Carrion (The Bren Watts Diaries #1)

Chapter 34

The food storage room was half empty by the time I got dressed and ready. What was supposed to last us four weeks of food divided between thirteen people would only last us barely a week's worth. And Bobby and Natalie took the entire bag of guns and ammo. We were weaponless!

Luckily, I didn't like sleeping without a weapon close to me, so the shotgun was all we had left.

"They clubbed me," said Yousef. He was the person on watch duty for the night. "And they also took the rifle. Sorry, Bren. I should've known something was up when Natalie decides to talk to me, you know? A pretty girl like her...shit. I'm an idiot."

Damn, I spat. One more weapon to go out the window. "Where did they leave? Did you see it?"

"I--I," Yousef mumbled. "Well, they might've taken the backdoor toward the garden and then the alley, maybe? Sorry. I didn't see them escape. I was out like a light after they beat me on the head. I might've heard Natalie laughing and talking about a boat, probably my imagination. I could've sworn there were more of them, though."

"The entrance looked intact," said Logan, jogging toward us from the cathedral's West Front. "I don't' think they took off directly toward the streets. It'd be suicide with all the vectors roaming about outside."

"So the back door, then," I said. I turned to Luke and Felipe and asked, "How many did you see from up there?"

"A dozen? Maybe more?" Luke said.

Felipe interjected, "I counted the same, but we don't have direct access toward the school's roof, so we're blind to how many of those things are outside. Plus, it's dark out, so we can't see clearly."

I nodded, still roiling on the inside that this happened. "Fuck," I said under my breath in frustration. I couldn't hide it from the others any longer. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"I'm sorry, Bren," Yousef frowned.

"No, it's not your fault," I said, trying to console him, though I sounded like I didn't mean it. It didn't make Yousef feel any better, and his frown deepened. I pointed at the wound on his forehead. "Go to Margot. She's back in the storage room with Aria counting what's left of our supplies."

Yousef nodded, glanced worriedly at Luke, and walked away back to the Chapter House's door without a single glance back.

I should've seen it coming. Maybe I was feigning some hope that we could all pull this through together, but the latter seemed impossible. I certainly made it impossible for Bobby to talk to me or for Natalie, but it wasn't like it was a one-way street. They didn't want to be approached by the others either. I couldn't help but think that we pushed them away too far, recklessly causing this plan to snowball into a shit storm.

"Bren," Logan called out, pulling me out of my thoughts. I realized I was staring at the cross by the altar, hanging a nailed Jesus dressed in pure white and a crown of thorns, lost as my mind wandered. "Should we go after them?"

I let out a deep sigh. "They left an hour ago. If they decide to head out on foot, they've at least gained two miles, maybe less than that with all the supplies they had to carry--"

"Unless they got a car," Luke interrupted.

I whirled around and narrowed my eyes at him. "You know something?"

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "Well, Bobby's been sneaking out back the past few days, well, ever since before we ventured out into the school."

"Why the hell am I only hearing about this for the first time? We know the rules. No one goes out alone unless we all agree and know about it."