Then There Were Three

CH 18

ATTENTION: THIS IS STILL IN KENDALL'S POINT OF VIEW.

-1 day later-

"Kendall, are you sure you're okay?" Charlotte asks me, as we stomp along the trail. Mr. Greene didn't know how to track things as well as we thought.

The searing pain in my knee was nothing to the guilt and anxiousness I felt in my stomach. I couldn't hide from it. I'd try to put my mind off of it; only to think harder about it.

"I'm fine," I say, pulling my backpack off of my shoulders. Grabbing the aspirin bottle out as we walk, I try to be quiet as a caution to not make anyone nervous. Doesn't work.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Richard makes everyone stop and wait for me to take an aspirin. "We can head back you know. They'll be fine," Charlotte says, grabbing the baby from Richard's hands.

"I can't leave her out there," I shake my head as I swallow the pill dry. Not my best decision. Not my worst either. I start coughing violently, until Mr. Greene passes me a water bottle to sip on. "Thanks," I sigh in relief as I catch my breath.

"Are you positive you know what you're doing?" Richard asks Mr. Greene as we're stopped for a break.

"Positive. I stopped making our emergency trail about 15 miles back. There are footprints, see? Not zombie footprints," Charlotte makes a squeal "t-those would have a stumble or a drag of the foot here and there. I think I know where we're going to end up," Mr. Greene finishes.

"Where??" Richard asks anxiously.

"There's a one way road up this way. Gravel road. I'm almost positive there's a storage shed there," I can almost see Charlotte cringe at the fact of her own daughter being held hostage in a storage shed.

And I'm the one who let them take her.

"What's in it?" I ask, re-positioning my backpack.

Mr. Greene ignores my question, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" he shouts.

"Mr. Greene, what's in it?" I ask again, this time harsher.

Mr. Greene sighs, "My wife owned a sporting goods store up the road a little bit. We kept all the stock in that shed. Guns, knives, bows and arrows; that may be where they are."

"How come you never told us?" 

"Because I didn't think it was that big of a deal," Mr. Greene shrugs; just as thunder roars from up in the sky. 

I shrug, following Mr. Greene. The rain starts to pummel us, soaking our clothes and making it hard to see. It rains a lot in Florida, and usually for a short amount of time. Hopefully this will be gone soon.

I follow Mr. Greene's mud tracks until we make it to a road. I shiver, my t shirt drenched all the way through.

"Which way do you think they went?" Richard asks over the loud rain. He pulls off his jacket to place it over the baby.

 Mr. Greene looks around the asphalt road, trying to look for tire tracks, skid marks; anything.

"Just as I suspected," he mumbles, looking down at the ground.

"What?" Charlotte asks, wiping rain water out of her eyes. 

"They're in the shed, I just know it," he whispers, crouchind down and running  a finger along one of the skid marks. 

"What are we waiting for?" I try to be optimistic, but that's obviously extremely hard, "Let's go."