10. CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER NINE
SASHA
T here was a small intake of breath before his head lifted off mine. The two of us had fallen asleep together under the tent, though I wasn’t sure for how long. My body felt tense but that could have been from all the walking rather than being in the same position for a while.
Zeke gently touched my shoulder. “We need to get up, Sasha.”
I didn’t want to, so I whined in protest. “Please no.”
“The storm’s done,” he said. “It’s raining but we still have some light left. We slept for an hour.”
Sixty minutes was not long enough. I needed more. Like an entire day and night to recover.
Zeke nudged his shoulder so I would get off him. With my eyes still closed I managed to straighten myself. He hit the parachute over and over again so it would drop over our heads and onto the ground. Then he unzipped his backpack and shoved the entire thing inside.
My eyes squinted to adjust to the light. We’d been under the shelter and the fresh air had cooled my skin. When I turned around, dark clouds appeared behind us. “That doesn’t look good.”
“The worst is over,” Zeke said.
“Of the storm, you mean. The worst is over, of the storm.” It was a clarification that I didn’t need to express. “Everything else, not so much.”
Even though the dark clouds were floating away, there were still rain clouds that threatened us. I felt the drops hit my disheveled hair, but this time we wouldn’t be able to protect ourselves from it. “We’re going to get sick.”
“From the rain?” Zeke shook his head. “Rain can’t make you sick, but being wet for a prolonged period can weaken your immune system making it easier for you to catch a virus if you happen to be next to someone else who has it.” He was just full of knowledge. “But you and I, we’d most likely get sick from dehydration.”
Great. So either way we were screwed. I opened my mouth and tilted my head to the heavens, hoping to catch whatever drop of rain I could in my mouth to give me some kind of relief. When that didn’t work, I mewled. “Do you know how long it’ll take us to get to safety?”
“I wish I knew.” He shrugged. “I don’t exactly have a map. My watch has a compass but not an actual GPS.”
“Blah. What good are you then?” That was a poor attempt at a joke but he laughed nonetheless.
Zeke’s lips curved into a full grin. “Sasha, has anyone ever told you that you’re a pain in the ass?”
“No.”
Yes.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“I’m an angel.” Okay, so that was a lie. I wasn’t perfect. Nobody was, but I didn’t think I was the villain he made me out to be. Him, on the other hand, I was still trying to figure out.
The next lot of water that pelted down soaked me to my bones. My clothes were wet, and droplets of rain clung to my lashes before they fell down my cheeks. There was a heavy, earthy smell that lingered in the air.
Remind me never to put hiking on my bucket list.
The t-shirt wrapped around my wrist was damp and, for some reason, it made the pain worse. But Zeke and I kept going. My legs carried me slowly but they were working hard. The low rumbles were getting further and further away while we were god knows where.
Not only did we need to get to shelter, I needed a damn new phone. Hell, I’d settle for a pay phone right now. In all this bullshit I never thought to call Reece and Alice to warn them that I may have been found. If I was in danger then it meant they could have possibly been in danger as well.
I hadn’t felt that in such a long time. The fear that trapped me with my family, that fear had returned. But as I tried to recoil away from it, I was only reminded again that my freedom was a gift, and sometimes gifts needed to be returned.
As we walked another half hour, there was a break in the forest ahead. Light filtered through the trees and the space widened the closer we headed toward the open field.
“Do you see that?” I asked Zeke. I wasn’t sure if I was delirious or if I was dreaming. Was it in fact a cabin in the middle of the damn woods?
“Sure do,” he replied. Zeke gently swung his arm over my waist and gave me some resistance. “You stay here while I check it out.”
There could have been a dirty bed, a simple mattress, or even just wooden floors I’d be happy to sleep on. I doubted there would be fresh water but I was still hopeful and desperate for something. Maybe some unopened canned goods that we could demolish?
Zeke went ahead and searched for the entrance which was on the other side of the flimsy, broken-down cabin.
The roof slanted and was made out of tin. The logs were uneven and tilted to different sides. When I went to find Zeke, I came across a small balcony that was held up by rotten, timber frames. It was a cabin that you would see in a horror film about teenagers, daring one another to spend the night there alone.
Except, thankfully, I wasn’t alone.
It didn’t look safe or sturdy, but there was a roof we could put over our heads. I waited for a few minutes before Zeke emerged from the creaky entrance.
“Not much, but it’ll do,” he said. “There’s no running water but it’ll keep us dry for the night.”
I followed him back into the cabin and grimaced when I inhaled a scent of old wood and rotten animals. There were probably bacteria and germs that rested inside the structure waiting to spread, and since we’d been wet for a while our immune system was ready to catch anything apparently.
“There’s a small kitchen but the faucet doesn’t work.”
I just wanted to close my eyes and pretend I wasn’t there. That I was in some tropical island Villa, sipping cocktails by the infinity edge pool, listening to music, or reading a romance book. But no, I was stuck in some seedy cabin saturated with mold and rust, with Zeke Walker.
Fuck my life.
“There’s only one mattress,” I pointed out. One dirty, yellow-stained white sheet, completely filthy mattress.
Zeke nodded. “I noticed that.”
I turned my neck to him. “I call dibs by the way.”
A black roach scattered by and caught our attention. I think the little critter had wings too. “No reason we can’t share.”
“Fine, I’ll take the right side.”
“Good thing I usually sleep on the left.” Zeke sat down on the dodgy mattress and when he pressed down there was no buoyancy. “Jesus, this mattress is hard.” He lifted his head toward me. “I might try to find something for us to eat tomorrow morning that I can heat up using a small fire. I just don’t want anything that can direct people where we are so the fireplace is definitely not an option.”
What the hell was he going to cook? Woodling animals? Snakes? Raccoons? Boar?
I looked around the cabin and realized that the inside was smaller than what the outside appeared to be. I wondered who owned it and how long it had been since it was last used.
Zeke tapped the mattress. I slouched over and then finally sat down. It was thin and hard.
He lay down and then urged me to rest beside him. “I think we’ll be safe here for a while.”
I tucked my knees against my body and my head pressed against my uninjured hand. Zeke faced me with his eyes closed and let out a sigh like he was able to finally relax. But I couldn’t really feel at ease when there was someone chasing after us.
I didn’t want to close my eyes yet so I studied Zeke’s features while he slept. The fullness of his lips, the thick lashes he had, and his facial hair that tried to cover his dimples but failed. I could talk about how much he hated me or how much I despised him. However, I’d be lying to myself if I said he wasn’t the first and only guy I’d been attracted to since Baris was killed.
“Now who’s being creepy?” Zeke smiled though his eyes were still shut.
Damnit. I thought he was asleep. “Sorry.”
“Get a good look, did you?”
Zeke’s ears looked clean but were weirdly shaped; like the lobes were slightly larger at the bottom. His t-shirt looped and I could see some light salt and pepper color to the dark chest chair. It was faint but incredibly sexy.
“I can hear and feel you breathing,” Zeke hissed. “Are you seriously going to just lie there and watch me?” He mocked me by imitating my voice. “It’s creepy.”
“Shut up,” I groaned. If my wrist wasn’t so sore I’d probably knock him one on the side of his head. Instead, I closed my heavy eyes until I finally fell asleep.
“ S asha!” Someone called out in the distance. It was faint but I heard it. “Zeke! Anyone here?”
I jolted up from my rest and almost choked because my throat was like the Saraha desert. It was Nick’s voice; I was certain of it. I bolted to the cabin door and was tempted to call out to him but my mouth was completely dry.
My fingers reached the handle, ready to storm out and find him, but just as I pulled it open, the crevice disappeared when Zeke slammed the door shut.
“What the hell are you doing?” he hushed, but the tone he used was quite threatening.
“It’s Nick and he’s here—we have to get him,” I begged. “He might need help.”
“Don’t you even dare.” Zeke stepped forward causing me to lose my balance. He grabbed hold of my shoulders, and I almost winced in pain. “Think about it, Sasha. You’re a smart girl. I know you are.”
“What the hell are you on about?” I shoved him away and tried to lunge toward the door again.
“Whose idea was it to go skydiving?—Nick’s,” he continued. “Who booked the company for it? Nick. He’s involved in this. I know it.”
“You’re crazy.” I laughed when I turned around to face him. “Why the hell would he want to hurt either of us?”
“Do I really need to spell it out for you?”
“Yes, by all means,” I snapped. “Spell it out for me.”
“Fine. How’s this for an English lesson? Your name is Sasha, and it’s spelled L. U. N. A. R. A.”
Shit.