Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 130

NADINE’S POV

"I am going with you guys," Jennifer stated, her voice firm in a way that left no room for an argument.

I tried not to roll my eyes at how stubborn she was being, but it was hard.

"You are going back to the community with everyone else. I need you there as the anchor. Camden has been acting extremely weird since last night, and you know as well as I do that Joshua cannot handle everyone on his own. You are my only hope, Jen. Please don’t make this decision harder for me."

Jenifer shook her head, her expression hard as she took a step closer to me. People stayed away from us as they all prepared for the journey to safety, and Rowan was outside checking on the cars.

"Amy is going to be with them. Amy is chill. She can handle Joshua and whatever bullshit Camden would come up with. I am going with you guys, and that’s final."

My lips parted as I tried to refuse her, to say no one more time, but Jennifer walked away from me before I could get the words out of my mouth.

"She’s still insisting on going with us?" Rowan asked from behind, his hands curling around my waist and dragging me closer to him.

I sighed as my back settled firmly on his chest, his warmth sleeping into me.

"Yes. I have tried reasoning with her, but she won’t budge," I stated, then twisted around in his arms to face him.

"Do you think you can talk to her for me? I feel like she might listen to you."

Rowan snorted at my words. "Jennifer doesn’t listen to anybody, love. And I think there’s no point in asking her to leave with the others. Her mind is made up."

The frustration I was trying so hard to shove away rose quickly, filling my blood. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"We don’t need three people. Three is a crowd, and the last thing we want to do is draw attention to ourselves."

Amy walked over to us, her son coming right behind her.

"Jennifer just went over to the cars to threaten Camden and Joshua into acting responsibly until the people are all safe. I take it that you lost the fight then?" she asked.

And even though her words were light and teasing, my frustration boiled over, and anger started to simmer deep in my belly.

Amy must have seen something on my face because she snapped her lips shut, gave me a small, almost pitying smile, before stepping up to pat me on the shoulders.

"Good luck, Nadine. Don’t die, okay?" she stated softly before turning around to walk back out, her son following closely on her heels.

"Princess..." Rowan started.

I stepped away from him and crossed my arms over my chest. "I am not going with them."

"Jennifer and I can look for Trent and handle him. You don’t have to be here. I want you to be away from whatever is going to happen, baby. I have a bad feeling about this and I don’t want you to get hurt."

He passed, stepped closer, and placed a gentle hand on my cheek. "Please, Princess."

His gaze was soft and pleading, and a small, tiny part of me almost wanted to give in to his request.

But that part was too small. Inconsequential. I crushed it as I held his gaze, unwavering in my decision.

"No. We are going together, and that’s final."

Rowan was about to say something else when someone cleared their throat behind us. Joshua came into view.

He stared at us — me — for a long moment, and then all of a sudden, he reached forward and pulled me into a hug.

"Stay alive, and kill that bastard once and for all," he whispered.

Then before I could get over my surprise at the contact, he stepped away, turned around and walked out of the barn without another backwards glance.

Rowan’s lips parted and closed. But he eventually spoke.

"If he does as much as touch you again, I am going to break his arms."

The words made me smile, but the expression on my face died as Jennifer walked back to us.

"They’re gone. Everybody." I said nothing even as I held her gaze, trying to let her see that I wasn’t happy about the fact that she remained behind with us.

Jennifer rolled her eyes at me. "For fucks sake. It’s too late, okay? They’re gone and I am here and there is nothing you can do about it. So just suck it up and let’s talk about what we are going to do."

Her words came off as harsh, but it was the truth. She was right. I could not do anything about it anymore.

Everyone else had left.

Still, I gave her a stink eye. "Next time you want to get yourself killed, just stay the fuck away from me."

Then without waiting for what would obviously be a scorching response, I turned to face Rowan.

"We need to find out who the snitch is, and we need to find Trent. He could not have gotten very far. I have a feeling that he is somewhere close to the bunker. We just need to find him."

Rowan nodded. "You’re right. He might not have gotten very far."

"What do you say we start at the bunker? You know, there are definitely going to be caves all around. He could be anywhere close, and the more we hesitate, the farther away from us he gets," Jennifer suggested.

Rowan’s expression was very serious as we nodded. "This is a grim situation, and very dangerous. Trent is a very cunning man, but as long as we stick together, we should be fine. Jen is right, let’s make our way back to the bunker and search from there."

With that concluded, we all did a quick weapon check before walking out of the barn.

I stared into the distance, and even though I could not see the solar cars anymore, I remained where I was for a moment, trying to will them to get to the community before Trent got them.

"Princess?" Rowan called softly, and his voice jolted me out of my head.

I smiled and started to walk back down the road back to the bunker.

"Let’s go kill that son of a bitch!"