***
Cassie propped the box on her hip, bracing herself as Julian slowly pulled the door open. He peered into the hallway, searching it quickly before nodding briskly. He stepped into the hall, followed closely by Dani, Joey, and her father. Devon glanced sharply back at her, his hand encircling hers as he stepped into the hall next. He had not wanted her to be behind him, had fought against it, but in the end it had been determined that it would be best to have their enemies surrounded by the two strongest members of the group, him and Julian.
Covering her mouth with her shirt, Cassie followed them out the door. She closed her eyes before they reached the hallway with all of the carnage. Devon led her swiftly through the mutilated bodies. They turned another corner, but Cassie kept her eyes tightly shut, not wanting to see her cell again, or the room where they had electrocuted her.
She shuddered, her hand tightened around Devon’s at the reminder that it was her own father that had ordered such a thing done. “Almost there,” he said softly.
The hair on Cassie’s neck stood up, her whole body erupted in a tingling chill. She froze, pulling Devon sharply back and causing Chris to slam into her. Her eyes flew open as she rapidly searched the deserted hallway. “Cassie?” Devon asked quietly.
She shook her head, holding her hand up to silence him as she strained to hear anything within the hallway, strained to hear whatever it was that she knew was watching them. And there was something. She could feel it out there, creeping steadily closer, hunting them from the shadows of the compound.
She glanced swiftly at Chris whose gaze was darting rapidly around the hall. “There is something here,” Cassie said softly.
“Yes,” Chris agreed.
Devon stepped closer to her, pushing her toward the wall. “Where is it?” he hissed.
Chris shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Devon used his body to move her toward the others. “Move slowly.”
Cassie nodded, licking her lips nervously as they continued down the hall, braced for the imminent attack. Her entire body hummed with adrenaline; her fingers trembled on the box she held. The one she was prepared to drop at a moment’s notice. Her edginess grew as they turned another corner; she knew that the closer they got to freedom, the more likely the attack would be. Her hand tightened on Devon’s, squeezing him as tight as she could. She was so very scared of whatever was stalking them.
A loud clatter overhead caused her to jump in surprise; Devon jerked her hard against him. The box slipped from her grasp as he pinned her against the wall with his body. Everyone braced themselves for the battle, but the hall remained silent, eerily so. “We need to get out of here,” Julian hissed.
“They’re stalking us,” Devon said softly.
“They?” Cassie asked in a choked whisper.
He nodded, his black hair falling across his forehead, his emerald eyes hard as he scanned the ceiling and hallway. “Yes.”
A shiver ran down Cassie’s back. She caught Chris’s eye over Devon’s shoulder, they needed to get out of here, all of them. “Devon we have to move,” Cassie whispered.
He nodded slowly, bending to retrieve her box as he moved cautiously away from her. Cassie took her box back from him as he bent to retrieve his own. “Let’s go,” Julian said gruffly.
Cassie pulled her crossbow from her back, grasping hold of it with one hand as she juggled the box under her arm. They had found a cache of weapons in the room. Aside from stakes it had held more crossbows, a long bow, more guns, and a nifty little thing that appeared to be a flame thrower when assembled. “You need to give us some weapons,” Joey said, his voice tight with a hint of panic.
“Like hell,” Julian grumbled.
“You’re going to need our help against them. We have a right to protect ourselves in here!”
“You have no rights as far as I’m concerned!” Julian snapped ferociously back.
Joey stared at him in startled disbelief; Dani remained silent as she moved steadily forward, her head bowed in resignation. “Monsters,” her father muttered.
“I think you’re the monster,” Cassie retorted. “You’re the one that created this mess. You’re the reason we are being stalked right now. You’re why we’re all here. You’re the monster!”
She was shaking with fury by the time she was done talking. Tears of frustration and anger burned her eyes. Her father stared coldly back at her, hatred evident in his twisted features. She had so often dreamed about what her father had been like, imagined that he had miraculously survived The Slaughter, but this man was nothing like what she had pictured. This man was an atrocity who had been twisted by hate and violence, a cruel stranger she wished had never come back into her life.
“You might want to stop looking at her like that,” Devon growled. “You’re not getting a weapon, and if it wasn’t for your DNA I would have ripped your throat out already.”
Her father’s eyes widened slightly before he turned away from them, his shoulders set tight, his jaw clenched. “Devon,” Cassie said softly.
He shook his head at her, silencing her instantly. She knew that Devon was telling the truth, it was simply the fact that Derek was her father that had allowed him to make it this far. Devon would not hesitate to kill him though, especially not if he felt that it would help keep her safe. Cassie thought she should be more upset by that notion, but at the moment she couldn’t bring herself to care. Even if he was her father, she didn’t know the man, and a very big part of her hated him right now.
Devon pushed her slightly back in front of him again, using his body to shield her from anything that might attack from the back. Cassie wanted to protest, she didn’t want him in danger, but arguing would be futile. He would not back down from this, not when her safety was involved. “I meant what I said. Stay close to me Cassie, they’ll attack soon.”
It was not the threat of attack that made her shudder, but the fact that she was very aware that Devon would kill any threat to her, no matter who or what it was. He wrapped his hand gently around her neck, keeping her close to him as they moved slowly down the hall. Though she could not hear the creatures, she knew they were shuffling through the shadows, stalking their progress. Her hand tightened on her crossbow as terror flooded her.
“Almost there,” Dani said softly, hope evident in her voice.
Cassie swallowed heavily, she wanted out of here in the worst possible way. Her nose and skin were desperate for fresh air. She wanted to see the night sky and the moon. She wanted to inhale air that didn’t reek of the dead and see something outside of this horrid place. She wanted to be free and alive and away from the monsters silently stalking them.