Ravenous

   “We’ll go now instead. You’ll see, we’ll all be fine,” the man said. He shot Abby and I a sympathetic look that aggravated the hell out of me and set my teeth on edge.

   “Fine,” Aiden said. “Let’s go Bret.”

   “Wait,” Bret protested instantly. “Bethany…”

   “It’s ok Bret, I’ll be fine. I want to stay with Abby.”

   “Cade can go over with Aiden.”

   Hope sparked in Je

   “It’s ok Bret, I’ll be fine.” I hated the deception that made those words come from my mouth, but I hated the thought of not being with Cade even more.

   “I don’t want to leave you here.”

   “Bret come on,” Aiden interjected, practically bouncing on his toes in his eagerness to move.

   “Bethany?”

   I forced down the lump in my throat. “I’ll be fine.”

   “Do you want me to stay?” he inquired.

   I wanted them all to stay, but it didn’t seem to matter what I wanted right now. “Its fine,” I managed to choke out.

   He smiled tremulously at me, squeezed my hand, and kissed me gently on the lips. I did not recoil from him, did not push him away. In fact I kissed him back because I was fairly certain I would never see him again, and I didlove him. He hurried to join Aiden as Cade swiftly took Bret’s place at my side. I stared sadly up at Cade, struggling not to cry as Abby began to sob softly.

   The first group reached the other side of the bridge; I could almost feel their relief. They were not out of the woods yet, they were still in the middle of a highway, completely exposed and out in the open, but they had made it that far. It was much further than I had thought they were going to make it. Hope began to fill me as I realized that perhaps I had been wrong after all, perhaps we were all going to make it across. Perhaps the bridges werethe answer.

   I suddenly wanted to run across the bridge, race over to the other side and kiss the ground of the mainland. I glanced eagerly at Cade, Abby’s tears began to dry up, Je

   Cade nodded at me, I managed a wan smile for him. Je

   It was just that simple right now.

   Aiden was at the foot of the bridge. The second group was almost safely to the other side when light blazed forth. For a moment I was blinded, and completely confused. I thought something had happened with the lights on the bridge, that perhaps a power surge had somehow caused them to blaze even brighter.

   Then, I heard the screams.

CHAPTER 12

   I didn’t stop to think. I shoved Abby back, pushing her towards the woods. “Run!” I hissed at her. She turned beneath my shoving hands, stumbling toward the forest. I turned and plunged in the opposite direction. “Aiden!”

   I couldn’t see him over the bright glare of the lights burning my irises, couldn’t hear him above the agonized screams that shredded the still night. “Aiden!”

   I was ru

   “Aiden! Bret!” I screamed, terror for their lives clawed at me, ripped through me, and left me nearly breathless and shaken. Not my brother, I pleaded silently. Please not my brother, please not Bret. Please. Please. Please.

   I stumbled blindly forward, crashing through some bushes that ripped and tore at my skin and clothes before plowing into another bush that halted me abruptly. I thought I was somewhere near the Cape Cod spelled out with yews in the center of the rotary. I couldn’t be certain though, but I thought I may have hit the C of Cod. That meant I had at least approached the bridge side of the rotary in my heedless rush forward, and that I was not ru

  Arms wrapped around me, I was pulled back. A terrified scream escaped me; I clawed wildly at the arms, certain that death had just locked me within its tight embrace. “It’s me Bethany,” a voice hissed in my ear. I slumped slightly as I recognized Cade’s voice, but I could not see his arms around my waist against the harshness of the light surrounding us. “We have to go back Bethy, we have to go back.”

   Cade was pulling me away, dragging me toward something. I didn’t know which way we were going, what was happening anymore. More screams echoed out of the light. I had never heard such awful, agonizingsounds in my entire life. I wanted to sob, wanted to curl up in a ball, clasp my hands over my ears and attempt to drown out the suffering and horror that echoed within those shrieks. I would never get them out of my head though, never forget the hideous pain, horror, and terror contained in those high pitched wails. Aiden. Bret. My heart was shattering. This was it; I couldn’t take anymore. Thiswas my snapping point. It would soon be over, for all of us, and I didn’t even care anymore.

   Cade pulled me to the ground, keeping his arm locked around my waist as he leveled his body over top of mine. “Move Bethany!” he hissed in my ear.

   I didn’t care to move, I didn’t truly care to do anything ever again. When I remained limp beneath him, he began to half push and half drag me forward. He pushed and pulled me into the center of a bunch of bushes. They were scratchy, painful and caused my skin to burn. Whatever the bushes were, they were not friendly. Cade cursed as he followed behind me, struggling against the low hung branches of the plant. I didn’t care about the bushes, or the pain, the only thing I cared about right now was the fact that I could finally cover my ears. Curling into the fetal position, I clamped my hands tightly over my ears, but it did little to drown out the awful sounds. Cade wrapped himself around me, using his body to cover mine.

   “Shh, Bethy, shh love.” I didn’t realize that a low keening sound had been escaping from sound. I was shaking, but no tears spilled free. I was too horrified, to shocked to cry.

  “Cade,” I moaned.

   His body was warm against mine, strong as he enfolded me within his embrace. His cheek was against mine, his hand wrapped around my head and forehead as he tried to shelter me from the misery. There was nothing sexual about his embrace, no intense desire radiated from him right now. There was only a desperate need to protect me, to shield me from the horror, agony, and death that surrounded us. His mouth was against my cheek; his breath was warm and ragged on my skin.

   My eyes remained closed but the light burned against my eyelids, I thought it would be seared permanently into my irises. “My sweet Bethany.”

   He kissed my cheek gently. That was when I became certain that we were going to die, and that he knew it as well as I did. I found that to be an even worse realization. Cade had been stoic throughout this whole thing, even slightly playful. He had never shown fear, and though he didn’t show it now, I could hear the goodbye in his tone. I sensed the regret and longing that radiated from those three words.