Page 44 of Shattered Home

Warner and I stepped over their bodies, running as fast as we could. His legs easily could have outrun mine, but he kept my pace, refusing to leave me behind. My eyes didn’t leave the street in front of us, knowing that freedom was only several feet away.

With a few more steps, Warner was pulling my body around the corner of a burned building, holding me close to his chest. He peeked around the corner, most likely to confirm we weren’t being followed, and then he sighed. Leaning his body against the black wood, he met my gaze.

“You said you’d leave us behind if we messed up the plan,” I told him, my voice rough as I tried to regain my breath.

“What can I say? I’m a fickle man.” That he was. And he was also the man who had saved me.

Something sparked between us, the friction between us akin to the friction as I created the fire, but Warner shook it off before I could decipher what it was.

“We need to keep moving. They’ll notice you’re gone soon. And we need to find the other three.”

Nodding, I started walking beside Warner, creeping between the buildings of the town. The adrenaline was wearing off and the pain in my thighs was bordering on unbearable, but I trudged on, knowing we needed to get into the woods.

It felt like we had walked for miles when I finally spotted the edge of the woods and standing there were my brother and the twins. The second we came into view, Aiden’s shoulders slumped and the twins let go of his hands, rushing forward.

I gathered the two into a hug, holding tight. We had done it. I had done it. I was going to get them back home.

“Where to now?” Warner asked, leaning against a tree on the edge of the street.

I realized he was talking to me; I was the one who had said I knew a safe place in the woods. But I was no expert and I suddenly realized the likelihood of us finding our camp was slimmer than the odds of escaping.

“Into the woods,” I said, knowing it was absolutely nothing to go on, but it was the best I had.

***

“Alessia, do you know where you’re going?” Aiden asked, and I didn’t respond.

Between him and Warner, they had asked that question at least fifty times in the past few hours. And every time, I stayed silent. Because the truth was, no, I had no clue where I was going. But the deeper into the woods we went, the less likely we’d be found.

I knew the general vicinity we were in and I knew we needed to keep walking further north. Too bad I wasn’t entirely sure which way north was, but I thought we were going in the right direction.

The three of us had decided it wasn’t worth stopping for the night, no matter how exhausted we became. The twins had given up walking an hour ago, but both men had one of them slung over their shoulders, letting their small legs rest.

My body was begging for a break, my legs buckling beneath me every few steps, but I knew we couldn’t stop. Vex and his men could be following us at this moment. If we stopped, they could catch up.

Our trek continued for miles and miles until suddenly, even in the dark, I recognized the area. Holding up a hand, I had the others pause, listening to the quiet of our surroundings. In the background, I heard the familiar rushing of a creek and I wondered if I had truly gotten this lucky.

Putting more strength into my steps, I rushed forward, halting when I spotted the familiar clearing I had spent four months in. The area was empty, not that I was surprised, but I would have been blind to not recognize it.

Our firepit still sat in the middle of the area, the remaining ashes black against the wood. Warner and Aiden approached at my back, setting the twins on the ground gently, and looking around.

“Do you know this place?” Aiden asked, coming to stand at my side.

Nodding, tears pricked my eyes as the memories flooded me. It had only been a few weeks, so why did it feel like a lifetime ago?

“This was home.”

***

We all decided to rest for a few hours in the clearing. The twins were dead asleep, too tired to wake, and my body was giving out. However, none of us could actually sleep, instead taking the opportunity to rest our sore muscles.

Warner clenched the gun in his hand, eyes scanning the area in case someone came upon us.

“Where’d you get the gun?” I asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace of the woods.

“Grabbed it off a sleeping guard last night. Figured it’d come in handy today.”

Of course he had. It seemed Warner was always a step ahead of everyone else and it made me wonder about his life before all of this.

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