Tested

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

That night, I felt it. A sick, needling pain in my stomach that served as a warning. Something was coming.

“Dad,” I whispered. “Something bad is going to happen. I don’t feel good.”

He was out of his seat in a split second, shaking Parker awake.

“Everyone, stay alert,” he said. “Jess, can you sense anyone around?”

“No, I just feel… shivery.” I rubbed my arms. “It’s not the people, Dad. It’s something else.”

“Vampires? The monsters?”

“I think so,” I managed to gasp out. “But lots of them. It’s dark, and… I’m scared, Dad.”

“The fighting must be driving them north,” Dad said. “For all we know there’s a massive feral pack heading this way. It’s like that town, except they’re being chased, and they’re panicking. This place is a feeding ground. It’ll give them strength. And those following will head to the major cities first. They won’t think to come to a small place like this. This is going to be a bloodbath. Jess, are you sure you’re feeling something?”

I stared outward, but I didn’t see a thing. I definitely felt a crawling sensation across my skin, and I imagined it was those monsters, crawling across the land, uniting in one big army. Coming our way. “I’m sure. All of these people… what are we going to do?”

He grabbed my arm. “We run. We stay alive.”

“We’ll never get the van through this crowd tonight. Besides, we have to do something,” Parker said. “We can’t just—”

“There’s nothing we can do. Except…” Dad gazed out at the dock. “They’re still getting on tonight’s boat. We have a chance to get on it, too. In the mayhem, we can escape.”

“But—”

“Parker, do you want your grandfather to die here? We have no choice.”

“Then let’s get going,” Sunny said in a resigned tone. “But we can help.”

“He’s right,” Parker said as we grabbed our things. “I can help.”

“You’re getting on that boat,” Dad told him. “There are too many of those things out there, too many things chasing them. You’re not getting in the middle of it. You can help on the way, do something to protect as many people as possible, but we’re getting on that boat, no matter what.”

Parker and I helped Sunny out of the bus. Dad circled us, his gaze darting in every direction in his anxiety. He banged on car windows.

“Everyone, wake up!” he shouted. “Something’s coming.”

We wouldn’t reach the warehouse where most people slept. Groups of people had been living there, waiting for their turn, but more had covered the streets with their parked vehicles. We could only hope that one of them heard the call and rose before something bad came.

I tried to hurry, but Sunny seemed dazed, weaker than usual. We had given him yet another shock. I glanced at Parker. His face was determined, but his eyes were full of pain. So many people would die, and we were running away. That didn’t feel right to me either.

We were almost at the docks when the first scream came.

“You were right,” Dad said.

I couldn’t tell if he was afraid or relieved. Sometimes, I wondered if I knew him at all.

We met the same man at the dock, his eyes worried as he stared into the darkness. He was usually surrounded by a group of men serving as bodyguards in case things went wrong, but they had all run off to investigate the screaming.