Evermore - Troy Otto

five

     "Ethan, no!" Evelyn's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?!"

     "What other choice do we have, Ev? If we stay, we'll die!" Ethan roughly slid the door to the balcony open. "We're only on the second floor, I'll go first."

"Oh my god, Ethan," Evelyn's hands pulled at her hair. She had never felt more stressed and scared in her entire life. She felt like she'd vomit up everything she'd eaten in the past three weeks at any moment.

"Ev," he took a break from his frantic tying of the bedsheets to the railing to comfort his friend. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "You cannot panic now, seriously. We're gonna make it out alive, I just need you to help me. Got it?"

Evelyn took a deep breath. She knew she had to be brave, or she would die. She didn't want to die, but she never knew how hard it was to be brave until there were dozens of cannibals clawing at her door. "Got it," her voice was unbelievably shaky, but she continued, "What do you need me to do?"

"I'm gonna tie the bedsheets to the railing as tight as I can, that's how we get down. You're gonna hold onto it in case it can't hold my weight. Then you'll go."

     "Ethan, these are bedsheets. What if they really don't hold your weight? Then what?" Evelyn spoke softly as she tried to calm her racing heart, the eerie groaning and pounding suddenly becoming louder.

     Ethan gave her a weary look. "This is our only option, Ev," his hands moved to cup her flushed cheeks, "I'm going to get us out of here."

     "Okay," she nodded, avoiding eye contact. She was scared out of her mind, but she had to remind herself that if they didn't leave, they'd most certainly die. With the way things were sounding, the door was going to give in any minute now. "Let's go."

     Ethan grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside, the atmosphere feeling way too calm considering the horrors threatening their lives just on the other side of the door. "Lean down and hold on tight. Okay?" after seeing the way Evelyn nodded mindlessly, Ethan felt the need to provide her some more comfort. He pulled her close to his body, one hand wrapping around her waist while he cradled her head with the other. "We're going to be okay, Evelyn. But I need you to be strong."

Evelyn nodded against his body. "Strong," she took a deep breath and repeated.

"Strong."

"Go," she pulled back and nodded toward the sheet supposed to help them escape. "I'll hold on. Tight."

"Good, Ev," Ethan let her go and walked away. He felt the pit in his stomach grow deeper as he looked down. Of course, he was afraid, but he had to be strong too. Evelyn's support. her her-being came before his, always. He had to make sure she was safe, so that's what he was going to do. He was going to take her back to the ranch, and anybody who wanted to give her a hard time would have to deal with him first. "Remember, tight."

"Got it," Evelyn gulped and nodded. She tried her best to find a way to push her fear to the side and ignore it, she just wanted to get this whole thing over with. Her shaky hands clasped themselves around the thin sheets as her best friend climbed over the railing. She was practically running on autopilot. She only realized he had lowered himself onto it when she felt the bedsheet slightly tug her forward. The pounding at the door somehow became even louder as Ethan lowered himself some more.

"Keep holding on, Ev," his voice sounded strained, like he was trying not to do anything too sudden so the sheet wouldn't tear.

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Alright!" the pounding became much louder and she realized that the door was soon going to open. "I think they're going to open the door, E!"

Ethan tensed up at her words. "What's happening?" he asked, not wanting to rush and end up injuring himself.

     Evelyn finally got the courage to look behind her. The door had finally given in to all the abuse and opened, causing her to flinch. The only thing that stopped the infected from opening it entirely was the privacy latch. "They opened it, Ethan! Hurry!"

     Ethan cursed under his breath and immediately began moving. "Once you hear me hit the ground, you have to get moving!" Ethan struggled to keep his grip. Evelyn struggled to maintain her nerves and keep calm. It was only a matter of time until they broke through the latch and the barrier Ethan had rushed to make.

     Evelyn was yanked out of her terrified trance at the sound of a thud. Ethan hit the ground. She wasted no time in shooting up to make sure he was okay. He fell onto his back. "You okay?" she asked while climbing over the railing like Ethan did only a couple minutes prior.

     "Yeah," he groaned, trying to sit up as fast as he could to show Evelyn he was fine. "Hurry, Ev!" they both heard the sound of the latch popping off of the door, making Evelyn quickly lower herself down and grab onto the bedsheet without even thinking. She held on tight and was far too afraid to move. "Come on, Ev. if anything happens, I'll break your fall," the boy ignored the dull pain shooting throughout his body and stood. His words didn't reassure her much, but she knew she had to get moving.

     She lowered herself little by little, letting out a fearful yelp when she felt the knot connecting to bedsheet to the metal of the railing begin to loosen. "Ethan!" she called out his name and froze.

"Come on, Ev! Keep going!" he shouted from below her. He felt helpless watching her freeze and hold on, scared for her life.

She let out a terrified cry. The dead continued to push against the wooden furniture used to barricade the entrance. She pulled herself down some more, tears slipping as she felt how unstable it became. She clung to it as much as she could.

"I'm here, Ev. Let go."

Ethan must've been absolutely insane if he thought she was just going to let herself fall.

"It's not as high as you think it is, I promise!"

"I don't want to hurt myself, Ethan!" she yelled back at him.

"I'll break your fall, just let go!"

The sound of the furniture scraping against the floor was enough to bring Evelyn to her senses. She took a deep breath and let go.

It only took a split second for her to hit the ground. She landed on her feet but fell backwards the same way Ethan did, taking him back down with her. Though she felt the pain in her back and tailbone, she was immediately relieved. They finally got out of that hotel room. "We gotta go, Ev," Ethan stood from his spot in the grass. Evelyn let him grab onto her wrist and pull her to his car.

     The two were quiet now, most likely still in shock from whatever it was that just happened. Ethan had sped off. He wanted nothing more than to get as far as way from that hotel as he possibly could.

     "We're about three hours out," Ethan broke their shared silence, "are you ready?"

     Evelyn knew what he was insinuating. "No," she answered truthfully and let out a humorless chuckle.

     "I'm sorry, Ev," he reached over to grab her hand, "this is just what's safest."

     "I know," she looked down, feeling anxious about what was to come. She needed a break after everything that had happened just that morning, but the time was ticking. She only had three hours.

a/n
heyyyy everybody!!!
sorry it's been literally
so long i've been so busy
and stressed out like more
than i've ever been before
but i finally got to update!!!
so yeah sorry if this chapter
turned out really bad i'm trying
to get back into the swing of
things and the writing life so
please excuse this. maybe i'll end
up rewriting but i probably won't
tbh lol. anyways  publishing this at
midnight because that's my brand.
goodnight and hope you enjoyed!!!
wc: 1400
02.12.23