RU in? - 1st novel in the Ruinsaga series

Chapter 18 .

Lily

Before I could warn the others, the shadowed form stepped into a ray of moonlight. He held one finger up to his lips urging me to be quiet. Mason. I didn't know him well. He was a senior too, but he only hung out with his group of friends. They didn't interact with other people. I had always found that strange as they all seemed like they would be the popular athletic types. His sister looked like she should be a cheerleader. He and Alex looked like they should have been football players. They had never been on a sports team. They had never been in any after school activities. When school was finished, their group went home together. I didn't know where they lived, but there were rumors they lived in a cult compound. I didn't believe that though.

His brown eyes drifted to the camp behind me. I turned to look if he had garnered anyone else's attention, but not even Darren had noticed us and everyone else was still asleep. Molly, however, lifted her head from Arthur's stomach. She sniffed the air and then jumped to her feet. I opened my mouth to urge her to be quiet, but she didn't bark. Instead she ran to Mason and jumped on him wagging her tail happily. He crouched so he was eye level to her. He smiled fondly and scratched between her ears. She leaned into him loving every moment of it. He stood up straight and waved a hand in Arthur's direction. Molly ran back to Arthur's side and settled down next to him with her head on his stomach.

He turned back to the woods and made a shooing motion with his hand as if to tell others to leave. I didn't hear anything in the woods, but I hadn't heard him either. He turned back to me. I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. He stepped passed me into the camp. He stopped near Hunter's head and stared down at my friend. He cocked his head to the side in contemplation. His eyes slowly left Hunter and scanned over everyone else in the camp and the low fire.

He crouched next to Hunter's head and tilted his head again. "You must really trust your friends to sleep so deeply you don't notice me," he said.

Darren spun in our direction with his knife raised. The rest of the camp woke with a start, but Hunter's hand shot out and closed around Mason's neck.

"Careful," Mason said as Hunter sat up and his grip tightened. "I'm not alone." For the first time, I heard footsteps in the woods, twigs breaking as if they were purposely letting themselves be heard. And it wasn't only coming from the direction Mason had come from. It came from all around the camp. We were surrounded.

Hunter slowly released Mason's neck. Mason smirked and brought his hand up to rub his neck. "You are dangerously close to our home," Mason said never taking his eyes off Hunter's. "The ignorance of these others I can understand, but you and your sister don't have that excuse."

"We've been killing zombies all night," Hunter said. "Their blood and viscera on my clothes must have hidden your smell."

That was an odd response, but it seemed to satisfy Mason as he looked down at Hunter's clothes.

"It's almost dawn," Mason said standing up straight. "You better break up camp and be on your way. Erik knows you are near and he doesn't like it."

"In case you didn't notice," Hunter said, "the world is different than it was yesterday." He stood up and shielded his sister behind him.

"We could really use some help," Mrs. Smith said. "Even if it's just packs to carry our things." She held up a jacket that had been folded up to carry food and water.

"We're not planning on staying," Hunter said to Mason. "We are on our way to find my sister and Lily's brother."

Mason sighed. "Stay here a moment," he said. He walked passed me and back into the woods.