A few seconds passed. “Hmm, I don’t hear it anymore either.”
Phew. “Maybe it’s your mind playing tricks on you,” I said, reaching back for the knob. The door opened before I got to it, but luckily I stopped it with my hand before it hit me.
“Oh, crap. Sorry,” Jason apologized, standing in the doorway. “I didn’t realize you were there.”
“It’s fine. I was just coming in to get my keys. Did you call the cops already?”
“Yeah, they’re on their way.” He took a step forward, and I quickly scooted the rest of the way down the steps so he could get fully out of the trailer without running into me.
Once his feet hit the ground, he handed me my keys. “Here, I grabbed them off the coffee table. Hope you weren’t going to leave without saying goodbye.”
“Of course not.” Taking my keys, I stuffed them into my back pocket and smiled up at him, half-heartedly.
“Please don’t second guess your decision.” His hazel gaze bore into mine. I was worried sick about leaving him here and he saw that. “This is the smartest decision for all of us.”
“I feel like this is déjà vu,” I mumbled, thinking back to saying goodbye to him last time. Wondering if this would be the last time I saw him, desperately praying that it wouldn’t be.
I dropped my eyes to his arm. He still had his shirt tied around it. “And take care of that will you!”
He chuckled, and pulled me into his chest like I said something funny. I welcomed his hug. “I’m coming home to you,” he whispered, his lips butterfly kissing my ear. “That’s a promise.”
And somehow, I felt better. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact Jason never breaks his promises.
“Good,” I whispered back. He hugged me tighter for a moment then let me go.
There was an awkward minute that passed where he and Missy just kind of nodded to each other, in lieu of actually speaking.
“Okay, so,” he clapped his hands together, “Do you guys remember how to get out of here?”
“Uh…” I glanced at my car. “I think.”
“That wasn’t very convincing. Do you want me to ride with you until the main road then I’ll get out there and head back here by foot?”
“Absolutely not.”
He rolled his eyes. “I could lead the way on the quad then.”
“No.” I didn’t want him by himself on foot or quad. I thought more about the route. There were only a few turns. It shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. “No, we’ll be fine. I think I remember. Honest.”
“You think is not the same as you know. It’s going to be night soon, I don’t want you lost out here.”
“We will be way over that mountain before sunset. Trust me.”
He looked at Missy.
“Don’t worry, Hallmark. If we get lost, we will just use our cell phones. Oh, wait,” she laughed dryly, crossing her arms. “Never mind, there’s no reception in the sticks. Guess if we get lost, we are screwed.”
“Not funny,” I said, shoving Missy in the shoulder. She dropped her arms, chuckling, as she teetered unsteadily.
“We will be fine.” I turned, looking over at Jason, “Don’t listen to her. She’s just messing with you.”
“I know, Mouth thinks she is hilarious but most of the time she’s the only one laughing. Ever notice that?”
My best friend flipped him the middle finger for the second time today.
I saw that coming.
“All joking aside,” he continued with a smirk, “Are you sure you don’t want me to show you the way?”
“Positive.” I reached for my keys, jingling them in my hand as further proof.
“Okay.” He tucked his hands into his front pockets, and rocked back onto his heels. “Then better get going.”
“Wait, where’s Kyle? Shouldn’t we say goodbye?” I mean, it was rude not to.
“Last I checked, he was calling Lew. Yo, Kyle!” He suddenly yelled, peering over his shoulder to the trailer. “The girls are leaving.”
The front door opened moments later, and Kyle stepped out with an unlit cigarette behind his ear, a bag of chips hanging by his teeth, and a beer in his left hand. Of course.
He pulled the chips away from his mouth with his free hand once the door shut. “What are you yelling about?”
“Really?” Jason just glared at him. “Another beer?”
“Relax dude, I’m just using it as an ashtray.” He leaned over, placing the can on the ground then stood up, reaching his hand into the chip bag.
Jason shifted his gaze away from him back to us. “I was just letting you know the girls were leaving. They wanted to say bye.”
“Wait,” he mumbled through a mouthful. “I thought they wanted to stay.”
“We did,” I said, cutting in. I hated people talking about me like I wasn’t standing right there. “But we changed our mind. Sorry.”
“Oh, because the other quad broke?” He chewed obnoxiously. “Good call.”
What? What the heck was he talking about? That didn’t even cross my mind ever. Whatever, Dee. Just humor him.
“Yeah. Exactly.”
He nodded, shoving another fistful of chips into his mouth.
“I hope you find Buck,” I added, refraining from adding the quickly and before he eats someone part though.
“Oh, we will,” he boasted, all food exposed. Gross.
“I’m actually surprised you haven’t left yet,” Missy interjected. “Since you know, you called the police. I thought you’d kind of want to go get him before they got here.”
“Well see, I made an executive decision in the trailer,” Jason began, looking briefly over at me with an odd expression. “I decided we aren’t looking for Buck without the cops.”
“What?” Kyle choked, coughing. Chips flew out of his mouth everywhere. “What the fuck, man?”
“It’s stupid to risk our lives—the authorities will be more prepared than us. We are still looking for him, Kyle, we’ll just look with them instead of with the girls. This way, if say, something did happen to one of us, they can call for medical back up quickly.”
Kyle didn’t seem to grasp what Jason was saying. Given I was pretty taken back myself by the bold decision; I was quite pleased by it. Kyle, however, looked rather pissed off.
“You can’t just change the plan without consulting me. This is my cousin we are talking about.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Jason calmly replied. “But you need to also get that I have a younger brother and sister to take care of—and I have a girlfriend that I love,” he withdrew his hands from his pockets and pulled me into his side with one quick swoop of his arm. “Not to mention, Duke.”
“We will still save Buck—that plan hasn’t changed, but I’m not just doing it without being smart about it either. I remember last time—if there’s more people like Buck in the woods, we won’t just be hunting him anymore. The others will be hunting us and we aren’t equipped to handle all that.”
“We have plenty of guns,” Kyle half-whined, half-exclaimed.
“Well, if Buck is any indication, guns aren’t exactly cutting it anymore, are they?”
Kyle didn’t comment back. He just dropped his empty chip bag on the ground and pulled the cigarette from behind his ear, placing it to his lips. However, by his annoyed expression, I could tell he knew Jason was right but that didn’t mean he was pleased about it.
I was still in Jason’s grip when I heard the noise to my left. Reflexively, I turned my face toward the direction of it about to comment on it. Missy beat me to it.
“Dee! There it is again! That’s the sound I was talking about before. What is that?”
A very faint, oddly familiar noise that I couldn’t exactly pinpoint continued to sound in a strange repetitive pattern from somewhere among the trees. Twert. Twert. Twert.
“Is that a bird?” Missy continued, perplexed.
“Hard to say.” Jason let go of me, making a face as he stretched his side.
I hated that he was so sore from everything that happened today. Hated it. “Guess it could be, but it sounds like something else.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” I agreed. “I just can’t recall what, that’s the problem.”
“It’s not really clear, that’s why it’s difficult.” He listened for a few moments longer. “Sorry, can’t figure it out.”
Missy snorted. “What about you, Kyle? Any ideas?”
Kyle was trying to light his cigarette, growing only more frustrated when the lighter wasn’t working. “Don’t have a freaking clue,” he growled. “Don’t give two shits right now either.” He continued to pound his thumb against the striker, but only sparks flickered, no flame.
“Okay—wow,” Missy retorted, momentarily stunned, but the deepening rogue color to her cheeks showed her temper was quickly rising. “Well, I’m pretty sure that’s our cue to leave. Dee?”
“Damn it.” Kyle yanked the cigarette out of his mouth. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like an ass.”
“Too late.” Missy stared down at her hands, and started picking at her nail polish, indignantly. That definitely was my cue it was time to leave.
Kyle groaned, as if he honestly felt bad, but I could tell he was still entirely frustrated. “I’m going inside to get another lighter since this piece of crap doesn’t work. If you are gone before I’m back out, I guess bye. Stay safe and all that jazz.” Turning, he headed toward the trailer door, only to pause a few steps away. “Oh, and I hope Spencer pulls through.”
With pursed lips, Missy glanced up, watching Kyle get further away. After about twenty seconds of very visible deliberation, she responded, “I hope the same for your cousin.” And I could tell, she meant it. In that moment, I was proud of her as silly as it seems. But it was always a big deal when she was able to get over her temper and snarky comebacks, and be a bigger person.
The air seemed to clear of awkward tension. As soon as the trailer door shut, Missy pivoted around. “I’ll be in the car.” She cocked her head as she strolled forward, listening to the twert sound that was starting up again in the distance. “That’s one weird bird, if it is one. Just saying.”
I mentally shook my head, and faced my boyfriend, ignoring whatever it was. We stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments, then he dipped his head and I stood up on my tippy toes to welcome his kiss goodbye.
He raised his head and said, “I’ll call as soon as I can, but be prepared because it could be a couple days if the authorities decide to quarantine me again.”
“That’s fine, considering I probably won’t have phone privileges again. Ever.”
He chuckled, then sighed.
The good and bad thing about Kyle and Buck living out here in the middle of nowhere is it took a while for the troopers to come, giving us plenty of escape time. I still didn’t want to hang around very long, just in case.
Jason walked me to my car, opening the driver’s door for me.
Missy was sitting in the passenger seat, her door propped open, waiting. As soon as I sat down and my boyfriend shut my door, she shut hers.
It was like a hundred degrees inside the vehicle, and I quickly started the car, unwinding the windows and blasting the air. Only hot air currently blew through the vents.
Jason stepped away from my door, and I put the car into reverse, waving goodbye with my left hand, before backing up and proceeding into a k-turn so I could face the vehicle the other way to officially begin the journey home.
As I drove further along the bumpy driveway, I watched my boyfriend shrink smaller and smaller in my rear-view mirror until I couldn’t see him anymore. Then all my focus went to the road ahead of me, except when my mind drifted back to the day’s events.
Missy sat beside me, staring out the passenger window, tapping her fingers on the glass. The air conditioner vents were finally blowing cool air, even though I had put the windows up five minutes earlier. “So, do you think the authorities are going to notify the hospital Spence is in, or do we have to be the ones to tell him and his parents that the treatment doesn’t work?”
I considered that. “Honestly, I’m more concerned with Spencer turning before anyone even gets the chance to tell them.”
“Should we call him as soon as we get service then?” From the corner of my eyes, I saw her turn to face me. “You know, to warn them?”
“And create all that panic? Panic that might be unnecessary. We don’t know for sure if he will turn.”
“Yes, but what if he does?”
I kept my eyes glued to the road, so I wouldn’t miss any upcoming turns. “Then the bigger, more pressing question is what if everyone they treated in this area does? Like Jason said, what if Buck isn’t the only one out here that’s still infected? What if they are all turning back now and another outbreak is on the rise?”
“Uh, in that case—” Missy’s voice began to change octaves, growing increasingly nervous. “Step on it. I do not want to be anywhere near this town any longer.”
A knot twisted in my stomach at the thought of Jason and the twins still being here, but my foot pressed down on the gas pedal almost on its own accord.
My best friend was right.
We had to get away from here and Spencer needed to get locked up before the disease spread throughout New Jersey next.
I couldn’t help but silently note that coming here was a very, very dumb idea.
15
The sun was sinking low behind the cornfields of some Pennsylvania farm. A rundown red barn hung off the road to my right with a few cows grazing about two acres away. I drove cautiously over the bumps and divots of the stony, dirt lane, feeling anxious with each new turn of my tires. My eyes scanned the fields surrounding us. I didn’t recognize any of this. I recalled with dread, that I hadn’t really recognized anything for at least twenty minutes now.
With apprehension, I accepted the fact that I’d screwed up.
Groaning, I slowed my car to a halt at the edge of the cornstalks, making sure to remain mostly on the road so not to get stuck in the mud. There was no point of driving further, not if we were going the wrong way.
Missy sighed beside me. “We are lost, aren’t we?”
“I’ll just turn around, it’s fine.” I glanced at the side view mirrors to make sure no one was coming up behind us.
“Yeah? Then what? You are just going to guess which turn it is? Isn’t guessing what got us here in the first place?” She swung her hand toward the farm with emphasis.
Whimpering, maybe a bit melodramatically, I banged my forehead against my steering wheel. “Why does everything keep going wrong today?”
It was a rhetorical question. I wasn’t expecting a response.
“Maybe because we started the day off lying to our parents?”
Mentally rolling my eyes, I remained face-planted against the steering wheel. “Every teenager lies to their parents.”
“Doesn’t make it right,” she pointed out, sarcastically.
“Ugh, shut up. You aren’t helping.”
“Sorry, how would you like me to help exactly?” She sounded even more sarcastic.
“I don’t know,” I exhaled, growing a tad irritated with her. “Come up with solutions to get us unlost perhaps.” I mean come on, that didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out.
“Unlost? Is that even a word?”
“Missy,” I groaned, lifting my head up and glaring at her. “This isn’t time to joke around. It’s almost nightfall and we are lost in like the worst possible town in the world right now.”
“That isn’t my fault.”
“No, it’s mine,” I retaliated. “It’s completely my fault, I know. I could have had Jason lead us to the main road, but I didn’t because I was afraid of him being alone out here. I didn’t want to put him in any unnecessary danger.”
“But putting us in danger was okay? Is that what you are saying? Because I mean, you had to know there was a chance this would happen. That we would ge
t lost. Even Hallmark could tell you didn’t have a clue how to get home. Why didn’t you have him draw you a map?”
“Are you trying to make me feel like crap on purpose?” I asked, feeling completely guilty and ashamed. “Ok, I confess. I knew there was a chance we might get lost, but I never was okay with that. I honestly thought once I saw the roads, I would remember how to get back to the mountain. But once we started driving, I just couldn’t tell the difference between the cornfields and the trees.”
She contemplated that for a moment before speaking. “It was the second turn.”
“Huh?”
“You stayed straight but I think you should have gone left.” Her blue eyes were looking at me, timidly.
I blinked, staring back at her, momentarily speechless.
My best friend shifted her gaze back to the window, no doubt uncomfortable with the way I was gawking at her.
“I remembered seeing a treehouse and thinking it was kind of cool. I haven’t seen one since so I am sure that’s the one. I guess I probably should have said something earlier.”
I continued to gawk, dumbfounded. “Probably? You probably should have said something? Ohmigod, Missy, come on!”
If there was ever a time I could strangle my best friend, it might have been now.
Shaking my head, I rechecked my mirrors and turned back out into the road, making a U-turn before she said anything else.
I just didn’t get her sometimes.
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she began, in an apologetic voice. “I just thought maybe there was more than one treehouse. I didn’t want to make you turn the wrong way and get us lost.”
“You mean like I did?” I snapped, maybe slightly more than necessary. However, I was getting pretty aggravated, it was like she was trying to point fingers here at who was at fault.
“I just figured you’d be real pissed if I did it.”
“But you were okay with me feeling like crap that I got us lost? That’s messed up, even for you.”
“You are officially mad at me now, aren’t you?”
I continued to drive, eyes on road, not even sparing a glance at my best friend. Hope that was a good enough answer. And if not, I reached over, turning up the radio just for spite.
Dead Friends Series (Book 2): Dead Friends Running Page 8
