Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 54

CAINE’S P.O.V

I was fucking terrified.

Not for myself though, I could handle myself out here; but for Nadine.

The situation wasn’t ideal. We barely had enough food to last us the next two days. I could set traps but it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. I tried to pretend like everything was fine as we searched for a place to sleep, but it felt like she could see through me.

I was concerned. We were like sitting ducks waiting to be attacked.

Neither of us had said a word since we started moving. The effects of whatever Jennifer had given us hadn’t worn off completely. I still felt drowsy and unstable but I forced my eyes open and tried to keep a watchful eye over our surroundings. We didn’t come this far just to die.

"Do you think she’ll survive out there?" Nadine asked, breaking the silence. "She’s alone."

I hesitated before responding. "I think that Jennifer is a good soldier and she has a shot."

"She could have left without screwing us over. We would never have stopped her. Why did she have to do it this way?"

I shrugged. "I can’t pretend to be in her head."

"But you knew her before all this."

"We weren’t friends, princess. I didn’t have a lot of friends. If I had to guess though, I’d say she felt embarrassed to leave, maybe even a little guilty because of everything that happened. I don’t know and I don’t care. You shouldn’t either."

"You can’t say that, Rowan. I can’t just pretend like the past few weeks didn’t happen. We were surviving together."

"And she screwed us over and left."

My voice was harsher than I intended but it got the message across. Nadine sighed, shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and kept moving.

We kept walking for what felt like another hour until I heard it in the distance, the sound of rushing water. I refused to let the eagerness show, refused to allow myself be excited until I saw it in the distance- a fucking river.

If there was a river, then there was bound to be a cave nearby.

"Come on," I tugged on Nadine’s arm.

It only took us around ten minutes before we found one. It wasn’t anything large, but it was enough for us to stay in until we were able to get some supplies. I stepped ahead of her, wanting to make sure it was safe when I heard something catch and I felt an excruciating pain on my left leg.

I shoved my fist into my mouth, keeping the scream at bay as pain radiated up my entire body. I could feel it from the very tips of my hair to my fucking toes.

"Rowan-" Nadine rushed towards me but I held out a hand to stop her.

"There may be more," I ground out looking at the floor.

I was in some kind of trap. It wasn’t exactly a bear trap but it could have been. It looked home made. The sharp edges cut into the sides of my leg. I was so focused on getting to the cave that I didn’t look at where I was going.

"I need something to wrap around my leg because the moment I pull this off, I’ll start to bleed out."

My words were barely audible but she heard me. She rummaged through the bag searching for supplies but Jennifer had left us with almost nothing. All we had were a few bottles of rubbing alcohol but no bandages.

Before I could say anything, Nadine pulled off her shirt in one fluid move.

"I can rip this and use it as a bandage," she told me. "We have to do this quickly."

I shook my head. "Get into the cave. I’ll do it myself. I may scream."

"You’ll die. You need me."

"No!"

She ignored my refusal and walked over to me. "I’m not leaving you so we either do this together or we both stand her and die."

My jaw clenched in frustration. If I could, I would have shoved her into the cave myself but I couldn’t. She was as stubborn as they came but that was part of her charm.

"On three," I whispered. "Are you ready?"

She nodded.

"One."

"You can do this," her voice was soft and comforting."

"Two."

"How long do you think we have until the monsters hear us?"

"Not a long time. Three."

I tugged the trap as hard as I could and a scream worked its way out of my throat. The pain was excruciating and blinding, unlike anything I had ever felt before. I had been whipped and starved and burned but this- this was torture.

I managed to pull my leg out but fell on my fucking ass as blood pooled.

Nadine was at my side immediately, dumping the bottle over the wound. I shoved my shirt into my mouth to stop myself from screaming as I helped her wrap my leg. I couldn’t hear the monsters but that didn’t mean they couldn’t hear us.

"Come on," she wrapped my arm around her shoulder and helped me to my feet. "We don’t have much time."

I tried to move, tried to keep as much of my body weight off her as I could but we were slow and the world had gone still. I couldn’t hear the crickets anymore, could barely even hear the rustling of the trees. The monsters were close.

"Nadine, you need to go."

"Not a fucking chance," she hissed. "I’m not doing this without you."

’You’ll die."

"I’ll die on my own either way."

"You can survive. You can fight, I know you can."

She turned to me, eyes harsh and cold. "You got me out of that bunker. I’m not leaving you here. If we die, we die together, Rowan Caine."

Against all odds, we kept moving.

It took a lot from her to carry my weight the way she did but we kept moving, down the slippery slope leading to the cave and past the jagged edges and rocks in the shallow water. We collapsed at the mouth of the cave when I heard a growl.

She opened her mouth to speak but I stopped her, placing a hand over her mouth. It was only then I realized she was crying. I pulled her into me, burying her face into my chest as I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"We’re safe," I whispered. "We’re okay."

"I thought we were going to die."

"We’re alive."

My leg was throbbing so badly, I thought I’d pass out but I held her close, shuffling away from the entrance of the cave. There was a chance they’d smell the blood and come here, but there was also a chance they’d ignore us because of the water.

As soon as a ripping sound filled the air, she pulled back. "I left the bags."

"It doesn’t matter."

"We don’t have anything."

I cupped her cheeks, forcing her to look at me. "We’re alive, princess, that’s what matters. Tomorrow, we can see what’s left."

"I should have-"

"You did more than enough," I cut her off. "You got us here. We’re safe because of you."

She sniffled and nodded, letting my words settle. "How’s your leg."

I glanced at the hastily wrapped wound. It looked bad, but I couldn’t unwrap it, not yet at least, and not if I wanted to live.

"I’m sure it’s fine."

I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince her or me.