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chapter seventy | the devil's resting place
THEY HAVEN'T STOPPED running. They don't know how long or how far they have been. They fought their way through the forest, herds of walkers were going toward the prison. The gunfire and blasts have lured every dead for miles. The snarls faded as they ran further, and further, and further.
Laurel took down every walker she had to, carving a path for her siblings that stayed close behind her. Ethan has started to slow down despite his desperation while Cassie has coughed violently every few minutes in his arms making him grip her with a sweaty vice.
They ran for miles, every structure was surrounded by walkers so they kept running past, always ending up back in the forests. They don't know for how long or how much they've been going. They don't know how much farther they could go.
Suddenly, Laurel stumbled and she raised her arms to brace herself against a tree, her chest heaving up and down as all three of them skidded to a stop. Her eyes fluttered closed as her entire body shook.
Ethan's knees shook as he stopped next to her. He stumbled in his place, his arms shaking underneath Cassie. They couldn't stop now, they needed to go farther and then find someplace safe. "We need to—," he coughed, his throat burning, "keep going."
Laurel's body detested but she pushed herself upright, not having the energy to reply. She stumbled a bit but she urged her shaky legs to keep moving forward. Ethan adjusted his hold around Cassie, following their older sister.
Half a mile later, in a break of the forest was a road. Ethan tripped on his feet as they met cement, almost sending both him and Cassie to the ground but he caught himself. Laurel's body gave out beneath her, and she fell to her hands and knees. Ethan fell to his knees next to her, placing Cassie softly on the ground before falling onto his back.
The Hill siblings said nothing, a mutual and silent agreement between them to rest for however long. Laurel's hair fell over her face, her heart felt like it was going to fail any moment as her lungs fought for air.
She leaned closer to the ground, resting her forehead on the warm cement. She was covered in blood, most of it was dry until she felt a trail of warm wetness drip down the side of her face and to the ground below. She was still bleeding, and the blood loss effects were hitting her now as the adrenaline slowed. Dizziness overcame her and she probably would have thrown up if she still had anything left in her stomach.
Laurel leaned back onto her legs, gathering her hair and peeling it from the gory side of her face. Her hair made the wound hurt as it brushed against it. Revealing to her siblings the wound the Governor inflicted when she was blinded with rage.
As Ethan cursed and Cassie asked him what happened to her, Laurel grazed a finger gently around the wound. She winced, bile rising in her throat from the pain or the realization. Half of her ear was gone.
