Reclamation (Book 3 The Ravening Series) (4 page)

"My God," Bret breathed beside me.

I could barely meet his appalled gaze as he looked between Cade and I. Cade hadn't revealed anything about himself; any of the more physically fit men, including Bret, could have done what Cade had just done. The only problem was that they
wouldn't
have done it.

More motion exploded from the gloom as two more creatures came into view. "Fall back!" Darnell yelled above the growing ruckus.

I turned away to face the fresh blood coating the tunnel. The tattered remains of Private Mick Doogal's body were strewn across the road like some sort of macabre voodoo doll. Sorrow twisted through my chest, I hadn't known him long but he'd been a good man and he hadn't deserved to die like this. No one had. My hands were shaking as I grabbed more ammo and fumbled to reload my gun.

"Bethy, Bethany we have to go! We have to
go
!"

I stumbled as Aiden grabbed my arm and began to pull me back. I tried to tug my arm away from him as I searched for Cade amongst the crush of people pressing against me, but Aiden refused to release me as he relentlessly pulled me back.

Relief filled me when I finally spotted Cade pushing through the horde to get to me. His face was streaked with blood and his clothes were caked with it, but he didn't seem to notice it as he focused on me. Though he looked untamed and savage, he seemed to have regained some control as his eyes were back to normal. I wondered if he'd managed to feed on some of that blood, if only just a little, but I quickly shut the thought down. I loved him, I loved everything about him, but there were certain things I didn't need to know.

"We have to go Bethy," Cade said as he grasped hold of my arm and pulled me away from Aiden. Our feet slapped off of the concrete as we raced down the tunnel but the creatures were closing in on us. There was no way we'd all make it back through that small hole in the wall of debris. I wasn't even sure we'd make it back to the pile of rubble.

"Here! Here!" I could hear Abby's frantic cries, but I had no idea where she was in all of the chaos and noise.

Darnell jerked his head to the left. "This way!" he barked.

I jumped and leapt over rotting body parts as we followed Darnell's zigzagging route through the tunnel. Flashlights bobbed and weaved as they cast shadows over the walls in a disconcerting pattern that made my head throb. Abby and Molly came into view amidst the anarchy. They were standing on the concrete walkway that ran along the side of the tunnel. Barney was pressed firmly against Abby's side, his ears raised, and his hair standing up as he let out three rapid barks. It was one of the few times I'd ever heard him make a sound. Aiden and Jenna grabbed hold of the metal railings and squeezed through the bars to join them on the walkway. Lloyd was standing beside a door, his gun raised as he fired at something behind us.

"Hurry!" Abby screamed. "Bethany
hurry
!"

The urgency in Abby's voice pushed me even faster. Aiden pushed Abby and Molly through the door. Jenna, Bret and Barney were close on their heels. We were still a few feet away from the walkway when Cade grabbed hold of my waist, lifted me up, and threw me over top of the railing. I stumbled, nearly fell, but was held up by the wall I fell against. The breath was robbed from me by the strength he'd just exhibited.

I went to spin toward him, but his chest pressed against my back as he wrapped his arm around my waist and propelled me forward. He was practically carrying me toward the door, apparently more concerned with my survival than with anyone finding his amazing burst of strength strange and out of the ordinary. Although, no one was paying any attention to us as they scrambled through the doorway. Darnell fired another round of bullets from inside the door, Aiden leaned out and grasped hold of my arms as Cade roughly pushed me toward the doorway.

"Wait! Wait!" Liz cried as she emerged from the darkness.

I shook Aiden off and lurched back toward the tunnel. Cade caught hold of me and lifted me against his chest as he pulled me away from the door. "We can't leave her!" I gasped.

I saw the hesitation, doubt and lack of compassion in his eyes when they met mine. I thought he was going to ignore my plea but he turned around and made his way toward the doorway. Darnell and Lloyd stepped closer to the opening. The echoes of their shots ran throughout the tunnel, but it was obvious that their bullets were doing little to frighten the stampeding monsters honing in on Liz.

A wailing scream pierced the air, I'd never thought a human could make that kind of sound as it grew in intensity and reverberated through the suddenly hushed tunnel. Lloyd and Darnell had their fingers still on their triggers but no more rounds were fired. The rising shriek began to hit glass shattering levels but I refused to leave her out there alone. We had given up on so much already; I wasn't going to give up on Liz too. I jerked my arm free and leapt away from Aiden.

Cade spun toward me as Darnell and Lloyd rapidly retreated from the door. "Wait! Liz!" I cried.

"No!" Cade roared as he pulled me back.

Liz's tortured scream abruptly broke off. Tears sprang to my eyes but instead of trying to break free of Cade I clung to his arms as revulsion swamped me. No one drew a breath in the hush that followed as we waited expectantly for something more, but there was only the unearthly quiet and the knowledge of what it signified. Darnell, the first to recover, slammed the door shut. Something bounced against the door and rattled it savagely within its frame.

I couldn't see the door but I didn't think it would hold up under the assault being waged against it on the other side. The heavy breathing of exhausted lungs was loud within the room as people pressed against me on both sides, but for some reason I didn't feel claustrophobic in the crammed confines. All I felt was numb and yet strangely secure as Cade held me closer to his side.

"Who still has a light?" Darnell demanded.

A light flickered from somewhere near the front of the group. A muscle twitched in Cade's cheek as his midnight gaze raked me up and down. His arm twisted within my grasp so that his hands seized hold of mine, he turned them over to examine my skin. A small tremor shook his hands before he steadied himself with a deep breath and his gaze came back to mine.

"I'm fine," I whispered. "Not a mark on me."

"Yes," he murmured but he didn't look appeased. Instead he looked as if he was about to rip this entire room apart as rigidity kept a firm hold on his muscles.

"What is this?" Molly inquired.

I tore my attention away from Cade to take in the room. There was barely enough room to stretch my arms out between the walls as the room was full of pipes and large pieces of machinery. "Appears to be a maintenance room," Lloyd muttered as he pushed through the remaining people in the room.

Darnell clicked a lock into place as another crash echoed throughout the room. He remained leaning against the door for a second before straightening himself. "Is everyone here?" I asked.

"All that are left," Private Frank Smith answered after some hesitation.

I shuddered at the reminder of the loss of Liz and Mick, but one thing these past couple months had taught me was that there was never any time for the dead. There was only time to pick up and move on if we were going to survive.

Lloyd moved further into the room and disappeared amongst some of the machinery. "You see anything Lloyd?" Darnell demanded after another crash shook the door.

Those things were all too big to fit through that doorway, but it didn't mean their tentacles couldn't. My hands tensed on Cade's, I closed my eyes as I tried to control the rolling panic that swelled up my throat. I had been doing well until now; I had to remain that way if I planned to keep control of my sanity and not freak anyone else out. I just had to take it one breath at a time. We would not die in this cramped room, desperate, starving, and God only knew how far below the surface of the earth.

"Lloyd?" Darnell called.

"There's a door back here and some stairs that lead down." The steps led
deeper
into the earth. I opened my eyes to find that Lloyd had returned. Another crash echoed through the room, followed by an ominous splintering sound that caused my jaw to clench. "Let's go."

I could do this. I didn't have a choice. I swallowed heavily, straightened my shoulders and followed Aiden as he shuffled forward. My brother stretched his hand back and I eagerly clasped hold of it. I didn't know where we were going but I was certain that it would only get worse before it got better.

The stairs creaked and groaned like they were some prop in a B horror movie as we slowly made our descent. "What is this?" Jenna asked.

"Must be some kind of passageway for the workers," Darnell answered.

"Where does it go?"

Darnell didn't respond to her second question. My grasp was so firm on the metal rail running beside the stairs that my knuckles ached and my palm was leaving a trail of sweat behind. The dim glow of the flashlights illuminated the damp concrete walls surrounding us. "We're not the first ones to come down here recently," Lloyd said.

"How do you know that?" Molly inquired.

"There's no dust on the railing or the steps."

I frowned at the railing and then tilted my head back to look at the shaded light fixtures above us. They were coated with a layer of dust, and cobwebs hung from the ceiling in straggling, broken strands. Neither of those things was on the stairs or railing though.

"There must have been survivors from the tunnel," I guessed.

"Or the group split before the attack, and some came this way while others chose to stay behind," Cade muttered.

"Or this only dead ends or leads to another trap," Lloyd said.

I frowned at the back of Lloyd's head nearly half a flight below me at the front of the group. I knew we had to be practical, but I couldn't bring myself to think about what the consequences of his words implied. "Who brought Mr. Pessimism to the party?" Jenna retorted.

Lloyd paused and turned to face everyone behind him. "I'm just being realistic. You all have to be prepared for what might be at the end of these stairs."

When I had first met Lloyd his reddish hair, freckles, soft blue eyes, and glasses had made him appear younger than his twenty years. He'd been less jaded than the other battle hardened soldiers surrounding him. That youthfulness had vanished now as the lines around his eyes and mouth made him appear years older and more rigid than a steel beam.

He had changed so much in the past six weeks, but as I looked at the group surrounding me I realized that we had all changed. It wasn't only the streaks of dirt, the tattered clothing, the scratches, bruises, or scars we had all acquired that had altered our appearances. It was the knowledge of what we'd seen and endured, and everything we had lost. Our eyes were haunted, our faces thinner, our bodies leaner and there was an aged wisdom to all of us, including Abby.

Except for the soldiers, and perhaps Cade, none of us had had any knowledge of battle, much less any experience in fighting one. A gun had been a foreign object, and walking was something that the aliens had forced upon us when all modes of transportation had been barred. Now, most of us were at least decent with a gun, if not proficient. Walking miles upon miles had become a daily way of life, and no one complained about blisters or sore feet anymore. Hot showers and meals were a thing of the past. A cold rinse off, a can of peas, and a piece of meat were a new heaven that I often longed for. Homes had become temporary shelters that simply housed the relics of their former owners.

We were all different. We were all more callous. I just didn't know if that was good or bad. We had to be more thick-skinned to survive and in order to keep our sanity.
But did it mean losing our humanity in the process? In order to survive were we becoming more like the emotionless, cruel aliens that had driven us beneath the earth?

I was struck immobile by the aversion curdling through my stomach at the thought. We were still there for each other, we still protected and cared for each other but would we continue to do so? Just a little over two months had changed us into people that I barely recognized anymore. What would another two months do to us? What would more losses take from us? Would we still care for each other, or would each new loss make us less and less human until the only thing we cared about was ourselves?

I felt weighted down by the questions and frightened by the lack of answers. There was no way to know what would become of us. No way to know if we would live or die, or if we would even be worth saving in the end. I certainly hoped we would be. We had to be stronger, remorseless, but if we were like the aliens in the end I would prefer it if we just simply died out ourselves. I felt that death may be less of a loss than the actual loss of our compassion and everything else that made us human.

If I ever became like that then it would mean that Aiden, Abby, Cade, and every other person with us now would be dead. There would be no point in carrying on after that. I loved life, even this twisted version of it, but when there was no one and nothing left to live for, I didn't think I could continue to love it. It was a future I didn't want to think about, but it was a very real possibility and it could be waiting for all of us at the bottom of these stairs.

Lloyd started moving again. Cade rested his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it as he sensed my sudden distress. "Door," Lloyd announced.

"Large enough for two to go through?" Darnell inquired from the rear.

"Yes. Frank and I will go!"

We were stuck in the middle of the stairwell, completely trapped if there was something beyond that door. I leaned over the side of the railing but I could barely see Lloyd and Frank on either side of the door. There was no way I would be able to see what was on the other side of it. Frank nodded to Lloyd, twisted the handle and flung the door open. They disappeared into the void beyond.

I leaned over the rail, bending awkwardly as my feet came off the ground a little. Cade wrapped his hand into my waistband and held me against the rail as I leaned over even further. I held my breath in anticipation; the only sound I could hear was the loud thump of blood rushing through my ears. Molly and Justin, a young man in his twenties, were pressed firmly against the wall at the bottom of the stairwell.

Mark stood behind them, his sons Sam and Matt were protectively pushed behind his body. They were the only family unit, besides my own, that had opted to stay with us when others in the group had chosen to leave after Ian's unexplained death. Mark, a man in his early forties, had decided that the benefit of staying with the guns and troops was better than the risk that one of us may be a killer.

I was well aware of the fact that a few of them suspected Cade, and though they were right, I wasn't about to tell them that he
had
killed Ian, but he had only done it to save my life. They would understand that, but they would
not
understand that Cade wasn't like us, that he wasn't human and I worried that they would be scared of him and hate him. They may even try to hurt him. Maybe, after time, they would come to understand and accept him but I wasn't going to do anything that would risk Cade's life, or anyone else's.

Matt held a hand back for Abby, who grasped hold of it. He was a year younger than her at fourteen, but he was cute with his light brown hair and twinkling brown eyes. The relationship between them had grown since we'd entered Boston. At first I'd thought I should be concerned, but I'd realized that although she was only fifteen, Abby was far older and wiser than her years. She knew what she was doing, but even still I was going to talk to her as soon as I got a chance alone with her. Aiden seemed to have come to the same conclusion as I'd caught him watching them closely too, but he had yet to say anything about it.

"Bethany!" Cade growled.

I realized that I was nearly flipped over the railing now as I strained to see anything outside of the door. I silently thanked his strength as I used my arms, and his helping hand, to pull myself back over the railing. I cast an apologetic smile at him that he returned with a raised eyebrow and an admonishing shake of his head.

Lloyd half stepped back into the doorway. "It's clear," he announced.

"Move out!" Darnell ordered crisply.

Everyone trudged down the stairs and out the door. I was one of the last ones through and I stopped so abruptly that Darnell slammed into my back with a muffled curse. The force of his body rocked me forward but my feet remained planted in place. Cade stretched a hand back for me and frowned as he realized I wasn't beside him anymore.

I finally managed to move by taking another step back into Darnell. "Bethany!" he barked from behind me. "Damn it,
move
." I stepped to the side to allow him enough room to slip by me. He gave me a disgruntled look that quickly faded. "Bethany?"

I shook my head. My hands fisted so firmly that my nails dug into my palms. It was dark, so enclosed.
So
tight
! The walls were within arm's reach and there was no way to know where the passageway went as shadows enshrouded it. The air was so heavy with moisture that my hair stuck to the nape of my neck almost instantly. The smell of it brought to mind images of crypts as mildew and the scent of decay hung heavily in the air.

Darnell took a step toward me, but Cade moved in front of him. He took hold of my hands, but I couldn't get them to unclench even though my nails were digging into my skin and my blood was filling my clamped hands. Cade seemed to blend into the shadows surrounding him.
He was part of the dark,
I realized with a moan that didn't escape my clamped lips.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply. I could do this, I
had
to do this, but once it was over I was going to allow myself some time for the meltdown I was going to have at the end of it.

My hands uncurled. Cade's eyes narrowed and blackened at the sight of the blood trickling from my self-inflicted wounds. I reached out to try and calm him but he took a small step away from me. There would be no comforting him right now. In fact, I was only agitating him more. I closed my hands and pressed them against my side to staunch the blood seeping out.

I knew he was dying to get away from me but he stayed by my side. "I'm ok," I breathed.

He managed a feeble smile. "You're strong Bethany."

"So are you Cade."

His eyes lit with amusement. "Like a rock," he said with a wink.

I couldn't help but smile at him as some of the tension in my chest began to ease. For a moment I could almost believe that we weren't trapped here, that he was human, and that none of this awfulness had happened. I could almost believe that I'd simply caught him watching me in the hall once more, but this time I'd actually had the nerve to smile at him instead of shyly looking away.

Then motion behind him caught my attention. The moment faded as I realized that everyone was waiting for us, and that all of them were watching us with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. I took a deep breath, wiped my hands once more, and stepped away from the wall I had plastered myself against.

"Well let's see where this goes," Darnell said as he propped his gun against his shoulder.

Cade's fingers wrapped through mine. An electrical current rushed up my arm from where we touched as we made our way cautiously down the dark hallway. It became so restricted in some areas that Cade and some of the others had to turn sideways in order to fit through the winding passage.

"What is this?" I heard Abby breathe from ahead.

"Boston's an old city; I imagine there are thousands of tunnels and passageways we don't know about." Bret's answer was muffled by the concrete wall nearly pressed against his face as he slid sideways.

"Opening!" Lloyd called back.

The breath I didn't know I'd been holding exploded out of me. We stepped onto a platform and fanned out as everyone moved to the side to make room for each other. My eyes widened, my mouth parted on a small puff of air. "What is this?" Jenna whispered.

I stared at the tracks, faded posters, and broken signs in awe. I could barely make out the colors and lines on one sign and had no idea what it was supposed to be. Another sign boasted the faded picture of women in bathing suits drinking beer, and yet another advertised a luxury car.

"It is part of the T line, or it was," Bret said slowly.

"It's nothing like I remember," Jenna breathed.

I'd never seen the commuter line that ran through Boston and the surrounding towns and I definitely never would have come here
willingly
. The station we were standing in was shaded and dirty, but I could picture how different it must have been before the aliens had banned all forms of transportation. I could almost see the people pushing and shoving, jostling about as they tried to get through the daily grind of their lives.

The thought made my skin crawl but at the same time I was filled with amazement. I would have hated being surrounded by all those people, but it would have been wonderful to have the simplicity of the every day, average life once more. It would have been breathtaking to see the train arrive through the underground tunnel and to watch the people move about with the confidence that came from their routine. There was so much that we had all taken for granted, and now it was gone.

"The stairway is blocked." Lloyd was standing by a pile of rubble as he surveyed it. I hadn't even realized that there had once been a stairwell there until now. It was obstructed by concrete and rock that blended seamlessly into the darkness.

"Did the survivors do it?" Frank inquired.

"Doesn't look like it. The walls look like they were exploded inward."