Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 120

NADINE’S P.O.V

Despite the initial awkwardness that came with that conversation, things mellowed down pretty quickly. As much as I hated to admit it, I had fun in the car with them.

I still wasn’t sure if I could trust them or not, but at least I knew that they were in this for the right reasons.

"The others are stopping," Camden cut into Ezekiel’s story.

He was telling us about the time he moved to his grandfather’s farm and got chased by a turkey.

I followed his line of sight and sure enough, the other truck had slowed down to a stop. Camden slowed down as well and I couldn’t help but stare ahead in confusion. It wasn’t late enough that we had to stop driving. In fact, the sun hadn’t even begun setting yet and as far as I could see, there was no house for us to spend the night in.

Joshua was the first to get out of the car and he immediately marched over to my side of the truck.

"I’m not doing this switch anymore. Go back to your boyfriend."

Behind me, Jennifer laughed. "What’s wrong? You can’t handle Caine on your own? Do you need Nadine to hold your hand so he doesn’t yell at you."

Joshua shot her a scathing look that would’ve made a plant whither. "I’m not even going to grace that with a response." He turned back to me. "He’s a grump without you."

"Don’t tell me that you stopped driving just so we could switch."

"No, actually, Amy needs to use the bathroom."

Behind me, the others murmured in agreement about needing to use the bathroom so we all piled out of the car.

I knew my time with them was done... at least for today, so I headed over to where Rowan stood. He was leaning against the driver’s side, his hands crossed over his chest and his eyes shut, but I could tell he was listening to everything.

"What did you do to Joshua?"

His lips twitched. "Absolutely nothing."

"I don’t believe that for a second. He’s practically begging to join the others again. You were mean weren’t you?"

Rowan shrugged. "I may or may not have told him to shut the fuck up."

I wheezed hard at that.

I could only imagine how that conversation had gone down and a part of me wished I could’ve been there to see it.

"How long before we get to the bunkers?"

He ran his hands down his face. "We should be in the town by tomorrow night if we don’t encounter any troubles. We have to find a place Joshua can work. He has all night to do it because by morning-"

He didn’t need to finish his sentence.

By morning, we’d have to be by the bunkers to save anyone who wants to come out.

"What if this doesn’t work?" I asked softly. "What if they think it’s a fluke message. What if they don’t believe us?"

"What if he intercepts it and blows up the bunker with everyone in it?" he added and I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, what do we do then?"

"I don’t know," he admitted. "I’ve been thinking about it for a while now if I’m being honest."

We fell into a comfortable silence, both of us just staring at each other. We both needed answers, but neither of us could provide them.

Around us, the others returned to the cars, whispering between themselves. I’d never considered a life on the road before, but the longer I spent out, the more I realized that maybe this was where I deserved to be.

"When all this is over," Rowan began, his voice soft. "We’re going to get married and live out the rest of our lives in the middle of nowhere."

He said it with such seriousness that I couldn’t help but laugh.

"Is this a proposal?"

He held my eyes captive as he spoke. "Believe me, princess, when I’m proposing, you’d know."

My cheeks heated. "Okay then."

"I just want you to remember that there is a life after all of this. After the running and the fighting."

"I know." I reached out for his hand. "There has to be, or else what’s all this for?"

"Alright people, let’s keep moving!" a voice cut through the silence. "We have to find somewhere to spend the night."

They were returning from the bathroom break and sure enough, Joshua was already standing by the door of the other truck. I didn’t even try to fight with him over it, I’d gotten everything I needed from them for now.

Everyone was talking, laughing, it felt so normal that we’d actually forgotten where we were. We weren’t in the community anymore, we weren’t safe anymore.

"Is everyone back?" I asked, looking around for everyone.

I couldn’t see Amy.

I was just about to ask about her when I heard a small scream.

We all turned towards the sound, weapons drawn and watched as Amy stumbled out from a couple of trees, her face white and her cheeks pale.

"I’m sorry," she whispered, her eyes fixed to the ground in shame. "I didn’t mean to scream."

"What happened?" Jennifer was by her side in an instant. "Was there a monster?"

"No, a body, it was all ripped up-"

"We have to start moving," Camden cut in. "If there’s a body it means there are monsters nearby and they’ll be coming for us."

"Moving is too dangerous," Ezekiel interrupted. "They’ll follow us. If they damage the cars then we’re toast."

"What do you suppose we do then?"

"Cover them." Joshua’s voice was so soft that it was barely audible.

"Now why the fuck would we cover the-"

"He’s right," I stopped Jennifer before she could beat down his idea. "Over the trucks, get into the back. We wait it out."

"That’s the most absurd thing I’ve heard all week."

"Do you have a better idea?" I snapped. "We’re running out of time as it is. We need to make a decision now."

She hesitated for a moment before sighing. "How long are we hiding?"

"All night if necessary."