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“Frick? What day is it?” Jordan eyed his friend, speeding up a bit in order to face him. Yet another day on the road. Jordan smiled at the irony. A month ago, “on the road” would have meant touring. Now? Now it was the living hell of wandering a trail which none of them could figure out where it led to, on little food, less sleep, little protection from the elements, and the constant hell of knowing that they were being hunted.
Bret glanced at his watch, which, he was surprised to discover, still worked. He had been keeping track of the date, finding it his last resort to the normal world, his last tie to sanity. “Three twenty in the afternoon on the twenty-first of May.” his voice was dull, listless. Bret’s eyes were bloodshot, his skin pale. His attempts at boosting spirits had disappeared when Sean had appeared, as if the only reason Bret kept going was so the group didn’t fall to pieces. Now, with his cousin leading the way, Bret no longer had a purpose, so he let himself go.
“Baby? Are you okay?” LeighAnne looked uneasily at her husband, she’d never seen him act like this. Never seen him look this bad. Jordan and Zach threw her looks, it was clear. They wanted to know what was going on as much as she did.
He smiled at her, a smile LeighAnne knew all too well. “I’m fine.” Leigh frowned, why is he lying to me? Is this just an act for the guys? Or does he really expect me to buy that? The blonde sighed, he’d tell her. Soon enough, he’d tell her. That she knew for sure. It seemed to be the only thing she knew for sure.
Sean watched the scene unfold without comment. He realized what was happening. First Bret, then Jordan, Zach, and Zach would drag down Jarred. And if the guys were depressed, there was no way in hell that their wives would be jolly souls. The only problem was that Sean had no idea why his cousin was so down. Usually, he would have more trouble reading the newspaper than guessing what Bret was thinking. The situation seemed to have changed him completely. Bret had always been so open, never trying to hide his feelings, or his need to come to everyone’s rescue. B-rok had never revolted against Sean’s leadership, everyone just accepted it, no challengers. Everything seemed so different here. Could that be what’s bothering him? Sean asked himself. He dismissed the idea as soon as it came to him. Why would he suddenly have the notion to take over? Impossible, don’t know why I thought of it in the first place. He shrugged and moved up to his wife.
“Hey,” he slid his arm around her, craning his neck for some sort of reaction.
Kristen shrugged off his arm, her face watching the scenery unfold before them. “I think the trees are breaking up, there’s light up ahead.” She quickened her pace, passing Jarred and Claudia.
“Kris....” Sean called after her. Kristen took one glance back, and started running up the trail. “Kris! Wait up, Kris!” she only ran faster. Sean growled in frustration, and started jogging. He shoved past a very confused Jarred, and trotted after his wife. “Damn it, Kristen. Hol’ up.”
“What’s going on?” Jordan speed up to meet Jarred, looking to the older man for answers. To his annoyance, Jarred only shrugged.
“Your guess is as good as mine, Jordo.” the Latino turned his head to face a very pissed off Jordan. The latter scowled, and started running after Sean. Jarred followed him, with Mandee and a grumbling Claudia in tow. It wasn’t long before Zach and Amanda figured out that something was up, with LeighAnne and a resistant Bret bringing up the rear.
“Kristen Ashleigh Willaford, I swear to God, if you don’t stop, this instant, I’m gonna, I’m gonna kill you.” Sean gasped, trotting up to Kristen. “Kris? Kristen?” he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the expression on her face. “Wh...what is it?”
She didn’t say a word, just lifted her hand. A slender finger pointed directly ahead. She didn’t need to say anything, the cause of her fright was staring Sean dead in the face. His face paled at the sight of it. His lips parted in a scream, but no sound came out.
Turns out he didn’t need to scream. For the rest of the gang had arrived at that moment, and they had seen the threat. And Jordan was plenty scared. He screamed.