CHAPTER 25
I turned the scuba tank over in my hands. I had no idea what we were going to do with these things. What were we thinking to attempt this incredibly crazy idea, even if it had been my crazy idea? Drowning was not the way I intended to go out, but then again neither was getting my blood drained by some crazy freaking spider/tick/octopus/jellyfish-like monster.
Both options sucked, but I preferred to give my body over to nature than the aliens any day. "There might be some kind of manual or something around here," Aiden muttered as he wandered behind the counter. "A video even."
"A video?" I inquired dryly.
"DVD maybe."
I rolled my eyes as I shook my head. Only Aiden would think he could play a DVD and know what to do, or that there even was a DVD on the basics of scuba diving. But then again, for all I knew, there actually might be one. Abby was holding up a set of flippers, studying them carefully as she flapped them in the air. We had lived on Cape Cod our entire lives, but strangely enough my siblings and I had never donned a set of flippers before.
"We do have Molly," I reminded him.
Aiden shrugged absently. "Would still like to learn as much as possible beforehand."
I followed Aiden behind the counter and held a flashlight for him as he rummaged through the shelves. I didn't think he had a snowballs chance in Hell of finding a video, but I didn't say that to him. I figured he simply needed something to distract him from what we were going to do. "Here's something."
"What?" I asked in surprise.
He pulled out a stack of papers and fluttered them in the air. "It's a manual." Well that might be helpful, I thought. Though, I was sure reading about scuba diving wasn't the best way to learn how to do it. It was better than nothing though. He sat back on his heels and flipped through the pages. "It will help."
He put it on top of the counter as he stood up. Cade and Molly came around from where they had been exploring the back of the store. "There's a room back there, but it has windows. We either leave tonight for the mainland, or we go back to the apartment," Cade informed us briskly.
He'd been on edge since we'd left the apartment. The strange thing was I didn't think it had anything to do with what had happened with Bret, but something else entirely. He was pale again and his mouth was pinched once more. I wondered if perhaps he hadn't slept like the rest of us. I worried he was going to make himself sick with lack of sleep and nutrition.
"I would like to read this." Aiden drew my attention back to him as he tapped his fingers on the pages before him. "Maybe we should go back to the apartment till tomorrow night then."
"Are we taking all this stuff with us?" Jenna inquired. I'd noticed she'd become a lot more agreeable since she'd seen Cade and I holding hands in front of Bret. "It's pretty heavy."
"I guess we can leave it," Aiden answered but his attention was elsewhere. He was like a pit bull when he became focused on something, he locked onto it and wouldn't let go, and right now he was focused on the manual.
"There's no guarantee we'll be able to make it back here," I interjected.
"Hmm, true," Aiden muttered.
I sighed as I shook my head at him. I moved away from the counter and headed toward the window at the back of the store. Through the trees and homes, I could just make out the light of the moon sparkling across the gleaming surface of the ocean. It all looked so peaceful, so delightfully normal and safe. I could almost believe everything was as it should be.
I closed my eyes as I tried to bottle the rush of emotions swelling up in me. I allowed myself to long for everything we’d lost, and everything that we would never have again. Then, I opened my eyes, and forced myself to accept this as our new reality. Running, hiding, being hungry, scared, dirty, and tired was all we would know for the rest of our lives. But at least we were alive, we still had loved ones, and we were still moving which was more than I could say for most people.
"Are you ok Bethy?"
I hadn't heard Abby approach but she was suddenly at my side. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You seem so... ah... I don't know, but you don't seem like you lately."
She was trying to discreetly ask about Cade, but I didn't have any answers for her. I didn't know what it all meant, how it would all turn out. All I knew was everything was extremely complicated and I wasn't ready to talk about it. "None of us are the same lately."
"Bret..."
"I don't want to talk about it Abby."
"He loves you Bethany. He's our friend. What are you doing?" Unable to stand the pleading look in her eyes anymore I turned back to the window. I felt bad enough without her heaping more guilt onto me. "Cade is..."
I glanced pointedly at her. "Is what?"
She shrugged her delicate shoulders. "I don't know; he's always so distant and aloof, so cold and hard. He's a stranger, Bethany..."
"I can't explain it Abby, but Cade isn't those things, not really."
Abby's gaze drifted toward where Jenna stood with Molly. I knew she was thinking about when Cade had threatened to leave Jenna at the dump. "That is who he is Bethy. It's the way he is toward all of us." Her doe eyes flitted back to me, her mouth parted as she gazed at me with dawning understanding. "It's just not who he is with you."
I shifted slightly before turning my attention back to the window. She was right, Cade was detached, he was remorseless, and he was deadly. They were all traits he’d clearly exhibited over the past few days. He just wasn't like that with me and he never would be. I knew that instinctively. I didn't know how to explain it to her though, and I wasn't sure she would understand even if I could explain it to her. People had been wary of Cade for years; that wasn't going to change simply because I wanted it to.
She rested her hand on my arm. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"I don't," I admitted.
She squeezed my arm before hooking her arm through mine and leaning against my side. "He is gorgeous," she muttered.
I chuckled as I hugged her to me, taking solace in her warmth. "It's time to head back." Cade didn't acknowledge the midnight hair falling into one of his eyes as he stepped beside us and focused on me. "Your brother is determined to read it cover to cover."
"Of course he is." Abby rolled her eyes as she pulled away from me.
She only made it one step before an echoing, crashing screech froze her in place. The sound rumbled throughout the night, and shook the building, as its crescendo rose to higher levels. Abby threw her hands over her ears. She took a step back as it steadily grew louder, and more ear piercing with every second. I didn't even realize Jenna was screaming until Molly slammed her hand over Jenna's mouth to stifle her. It made little difference though; I never heard Jenna's screams above the rising shriek pulsating through the air.
Abby was nearly on top of me as she fell back. Cade seized hold of my arms as a series of rambling crashes, and the brutal squeal of twisted metal resonated through the air. It rose and fell in streams of sound that shook the windows and caused the floor to tremble. I didn't know what was causing the noise but I was beginning to fear it was never going to stop, that it would continue endlessly on until it deafened us, or drove us all mad.
Then it stopped as suddenly as it started. The ensuing quiet was more unnerving than the awful sound had been. We all held our breaths as we strained to hear or see anything. My ears were ringing; I was shaking within Cade's grip. I kept waiting for the noise to start again, kept waiting for something to happen, but the world remained still.
"What... what was that?" Molly breathed.
Aiden took a step from behind the counter; his face was far paler than normal. "I think it was the bridge."
"What?" Jenna demanded.
"The bridge, I think the bridge just collapsed, or was blown up, or whatever. But I'm pretty sure it was the Bourne Bridge," Aiden answered.
Though I couldn't see it from here, I knew he was right. The bridge that had been a constant staple in my life was gone. As a young child I'd despised driving over i
t, certain it would collapse beneath us. After my father's death I hadn't stayed in a car long enough to make the trip over the bridge until a couple of years ago. Both bridges had been a major topic of conversation for the locals, when the tourists flooded in and created massive congestion during the summer. The bridges had been sweeping testimonials to the architecture and technology of the thirties, and now at least one of them was a pile of rubble within the canal it had once gracefully spanned.
"Why would they destroy the bridge?" Jenna whispered.
"Someone must have tried to get across again," Abby replied.
"No," Aiden's forehead furrowed as he puzzled it out. "Someone made it across."
A jolt of astonishment rocked me. "What?" I inquired.
Excitement filled Aiden's eyes as he began to talk faster. "Think about it. Those things were waiting for us to try and cross the bridge, so they could spring their trap. For them, those bridges were like picking off ants at a picnic, easy, simple, and they had the right bait. They wouldn't destroy that opportunity unless something had gone wrong, unless someone had made it across. Unless someone survived."
Hope swelled up my throat. "You really think so?"
"I do."
I glanced eagerly at Cade, but his eyes were distant and turbulent as he focused on the far wall. "Or we did it," Cade said.
"Huh?" Abby asked.
"There has to be some military still around, there are most definitely other survivors out there. It could have been either group that destroyed the bridge."
"But why?" Molly demanded.
"To deter others from attempting to cross it and to keep more people from getting killed."
There was an extended silence before Bret finally spoke. "No matter what it's a good thing the bridge is gone. Someone could have made it to the other side and is seeking help, or there are others on the other side looking to damage the aliens, and they could help us. At least no one else will be hurt again by trying to cross it again."
"We should get out of here. No matter which side did it, it's going to attract a lot of attention and we aren't far from it." Molly bit on her bottom lip as she stared at the window.
She was right, of course, but the last thing I felt like doing was going back outside. Everyone seemed to feel the same way, as no one moved. I finally broke out of the paralysis clinging to me as I reluctantly pulled away from Cade and made my way to the front door. Pulling the blinds apart, I peered out at the night. I could see nothing, but I had the unsettling feeling there was a menacing presence just waiting for us out there.
I backed away from the door. Goose pimples broke out on my skin as a cold chill swept down my spine. "How long will it take you to read that thing?" I managed to croak out.
"I don't know, an hour, maybe two," Aiden answered.
"I don't think we have that long."
"Betha..."
Aiden's words were cut off as another rattling explosion rent the air. I jumped back, nearly falling over my own feet as I staggered away from the door. I threw my arms up as the glass window exploded inward and littered the store with shards of glass. Cade lurched forward, grabbing hold of my arms he pulled me down and covered me with his body as another loud bang rent the air. I curled into a ball beneath him and covered my ears as I tried to protect them from the noise.
Cade scrambled over me for something I couldn't see. He returned, pulling my hand away he pressed his mouth to my ear. "We have to go Bethany."
"Where?" I cried over the resounding explosions.
Cade didn't answer as he seized hold of my hand and pulled me to my feet. Another loud bang shattered one of the windows at the far end of the store as the explosions seemed to get steadily closer. I'd had nightmares like this, being frozen in place as imminent death rushed toward me. Then I'd been able to wake up, now I was trapped, stuck like a fly in a spider's web.
Cade released me and stumbled forward as he staggered toward the wall containing the scuba gear. "Give me a hand!" he yelled at Bret.
Bret and Aiden lurched forward to help Cade tear the equipment from the walls. I seized hold of one of the boxes containing an assortment of floaties and tubes. The contents scattered across the floor as I hurriedly dumped them out. I tossed the box to Aiden and searched for another one as they began to fill it.
Another explosion shook the earth; my ears were ringing from the continuous onslaught of noise. The ground beneath my feet began to vibrate. I jumped as a hand wrapped around my arm, Bret pulled me against his side. "This way Bethany!" he shouted above the noise.
I searched for Aiden and Cade, but they were struggling to carry the equipment and the box. "We have to help them!" I cried.
"We have to get out of here!" he snapped back.
"Wait..." I strained to break free of him, but he wouldn't let me go. "Cade."
Cade's head whipped around, his eyes narrowed upon us. "Get her out of here!" he growled with such ferocity even I was taken aback. "Now! Get her out now!"
Bret tugged on my arm, and this time I relented and stopped fighting him. Abby was already by the back door, holding it open for us. Bret pulled me forward rapidly; I nearly tripped over my own feet as I hurried to keep up with him. I staggered out the door, inhaling giant gulps of air that was nowhere near as fresh as I’d hoped it would be. It smelled rancid and the bitterness of its taste caused me to recoil. My lungs burned from the tainted air, my nose hairs were singed by the intense heat.
For an entirely disorienting minute, I thought it was snowing. But it couldn't be snowing, not in August anyway, could it? Then again, far stranger things had happened over the past few days, snow in August didn't seem entirely impossible right now. I stretched my hand up and blinked against the fine particles coating my eyelashes, falling across my face, and turning the night sky completely black as they blocked out the stars and moon. The fine particles were pungent against my lips. My brain struggled to process that it wasn't snow, but fine, flowing ash.
I turned to the right, the building blocked some of my view but the sky behind the building was a vivid red orange hue. Whereas the night around us was as dark as midnight, it was as bright as the sun over there. And it looked angry, malevolent, and deadly. We all stood, staring in awe at the glowing, malicious sky. We had been so eager to flee the building, but I found my feet wouldn't move. I didn't want to see what the building hid, what was sheltered from our view.
"Awful," Abby breathed.
"What is that?" Molly croaked out.
"Flames from the bridge must have spread," Bret muttered.
"The gas station," I whispered.
"And the other buildings close to it. Those were the explosions. The fire is going to keep spreading. It will reach other propane tanks, gas tanks, oil tanks. We have to go before it gets to us." I dropped my hands, dismayed by the coating of soot clinging to them. "We have no choice but to swim now."
He tugged me back a few steps. For a second I remained frozen, and then self-preservation kicked in. Bret's hand slipped away as we hurried down the hill, struggling to stay on our feet on the uneven, gloomy terrain. I had to keep wiping the ashes from my eyes as they stuck heavily to my lashes and made it even more difficult to see. The hill became slick with the material coating it, I slipped and slid, waiting for the inevitable moment when I lost my balance.
Surprisingly, I wasn't the first one to go down. Instead, Molly let out a small cry as she lost her footing. Her arms pin wheeled in a useless attempt to keep her balance as her feet flew out from beneath her. I winced for her as she landed on her butt, bounced a few times before doing a complete ass over teakettle somersault.
Bret and Abby attempted to grab hold of her, but she quickly catapulted out of their reach. Molly let out a muffled cry of pain, but she remained terrifyingly quiet as she plummeted out of view. "Molly!" Abby cried.
"Hush!" Bret commanded briskly.
"But..."
"Shut up Abby, Molly did."
Abby became silent but I could almost hea
r her tears. My heart hammered, was Molly ok? Had she been injured in the fall? I had no way of knowing what was at the bottom of the hill; I could barely see a foot in front of me due to the inescapable blackness. Were there rocks down there? Was the ocean down there?
I chanced a glance over my shoulder; I could barely make out Cade and Aiden struggling down the hill behind us. Their breathing was loud in the oppressive air, but then, so was mine. My lungs labored, my throat burned. It couldn't be good to be inhaling this crap, but there was little any of us could do about that now.
A loud pop sizzled through the air. A burst of fire leapt into the air over the burning glow behind the store. A propane tank perhaps? I tried to recall the buildings in the area of the bridge. There was the IHOP, a hotel; no there were two hotels, a laundry mat, convenience store, gas station, funeral home, tourist traps, woods, and plenty of homes. So many things could spread the growing flames without anyone to stop the inferno.
The aliens certainly wouldn't stop it. Not when they knew it would flush out the remaining people like rats fleeing a flood. That's exactly what we were now, trapped rats they would hone in on quickly, especially if we continued to head toward the water.
My heart flip-flopped; I tore my attention away from the abhorrent flames. Was that the real reason the bridge had been destroyed? Had the aliens decided to ruin any chance of escape, and set fire to the land in order to draw us out?
I was so fixated on my own thoughts I didn't realize the ground had begun to level out. Molly came into view at the bottom of the hill. She was dirty, disheveled, and her bottom lip was bleeding but she appeared otherwise unharmed. We raced across the street, fleeing into the backyards of residential homes, staying parallel with the railroad tracks running near the beach. The tracks followed the water and roads, yet the trees surrounding them offered us enough protection to stay hidden from anything above.
Our breathing grew labored, my lungs were burning from the acrid air, but no one asked to stop. It simply wasn't an option right now. I don't know how long we ran, pounding over unseen ground, trying to escape the ash and deadly flames. I didn't dare look back to see how close the fire was, I didn't want to know how much time we had left.
"This way," Aiden panted.
We followed as he took a right and dashed through someone's yard before stopping at the edge of the woods. I stared out at the shadowed parking lot before us. A chill cooled the sweat on my body at the thought of running out there. We would be exposed, vulnerable.
Aiden and Cade dropped the equipment they had been carrying. They muttered to each other before a small flashlight clicked on. "Aiden!" I hissed.
His mahogany eyes were piercing as he gazed at me over the beam. I was pinned by his stare, frozen within its desperate depths. "Do you plan to use this crap or not?" he demanded.
I bit my bottom lip as I finally turned back to the hungry inferno. Above the tree line I could make out the angry glow of the flames. We had gained some time, but there was too much kindling and fuel in between the fire, and us, to think it had been much. We had an hour, maybe two, before those flames came far too close for my liking.
"Why are there only four tanks?"
My head whipped around at Jenna's question. I strained to see into the box Cade had been carrying, hoping that fear had caused me to lose my ability to count right. One, two, three, four... No, no, there had to be more. One, two, three, four...
But no matter how I twisted the box in my head, I still only saw four tanks within it. "They were the only ones," Cade told her.
"I saw at least ten tanks in the store!" Jenna retorted fiercely, terror causing her bitchier side to reemerge in front of Bret. But then again, I was feeling pretty damn bitchy right now too.
Cade's coal eyes were wintry; Jenna recoiled from him as he leveled her with his remorseless gaze. "These were the only ones with oxygen in them," Cade elaborated.
My heart plummeted; my legs suddenly became so weak I slumped to the ground. The ash wasn't as thick here, but it would be soon. I stared out at the parking lot toward the beckoning ocean beyond. There were still some boats floating out there, bobbing on the small waves lapping against them. They taunted me with their presence; they would be so useful right now, but to climb on one, start it up, and use it would be certain death.
"What are we going to do?" Abby breathed.
"Share them," Molly answered simply as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
I swallowed heavily at the suggestion. It was such a long swim to be sharing tanks, especially when most of us didn't have a clue as to what we were doing. I turned to Cade, trying not to give way to my panic. His eyes burned into mine. Though he wasn't right next to me, I could feel the soothing caress of his presence on my raw soul.
"Is that possible?" Jenna squeaked.
"It's going to have to be," Molly muttered her attention riveted upon the contents of the box as she pawed through it.
I watched with growing unease as she began to pull things out and lay them neatly upon the ground.