CHAPTER 23
I was relieved, and exhausted, when we finally came across the highway. The sun was beginning to set; we wouldn't have much of a break before we were forced to try the inevitable crossing. I hadn't allowed my thoughts to turn to Aiden and Bret since we'd been separated. For the first time I wondered 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 Cade handed to me. I was starving, so hungry my head hurt, yet I leisurely ate the chips and barely tasted them. "We'll have to move quickly," Cade said.
I studied the two-lane highway. We would have to dash across it before making it to the median, which was dotted with trees and scrub brush. The median would offer 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’d traversed earlier.
Cade handed me the duffel bag containing our supplies. I frowned at him as he turned away and made his way to the edge of the tree line. I snapped out of my strange stupor to hurry after him. "What are you doing?" I demanded.
"I'm going to go out there first. Make sure it's safe."
"Like hell!" I retorted.
His face was half hidden in the shadows as he knelt to study the road. "Would you like another replay of the bridge?"
I swallowed heavily as 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," I offered.
He shook his head as his gaze drifted to Abby. "You can't leave her alone."
"Stop using her against me!"
He ran a hand through his tussled hair. "I'm not using her against you; I just need you to stay here Bethany. I'll be back. I promise."
I tried 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 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 glanced over my shoulder to make sure I was out of earshot. "I'm the one who has completely collapsed in this situation Cade, not them. They're holding up far better than me."
He rose to his full height and moved subtly closer to me. The heat of his body radiated against mine even though he remained a foot away. "That may be true, but you are still stronger than them Bethany. You reached a breaking point today, but many would have reached theirs years ago if they’d carried the same burdens as you. You will not break again, I know that..."
"You can't know that," I interrupted.
"Of course I can, I know you. You'll get them through this because you have to. If they lose us both, they won't make it."
I bit my bottom lip as I continued to frown at him. I wanted to believe him, but a part of me believed he was just feeding me a line of bull in order to get me to stay behind while he tested the waters. I could almost see the gears turning in his head, the thoughts bouncing rapidly through his brain as he tried to think of some other way to dissuade me.
"Without you?"
"What?" He was thrown off by my questioning him instead of arguing further.
"Do you honestly believe I will be able to keep it together without you?"
He shifted nervously, I could tell he was hesitant to say his next words, but say them he did. "You kept it together after your father died, until me. You kept it together today, until me. I'm the reason you fall apart Bethany."
"That's not true!" I protested vehemently.
He glanced over my shoulder; his jaw clenched as a muscle jumped in his cheek. "It is true, without me you will make it through this..."
"That's awful of you to say! Especially after everything that has happened!" I snapped, growing infuriated with his words and the absolute belief he had in them. "How could you believe I'm stronger without you?"
He grabbed hold of my shoulders and pulled my rigid form a step closer to him. "I never said that. When I'm not around you bury your emotions because you don't trust anyone else with them, but..."
"But for some reason I trust you."
A small smile quirked the corner of his full mouth as his eyes twinkled mischievously. "Yes, for some reason you trust the devil."
I started in surprise as he mentioned his nickname from school. "You knew they called you the dark devil?"
His grin widened. "The devil knows all."
"You're not funny," I muttered.
"I'm not trying to be." He kissed me softly on the forehead before releasing me and taking a step back. "You will get them through this Bethany. No matter what, I know you will."
Though I appreciated his unwavering faith in me, I wanted to grab hold of him and plead with him to stay. I wanted to tell him I loved him but the words stuck in my throat. It was obvious he was set on this course of action, and I wasn't going to be able to stop him.
"Be safe."
He flashed a cocky grin that caused my heart to melt and my toes to curl. "Always."
Before I could say another word he darted away from me, bolted across the road, and disappeared into the shelter of the median with startling speed and grace. I was left gaping after him, my heart hammering as a cold sweat broke out on my body. I'd never seen anyone move like him. I took a small step after him, torn between the urge to follow, and the need to stay with my sister.
My gaze slid back to Abby. She and Jenna had crept closer to me, but still hung back a good five feet. I could see the fear in their faces, a fear that caused me to straighten my shoulders and tilt my chin up. Cade was right, I would find some way to get them out of this. No matter what it took, I would get them out of here, even if I had to do it without him.
A faint rustle of the leaves was the only thing alerting me to the fact Cade was making his way across the other side of the highway. I held my breath as I counted to myself. I thought he should at least be back in the median by the time I made it to a hundred. At two hundred, I began to panic. At three hundred, I could barely breathe through the constriction encircling my chest.
At five hundred, my throat began to burn and I was barely breathing anymore. Five fifty...
I didn't know how long we should stay here for. How long we should wait for him to return. I wasn't sure I would be able to get my feet to move away from here if the time came. There was no dazzling light, no crashing bangs echoing throughout the forest signaling the creature's arrival, but when I hit eight hundred I became increasingly certain Cade wasn't going to return.
We didn't know what other kinds of weapons these aliens possessed, didn't know what they were capable of. Just because they'd always announced their arrival with noise and light before didn't mean they always had to. The noise and lights could just be a scare tactic, one that worked really well as far as I was concerned. Maybe they had taken Cade. Maybe they knew we were here and were just waiting for us to expose ourselves.
I took a step back from the roadside, losing count as I began to search the night around us. Were they out there? Hunting us, stalking us? Were they closing in on us even now? I hadn't planned to leave Cade, but he’d been gone far longer than he should have been. He had faith in me that I would continue on and get them to safety.
"Bethany..." Abby started.
"Five more minutes," I whispered.
"But he's been gone..."
"Five more minutes, Abby."
"Look, I get you don't want to leave your lover behind, but they could be closing in on us even now," Jenna grumbled.
I shot Jenna a furious look, my hands fisted at my sides. "Five more minutes!" I snarled.
She g
lared at me as she shifted her stance. I turned back to the road and started to count again. One more time to two hundred, and then we would have to go. We would have to. Fifty-six... fifty-seven... fifty-ei... Movement rustled the trees in the median.
My breath froze; I took a quick step forward as hope exploded through me. Everything went still again and then Cade emerged from the shadows. My legs shook as relief flooded me; I was able to take my first real breath since he'd left. Cade knelt by the side of the road, his hand rested on the ground as he searched for us. I stepped forward enough to expose myself to him in the dim moonlight illuminating the road. He lifted his hand and gestured for us to come over.
"Let's go," I breathed.
"Wait!" Jenna blurted.
"We have to go now, while it's still safe."
"Out there?" she croaked.
I decided to take a page from Cade's book. "Then stay here. Let's go Abby, now."
Jenna's frantic gaze flitted around, but she offered no further protest as Abby came toward me. I bowed beneath the weight of the duffel bag as I heaved it onto my shoulder. It was far heavier than I had expected it to be considering the ease with which Cade carried it. I straightened my shoulders and burst onto the road with Abby close at my heels and Jenna following behind reluctantly.