Broken

Chapter 14

The ride to the store was silent, and I was fine with that. We reached the store and entered with grave looks on our faces. I was beginning to piece together the fact that Seth had witnessed some horrible things like this. Charles came up and began talking with Hank.

Lux greeted us and saw my pale, distraught face. He reached out to me but Charles tackled him. Lux and Charles flew back and landed on the ground, hard. Seth pulled me back as I tried to run over, shocked. I glanced back at him and he shook his head. Hank watched sadly and gripped my shoulder. Lux shouted at Charles,

"What the *, man?!"

Hank's face tightened. "Lux! Control your language. Just because Charles says it doesn't mean that's right to say. You... you need to stay away from Beth, from the boy... from me."

Lux furrowed his brow. "Dad, what's going on?"

"We... we might be contaminated."

My stomach did a flip and I grabbed it. Does this mean I could turn into an insane person? I could feel Seth's grip on me tighten. I looked back at Hank.

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll keep ourselves in isolation, in the clothes section. Charles will guard us, and if we start to turn, he shoots us."

I squeezed my eyes shut and willed my stomach to not give the floor my breakfast. Seth released me, and I almost crumple on the floor. He grabbed me and supported me as we began to walk away. I could feel Lux's jealous stare burn us, but I didn't care. I was more concerned about Cassie. I wanted to see her... and tell her it was going to be okay. I wanted to tell her that I wouldn't turn insane. But, I couldn't guarantee that.

Hank, Seth, and I made our way to the clothing section, with Charles following at a safe distance. He took all our weapons and bags. I felt so naked without my bat and knife. I didn't give him my concealed one, and Seth raised an eyebrow at that. But, he didn't say anything, and I'm very grateful he didn't. I honestly didn't know what was going to happen, but I didn't want to go into this completely defenseless. Seth casually glanced down at his boot, and I knew he was still armed as well. I suppressed a smile and followed Hank down another row of a wasted clothes section. We sat down, and watched the wall in silence.

The part where we just sit there is boring, so I'll tell you about the store, which was pretty wrecked. The clothing section is completely destroyed. Torn pants, shirts, undergarments, and socks were strewn about the area. The shelves and hangers were either about to fall or already on the ground. The dressing room doors were hanging by one hinge or bashed in. I knew there were dead bodies in the dressing rooms; I could smell them. The entire store looked like a tornado came through.

I clutched Ashley's bow close to my chest and squeezed my eyes shut. Pain suffocated me and I gasped for air, opening my eyes wide. Hank shot me a look. My eyes were huge and I was breathing heavily. I fought the urge to scream and cry. I shut my eyes again and took a very deep breath. I looked at the bow again and smiled. For the short time Ashley was on earth, she had made a difference in my life, somehow.

We sat there for hours. Nothing seemed to happen to us. Charles watched us, trying not to fall asleep. I spoke up.

"How long are we gonna do this?"

Charles shrugged. "I dunno."

I slouched. "Gosh."

"Sorry, Beth. We want to be safe."

"No no. I understand."

"Beth..."

"Just, leave me alone. I'm sorry I asked."