Beyond the Walls

Chapter 29

The screeches of the beasts send my heart on a race, beating blood through my veins and fuelling my legs. I drive my feet into the ground as we sprint towards the forest.

"Elle!" Killian screams, his voice strangled as a beast grabs his arm, plunging nails into his flesh. We skid to a stop and spin around. The beast throws his head back, opens his mouth and his teeth sink into Killian's shoulder. He screams. I pull out my sword and stab the beast in the temple, death cutting his shriek short, and he collapses onto Killian. Just as I kick the beast off, more descend. Grappling at my arms, nails scratching my skin and pulling at my hair, I slash my sword into each of them. Killian scrambles to his feet with his hand clamped on his spilling wound. He sprints away as I continue to kill them. Spinning on my heel and yanking my wrist from someone's claw grip, I run. The beasts screech and curdle. We run until the shadows of the forest engulf us and the beasts lose our trail.

At last, we stumble to a stop. Black and crimson blood coats Killian's shoulder and soaks his shirt. It drains his face of colour and his knees buckle. I swing my backpack from my shoulder, yanking out a red bandana. Kneeling in front of him, I press the material to the bites, and he whines, sucking in air. I grab the small bottle of rubbing alcohol and splash the wounds without a warning, earning a yelp from Killian. I wrap the bandana around his neck, tying a bow.

"Well," Aston breaks the silence. "That was terrible."

"We almost got killed," I say.

"Thank you, Elle," Killian murmurs, curling his fingers around my wrist and I resist the urge to jerk away.

"Look, you were bleeding and pale," I tell him. "I couldn't just ignore that."

He breathes a laugh. "You're a good person."

A smile tugs at my mouth. "Sometimes," I say.

I slip my hand into my pocket, pulling out the photo of the little girl and her father. It flaps in the wind and I squint at the girl who smiles back and my palms sweat. "What happened to them?"

Ruben looks at the photo and grimaces. "If I could kill him again... I'd consider it."

"We don't know who's responsible," I say.

"It will find its way back to me," he says. "It always does. The second had guilt is eating me alive, Elle."

"Hey now." I pull him into my chest and kiss his forehead. His body shudders as his eyes fixate on the photo in his hand. "Someone very evil is responsible, but you have a beautiful heart. It's not your fault."

"We can't help who we were born into, Ruben," Aston chimes. "I was born into a poor family who couldn't afford to feed me. I fought for my right for food. You can fight for your character."

"Thanks, Aston." He smiles and sits. "So, this alliance. We won't stand a chance of getting to the last city on foot."

"We need the train," I say. "But it goes too fast for us to just jump onboard."

Ruben chews his lip. "We need to return to the city. Hide in the rubble wall until the train stops and we sneak onboard."

"I cannot imagine that the beasts will have retreated to their cave," I say, spinning my dagger in the dirt and digging a hole.

"Should we go back?" Killian asks, eyes darting between us. "Go back home, I mean."

"What? We can't go home when Edward is threatening it," I say. "We need to keep going."

"We will just have to arm ourselves until we're in the train," Aston says. "We don't have a choice unless we want to be hiking for days."

I stop fidgeting with the dagger and pull out my pack of food. "Let's aim for the front carriage." Peeling open a nut bar, I bite the corner. "That way we can get rid of the rest of the train if need."