Chapter 117: 117

NADINE’S P.O.V

I stared at him in shock, hoping he was joking, but he wasn’t. He meant every word that came out of his mouth.

It was a suicide mission and he knew it but that was his plan. If we died, then good riddance to us, and if we succeeded, then at least he’d know that he let it happen. He was far more calculated than I thought.

I was a fool to not see this coming.

“Fine.”

Solomon smiled. “A car will be waiting for you here. Don’t be late.”

He walked away without another word and I waited for him to disappear before turning to everyone. I didn’t recognize the men, but they were looking at Rowan which meant that he probably knew them.

I lifted my eyes to Amy. She looked worried. Her nails were biting into the skin of her arm and I realized just how unfair it’d be to ask her to come when she was finally settling down here and finding a life that she loved.

“Amy stays,” I said finally and everyone turned to me. “No one should be forced to come if they don’t want to.”

“Like hell I’m staying,” she snapped. “I have friends in that bunker too, you know? I have family there.”

“You don’t have to-”

“I know that! But do you really think I’d be okay letting you all go alone? I know what it’s like out there. I’ll spend every day wondering if you’re all alive. We’re in this together, Nadine.”

I looked over at Jennifer. “What about you?”

“I still think you’re a bitch. But I’m not going to let you go out there and die.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll take any chance to foil Trent’s plan, even if it means being stuck with you on the road.”

I turned to Rowan who just gave me a small nod.

There was never a doubt about him going with me. That left the other two men. They were both very tall, but that was where their similarities ended. One of them had dark skin and short black hair that was in twists atop his head. The other had short dirty blond hair that was cropped short.

“I’m Nadine,” I began slowly.

“Ezekiel,” the first one spoke. “This is Camden. Are you going to give us the speech about not having to come as well?”

“That depends. What do you want?”

Ezekiel shrugged. “It’s been a while since I’ve been out of here. Who knows? It may just be fun.”

“Okay then.” I nodded slowly. “We have to go back. We can meet back here in an hour and devise a plan.”

We all split up then. The two men went their way, Jennifer did too, while the rest of us walked back to the house. Neither of us spoke, it felt like a cloud had settled over us. I knew this was coming, and yet, I felt grossly underprepared for it—for leaving.

I packed the essentials into my bag, my fingers trailing over the frayed fabric of it. The bag had been through so much already. It looked exactly how I felt—tired and worn out.

While packing, I found a pair of scissors in one of the drawers, and before I could rethink my decision, I made my way into the bathroom. Rowan wasn’t in the room to stop me, and for that, I was relieved.

With the mirror in front of me, I undid my braid, watching as my hair fell to my waist. I exhaled deeply, gathering as much courage as I could before lining up the scissors and snipping.

I watched my hair fall to the ground expecting to feel some form of sadness but I felt nothing. I snipped away, not caring if the edges were uneven or not. I just watched the locks of my hair fall to the ground.

“Does that make you feel better?” Rowan asked and I jumped.

I hadn’t even noticed him leaning by the door.

“No,” I answered after a brief moment of silence. “What do you think?”

My hair barely reached the middle of my back now. The ends were jagged and uneven, but it’d be much easier to manage once we left here.

“I think you look beautiful, regardless of how long your hair is.”

He walked over to me and took the scissors from my hands. I watched through the mirror as he cut the hair more evenly. When he was done, he dragged me back into the room and lowered me into the wooden chair.

I started to protest but instantly fell silent when parted my hair with both hands and began to braid it.

He did two large braids and secured it with a hair tie.

“Are you ready to do this?”

“No.”

I didn’t need to think about it.

This wasn’t something that one could prepare for.

“Are you?”

“No.”

I was glad that he didn’t try to lie.

I rose to my feet and turned to him. I let my eyes roam over him slowly before standing on my toes and kissing him. He wasted no time in grabbing my face and kissing me back. It wasn’t frantic or frenzied, instead, we poured all our worries and concerns into each other. All our fear and hesitation.

“I found something!”

The door to our room opened and we jumped apart.

Amy looked at us with a sheepish expression as she held up a bag. “Sorry, I just—I found the supplies that I stole from the bunker. We should take them, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, you never know who might need it.”

“Sorry about interrupting,” she mumbled before rushing out.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her retreating form.

As much as I’d tried to fight for her to remain, I was glad she was going with us. Being out there was taxing, not just physically, but mentally. It was good to know that I’d have friends with me the entire way.

“Come on,” Rowan said, grabbing my bag and his. “We should start heading out. I’m sure the others are waiting.”

Sure enough, as we opened the front door, we found Joshua standing there, his hand poised to knock. Behind him was Jennifer. She looked annoyed to even be in his presence, but she wasn’t fighting him. It was a testament to how worried we all were.

“Well then,” Jennifer was the first to break the silence. “Let’s do this, shall we?”

We headed back to the fountain where Ezekiel and Camden were waiting. Next to them were two large military grade trucks but the trucks looked different. For starters, there seemed to be solar panels embedded into the top of the trucks and they were so silent that I didn’t even realize they were on until we got closer.

“What the hell are these?” Joshua whispered, taking the words right out of my mouth.

“Military cars,” Sam announced. I hadn’t even noticed him standing there. “They haven’t been released to the public yet. These are prototypes.”

“How do you have them?” I asked but he ignored me.

“There’s enough food to last you two months. You have medical supplies. If the solar panels get destroyed, the car won’t move. Whatever you do, keep it covered when you’re not driving.”

“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to tell us?”

His lips twitched. “Try not to die.”

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