Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(5)
Author: Erica Stevens

"Should we try going up?" Bret asked as he studied the ruined blockade before the exit ramp. Somehow, perhaps with pulleys and ropes, it appeared that the survivors had at one point stacked the cars on top of each other. Those things had come down that ramp and torn through the barricade with enough force to scatter the cars like a bomb had exploded beneath them.

I was eager to get out of this tunnel, but I was less than thrilled with the prospect of going up that exit ramp. Death awaited us up there I was certain of it. "I don’t think that’s a good idea," Bishop’s gray eyes were large and troubled behind his Lennon style glasses as he studied the ramp.

Abby began to shake against me as her hand wrapped around my arm. "I agree," I said.

The matter seemed to be settled as Darnell and Lloyd moved ahead again to scout the tunnel with the rest of us steadily following behind. It was a good ten minutes before we came across the obstruction in the tunnel. My heart sank as I stared at the jumbled pile before us. The bottom layer was made up of at least ten to fifteen cars. Some of the vehicles had been tipped on their sides while others were completely upside down. On top of them had been heaped bikes, sinks, toilets, bed frames and mattresses. Twisted pieces of metal, rebar, and steel beams rounded out the assortment of materials comprising the makeshift wall.

"What the…?" Aiden’s voice trailed off.

"We’re going to have to dig our way through." Darnell didn’t look at all pleased by the notion.

"What’s on the other side though?" Molly asked.

I crept closer to the mound of junk. It had taken them awhile to do this, and then they had abandoned it. But why had they left? Why had they done this? Where had they gone and what was on the other side?

I took a step away from the mounded rubble and doubled back to the bend in the tunnel. A sudden thought occurred to me as I peered around the corner. "What if it wasn’t people that built the barricades? What if it was them? What if they built it to keep people from using the tunnel as an escape route?"

They all stared at me for awhile before turning back to the pile. "You think those creatures would be capable of doing this?" Jenna inquired.

I looked toward Cade for an answer but he was keenly studying the pile with his hand resting against a beam. "I think they’re capable of anything," I answered.

"That they are, but they didn’t do this," Cade informed us as he stepped away from the pile. "It was built by humans; there are dirty handprints on some of these things, and footprints all over the ground." He flashed his light over the old prints that marked the floor, and some of the materials in the pile that had handprints on them. "It’s going to take awhile to dig through all of this."

"Are we sure we want to?" Molly wrapped her hand around Aiden’s arm as she stepped closer to him. I quirked an eyebrow at my brother; I’d noticed that they had been spending a lot more time together recently but Aiden hadn’t said anything about it yet, and until she touched him just now I’d thought they were only friends. Maybe they still were, but the gesture seemed entirely too intimate to simply be one shared between friends.

"We’ll make a small hole and I’ll climb through first," Cade volunteered.

"Cade…"

He shook his head to cut off my protest. The idea of him going through first was enough to make me want to hurl, not when we didn’t know what he was going to be climbing into. He may be stronger than the rest of us, faster and deadlier, but he wasn’t immortal.

"Give me a hand," Cade said.

Aiden shot me a glance but nodded his agreement. Bret and Lloyd joined Cade and Aiden while Darnell, Mick, and Frank fell back to the curve with me. I listened to the small grunts and muffled curses as they worked to dig a hole through the mound of materials. Metal clacked and clanged and grated on my nerves as I watched the tunnel with a growing sense of urgency.

"Think we’re there," Aiden muttered after what seemed like countless hours but was probably only two.

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves before turning around. My heart was in my throat as Cade took off his rifle. "You have to take a gun," I insisted. I didn’t realize I’d been walking toward him until I was standing before him with my pistol extended. He grasped hold of my hand and caressed it before he took the gun from me and handed me his rifle. "Be careful."

He flashed his dazzling smile that never failed to melt my heart. "Always." His cavalier attitude did little to ease the knot of anxiety growing in my chest. "I’ll be fine."

He kissed me quickly before disappearing into the small hole they had carved through the rubble.

Chapter 3

I anxiously peered into the hole as I watched Cade squirm his way through it. I kept the flashlight focused on him until he disappeared. My breath was trapped in my chest as I waited for some sign that he was alive and well. Aiden’s head was bent close to mine as he tapped his foot. I could feel his breath as it heaved in and out of him. His honey hued hair, so similar to mine in color, was longer than I’d ever seen it as it hung about his handsome, angular face in sweat dampened curls.

The light flashed off of Cade’s face as he reappeared on the other side. He slipped back into the hole and made his way toward us. I stepped aside when he reached the end and pulled himself free from the hole. Some of the color had faded from his face and his lips were pursed as he reclaimed his rifle from me.

"They barricaded themselves on the other side," he stated crisply.

"Are they still there?" Aiden inquired.

"No. It’s safe over there, but I have a feeling we’re going to encounter another wall of debris at some point."

I didn’t like the look in Cade’s eyes as they met mine. "How bad is it?" I asked.

"It’s not good," he told me.

"Should we go back?"

"It’s a long way back and then we would have to find another route. It would mean crossing a bridge, maybe two. Our best option is continuing on," Lloyd insisted.

"He’s right; it’s probably our best chance," Cade agreed. "Going back above is unsafe and it will only delay us in the city even more. What’s left over there can’t hurt us."

I flinched away from his words. What’s left, what’s left! The words echoed in an endless scream through my mind.

"Let’s get some more of this stuff out of the way," Darnell ordered. His tone was brisk but there was a catch in his voice that revealed his inner turmoil. "Make the hole big enough for us to get everything through."

"The other wall of debris, it won’t still be intact like this one, will it?" I whispered.