World's End

Chapter Twenty Five

Marissa woke up with a start.

They were all laying on the ground in an alley way, sleeping on cardboard boxes. She blinked the sleep away from her eyes and looked at the sky. It was dark. They had slept.

They weren't dead.

Marissa stretched her muscles and was surprised to feel that they no longer ached from all the running and falling she had done. Cracking her neck, she got to her feet and quietly moved away from her friends and walked down the alleyway. The roads were empty of creatures and Horsemen. She gave a small sigh of relief. They hadn't seen the Horseman since she had seen his little twists of plague around him. She didn't know if he had just given up the chase or was showing them a small kindness by letting them sleep before he came to kill them. In all honestly, Marissa didn't care. They had only stopped to sleep when finally, Ellie Rae collapsed. Marissa narrowly avoided letting Ellie Rae completely crumple to the ground, catching her just in time. Marissa had looked at the boys and shook her head.

"We need to sleep." They had agreed with her without complaint. They all looked exhausted. They had done well, managing four days of running and small breaks, finding things to eat as they ran. But there was no way they were going to be able to go any further with Ellie Rae unconscious and almost being dead on their feet. Lincoln had scooped Ellie Rae up and had carried her the few feet towards the pile of boxes behind old trash bins. The smell hadn't bothered them, being so tired and smelly themselves, they barely noticed it. Marissa and Jax had flattened the cardboard they had found and Lincoln had laid Ellie Rae on them. The three had barely sat down before they had slumped and fallen into a deep sleep, undisturbed by dreams.

And now Marissa was awake. She didn't know how long she had been asleep for but she felt rested, for the first time. Despite knowing that any minute, they would have to start running again.

There was a noise behind her and she turned around. Lincoln was stirring. He opened his eyes and saw her standing at the end of the alleyway. He yawned, stretched then clambered to his feet stiffly. He made his way down and stopped beside her, giving her a sleepy smile.

"Did you sleep?"

"Like the dead." Marissa answered. Lincoln rubbed his eyes as he cleared the sleep from them. "Did you sleep okay?" He nodded.

"Better than I expected. How long did we sleep for?" Marissa shrugged and looked back out at the road. "Any signs of him?"

"No. And I don't think he would give up that easy." She leaned into Lincoln as a cool breeze blew through and she gave a small shiver. Lincoln wrapped an arm around her, radiating heat. She rested her head on his chest and she watched the dark road. "I think he knows where we are, he's just giving us a moment."

"A moment?" He felt Marissa nod. "How kind of him." Marissa drummed her fingers over his arm that was wrapped around her shoulders. He looked down at the top of her head and smiled. "You know, if we were back home, I would have totally asked you out on a date already." Marissa gave a small chuckle.

"And I would have punched you so hard that you wouldn't be able to tell your lefts from your rights." Lincoln snorted and rested his chin on her head. "But now? Now I would have said yes." He moved his arms to wrap them around her waist and they stood there for a few moments, enjoying the quiet and the peace. Jax's voice broke the silence.

"Would you two just shut up and kiss already? I can feel the tension from here." He sounded groggy but he was awake. They turned to look at him as he gave Ellie Rae a light kick, waking her up. Ellie Rae groaned and waved her arm in the air, trying to smack the person who had dared wake her. Jax rolled out of the way and onto his stomach. He looked at the two of them and shook his head. "Honestly, you two should have kissed WEEKS ago. I could sense the tension, even when she hated your guts." Lincoln looked down at Marissa who shrugged. He hummed and Marissa closed her eyes, enjoying the last moment of peace.