Footprints in the Blood

ELEVEN

Day 12

We stay in place as both of us try to wrap our mind around this new information. True, at this point it's just a guess, but Carter is a solder. I trust him to recognize another one and if the Infected are soldiers than this whole thing is much more messed up than I could've ever predicted.

Carter leans over, his lips at my ear, the slight movement of air sending goosebumps over my heated skin. "We need to move. Find a place to bunker down."

It takes me a second before I answer, as the effect of his nearness washes over me. Taking a deep calming breath, I stand on my tippy toes to reach his ear. We're standing so close that it's messing with my mind and I'm thinking of every other scenario that we could be in, if the world wasn't in ruins.

"What about them?" my voice is much too breathy and I wonder if Carter can tell just how acutely he's affecting me. If he does, he doesn't say anything, just looks down at me with that intense gleam in his eye.

"Your friends are in good hands," he replies, guessing correctly that they are who I'm worried about. "Show us the way."

The trust that he's putting in me, in my abilities, is not something I'm used to. Carter's eyes find me in the dark and the determination there is all the fuel I need. Molly believed in me this much, but not even Matt does. Or maybe he's just afraid. Just like we all are. Of what I am. I'm just as much of a freak as the Infected are.

Maybe Carter can read all that in my gaze because his hand reaches for mine and gives it a quick, comforting squeeze. If my lips remembered how to smile, they would've at this moment. Instead, I give him a firm nod and concentrate.

He's right. The Infected are definitely acting like they're under someone's orders because they are still just a few feet away and still not attacking. They're holding the perimeter, between us and our friends. I push out with my senses, even after all this time still not really sure what I'm doing, but I picture it as a wave inside my mind. A wave that sweeps over the are around us, before spilling into the hallway and the rooms, pooling around the feet of the infected.

I feel nothing in the opposite direction.

Without wasting time on words, I curl my finger over Carter's hand and tug him after me. We move slowly, watching our every step. Because no matter how unique my power is, I can't help us if we make a noise. Even now, I feel like we're too loud, too much, as we move through the darkness.

There's a room at the end of the hall with a closed door. I stop and take another deep breath, trying to find any signs of the Infected inside or around us. But we've left them on the other side of the hallway. Opening my eyes, I nod at Carter and he opens the door. After a quick sweep inside, he motions me to follow.

We shut the door quietly behind us, the sound of the lock loud in the stillness of the night. That's one good thing about old building, I guess. The locks are huge and brass and very helpful. It would be nicer if the doors themselves could withstand the assault as well.

I study the room around us, finding us in one of the bigger classrooms. There are three huge windows on the opposite wall and I can see the sky through one of the pulled up blinds. Carter makes his way over to pull them closed, but I stop him.

"Don't." He looks at me with question in his eyes, but stops.

"It'll bring unwanted attention our way," I whisper, knowing this from experience. And we need the small amount of light that's coming in anyway. He nods, then staying to the shadows, comes to stand beside me.

"You okay?" Carter asks, genuine concern in his voice. Maybe I'm freaking him out a little, just staring at what I can see of the sky, but I can't seem to take my eyes off it.

"The sky still looks the same," I reply and he doesn't seem to know how to comment on that. I finally tear my eyes away from the window and look at him. There's confusion in his gaze, as he waits for me to explain.

"It's just amazing to me. How the world is totally different now, completely falling apart, and the sky stays the same. No matter what. I don't know if that gives me hope or make me sad. But I notice it every time."

"I think it should give you hope," Carter replies after a minute. "It's a constant we can look back to and have, no matter what. And that should remind us that there are other constants that this war can't take."

"Is that what you think of it? War?"

Before replying, Carter guides me to a corner, with our backs pressed to a cabinet, in the darkest part of the room.

"It is a war. Us against them. Us against whoever is doing this. I don't know anymore, not after what I've seen tonight. But it's a war. And it's my job to help us win."

"Haven't you heard, Cap? There are no winners in war." I know I sound bitter, but the truth is still the truth, no matter how it's delivered.

"Maybe," he replies, turning to face the sky. "But it doesn't mean we don't try and we don't fight. If nothing else, we fight for those constants, for those things that are worth fighting for."

"Like what?"

"Like the freedom to see the sky," he doesn't hesitate with his answer. I feel the passion in his words and it makes me catch my breath. "Like the sound of singing. The air we breathe and words we speak and the love we share."

His eyes are on mine once again and in that moment, I believe everything he's saying. The intensity behind his words fuels me. I can see why he's the leader, why people listen to him. And it makes me want to follow him too.

"You're such a poet, Cap," I say and I guess my lips do remember how to smile, because I can feel the tug at the corners as I look at him.

"Only around you," he responds and I don't know how to reply to that. But I don't get to anyway.

The Infected have started their screaming. It seems that they are telling each other to prepare for an attack.