But the other part of her mind couldn’t stop wondering what if? What if Ethan was right about him? Kate didn’t know anything about Will other than he’d been a father that lost his child and had been surviving in his home since the disease wiped out the population. And that he'd lied.
Maybe he wasn’t a good man. There could be more to the story… things she’d never find out because they’d died along with the rest of the world.
Kate walked over to the window and looked down at the empty street. Rather what should have been an empty street.
Maya was making her way quickly down the road. She looked over her shoulder before she stepped into the church. Kate’s stomach rumbled, and she realized that she likely wasn’t the only one that was hungry.
The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Ethan about the issue. But if they didn’t address it, people would start sneaking out to the cafeteria.
She watched as Maya walked out of the church with an armful of food and walked out of view. Kate drew in a slow breath which turned into a gasp when it was interrupted by a knock at the door.
Chapter 21
Kate pressed her palms to the door and moved her eye slowly toward the peephole. Her heart was still racing. She wasn’t sure if it had calmed since she’d left Will.
Just as her eye was about to reach the little hole in the door, whoever was out there knocked again. Kate pulled back and pressed her hand to her chest.
“God dammit,” she whispered. Kate sucked in a sharp breath.
“Kate?” Ethan said as he tapped on the door. She could hear the anxiety in his voice as he likely worried why she wasn’t opening the door.
The door squeaked as she pulled open the door. Ethan looked her up and down before entering the room. As Kate started to close the door, someone placed their hand on it to stop the movement.
“Hey Kate,” Tommy said holding the door for Laura.
“What’s going on?” Kate said letting them into the room.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Laura said wrapping her arms around her middle.
The look on Laura’s face made Kate’s stomach twist into a tight knot. Kate cautiously walked closer to Laura.
“Is everything okay?” Kate asked her voice shaking. She ignored the tension in her neck which she was almost certainly was caused by the fact that she was still angry with Ethan.
“Yeah, I just wanted to tell you in person,” Laura said twisting her fingers together.
“Tell me what?” Kate bit back her frown.
Laura looked like she wanted to back out of the room. Tommy placed his hand on her shoulder.
“That I’m leaving.” Laura swallowed so hard she winced.
“What do you mean you’re leaving?” Kate asked, her eyes darting around the room looking at each one of them in turn.
“I’m taking the kids, and I’m getting out of here,” Laura said. “It’s just not safe here, and besides, you know I’m not happy here.”
Kate brought her shaking finger to her lip and chewed her nail. It felt like the world around her was caving in.
Laura and Kate weren’t that close, but they were friendly. From the moment they met, Kate liked her. Having her around made things a little more tolerable. Kate hadn’t felt quite as alone.
“Tommy’s going to take us back home,” Laura said pressing her lips together. “I’m really sorry, Kate.”
“No,” Kate said ignoring the sour taste at the back of her throat. “You should go. You're absolutely right, it’s not safe here for you or your kids.”
Laura nodded. “It’s not safe out there either. But at least we’ll be somewhere we want to be.”
“I understand,” Kate said almost feeling a pang of jealousy over the fact that Laura was getting out of the town.
“Maybe you should join us,” Laura said looking into Kate’s eyes without blinking. “Both of you.”
Kate shook her head. She couldn’t risk anyone following them and putting the kids in any more danger than they were already in. They’d have enough to worry about with the roaming Unholy.
She was a bit surprised when Ethan hadn’t encouraged her to consider it. Perhaps he’d already had the same thought about the children.
“When are you leaving?” Kate asked.
“First thing in the morning.” Laura sighed heavily. “I’m going to miss you, Kate.”
“Yeah,” Kate said reaching out her hand. Laura looked at it for a second and smiled before wrapping her arms around Kate’s shoulders.
She squeezed her tightly and took a step back. “I’m not sure the kids or I would even still be alive if it hadn’t been for you.”
“Nonsense,” Kate said. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning?”
Laura shook her head.
“I’d like to escort you to the gate,” Kate said, and Laura smiled.
“That would be kind of you, but it’s not necessary. Tommy will be there,” Laura said.
“I insist,” Kate said. She could see Ethan's head bobbing up and down out of the corner of her eye.
Laura glanced at Tommy who nodded once. “Okay, tomorrow then.”
Kate forced a smile, working against the muscles that were attempting to pull her mouth into a different direction.
Ethan ushered them to the door, and Kate bit her lip when he didn’t leave with them. She didn’t want to have it out with him… not now. Maybe not ever.
“You should go,” Kate said.
Ethan stood near the door his arms crossed. “I will, but I wanted to say a few things first.”
“I don’t want to hear them, Ethan.”
“Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to say them whether you like it or not.”
Kate clicked her tongue as she turned away from him. “You’re being an asshole.”
“I did what I believe is best for everyone in this town, and especially you.”
“I don’t need you watching out for me. Believe it or not, I can take care of myself.” Kate’s teeth pressed together tightly. “You put him away because you don’t like him.”
“I locked him up because I think he’s connected to all the shit that’s going on in this town,” Ethan said.
Kate shook her head. “What are you even doing here?”
“I don’t want to fight with you, Kate,” Ethan said raising his eyes. “I hate this.”
“I don’t like it either, but if you cared what I thought or felt, you wouldn’t have locked Will up.”
Ethan took a quick step forward. “I do care, but I still believe I’m doing the right thing. How about this,” Ethan said running his hand through his hair, “if a week passes and nothing happens, he stays locked up. If something happens, we can let him out.”
“It’s not fair he’s in there now.”
“Innocent until proven guilty isn’t a luxury we have,” Ethan said. “Please, Kate. I can’t stand this. Shit’s bad enough without you hating me.”
“I… I don’t hate you,” Kate groaned. She looked into his eyes. “But I do hate what you did.”
Ethan looked down at his shoes. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“You did!”
“I’m sorry, but it doesn’t feel that way to me. It’s like you just don’t get how important you are to me. I would do anything to protect you even if it ends with you hating me.”
Kate bit her cheek. Everything she was feeling floated out of her body. The stress of everything became too much and forced her to sit down heavily on the bed.
“I’m so sorry for what I’m putting you through,” Ethan said sitting down next to her. Kate noticed the space he’d left between them, and it seemed much larger than usual. She hated fighting with him too. He was the only one in the town she really cared about.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Instead, she turned to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Ethan sighed as he held her tightly against his chest. Kate quickly wiped the tear away that leaked out of the corner of her eye.
“We’ll figure this out,” Ethan said stroking Kate’s hair away from her face.
Kate was tired of fighting. Tired of leading. Of worrying. Of everything.
It didn’t matter that what she thought Ethan had done was wrong. He wasn’t budging, but neither was she. And there was always a chance, no matter how slim, that he was right about Will. At least having him locked up could prove to him once and for all that Kate’s intuition was right.
Kate pulled away from Ethan wiping her nose with the back of her hand. “I should really get some sleep.”
Every inch of her being was exhausted. She wanted to sleep for days, sleep until the town disappeared, but she couldn’t because in the morning she’d be escorting Laura out of town and away from everything.
“Want me to leave?” Ethan asked.
“No. You can stay.”
“Are you sure?”
Kate pressed her lips together. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”
“Good,” Ethan said looking away from her. “Because if I had to go back to my room, I’m not sure I’d sleep at all.”
“I’m so tired I think I could sleep anywhere.” Kate adjusted the blankets on her bed. “Okay, maybe not anywhere.”
She walked over to the door and checked the lock before walking over to the window. The streets were dark, the only light came from a few lamps that Ethan and Tommy must have lit. The moon sat high in the night sky, but it didn’t help illuminate the town.
Kate closed the curtains leaving a slight crack between them so that the morning light would wake her. She wanted to be ready when Laura left because she was afraid that if she wasn’t, Laura and Tommy might just take off without waiting for them.
Chapter 22
Kate was sitting on the edge of the bed cracking her knuckles in the early morning light when she heard sounds outside her door. She tapped Ethan’s foot, and he popped up.
“I’m awake, I’m awake,” he said rubbing his eyes.
“They’re up,” Kate said.
Kate stepped out into the hallway and Laura’s eyes immediately darted over to them. Laura’s body didn’t relax even a little when she saw it was only Ethan and Kate.
“Morning,” Tommy said in a quiet voice. He threw the strap of a bag over his shoulder.
Alice and Micky stepped out of the room and nervously looked up and down the hallway.
“Morning,” Ethan said. “Can I help with anything?”
“This is all we’re taking,” Tommy said gesturing toward the stairwell with the top of his head.
Kate cocked her head to the side. “You don’t want to take food?”
“There should be some at the house,” Laura said.
“You’re sure?” Ethan questioned.
Laura nodded. “I just want to get out of here without drawing any attention.”
She glanced at her kids and forced a tight-lipped smile. Laura turned and followed Tommy down the stairs with her arms around her kid's shoulders.
Kate couldn’t believe it was actually happening. She was happy for them, but she was struggling to fight off the jealousy. Kate should be the one leaving. It’s what she’d wanted since the moment she had arrived at the town.
“You okay?” Ethan asked.
Kate hadn’t realized it, but she’d hesitated before taking the first step after Laura.
“Yeah,” Kate said, her voice a touch too squeaky. She scratched her neck and smiled.
Ethan placed his hand on her back and guided her down the stairs. It wouldn’t have taken an special ability for anyone to see just how badly Kate wished she were Laura.
The walk through town was awkward. Kate couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed.
As they made their way to the gate, it felt as though they were on their way to a funeral. Kate could almost hear the depressing music playing in the background.
Far off in the distance, Kate spotted one of The Unholy wandering aimlessly. It didn’t look in their direction, but she knew that when there was one, there was always more.
Kate placed her hand on Laura’s shoulder and turned her, so they were facing each other. “Are you sure about this?”
Laura followed Kate’s gaze over her shoulder and spotted the single Unholy. She set her hand on top of Kate’s.
“I couldn’t be more sure.” Laura smiled. “We’ve been out there before, remember? I’m not afraid of those things. In fact, I’m even less afraid of them than I was before.”
Kate nodded, but her insides were on spin cycle. She turned to Tommy.
“You have your knife?” Kate asked.
“Of course,” Tommy said patting his hip.
“He’s terrible at fighting those things,” Kate said, and Ethan chuckled.
Laura patted her own hip. “Lucky for us I’m not too bad.” Micky and Alice nodded and smiled. Laura turned to Tommy. “We should get going.”
Tommy slapped his hand against Ethan’s back. He opened his mouth, but for a long moment, nothing came out.
“I’m going to miss you, man,” Ethan said stretching out his hand. They shook hands, but it quickly turned into a hard hug.
“Stop by any time,” Tommy said stepped to the side to hug Kate. “Wish you were coming along to keep us safe from those things.”
Kate’s lips tightened, curling up slightly at the ends. She tried to look happy for them because she was, but she was also afraid.
Afraid that it might be the last time she sees them.
Afraid that they might not survive long enough to even make it back to their home.
Maybe she had been walking to a funeral, but it was one that just hadn’t happened yet. And Kate was standing there paying her last respects instead of stopping them.
Ethan and Kate stood there watching as the four of them walked away from the town. They walked quickly, and they didn’t look back. Not even once.
“They’ll be okay,” Ethan said wrapping his arm around Kate’s shoulders. “We should get back inside.”
They both turned when they heard an unusual rattling noise. Ethan glanced at Kate before twisting his head sharply to look behind them.
“You heard that, right?” Ethan asked.
“I did,” Kate said, her voice softer than a whisper. “Sounds like the fence.”
Kate and Ethan pulled out their knives as they walked the perimeter of the fence. Kate’s eyes darted around as an icy chill ran down her spine. It felt like they were being watched, but there wasn’t a soul around.
When they turned the corner, they saw an Unholy trying to work its way through a section of the fence that appeared to have been cut apart. Not far ahead moving down the dead grass toward the hotel, was another.
“Shit,” Ethan said. His quick walk turned into a jog, and then a run as he stepped up to the Unholy halfway through the fence.
The blade of his knife sank into the side of The Unholy’s head. Black liquid shot out and coated the dull metal of the chain-link fence.
Ethan took several long steps to catch up to the other Unholy. He grabbed the creature’s long hair and yanked her back. His blade squished into its skull, and Ethan dragged its body over to the fence throwing it onto the other.
“There could be more,” Ethan said.
Kate carefully eyed the sliced metal as the black liquid dripped down to the grass. “How long has it been like this do you think?”
“It wasn’t that long ago we repaired all this. Simon checked it all over.” Ethan eyed the fence. “I think this happened recently.”
“Me too,” Kate said.
“Will.” Ethan raised an eyebrow, and Kate rolled her eyes. “I’ll get some of those snap ties, I think there are still some over there.”
Kate watched as Ethan tied the fence back together. He glanced at her and smiled.
“We’ll do something better once we get this other stuff figured out,” Ethan said.
Kate’s lips pressed together.
&nbs
p; “We should probably do a quick check… make sure there aren’t any more holes.” Ethan said crossing his arms. “At least there won’t be more.”
“Will didn’t do this,” Kate said feeling the red-hot anger bubbling in her cheeks.
Ethan leaned closer. “Bet there won’t be any more now that he’s locked up.”
“We’ll see,” Kate said turning away from him. Her eyes scanned the fence as much as they scanned the area looking for more of the wandering Unholy.
Ethan followed close behind as they made their way around the perimeter. When they finished without finding any more holes in the fence, they walked through the town back toward the hotel.
Kate couldn’t help but feel like at any moment an Unholy could jump out at them. With every passing minute, Kate felt even less safe than she already had inside the fence.
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” Kate said.
Ethan grabbed Kate’s shoulders, but just as he was about to open his mouth, the sounds of footsteps filled the air. They locked eyes for a brief moment before they both turned the corner in time to catch someone going inside the building Will had brought Kate to only days ago. The one where he’d heard about the plan to take someone out.
Kate swallowed hard. “Who—”
Ethan grabbed Kate and practically dragged her away. When they were a safe distance from the building, Ethan looked over his shoulder.
“I didn’t see…, Christ, I need to get you inside,” Ethan said.
“Now you believe what Will told me?”
“I don’t know what to believe, but I’m not going to risk anything when it comes to you,” Ethan said as they stepped inside the hotel and quickly led her up the stairs.
Once they were inside her room, Kate released the air from her lungs and sucked in a deep breath. She nervously twisted her fingers.
“Did you see who it was?” Kate asked.
Ethan shook his head. “I wish I would have.”
Falling Darkness Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller - Books 1-3 Page 30
