CHAPTER 16
I didn't argue as we fell into step with them. Though it was almost five miles, we arrived at the Bourne Bridge far faster than I would have liked. I stared at the impressive metal structure arching gracefully over the canal; it was the twin in many ways to the Sagamore. I kept waiting for the Twilight Zone music to start playing, kept waiting for something to happen. I couldn't shake the feeling we were the only people left on earth, that we'd been sucked into some kind of time loop or perhaps were even being punked. I kept waiting for someone to jump out and yell, 'Gotcha!'
Neither of those things happened.
The roadway leading to the bridge was as clear as day to me. It almost seemed as if the lights were trying to lure us onto the soaring structure like a mouse to cheese. I was certain we would be snatched up the minute we stepped out of the shadows of the forest.
Abby stood on her tiptoes and pulled me closer to her. "I don't want to cross it."
I pressed my finger against my lips for her to keep quiet. The others gathered to talk amongst themselves. Abby and I stayed back. I was against separating, it was the last thing I wanted to do, but I wasn't going to cross the bridge, and I wasn't going to let them make Abby cross it either. I didn't know what we would do if we were left behind, but I was willing to take my chances on this side rather than step onto that death trap.
I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Cade was shaking his head firmly with his arms crossed over his chest. There were small tremors running through Abby's petite frame. Jenna was behind Cade, nodding as he shook his head. Aiden was hanging back, looking unsure of either option while Bret was raptly listening to each argument, trying to decipher which course of action he felt would be best.
"You have to stay here Abby."
I tried to free myself from her grip, but she only held on tighter. "No."
"Abby..."
But it didn't matter; the group was beginning to break apart. Aiden was coming toward us. I could tell by the set of his shoulders, and the determination in his eyes, I wasn't going to like what he had to say.
"We're going to go over in groups," he told me.
"I'm not going over," I told him.
"Bethany..."
"No Aiden, I am not crossing the bridge. It's suicide."
"It's suicide to stay here," he said.
"Crossing that bridge is instantaneous suicide and you know it. We still have a chance over here; we can come up with a different plan if we just think about it reasonably."
"The aliens might not have considered the bridges."
The sheer stupidity of his statement caused my mouth to drop as I gaped at him. They somehow had the technology to navigate galaxies with ease, and freeze a good chunk of the population, but they wouldn't have the foresight to monitor the only two ways off of Cape Cod? I had no idea what anyone was thinking, but they weren't using their brains, that much was clear. "Aiden..."
"We can't stay here Bethany."
"There has to be another way," I insisted.
"What way?"
I didn't know how to answer him. The canal was known for its treacherous currents, and to swim it would be almost as obvious as running across the bridge, but even that seemed a better option to me than this. And then I knew. I knew exactly how we could get to the other side. "What if I have a better plan Aiden?" I asked.
He stared unblinkingly at me. "What is it?"
"If we find some diving gear, we could use it to swim across. We could stay under water, stay out of view. It could work."
Aiden became silent; Abby stared up at me, while Cade seemed to be thinking it over. "None of us know how to use scuba gear, and where would we even get it?" Aiden finally asked.
I didn't care if none of us could scuba dive or not. I was far more willing to take my chances with it than I was with the bridge. "Someone here might know how, and there's a rental place a few miles away. They have all kinds of beach supplies in there; they may have something we could use."
The other group had moved closer to us, but none of them spoke out when I mentioned scuba diving. "We can figure it out," I whispered.
"It's not something you just figure out Bethany."
I glowered ferociously at him. "I would rather take my chances with that instead of running across something over a hundred feet in the freaking air Aiden!" I snapped, unsure why he was stubbornly clinging to this crazy notion. He was one of the smartest people I knew, but he was being adamantly stupid right now. My idea wasn't without risk, and possibly death, but it was still better than this absolute insanity.
"She has a point," Cade said. "We can swim around the canal, avoiding the currents, and come up somewhere more sheltered on the other side."
"We don't know how to use scuba gear," one of the other group insisted firmly. "We would never be able to do it."
"I know how to scuba dive." My attention was drawn to a young woman in her late teens or early twenties. Her long reddish hair, so dark it was nearly brown, hung in thick curls to the middle of her back. Her cat green eyes were intense as she surveyed the group. "My father and I used to go lobster diving. I'm not an expert, but I do well enough with it. I could help."
I eagerly looked to Aiden, but his jaw was clenched and I could tell he was still against it. "We don't know for sure the store will have rental gear."
"It's worth a shot," Abby said.
"There may not even be enough for all of us, and then what?" another woman in the group inquired.
My patience was reaching the end of its short rope. "Then we come back here tomorrow night, but at least we would have tried," I stridently stated.
"You can stand here and debate this all you want. I'm not waiting anymore. The closer it gets to dawn, the less likely our chances of getting across are going to become," a man amongst the group insisted. "And we may not have another night. This may be our only chance to escape, and I'm not going to blow it."
"But this isn't a chance, this is death!" I insisted. "Please don't do this. It's foolish."
I didn't understand their absolute insistence upon this course of action. Was it because it was the only plan they believed in? Was it because they believed the other side of the bridge was magically better? Or was it simply because they finally had something to do, something to cling to other than fear and uncertainty?
Whatever it was, I knew I wasn't going to be able to stop them, and I was terrified I wouldn't be able to talk sense into Aiden either. Would he leave Abby and I here just to do this? Just to prove a point?
"You'll see Bethy, when we get to the other side, you can join us."
My heart was hammering. Abby was shaking even more as her fingers dug into my arm. "Aiden don't," she pleaded.
He looked at her as if he didn't know who she was; apparently he'd thought she would be eager to cross too. "Why don't we just think over what Bethany is saying," Cade suggested.
"What is there to think about?" The burly man shoved his way through the group to us. He hoisted his spear higher as he swung his pack onto his back. "This is the plan."
My heart was hammering; my mouth had gone completely dry. There didn't seem to be any way to stop this. "At least stay with us," I urged Aiden. "If they make it to the other side then maybe we'll consider going."
Aiden looked torn; he glanced back at the group of four starting to gather near the road. "We're in the third group, we'll go then."
I’d already been divided without my knowledge, or approval. "Why are we even splitting up?" Abby inquired.
"Smaller groups will be less noticeable," Aiden explained.
"Yeah, that's gonna help," I retorted.
"You know I love you Bethy, but optimism has never been one of your stronger qualities," Aiden said.
I glared at him, fighting to keep control of my rising temper as my hands fisted at my sides. He may be my brother, and one of my best friends, but there were times when our personalities completely clashed. Unfortunately this was one of those times, and his stubborn insistence may
very well get us killed. No matter how much I was against crossing the bridge, I knew that I wouldn't let him go alone. I couldn't. "Realism is not the same as pessimism. You're being foolish Aiden; you're not even listening to reason."
"This is a good plan."
I bit my lip, arguing with him was getting me nowhere. I looked toward Cade, but his attention was focused upon the people already leaving the woods. I closed my eyes, made a plea for their safety, and then forced myself to watch. I couldn't keep my eyes closed against this; I had to know what was going to happen no matter how awful it might be.
"No, it's not," I whispered.
Bret stepped closer to me and slid his hand into mine. "I'll keep you safe."
I managed a tremulous smile for him, but we both knew it would be nearly impossible for anyone to stop the kind of murderous intent we had seen earlier. His hand was warm and strong in mine. I knew every callous and every small scar marking it. Yet as I held his hand, I didn't feel the strong pull, the strong need that tore at me whenever Cade was near.
The next group stepped forward, entering the street as the first group reached the far side of the rotary. They were only five feet from the beginning of the bridge, just passing the entrance of the IHOP. They stepped onto the bridge, moving cautiously as they began the climb up. They weren't quite over the water yet, but still above the concrete walkway and jagged rocks marking the side of the canal. I shuddered at the thought of something happening to the bridge now, not like falling into the canal would save them, but it seemed somewhat more pleasant than concrete and rocks.
"Ok, let's go."
Bret took a step forward; apparently he was in our group while the other man and woman would be the last ones to go with Jenna and Cade. "Wait!" Abby said anxiously as Cade stepped toward us.
My heart was hammering, I could barely breathe as my hand clenched around Bret's. The second group was almost at the beginning of the bridge. The first was just cresting the middle of it; if not for the lights they would no longer be visible. I could sense Aiden's growing excitement; he really believed this was going to be ok. I wanted him to be right, they had gotten further than I'd expected, but I was still unable to accept it.
"We have to go Abby, it's the plan." Aiden seemed agitated by the fact we weren't adhering strictly to the plan. I understood his need to control something, to feel like he ruled his own life again. I just would have preferred if he had chosen something a little less deadly, like our food supplies maybe.
"Just wait until the second group gets a little further Aiden, please," Abby whispered.
I decided to let her try to persuade Aiden, he had a harder time saying no to her than he did to me. He looked hesitant but he waited until the second group was already on the bridge and the first group was beginning to fade from sight. Then, without further speaking to us, Aiden began to move from the woods. I franticly glanced back at Cade.
Cade's jaw was locked as he came toward us. The determination in his gaze was a sign of impending trouble. "Aiden wait," he commanded crisply.
Aiden spun back toward him, but the other two members of Cade's group were also coming forward. One of them was the girl who had claimed to know how to scuba dive. "Molly." She thrust her small hand forward to shake Aiden's. I took hold of her hand, surprised by the strength in her firm grip as I introduced myself.
"We'll go now instead. You'll see, we'll all be fine," the man said. He gave Abby and I a sympathetic look that set my teeth on edge.
"Fine," Aiden said. "Let's go Bret."
"Wait," Bret protested instantly. "Bethany..."
"It's ok Bret, I'll be fine," I assured him. "I would like to stay with Abby."
"Cade can go over with Aiden."
Hope sparked in Jenna's eyes at the idea of being with Bret. Abby looked franticly back and forth between the two groups. I was ashamed by the spurt of disappointment that shot through me at the thought of being separated from Cade. "Let's just go," Aiden said impatiently.
"I'd prefer not to leave you here," Bret said to me.
"Bret come on," Aiden interjected, practically bouncing on his toes in his eagerness to move.
"Bethany?" Bret asked.
I forced down the lump in my throat. "I'll be fine."
"Would you like me to stay?" he inquired.
I wanted them all to stay, but my opinion didn't seem to matter right now. "Its fine," I managed to choke out.
He smiled at me tremulously, squeezed my hand, and kissed me tenderly on the lips. I didn't recoil from him and didn't push him away. I kissed him back because I believed I would never see him again, and I did love him. He hurried to join Aiden and Cade swiftly took Bret's place at my side. I stared morosely up at Cade, struggling not to cry as Abby began to sob quietly.
The first group made it to the other side of the bridge; I could almost feel their relief. They weren't out of the woods yet, they were still completely exposed and out in the open, but they'd made it much further than I had thought they were going to. Hope began to fill me as I realized that perhaps I'd been wrong after all, perhaps we were all going to make it across. Perhaps the bridges were the answer.
I was seized by the urge to run across the bridge, race over to the other side and kiss the ground of the mainland. I glanced eagerly at Cade, Abby's tears began to dry up, and Jenna looked like she was about to start jumping for joy. The second group was more than halfway there; Aiden was almost to the IHOP. "Let's go," Jenna said eagerly.
I managed a wan smile for Cade when he turned toward me. Jenna stepped out of the shadows and made her way toward the road. I swallowed nervously, gathered my courage, and followed Jenna. Abby had stopped crying as she moved with us. Cade stayed close to my side, little shivers of pleasure shot through me every time his arm brushed against mine. I didn't feel so awful about us right now, I couldn't. I needed him.
It was just that simple.
Aiden was at the foot of the bridge. The second group was almost safely to the other side when intense light blazed forth. For a minute I was blinded, and completely confused. I thought something had happened with the lights on the bridge. Perhaps a power surge had somehow caused them to blaze even brighter.
Then, I heard the screams.