Midnight Disaster ~FINALIST Watty Awards 2012~

Chapter 29 (Revised 4/11/2020)

Cameron grasped my hand, pulling me not so subtly out of the spotlight. His face was creased in the way it was when he had something he really wanted to say. When we reached our sleeping spot, he let go of me.

I stared hard into his eyes, not knowing what to expect. Somehow though, I knew I wouldn't like it.

"You can do this, Maya," he said, voice brimming with the same hope that had been in Kelly's.

I frowned. Who was he kidding? Out there, I had barely been able to save myself. "If I could do anything to stop this, wouldn't I have when Miles first snapped?"

Cameron sighed, lifting his hands to rub his temples before he dropped them, looking at me through half-lidded eyes. "We could play the blame game all day for what happened with Miles, but the truth is, you were in shock. We all were, but it's worn off now."

"That doesn't change anything," I said. "We barely made it back inside, Cameron. Don't you remember? We weren't in shock twenty minutes ago."

Cameron waved his hand from side to side. "Well..."

I jutted out my lip into a pout. "I'm going to get myself killed is what's going to happen." That was the only logical ending I could see. I wasn't a hero. Not when I first stumbled into those woods and found Milo, and certainly not now.

"The only thing wrong with you is there attitude. When we were trapped out there, I saw the real you, Maya. The one that they're depending on. The one who is determined, smart and brave. If anyone can save this town from that hell, it's you. I mean, do you really thing anyone else in here can do even half of what you have?"

For a minute his words touched my heart...could it really be my destiny to save our town? I had never thought I was anything special, but as far as the survivors went, I seemed to be the only one willing to take chances. Would that really be enough though?

Pain flooded through my arm from the bite Miles had given me as if to remember that my bravery still came at a price.

"Do you really mean that?" I whispered, peering up at him cautiously as if I thought eye contact of any kind might make him change his mind.

"I do," he replied, voice firm. "Don't forget that I'm always here for you no matter what."

He had proved as much so far. Going outside with me had been a crazy plan, but he had stuck by my side regardless. It was hard to find loyalty like that, and I was grateful I had his.

"I do too," a voice said from behind me.

I jumped, turning to see Clarissa. Her usually straight black hair was a tangled mess that hung in clumps around her head and her normally pale face was flushed with pink. There were two deep, twin tear marks running down her face, and her eyes were puffy and swollen.

The past twelve hours had been just as hard to her as they had for me. Maybe harder.

"I'll stand by you two until the end," she continued looking between me and Cameron. In the low light, her light eyes shone past her swollen pink eyelids.

The determination in her voice, that seriousness, was not something I was used to hearing from her, but it hit me in a way that Cameron's affirmations hadn't.

I didn't want to ask the question at the front of my brain, but I knew that I wouldn't feel peace if I didn't. "Even after what we did?" I asked quietly, eyes on the floor. I didn't want to see her face as she processed the words.

Clarissa didn't answer at first. Eventually, I peered up through my lashes to see her stick her tongue in her cheek before at last she said, "You guys mean the world to me. I can't hate you over something you didn't do. You didn't know that Cory would die. You didn't know that any of this would happen. You're just as much victims as the rest of us and fighting you won't help us get out of this situation."

I stared at her for a second, and that was all the time it took for my composure to break. I reached out, pulling her tiny body against mine. "I'm glad we're friends again," I said into her ear. Her hair stuck to the tears on my cheeks.

She squeezed me in response, and a moment later, we pulled away. She sniffled and reached up, wiping each side of her face with her palm before she folded her arms over her chest. "So what's the plan?"

Cameron and I exchanged a glance, our momentary happiness gone again. We didn't have a plan, and that was the problem.

Cameron must've sensed my hesitation because he said, "We don't know."

I winced instantly, peering at Clarissa from the corner of my eye.

Clarissa was frowning, just as I suspected. "There's only three of them, right? How hard could it be?"

"Turns out very," I said quickly, rolling my shoulder to bring her eyes to the bite there. "And we don't know how many more are lying in wait."

Clarissa tucked her lip in her teeth. "Do you think...we're the only survivors?"

"In the entire town?" I asked.

She nodded, face grim.

I didn't want to answer that because either way, it was depressing. The thought that there were other bunkers with survivors was wonderful until I imagined them falling one by one.

Clarissa blinked, eyes darting from Cameron to me one more time before she turned on her heels to walk away.

I watched her go, stung by the movement. Had we somehow offended her again without meaning to?

"Where are you going?" Cameron called after her.

"I'm going to check something out," she called in response.

I was tensed and ready to dart after her, positive that she meant she was going to go outside. I relaxed though when she padded up to the window, peering through the boards. It wasn't long before her body tensed, attention focused on something. Less than a minute later, she returned to our side.

"What is it?" I asked.

For a moment, she didn't speak, just stared at us through wide eyes. "They're everywhere," she said at last.

"How many of them did you see?" Cameron demanded.

"Ten or eleven at least," she replied flatly, reaching up to run a hand through her knotted hair. "I didn't exactly count them, but you were right in saying we shouldn't go outside."

Cameron's face went paper-white, and I hoped he wouldn't faint though I couldn't say I blamed him. I was sure my own face had lost what little bit of color it had had. This fight had been bad enough when it was just Miles, Doontron, and Kalma. That was nothing compared to what waited for us now.