The Ruins Of Tomorrow

34. The Storm

We hid behind a dumpster truck as we tried to come up with a way to get out. We made an effort to remain silent for a while as I took a quick look through an opening and saw at least a hundred biters walking down the big road. Time was ticking though and we couldn't afford to stay waiting much longer.

The snowing didn't stop and fog was coating my vision, making it harder to see. Aside from the biters marching down the road, I wasn't certain if Hunter or the Novas were still wandering around or not. If they wanted to, they could ambush us and take us down.

What was Hunter up to?

"There's too many of them," Liam spoke first, gripping the handle of his gun. "And it looks like the center of the city is full of them now."

"This weather is only going to get worse too," Gabe added. "It's not safe."

"We will have to go around, even if it takes longer to get to our car," Dean said, letting out a sigh and checked the clip in his gun.

"And what are we going to do if we find it gone?" Noah stated, resting his arm on his leg. "You said Hunter probably knew we were coming, so I'm assuming he knows what our vehicle looks like and where we parked."

I felt panic nibbling at my chest. Noah was right. But for some reason I wanted to believe that Hunter wouldn't do anything else at the moment. But there was always a chance that something could go wrong.

"We will figure it out then," Dean concluded. "We have to move. Now."

He went around the truck as Melissa kept close to him. The others followed behind as I was the last to keep up. The heavy snow crunched underneath my black boots, as I could barely make out anything in the distance from the thick fog.

"Everyone stay close!" Dean shouted.

By the time we were crossing the road, I lost track of who was in front of me. I turned around to double check if I was the last one when the strong wind pushed me to the side. I found myself in the middle of the road as I shielded my face, squinting from the snowflakes hitting my eyes.

"Where is Scarlet—"

It was a muffle, but I thought I heard someone call my name. The wind kept pushing me further and further away until I hit the back of something and fell over. I pushed myself against a car when warmth came dripping down my nose. Inhaling a frigid breath, I noticed my gloves were stained with dark blood. I wiped my arm across my nose when suddenly a figure crept at the side of the car. 

The snarling biter attacked me, forcing me against the car as I fought back. My leg throbbed with pain as I tried to kick the biter until I heard a cracking sound. I repeated the action over and over, feeling the biter's grip gradually loosen on my arms. 

I stumbled back and saw Noah appear from my side when he struck the biter on its head. He pulled back his knife and grabbed my arm quickly. "We said to stay close—"

He kept a tight grip around my wrist as we crossed the street and finally saw the others waiting near the underground parking. "Are you alright?" Dean asked, searching my face and saw the blood on my nose. "Did you get hurt?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine. It's just a nosebleed."

I was looking down at the blood on my hands and looked up at Noah the moment a loud bang surged forward. A bullet dashed right for his arm as he quickly shuffled to the side, barely getting a graze from it. A piece of the fabric on his jacket was torn off, but it didn't look bad. The bullets came flying at us as we quickly went inside to search for our car while covering our heads from the gunfire.