Ravenous (Book 1 The Ravening Series) (17 page)

   I could hear Cade behind me, and although we were both traveling through the same crap, I was certain that he was a thousand ti
mes quieter than me. My foot became entangled in a mess of briars, tripping me up. I cried out in surprise as I tumbled to the ground in an ungraceful. Thorns tore into my flesh, dug into my palms.

   Cade grabbed hold of me,
lifting me swiftly up. I turned to run again, but he held me back. Before I knew what was happening he was pushing me against a tree. “Climb,” he breathed in my ear.

   I was moving swiftly, drawing on all the things I had learned as a child as I pulled myself
up the tree. I glanced back at Cade; he was scurrying rapidly behind me as I moved higher and higher into the limbs of the giant oak. Then he was next to me, pressing me against the trunk of the tree. His breathing was loud in my ear; I could feel his heartbeat as he pressed flat against me.

   “Stay perfectly still.”

   That was easier said than done as every part of my body was trembling from fear and exertion. I was frightened of what was coming, afraid of the unknown, and consumed with terror for my brother and sister. Cade held me tighter, wrapping his arms around me as I bit into my bottom lip. I didn’t know where Jenna had gone; I prayed that she was safe, that she had heard the approaching danger also.

   “Jenna,” I whispered.

   Cade sighed softly; he rested his head in the hollow of my neck. A chill raced down my spine. “You’re the only one that matters Bethy.” My mouth dropped, he lifted his head to meet my wide eyed, disbelieving stare. The words were harsh, almost cruel in their detachment, but there was something heartwarming and reassuring in them that left me shaking with something more than fear. “You’ve always been the
only
one that matters.”

   Now how the
hell did I respond to that? How the hell did
any
one respond to that? I thought that I should protest, that I should tell him that of course other people had mattered, and always would. I thought these things, but I did not say them, mainly because I was unreasonably pleased by the conviction behind his fervent words. My breath was robbed from me, I wasn’t certain I was never going to breathe right again. I thought that he was going to kiss me again, but his onyx eyes slid away. The noise of the forest was getting closer; it seemed as if a herd of deer were tromping their way through. For a moment relief filled me, maybe it wasn’t the aliens, maybe the wildlife was starting to move around again.

   Cade pressed me back when I tried to move away from the
trunk of the tree. He shot me a dark look, his jaw clenched as he shook his head sharply. The muscles in his lean arms were tight around me, bulging slightly. Even now, terrified, bloody, and cornered, I felt myself reacting to the wonderful feel of him. He must have sensed a change in my breathing, or in my body, as his gaze slid slowly back to me. Those midnight eyes were stunning, liquid pools that gleamed in the light filtering through the leaves. I could see fear in his gaze, but there was something far more intense, almost soul shattering.

   He leaned close to me, his lips pressed against my ear.
I reveled in the feel of him, of the breath whispering over my skin. “I’m not confused Bethany,” he whispered so softly that I barely heard him. “I never have been.”

   I shivered in response as the woods suddenly erupted with motion.

CHAPTER 11

   I gaped at the sight beneath us, too stunned to react at first. “Cade…”
   “I see,” he said softly.

   I continued to stare for a moment longer, blinking as I tried to convince myself that
what I was seeing was real. “They’re human.”
   “Yes.”

   I followed him swiftly back down the tree. The group of t
en people spun toward us, drawing out the weapons they possessed as we reached the ground. “Easy,” Cade said, using his arm to push me back from them and his body to shield me.

   They stared at us for a moment longer before slowly lowering their s
pears and one rifle. “What are you doing here?” a tall burly man demanded.

   “The same as you I suppose,” Cade responded
with more nonchalance than I would have managed under the circumstances.

   The man eyed us wearily. I was stunned by the hostility radiating from them, the anger they had toward us. We were not their enemy. “Are
they
out here?” a woman asked tremulously.

   “Not yet, but I’m sure it’
s only a matter of time. Where did you come from?”

  
“Mashpee.” The man responded, indicating the town next to ours. “We’re making our way to the bridges.”

   “Are you going to attempt to cross them?” I
blurted in surprise.

   “We can’t stay on this side
, we’re trapped here.”
   I glanced sharply at Cade, not at all sure how I felt about that. It was true, on this side we were cut off from the world, separated from the mainland by the canal. The bridges were the only way off the manmade island, but nothing had moved over them in awhile, car or person. The thought of attempting to cross them on foot seemed like a suicide mission to me. They would be exposed, out in the open, high in the air, easily spotted from above. I thought I would rather jump in the canal and take my chances with the deadly current and cool water, rather than try and run across either bridge.

   “They’re just
gonna herd the survivors into smaller and smaller pieces of land, until they can’t herd us anymore. Until there is nowhere left for us to go. We need to get off,” the man continued.
   I shuddered in dread, knowing that the man was right. They would continue to push us where they wanted us, but the bridges were
not
an option. At least not to me. Neither was swimming across, and a boat would be an easy target on the open sea, or the canal. We were trapped here, stuck, and at the mercy of the aliens hunting us. “Have you met many other survivors?” I inquired tremulously.

   “I met up with three others near the Sandwich line
. We’ve picked up the rest along the way.”
   I bit my bottom lip. They hadn’t walked an overly long distance, but I thought they should have discovered more people in the area they’d covered, or at least I had hoped they would have. That hope vanished. The number standing across from me was depressing, and defeating. “We’ll walk with you,” Cade said softly.

   “Cade,” I whispered, dread filling me at the thought.
They were the first people we had seen in a long time, I should be ecstatic to see them, and yet their plan terrified the hell out of me. I was weary of them and their intent. I didn’t even like
driving
over the bridges, never mind running across the damn things.

   “
We’ll go with you for a little while,” Cade amended squeezing my arm gently. “If that is ok?”

  
They exchanged quick glances. “Strength in numbers,” the man agreed.

   “Yes
.” My heart was hammering, panic clawed at me. “There are others of us nearby.” Cade turned to me and gently clasped hold of my shoulders. “I have to find Jenna; there is no way to know how far she ran. Wait for us.”

   “
Cade…”

   He was already moving away though, disappearing swiftly into the woods. I marveled over his grace
, agility, and ability to move with such speed and ease. I focused my attention back on the group to find them watching me intently. They looked as beaten and terrified as I felt. I found my defenses crumpling; I managed a small smile for them. One that was only halfheartedly returned. “This way,” I said softly.

***

   It had taken Cade nearly a half an hour to find Jenna and bring her back to the tree house, by that time it was almost dark. The group became divided on if it would be best to keep moving, or wait until daybreak. A majority vote had us packing up our meager supplies. I preferred to keep moving, we had stayed here too long and I felt we would be pushing our luck if we continued to do so.

   Bret worried over me as he cleaned my wounds with some of the water we had left. One of the members of the other group had bandages.
I wanted to tell Bret to stop, wanted to tell him not to worry about me. I was certain that if he knew the truth about me, the last thing in the world he’d want to do was touch me. And I wouldn’t blame him in the least.

   But I let him worry over me; I could sense the fear and anxiety tightly wound within him. Helping me with my injuries was easing
some of that tension. I forced myself not to turn away from him, none of this was his fault, it was all mine; I could not deny him the comfort he sought. I felt like a mummy with my hands wrapped up, but apparently my dive into the thorns had done more damage than I’d realized. “You have to be more careful,” Bret muttered as he finished tying the bandage.

  
He looked at me in amusement. We both knew that was a near impossibility. After all, I was the girl who had tripped over her own feet and sprained an ankle last year. A fact that, until all of this happened, Aiden and Bret had found highly amusing. “I’m fine Bret,” I assured him softly.

   His clear green eyes
were warm and caring as he squeezed my hand lightly. “You’re a train wreck, but I love you.”

   Guilt coiled through me, I shied away
from the words. I wished he would stop saying them. It took all I had not to jerk away when he bent to kiss my cheek. I could feel Cade’s gaze burning into me from across the clearing, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I felt like the lowest form of life at the moment, and I wasn’t ready to deal with the fact that I was now a cheater. Ok well maybe I wasn’t a full blown adulteress, it had only been a couple of kisses, but I was still a horrible person and I knew it.

   I just wished that Cade wasn’t so damn irresistible
, or that I wasn’t so damn weak.

   I went to grab the bag of food but Bret beat me to it. “Let your hands heal.”

   I wasn’t going to argue, there was no need. I fell into line beside Abby; she slid her hand through my arm. “I’m glad we’ve found others.”

   “Yes.”

   Though I still wasn’t certain how all of this was going to work out. Heading toward the bridges meant heading toward higher populated areas. Areas that would have a higher concentration of frozen people, and aliens. And crossing the bridges? We couldn’t, we simply couldn’t. Unfortunately, I knew that some people were determined to do just that, and I was a little scared that Jenna was completely for it. She was nearly hysterical after Cade had brought her back, she was wide eyed and terrified, and hell bent on getting off of Cape Cod.

   I didn’t realize I
was staring at her, and Cade, until I caught him staring back at me. I blinked in surprise, my face colored, and I ducked my head quickly. Abby giggled softly beside me. “I think he likes you.”

   “He’s just a friend,” I responded quickly, perhaps a little too quickly.

   Abby stared up at me, her eyes widening slightly. She had only been teasing but my reaction to her, and my focus on Cade, had not escaped her attention. Abby might have written off the kiss she had witnessed earlier as the heat of the moment, temporary insanity, curiosity, or simple fear, but I could see the dawning realization in her gaze. “Bethy,” she whispered in horror.

   “How are you doing?” I asked softly
trying to change the conversation.

   “
Bethany
what
are you doing?”

  
“Nothing Abby. How are you holding up?”

   She stared at me for a moment longer,
her dark eyes wide and caring. I could tell she wanted to say more, but eventually she decided to go with my change of subject. “Surviving, just like everyone else.”
   I wondered how we were surviving at all. How we were still moving and going and carrying on through all of this. I could barely think of our mother, I was afraid I would turn into a sobbing mess if I did think about her for too long. We were all exhausted, hungry, beaten, and terrified, and yet we continued to move on, continued to fight and struggle for our lives no matter how frightening, uncomfortable, and uncertain they had become. Abby leaned against my side, her head against my arm. She was strong, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to take much more. I wasn’t so sure any of us could.

  
“We’re going to survive though.”

   I turned my attention back to Abby
, forcing a smile to my face. “Yes we are.”

   I hoped that I wasn’t lying to her, but deep down I felt I was. We moved through the woods, skirting the
roads, staying within the shadows. As we approached the Sagamore bridge I was surprised to see that all of its lights were still on, and blazing brightly. For a moment I stopped to stare, recalling all of the times that I had seen the bridge lit up like this. It was a beautiful, sweeping, glowing beacon against the dark night. Yet, even though it looked much the same, it was completely different.