Page 69 of Dying to Meet You

I hear movement toward the lab building; we’re not alone in the woods.

I can’t stop…My body screams in pain and my heart breaks …run, run, run.

It’s getting close, we’re close.

More rustling and twigs cracking underfoot near us make me lift the girls, one in each arm, to travel the last few steps to the tree with the skull. My voice is broken when I say, “Thank you, baby, thank you.” I grab the gun Hutton must’ve left. My good hand is shaking badly, I stabilize it with the swelling one.

Waverly takes an envelope from inside the jaw bones of the skull. “Mommy?”

I stuff it in my pocket.

I ask the girls to close their eyes; so they avoid seeing the horrific images nailed, tacked, and glued to the walls. “Shhh…we have to be so quiet. Keep your eyes shut. Here, sit here.” I have them sit in a corner out of sight of the dilapidated door. “I’m right next to you, okay? I’m right here,” I whisper before shielding them with my body.

The movement sounds distant, and I hope it stays that way. Once it’s light out, we can try moving from here. Tremors wrack my body, the physical pain overshadowed by the devastation of loss…Greg, six innocent victims meant to terrorize me, my Hutton. My love. My eyes sweep the dark room to see, courtesy of Hutton, there is a pocketknife on the folding chair and another gun in the other corner. He was preparing for war if needed. The realization he never stopped thinking of us makes the pain in my chest constrict, taking my breath away.

How do I live without him?

Waverly puts her arms around me, her head pressed into my back. “M-Mommy, are you scared?” Her little voice is a whisper.

The throbbing pain in my hand doesn’t stop me from reaching back to smooth over her arm. “No,” I lie. “I’m not scared, because I have a plan.”

Do I? I’m terrified but I can’t show them that. They need me to be strong, to know a way out.

Then a movement close by makes me freeze. Could it be Hutton? Did he manage to get to us this quickly? I reassure the girls softly to stay still and silent before crawling to look out the opening in the doorway. But when I catch sight of the person in night vision goggles, a gun at his side, I know the weapons Hutton left may be the only way out. Because no one is going to hurt my babies.

I fight to get control of the shaking in my arm, reaching over to grab the pocketknife. I barely have time to react when the door is pushed aside, falling off the rusted hinge it was hanging by. Too close to get the gun up, I flick the knife open, stabbing the man dressed in all black in the side. He wheezes, a hand flying to the wound. I’m not waiting around to talk. I reach for the girls, leading them to the door while trying to keep them from looking at the walls. “Come on…come on…”

The man, having fallen, rolls to his side, saying something obscured by a cough…

Zinnea pulls a lighter from her pocket. Other than Chris, we have no smokers in our home. I don't know where she acquired it at, but the sight is so shocking I freeze. I watch as the dainty, eight-year-old little girl flicks it, gazing at the flame before lighting the pants of our attacker on fire.

Gasping for air, I call, “Zinnea?! Let’s go.”

We can deal with her arson tendencies later.

Fire spreads through the woods quickly due to the drought conditions. It's getting closer to the lab building. We’re running toward the center.People, get to people. I’m looking over my shoulder at the crackling flames as they dance in the treetops behind us.

Waverly’s crying while clinging to my hand, and Zinnea remains stoic running alongside me. She puts her finger over her lips, looking at Waves to remind her we need to be stealthy.

It’s all too easy to lose your way in the woods at night if you don’t know landmarks to look for. I stop, out of breath, turning in a circle. I don’t know if we’re heading to the lake or the center now. I scoop the girls close with my arms. “Just a bit longer…we’re close.” Another lie: I don’t know where we are. The fire at our backs is the only direction I know to avoid. We pick up speed, and I cradle my broken hand close, wincing at the throb traveling up my arm.

Waverly’s shout of “Look!” startles me. My eyes follow where she’s pointing. Is that? Please, please, please…

I take the risk of outing our location as I scream at the top of my lungs, “Matt? Matt?!”

Then, like a vision from the best dream imaginable, he turns to see us as he motions to someone. When he turns back we see Keir and Blaine running behind him.

“Daddies!” Waverly breaks away with a hiccupping cry. Blaine reaches her first, pulling her protectively into his arms. They’re both crying as he looks her over.

“Hutton. We have to go back for Hutton. He’s in the labs,” I choke out in Matt’s arms. “We have to-”

Keir, with tears in his eyes, asks, “Are you sure he is?”

We all look toward the fire licking at the large glass structure. To get back, we need to run through the fire. I try to pull away…to return for him as a wail breaks from me. “We can’t leave him…please…”

“Eden?” Keir grabs my hand.

No. He didn’t come to us, so I’ll go to him.

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