Page 90 of Madness & Mayhem
I nod, sniffling through my frozen nose. We continue walking, Reign keeping his arm around me. The numbness goes away and pain comes back, an almost burning roar that rolls through my limbs.
“Something’s up here,” Kyler says a short while later.
They speed up, the snow kicking behind their shoes as they race toward the building up ahead. I glance at the small cabin. Lights up ahead and a clearing in the trees show a small town up ahead, but this small cabin looks as if it’s planted on the edge of town.
Next to the cabin is a small shed, but it doesn’t look broken down in any form. If anything, it looks like it’s almost in a better condition than the cabin itself.
“Let’s go warm up in here,” Archer says, pivoting toward the shed. We pick up our pace and make our way toward the door. Kyler grabs onto it, pulling it with all his strength. It barely budges. Archer rushes over, kicking the snow out of the way. Both of them grab onto the large handle. It takes them a few pulls, but eventually, the wooden door groans, and it begins pulling open.
It’s a storage shed of sorts, with large equipment as well as a few bales of hay.
Archer’s palm slams against the wall and the light flickers on.
“It’s still cold in here,” Eloise whimpers.
Archer chuckles. “Warmer than it is outside. Just relax a few, let’s warm up, then keep moving.”
I hobble over to a bale of hay and sit down, my legs thumping with unease. Posie comes up beside me, hopping up and sitting down. “It’s cold as hell out there,” she shivers.
“Here,” Kyler says, walking over and shrugging off his backpack. He unzips the top, pulling out a bottle of wine from bottom of the bag. “Brought this to warm us up.”
I let out a groan, scrunching my hands as I reach for it. “Why didn’t you tell me about this miles ago!”
He shrugs. “I forgot about it until we got in here.”
I shake my head, my frozen fingers pulling the cork out of the top. The wine is cold, and I tilt the bottle to my lips, tasting the sweet, smooth liquid as it slides down my throat. I drop it down to my thighs, and Posie instantly reaches for it, lifting it to her lips.
“How much longer?” Eloise says from the ground. Wet, cold dirt brushes onto her leggings, but she doesn’t care, pure exhaustion covering her face.
Reign moves to the small window, glancing at the moon. “It’s about one in the morning. We have about five hours left.”
“Five hours?” Eloise whines, flopping onto her back. “I’m not going to make it.”
“You can stay here and we can come back for you,” Archer suggests.
Eloise barks out a laugh. “No, thank you. Something will happen and then I’ll be stranded here forever with no idea how to get anywhere.”
Posie hands the bottle off to Kyler, who takes his own sip.
Click, click.
The door bursts open, an old man in pajama pants and an oversized hat stares at us fiercely, a large shotgun in his hand.
Pointed right at Reign.
“I knew I heard my barn door open. Been watching the news all night, and the moment I heard sounds outside my house I just knew. I knew you no-good hoodrats were causing a stir. Now, the real question is, do I ask for a reward, or do I just send you all to them dead?”
The gun wobbles slightly as it moves to Archer. Archer lifts his hands in the air. “Whoa.”
The tip of the gun glides across the room, stopping on every person for a second before it lands on me. “And you. The little murderer. All of you are murderers!” he slurs, his voice one of rage, absolutely livid and possibly a little intoxicated.
My eyes slide to Eloise’s, who still lays on the ground. Her fingers dig into the dirt and she slowly shoves herself up. The old man notices, waving his gun toward her.
“Don’t move!” he roars, spittle flying from his mouth.
Eloise freezes, her hands flying into the air. She lets out a small whimper, her eyes wide, her flushed cheeks quickly losing their color.
“Let us go and we won’t hurt you,” Reign growls.