Walking Amongst Them (Among Us, Book 2)

unclear plans

The men set up camp quickly. They had a fire going and warming the area within a few minutes of me being tied up to the tree. I wanted to sleep, my brain was pounding, but I couldn't stop staring.

It was clear that scar face was the leader. I wasn't sure how much power the red head had in the partnership, but I knew Cody was the odd man out. He did his own thing, setting up his roll out sleeping bag under a different tree. I figured it was usual, because neither of the others commented about how he intended to sleep closer to me than them.

He was careful not to look at me too much, hadn't spoken a word to me beyond the whisper warning/reassurance he'd offered in the beginning. It was probably a good thing because I couldn't make myself look away from him.

He'd had a rough time. There was a large bruise across one of his cheeks, and he seemed to be smaller than I remembered. Not eating the same as he had been in the compound.

A ping of guilt hit me as I realized, not for the first time, that if I hadn't been invited to that compound, if I hadn't brought Mabel... a lot of people would still be alive, living in not so constant fear. I watched as the red head reached into the fire to grab a piece of meat off the animal scar face had brought into camp and put on to cook.

Scar face reached out and punched the other guy across the face.

"The fuck do you think you're doing? Go hunt your own dinner, stupid."

Cody glanced over at them briefly before looking over at me. He had a dark expression, and I could tell there were darker thoughts inside his eyes. I found myself unable to come up with a reason that Cody was traveling with these people voluntarily.

The red head rubbed his jaw, he looked like he wanted to say something, but his eyes snagged on me and he got distracted. He smiled, despite the blood he spat out of his mouth. After rising back to his feet, he started towards me.

My vision was blurring, but I could still see the look in his eyes as he got closer.

"What about this one?" he asked, "she looks tasty," he smiled then, and I caught sight of his teeth. They were black and thinner than healthy teeth would have been.

"Nasty," I thought, and accidentally said.

The red head's hungry expression turned sour and he took a few quick strides towards me, his face ending up in mine. His breath reeked of rot and danger. I turned my face away, trying to find fresh air. His hand wrapped around my throat, loose at first, but when I turned my face his grip tightened significantly.

"You little..."

But he didn't get to finish his sentence, as he was ripped away from me. His tight grip on my neck yanking me forward for a second, but then we were separated. I coughed but raised my chin high as I watched Cody throw the man back. Red head almost landed in the fire, and I couldn't help the dark thoughts that wondered what his hair would look like on fire.

Red head indeed.

Scar face raised an eyebrow at Cody but shrugged, not bothering to get into it at he ate his captured dinner. I struggled to make my windpipe work properly again for a second, and while I struggled Cody lifted red head by the front of his shirt and got into his face.

"You leave her alone. She's mine."

This caused red head to sputter, but scar face laughed, "he did spot her first. You know the rules, Jerald, you can fight him for her."

Cody didn't acknowledge the scarred man's words, he only looked at the man who'd tried to go after me. Jerald. For some reason I liked not knowing their names better. Jerald didn't seem suitable for such a nasty person.