The Rain (Book 2 - The Constant Fight)

Chapter 18 - Lèche-vitrine et canifs

A/N - I suggest you listen to the song on repeat throughout the chapter

"Alright, stop here," Courtney said from the back-seat, as she tapped on Ross's shoulder as if he hadn't heard her.

"Okay," Ross mumbled, turning the steering wheel and parking by the kerb. They stepped out the cars and looked down the long line of shops that covered both sides of the road.

"Okay, there's bound to be something here," Jeanette said, slipping her gun into her holster and tugging on a thin jacket and gloves. Everyone did the same, tucking their jeans into their boots and pulling their gloves on, leaving a minimal amount of skin on display.

"We'll split up," Ross said, holstering his gun and slamming the boot shut. He nodded at the others and let his eyes hang onto Courtney for a moment longer before he turned and walked across the street.

"What happens if dogs come?" Jeanette asked quietly, looking up from the knife in her hand and glancing down at Bethany. Jane and Drew looked at Courtney waiting for an answer, feeling worry start to settle in at Jeanette's question.

"Then," Courtney said, loading her gun, "kill as many as you can and run back to the cars." She swung her leather jacket around and shoved her arms through the sleeves. "But, considering we haven't seen any for miles, I highly doubt we'll run into any." She shrugged and wandered off, making her way towards an empty, trashed store with a bag on her back.

Jane nodded comfortingly at Jeanette and watched as the two girls replied with a nod and made their own way.

"I'm gonna head over there," Drew said, pointing up the street in the direction they had just come in. Jane nodded and followed the direction of his finger.

"There are a lot of shops up there...I'll come with you." She said shyly, smiling up at him from under her wave of orange hair.

"Hey, can you eh..." James looked over his shoulder then back down to his son. "Can you take Ben with you? I just...I've got some things I need to do and..." His eyes darted around, never staying on something for more than a second. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, watching as everyone separated. He had his eyes on the one person he couldn't afford to lose.

Jeanette nodded uncertainly, "Yeah, sure. I can look after him. It'll give Bethany some comfort if she's with a friend." Jeanette said, more to herself than to him. She wasn't entirely relaxed around James and his current state put Jeanette on edge even more. She gave herself a reason in order to avoid second guessing him.

He nodded quickly, shaking his head up and down hard. His eyes were wide and wild, his face restless. "Thanks, thanks." He whispered, looking down to Ben. He knelt down beside the oblivious child who looked so worn and lost and kissed his forehead, whispering words that Jeanette couldn't hear into his ear. Ben nodded and lunged at his father, wrapping his thin arms around James's neck.

James unwrapped his son's arms after a few moments and pushed him gently in Jeanette's direction. He sent her one more thankful nod and smiled down at his son with glistening eyes.

Jeanette's eyes darted down to the outline of the gun that she could see through his thin jumper. She opened her mouth but shook her head, pushing the thoughts out of her head. James had proven himself to be good and kind within the last two weeks. Sure, he was still mourning his wife but it had only been a few weeks, Jeanette was still mourning Clifton and it had almost been a year since he died.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~