The Human Adjustment

Chapter Eleven

The screeches of the turned started to become much clearer. They couldn’t be more than a hundred yards away from us. A heavy atmosphere filled the room; everyone was silent and still. I could feel a bead of sweat trickle from my forehead down to my neck, my breath was shallow. My mind raced, how did they find us? We were miles from any densely populated areas. The fire. Shit the fire. The smoke must have given away our location, and now we were being ambushed. Max was the first to move; he stealthily made his way to the window sill next to the back door and quietly took down a vase with flowers from it. We all stared at him, not understanding what he was doing. He then yanked the flowers out and made his way through the slightly open back door. He disappeared from view; there was silence. Piper looked worried. We then heard a sizzling sound and seconds later Max ran through the door, he closed it quietly.

‘Ok, the fire is out, now let’s go’ he whispered in a hurried tone. Everyone jumped up from where they were sitting and started gathering up their supplies. I pushed myself up with one hand and winced; the injuries from earlier on in the night made themselves apparent again. The towel that was wrapped around me fell down, revealing my not so modest clothing; I blushed and quickly looked to Finn who was looking back at me already. His eyes didn’t stray from mine, which I was thankful for.

‘I’ll go get my clothes’ I said quietly, almost too quietly, I doubt I was heard over the commotion in the living room. I swiftly turned and started walking towards the stairs when I suddenly felt a hand grip itself softly around my wrist. I turned quickly in shock.

‘Not alone you won’t’ said Finn, his friendly smile blossomed across his face, I instantly smiled back and I felt warm. Someone cared. We made our way up the stairs, on look out, just in case any turned had made their way inside. Luckily the coast was clear. I hurriedly walked to the bathroom and carefully walked through the broken glass that had blanketed the floor to my clothes. I grabbed them quickly and tried to get into them the best I could. They were soaking wet from blood and bathwater. My jeans were the most difficult part, they got stubborn around my hips and I had to yank them hard to get them up. Finn was on look out at the door, his knife was grasped firmly in his hand, he kept looking at me then back to the corridor, he was patiently waiting but I knew he wanted to leave. I threw on my white top and then slipped my arms through the leather jacket.

‘Come on, we gotta hurry’ said Finn, he beckoned me with one hand. I let out a sigh and bent down to my shoes. I shoved my feet into them and ran back through the bathroom and out into the corridor. Finn smiled at me and then ran down the stairs, I followed him close behind. I patted my jean hem and realised my weapons weren’t in there anymore, where had they gone? I panicked for a second but then remembered that I had put them on the corner table in the living room. I made for the living room and when I got in there it seemed that everyone had packed up what they needed and were ready to go. Jake looked at me with annoyance, I gave him an apologising smile before reaching for my weapons. I shoved the gun and one of my knives into the hem of my jeans and walked over to the others.

Without words Max lead the way to the front door, the group followed him, weapons ready to go. I could see that Ellie still had tight grip on the teddy bear, when I first saw her she seemed a similar age to me, but as I looked at her now, she seemed so much younger.

‘Who’s got the keys?’ Asked Max in a hushed tone. Jake shuffled forwards ‘I do’ Max held his hand out and Jake swiftly took the car keys out from his pocket and into his open hand. He gripped them tightly and took a deep breath. ‘I feel like I say this too much’ he paused ‘but try not to die’

I stifled a laugh, but quickly regained my focus. This was not a time for joking and even though Max was being light-hearted, the reality of the situation was far more serious. My breathing began to quicken as Max’s hand reached for the door knob. My heart raced. He clicked the door open and ran full pelt to the car. I shook my head; I was suddenly scared; I didn’t want to go out there with those things. I hesitated. Everyone else had made their way out of the door but I was frozen still. I could hear the turned at the back door. My breathing got deeper, more rapid. I started to shake.