Simply put, when the ** was blazing between us and he pushed me more firmly towards his stiff body, I let myself get lost in his control.
I drew back breathlessly, blinking at his dirty face. I thought he was going to kiss me again, but he controlled himself again, and he stepped back a bit to keep our bodies at a certain distance. I smiled and stroked his eye-catching face with my fingers. "We have to go."
"We know." His voice was tense and harsh.
For some reason, his simple words made my smile brighter. I am very happy to see the joy of response in his midnight eyes. I rarely see any joy in his gaze, but at this moment, it is shining to me. He kissed me again quickly, and then stood up gracefully. He reached out his hand to help me stand up. I was shaking all over, but my legs somehow made me stand up.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to look at Jenna and Abby. Jenna stared at me with an arrogant expression, watching me smile triumphantly, my teeth were about to fall. I know she will tell him as soon as she sees Brett, but this is unavoidable. There is no room to stop between Capita and I, I don't want to try anymore. But this must be what I said, and I must tell Bright, not her. It's not Brett's fault, I need him to understand this, and I need him to understand that I do love him. I just didn't love him like this.
Abby has left us; she is studying the area where we landed. When Abby turned around, Cade grabbed my hand. Seeing Cade and me parting, a relaxed expression flashed across her face. "It's not legal," she murmured to herself.
When I first saw our environment, I frowned. We are standing in a wet bowl on the ground. Grass and weeds grew here and there, but the plants outside where we stood were sunburned by the harsh August sun. I looked at what we turned out of the tube and realized it was broken. Five feet to my right, the remaining pipe protrudes three feet from the ground. Debris ** piled up all around us.
"Don't think they know about it," Cade said.
He let go of my hand. He climbed up the small hole where we were, lying flat on the grassy hillside, scanning the horizon. He turned and looked in the other direction, and then hurried towards us. "The garbage dump is about a mile away. I didn't see anything coming here."
"Where are we?" Jenna asked.
Cade shook his head. "I don't know, but we must act. If they find the tube, they will know where we have gone. Let's go."
When we were behind Cade, I refused to look at Jenna. The woods we were walking towards seemed not dense enough to suit my appetite.
When we finally crossed the highway, I felt relieved and exhausted. The sun is starting to set, and we don't have much time to rest, so we can only be forced to try the inevitable crossing. Since we separated, I have not allowed my thoughts to turn to Aiden and Bright. For the first time, I wondered if they were all right, if these things were chasing them, or if they had already arrived at the gas station because they had a more convenient and closer route than us.
I numbly accepted the bag of French fries and half a bottle of water, and Cade handed it to me. I was so hungry that I was so hungry that my head hurts, but I still ate the French fries leisurely, almost never. "We have to act quickly," Cade said.
I studied a two-lane highway. We must cross it to reach the middle ground, dotted with trees and bushes. Before we had to run through the other two lanes to reach the safer woods, the middle ground could provide a 10-foot shelter. Although the woods are far less dense than the ones we have walked before.
Cade handed me the duffel bag with our supplies. When he turned and walked towards the edge of the tree line, I frowned. I suddenly woke up from a strange coma and hurried to chase him. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm going out first. Make sure it's safe."
"Damn it!" I retorted.
When he knelt down to study the road, his face was hidden in the shadow. "Do you want to watch the video of that bridge again?"
I swallowed heavily and looked back at the open highway. Unlike on the bridge, there are no lights on the road, but after what happened in the garbage dump, I can almost feel the aliens waiting for us, hovering above us, setting a trap to take us down. "We will find other ways."
"There is no other way."
"I will go with you," I said.
He shook his head and turned his eyes to Abby. "You can't leave her alone."
"Stop using her to deal with me!"
He combed his scuffled hair with his hands. "I'm not using her to deal with you, I just need you to stay here, Bethany. I'll be back soon. I promise."
I tried to find comfort in his words, but I couldn't. "You can't guarantee."
"No, I can't." I frowned at him. I look forward to some kind of comfort, even some false promises. His straightforward admission surprised me a bit. "But if you go with me and something happens, these two people won't be disturbed. They need someone to lead them."
I glanced back to make sure I couldn't hear. "I am the one who completely broke down in this situation, Cade, not them. Their situation is much better than mine."
He straightened up and approached me delicately. Even though he is only a foot away from me, his body still emits the opposite heat to mine. "It may be true, but you are stronger than them, Bethany. Today you have reached a turning point, but if they carry the same burden as you, many people have reached their turning point a few years ago. .You won't do it again, I know..."
"You can't know," I interrupted her.
"Of course, I know you. You will help them through their difficulties, because you have to do it. If they lose the two of us, they won't be able to survive."
I bit my lower lip and continued to frown at him. I want to believe him, but deep down in my heart, I believe that he is just instilling some nonsense to me so that I can stay while he tests the waters. I can almost see the gears in his mind turning, and when he tried to think of other ways to dissuade me, his thoughts jumped quickly in his mind.
"without you?"
"What?" I didn't argue further, but asked him some questions and sent him away.
"Do you really believe that I can go on without you?"
He turned around nervously, and I could see that he was hesitating to say the next sentence, but he did. "After your father died, you persisted until I died. You persisted until me today. I was the cause of your breakdown, Bethany."
"It's not like that!" I strongly protested.
He glanced over my shoulder; his jaw was tight because a muscle jumped onto his cheek. "It's true, without me, you would get through this difficult time..."
"It's horrible to say that! Especially after so many things have happened!" I broke down, irritated by his words and his absolute trust in them. "How can you believe that I would be stronger without you?"
He grabbed my shoulders and pulled my stiff body a step closer to him. "I never said that. When I'm not by your side, you will bury your emotions because you don't trust anyone, but..."
"But for some reason, I believe you."
A smile appeared from the corners of his full mouth, and his eyes flickered mischievously. "Yes, for some reason, you believe in the devil."
When he mentioned his nickname at school, I said in surprise. "Do you know they call you the black devil?"
He grinned. "The devil knows everything."
"You are not funny at all," I muttered to myself.
"I didn't mean it." He kissed my forehead lightly, then let go of me, and took a step back. "You will let them pass this Bethany. Anyway, I know you will."
Although I am grateful for his firm belief in me, I still want to catch him and beg him to stay. I wanted to tell him that I love him, but this sentence got stuck in my throat. Obviously he has made up his mind to do this, and I can't stop him.
"be careful."
He grinned proudly, my heart was about to melt, my toes were about to cock up. "forever."
Before I could say a word, he quickly ran away from me, crossed the road, and disappeared into the shelter in the middle with amazing speed and grace. I was stunned when he left, my heart was pounding, and my whole body was sweating. I have never seen anyone move like him. I took a small step behind him, struggling between the urge to follow him and the need to stay with my sister.
My eyes returned to Abby. She and Jenna approached me quietly, but backed a full five feet. I can see the fear on their faces. This fear made me straighten my shoulders and lift my chin. Cade is right, I will find a way to rescue them. No matter what the price, I will let them leave here, even if I have to leave him.
Only the faint rustle of leaves reminded me that Cade was crossing the other side of the highway. I held my breath and counted myself. I think he should at least return to normal when I count to 100. When I was two hundred years old, I started to panic. At the age of three hundred, I could barely breathe, through the tightening around my chest.
When I was 500 years old, my throat started to heat up and I could barely breathe. Five hundred fifty...
I don't know how long we will stay here. How long will we have to wait for him to come back? I'm not sure if I can get my feet out of here if the time is up. There was no dazzling light, and no impact sound echoing in the forest, indicating the arrival of the monster, but when I reached 800, I became more and more certain that Cade would not return. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)