Chapter 10: 10

NADINE’S P.O.V

We barely spoke to each other for the rest of the day.

Caine seemed to be a natural at this so I didn’t protest when he rationed our food and told me to stay still. He was an ass but I seriously doubted that he would save me just to let me die out here.

As night fell, I worried about how we would sleep. The bunker was annoying most days but at least I had a bed. I sat cross legged on an uncomfortable rock, staring up at the small holes in the cave ceiling. I couldn’t see much but I imagined the stars, imagined how beautiful it would be at this time of the night.

It was cold but I ignored it, I was glad to be alive. The cold was a necessary evil that I could learn to live with.

“Go to bed,” Caine’s voice cut through my thoughts. “You need your rest out here.”

“Later-”

“Now,” he cut me off. “Tomorrow we have to look around for any survivors. The creatures don’t move around so often during the day. We are less likely to encounter one.”

I decided not to protest and instead made my way over to him. He unrolled a single sleeping bag and I stared at it with narrowed eyes.

“Where do I sleep?” he gestured to the sleeping bag. “Where do you sleep?”

“In case you forgot, this was meant to be a solo mission,” he drawled. “You can either sleep in here with me or you can sleep on the ground. Either way, I don’t care.”

I frowned.

He was back to being a dick.

I tugged on the sleeves of my shirt and dragged myself over. The sleeping bag wasn’t big enough for the both of us but I knew I would have to make do. I climbed in and shuffled as far as I could away from him but it didn’t help much.

Caine was big enough that I could feel him everywhere. He was pressed up against my back and I shivered but it wasn’t from the cold. His hand landed on my hip and I nearly jumped.

“Relax, I’m not going to touch you like that,” he sounded exasperated. “You’re fucking freezing. I can feel you shivering. It’s bothersome.”

“Ignore it.”

“Stop being stubborn and just stay still,” he splayed his palm flat against my stomach and even through my clothes, I could feel the warmth of his skin.

I was convinced he was a creature or something because there was no reasonable explanation as to why he was so warm and I was freezing like someone had doused me with ice water. Against my better judgment, I found myself scooting back just a little, trying to get closer to the source of heat.

If it bothered him, he didn’t say a thing, he just mumbled a few words under his breath and ignored me.

I closed my eyes, trying to mimic his pattern but sleep didn’t find me easily.

I woke up with a crick in my back and numbness in my arms. It was the worst sleep I ever had in my life.

Caine was gone when I woke up. The sleeping bag was cold, meaning he had been gone for a while and he wasn’t anywhere in the cave. I began to panic, wondering if he had left me out here to die but the bag was here.

I couldn’t see him leaving it behind, except it was his way of trying to give me a head start so I could live longer. I was thinking of all the worst case scenarios when I heard a splash. My heart was pounding in my chests, I could almost feel it in my throat when Caine’s head materialized from behind the waterfall. He had clothes in his hands. I let out a sigh of relief.

“Where did you go?” I hissed. “I thought you were dead or worse-”

“You thought I left you,” he deadpanned.

I didn’t want to admit it so I stayed silent. He got out of the water and I barely managed to turn around before I saw parts of him that I had no intentions whatsoever of making acquaintances with.

It was almost unnatural how comfortable he was with showing his body to me- a stranger. Almost as unnatural as my reaction to it. I convinced myself that it was a fluke, my nipples were hard because of the cold, not because of Caine.

“Would it kill you to put clothes on?” I mumbled.

“We have bigger problems than clothes, princess. The faster you realize that, the better. You can turn around now.”

I waited for another minute before finally turning. He was thankfully in shorts but he was shirtless. I hadn’t paid attention yesterday but now, I could clearly see the scars marring his skin.

Some were older than others, some were more pink. They stood out against his skin and I forced myself to look away, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

I looked down and I suddenly realized why he didn’t put his clothes on. Wrapped inside those clothes were fruits. I didn’t know where he got them or how but I couldn’t even bring myself to ask. My stomach rumbled with hunger but I waited.

I was many things but I wasn’t a savage. He went out to get the fruits, the least I could do was wait until he handed me one.

“Thank you,” I whispered as he finally nudged some berries towards me. He grunted in response but I figured it was better than an outright insult.

The berries didn’t look like anything I had ever eaten before but I trusted Caine to a degree and popped one into my mouth.

“How did you know these were edible?” I asked. “I know you’ve been out here before but surely there was a first time.”

“We experimented,” he said simply, his eyes cast in shadows.

I didn’t need to ask further, I already knew what that meant. People must have died to experiment so many things, people could have fallen dangerously ill. I couldn’t even imagine the horrors that they faced- horrors that were now waiting for us.

“Don’t eat too much,” he told me, changing the subject effectively. “You’ve never eaten wild berries before. The last thing we need is for you to get sick. Eat a little then we go out and search for survivors.”

“Shouldn’t the survivors have come here? You said they knew this place.”

“They do, but people get lost at night, people get hurt. Someone could be dying and we would be their last option,” he leaned forward. “When we go out there, I have four rules and no matter what, I need you to obey them to the letter. Do you understand?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Rule number one, stay by my side at all times. I don’t give a fuck what you think you know, out here, everything matters. Rule number two, if it is pretty, don’t touch it, chances are that it’ll kill you.”

I made a mental note of everything he said.

“Three, do not get cut, do not get hurt, do not light a fire and do not do anything to draw attention to yourself. We will be dead in seconds if you do.”

“What’s the last one?”

He paused for a moment. “When I say run, fucking run.”

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