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Chapter 5
Addie
The car ride was silent.
Not awkward. Just silent.
I would almost describe the silence as companionable, my cheek pressed against the car window and my thigh only inches, if not centimeters, from Tam’s. The heat he emitted was almost palpable, a physical entity I longed to snatch and make my own. There was something about my shy ninja warrior that called to me differently than the others. The smile on his face that I yearned to see more often. The rapid flutter of his long lashes. The blush tinting his cheeks.
Confused by my own thoughts, I focused instead on the world passing before us. The procession of cars consisted of Elena and Bikini, in a Jeep ahead of us, and Lilly and Sam in the van behind us. Tam and I rode with two girls whose names I had already forgotten. At first, they had attempted to engage us (read as: Tam) in conversation before quickly dismissing us in favor of gossip. Of what they could be gossiping about when the only girls around were their team members and me…
Oh wait.
The landscape changed quickly from cypress trees to industrial towns. There was nothing noticeably uncanny about the town - no peeling paint or chipped sidings or vandalism - but it just feltwrongthe second our cars pulled into it. I quickly discerned that I felt this way because it was empty. No moms pushing strollers down the streets. No businessmen hurrying towards their nine o’clock meeting. The lack of both people and sound brought goosebumps to my flesh. Fear, a tangible manifestation, churned low in my stomach.
My hand instinctively rested on Tam’s knee, gripping so hard I had no doubt it would leave a bruise. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, expression unreadable.
Without breaking eye-contact, he pulled something out of his jacket pocket. The waning sunlight caught the keen tip of a knife.
“Use it,” Tam whispered. “If we get separated, don’t be afraid to use it. Pointy-end goes into flesh. Got it?”
His expression was uncharacteristically grave. My stomach twisted even further, tightening in tandem to my hand still on his knee.
I tried for humor, my go-to defense mechanism. “Pointy-end in flesh. Got it. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
Flashing him a smile that he didn’t reciprocate, I swiveled back towards the window. It was cold for this time of year, and my breath fogged the glass.
It was only then that I saw her. Him. It. The pronoun was indistinct. All I could focus on was the gruesome sight before me, something pulled straight out of a horror movie.
There was a body lying on the side of the road - what was left of a body, anyway. Its face was distorted, blood and bruises making the face entirely unrecognizable. Sitting on its chest, was a girl. At least, I assumed it was a girl. She had cascading blond hair, nearly down to her feet, and wore a tattered purple dress. Her face, however, was contorted into a deranged, almost maniacal, smile. Black lines marred her skin, twisting and convulsing with each of her erratic movements. And her hands...they were curled into claws as she tore at the dead human’s face. Neck. Chest.
Blood.
Dripping in rivulets down his body and running into the rain drain.
A strangled sob escaped my throat, and Tam’s hands landed on my shoulders, twisting me away from the horrific scene.
“Don’t look.”
I came to Tam willingly, my arms wrapping around his shoulders and my face burrowing into his neck. He stiffened at first, muscles rigid, before relaxing against me. His arms tightened further, and I was greeted with the heavenly scent that was uniquely Tamson’s: something almost sweet, like sun-soaked honey.
His hands rubbed soothing circles into my back.
“Shhh,” he whispered. “Shhh. It’s okay. You're okay. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
The chatter up front diminished completely once the first word had escaped Tam’s lips. Normally, I would’ve felt self-conscious, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I needed the comfort he was willing to provide me.
After a moment of relishing in his embrace, I attempted to pull back. His hands immediately touched the back of my head, securing me more firmly against him. He gently massaged my scalp, his hand tantalizingly soft.
“Don’t look yet,” he breathed into my ear. My body responded to the sound instantly; goosebumps that had nothing to do with my initial fear pebbled on my skin.
I heeded his warning, my eyes fixed firmly on a freckle visible on his neck. I could still hear, however, even though the sounds were stunted through the car.
Cries. Screams.
Fists pounding against the windows. Begging for sanctuary. Food. Clothes. I couldn’t distinguish between the cries of the Ragers and the cries of normal humans.
The girl driving let out a curse.
