Walking Amongst Them (Among Us, Book 2)

threat

It wasn't bad until the sky opened up and it began to snow. At first the icy cold flakes weren't bothersome, but as the day fell to night and the wind picked up speed, the cold could no longer be ignored.

We had started walking not long after everyone agreed that we wanted to go to the quarantine. It was a matter of packing up our bags, differently this time as we planned to walk to our destination rather than drive. Each of us got a few food items and had to decide what we really needed.

I'd chosen to bundle up in the clothes, adorning extra layers rather than leave any of them behind. It had made me sweat in the beginning, but as soon as the wind picked up I had considered myself grateful. Everyone had some type of bag that they carried, and Abby's, though it was the smallest, was stuffed the fullest.

Nobody wanted to be the one to tell her that toys weren't important enough to bring along.

We walked in mostly silence. Heads tucked down against the cold as we went along, searching for a dry- if not warm, place to sleep for the night. Though I would never complain out loud, my feet were sore and my legs felt like they were shaking from more than just the cold. My teeth weren't the only ones that chattered as we continued along.

Our group had passed several places that would have been suitable to stop and stay at, but we'd collectively decided that we wanted to make the most of the daylight, stopping only when our source of light ran out and we had few other choices.

I traveled in the middle of our pack. Ben and Adam took up the rear while Clarke and Sam argued mildly about the map she'd drawn for us based off of the graffiti on the walls of the gas station. I didn't understand the map, but they somehow knew not just how to read it, but how to follow it in the real world.

Leo walked next to Michael and Abby, ever the guardian. Trish was near the front but a few paces back, and Beck was just behind me. It made it difficult to not want to check behind me, to spare him a glance. I didn't want to be caught looking, whatever implications it might imply.

So there we were, walking at a steady pace as we tried to get to our destination. The map had said three days, but did that mean three days at a pace of our large group, or three days at the pace of one or two people? I had too many questions and no one to answer, it was starting to drive me mad.

"I think I see a place there, just up ahead. Looks like a barn or something," Sam was saying as he allowed Clarke to take the piece of paper and mark something on it.

Nobody responded to him though. The wind had shifted and was blowing at our faces, pushing the little white wet snowflakes into our eyes and forcing the cold air up our noses. I could see every exhale of breath I made. Little clouds of steamed air amidst the cold.

We kept walking. A few moments after Sam's promise of shelter, Abby coughed and I could hear her small voice as she told Michael she was tired. He sighed, and everyone behind him slowed their footsteps as he moved his bag from the back of his body to the front, and picked up his little sister to hold on his back.

Clarke noticed that we'd fallen behind first, and she tugged on Sam's sleeve. As we waited for Michael to get situated, Leo brushed up against my leg. I leaned down and scratched behind his ear, but instead of his usual grunt of approval, he growled.

My hand stilled in his fur, and while I wasn't afraid of him, a small part of my brain was responsible for me snatching my hand away as if it were on fire. Leo lowered his head a little, staring into the shadows around us.

The road we traveled on had too many cars to be maneuvered around to make the trek by car itself. Too many roadblocks that would need to be moved somehow. On either side of the road, trees lined the path.  In some places the trees were thinner than others, but in our particular spot, and with the sun finally over the horizon, it was hard to see.