Walking Amongst Them (Among Us, Book 2)

tensions & tactics

I'd thought I was done dealing with this man when I'd left him behind to burn or be eaten at the campsite. Him showing back up in my life like this was never going to end in anything good. Even knowing this, it still burned something in my heart to have him look at me with even a shred of concern.

The look was gone almost as soon as it had crossed his eyes, he blinked and he was looking at Cody. He barked at him to herd us, and raised his gun a little higher, holding it more securely as he slipped the safety off.

Cody grabbed onto Stephanie's shoulder and pulled her over, his other hand coming around my forearm. Clara didn't need Cody to grab her, as she'd made herself very small at Stephanie's side. I pulled my arm from his grip. He tightened his hand at first, but a scathing glare from me later and I was free.

I could understand not wanting to go against my father and two goons. But with Jerald dead and Gary nowhere to be seen it seemed obvious that we should make for our escape now.

Only it didn't seem like the others were having the same thoughts that I was. Cody looked distracted, actually confused and invested in where Gary might have gone. Stephanie too looked concerned. Clara, as usual, just looked terrified.

I was ready to burst with so many questions, or to just walk away from the situation all together. There were things going on that I had no knowledge of. There was a whole situation happening before I became a factor, and if I had to wager, I bet my father would find more reasons to stick with whatever current plot was going down rather than go after me.

I could exit the situation and not look back.

Theoretically.

The moment passed.

Gary stepped back into view, walking around a work van that was tipped on its side, and looked surprised to see all of us.

"I had to take a shit, figured I'd catch up. Did something happen?"

Jace looked furious. I knew he would be without even having to look, but doing so reminded me that he was capable of that fury, capable of bottling it and saving it for when it was most effective to use. He bottled his anger now and settled with giving the guy a seething look.

"Get your ass walking, it's nearly meeting time. I wanted to arrive before them, and now we might not."

Gary took the lead, apparently knowing where we were going without having to be told. Clara started walking behind him, without any sort of prompting. Stephanie was close after her, standing tall behind the girl. As I watched, Stephanie reached up and placed a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

She leaned down to say something but I would never know what.

Cody turned to look at me briefly before raising his gaze to Jace. Jace jerked his chin in the direction the rest of the group walked, and Cody hesitated only a moment before turning away from us and trudging after the others.

Jace gave me an odd look before walking past me, after everyone else. I wish I had a solid reason for why I followed. Maybe it was Cody. Maybe it was his sister. Or Clara, even. It could have been the quarantine, and the promise that I'd made to people to reach it, no matter what.

In the moments between following after all of them and being left behind by them, I only heard my own heart beat and the distant sounds of a possible waterfall. I'd felt nothing, my eyes staring after their retreating backs. I remember looking in the opposite direction from the one they were headed, and the next thing I knew I was passing my father to walk between him and Cody.

My father didn't comment as I passed, and the last stretch to the meeting place was drama free. No one spoke. Even Gary managed to keep his insufferable thoughts to himself, leaving the only sounds that of our collective shoes as they found pavement and we began to cut through a very small looking town.