In My Blood (Completed)

CHAPTER 13: Parting Ways

Unsurprisingly, things in the cabin were tense after the truth about Beca and Chloe came to light. Although there had been no further fights on the topic, Aubrey had retreated into stony silence and went about most of her daily projects on her own, while Jesse had been brooding and standoffish from most of the group. One bright spot was that the rain finally relented, so everyone made the most of the relief of being able to get out of the cabin and engage in productive tasks, rather than stifling in the oppressive awkwardness that permeated their inhabited space.

The ceasing of the rain brought in a more pronounced chill of autumn, and there was a crisp newness in the air as clouds rolled away and dappled sunlight streamed through the trees that surrounded the cabin. While walking the perimeter with Cynthia Rose one day, Chloe had an abbreviated but productive conversation with her about everything that had transpired. There hadn't been much space for them to have a one-on-one discussion before, but just as Stacie reassured them, it quickly became apparent that Cynthia Rose didn't hold any ill will towards them for keeping a secret from the rest of the group. In fact, even once they'd finished talking and lapsed into comfortable silence as they walked, Cynthia Rose proved to be a reliably steady, comforting presence at her side.

Emily had been more of an undertaking to deal with, but it had largely been for the reasons that they already suspected. When Chloe managed to steal a private moment with the younger girl, Emily was still withdrawn and hesitant; she'd always been emotionally driven and receptive to whatever mood settled over the group at any given time, and Chloe related to her on that. It was a more prolonged talk, but with time, Chloe was able to reassure her that they hadn't meant to keep secrets with any malicious intent, and that she wasn't going to hold grudges towards anyone in the group or let it affect the way she treated the rest of them. The group was the only family that Emily knew at this point, so Chloe reassured her that wasn't going to change.

After a few days' time, it was generally agreed upon that they needed to keep moving. Although they hadn't encountered anyone, human or clicker alike, stumbling across their small cabin and clearing, that wasn't any guarantee that they were safe. After the attack on the mansion, none of them were willing to trust to the fact that they hadn't seen any overt threats so far. It was a relatively simple matter to pack up their few belongings and carry everything back to their vehicles--they'd lived this way for so long that being ready to move at a moment's notice was second nature by now.

It was slow going on the road for a while. They were now all in unfamiliar territory, so they stopped at intervals to scout for signs of nearby settlements or quickly scrounge for supplies. It was late on their second full day of traveling that they finally had a stroke of luck: they spotted a car pulling out of a long-abandoned parking lot and heading up a slightly wooded road into what seemed to be a more residential area. They followed the car from a safe, inconspicuous distance, and after some careful scouting ahead, a fortified settlement rose up among the trees in the distance.

There were armed guards on watch along the wall, just as there had been at the last settlement where they'd attempted to find shelter. This time, however, the guards didn't seem so quick to draw their guns at the first sight of vehicles in the distance; they were alert, but hostility didn't emanate from them as it had with the other guards before.

Cynthia Rose was at the wheel of the truck, and she pulled up short on the road that led up to the settlement. Shifting the rumbling truck into park, she rolled her window down to catch the attention of the rest of their small caravan. Propping her arm up on the windowsill of the truck, she glanced over at Chloe and Emily in the vehicle with her before leaning her head out of the open window to call to the rest of their group.

"What do y'all think? Wanna give it a shot?" It went unspoken, but they all knew it was the best chance they'd seen in a while. "If nothing else, they might let us crash here for the night or something."