230 Greed (34)
I put the oxygen cylinder in my hand. I don't know what we are going to do with these things. How do we want to try this incredible crazy idea, even if it is my crazy idea? Drowning is not the way I want to go out, but then again, my blood has not been sucked up by some crazy spider/tick/octopus/jellyfish-like monsters.
Both options are terrible, but I would rather give my body to nature rather than aliens. "There might be something like a manual here," Aiden mumbled as he walked behind the counter. "Even a video."
"Video?" I asked dryly.
"Maybe it's a DVD."
I rolled my eyes while shaking my head. Only Aiden thinks he can play DVDs, know what to do, or even have a DVD about the basics of scuba diving. But then again, as far as I know, there may really be one. Abby took a pair of flippers and studied them carefully while flapping the flippers in the air. We have lived in Cape Cod all our lives, but the weird thing is that my brothers and sisters and I have never worn fins.
"We do have Molly," I reminded him.
Aiden shrugged absently. "I still want to study as much as possible beforehand."
I followed Aiden to the back of the counter and helped him flip on the shelf with a flashlight. I don't think he has a chance to find a video snowball in hell, but I didn't tell him. I think he just needs something to distract him from what we are going to do. "There is something here."
"What?" I asked in surprise.
He pulled out a stack of documents and flew in the air. "This is a manual." That might help, I think. Nevertheless, I am sure that reading about scuba diving is not the best way to learn to dive. It's better than nothing. He sat back to his original position, flipping through the pages of the book. "This will help."
He stood up and put it on the counter. Cade and Molly walked around from the place they had been exploring behind the store. "There is a room at the back, but there are windows. We will either leave for the mainland tonight or go back to the apartment." Cade told us briskly.
He has been nervous since we left the apartment. Strangely, I don't think this has anything to do with Brett's business, but a completely different matter. His face became pale again, and his mouth was pinched again. I was thinking, maybe he didn't fall asleep like the rest of us. I am worried that he will get sick because of lack of sleep and nutrition.
"I want to see this." When he tapped his finger on the page in front of him, Aiden attracted my attention to him. "Maybe we should go back to the apartment and stay until tomorrow night."
"Shall we take all these things?" Jenna asked. I noticed that since she saw Cade and I holding hands in front of Brett, she became more amiable. "It's quite heavy."
"I think we can keep it," Aiden replied, but his attention was elsewhere. When he concentrates on something, he is like a bulldog. He locks it and doesn't let it go. Now he concentrates on cāo as a manual.
"We can't guarantee that we can come back here," I interjected.
"Well, really," Aiden muttered to himself.
I shook my head at him and sighed. I left the counter and walked towards the window at the back of the shop. Through the trees and houses, I can only tell the moonlight gleaming on the sea. Everything seemed so peaceful, so pleasantly normal, so safe. I can almost believe that everything is as it should be.
I closed my eyes and tried to control the emotions that surged in my heart. I allow myself to desire everything we have lost and everything we will never have again. Then I opened my eyes and forced myself to accept that this is our new reality. Fleeing, hiding, hunger, fear, filth, exhaustion are everything we know for the rest of our lives. But at least we are still alive, we still have someone we love, we are still moving, this is most people I can say.
"Are you all right, Beth?"
I didn't hear Abby approaching me, but she suddenly appeared beside me. "I'm very good."
"Are you sure? You look so... Ah... I don't know, but you don't look like yourself recently."
She tried to ask Cade carefully, but I didn't have any answers. I don't know what all this means, and I don't know what the result will be. All I know is that everything is very complicated and I am not ready to talk about it yet. "We are different these days."
"I don't want to talk about this, Abby."
"He loves you, Bethany. He is our friend. What are you doing?" I couldn't bear the pleading look in her eyes anymore, and I turned to the window. I already felt bad, and she didn't add more guilt to me. "Cade is..."
I glanced at her straightforwardly. "What is it?"
She shrugged her slender shoulders. "I don't know, he is always so cold, so cold, so cold. He is a stranger, Bethany..."
"I can't explain, Abby, but Cade is not those things, really not."
Abby's gaze moved to where Jenna and Molly were standing together. I know what Cade was thinking when she threatened to leave Jenna in the garbage dump. ""He is Bessie. This is how he treats us all. "Her watery eyes flashed back to me, her mouth opened, looking at me with a gradually clear understanding." He was not like this when he was with you. "
I moved a little, then turned my attention back to the window. She was right, Cade was detached, he was ruthless, and he was fatal. These are the characteristics that he has clearly shown in the past few days. He just doesn't like being with me, he will never like it. I know instinctively. I don’t know how to explain it to her, and I’m not sure if she can understand even if I explain it to her. For many years, people have been wary of Cade; this situation will not change because of my wishes.
She put her hand on my arm. "I hope you know what you are doing."
"I don't know," I admit.
She clasped my arm tightly, then hooked my arm with her arm and leaned against me. "He is so beautiful," she muttered to herself.
When I hugged her, I giggled, comforted in her warmth. "It's time to go back." When Cade walked up to us and focused on me, he didn't notice the midnight hair falling into one of his eyes. "Your brother decided to read it from beginning to end."
"Of course he is." Abby rolled his eyes and left me.
She only took a step and heard echoes and harsh screams, which fixed her. Throughout the night, the sound was rumbling, shaking the entire building, and the crescendo of the sound reached a higher level. Abby covered her ears with her hands. As the voice grew louder, she took a step back, and her ears became more and more harsh every second. I didn't even realize that Jenna was screaming, until Molly covered Jenna's mouth with her hand, trying to suffocate her. But it didn't make a difference, I never heard Jenna's screams overshadowing the rising screams in the air.
Abby almost pressed on me when he fell. Cade grabbed my arm, a series of violent crashes, and the harsh screams of twisted metal echoed through the air. It undulated up and down, making continuous noises, shaking the windows and shaking the floor. I don't know what caused the noise, but I began to worry that it would never stop and it would continue until we couldn't hear it, or it drove us crazy.
Then it stopped suddenly, just like when it started. The silence that followed was more disturbing than the terrible sound. We all hold our breath, trying our best to hear or see anything. My ears buzzed and I trembled in Cade's hand. I have been waiting for the noise to ring again, and have been waiting for something to happen, but the world is still still.
"Then... what's that?" Molly gasped.
Aiden took a step from behind the counter; his face was much paler than normal. "I think it's because of the bridge."
"What?" Jenna asked.
"The bridge, I think the bridge just collapsed, or it was blown up, or something else. But I'm sure it is the Berne Bridge," Aiden replied.
Although I can't see it from here, I know he is right. The bridge that was once a constant main part of my life has disappeared. When I was a child, I used to despise driving over it, convinced that it would collapse under our feet. After my father passed away, until a few years ago, I didn't stay in the car long enough to cross this bridge. The two bridges have always been the main topic of discussion among locals. Tourists flocked to them at the time, causing massive traffic congestion in the summer. These bridges were once extensive proof of the architecture and technology of the 0's, and now at least one bridge has become a pile of rubble in the canal that was once beautifully crossed.
"Why are they destroying this bridge?" Jenna said softly.
Abby replied: "Someone must be trying to pass again."
"No," Aiden wrinkled his forehead as he racked his brains. "Someone successfully traversed."
A burst of consternation shook me. "What?" I asked.
When Aiden started to speak faster, his eyes were filled with excitement. "Think about it. Those things are waiting for us to cross the bridge so they can jump out of their traps. To them, those bridges are like taking off ants at a picnic. Simple, simple, and they have the right bait. . They will not spoil this opportunity unless something goes wrong, unless someone succeeds in passing the level. Unless someone survives."
Hope filled my throat. "Do you really think so?"
"I do."
I couldn't wait to glance at Cade, but his eyes stared at the distant wall, looking cold and violent. "Or we did it," Cade said.
"Huh?" Abby asked.
"There must be an army nearby, and there must be other survivors. It may be that any of these organizations destroyed the bridge." (to be continued) (end of this chapter)