Cross My Hart and Hope to Die

Chapter 3

I was startled awake to a scraping sound. A hand came down over my mouth. Rowan put his finger to his lips then gestured for me to wake up Ryder. The three of us peered over the short wall of the roof. Down below were clearly three biters. Two men and one woman. They were covered in blood with chunks of skin and meat missing from their body parts.

We slowly sank back out of sight. "What are we going to do?" Ryder whispered. "We have to get back inside the building."

"We need to search the other sides. Make sure there aren't any more of them. Then one by one, we'll climb down the ladder. Have one stay up top as the lookout until the last possible moment." Rowan was clearly stepping up to take charge. Neither Ryder nor I were going against him.

"I'll stay as the lookout." I immediately volunteered and was immediately shot down. "I can handle myself." I reminded them. Neither one would hear it. I stared into ocean blue eyes, only to tear myself away and look into stormy grey ones. "Fine, I won't argue, but both of you better make it inside without being attacked or I'll kill you myself."

Ryder chuckled but Rowan stayed quiet. We inched around the roof, scanning all four sides of the building. The only biters in the area were the three out front. Okay. Go time. Rowan went first. He quickly slid down the ladder, probably a trick he learned from his military days. He checked around both sides before motioning me to join him. I climbed down and waited by the back door.

The plan was to only open it once, and get us all inside together. We waited. Ryder's face appeared over the edge in a panic. "Get inside! They're coming around, fast."

Rowan didn't give me time to protest. He opened the door and shoved me inside just as the first one rounded the side of the building. Opening its mouth, it let out a guttural scream. Rowan slammed the door behind us and locked it. I pulled against him, trying to get by.

"Ryder is still out there! We can't just leave him!" I growled out.

Rowan grabbed both my wrists and shoved me against the freezer door. "If you go out there, you will die or worse, become one of them. For now, Ryder is safe. I don't think those things have enough brain function to remember how to climb."

"You don't know that for sure!" I hissed back at him.

Big John and the others came running through the kitchen door to see what was going on. His dark face turned red, which I didn't know was possible. He grabbed a pan and started to swing at Rowan.

"Wait! Big John." I sighed and looked into Rowan's eyes. "He was just stopping me from killing myself."

Rowan studied my face a little bit longer before letting me go. Big John still didn't look appeased. "What do you mean stopped you from killing yourself? And where the hell have y'all been? Where is Ryder?"

"We were on the roof. There's three biters outside. Rowan and I managed to get back in, but Ryder is still stuck on the roof. He's okay... for now." I hung my head.

"Fucking whore." Ethan spat out. "Couldn't be satisfied with one guy but you had to take two with you? Now my best friend is out there trapped and possibly dead."

The sound of the pan clanging to the floor was followed closely by flesh hitting flesh. Big John knocked Ethan to the floor. He sat up, a little disoriented. Big John grabbed the collar of his shirt. "Don't you ever speak ill of my girl again. Either of my girls. I've tolerated your mouth and your attitude thus far because Angel seems to genuinely like you, but if you ever disrespect Atalia or Angel, I'll gut you like stuck pig. Do you understand me?"

My heart swelled just a bit. I know Angel said he viewed me like a daughter, but I didn't believe it. Not until right then. Ethan nodded and mumbled out a 'yes sir.'