heard me coming despite my stealth. Her senses are keener than I was expecting. She might look weak, but every single survivor is strong in their own way. Given they are still alive, I can’t underestimate any of them.
She’s peering down the creek and into the dark forest beyond, her gaze meeting the unknown, as if she thinks there is a darker enemy than me lurking somewhere out there. The air carries a chill, and my stomach squeezes as the earliest part of dusk hits the sky, knowing nightfall is only an hour away. Jade kept me fucking waiting.
Cautiously, I pause a few feet behind her, my weapons tucked away in my pack and my hands in my pockets. She still doesn’t bother turning around.
“Yeah, I agree,” I tell her. “That didn’t go well.”
She whips around to face me, her eyebrows pinched together, and I can’t help but smirk.
Her face darkens, and she shoves her finger in my side. “Look at you, laughing. I haven’t seen you even crack a smile the entire time I’ve known you, and you choose this moment to laugh? Nothing about people dying or this situation is funny.”
I pull my hood off in a gesture of neutrality and take a step back, not wanting to admit that her little poke in my ribs hurt a bit. Plus, I did, after all, just threaten to kill all of them, so she’s right to be wary of me. “Let’s keep our hands to ourselves, Jade.” My tone heeds a warning, even though I’m trying to be nice .
She tweaks her head, crossing her arms. “Why? Because you might cut them off?”
Oof . I deserved that.
As she shifts, I get a clear view of her under the layers of clothes she’s wearing. She’s just as thin as everyone else. She’s got this grayish skin tone that has lost all its former brightness, and there is a hint of frostbite on her wind-burned cheeks. I suspect she’s lost a solid twenty pounds since being here, but she’s mentally strong based on the strength in her eyes, although the change in all of us is in our eyes.
“Where have you been, Micah? Can you at least tell me that?”
“No.” I’m especially not telling Jade, as she seems to have a particular bone to pick with me.
She scoffs, and her eyes flash. It’s as if a layer of wildness has seeped into us, blending our boundaries so that we can no longer distinguish where we end and where the wasteland begins. The only difference is that I’ve always been this way.
Finally glaring at me, she shakes her head. “After everything that’s happened, how could you and London abandon us like that? How could you do that to Thomas?”
I cock an eyebrow and step back. It’s actually quite endearing that she missed us so much.
“We had our reasons,” is all I say back to her. “What do you want to tell me? Or were you just twitching your eyes at me so you could give me shit?”
Jade’s nose crinkles when she’s mad, a quirk I hadn’t noticed before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this lit up. I always just remember her being a blubbering mess, but I like this new and improved version of Jade.
Survival suits her.
Her face hardens, her eyes casting off to that distant enemy again. “We barely survived the winter. It was brutal and changed everyone here. You have no idea what we went through or how hard it was. Or how worried I was that he…”
I cock a brow. “He?” The one no one wants to talk about .
Her eyes glaze over. “How worried we were about you,” she whispers, catching herself. I let it slide, although Nigel is more of a taboo topic for me than Maison.
I scoff. “I’m standing here, too, Jade. London and I survived exactly what you did.”
She bites her lip as if reliving those specific memories, and because I do have a shred of humanity left in me, I feel a twinge of guilt for the intense emotions that overtake her.
“Sure, if that’s what you want me to believe, Micah. You can’t blame James and Thomas for being pissed at you. You took the fucking first aid kit and half the food.”
“A third of the food,” I correct her.
She rolls her eyes, and a hint of a forced smile hits her lips. Then she shakes her head as if just remembering how exacerbating I can be. She pauses for a moment, branches shifting in the wind and the babble of the creek hitting what’s left of the ice, and finally, as if it pains her, she asks, “Is London okay?”
“She’s okay.”
She quirks her head. “Just okay? Was it your idea to take her away? Did she want to leave with you?”
I cock a brow at her. “Yes, she did. Sorry she didn’t want to stay with people who helped her boyfriend’s killer . You chose a side as soon as you gave them a third of our food.”
She blows out a breath and shakes her head in my direction, giving me the look I hate the most. I despise being pitied. “That’s not fair, Micah. And I don’t think I ever told you how truly sorry I am for what happened to Maison. He didn’t deserve that ending.”
My insides stir at the mention of Maison, and I quickly suppress any fucking emotion that bubbles up.
I shrug. “Then or now, it doesn’t fucking matter. Every one of us is going to die soon, Jade.”
Her eyes flash, and she pauses for a brief second before speaking. “I have information you might find useful.”
“Really? And what would that be?”
She arches a brow but stays silent. I draw in a long breath and try to contain my anger. If Jade had planned to tell me anything useful about the whereabouts of the others, without wanting something in return, she would have already. I have to pretend I don’t give a shit, even though their whereabouts are exactly what I want to know.
“So, out with it, then. Where the fuck are they?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not telling you unless you make me a promise.”
“I already told you; I’m not telling you where London is.”
She scoffs, and the tone of her voice is like nothing I’ve ever heard from her before. “You two are so into yourselves; it’s sickening. You think this entire island revolves around you.”
I frown. “You mean, it doesn’t?”
Her mouth gapes. “I don’t want another mouth to feed. I said I wanted to know if she was okay, not that I wanted her back with us. She made her choice when she left. What I want is the medical kit, or at least part of it. There was a possibility we could have saved Nathan if we had had it.”
An amused smile forms on my lips at how bossy Jade has become. She really has toughened up; she never would have spoken to me this way before surviving an Alaskan winter.
I cock a brow. “You think a band-aid would have saved Nathan? Because I’ve got news for you, it wouldn’t have mattered. We are all going to die eventually. This island will pick us off one by one if we don’t kill each other over food first. Does Thomas know you’re talking to me?”
She pauses and crosses her arms. “No, he doesn’t. I’m doing this because, despite how mad they are and how much of an asshole you’re being, telling you is the right thing to do. And you are right about the food, Micah. It’s all anyone can think about.”
Maybe for them, but for me, I think about other things. I stop talking now; I wait for her to say something. She is the one who brought me here, and I’m sick of whatever game she’s playing. “If you have something to say, Jade, just say it. Otherwise, I have things to do.”
She’s quiet, contemplating, the wheels turning in her head. A wave of emotion overtakes her. After a few moments, she says, “The six of us had to huddle together for days in those shelters. We barely had enough firewood to sustain two fires. The night we realized that was the night Nathan died. But it was too cold to move him, so we left him there, and we all moved into one shelter. We couldn’t leave the shelter for more than five minutes at a time, so we barely ate. I still don’t have proper feeling in my hands and feet. None of us could lie down, so we had to take turns sleeping to make sure we kept breathing. It was torture, Micah.”
I remember that cold snap; it lasted two weeks and was by far the worst part of the winter. London and I screwed like rabbits for most of it. But what’s her fucking point?
“You’re alive, Jade.” I tap on my chest. “Your heart is still beating—that’s got to count for something.” I scratch my facial hair awkwardly and soften my voice. “Most of you made it. The shelter I left you was warm enough; I made sure of it.” Before I left, I even dug holes in the snow around the shelter to deepen the insulation on top of the layers of upholstery I took from the plane. It was good enough for me, so it should have been good enough for them. I refuse to be blamed for Nathan’s death.
She tenses her shoulders. “Yeah, your shelter saved our lives. I’m not disputing that, Micah.”
I chew the inside of my cheek, my patience wearing thin. “So, what are you getting at? And how do I know that what you are going to tell me is worth giving you part of the medical supplies?”
A tear slides down her icy cheek, and she wipes it away. “They are going to attack us if we don’t give them what they want.”
My stomach is on fire. “How do you know that? Did you see them?”
Her lip quivers before she darts her gaze away from me. “They left us a message.”
“What kind of message?”
She steps toward the riverbank and kicks something a few inches from my feet. At first, I thought it was a rock, but now looking closer—
“We found this in the middle of our site last week. I’m assuming it came from Nigel. It seems like something he would do.” Her voice breaks when she says his name. She has the same fear of him that London does. It’s as if his motive was something deeper than just revenge—like it wasn’t a motive at all but an instinct.
I look down, and my stomach heaves.
A bone, a femur from the looks of it. Human, most likely, probably one of our fallen classmates. I recover from a quick swell of emotions, remembering when I put those souls to rest. I gather myself enough to look at Jade, who is observing me.
“They have the upper hand,” she says quietly, “because we don’t know where they are, and they know exactly where we are. I gave in and dropped off food at the lake, and it seems to have appeased them, or him. I’m not really sure who from that group is still alive, but I’d bet you money Nigel is, and he’s going to great lengths to hide himself.”
“So they are not living at the lake?” I ask, and for some reason, that surprises me.
Jade shakes her head. “It appears they have moved. That’s what I wanted to warn you about in case you decide to go there. Just be alert, Micah.”
“I’m always alert.” I jerk my head toward the camp. “Why couldn’t they tell me this?”
Her eyes blaze. “Because they don’t trust you, and can you really blame them? They’re not worried about the bone threat. They think they can rely on their strength to fight anyone who comes near our camp, including you.”
I flex my jaw. “Well, they’re right. Stop giving them food, Jade. And Nigel’s not that fucking smart.”
She shakes her head. “Yes, he is. Don’t underestimate him, Micah. He’s patient and manipulative. Look what he did to your brother and what he got you to do.”
My pulse flutters as a dangerous swirl develops in my belly.
“What are you talking about? He didn’t make me do shit.”
Her eyes find mine. “You left London alone. You were so desperate for information that you left her vulnerable to him. And he has a strong ally out there, considering what you did to Ezra.”
Well, fuck.
An icy breeze sends a chill through my veins. “They won’t find her,” I say, curling my lip.
I pause as another tear slides down her cheek, and she wipes it away just as fast. Guilty energy is pouring out of her. “What did you do, Jade?” My voice is calm but deadly as I suppress my primal rage.
She wraps her arms around herself, looking like the timid little girl I’m used to. Tears swarm her face now. This is going to end up with me realizing just how fucked it was for me to leave London.
She lets out a sigh. “They might not be scared of Nigel, but I am. It was a really long winter, Micah. I’m terrified, and I just want to live through this. None of us are the same anymore. You have to understand that.”
“What the fuck did you do, Jade?”
Her eyes cast downward. “He wrote something in the mud. A question. I saw it when I went to drop off a can of food, and I answered it.” She swallows hard.
“What was the question?” I ask through gritted teeth, wishing she would just spill it out already.
“The message said, ‘Where is he?’”
I tilt my head, and my voice comes out like steel—strong and cool. “And what did you tell him?”
She can’t even look at me anymore. “ North. ”
It took all my willpower in that moment not to end her. The dark urge was overwhelming before I contained it and watched Jade’s tears of betrayal with a mask of indifference and clenched fists, which is never a good sign for anyone near me in those circumstances. I regained what sliver of humanity I had left and walked away before I did something I might regret. Hopefully, I reminded her that a femur bone is not the worst of her problems and that Nigel isn’t the worst enemy to have on this island.
I’m sure I made my point.
I shove my guilt inward as the sun hovers dangerously low in the sky, knowing I’ve already let London down by not being back by dusk like I had promised.
She’ll have to wait a little longer, even though I’m sure she’s beyond seething by now. As soon as I untie her and she gets her hands on her pointy spear, I’ll be fucked.
I stalked to the lake site as fast as I could, needing to see for myself what was going on there, even though I was heading in the wrong direction.
It’s dusk as I approach the muddy shores of the rocky beach and the familiar forests surrounding it. Long shadows loom over the lake’s edge, the giant mountains glistening in the evening light.
I linger alone in the perimeter, my hood over my head and the winter wind still cutting through my skin. The temperatures are dropping quickly, and I suppress a yawn, knowing I will not be sleeping anytime soon. Nothing will stop me from getting back to London tonight—especially after what Jade told me.
However, I’m not worried about her.
The cabin is well-hidden, stuck in the middle of the thick woods. I barely found it myself, and I have much more experience than any of them regarding wilderness. Even if they got close, locating it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, and that is the only reason I didn’t kill Jade when she admitted to betraying London and me.
A mist swirls over the lake and hovers in the air, creeping over the abandoned camp. At least, it looks abandoned. I’m not so sure.
“Where the fuck did they go?” I mutter, resting my elbows on my knees as I squat.
After a few minutes, I figure it’s safe to walk over to the fire pit, the circle of rocks in the middle of the clearing where the main fire used to burn. The spot where my brother died is just a short distance away .
The snow has melted, exposing the dead, charred earth around the former fire pit. My heart aches for a moment as I absorb what I am seeing—Maison’s dried blood has frozen, the haunting stain marking the spot.
I stare at the blood-stained ground, paralyzed, knowing I let the person who did this to him get away. I can’t bring myself to look away. My eyes don’t seem to blink as I recall that night and relive it at least a hundred times. What I could have done differently, why I consistently fail the few people in this world I actually care about…
Olivia included.
My pulse quickens, and I instinctively start to fortify the shield around my heart, redirecting my attention to the air I abruptly stopped breathing. Bit by bit, I replace the stone wall until, once again, I feel nothing, and the burning memory in my mind is extinguished.
I focus all my energy on moving away from this place, reveling in the fact that, at least, I made Ezra pay for putting a knife to my neck. There is no denying the intense satisfaction I felt when chopping Ezra’s fingers off. He must have known he wouldn’t be leaving that situation unscathed.
My knees bend as I lean down and touch the ash in the fire pit, rubbing it between my index finger and thumb. It’s warm, and a heady smoke lingers in the air… There was a fire here recently, and the tracks are fresh. I rise and let the ash fall from my fingers.
I force myself to move on from the fire pit and check out the rocky beach until I’m satisfied that I’m completely alone. I wasn’t sure how I was going to respond to being here. Even though I lived here for weeks, this place never felt right. It never felt like home, not the way the cabin does now with London there. Seeing this site completely abandoned only proves my point.
My bone weapon is in a tight grip in my hand as I shift my attention to the shelters. Even in the dim light, I can tell they are trashed. Only one is barely intact, but then again, one is all someone needs to survive .
I cautiously make my way to the shelter, my footsteps barely audible since I’m conscious that if someone else is present, they are probably aware of my presence, too.
A moment of panic overwhelms me as I get closer. This could be an ambush. Jade could be working with them, tricking me into coming here instead of heading directly to my girl like I should be doing. But my curiosity was always a problem for me, and I had to see for myself what became of this place.
Keeping my body rigid, I dip down and peer into the darkness of the shelter. My old shelter, of course, is the only one still standing. The others either burnt down or fell into a pile of moss and sticks.
I strain my eyes in the dark, and amidst a slight shift in the light, I catch a flicker of bright eyes just as a whimper escapes into the silence.
Someone’s in here, trying to stay out of sight. I crawl in further and see platinum blonde hair sticking out of a hood. Naomi’s shivering, with her arms wrapped around herself, staring at me with her big brown eyes.
My insides tighten at the sight of her. Withered, skinny, broken, and the last fucking person I wanted to see here. I whip my head around to see if this is an ambush because why the fuck would Ezra leave Naomi like this?
The wind greets me, and the silence of the forest is the only menacing presence. No one jumps out. Nigel and Ezra don’t make some grand fucking entrance because no one else is here. I know this because I stalked the perimeter for an hour, making sure of it.
“Naomi,” I say with caution, barely recognizing the girl I grew up with. The girl I fucked recklessly in the bathroom, stealing her innocence before she was even of age.
I was a predator even then.
Without blinking, she breathes my name, her tear-stained face streaked with mud and her unwavering gaze fixed on me. “Is that really you?”
I drop my bone weapon to my side, a feeling of protectiveness resurfacing along with the guilt for how I treated her over the years and how quickly I dropped her when London gave me a sliver of hope I had a chance .
And now I stare at this girl who has suddenly become a wrinkle in my plans, sitting by herself and barely holding on to her life, knowing I can’t just walk away from her in her current state.
Fuck.
I have a decision to make.
Which girl am I going to save first? And why do I have a gut feeling I’m going to make the wrong decision?