5. Chapter 5
Chapter five
Shelby
After Cason’s demand to open the door, Hank glances around with wide eyes before he shrugs and pushes the bar. It’s achingly quiet as I stand and face the threshold. He's alive!
The light of the sun casts his form in ethereal rays before he steps inside, facing, no doubt, my same dilemma when he blinks to adjust eyes. Warring emotions keep me rooted to the spot but I’m so damn relieved that he’s here I can’t help but to smile.
The husky barrels past Cason while he scans the room, his eyes dark. Although his clothes are speckled with dirt and what I suspect is blood, he looks good, better than I hoped.
Still holding his backpack, he appraises the room before meeting my gaze. After I nod, he moves from me to Larry and Larry says, “You must be Cason.”
From the corner of my eyes, I spy Nate’s brows furrow as he takes in Cason’s now rumpled uniform before he wipes his mouth and looks away. Has he run into Cason before? Cason gives no indication that they’ve met but considering the circumstances, it may not be relevant.
Ignoring Larry’s question, Cason brushes his hand through his hair and says, “We can’t stay here. If we wait, we’ll be surrounded.”
My heart sinks at his proclamation while beside me, Nora crosses her arms and says, “You lead those suckers back here?”
“Who the fuck knows why they do what they do,” Cason says. “All I’m saying is, you plan on leaving, now’s the time.”
When his dark eyes meet mine, I nod once more and grab Bean, clasping her and the atlas to my chest. With a dip of his chin, Cason's lips curl in a grim line and he says, “We’re getting out of this town. Anyone who wants to go, let’s roll.”
I’m not sure I agree but I have no room to speak.
It’s a shitty thing to think and more so to say which is why I keep it to myself.
However, I don’t know these people and maybe I don’t know Cason either, but he’s proven that he can take care of himself.
I guess, he’s also the lesser of evils, especially against the undead or whatever just beyond those doors.
I know how easy it is to hide the darkness behind a pretty mask. Am I prepared to navigate this precarious situation with strangers who could just as easily turn on me?
While the group eyes each other uneasily, Hank grabs a baseball bat lying next to the door. When Larry shuffles next to him, Nora sighs but joins the two while Nate backs away.
Cason surveys the three by the door. I’m not sure what he’s thinking but if it’s anything along the lines of my thoughts, we’re fucked would be appropriate to assume. Whatever his feelings, they’re well-hidden when he turns to the door and pauses to say, “Last chance.”
A blinking neon light against the wall matches the throb in my temple while Nate considers his next move. It would be foolish to stay alone but I don’t blame him for his hesitation. Technically, we could be stepping into something far worse beyond these doors.
“C’mon, Nate,” Larry says, and Nate drops his chin, his dirty sneakers squeaking across the floor when he shuffles his feet.
At the door, he tilts his head and his eyes meet mine.
When I stiffen, he finally shakes his head and steps forward.
I can’t define the kernel of unease that tightens my chest, but I don’t want to give my thoughts away which is why I avert my gaze.
It doesn’t sit well but I have no voice in this. I’m lucky I was invited at all.
Meanwhile Cason eyes him for a moment before turning to the group to say, “Get ‘em in the head but for fucks sake, don’t engage them if you don’t have to. We’re going up the ravine. Hopefully there are fewer of them in the trees.”
Taking our silence as agreement, Cason throws open the door and stands back while Nate mutters, “We’re walking?”
Hank and Larry file through, followed by Nora. Next up is me but when Nate takes up the rear I step aside. I can’t explain it, but I don’t want this guy at my back.
After Nate exits, Cason raises a brow, and I manage a weak smile before stepping back out into the sunshine. Our newly formed group is already climbing down into the ravine when Cason calls behind him, “Bo.”
The early spring day turned out to be beautiful with the sun shining overhead but it’s lost on me as I race to catch up while the husky trots past me.
Since it rained this morning, the earthy tang of wet soil and grass presses at my senses when I enter the ravine and my feet practically sigh in relief as I hit the water.
It’s a temporary reprieve though because I know they’ll be chafing in the wet canvas on the other side. I’m enjoying it just the same.
It’s slow going though. The rocks are slippery from the trickle of water, and I’m trying not to drop the dog snuggled under my arm.
Once through the small creak, it’s another climb, this one steeper and I eye the thick forest beyond with a silent groan. Although I’m anxious to get beyond the immediate threat, I don’t know what lies inside the tree line and that terrifies me.
Halfway up, my ribs protest while my head pounds to a different beat and I’m forced to put Bean down after which she scrambles up the side with Bo right behind. Meanwhile, my hands sink into the soil. I’m so damn tired that my limbs tremble but stopping is not an option.
However, my forward progress stalls when the loud report of gunfire brings me around and I slip, my shoes no match for the muddy terrain. Luckily, Cason is behind me, and he grabs my arm before I meet his gaze and we both turn to the spectacle behind us.
From the side of the bowling alley, more of those things stumble closer, joining their counterparts now laying on the ground and I whisper, nodding to the rooftop of the grocery store, “Up there.”
Cason follows my gesture and raises his hand in the air. A salute of sorts, I guess before he pushes me, and I scramble up the hill. The others are already at the top and when Larry holds out his hand, I take it gratefully.
My chest burns from the effort and ignoring the sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach, I turn back.
The vista before me sucks the air from my already starved lungs because the city is in ruins.
Plumes of smoke rise into the sky, the tendrils competing with the white puffy clouds.
Whole swaths of homes have been reduced to kindling, the flames still licking the air.
Vehicles of every kind, make and color line streets, stopped in their eternal resting places, empty but for the writhing bodies inside. With a shudder I move quickly away from the school bus implanted in a tree, the shadowy forms within something I truly do not want to see.
“Fuck me running,” Hank breathes, and I silently agree. Are we heading into the same scenario in another town? Is there hope beyond the borders of this one?
Cason doesn’t bother to look and as soon as he steps into the tree line, I follow, shivering when the shadowy depths cool my skin.
Despite living in this city for almost three years, I don’t know the area well enough to determine which direction we’re heading.
I do know that the farther east we go, the more rural the terrain becomes.
This is where families chose to spread out, some farming their land while others own horses and livestock or simply want space from their neighbors.
The line of sight within this stretch of trees is decidedly lacking and I feel, if possible, more vulnerable than before. Bean wades through the tall grass with care, her little legs no match for the environment while Cason leads the way, glancing back to ensure we’re behind him.
Although he hasn't exactly been the friendliest of companions since we met a few hours ago, which feels like a lifetime now, his demeanor from the stiff set of his shoulders to the scowl lining his mouth, screams do not engage.
I’m no stranger to handling mercurial moods and avoiding conversation but Nate does not appear to have the same skill and hurries to catch up before saying, “What’s the plan, man?”
Cason swings his head in a wide arc before glancing back once more. When his dark eyes meet mine, I shrug.
He doesn’t acknowledge me beyond the twitch of his jaw, and I look away, ignoring the tingle of disappointment. I’m desperately sure he’s going to come to his senses and drop me, which is why I’d like to create some kind of rapport with the prickly man but he’s not easy to get to know.
“I mean, ain’t they everywhere? Where we gonna go?” Nate continues.
Cason merely grunts and Nate’s fingers curl into fists before he says, “You think we’re gonna follow while you lead? We ain’t your little soldiers, man.”
Unfortunately, it's a close call when Cason halts. I hold out my hand to keep from stumbling into his back and when he stiffens at my touch, I move away, my throat burning.
Okay . . . wow.
Nate seems to have no such sense of self-preservation though and sneers, “You ain’t in charge.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you do,” Cason says. “But if you plan to come with us, you’ll do as I say because I don’t need you fucking this up.”
When Nate goes rigid, his face suffusing with color, my skin tingles and I touch my heart, galloping in my chest. I don’t know him, but his anger is palpable, and I feel it in the itch of my skin telling me to take heed.
Thankfully, before Nate can make a tense situation worse, Larry steps between them and says, “C’mon now, Nate. Cason seems to know what he’s doing. Let’s let him do his thing for now, yeah?”
An awkward silence descends before Nate shakes his head but doesn't comment to my relief, turning away and stalking into the trees. Cason watches him go, a frown marring his brow before Larry slaps his back with an uneasy laugh and says, “Don't mind him. Young, ya know?”
It’s almost comical to see Cason’s body ripple under Larry’s touch. I don’t think the man realizes his strength, or maybe he doesn’t care.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Cason mutters before the tension seeps from the area, and I relax my limbs.