"Did you hear that?"
Cash paused his motions, the shovel in his hand heavier than before. He scanned the clearing for Tabb to see he had also stopped in his tracks to stare at the forest next to them.
Another screech rang through the air,
"Time to go."
Cash buried the shovel into the dirt right above Ezra's grave.
"Say your final goodbyes. We'll pack the truck."
Cash offered in a sympathetic tone. It was sad they couldn't have more time with Ezra, more time to mourn his death. He had seen how close they were with his own eyes.
Yet, they couldn't sit here and dwell on more dead when danger was coming their way. All they could do is move forward. Make it to the bunker. Survive, so the ones who died for this cause wouldn't have died in vein.
He started towards the truck, searching for Ollie and Violet as he walked. When he didn't see the two youngest anywhere in the clearing his heart began to race. Tabb was just finishing up Jude's stitches, placing a fresh bandage over the deep graze.
"Are Ollie and Violet in the truck?"
Tabb's head snapped up at that, his brows already knitted.
"No. I haven't seen them. I thought they were with you."
He stood up from the back of the truck, examining the clearing with wide eyes.
"I thought they were with you."
Cash shot back. Another screech alerted them, closer this time.
"Fuck."
Cash spat.
"Rory went out, he probably already found them. He'll keep them safe."
Jude cut in with a hopeful tone.
"Probably isn't good enough for me."
Cash growled, already preparing to run towards the sound of the screeches to find Violet and Ollie. Tabb stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.
"He's right. I don't like it anymore than you do, but we can't go running straight at those monsters. It's suicide."
"So we don't do anything?"
Tabb clenched his jaw, a plethora of emotions falling over his face before he finally decided on what he wanted to say.
"We'll follow the dirt road we got here on to the next turn off and stop to find them once we pass the screechers."
"What? So we can find their bodies after they're dead?"
"Cash, if we go charging head first into a hoard of screecher, we will die. Then, if they are alive, they'll have no one. We need to park somewhere safe and trace their steps."
Tabb's voice was unusually stern as he closed the back of the truck, Jude already packing up what was left out.
"Fine," Cash took a step closer, his jaw clenched as he glared into the green eyes in front of him.
"You can take the others and do your plan. I'll go look for them by myself."
Tabb's expression changed at that, the anxiety he held before turning to anger that Cash rarely saw. Yet he continued to hold his ground.
"That's not happening. We're going to find them together-"
"I can't find Ollie."
Kyle suddenly cut in, her voice panicked as she glanced between the two arguing men.
"Violet's gone too."
Cash finally turned from their staring contest.
"We have to go find them!"
Cash was taken back by the ginger's sudden outburst, her arms flailing as she yelled the command.
"You can't just run at a hoard. We're going to drive around the screechers and then scale the forest back to the clearing to find them."
"What? No! I just got Ollie back. I'm not abandoning him again."
Cash smirked at that, turning to Tabb to give him a knowing glance. The blonde was flabbergasted, his jaw slightly dropped and his brows knitted.
"We'll meet you at the next clearing. I promise I won't die, I'll bring them right back without a scratch."
***
Rory slowed his pace a while back, the forest not seeming to end no matter how far they went. Were they lost? He thought he'd been leading them in a straight line but that tree looked familiar.
"Are we walking in circles?"
Violet suddenly voiced Rory's concerns out loud and his stomach began to turn.
"What are you talking about we've been walking in a straight line."
Ollie spat back in an annoyed tone.
"Yeah, I thought so too. Until I looked around and realized we've been in this spot before."
Rory paused his walking, both of them running into his back with an 'oof'.
"You're both right."
The blonde scanned their surroundings, they'd been in this spot multiple times.
But how?
"I guess your little party trick's over Karim."
A silvery voice cut its way threw the forest and Rory quickly lifted his gun, turning in the direction of the disembodied voice.
"I guess I'll have to take over from here."
This time it came from the opposite direction and he turned again, aiming for anything that moved.
"There's no need to fight us Rory, we're like you."
It came from his left this time. How the hell did this guy know his name? What did that mean, 'we're like you'?
"Just give us the kids, we don't want to hurt you."
Rory turned to Violet and Ollie, who stood back to back with him, their weapons already drawn. He couldn't die here alone with them, if he did one of them would take his place. He wouldn't let that happen.
"You don't know me well enough to underestimate me!"
He yelled back, cocking his gun to make a point.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
There was a swoosh of wind before a sharp pain ran from his shoulder through his whole body. He grunted, looking down to find a thin steel dagger sticking out of him, blood already seeping through his shirt. It was so fast, he hadn't even seen the weapon coming.
The man who had been speaking finally revealed himself, confidently stepping out of the tree line. He was tall yet thin sporting an undercut to a thick head of dark copper hair, his skin surprisingly tan for his hair color. Long, ridged twin swords were held in each of his gloved hands. A smirk played on his thin lips as his dark beady eyes looked the blonde over.
"I know you better than you think."
Without warning Rory aimed and fired, the bullet speeding right past the stranger's head. He hadn't even flinched. He shot again, and again, and again each time missing by a hare. What the fuck was wrong with him? He was usually a good shot!
"You won't be able to kill me that easily, Rory. Not with my friends around."
"What friends? What are you talking about? How do you know my name?"
He asked frantically, his pistol not budging from it's aim even though he knew it was useless. The way this man spoke to him, as if he knew him, it was really starting to fuck with Rory's head. Not only for obvious reasons, but somehow this man radiated a sense of familiarity that Rory hadn't felt before.
"It's sad I have to put you down. I see the confusion behind your eyes and it reminds me of myself before I found them."
"Stop acting like you know me!"
His angry outcry was cut off as Violet aimed her bow and shot. This time the arrow grazed the red head's arm, tearing threw his jacket, and he hissed.
"What the hell?!"
He yelled out, yet it wasn't directed at the three in front of him. He pressed two fingers to the wound to find blood on them before turning to the forest behind him.
"I just found this jacket, dickweasel!"
Violet grabbed another arrow from the pouch on her back, taking this opportunity to shoot again. This time the arrow sped right past him.
The stranger turned back around, his previous smug expression now traded for fiery anger. His head lowered, glaring between the three still aiming their weapons at him before he ran at them, swords up and ready.
Rory pushed the kids to the ground in attempt to save them from the blades thrown their way. Instead the twin swords, side by side, sliced two long cuts into his unguarded abdomen causing him to fall to his knees. Ollie quickly recovered from being thrown to the ground, lifting his gun to shoot at the stranger's head.
***
"Can this thing go any faster?"
Dax asked in a impatient tone, his fingers drummed on the side of the truck where his arm hung out the window.
"If you don't put your arm inside the truck you might loose another hand."
Dax groaned at Tabb's annoying comment, glaring from the corner of his eye at the blonde.
"No."
Tabb finally answered with a roll of his eyes.
"This is as fast as it can go. Do you think I don't want to get to my children as fast as you want to get to your friend?"
"You're children?"
Tabb sat up as Dax pointed out the words he'd slipped up on. The blonde's brows knitted, his grip tightening on the wheel as he stared at the road in front of them in search of any side roads or clearings. He hadn't meant to say it like that. Ollie and Violet weren't their children, although sometimes it felt like it.
"Dude, I don't care what kind of house game you two are playing. I just want to find Ollie. Kyle's already lost enough."
"You say that like no one else here has lost someone or something."
"Look, I'm sorry about your friends but that's not our-"
"I was talking about you."
Tabb spoke in a stern tone, still not really paying attention to the words he spoke. His mind was else where, worrying about Cash. Worrying about Violet. Worrying about Ollie. He wasn't about to lose just one person, he was about to lose his whole world.
But if he spoke about it out loud he would probably have a panic attack, so instead he let his mouth run.
"I haven't lost anything yet."
"Your hand? Ezra?"
"It's painful, but I can find a way to live without them."
"So it's just Kyle then."
"What?"
Dax snapped, his brows knitting as he looked the lanky man over.
"You can give up everything, everyone, but Kyle."
Dax turned away from Tabb, those heterochromic eyes finally finding a different target to burn holes through.
"I get it. She's not going to be with you though. You know that right?"
"You don't know anything about her."
"Oh, yeah? I know that she just lost the man she's in love with. That's going to scar her for a while."
"I can wait."
"That is, if you survive long enough."
"What's your problem? Aren't you usually the over-the-top nice one? Why are you grilling me on this?"
Dax sounded almost offended but Tabb was still only giving the larger man next to him a quarter of his mind.
"The man I love and the two kids we practically raised together are in the woods surrounded by Screechers. So, please, excuse me if I don't feel like using my manners."
Tabb spat in a conversation ending tone, surprising Dax enough to make him shut up.
Finally, by some grace of god, a turn off came up on the left. Tabb quickly turned onto the dirt road, riding down it until they ran into a large wooden cabin with windows blacked out with cardboard. The blonde threw the truck into park, not waiting for the others as he took off into the forest.
"Tabb!"
Dax yelled after him, probably too weak to keep up with his broken ankle.
He didn't care. If he needed help, Jude could do it. Tabb needed to find his family.
He ran as fast as he could, examining the forest around him for any traces of blood. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he got farther away from the truck and the woods around him got darker.
"Cash!"
He called out, refusing to slow his pace.
"Ollie!"
Please answer.
"Violet!"
Please.
"Cash!"
I can't live without you.
"Cash!"
You have to be okay.
"Cash!"
Tabb's lungs began to burn, slowing him to a stop. He leaned down, struggling to catch his breath. Tears threatened to leave his eyes as all the things that could've happened to his family ran through his head. Cash would save them, he attempted to reassure himself. Cash was strong. He would be alright.
"Tabb."
Relief flooded his body at the familiar voice and he quickly turned, prepared to run to Cash and slap the shit out of him for not listening.
Instead he found Cash and Kyle carrying a knocked out blonde in their arms.
Blood completely drenched Rory's torn shirt and his face was beaten and bruised.
Relief quickly turned back into dread as he met Cash's stare.
"Ollie and Violet?"
Cash's jaw clenched, his dark eyes falling to the ground below his feet.
"They weren't there."
Kyle answered for him with a deep growl, her cheeks streaked with tear stains.
"Just this."
Cash pulled a walkie-talkie from his back pocket, throwing it Tabb's way for him to catch. It was spattered with blood, some old, some new.
"Someone took them as a bargaining chip."