How It All Ended

Chapter 24

Amber rushed out of the back door before I even had a chance to get my shoes on. I didn't even have the time to try and wake up Shauna and Ashley. I just quickly threw on my shoes and darted after Amber, hoping like hell that I didn't trip over my shoelaces.

I ran out into the backyard and I didn't see Amber anywhere. There was an okay amount of moon and starlight to help me see things, so I wasn't running into a pitch-black night. I heard a fence shaking off to my left. I looked and I could just make out Amber's silhouette climbing over the fence of the next house.

"Amber, what the fuck?" I called out to her. She didn't answer me. "Shit!"

I chased after Amber, hopping over the fence and running through the yard, trying to catch up. Amber was a little too fast for me, and before I knew it, she and I were out of the final yard on the block and we were running through a side road.

"Amber, stop," I gasped. Amber just kept on running.

But, Amber slipped when she tried climbing the next fence. I managed to grab her shoulder and pull her down. She tried to break free but I held on.

"Let me go, Dom," Amber demanded.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked her. "Please chill out."

"No. Let me go!"

"Amber, please."

Amber stomped down on my right foot in response.

"Shit!" I bellowed out in pain and let her go. Amber tried to take off again, but she stopped only a few feet from me, practically out of breath. Amber was sick of running too.

"I'm sorry, Dominik," Amber said.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"What's it look like?"

"Besides breaking my right foot? Leaving, I guess?"

"Yep."

I threw up my arms. "Oh, what the fuck? I thought that you and Shauna were going to wait til the morning?"

"I was going to."

"But?"

"Shauna and I started talking, and Shauna told me that since she's been able to calm down, she doesn't know if leaving is such a good idea."

"So you decided that you'd just up and take off, sparing Shuna from having to make a decision, right?"

"Yeah, something like that. And I figured you wouldn't be coming along either."

I sighed, "Dammit."

"Just let me go, Dom."

"Come back to the neighborhood with me. Please."

"Nope."

"I'm telling you, Amber, you're overreacting.

"You know damn well it's only a matter of time before Tommy and his gang find us, and then we'll all be fucked."

I took a very deep breath. "Just do me a favor. Come back to the house and wait until the morning. Talk to me and Shauna some more. We'll wake her up right now if you want, and we'll discuss this. After everything that we've been through, please. You owe us that much."

Amber thought about it for a moment. However, before she gave me an answer, the two of us heard a sound; to me, it sounded like it was an aluminum can that was being kicked down the road. But, it wasn't coming from the direction of our home, it came from the opposite direction. Not only that, it was pretty close to us.