Chapter 37: 37

CAINE’S P.O.V

We had two days of reprieve before the downpour started again.

I hated the rain for the sole reason that it threw wrenches into our plans but Nadine seemed to like it and there wasn’t much I could do about that.

When she thought I wasn’t looking, I would find her seated by the window watching the ran fall. I could tell she desperately wanted to be out there , standing under the rain and pretending that everything was fine but unfortunately, it wasn’t something she could do.

The last thing we needed was either of us falling sick right now.

She understood it, but it didn’t mean she liked it.

We found a room in the basement where we could train. The rain covered up most of the noises and Nadine was getting a lot better.

Hand to hand combat was still not her strongest skill, but now, she would have a fighting chance, even if it was miniscule.

I hated how depressed she looked so I did something absolutely stupid.

I made a fire and heated up noodles for us.

I could see the surprise on her face when I placed the bowl in front of her and her smile momentarily made me forget that I had risked our lives by doing that.

“How bad do you think the rain will be?” she asked over her bowl of food.

“I don’t know. The rain here can last anywhere from a week to two months. It just depends on how pissed off mother nature is.”

“Would we eventually have to walk in the rain if it doesn’t stop?”

I didn’t respond but I didn’t need to.

We had around three months to get a bunker- that was when she said the implant would wear off.

I didn’t know if the monsters would be able to smell her cycle, unfortunately, it was a question I had never asked. Every female guard we had was on the implant. However, it wasn’t something I wanted to experiment with because even if they couldn’t smell it, I would not be willing to put her through days of walking and sleeping in caves.

She sighed and turned away from me, her eyes finding the window again when she gasped. “What is that?”

I followed her line of sight immediately and my eyes widened in shock when I noticed two people walking under the pouring rain. Since Max and Irene, we hadn’t encountered any humans. I was beginning to think that we were the only ones out here.

My first instinct was to draw the curtains and pretend like I hadn’t seen them but I noticed something on the shoulder of one of the people- it was a marking, a symbol of sorts- and I recognized it because I had the same thing on my clothes.

“She’s from our bunker,” I whispered rushing to my feet.

I made my way over to the window to get a clearer look.

It looked like a man and a woman. The woman had the man’s arm around her shoulder as they forged ahead. Every step they took looked like pure torture and judging from the way the man clutched his side, he seemed to be hurt.

“Do we help them?” she asked and for a second, I froze.

As a guard, we were taught two things: protect the people and protect ourselves.

No one else had a guard’s back like another guard. It should have come without asking that I would help them, but I hesitated.

I glanced over at Nadine who was watching me, silently waiting for me to make the decision.

“Do you want me to?” I asked knowing that if she said no, I would turn my back on them.

“What?”

“We’re doing this together and if you don’t want more people-”

I could see the internal struggle in her eyes as she looked between me and the window. “What if they’re infected?”

“I would kill myself the moment I got infected and I know any other guard would do the same.”

She bit down on her bottom lip, her eyes wary and confused.

“We don’t have to-” I began but she cut me off.

“Help them, please. They may know how to get to another bunker. And they look like they have supplies. We could use more of that.”

I could tell she wasn’t completely sold on the idea but her need to save them was more than her distrust.

Before I could rethink the decision, I rushed over and pulled the door wide open. “Get in here!”

Their eyes snapped to mine instantly and I saw their shoulders sag in what felt like relief.

They shuffled over to the front door and it was only on closer inspection that I realized I knew them- the woman at least. We trained together and most times, we went out with the same group of soldiers.

Her hair was a light brown on a good day but because of the rain, it was a deep color, so close to black and it clung to her face and skin. Her sharp eyes held bone crushing relief as she made her way into the house.

As soon as she was safe, she let her legs give out and lay her friend on the ground.

The man looked familiar, I had definitely seen him around a few times but I didn’t know his name.

He looked okay, save for the bandage wrapped around his side. I watched as she pulled it away, revealing a deep cut that looked to be healing- there were no black lines, no veins, nothing. He wasn’t infected.

“Thank you so much,” she whispered. “We were trying to get away from the monsters and he got hurt. He’s almost healed, we just need a place to rest. Our old place got flooded and I-”

Her words died on her throat as she looked up at me, recognition flashing in her eyes.

“Caine?”

“Hello, Jennifer.”

She turned to Nadine. “I know you too, your dad is part of the people who left us to die.”

She didn’t bother to hold back the anger in her tone.

With one hand, I gently guided Nadine behind me and stepped into her line of sight. “And yet, she was the one who asked that we save you.”

“But her father-”

“Is not her,” I cut her off. “In case you missed it, she is out here with us too. If she was her father then she would be holed up in another bunker somewhere.”

Jennifer attempted to look over my shoulder at Nadine. “You can’t expect me to stay with her.”

“Then you can leave,” I shrugged simply. “But know this, you’d be dead in days.”

Her jaw clenched. “Why are you defending her? You know what they did to us. You know how they treated us. We could use her as bait, we could use her to get to safety.”

“Over my fucking dead body.”

Her eyes widened in shock.

Jennifer had never seen this side of me before and I could see the wheels turning in her head as she stared at me. I didn’t care what conclusion she came to, as long as she got it into her head that Nadine was off limits.

“You’re dripping water over the floor,” I said dryly. “Get changed and take Dan with you. There is a spare room down the hall.”

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