Feeding Frenzy

Chapter 13

"Why are you crying?" Ford asked.

Evey took in a sharp breath. She let out a fake laugh to try and hide her emotions.

"I'm not crying," she said.

"I know what I saw," he said.

Evey wiped her cheeks again to make sure that there were no tears lingering. She did not want Ford to know that she had been crying. There was no way that he would let her near a gun if he thought that she was emotional.

"I'm fine," she said as she fought with her voice so it would not waver.

Ford furrowed his brows. Evey chewed on her lip. Her eyes burned and she was afraid to blink because she knew she would start sobbing.

"You watched your family get killed," he said.

Evey squeezed her eyes shut.

Do not cry, she repeated in her head. Do not cry.

"Anyone would be emotional after that," he said.

Do not cry. Do not cry.

"We had to do it to keep everyone safe," he said. "You know that, right?"

Do not cry.

"Was that little girl your daughter?"

Evey's hand shot over her mouth to try and hold back a sob. Tears rolled down her cheeks. The mention of Lila was too much for her. She covered her ears as the sound of Lila screaming rang in her head. The haunting sound never left her alone.

Ford shifted his weight on the bed, appearing unsure what to do. Did he want to comfort her? She had no clue. Ford didn't seem to be the kind of person to comfort someone. She lowered her hands from her ears and wrapped her arms around herself.

"No." Evey shook her head. "She was my baby sister."

"Oh," Ford said.

Oh? That's all he could say?

She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to control her breathing and tears. With her blurry vision, she could see Ford watching her. She sucked in her bottom lip, but she could not stop crying. She pinched the bridge of her nose and rocked herself.

"It's okay to cry," Ford said.

Who was this? she thought. I don't know this Ford.

Evey sniffled and wiped her tears away.

"Lila would hate that I am crying," she said.

Ford shifted his weight uncomfortably again. "That was her name?"

Evey scoffed. She rolled her eyes.

"You killed her and you don't even know her name," she said.

"Johnson killed her," Ford said.

"It doesn't matter. You murdered the rest of my family."

"My family is dead too."

Evey wiped the remaining tears off of her face. She had stopped crying, but there was a tightness in her chest making it difficult to breathe.

"Why does this feel like a nightmare?" she asked.

"Because it is one."

Evey sighed. She unwrapped her arms from around herself and pushed herself to the edge of the bed. She stood. Her throat was dry and the tightness had yet to ease from her chest.

"I'm going to get some water," she said.

She left the bedroom and went down the stairs. She grabbed a glass and filled it at the sink. When she turned to lean against the counter, Ford was walking into the kitchen. She watched him as she brought the cup to her lips.

Why did he follow her? Why was he being nice to her? Ford didn't talk, so why was he talking to her now? She had too many questions. It all caused her temple to ache.

"Is that why you're so protective of the twins?" he asked. "Because of Lila?"

Evey coughed as she choked on her water. She was not expecting that out of Ford. Why was he still questioning her about her sister? Was there guilt?

"They're just kids," Evey said. "Someone needs to look after them."

"Why you?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Why not?"

Ford let out a deep breath. He crossed his arms over his chest. He broke eye contact and looked toward the stairs where the twins were sleeping.

"They better not slow down the group," he said.

"They haven't yet," she said.

"I'm saying that they better not."

Evey raised a brow. She tightened her hold on the glass. Her stomach twisted as she was hit with nausea.

"Are you threatening to kill the twins?" she asked.

Ford bit down on his lip. His eyes wandered back up to the staircase. Evey struggled to not throw her glass at him. There was no possible way that he could think about killing those innocent children.

"There is no way that I will ever let you do that," Evey said.

"We can't die because of them," he said.

"I can't believe what I am hearing."

"Everett-"

She held her hand up to silence Ford. She slammed the glass down on the counter with such force that she was shocked that it did not shatter. She stepped forward and put her finger on Ford's chest. He furrowed his brows as he looked down.

"Those kids will not be murdered," she said. "If I find out that you even touched one of the twins I will personally castrate you."

She turned and stormed away before he could say anything to her. She stomped up the stairs. She paused outside the door to the bedroom and hesitated. There was no way that she could go back into that room and leave Josie and Joey alone. Horrible image of Ford barging into their room in the middle of the night and murdering them filled her mind.

Evey let out a deep breath and turned. She went across the hallway and slowly pushed open the door to the twins' room. They were asleep in the bed. Evey slipped into the room and closed the door behind her before lying down on the floor. She stayed close enough that if the door were to open that it would wake her. She pulled the dagger off of her thigh and clutched it to her chest.

Evey held her breath as she listened to Ford's footsteps walk down the hall. She curled her fingers tighter around the handle of the dagger as he stopped walking.

Did he have a gun on him? Would he kill Evey if she attempted to save them?

The floor creaked as Ford walked down the hallway. Evey let go of a deep breath, but her grip did not loosen on the dagger.

Not only did she have to keep Josie and Joey safe from the Infected, but she also had to keep them safe from Ford.