Desolation - An Apocalyptic Novel (From Below Book 2) Read online

  “I am,” Austin said before kicking the gravel and walking away.

  “I’m sure he—”

  “Who asked you?” Mallory said aiming her glare at me. “Why did you have to do this?”

  My mouth dropped. I looked at Bradley waiting for him to say something but he didn’t.

  “This isn’t my fault,” I said I said staring at her with disbelief. “Did you hear any of what happened?”

  “I heard enough,” she said raising her nose to the sky… a sky that was darkening rapidly. “He was my fiancé. If you wouldn’t have forced your way back into his life, none of this would have happened.”

  “Forced my way?” I asked taking a step back. I felt like throwing my fist in her pretty little face. I looked at Bradley and stared into his eyes. “You better tell her or I won’t stop Austin from kicking you to the curb.”

  Mallory held up her hand. “I don’t want to hear anything. Bradley and I can work through anything, isn’t that right Bradley?”

  “Sure,” Bradley said attempting to sit up.

  Noah was behind me tapping me on the shoulder.

  “What?” I spat taking my frustration out on him. I sighed and thankfully he took it as an apology.

  “I think you should talk to Austin,” he said but what he really wanted was to separate me from Mallory.

  “Yeah,” I said stiffening my jaw as I gave Bradley a final look. “Fix this.”

  Bradley nodded and I turned my back. I already knew he wasn’t going to do anything but spin things to make it look like he was the good guy. And Mallory was dumb enough to believe it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The group of us stayed near the SUV during the night. Mallory and Bradley kept to themselves but since they had to stay in the light, it felt as though they were too close.

  They would whisper. I could tell that Mallory was sad and it didn’t seem like she liked being sad.

  Bradley’s cheek was black and blue where Austin had hit him. The regret practically flowed out of Austin’s pores.

  Noah and Austin stood apart holding their guns as they stared into the darkness. The creatures were out there making their noises, talking about us. Probably trying to come up with a plan to get us.

  “Should we go?” Noah asked Austin as he paced closer to him. “I could drive.”

  “Do we even know if we’re on the right track?” Austin asked quietly. “We haven’t seen a road sign in miles.”

  Noah nodded. “Marty was able to get a map on his phone. I think we could be there by morning.”

  Austin scratched the back of his head. “It would be better to arrive during the day.”

  “Should we run it by the others? See what they want to do?” Noah asked.

  “No,” Austin said clenching his fists. “I don’t care what they want to do.”

  My eyes narrowed and looked down at my shoes. I wasn’t supposed to be listening, at least I didn’t think I was supposed to.

  “You don’t care what we want to do?” I asked cursing myself for having such a big mouth.

  “I care what you want to do,” he jerked his chin in Bradley’s direction, “but I don’t care what he wants to do. I have one job and that is to keep us safe.”

  “He’s not a threat to our safety,” I said straightening my spine.

  It was instantly apparent that he wasn’t thrilled at my response. “Now, you’re on his side?”

  “Austin stop it, you know I’m not. He got the message loud and clear,” I said turning as Mallory marched over to us.

  She stopped and placed her hands on her hips as she gave us each a look that could have started a fire.

  “You will all be pleased to know that Bradley and I broke up,” Mallory announced loudly as she turned to me. “Thanks to you.”

  “To me?” I said letting my mouth fall open. “I think you have the wrong idea. I don’t have any interest in Bradley.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Mallory said her arms turning to heavy strings of taffy. “He has an interest in you.”

  Austin tensed.

  “Cool it, Hulk,” Mallory said her eyes focused on Austin. “He has an interest but he says he doesn’t. I know him so well, I can feel it. I don’t want to be with him.”

  “We should keep going,” Noah said lightly touching Austin’s shoulder. Austin flinched and Noah stared into his eyes. “The sooner we get there, the sooner this can be over.”

  Austin shook his head and took a step away. “This will never be over.”

  He walked away from the group stopping just at the edge of the light. Austin was much too close to the shadows.

  Noah started to go to him but I grabbed his arm to stop him. “Let me.”

  “Are you sure?” Noah asked.

  “I’m sure. It’ll be fine,” I said.

  I flicked a quick glance at Marty as I walked closer to the darkness. He didn’t even try to hide his nervousness about me going to the edge of the circle of light. I forced myself to look away before I stopped walking.

  “Austin,” I said softly from a foot back. “Please come back to the SUV.”

  “I just need a minute, okay?”

  “Um,” I stammered as I tried to think of something that could get him to come back. Or at least further back from the shadows. Maybe he hadn’t realized just how close he was. Another step or two and the darkness would swallow him.

  The creatures were out there and they weren’t far from us. They were squealing with delight and it probably had to do with just how close they were to him.

  “If you need space from me I understand,” I said chewing on a hangnail I suddenly noticed. “But you’re too close to the shadows.”

  Austin snorted and turned his back to the darkness. His eyes locked with mine. “I don’t need space from you. I need space from him.”

  “We can just pretend he’s not here,” I said.

  “Maybe you can, but I can’t. I can’t stop thinking about him putting his hands on you,” Austin said.

  I frowned. “Please stop thinking about it. I dealt with it. And that big bruise on his cheek seems to indicate that you dealt with it too.”

  “A little bruise isn’t going to stop a guy like that,” Austin said.

  “Doesn’t it matter to you, even a little, that I’m in love with you? I love you, not Bradley,” I said feeling the warmth on my tongue as I said the words.

  The moment wasn’t at all how I’d imagined but it didn’t matter, not even a little. I was completely and utterly in love with Austin. I didn’t care about Bradley, or what he felt or any of it. All I wanted was for Austin to come back to the SUV and away from the darkness.

  His eyes were glued to mine as if he were trying to comprehend what I’d said. It was like I’d given him a present and he was slowly unwrapping it, savoring every moment.

  “I love you too,” he said letting a smile grow on his face. He opened his mouth to say something more but he was gone. In a blink, he was gone into the shadows.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I ran to the edge of the light and flailed my arms around inside of the shadows trying to find him. Desperately trying to grab a hold of something.

  “Austin!” I screamed.

  A beam of light from my right cut through the darkness. Someone was coming and slicing through the shadows with the flashlight. I couldn’t look away. I didn’t have time to see who was there.

  A pair of blue eyes about ten feet into the darkness looked in our direction. Clicking squeaks came out of its mouth as if it were trying to find something.

  “There,” I said grabbing the hand holding the flashlight and aiming it at the creature’s eyes.

  The creature wailed before its eyes disappeared and it stepped out of the beam of light.

  “Austin?” I called again.

  “I’m here,” he replied but his voice was soft. Muffled.

  I drew in a breath before yanking the flashlight from the hand beside me.

  “Hey!” Noah said reachin
g back toward me but I moved out of the way and into the darkness.

  My breaths were quick as I moved the light around in every direction. I swept the ground in front of me with the light but my hand was shaking and I shivered with fear.

  “Where are you?” I asked my eyes welling up with tears. Had I imagined his voice? I couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not ever.

  Something moved in front of me and I gasped so sharply my breath lodged in my throat. It felt like I couldn’t breathe as something grabbed me and dragged me back toward the lights from the SUV.

  We poured out of the darkness, tumbling into the light, spitting up gravel around us as we fell to the ground. Austin was half on top of me looking down at me. The same amount of damp fear was pooled in his eyes that had been in mine.

  “I’m here,” Austin said.

  I placed my hands on his cheeks looking him over with shaky breaths. Was he missing an arm? A leg? Was he with me in one piece?

  My hands roamed over him making sure there wasn’t anything out of place.

  “I’m fine,” he said. “That thing knocked me to the ground. I was still, so still and it couldn’t find me.”

  “Don’t ever do that to me again,” I said as a tear rolled down the side of my face.

  “I won’t,” Austin said offering me a smile filled with an overwhelming amount of love. My heart swelled with relief and before I could say anything, he placed his lips on mine.

  He didn’t care who was there. He didn’t care who was watching and neither did I.

  Austin put everything he felt for me into that kiss and it turned my entire body to moldable clay. I was his. Always and forever. And there wasn’t anyone that could change that.

  If the moment hadn’t been enough to convince Bradley how Austin and I felt about each other, nothing would. Not that it mattered of course.

  Austin rolled off of me and got to his feet. He offered me his hand to help me up and I took it with a smile. It felt ceremonial the way we walked hand in hand back to the SUV.

  Austin looked at me and grinned. “We’re leaving. If you want to come with us to find the church, now is the time.”

  There was no vote. It was Austin making a decision he felt was the best for all of us and I believed he was right. We didn’t need another night in the open. We needed a place to stay. A place we could be safe.

  Of course, we didn’t know if that place would be the church, but we didn’t have time to sit around and wait. It was time to figure out how we were going to be safe with the evil that was out there.

  We drove through the night, taking our time as we moved down the road. Marty checked the map on his phone whenever he could.

  There had been a road sign six miles back indicating the nearest city. It seemed as though we were on track to make it by morning.

  My nerves were making my fingers shake. What would they be like? What if it was some kind of trick?

  “We should have some kind of plan,” I said.

  “A plan?” Marty asked.

  I chewed my fingernail. “Just in case. What if it’s some kind of trick?”

  “Maybe I’ll go first… alone,” Austin said and I was shaking my head before he even finished his sentence. He glanced in my direction. “And if all goes well, I’ll come back for you.”

  “What if all doesn’t go well?” I asked.

  Austin shrugged as if he hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I’ll be armed.”

  “There’s probably not going to be anyone there anyway,” Mallory mumbled from the furthest back seat. “It’s only a matter of time before we’re gone too. I’m not even sure why we bother.”

  “It isn’t going to be like this forever,” Noah said.

  Mallory snorted. “What makes you so sure?”

  Noah groaned and shook his head. “No one is making you fight for your life.”

  “Stop the car,” Mallory said. I turned and looked into her fiery, wild eyes. Her hands gripped the back of the seat. “Let me out.”

  “I’m not stopping the car,” Austin said. “Everyone needs to calm down.”

  “No one wants me here,” Mallory said. Bradley kept his head down. “So, just let me go.”

  Austin slowed the car but he wasn’t going to stop. He just wanted to drive safely with all the commotion going on.

  “If I want to leave, you can’t keep me against my will,” Mallory said hitting the seats with her palms. “That’s kidnapping.”

  “You’re not a kid,” Noah said. “Although, you are acting like one.”

  “Noah,” Austin said in a rough voice. “Knock it off.”

  Tears streaked Mallory’s face and my heart sank into my stomach. She hadn’t deserved any of what had happened to her.

  “Mallory,” Austin said looking at her in the rearview mirror. “I’m not letting you out. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “Like you care!” she spat.

  “I care,” Austin said.

  I wanted to echo him but I feared that if I spoke it would only spark more anger.

  “Well,” Marty said in an oddly calm voice. He turned and there was a softness in his eyes. “I want you here.”

  Mallory opened her mouth, looking like she wanted to scream at him or maybe bite his head off like a wild animal. But she hesitated. She must have seen the same thing in his eyes that I had.

  Marty was telling the truth. He didn’t want her to leave.

  She didn’t say anything, but her hands relaxed. They slid off the seat as she leaned back.

  Mallory’s eyes stayed on Marty even when he turned to face forward. She turned to look out the window the second she caught me watching her.

  “There’s another road sign,” Austin said. “See that on the map?”

  “Hmm,” Marty said studying his phone. “Yeah!” He cleared his throat and changed the tone of his voice to sound like the one used on his GPS app. “You should arrive at your destination in two hours.”

  I covered my chuckle. “You’re making that up.”

  “I am but I think it’s a pretty good guess,” Marty said leaning forward to show me the phone.

  I studied for a moment and nodded. His guess seemed like a fair one to me, which meant that we were going to have to figure out exactly what we were going to do when we got there.

  Austin must have had the same thought. “When we get there, Lucy and I will go in and check it out first.”

  “What? No way,” Marty said. “I’m coming too.”

  “No, no, no,” I said shaking my head. “This makes the most sense.”

  “Are you kidding me? How does it make any sense?” Marty asked. “I don’t want to lose you, Lucy. You’re all I have left.”

  I drew in a breath through my nose. “And of course I don’t want to lose you either, but I have to do what I think will keep you safe.”

  “Maybe I need to keep you safe,” Marty said.

  “Let’s just all go together,” Mallory said. “Strength in numbers, right?”

  Silence filled the SUV. I was trying to find a way to argue with her but maybe she was right. Maybe we didn’t need to separate, because together we were a team.

  A crazy team where half of us didn’t even like the other half, but still we were a team.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The sun had been up for only minutes when we finally drove into the town where we’d find the church. My entire body felt like it was being touched by a low electric current. It was almost as though I could hear the buzzing in my ears.

  Austin turned the lights off and carefully steered his way through the streets as Marty gave him directions as best as he could. The SUV was moving at an apprehensive crawl.

  “There it is,” Noah said leaning between the seats as he pointed at the steeple.

  After a quick second, Noah leaned back onto his seat like a turtle going back into its shell. Austin must have felt a similar way because he slowed the SUV and pulled up to the curb two blocks away from the church.

&nb
sp; The silence inside the SUV was palpable. We had arrived and I couldn’t help but feel as though I was glued to my seat.

  No one moved. There was a staleness in the air much like that of old corn chips.

  I cracked open the door for a bit of fresh air and Mallory gasped as if she expected something terrible to happen.

  “Well,” I said pausing as I built my courage. “Are we ready?”

  “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Marty said.

  “Who wants a gun?” Austin asked.

  Mallory shook her head. “No, thanks.”

  The rest of us all nodded.

  We stood at the back of the SUV as Austin passed out a gun to each of us. I tucked my gun into the back of my pants and covered it with my shirt. It wasn’t like we wanted to scare or intimidate them, we only wanted to do what we needed to do to protect ourselves should it come to that.

  The streets were empty. There weren’t any sounds in the area but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there were eyes on us.

  It was a chilly morning. The light breeze whistled through the leaves and prickled the skin on my cheeks.

  Austin closed the back of the SUV and locked the doors. If we needed to leave, getting back to the car would be essential considering it had not only our supplies contained within it but also our life-saving lights.

  The SUV was our heart. It was what kept us alive.

  We walked down the road crossing at the sidewalk. Austin and I led the way. My eyes darted around the area so quickly it was giving me a sharp headache at my temples.

  As we approached the church, a man exited, holding his arms out to both sides. There was a warm, welcoming smile stretched across his face.

  “Good morning,” he said as he studied each one of us. “It looks like you folks are in need of a place to stay. How have your travels been? By the looks of it, I say rough.”

  He lowered his eyes and hands as he offered us a sympathetic frown.

  “That would be putting it mildly,” Mallory muttered not nearly loud enough for the man to hear.

  “Please, come in, come in,” the man said before holding up his index finger. “Oh, I almost forgot.” He stretched out his hand toward Austin, likely because he was the closest. “I’m Lucas. I run things around here.”