FallOut (BOOK 2)

-08-

I drug myself So I don′t have to feel the water rising Or my lungs losing air. If I drown, will I find closure? Will I lose composure? Will I even care?

HOW FAR WILL I SINK BEFORE THE DEPTHS CONSUME ME

WILL MY FEET EVER TOUCH THE GROUND? I CAN FEEL THE CURRENT PULLING ME DOWN

Drag the lake, but you won't find me. I′m too far down below. I'm so tired of treading water. Maybe it's time for me to let go

I′ll destroy myself For the sake of feeling different, The sake of feeling fine, And If I can′t step back from this ledge, I'm sorry that I left you without saying goodbye

Drag the lake, but you won′t find me. I'm too far down below. I′m so tired of treading water. Maybe it's time for me to let go. If I drift away, will it cure the ache, Or will the pain find another heart to break

WHAT IF THE HURTING DOESN'T END WITH ME? WHAT IF I END IT ALL EXCEPT THE SUFFERING?

WHO WILL HOLD THE WEIGHT THAT I CAN'T CARRY? WHO WILL HAVE TO LIVE ONCE I'M DEAD AND BURIED

Drag the lake, but you won′t find me. I′m too far down below I'm so tired of treading water Maybe it′s time for me to let go If I drift away, will it cure the ache Or will the pain find another heart to break

-Composure-Archers-2020-

-ERIC-

I've had variations of the same nightmare for the past six months. Every time I close my eyes, I see Rachel's face. I remember how it contorted when she-it-the demon revealed that Rachel had been dead for weeks. I remember how angry she was when I assumed command of her unit. The day we got into the accident on the way to Little Hope...the day I asked her to marry me...

It's why I avoid sleep if I can, but it's also why I'm more driven than ever. My oblivious ambition may have led to our separation, and maybe it kept me from noticing that she had died at the hands of CENTCOM, but it will help me now. We aren't ready yet. I hoped to go in tonight, but Jason was still unsteady after Billy's revelations.

The miner met with us at the cabin when we returned, and he asked us to retrieve the footage and the files from the asylum, as he had noticed a few strangers poking around. That caught my attention because the attack on Sarah and the other ghost hunters has kept people away for once.

According to Billy, they weren't local, and they wore jackets with a symbol for the United States of Central Command...what the hell is CENTCOM doing here? How the hell do they exist after the damage we've done?

I didn't want to wait for them to grab that data. I can handle that on my own. I'm halfway down the driveway when I see two shapes at the bottom of it. Nick and Salim. Ah, they were smoking.

"You're up late," Nick comments as if he wasn't doing the same.

"People like us don't sleep much," I remind him.

"That's fair," Nick shrugs.

"We're out here keeping the smell of cigarettes out of the cabin," Salim observes. "But what has brought you out here, my friend?"