Chapter Thirteen #2
Tanner periodically turned around to check on her but never offered to stop. That didn’t make her angry. It meant he trusted her to do what had to get done.
But she hoped he was listening out for any trouble, because, honestly, someone could walk right up on her and she’d never hear them over the sound of her own labored breathing.
It was pitch-black by the time they stopped. Bree could barely see two feet in front of her.
“This,” he said. She got a tiny bit of satisfaction to hear that Tanner was breathing hard too. “This is probably as best a place we’re going to find. Everybody stay right here, and I’m going to make sure there’s nothing living inside.”
Inside what? Bree had no idea. Tanner took a sip from the canteen, then handed it to Bree before disappearing into the darkness. She grabbed Eva’s and Sam’s hands just to make sure she didn’t lose them in the darkness.
“What is Lips doing?” Sam asked.
“He’s finding a safe place for us to rest. He’ll be back in just a second.” She prayed that was true, because she had no idea what she was going to do if she suddenly became the adult in charge.
But he was back just a few moments later. “Okay, no critters. At least, not now. We’re safe to go in.”
“In what?” Bree asked. “A cave?”
“It’s really more of an overhang than an actual cave, but it’s sheltered on three sides and can fit all four of us.”
Tanner led them forward and down a small hill. The moon was finally coming out, so she could just barely make out the shape of the natural shelter he’d found. But he was right, it should keep them hidden for the most part.
“We can’t make a fire,” Tanner whispered. “So we’re all going to need to huddle together with the blankets to keep warm. We’ll have to eat whatever we collected on the way. But most important, we’re going to have to be as still and quiet as possible, okay?”
The kids nodded. If they weren’t too scared, they’d probably be out like a light as soon as they ate.
Tanner gave them all some more water and they got out the food they’d been collecting along the way today. The temperature was dropping now that it was dark, so Bree had the kids go ahead and wrap themselves in the blanket. Tanner ate a little, then whispered that he would be back in a few minutes.
“Where is he going?” Eva asked, worry evident in her little voice.
“Just to get something we need. He’ll be right back.” Bree didn’t know exactly what Tanner was doing, but she knew her words were true.
Sure enough, he was back a few minutes later, two sticks in his hand. He laid them both by Bree.
“This is as close as I can get to weapons. Obviously, they’re not going to be super useful against...
more modern weaponry.” She appreciated that he didn’t say the word gun in front of the kids.
No need to plant that in their minds right before they were stuck in the dark all night.
“But it’s something. Use it like a baseball bat.
If someone who’s not me comes in here, make your first shot count. ”
His giving her pointers on how to best use that large stick as a weapon was scaring her more than anything else he’d said today. Because he really thought she was going to have to use it.
But now wasn’t the time to give in to panic. Tanner needed her to be strong. So she just reached over, found his hand in the dark and squeezed. “Okay.”
As she’d predicted, it didn’t take long for the kids to fall asleep. It was dark, they couldn’t talk and there was nothing to see, not to mention their little bodies had been pushed hard today.
Once they were, Tanner brought his lips all the way to her ear and spoke quietly. “I’m going out. This place is good as a shelter, but if they find us here, we are basically sitting ducks. At least from out there if someone finds you, I can do something about it.”
She nodded so he would know she understood.
“If I can take one or more out, I’m going to try to do that.”
She stiffened. They undoubtedly had weapons. And he didn’t know how many of them there were.
His hand came up and threaded into her hair on the other side of her head, the motion so Tanner-like and in control that it helped calm her.
“These guys have guns. They’re dangerous, freckles—I can feel it in my gut. If I don’t come back, at first light, you take the kids and run.”
She shook her head frantically. There was no way she was leaving him.
“Yes.” His fingers gripped her hair more firmly.
“You go in the morning. You follow the direction the sun is rising until you run into the river, then turn right and follow the river south all the way until you hit the road. You get Noah, Whitaker, Ronnie...everybody. You send them all back up to help me.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” she whispered.
“I’m going to be there for our wedding, don’t you worry. But you have to promise me you’ll go. I can keep myself alive, but I can’t watch them hurt you or those kids.”
“If you’re not at the wedding, I’m going to make you wait another whole year to get married, with the no-touching rule still in effect,” she lied. She’d never be able to live that long without touching him.
He kissed her forehead. “You can damn well bet I’m not going to miss our wedding night—you’ve got too many dirty debts to pay. I’ll see you soon, freckles.”
With a hard kiss on her lips, he disappeared silently into the darkness.