Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 95

NADINE’S P.O.V

"Run!"

It took me a second to process Rowan’s words but even before I did, he grabbed my arm and tugged. Amy still clung to me, sobbing from the sight of that little skull sitting on Trent’s desk. I was barely able to wrap my hand around her wrist and drag her along with me.

Before I could ask what was going on, I heard the growl followed by the sound of glass shattering. I didn’t bother turning back, I didn’t want to see them coming after us. I already knew that it would take a fucking miracle to get us out of here alive.

Rowan shoved me in front of him, keeping at the rear and I pushed my legs harder, forcing myself to go as fast as I could. Glass shattered all around us, each one taking little shreds of hope along with it. I wasn’t sure how many monsters were in here, but we couldn’t fight them all.

"Come on!" Joshua screamed as he held the door open for us. "They’re gaining on you."

"We’re fucking trying!" I screamed back.

As if things couldn’t get worse, the lights went out at that exact moment.

It was already dark out and we hadn’t noticed because we’d been relying on the overhead lights. I could barely make out anything in front of me but I forced myself to keep moving. When I got to the door, Joshua’s hand wrapped around my wrist and he pulled me to safety.

The path we’d come through was dark. I couldn’t see Rowan but I could hear running. I couldn’t tell if it was him or another monster.

"Rowan!" I called out, my heart pounding in my chest.

I still had a hand around Amy, I knew she was safe, but I couldn’t see or hear Rowan. All I could hear was glass and loud growls.

"I’m here, princess." As he rushed out of the basement, I let out an audible sigh of relief.

As soon as he’d made it out safely, we slammed the door shut behind the monsters. And not a moment too soon because I heard one of them slam into the door hard. The door creaked from the force and I knew it’d only take a few more hits before it broke down completely.

We rushed out of the basement, slamming that door shut as well.

"Let’s put things up against it!" I yelled and immediately, Rowan and Joshua moved. "We need to put as much distance between us and them."

We dragged anything we could find and shoved it up against the door. Amy just stood there, watching us quietly. She hadn’t spoken since she saw the skull. She looked to be in shock, almost as if she hadn’t processed anything yet.

We’d have worked faster with her help but I couldn’t bring myself to ask her, not after what we’d just seen. It wasn’t fair to her so we kept working. We piled everything we could find against the door forming a barricade.

Once we were done, I grabbed a hold of Amy and pulled her towards the front doors. We were a few feet away when she dug her feet into the ground, pulling us both to a stop.

"Amy," I began softly and she turned to me. "We need to go, now."

"What’s the point? He says he knows where we are. They’ll just keep following us."

"We can worry about that later. We need to move." I attempted to tug her wrist but she easily maneuvered out of my reach and grabbed the knife at my waist. "Amy, stop!"

"I have to do this."

Before I could stop her, she lifted the knife and made an incision down her arm. Blood pooled, dripping to the ground and I watched in horror as she stuck her fingers into the cut and pulled out something plastic.

"This is the only thing I let them put inside of me," she lifted it up.

She didn’t need to say what it was, I already knew. It was an implant, exactly like the one I had in my arm.

"Is mine-"

"I don’t think so. I took yours from an unopened pack of medical supplies." She handed my knife back to me and I hesitated before taking it. it still had her blood on it and for some reason, that unsettled me.

Joshua tossed her a bandage. "If you’re done, we need to go.’

I watched her wrap the bandage tightly around her arm."We can’t just walk away. We have to kill them."

Rowan sighed. "We can’t fight all of them, Amy. We’ll die."

"What if we burn the place down? There has to be some sort of accelerant here."

Joshua reached out for her but she tugged her arm back. "We can’t stay here searching for an accelerant. We need to go."

"He killed my son!" she screamed. It was the first time she’d said the words out loud. "I have to do something."

The air stretched thin between us, neither of us making a sound. Amy was breathing hard, the moon reflecting the tears that gathered behind her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood taller.

"You can all leave if you want. I will stay here until I find a way to burn this building to the ground. If I die trying, then so be it."

I knew she wasn’t bluffing, and that’s what made it so hard. I couldn’t just leave her and I knew it was only a matter of time until all the monsters broke out.

"It’s torture out there with only a few monsters at a time. There were hundreds in there. He’ll wipe out the entire world in months. We can’t let that happen. I have to do something."

She started to walk away when Rowan stopped her. "I know where their backup generator is. There may be something we can do."

"This is absurd," Joshua murmured. "We should be leaving."

"Then leave, take Nadine with you."

"Not a chance in hell," I cut in. "I’m staying here."

"You’re all fucking insane," Joshua whispered. "But I can’t survive out there on my own."

The worst part of it all was that Joshua was right. We had to be fucking insane to even consider this. It would be much easier to just run.

"You two can find the backup generators and search for fuel. We’ll lock all the doors. If we want to kill the monsters, then we have to keep them locked in, right?"

Rowan pursed his lips. He didn’t seem quite pleased with the idea but he knew he couldn’t protest.

"We meet back here in twenty minutes," he instructed. "No later. Do you understand me?"

I nodded. "Stay safe.’

"You too."

He stared at me for a moment longer, as if he wanted to say something, but at the last minute, he decided against it and headed out the doors with Amy.

I turned to Joshua. "I guess we’re doing this."

"This is a death wish," he told me. "We’re all going to die in here."

"If we manage to take down a few monsters with us, then I’ll die a happy woman."