Don't Whistle Past the Graveyard

Ch. Forty-One

I think after the fact, Shane was feeling a little slap happy. He'd been so wound up, then it had all blown apart and none of us were dead.

He was downright cheerful after his little toe-to-toe with Brayden because he smiled at me and said, "Might as well check the school. That guy was protecting something."

He actually laughed and I raised an eyebrow, a little concerned. But he seemed okay, he didn't seem unstable or shaky or anything that I could possibly be worried about, even if he was laughing right after having killed a person.

I think it was just the relief, you know? It was just rushing through him at ninety miles an hour and came out this way, with a laugh and a positive attitude.

Melanie made a small, distressed sound, but before she could say anything, Shane was at the doors of the school. She looked at me of all people and said, "Now we're stealing from him?"

I shook my head, equal parts sadness and incredulity running through me. Sacha rolled his eyes and muttered something in Russian that earned him a grin from Kyle. Then, in English, he said, "It's not like he's going to be needing it."

Sacha went after Shane and the rest of us went after Sacha, leaving Melanie and Brayden in the parking lot with the dead man.

That man had been protecting quite a bit. He even had medical supplies and I sat in amusement, watching as Shane wrapped my hands up using some sterile gauze. My palms had been cut up pretty good when I'd hit the ground, but I had to stop him from using the entire roll on me. If it had been up to him, I wouldn't have been able to use my hands.

The apocalyptic world has a weird set of scales, right? It all balances out, but at the same time, it always feels just a little off kilter.

We gathered it all up and went back to the vehicles.

We ended up having to pitch camp in some woods near the road, darkness falling quickly in the middle of winter.

The short of it is this: We went to sleep that night and woke up to find that Melanie and Brayden had disappeared.

They'd left us.

When we woke up, Sam came over to stand in front of us, looking like we were a firing squad. He looked directly at Shane, and said, "They took out on their watch. I didn't stop them."

Shane nodded. He didn't look particularly surprised. Sitting on the tailgate, rubbing his hands together to warm them, he said, "Why didn't you go with them?"

Unease flickered over Sam's face, and he looked around to find all of us watching him. His gaze lingered longest on Vik and Danny.

I was kind of curious myself. I mean, he had obviously known Danny at least for a bit, but he'd been with Melanie and Brayden from the beginning. That isn't something to be taken lightly.

He took a deep breath and said, "I like you guys more. And I had watch with Sacha after them anyway. Wasn't gonna leave you guys unguarded." He mumbled the last part, looking at Shane in starts and stops.

Shane scratched at his neck. "He ask you to go with 'em?"

Sam nodded slowly. "I said no."

"Said more than that," Shane commented in an off-handed kind of way, and I wanted to laugh at how Sam's eyes widened.

Now things were actually starting to click into place for me. I'd been more than slightly surprised when Shane had put Melanie and Brayden on the same watch, but now I got it. He'd just been giving them an out, and getting rid of a problem.