The Withered Series (Book 1): Wither (27 page)

“What
the hell happened to you two?”

“We
found supplies,” Cable replies but I feel like there should be
more to that statement.

“What,
did you steal them from an angry bear?” I roll his arm over and
see more cuts, some of them deep.  Blood trails down his arm in
jagged vines.  He doesn’t hiss when I press my finger near
the wound but there is a tightening of pain around his eyes.

“Alex?”
I turn on him, knowing Cable will try to keep the truth from me.

“We
ran into some survivors.  They had what we needed.”  His
indifferent shrug doesn’t fool me. He refuses to meet my gaze
as he pushes past and kneels beside the garbage bag roll that he
dropped upon first arriving. I follow after him, shaking Cable’s
grip off.

“You
stole this stuff?”  He nods and begins untying three rope
knots that hold the bag in place.  “And the survivors?”

Alex’s
hands fall still.  His shoulders curl inward, his head bows low.
 “They won’t be needing this anymore.”

I
whirl around and stare at Cable.  His hand is pressed tightly to
his pocket. I close the gap between us in three long strides and yank
his arm away. He cries out but doesn’t stop me as I shove my
hand deep into his pocket.  The interior is moist.  

Something
cold touches my fingers.  I draw my hand out and open my palm.
 Two weapons lie in my hand: a bloodied hunting knife and a
coiled bit of wire.  

“Oh
god,” I drop the weapons and step back.  Blood stains my
hand.  Innocent blood.  “You killed them?”

“What?”
Alex whirls around.  “No, of course we didn’t.  They
had turned into Withered Ones.”

I
glance at Cable. His expression is unreadable.  “So why is
there blood on these?”

Alex
points to the pack on Cable’s back.  “That’s
from dinner.”

Several
hours later, I sit beside the small fire, watching the dancing light
flicker against the trees. The smoke billows up, lost to the gray
expanse of clouds overhead.  Breath hangs before my lips as I
warm my hands.  The air has turned bitterly cold.  

Cable
uses his knife to slice off a charred piece of wild hog.  The
tusks bear signs of blood from where Cable and Alex tried to subdue
the animal.  

Cable
hasn’t said much to me since my earlier accusation.  He
helped me set up the six person tent in silence.  It’s
obvious from the confidence he exuded during set up that he spent
many of his summers camping.  I was all thumbs trying to get the
darn poles to stay up.

The
tent is bright yellow, hardly what I would call good camouflage, but
beggars can't be choosers.  It will keep the wind off us
tonight.  I’m thankful for that.

Alex
emerges from the tent.  He looks exhausted as he wipes his hands
over his face.  “Vicky is sleeping.  She’s
pretty messed up about what happened.”

“And
Sal?” I cast a furtive glance toward the zippered door. My
protests that he should remain tied up fell on deaf ears as Alex took
Sal into the tent.  

“He’s
passed out from fever.”

Cable
meets my gaze then drops it again.  “He shouldn’t be
in there with us tonight.”

Alex
groans as he sinks down onto a rock and takes the offered piece of
meat from Cable.  Juice runs down his lips and into his beard.
 He wipes his arms across his mouth to clean it away.  “I
thought we’ve been over this. He’s part of the group. We
care for our own, even when he’s not the most likeable guy.”

“He’s
dangerous.”  Cable tosses a bit of fat and skin onto the
fire, watching it burn.

“He’s
in no condition to hurt anyone.”

“You’re
wrong.”  Both men turn and look at me.  I keep my
gaze focused on the deep blue flames.  “Sal knows he’s
turning.  I saw it in his eyes earlier when he was choking.
 He’s no fool, Alex. He remembers why you kept me in the
group.”

Cable
lowers the leg of meat has been working on carving with his knife and
turns to stare at me.  “What’s that supposed to
mean?”

I
meet his gaze head on.  “They knew about my blood. That’s
why they kept me around.  I was supposed to help Eva.”

The
bone snaps in Cable’s hand as he rounds on Alex.  “Is
that true?”

Alex
swallows a large piece of meat.  “It was...at first.  But
things changed.”

“What
things?” Cable’s voice is low and deadly.  I don’t
know if Alex notices the way Cable’s grip tightens on his
knife, but I do.  

“The
point is,” I break in, “that Sal thinks my blood can heal
him, or at least prolong his fate.”

Cable’s
hand moves back toward his lap, a visible sign of relaxing but it’s
just for show.  If Alex makes one wrong move Cable will attack.
 I can’t let that happen.  Though I don’t agree
with some of the shots Alex has called recently, but there is
strength in numbers.  

“But
your blood can't heal him.”  Cable takes another bite and
slowly chews it.  “You’re not a universal donor and
you’re sure as heck not a cure.”

Alex’s
back straightens as he looks toward me.  “But I thought—”

“No.”
 Cable tosses the meatless bone onto the fire and wipes his
hands on his pants.  “If her blood were mixed with his,
he’d still die.  Probably in a worse way than he already
is.”

“We
tested her blood.  Victoria said she was a universal donor.”

“She
wasn’t completely wrong.”  I set my portion of meat
down, my stomach no longer happy with the offering. I relay the
details of my time spent in the company of the military, what we’d
discovered. As I speak, I watch Alex visibly pale and wonder if he
had held out hope that someday I could save his life too.

Maybe
he didn’t bring those men back to the farm to capture us after
all. Maybe it really was a coincidence.  Maybe Alex had
different intentions all along.

One
glance at Cable reveals that I’m not the only one thinking it.

“So
what do we do?  Leave him here? Let him change? “Alex rubs
absently at his arms.  “Victoria would never allow it.
 She’s a tough girl, in her own right.  She wouldn’t
leave him before.”

“Then
he’d probably kill her and risk mixing their blood,”
Cable says, staring blankly into the fire.

“There’s
only one choice,” I whisper.  My stomach twists at the
thought.  I don’t think I could do it. Not in cold blood.
 If only I’d let Sal suffocate when it would have been by
natural causes.

Cable
remains silent.  Alex’s mouth slackens.  His eyebrows
rise in disbelief as he stares between us.  “You’re
talking about murder.”

“No.”
Cable presses his knees together then rises.  He stares down at
Alex.  “That’s survival.”

He
turns and walks away, heading into the forest.  I wonder if I
should go after him, but I can’t leave Alex.  Not until I
can make him see reason.

“He’s
not well, Alex.  You know that.  It’s only a matter
of time before he turns.”

“So
then let him turn!” His nostrils flare as he kicks out his
foot.  A bit of dirt snuffs out the flames on the edge of the
fire pit.

I
draw in a breath and hold it for a moment until I’m sure I can
control my frustration.  “If he turns, he will be in that
tent with us, or on a hiking path, or god knows where else.  Do
you really think Victoria can handle seeing that? She’s already
in some sort of shock over what happened back in St. Louis.”

Slipping
off my rock, I kneel beside him and place a hand on his knee. I’ve
never intentionally touched Alex before.  He swallows as his
gaze settles on my hand.  “Sal is part of the group.  I
know that, but how long will he continue to be Sal?  You saw his
desperation.  We all did.  Can you really live with
yourself if he kills me or Vicky in our sleep?  Can you live
with yourself if you wait too long?”

Alex’s
skin becomes ghostly pale. His hands tremble.  He sucks his
lower lip between his teeth. “I never wanted people to look to
me for answers.”

I
sink down beside him and wait as he blows out several deep breaths.
 His gaze grows distant, lost to the past.  “I
thought Devon would be a good leader.  He seemed strong willed,
level headed, but then he took in that man and wife.  Locked
them away and said it was for our own good.  For Eva’s.”

He
rubs at his chest as his eyebrows pinch in a grimace of long claimed
regret.  “I tried to tell myself that it was the right
thing to do.  To protect our group, but you were right.  We
were no different than those men who roamed the streets.  We
became the one thing we hated the most.”

Reaching
up, I place my hand on his forearm.  His skin feels cold to the
touch, despite the fire before us.  “You did what you had
to do to survive.”

He
nods slowly.  “And that’s what we have to do again.”

He
turns his gaze away from the fire to look at me. I see a haggard man,
wearied and burdened by the impossible choices laid out before him.
 I feel the same way. I just hide it a bit better.  “I
can’t do it.”

I’d
struggle to follow through with it as well.  Sal and I may have
an intense dislike of each other, but at the moment he’s still
alive, still human.  Could I really look into his eyes and know
that I’m the last thing he would see?

“I’ll
do it.”  I look up to see Cable has returned.  The
wire from his pocket is wound tightly around his hands.  His
feet are firmly planted, his chin held high.  He has the look of
a man who’s set aside all emotion to get a task done, no matter
how horrifying it may be.

“Cable…”

He
shakes his head and I fall silent.  “I won’t let you
have blood on your hands.  We’ve made it this far without
that.”

“Someday
I will have to kill.”

He
nods slowly.  “But not today.”

Alex
buries his head in his hands.  “I can’t believe
we’re even talking about this.  It’s so...so sick.”

“It’s
reality,” I whisper, hugging my arms about myself.  Has
the world really sunk to this low?  That innocent people are
sacrificed for the greater good. I guess that happened before all of
this. Kids died by the thousands each day from starvation or lack of
water.  Homeless died on the streets from the cold.  Wars
were started for financial gain.  

The
world hasn’t become more twisted. It just, in some insane way,
become more simple.  You fight. You survive.  Nothing else
matters now.

“Not
tonight.”  Alex says, slowly raising his head.  “Vicky
is in there with him right now.  If we are going to do it, it
has to be when she’s not around.”

I
look to Cable and note the tension in his jaw.  His grip on the
wire doesn’t loosen. His stance doesn’t ease.  

“I’ll
take the first watch.  Make sure things stay quiet. Cable can
take the second watch and Avery the final.  If we make it
through the night then we can deal with it tomorrow.”

“And
if not?” I question.

Alex
opens and closes his mouth.  He doesn’t have the answers.
 None of us do.

Sleep
eludes me for several hours.  I listen to Cable and Alex talking
by the fire, focusing on the rise and fall of their tone in an
attempt to will myself to sleep. Victoria rests beside me. Her frizzy
hair is plastered to the side of her face, her glasses askew on her
nose. Sal snores on her other side, loud and as obnoxious as usual. I
should have put myself between them, to ensure Victoria’s
safety, but I couldn’t bring myself to be near him.

The
night is cold and endless.  The hours trudge by as if time no
longer holds any meaning.  I’d like to kick old Father
Time in the crotch to get him motivated again. That would show the
bastard I mean business.

I
lie motionless when Alex returns some time later from his shift and
crashes down beside me.  I don't shift away when he presses his
back against mine.  Instead I wait until his breathing grows
deep and steady before I inch away.

Through
the tent wall I watch Cable’s shadow, lit by the dwindling
flames.  A spark flares as he leans forward and tosses another
log on the fire. I’m worried about him. He needs to sleep.  

More
than that, I’m worried about his mental state.  Offering
to kill someone must mess with your head, even if you’ve killed
before. Cable told me once that you never forget, and you never
forgive. I don’t want Sal’s blood on his hands any more
than I want it on my own.

Alex
shifts in his sleep and elbows me in the ribs. I grunt in pain but
have nowhere to go. A shadow falls over me and I look up to see Cable
standing by the door. “I’m fine,” I whisper. “Just
Alex taking up too much room.”

“Well
shove him back over.”

I
smirk as he turns and heads back to the fire, giving Alex a jab in
the side for good measure.  He snorts in his sleep and rolls
away.  Tucking my arm under my head, I roll to get comfortable
and freeze.

In
the flickering of the firelight, two eyes stare back at me.  Mangled
hair and a full beard make Sal look even more fierce than I
remembered. His lip is curled into a feral snarl.  The bruise
along the side of his face looks angry and puffy.

“Cab—”
my scream cuts off as Sal launches himself at me.  His hands
grip my throat as he sprawls over Victoria.  The woman wakes and
wails like a banshee beside me, beating against Sal’s side.  He
doesn’t seem fazed by her attack. His eyes remain locked onto
me.

His
grip on my throat is unnaturally strong.  His fingers dig into
my flesh. My lips part, sucking in air that has nowhere to go.

Victoria’s
screams sound garbled in my ears.  I claw at Sal’s hands,
tearing skin back from his forearms but he doesn’t relent.
 Pure, unadulterated rage stares me in the eye and I’m
terrified his face will be the last thing I see.

“Get
off her!”

Sal’s
face distorts as a fist slams into his cheek.  Blood and spittle
splash my face and the grip on my neck decreases but doesn’t
disappear completely.  I gasp for breath, taking small sips of
air into my burning lungs.  Heat flames in my face as blood
pumps loudly in my ears.