The End is Near

Chapter Thirty-Four

~Keith's POV~

     Cassie's eyes widen as she staggers back. I catch her, holding her close to my side.

     "What?" She whispers, devastation evident in her voice. Blake frowns.

     "I thought you knew, we all thought you knew. All the workers wanted to help you when they died, but your parents always said not to involve you. The only way we found out was because it was mandatory for all workers to have family files in the office. We were all devastated when we found out what happened." He says, sympathy heavy in his voice. I look down at her, frowning. She never talked about her family, but she did tell me how they died. It was heartbreaking watching her break down as she told the story. It must've made Julia's death so much harder, they were practically sisters.

     "I don't want to talk about this anymore. We're coming, you get your wish, you get to kill me." Her voice is cold, emotionless, but her eyes tell a different story. She's terrified, but won't admit she is. I pull her tighter to me and rub her arm.

     "You get to kill me, too. If she dies, I'm dying with her." Karson looks up at me with wide eyes.

     "What? Keith, you ca-"

     "No one's changing my mind, especially not you." I say, glaring at him. He sighs, looking down.

     "Let's just go." Cassie says, picking her bag up. We all stand up, and I untie Blake and Karson. Cassie walks out the door quickly, and I follow, leaving our group to pack up.

     She stands by the truck, head in her hands, shoulders shaking. As I get closer, I see her body heaving with silent sobs. Tears fill my own eyes and I take her hands in mine, pushing them away from her face, and her tear-filled eyes meet mine.

     "We're in this together, no matter what, ok?" I say, my voice shaking slightly. More tears trail down her cheeks as she nods.

     "Together."

     "Forever." I say, leaning my forehead against hers as my arms wrap around her body, pulling her to me.

     "Forever."

~Wyatt's POV~

     "She shouldn't have to die for us." I say to Cody, shouldering my bag as I watch Keith and Cassie through the window. He sighs, watching them as well.

     "Neither of them should have to die." He says, shouldering his own bag.

     "He really loves her." He nods, smiling a bit.

     "That's good, they deserve to be happy." I nod, smiling.

     "Yeah, they do. Come on, we should get out there." I say, walking to the door. We get out there before anyone else and make our way to the couple. "Everyone's almost ready." I say when they notice us. Cassie nods, and walks to the drivers seat.

     "Do you want me to drive?" Keith offers, following her. She shakes her head, taking a deep breath.

     "I need something to distract me. Driving is the perfect thing to keep me from killing those two." She says, giving a small laugh. We all chuckle and nod.

     "I'll have to sit next to one of them, I think I may be doing the killing." I say, earning a chuckle from Keith and Cody. Cassie had gone silent, lost in her thoughts again. I catch Keith's eye and motion to Cassie. "Do something." I mouth to him. He nods and walks over to Cassie, putting his hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him, fresh tears in her eyes.

     "Together?" She whispers, her voice breaking. Keith smiles sadly.

     "Forever." He whispers back, pulling her to him. Tears fill my own eyes at their interaction and I look at Cody to find tears in his eyes as well. Cassie's like a sister to us, I don't know what I'm going to do when she's gone. They break apart as the rest of the group walks somberly out of the house with Blake and Karson following them. I glare at them both as they come to a stop in front of us.

     "Which one of us is in the truck?" Blake asks, looking at Cassie. She had wiped the tears from her face and dried her eyes while they were walking down the stairs. She looks as if she never cried. Her famous cold expression was on her face.

     "You are, you're the one I can tolerate the most right now." She says, glaring harshly at Karson. I almost wince for Karson. There's only one thing more terrifying than walkers in this world, and it's Cassie's glare. Karson's face drops along with his shoulders as he walks to the next car in line, Walter's, and gets in the back with the others. It's going to be a rough ride for him, for Blake as well.

~Cassie's POV~

     I don't even know what to think anymore. I don't know where the headquarters is, but I know I'm not going to like it.

     "Where are we going?" I ask, looking at Blake briefly in the mirror.

     "Montana. We should get there sometime tomorrow morning if we stop when you usually stop." I sigh.

     "I'm guessing that's why you were so happy when I told you I was originally going to Montana?" He nods, smiling a bit, though it drops when I glare at him. "Is there even a community there? Or is my aunt part of the government too?" I say, bitterly.

     "No, your aunt does not work for the government, there actually is a community there. That's where you'll be during your stay." I clench my jaw and my hands tighten around the steering wheel.

     "During my stay? During my stay? I won't be staying! I'm going to die! You're people are going to kill! Where will I be staying? Don't say one more thing about me staying anywhere or I swear you will be going to hell a lot sooner than planned." I hiss, venom dripping from my words. He recoils, eyes wide, and nods, staying silent. I take deep breaths, trying to calm down, and Keith helps a lot by putting his hand over mine. I look over at him, love and adoration sure to be shining in my eyes. I shake my head, looking back to the road, and try to block everything out for the next few hours.

~Keith's POV~

     I'm getting closer and closer to my breaking point, and when it breaks, I'm going to attack Blake. And Karson. They are bringing Cassie to her death, our death, and they have the audacity to laugh and try to joke around. Blake has been trying to be friends with Wyatt and Cody, and the glares they have sent him could curdle milk. He gave up an hour in, after Cassie's outburst. He's been silent ever since, thankfully. If he opened his mouth again, I'm sure he'd be attacked by everyone in this truck.

     We've been driving all day and it's starting to get dark, we're only a couple hours away from Montana. The realization hit all of us, I'm sure, due to the tension in the truck. 

     "We need to find somewhere to stay for the night, it's getting dark." Cassie says, looking around for somewhere to stop. I nod, searching with her. We stop at a house in the middle of a town and quickly check it. I pull Cassie inside after everyone and take her to the corner, telling Wyatt and Cody to keep watch this time. They sit with their backs to the wall, facing the door, talking quietly. We sit in the corner of the room, arms wrapped around each other, talking until we fall asleep, not wanting to let go of each other.