Chapter 23: 23

NADINE’S P.O.V

I had barely freshened up the next morning when Caine said we were going out for a while.

I wanted to enjoy the solace of the house for longer but after what he had told me last night, I found myself following him. We needed food and I needed better clothes and shoes. There were a lot of things we lacked in that house.

“Where to first?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light hearted as I walked in step with him.

He was gone from the bed when I woke up today and I wasn’t sure if he did it for my benefit or if it just happened. We hadn’t spoken about what happened yesterday and a part of me was relieved about it while another part of me wanted to lay it all out in the open.

Was it a one time thing? Was it a mistake? I wasn’t sure if I would like the answers I got but I needed to know.

“There’s a pharmacy not too far from here,” he explained. “I need to look over your cut and make sure it doesn’t get infected.”

I glanced down at my hand. I had even forgotten about it to be honest. “It’s fine.”

“I don’t care if you think it is fine. I don’t need you falling sick on me later and we need medical supplies as well. We don’t have any.”

I decided it was better to not protest or fight him on it.

The pharmacy was around half an hour’s walk away and I watched him grab everything he thought we needed. The place was already raided and destroyed. Something or someone had broken the front door down and most of the bottles were scattered all over the floor.

It was so hard to find what we wanted because everything was either finished or expired but by some miracle we found some bandages and a few other things that we shoved into our bag and kept moving.

The next stop was the supermarket and I left Caine in charge of food while I went looking for clothes. His foster mother had some good clothes but they were not suited for life in the woods. Most of them would rip at the first sign of a struggle and the others were terrible for blending in.

I didn’t have much of a variety to choose from but I did manage to find two huge jackets and a pair of shoes, at least I wouldn’t need to wear Caine’s jacket anymore which I was coincidentally wearing at the moment.

I grabbed them when I heard a noise. It was so faint that I thought it was a figment of my imagination but if there was one thing I learned from my short time in the woods, it was that nothing was just imagined.

I rushed over to the other side of the store where Caine was grabbing food off the aisles. “I heard something.”

He stilled. “Are you sure? What was it?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “I know it sounds stupid but I swear I heard something. Something is out there.”

He stared at me for a long moment and for the fraction of a second, I thought he would wave me off but I heard it again, this time, it was closer, it sounded like low rumbling. Caine cursed, grabbing my hand as he pulled me through the nearest door which so happened to lead into a supply closet.

He bolted the door from inside and not a moment too soon because I heard the sound of glass cracking as someone stepped on it.

“I thought you said they don’t move around during the day,” I hissed

“They typically don’t, now fucking shush.”

I resisted the urge to snap back at him. My will to live was far greater than my will to be right. I tried to look through the peep hole but Caine all but shoved me behind me, placing himself between me and the door. I muttered a few choice words under my breath but crossed my arms over my chest and chose not to fight him,.

“Is it gone?” I whispered and he shot me a glare that would have made a lesser man piss their pants but I wasn’t scared of him, not anymore at least. “I asked a question.”

“Shut up.”

I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off when I heard a sound, something similar to laughing. It sounded so weird and unusual, I hadn’t heard that sound in a while.

“Is that a person?” I asked aloud, pushing past Caine to get a peep and sure enough, a girl stood in the aisles.

Her hair was a deep brown color and hung low on her shoulders. I couldn’t make out her eyes but she was skinny, as if she had been on the run for months. Her clothes were messy and a bit stained but I doubted she cared that much as she grabbed a few cans of food and shoved them into the small bag in her hands.

“We should go to her,” I reached for the door but Caine was quicker, he grabbed my arm, effectively holding it behind me.

“Don’t you dare.”

“She’s alone.”

“Exactly, did you stop to think why? We don’t know her.”

“She could use our help.”

“You can’t help everybody,” he dropped his lips to my ear. “Let her go, princess. It’s hard enough with just the two of us. We don’t need to add a third person to the mix.”

I wanted to protest, wanted to scream out to her to let her know we were here but Caine must have predicted that because his other hand wrapped around my mouth, keeping me quiet. I let out a frustrated groan as I watched her shop in peace.

She was so close and yet so far. The first sign of humanity I had seen in what felt like ages and I couldn’t even reach out to her.

“I’m sorry, princess, but it has to be this way,” Caine whispered. “You’ll understand some day.”

I watched her take out what looked like a tape recorder and the growling sound filled the air again. I suppose it was smart, the other monsters would think it was one of their own and steer clear or they could come and investigate.

Either way, it was a risk and clearly one that had worked for her all this time.

Caine waited until the growls were nothing but an echo in the wind before finally releasing me. I slumped forward against the door, my head hitting the wood as exhaustion rattled through me.

“She could have taken us to civilization,” I told Caine. “What if she had other friends?”

“Then they will be safe on their own. We cannot trust everyone we meet, Nadine. The world isn’t what it used to be. People kill their friends for meat to eat and people betray strangers to get to safety. The only people we can trust are ourselves.”

“So you trust me?” I turned to him, my hands crossed over my chest. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“I slept almost naked next to you. If something had come for us, I would have been helpless to defend myself. I think that’s a great deal of trust, don’t you?”

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