“How are you feeling?” I asked quietly.
“I’m okay,” Shawn said. “I wish there was something I could take for the pain. It feels like someone stuck a curling iron into my arm.”
“Is the bullet still in there?” I asked.
Shawn shrugged and winced. “I have no idea.”
“Want me to take a look?” I asked even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to see. It wasn’t like I would have any idea how to get a bullet out of his arm.
“Let’s just get back,” Shawn said. “For now, I’m pretending it didn’t happen.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
He shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I volunteered to go.”
“Not about that,” I said.
He glanced at me. “What are you sorry about?”
“Our fight,” I said. “I’m sorry, I’m a terrible girlfriend.”
“You’re not a terrible girlfriend.” Shawn smiled. “If it makes you feel better, you’re the best girlfriend I ever had.”
“I think that might just make me sad,” I said.
Shawn laughed. “I didn’t have a lot of girlfriends. I do like that you consider yourself my girlfriend, though.”
“After what happened, I’m not sure if I should?”
“You should.” Shawn looked down. It looked like he had more to say but he didn’t continue.
“What are you thinking about?”
He wiped the rain off his face with the back of his hand. “I’ll try to be more understanding. I just want to be as important as everyone else.”
“You are,” I said. “I’m not good at this stuff.”
“You’re really good at taking care of everyone,” Shawn said.
I laughed. “My family is dead. My friend, Jace, is dead. Brooklyn… dead. And now you’re hurt. I’m terrible at this.”
“Things would be so much worse for everyone without you. It’s weird you don’t see everything you’ve accomplished amid this disaster,” Shawn said. He raised his gaze forward. “I wouldn’t have been able to do what you’ve done.”
“Of course you could have,” I said.
“So,” Shawn said giving me a smile that warmed my insides. “You’ll be my girlfriend again?”
My eyes narrowed. “That’s such a strange word to me.”
“Oh, come on,” Shawn said rolling his eyes.
“I never stopped,” I said.
He wrapped his arm around me and gave my shoulders a quick squeeze. “Let me take care of you sometimes too, though, okay?”
“I promise nothing,” I said.
Jake groaned. “If we don’t get a move on, we’re all going to be in trouble and there won’t be anything anyone can do about it.”
If there was anything else Shawn and I needed to discuss, it would have to wait. We needed to get back to the others as fast as we could.
My hair whipped around my face as the storm continued its relentless attack on us. Relief didn’t wash over me like I had hoped when the compound came into view. It hadn’t taken us long to reach home, which probably meant that Henry and Clara had led us in a huge circle. Not paying better attention was only another mistake I’d made. More proof that I wasn’t cut out to lead the group I had.
As we got closer, I noticed something that made my heart uncomfortably skip a beat. The front door to the main house was open.
25
Joss
I grabbed Caleb’s hand as he ran toward the door. “He’ll come back here looking for us.”
“And then he’ll see we’re gone,” Caleb said. “Where do you think he’ll go?”
I couldn’t think.
“Do you think he’ll go to Rex or that other guy?” Caleb asked.
“Marcus?” I said scrunching up my nose at the sour taste of the name.
“Right,” Caleb said placing his hand on my back. He led us to the stairwell. “Which place?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Wait, I have to get Clover!”
“Hurry,” Caleb said.
I dashed into the room, grabbing Clover. Her legs stretched out as if she were trying to hold on to the room.
“Sorry,” I said. “We have to get somewhere safe, okay?”
Her back claws dug into my flesh through my shirt but she settled into my arm as she had many times before.
“Did he seem to lean more one way than the other?” Caleb asked when I rejoined them.
“I think if Jenna wouldn’t be pregnant, he’d go to Marcus,” I said. “But she needs to stay where the doctor is.”
Caleb looked forward. “I don’t think there is going to be much of anything left if this place keeps getting bombed or whatever is causing those fires and explosions.”
“Okay. I think Marcus then,” I said. “He would want to keep us safe. Rex’s army clearly hasn’t kept us safe… right?”
“Sounds good to me,” Caleb said.
“But Caleb,” Jenna said. “I need to be here.”
Caleb turned to her. His shoulders softened but only a bit. “If we stay, there is a good chance we’ll all die.”
Tears rolled down Jenna’s cheeks but she didn’t say another word. She was scared. The severity of our situation had hit her. It may have hit all of us.
On the first floor, several people were gathered in the lobby. They were hugging, mumbling, and staring out of the window, confused by what was happening outside.
“Don’t go out there,” someone said.
“We’re safer in here,” another chimed in.
“Maybe they’re right,” I said looking up into Caleb’s eyes. “We could wait here. Robby will be back any minute. He couldn’t have gone far.”
Something rolled down the sidewalk past the front window. Caleb looked out, narrowing his eyes as it clinked and clanked like a metal chain being dragged along the pavement.
“Oh, no,” Caleb said. He must have spotted what was out there. He
