Sinister (Lethal Fear: Book One)

19 - Sanctuary

Well, no one could argue with Jeff. He carried Conner for awhile and we decided to take turns. I was almost surprised at how light in weight he was. Conner was truly skin and bones.

Silk and Dylan stayed ahead of us. Silk, occasionally, sneaking glares back at us. Jeff returned them with menacing looks that knocked her glares out the park.

It was my turn to carry Conner so I gently took him in my arms. "Thanks, Alina!" Jeff said, flashing me a smile.

"No problem," I said. 

""Hopefully we can get to the Station soon," His smile faultered now. "If we don't get help-"

"We will." I said quickly because if he worried than I would worry.  I tried to smile now. "So you're brothers, huh?"

"Yup," Jeff looked at the dark sky. "Conner went deaf last year so I've been watching out for him."

I frowned. "H-How did he go deaf if you don't mind me asking."

"I was depressed back then," Jeff said, his voice starting to seem far away. "I hated life and I always wished it'd be different. This life,-" He gestured around us grimly. "This was like hell on Earth for me.

"So I sneaked on to a Hunting trip and Conner followed me," He sighed. "He knew what I was going to do."

It didn't take long for me to realize. Jeff was going to commit suicide, get himself killed by a Sixth. It was odd. Jeff seemed like the Golden Boy. No one had ever guessed he had been suicidal through all this glory he lived in.

"I seperated myself from the group and Conner came along," Jeff said. "I had no idea he was there. I finally spotted a Sixth and got attacked....a-and it...." Jeff choked up and fell silent.

"I know the rest," I said quietly. "You don't have to tell me."

Conner must have jumped into save his brother. That Sixth must have screamed and considering Conner was only eleven years old then, his ears couldn't take that high rate of wavelength.

"He's really brave." I noted.

"He's always been there for me," He smiled again. "Thats why I'm going to be there for him."

Conner stirred in my arms before his eyes fluttered open. His eyes wandered sleepily around before he stared at me in surprise. "Alina?"

I gave him a warm smile. "You're awake."

"We should find a campground soon then." Jeff said.

Silk was even more angry when Jeff forced us to stop and make camp so Conner could recover. However, she didn't protest. She was probably thinking about earlier when Jeff had threatened to kill us all.

I laid Conner down on the soft moss grass as Jeff dug through some of medical gear.

I sat crosslegged next to Conner and I couldn't help but watch Dylan and Silk. They were laying on their jackets, Silk's back to me. I could hear them laughing and my cheeks flushed. Why was Dylan being so childish about this?

Jeff started to work on Conner's wounds and I didn't watch.

"Wow," I heard Conner say. "This morphin really works! I can barely feel a thing!"

Jeff and I laughed at this.

It was near dusk when Jeff had finished his work and Conner had fallen asleep due to all the numbing medicine he recieved. Jeff fell asleep shortly after and I tried to sleep as well. However, I was always woken up by nagging worries.

I turned over to Conner whose snores were so soft, like child - like laughter. However, that couldn't lull me to sleep. I sat upright, staring straight into the woods that was now lighting up as the sun peeked over the horizon.