Broken

Chapter 19

It was still raining. It matched my mood, if that made any difference. I tried to shield Cassie's body from getting wet. Her eyes were still open, staring emptily at the sky. I looked around and saw that we were in the same neighborhood that we found with Charles. I started running away from the building we were in and towards the woods. As I ran past the house we had stayed in, I saw dead bodies litter the ground. There was a trail. I turned around and saw Seth right behind me. When he caught up, I said,

"Those bodies must have been from Charles. Should we follow them?"

Seth nodded and started following the trail of death. We remained completely silent on our journey. The silence lasted 2 hours until I couldn't take it and I began to cry again. It was a silent cry, and I don't think Seth heard me, probably because he was three feet ahead of me.

We reached a neighborhood after another hour of walking in painful silence. I saw a light flicker in a house in a cul-de-sac adjacent to us. We began to walk cautiously towards the house.

I was still holding Cassie and her dead weight- no, not dead weight- her precious body was beginning to get heavy as we neared the house. I readjusted her and felt a bullet wiz by my shoulder. Seth and I froze. The window at the top of the house was open and a sniper was obviously up there. The sniper called out,

"Drop your weapons."

Seth growled and tightened his grip on the shotgun. The sniper noticed that we didn't move. She yelled something into the house and got a muffled response back. The sniper's shadow turned back to us.

"I'm sending someone out. Don't take any more steps towards this house or I'll shoot again."

I heard a slight sob escape her throat as she shined a light on us.

"Oh gosh... Oh my *."

She had seen Cassie. Seth cocked his shotgun and aimed at the door. I just hid behind him, trying to conceal Cassie from the sniper's bright light. It made her seem less alive.

Two men exited the house with their guns raised. The sniper yelled,

"Stop! Hank, it's the kids!"

Seth and I started taking cautious steps towards the men at the door. A little boy ran out with a lantern and I knew it was Dexter. My eyes widened and I screamed,

"Look away, Dexter!"

Dexter didn't hear me. He saw me, carrying Cassie's innocent body. He saw her blood all over my hands and face. He saw Seth's beat up face and wounds. He ran back into the house, screaming and crying. The men lowered their weapons and stepped into the light. Sure enough, Hank and Charles stood in front of us, faces painted with horror. I looked down at Cassie and allowed a few tears to fall. Seth's face tightened and he walked into the house briskly. I knew he was upset; I could see it in his eyes.

Hank walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. He looked into my eyes and I looked into his. No words were spoken, just the unbearable pain that we both shared. He took my elbow and helped me into the house. Charles shut the door behind me and watched me closely.

Carrie and Danielle were sitting on a couch in the living room with Benjamin, Gigi, the baby girl, and now Dexter, who was crying. Mary Grace pounded down the stairs to my left and skidded to a stop next to me. Her eyes filled with tears as Carrie and Danielle gasped. Everyone was silent. The silence was about to make me go insane, so I said,

"We-we have to bury her."

Hank rubbed my shoulder. "Of course, Beth."

I held back tears as I looked at Cassie, who was even more lifeless than before. A small sob escaped my throat and I lost it. I fell to my knees and wept. It was the ugliest weeping ever. My tears cleaned some of my bloody face and fell onto Cassie's face.

After a long while, Charles entered the room with a sheet. Hank knelt beside me.

"Beth, can we... can we wrap her up?"

I stroked her face. "She's happier now, isn't she?"

Hank said softly, "She's probably with Lux right now."

I sniffled. "I-I can't wrap her up."

Charles knelt on my other side. "It's okay. We can."

Their eyes were filling with tears also as they waited for my answer. I slumped with defeat and kissed Cassie on the forehead for the last time. Mary Grace held me as Charles and Hank gently laid Cassie on the sheet and carefully wrapped her body. I reached for her weakly, but Mary Grace held me back.

"Shhh, Beth. It's okay. Shhhh," she whispered soothingly into my ear.

She said something else but I couldn't hear her as I began to sob. They left me there and didn't get me until hours later. Someone took my arm and helped me up. They led me through the house to a bed, where they aided me in getting into it. I shut my eyes and the nightmares attacked me.