Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 127

NADINE’S P.O.V

Rowan and I didn’t return to the car.

He sat there, hands wrapped around me as he whispered sweet nothings into my hair.

No one bothered us, presumably because everyone was already battling with their own emotions. The plan had gone to shit, and we’d lost Ezekiel.

We were so over confident that we’d actually walked in there thinking we could save everyone, and look at where it landed us.

I must have fallen asleep sometime during the night because the next thing I knew, someone was lightly shaking me awake.

My eyes flew open and my hands instantly went to the weapon at my side but Rowan stopped me, his hand wrapping around my wrist.

"You’re okay," he assured me, his voice soft. "It’s morning. We need to keep moving."

I nodding, wiping the remnants of sleep out of my eyes.

He helped me to my feet and handed me a granola bar. "It’s not much of a breakfast but you can eat during the drive back."

"This is good, thanks," I mumbled, tearing into it. "What about the others?"

"Amy is... well, she won’t let go of her son. Jen is being Jen. Joshua just woke up as well."

"And Camden?"

"He hasn’t said a word."

I sighed. "I should try and talk to him."

Ezekiel was his friend after all and I felt partly responsible for what happened. If we’d stayed, if we’d tried to get him out, then we could have all gotten out safely. We could have lived... or at least, I liked to believe we could.

"Perhaps I can ride with them," I suggested and Rowan frowned.

"I don’t know how I feel about that, princess. He’s grieving and hurt people do stupid shit."

"Camden won’t hurt me."

"You don’t know that."

"And you don’t know that he will."

"Hey lovebirds!" Jen called out. "Are we leaving or what?"

I glanced over at her.

She didn’t look at all perturbed by what had happened. She had her usual scowl on her face and her hands crossed over her chest. Camden stood behind her, but as soon as I me this eyes, he looked away.

It was clear he didn’t want to speak to me... at least not yet, so I followed Rowan to the car where Amy sat, her son curled in her lap.

"I feel like it’s a dream," she whispered as I approached. "I didn’t sleep all night because I thought that if I closed my eyes-"

"He’s real," I told her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No one is going to take him from you again."

She sniffled, tears gathering behind her lids. "I don’t know how to feel."

"That’s okay. You don’t have to. You do need some rest."

She wiped at her cheeks. "It’s already daytime. I should-"

"Rowan and I can stay awake. Sleep, Amy. You need it."

She opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it at the last minute.

Rowan and I checked on the people in the back of the truck. They were all disgruntled as expected, but they seemed relatively better than they did last night.

Once we were sure that no one was seriously hurt, we began the drive back in silence. The walkie talkie remained unused and both Amy and her son slept for the most part.

Rowan and I didn’t speak, but then again, we didn’t always have to. The exhaustion was beginning to wear down on me and I could only imagine that Rowan felt the same way too after driving for four days straight.

"Perhaps we should switch," I told him when we stopped for a bathroom break.

It was hard enough when it was just us, but having to schedule bathroom breaks for over seventy people was torture.

Jen and Joshua led the group while Rowan and I went through the rations. We wouldn’t be at the community until tomorrow night. We had to make sure that we had enough to feed everyone of us.

Solomon may have given us two months’ worth of food, but that was assuming we had seven mouths to feed. We had ten times that and it was dwindling fast.

"I can handle another day’s drive, princess."

I raised a brow. "There’s no harm in asking for help, Rowan. You must be exhausted. You barely sleep-"

"Trust me, driving is the least of my problems right now. I was a guard at the bunker. I can handle a few days’ drive."

I didn’t believe him for a second.

I saw him massaging his arm when he thought I wasn’t looking, and I saw the exhaustion etched deep into his features, but I knew better than to argue with Rowan, especially not when he’d made up his mind.

"I think I’ll take my own bathroom break right about now," I mumbled. "I’ll be back soon."

I hid behind some bushes a few steps away and quickly did my business.

Just as I was pulling up my pants, I heard rustling. I grabbed the knife at my ankle, holding it firmly in my hands as I listened out for the source of the noise.

The rustling came again, closer to my right this time. I held my breath, waiting for the right time before finally striking.

A hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping my dagger mere inches from a sleek throat.

"What the hell, Camden?" I hissed once I realized it was him. "I could’ve killed you." He released my wrist without a word. "Why didn’t you announce yourself?"

"How did he die?"

I’d been expecting the question but it still managed to catch me off guard.

I opened my mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out. My tongue was tied and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

"I need to know, Nadine," he ground out. "I need to know that it wasn’t in vain."

"He got to the exit first, but he wanted us to go out with the kids," I began slowly. "He was coming in the rear. Someone grabbed his leg but I didn’t see who. He told us to run then he locked himself inside. I didn’t want to leave-"

He scoffed. "Trust me, I know. You wouldn’t even agree to kill Trent. I don’t believe for a second you’d deliberately kill him, unless..."

He trailed off, taking a step in my direction.

"Trent knew about our plan. He couldn’t have known unless we had a snitch. Your father was close to him."

I took a step back, gripping my dagger tighter. "What are you implying?"

"Nothing... yet." He smiled tightly. "I’m just saying we have a mole and you seem like a good candidate. Don’t you think?’

Before I could respond, I heard loud footsteps coming from behind me.

"Nadine, it’s time to go," Rowan said as he approached.

My shoulders sagged in relief at the sound of his voice. I couldn’t help but rush over to him, plastering myself at his side.

He looked between Camden and I, his brows knitting in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Camden answered quickly. "Nothing at all. We have a long drive ahead. We should go."