Page 162 of The Outsider
I kicked his wounded leg, and he screamed in pain. A small, dark part of me enjoyed it.
“You heard me.”
“Gone,” he gasped out. “Little bitch shot me. She ran that way.”
He pointed east, and I moved my finger over the trigger.
“Hey, man, that’s the truth!” he sputtered.
“I believe you,” I answered, and executed him.
I headed east and discovered another soldier bleeding in the dirt, but he was dead, a bullet through his neck.Good girl. Just like I taught you.
I finally made it to a large clearing, where it became obvious that something had gone down. I followed the impressions in the grass to a spot right in front of a big oak tree. My stomach twisted as I spotted drying blood on the bark. It was about Claire’s height, and though there was no blood anywhere else, I had to push down another swell of nausea.
Her pistol was on the ground by the tree, and that didn’t help.
I kept pushing until I reached the edge of the forest, where it met the Old World highway. There were boot prints and drag marks in the dirt, and then fresh tire tracks on the crumbling asphalt. They’d had multiple vehicles. Any hope of catching them was gone…just like her.
I threw my rifle down and slammed my fist against the nearest tree, a shout of rage and horrible emptiness escaping from me. My knuckles came away bloody, but I didn’t care. My chest heaved with every breath as I tried to calm down. Think rationally. Not fall into the trap of despair.
I headed back to the lake to investigate. I collected everything I could from the corpses I’d left behind, desperate for anything that might hint at where they were going.
Several of them had printed maps crumpled up in their packs, along with identical mission briefings from somewhere called the Delta. I didn’t know where that was, and the maps didn’t mark its location, but the area it highlighted was small enough that Kimmy and I couldfigure out where it was most likely to be based on where resources were—fresh water, hunting grounds, and the like.
They had working vehicles—something I’d never seen anyone besides the Valley have before. Except the cult…who had access to them because they came from a compound.
It stood to reason that this Delta was probably another one. That meant it’d be fortified and guarded better than anything I was used to. And no Claire to get me in this time.
I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to follow their trail until I found my wife. The reality was, though, that I wouldn’t catch them before they got to this Delta. I needed to prepare.
As I got ready to leave, I spotted something crumpled in the grass. The big white flower I’d put in Claire’s hair, torn and crushed by the chaos. I knelt next to it and cradled it in my palm. I saw the flash of her sweet smile in my mind, and something inside me suddenly broke—just like that.
My hand clapped over my mouth. I tried to stop the ragged sounds of pain that broke through, but it was useless. For a long moment, I just stared at that stupid flower, lying broken in the palm of my hand. It was everything I’d been afraid of—the loss that was going to destroy me. In an instant, everything good in my world…gone.
My hand closed into a fist around the flower.Get a grip.I wasn’t going to grieve her as if she was already dead. I had work to do. I stood and walked in the direction of the highway, hardened now by determination.
I’d get my girl back, or I wasn’t coming back.
Chapter 48
John
Haunted.
That was what Summerhurst felt like that night. I couldn’t sleep in my bed, where Claire and I had cuddled, slept, and made love. I couldn’t stand to look around the room—ourroom—and see her things, lying exactly where she’d left them just a few days before. The closet was full of her clothes and her scent. The desk was covered with books she was reading, and lesson plans she was making, all in her neat, pretty handwriting.
The rest of the house was no better. The study was home to her art studio; her paintings hung on every wall; and the kitchen and living room were full of things she’d made and loved. When I told her that this was her home now, too, she’d taken me seriously. Every inch of this house held memories of her now.
At the same time, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
I sat on the floor at the foot of our bed, leaning back against the frame. Only the bedside lamp on Claire’s side provided light. A half-empty whiskey bottle sat next to me. I stared blankly at the floor,twisting my wedding band around my finger, waiting for daybreak. I needed to rest for the long day ahead of me, but if drinking hadn’t helped, I didn’t think there was much hope.
A soft knock on the door made me look up. When I didn’t answer, it opened, and Kimmy poked her head in. Her expression softened when she saw me.
“How you holding up?” she asked, gentler than I may’ve ever heard her sound.
I took a swig from the whiskey bottle. “Awesome. Thanks.”
