Текст книги "Ravenous"
Автор книги: Erika Stevens
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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
It was apparently the workers break room as there were two tables with five chairs crammed around them. A microwave, TV and radio, and four different vending machines were against the wall. Cade stopped, his head tilted as he studied the machines with narrowed eyes. Moving swiftly he tore his shirt off. I blinked in surprise as he wrapped it rapidly around his hand. I was confused by his actions, but I couldn’t help but admire the flex and play of his lean muscles and hard stomach as he stalked toward the glass fronted machine.
I didn’t quite process what he intended until he began to punch out the glass. I jumped in surprise, wincing as the glass trickled to the ground. It sounded as loud as gunshots to me, but I tried to assure myself that it was not nearly as loud as I thought it was. That, in fact, it was relatively quiet considering the circumstances.
He grabbed hold of the bag of guns, dragging it toward him. I hurried to help him as he unzipped the bag and we began to stuff it full of the chips, cookies, and candies stored within the machine. It wasn’t the healthiest assortment, but it was much better than starvation.
Cade zipped the bag tightly closed and sat back. I knew I should stop staring at him, stop watching the smooth play of skin over his lean muscles, but I couldn’t bring myself to tear my gaze away. There was no smug male pride in his gaze as he caught me admiring him. Instead, a fierce longing blazed to life with such intensity that I found I could no longer breathe. In fact, I could no longer recall anything exceptfor him.
It was the feel of Jenna’s gaze on me that finally tore my attention from Cade. I did not look at her; I was too ashamed to as I ducked my head and turned back toward the doorway we had come through. I had to force my thoughts away from him as I strained to hear anything, but it was eerily quiet in the large building. Too quiet.
Maybe I had only imagined that something was moving toward us over the garbage heap, but I didn’t think so. I knew what I had seen, and the complete and utter lack of animals was too hard to ignore. Animals knew things we didn’t. They sensed the impending approach of many different things and fled from them long before we did. I was beginning to suspect the aliens had the same effect upon them that an earthquake would, and that they were fleeing before we even knew the monsters were near. I was not about to ignore their more finely honed instincts in favor of my less than perfect ones.
“Bethy.”
Abby’s soft whisper alerted me to the fact that we were ready to move on. Thankfully Cade had donned his shirt again and was now toting the bag. Jenna had disappeared from the room, but Abby and Cade were impatiently waiting for me by another door. Cade ushered me quickly into the room. He closed the door behind us, throwing the room into complete darkness. Terror erupted through me as swiftly as a bursting dam; I took a stumbling step back as the overwhelming urge to flee encompassed me. I could feel the walls closing in on me, crushing against my sides, ripping the air from my lungs.
“Easy.” Cade’s breath was warm against my ear as he whispered the word. His reassuring presence gave me a small measure of comfort. I was at least able to keep myself from screaming or running away as I ripped my hair out. Then, to my horror and relief, light flooded the room. Abby was standing by the door, her hand on the switch.
“Abby…”
“It’s ok; there are no windows in this room,” Cade assured me.
I glanced rapidly around the room, not feeling at all relived as I took in the cramped, dark, and dreary space. It was a small bathroom with a urinal and a toilet. The sink was yellowed and dirty, the mirror cracked, and I was certain that it was only the stench of us that was blocking the stench of this room. For some reason, that I didn’t even want to begin to fathom, there was a large drain in the center of the room.
“It’s like we’re stuck in an unending dirty, stinky hell,” Jenna said softly.
I silently agreed.
“We can’t stay in here. It’s a dead end.”
Cade turned back around, he reached for the knob as the ground beneath our feet began to shake. My breath froze, a scream strangled in my throat. Sweat beaded my forehead as my jaw clenched in terror. Cade reached out and swiftly shoved Abby’s hand down on the light. It didn’t matter if there were no windows in this room; it was a relief to be plunged into darkness again. At least for themit was, it gave them a false sense of security. It gave me almost instantaneous heart palpitations. With the lights out, it felt as if the walls were creeping steadily closer to me once more. No matter how irrational the thought was, I could not turn it off.
The water in the toilet began to shake and splash as the ground shook and vibrated with a sudden, violent, wrenching motion. I jumped in surprise; a scream would have erupted from me if Cade had not slammed his hand over my mouth to stifle it. “Stay calm Bethy. It’s only going to get worse, and you are going to have to handle it if you want to survive. If you want your sisterto survive.”
I managed a small nod, and though I thought he was going to release me right away he clung to me, his arms strong and secure around me. It was the first time I sensed his fear, his uncertainty as to whether or not we would make it out of this alive. And if we were going to die, he was going to hug me one more time, and I was going to return it. I did not feel guilt as I took solace in his strong embrace for a brief moment.
He released me reluctantly, moving away as a loud crash resounded throughout the building, seeming to shake it on its foundation. It sounded as if something had just smashed into the large garage door. “They know we’re in here,” Abby whispered.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Cade muttered, his voice sounding distant in the small room. “They could just be going building to building. They may have picked up our scent recently, but they would have caught up to us again if they had been tracking us since yesterday. Either way, we can’t stay here.”
“What are we going to do?” Jenna inquired.
I was thinking the same exact thing as a small light flared into the tiny room. Cade was kneeling down, a penlight in his hand as he examined the drain intently. My heart plummeted, my head spun, and for a frightening moment I was truly terrified that I might pass out as a wave of dizziness cascaded over me. I wanted to shake my head, wanted to run screaming, wanted to rip out every hair on my head. Instead, I stood, my legs trembling as I struggled not to vomit.
Cade placed the penlight between his teeth as he started to feel around the edges of the drain. “Are you out of your mind?” Jenna inquired shakily. “We don’t even know where that goes. I’m not crawling through sewage.”
Cade lifted the light to something I had not noticed before. There was a shower head sticking out of the wall with two knobs beneath it. My eyes widened, hope sprang forth in me. For a brief moment, I forgot all about the danger we faced as my fingers itched to turn on that water and plunge beneath the wonderful spray. I didn’t even give a damn if it was freezing cold, it would be heaven. There was a dwindling bar of soap settled onto a metal dish. I wanted it. I wanted it badly.
“It’s a water drain. It’s not sewage.”
“You don’t know that,” Jenna breathed.
“I know that if we stay here, we’re dead.” As if to reinforce his words, the sound of twisting metal echoed through the air. It sounded as if the garage doors were starting to give out. “This is a town facility, there’s a possibility it might lead straight to the water treatment center.”
“You don’t know if it leads anywhere at all. You don’t know if it just dead ends. You don’t know if it doesn’t become so narrow that we can no longer fit through it.” Jenna was becoming slightly hysterical and her rushed words were doing nothing to ease my growing terror.
“No, I don’t, but I do know that we have to try.”
I agreed that we had to try, or at least theydid, but I was fairly certain that I was not going in that awful thing. Cade reached down, grabbed hold of the grate, and pulled it free with surprising ease. It rattled softly as he placed it on the ground. Cade shone the light into the darkness, peering into the hole. I wrapped my arms around myself trying, and failing, to ease the shaking that was starting to take me over.
A wrenching screech echoed throughout the building. I jumped slightly, half expecting something to come barging through the door as I glanced nervously behind me. I didn’t have to see them to know that the bay doors had just given way. Those things were now in the building, and it would not take them long to make their way here. “It goes straight down about ten feet before making a turn. Jenna…”
“No,” she whispered.
Cade lifted his head to stare hard at her. There was a cold hardness, a lack of empathy in his gaze that left me rattled and slightly numbed. “Then you will stay here and die. The choice is yours, but we will notstay here with you.”
Abby’s eyes widened on him, her mouth parted slightly. Jenna’s bottom lip began to tremble, tears formed in her eyes. She turned slightly toward me but I could not meet her gaze. Instead, I remained focused upon that hole, that thingthat I did not want to crawl into either. I was fairly certain I might shatter and go crazy if I had to.
“I’ll go first.”
Cade and Abby looked at me in surprise. I was also stunned that the words had just popped out of my mouth. But I was suddenly certain that if I didn’t just jump into that hole and get it over and done with, I never would. If there was someone in front of me, I would shatter. If I was in between two people, I would feel even more trapped, and I couldn’t handle that. Not right now anyway. If I didn’t get in that hole right now I would be dead, and Abby would be dead because she would not leave me here.
Apparently Cade might though. I shuddered at the thought, but I had seen the fierceness in his gaze, the anger he’d directed at Jenna. I did not want that turned on me. I’d dealt with too much; I couldn’t deal with his scorn also. Not right now. I had to do this, it was the only way. I had to stop being a coward. I had to deal with my fear. Even if it drove me mad.
“Bethany…”
“It’s ok Abby, I’ll be fine, but I need to go first. I have to.”
I stepped up to the hole. It was dark, shadowed, and so unbelievably tight. It had a three foot diameter, but it looked about the same as three inches would to me right now. I didn’t realize I was shaking uncontrollably until my teeth began to chatter. I clenched my jaw, trying to make them stop, but a fierce trembling was working its way rapidly through every bone in my body. I was certain that it wasn’t going to stop until I reached the end of the pipe, or simply went crazy. I wasn’t sure which one would happen first.
“Can I take the light?” I asked tremulously.
Another loud crash resounded from outside of the room. They were getting closer. Cade handed the light over, his black eyes warm and caring. I wondered if he wouldhave left me behind if I had refused to do this. For some reason I didn’t think he would have, but I wasn’t going to ask.
Taking a deep breath, I dropped to my knees. Cade seized hold of my arm, I blinked as I tried to bring him into focus. His eyes blazed into mine for a long moment, I could feel the determination that he was trying to instill in me, feel his fierce desire for me to stay strong. His thumb stroked over my skin before he finally released me.
“You can do this.”
I shuddered as I tore my attention away from him, put my hands out, and began to squirm into the hole before I no longer could. I instantly wanted to start screaming, instantly balked against the horrendous sensation that immediately enshrouded me. There was about six inches above me as I squirmed, crawled, and slithered down the pipe but it felt as if it were crushing down on my back, squeezing the air from my lungs, trapping me forever in this world of slime and darkness.
The air within the pipe was cool and musty. The small light revealed a shiny layer of gunk, mold, and something that I didn’t even want to think about that was coating the walls. I fought against screaming, fought against squirming my way backwards when I felt someone enter the pipe behind me. The crushing sensation of being buried alive suddenly enshrouded me; it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe as panic hammered through me. I was going to die, not from being trapped in the pipe but because I felt as if my lungs were starting to shut down, starting to close.
I reached a turn, and after a little bit of maneuvering, managed to twist my way into the curve. It did not feel as if the pipe was getting smaller, but I was certain it was. I couldn’t let myself think about being trapped in here, couldn’t let myself think that there might be no way out. I would become useless if I did, and everyone else would be trapped behind me.
“Bethany?”
“I’m fine,” I managed to choke out to Abby though we both knew I was lying.
I continued forward another twenty feet when a rocking bang from above caused the entire pipe to shudder. A creaking, groaning noise echoed throughout the system. A soft whimper escaped me as I froze. If there had been enough room in the pipe I was pretty sure I would have curled into a ball and screamed like a baby.
“Faster Bethy, faster.”
Cade didn’t have to say it twice. I was suddenly frantic to be free, frantic to escape this world of unending torture and madness within these crushing confines. I wasn’t entirely against death as an option anymore, if it meant escaping this whole terrifying mess. I was beginning to think death would be better than this overwhelming panic, misery, and insanity that we had been forced into.
I was either going to find the end of this tunnel, or I was going to die in it, and I didn’t care which one came first anymore. Using my elbows and feet, I squirmed my way forward like an earthworm at a more rapid, sure pace. The light bounced over the walls, flashing over the slime and sludge that had been there for far longer than I cared to think about. The stink of the refuse had been bad; this forgotten mix of hair, dead skin, waste, and gunk was almost as bad. It coated me, clung to me, and permeated everything as it pressed against my lips, and slid up my nose.
I wanted to vomit, but then I would also have to crawl through that. Though, at this point, it might be cleaner than the mess I was already struggling through.
The pipe suddenly dropped again, taking a sharp turn down. I used the light to peer into the dip. The dim glow bounced off of the slush infested network that twisted somewhere out of sight about fifteen feet down. Where the hell did the damn thing go, and would we be able to get through it? I shut the thought down; it would only lead to even darker and more frightening places in my mind, places that I knew I would not be able to handle right now.
“Bethany!” Abby hissed.
“It drops again.” I warned in a strangled voice that I hardly recognized and was more than a little ashamed of.
And then, I shoved myself into the disgusting darkness that dropped dangerously into nothing.
CHAPTER 14
There was light at the end of the tunnel. I had to turn off the flashlight to make sure, but there it was, a bright beacon against the darkness and panic enshrouding me. Hope surged through me, I moved forward at a more rapid pace, scurrying forward on my elbows as I used my toes to propel me onward. Tears flooded my eyes, clogged my throat. I needed to be out, needed to be free.
I didn’t care what was at the end of this tunnel, didn’t care if it dumped into raw sewage or a nest full of aliens. I didn’t care if I was scooped up and eaten as soon as I reached the end. I only cared about escaping this cramped enclosure and breathing fresh air once again. I heard a gasp of surprise from Abby as I reached the end and plunged heedlessly out of the pipe.
It was a further drop than I had anticipated; I hit the muddied, wet ground with a loud grunt. Pain shot through my bruised tailbone and elbow. For a moment the air was knocked forcefully out of me, and then it gasped wonderfully, blessedly back in. I panted, clawing at the watery ground as I pulled myself clear of the pipe exit. I blinked against the bright light of day that burned my eyes.
Though it was wet beneath me I was not in a puddle, and even if I couldn’t see yet I knew that I was in the wide open. I could feel that there were no walls around me anymore; feel my freedom even though I could not clearly see it yet. Hands seized hold of my arms; I blinked, trying to clear the tears away that were blurring my vision. It was then that I realized that the sun was not the reason I couldn’t see, it was the tears streaking down my face and clogging my eyes. “Are you ok?” Cade demanded.
I wanted to nod, wanted to speak, wanted to reassure him that I was dazed, but completely fine. Instead a terrified, brutal scream ripped from my throat. I couldn’t stop it, and once it tore free, I could feel unending shrieks of anguish and terror building up and roiling through me. I was shaken, torn, and very close to coming completely undone. I had managed to keep it together in that awful pipe, but it had been too much, and I was completely unraveling. I could feel a shattering forming inside of me, a soul wrenching breaking that I was very afraid might just destroy me.
Cade wrapped me up in his arms, pulling me tight against him. He buried my head in his neck, muffling the sounds of my shrieks with his body. I clung to him, continuing to scream as all of the pent up frustration, terror, and horror of that pipe, and everything else that had occurred, boiled out of me. And once it started I couldn’t stop it, could no longer contain it.
“Bethany, Bethy baby hush. You’re out now, you made it. You’re free, it’s over, and you did great. You did great,” Cade whispered against my ear, his hands entangling in my snarled and filthy hair as he pressed me closer.
I shuddered, clawing at his skin and clothes, trying harder to get closer to him, though it was nearly impossible to do so. It was impossible to be any closer, but I needed to be, I needed more. I needed him,all of him. The absolute certainty of that was soul shaking, it nearly ripped me in two as I held him, oblivious to anyone outside of the two of us. No one else existed in this world of warm security within Cade’s strong embrace. I wasn’t aware that my screams had subsided until I felt the gentle caress of his hands over my hair, soothing me gently, and whispering softly to me as I began to tremble. Not from fear this time, or relief, but from the sheer wonder of this tender moment, and his touch.
I did not even care that we were both covered with slime, and stunk to high heaven. I didn’t even care that there were two other people watching us. All I cared about was the fact that I didn’t ever want to let go. I could hear his answering response to me in the excited beat of his heart, and the slight tremble that gripped his body.
“Bethany,” he whispered, his lips against my ear, his hands in my ear. “My brave Bethany.”
I didn’t feel so brave today. I felt like a coward, and childlike. I felt drained, and nearly defeated. If it hadn’t been for his quiet strength, and unwavering faith in me, I wasn’t sure that I would have made it this far. It was a faith I wasn’t sure I deserved, especially not after the breakdown I had just experienced. Jenna may complain about everything, but at least she was keeping it together. I was unraveling faster than a yo-yo. If there had been any aliens in the area, I could have just killed us and all because I had a problem with small spaces.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed.
He didn’t tell me it was ok, didn’t say anything but simply brushed a gentle kiss over my temple. He may have forced Jenna into the pipe, he may have even left her behind, but in that moment I knew that he wouldn’t have forced me, and he wouldn’t have left me. He would have done everything he could to keep me safe for as long as possible, even if it meant dying himself. I wanted to start crying again at the realization, but this time I managed to keep my tears at bay. What was this wonderful, horrible, confusing situation that I had been sucked into?
Just days ago life hadn’t been perfect, but it had been peaceful. I’d had a home, and a mom. I’d known my siblings were safe, and that I would be seeing them again. I’d had a nice, loving boyfriend. I had been certain that if enough time passed I would come to love him one day, because who wouldn’t love Bret? Every other girl in the school loved him, except for me.
But wrapped tight in Cade’s arms I began to understand why I had never been in love with Bret. Even though I hadn’t known it, and might never have recognized it if it hadn’t been for everything that had happened, I understood it now. Ever since those long ago days of fishing, playing, kind words, and small smiles; ever since that long ago night in the garden, Cade had owned my heart, and always would.
What I didn’t know was why he had chosen me. And chosen me he had, years ago. Of that I was certain. Long before his parents had been killed, long before my father’s death, he had chosen me. I recalled the first time that Aiden had brought him home. He had been six at the time, young, quiet, and new to town. I had been five. Even at that young age there had been a strange wisdom in his onyx eyes. A wisdom that had struck me, stunned me, and entranced me. He had been beautiful to me, and perplexing as he studied me in a way that I had never been studied before. There had been confusion in his gaze, disbelief, and a strange yearning that I had not understood at the time. I understood it now. Just as I understood that he would always be a part of me, and that he had been since that first moment.
I may have forgotten about those earlier days after my father’s death, and the subsequent years of being studiously avoided by Cade but I was acutely reminded of that little boy now, and the strange bond that had ensnared us. My heart lumbered with the memories, and the love surging through me. I could see that little boy perfectly, standing in our doorway, his face slack with surprise and his eyes wide as he watched me.
Then, ever so slowly, he had smiled at me. It had been a beautiful and rare smile. It had warmed the ice that had glimmered in his onyx gaze, and it had caused me to smile brightly in return. He had been Aiden’s friend, but he was far more than that to me, and we had been together nearly every day for the following two years. He had been my everything then, and though I had been too young to understand relationships, or recognize that I was helplessly in love with him, I knew now that I had been. And that I still was.
But in one awful night it had all changed. For a brief moment I wondered what it would have been like between us if his parents hadn’t been killed. What our lives would have been like if we had not been separated by hideous chance. I knew there never would have been a relationship with Bret. As much as I cared for Bret, it would have been Cade and I this entire time, there never would have been anyone else of that I was certain. Fate hadn’t worked that way, and though we had been separated then, I knew we would not be separated again. Not willingly, anyway.
He pulled slightly back from me. His hands cradled my face gently, his thumbs rubbed over my cheeks. I knew I had to be filthy, he was filthy, we were allfilthy, but he didn’t care, and neither did I. His breath was warm against my mouth as his lips brushed lightly over mine. My heart leapt, plummeted, and then soared high again. A soft sigh of pleasure, and wonder, escaped me. I leaned into him, savoring the warmth of his mouth, and the pleasure that flooded my body. My hands dug into his back, for a brief moment I allowed myself to be lost to him.
But only for a moment. I pulled slowly away, blinking his handsome, dirt smeared face into focus. I smiled softly at him, cradling his hands gently against my face. “We have to go.”
“We do,” he agreed.
For some reason his simple words caused my smile to widen. I was surprised by the answering spark of merriment I saw in his midnight eyes. It was rare to see any joy in his gaze, but it was there now, and beaming radiantly out at me. He was just as happy as I was to have found me again, that much was obvious. He kissed me swiftly once more before rising gracefully. He held his hand out to me, helping me to my feet. I stood shakily, but my legs somehow managed to keep me up.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to look at Jenna and Abby. Jenna was staring at me with a haughty, superior look on her face that set my teeth on edge as she smirked at me. I knew that she would tell Bret as soon as she saw him. I would have to tell him first. The last thing I wanted was for Bret to be hurt, but there was no way to avoid that anymore. I saw that now, there was no stopping this thing between Cade and I, and I no longer wanted to try to. It had to come from me; I had to tell Bret about it, not her. This was not Bret’s fault and I needed him to understand that, I also needed him to understand that I didlove him. I just didn’t love him like this.
Abby had moved away from us; she was studying the area where we had landed. Cade took hold of my hand as Abby turned slowly back to us. She was unable to stop the flicker of relief that filtered over her face at seeing Cade and I no longer embraced. “This can’t be legal,” she said softly.
I frowned as I took in our surroundings for the first time. We were standing in a soppy bowl in the ground. Grass and weeds sprouted up here and there, but the ones outside of the area we stood in were burnt from the harsh August sun. I looked at the pipe we had tumbled out of, surprised to realize that it was broken. Five feet to my right, the rest of the pipe was jutting three feet out of the ground. The broken pieces lay in a jumbled heap around us.
“Don’t think they knew about it,” Cade muttered.
He released my hand. Climbing up the small hole we were in he lay flat against the grassy hillside as he scanned the horizon. He turned over, looking in the other direction before scurrying back down to us. “The dump is about a mile away. I don’t see anything coming this way.”
“Where are we?” Jenna asked softly.
Cade shook his head. “I don’t know, but we need to get moving. If they discovered that pipe then they’ll know where we went. Let’s go.”
I refused to look at Jenna as we fell into line behind Cade, heading toward a copse of trees that did not appear nearly thick enough for my liking.
***
I was relieved, and exhausted, when we finally came across the highway. The sun was beginning to set; we would not have much of a break before we tried the inevitable crossing. I had not allowed my thoughts to turn to Aiden and Bret since we had been separated. For the first time I wondered where they were, if they were ok, if those things had chased them too, or if they had made it to the gas station already as they’d had a much easier and closer route than us.
I numbly accepted the bag of chips and half full bottle of water that Cade handed to me. I was starving, so hungry my head hurt yet I ate the chips slowly, and barely tasted them. “We’ll have to move quickly,” Cade said softly.
I studied the two lane highway. We would have to dart across it before reaching the median, which was dotted with trees and scrub brush. It would be ten feet of refuge before we would have to run across two more lanes in order to reach the safety of more woods. Though those woods were nowhere near as thick as some of the ones we had traversed earlier.
Cade handed me the duffel bag containing our supplies. I frowned at him as he turned away, making his way to the edge of the woods. I snapped out of my strange stupor to hurry after him. “What are you doing?” I hissed.
“I’m going to go out there first. Make sure it’s safe.”
“Like hell!” I retorted sharply.
He glanced back at me, his face half hidden in the shadows of the woods as he knelt down to study the road. “Do you want another replay of the bridge?”
I froze, my mouth parting slightly as the horrifying reminder of those events slammed into me. I glanced back at the open expanse of highway. Unlike the bridge there were no lights to illuminate the road, but after the events at the dump I could almost feel the aliens lying in wait, hovering over us, and setting a trap to take us down. “We’ll find another way.”
“There is no other way.”
“I’ll go with you.”
He was already shaking his head. His gaze drifted to Abby. “You don’t want to leave her alone.”
“Stop using her against me!”
His jaw clenched for a moment; then he sighed softly and relaxed slightly. “I’m not using her against you; I just need you to stay here Bethany. I’ll be back. I promise.”
I wanted to find solace in his words, I couldn’t. “You can’t promise that.”
“No, I can’t.” I frowned at him. I had expected some kind of reassurance, some more false promises even. I was slightly taken aback by his blunt admission. “But if you come with me, and something happens, these two will be left alone. They need someone to lead them.”
I shifted slightly, glancing over my shoulder to make sure that I was out of earshot. “I’m the one that has completely collapsed in this situation Cade, not them. They’re holding up far better than I.”
He rose slowly to his full height, moving subtly closer to me. I could feel the heat of his body against mine. “That may be true, but you are still stronger than them Bethany. You reached a snapping point today, but many would have reached theirs years ago if they had carried the same burdens as you. You will not reach it again, I know that…”
