"I wasn't running from Drew, there was a couple of those dead things after me and I was yelling at one of them to get away."

  "Oookay." she said as though she didn't believe me. "Well, whatever. Just tell Lane that Drew didn't kidnap you and maybe he'll calm down enough and we can let him out. Right now he still wants to kill Drew, and I need Sully on the perimeter with the others and not in here keeping an eye on lover boy number one."

  "Just give me five minutes." I said and stepped around her and she pointed to the end of the barn.

  What now? If I told Lane I had slept with Drew he would kill him for sure now. I wanted to pull my hair out. Why did I have to go and sleep with Drew?

  I walked to the end of the barn, glancing over the rails into each pen, looking at the different animals. The last pen was different, the sides were built up taller which was probably two of me in height, and there was some barbed wire on the top to try and stop anyone on the other side from climbing out. The slats had about an inch or so between them to look through. I quietly crept up to the slats and peeked through, and saw Lane sitting on a low bed, with his head in his hands, staring at the floor which was covered in pieces of straw. There was a crate next to the bed with a plate of leftover crusts and a bottle of water. At least they were feeding him. I felt guilty just looking at him, so much so, I thought I was going to be sick. Here goes nothing.

  Chapter 10

  I took a deep breath and opened my mouth about to say something when I got a weird feeling in my tummy and then all of a sudden something was coming back up and I was bent over, hand on the slats, throwing up on the straw.

  I spat on the floor and wiped my mouth. Ugh. I tucked my hair behind my ear and straightened up.

  "Alex?" Lane said, standing close by.

  "Just one sec." I told him and wiped my mouth again to make sure I didn't have vomit on my cheek or anything just as gross.

  "Where...are you ok? We couldn't find you, I thought he had kidnapped you, or worse! Why are you sick? Is the virus back? Have you seen Nick? What happened last night? Why'd you take off like that?"

  "Lane, stop! Slow down."

  "I'm sorry."

  He stepped away from the slats and ran a hand through his blond hair, and I stepped closer and peered through.

  "You have no idea how worried I've been." he said, dropping his hand to his side and looking at me as I peeked through the small gap. His eyes looked bloodshot with purple bags under them.

  "I know, and I'm really sorry-" Before I could say any more Alice appeared behind me.

  "What happened? Is it your head, maybe you need to go back and see the Doctor." Alice said, looking at the puke mess on the floor.

  "No, I'm fine, it's just last night's alcohol." I whispered to her.

  She raised an eyebrow at me and glanced Lane's way.

  "Can you please let him out." I asked nicely.

  Alice thought about it and finally nodded her head and waved Sully over and he jogged down the barn to us.

  "Go on. Let him out." Alice said.

  "You sure?" Sully asked skeptically.

  "Are you going to throw another tantrum?" Alice asked Lane.

  "No." Lane said in a low tone.

  "Ok, but if you get in another fight you're going straight back to the barn, got it?"

  Sully unlocked the padlock that was holding the latch in place and then he opened the door for Lane. Lane stalked out and stepped over my puddle of vomit. I noticed there were a few drops of blood on his blue t-shirt possibly from a bloody nose, and there was a slight bruise at the corner of his eye, but apart from that, he looked unscathed. I wondered what Drew looked like, hopefully, Lane had given him a black eye for lying to me about locking the gates after dark.

  "Uh..." I looked at the mess.

  "Don't worry. I'll sort it out. You two get out of here, and behave!" Alice pointed at Lane.

  We started to walk away and I heard Alice talking to Sully behind us.

  "You better get a bucket of water." Alice said.

  "For what?" Sully replied.

  "For that mess."

  "Oh, come on!" Sully complained.

  Lane and I quickly left the barn. My stomach felt slightly better but I was so thirsty. I slowed down just outside the barn. What now?

  Lane looked sideways at me and then nodded his head at me to follow him and he led me back to the trailers. Curtains twitched and people openly stared at us, I wasn't surprised, we'd only been here a few days and we were already causing too much chaos and drama. They were probably looking forward to us leaving already. I kept my head down and followed Lane back to the pale blue trailer and he stomped up the steps and flung the door open. Oh, boy. I slowly crept up the steps and walked into the trailer and found Lane leaning over the sink, drinking from a water bottle. He saw me eying the bottle of water like it was some mouth-watering candy and held it out to me. I took it and greedily gulped it down.

  "So you wanna tell me what the fuck happened yesterday? And why are you sick? Should I get Nick? Do you feel sick now-"

  "Lane, slow down, one question at a time."

  "Why were you just sick in the barn?"

  "I think it's the alcohol from last night, it hasn't settled."

  "So while I was going out of my mind thinking that nutjob had kidnapped you again, you were getting drunk?"

  "No...I mean, yes I had a few drinks." More than a few.

  "The last time I saw you, you were heading over to talk to him, what happened after that?" Lane pushed past me and into the bedroom.

  I hovered near the door as he tugged his t-shirt over his head and threw it on the floor. He then searched his bag for a clean t-shirt and found a gray long-sleeved t-shirt that he pulled over his head.

  "I smell like a damn barnyard." Lane muttered, grabbing a deodorant spray and spraying himself all over.

  He chucked the deodorant onto the bed and looked at me. "So, what happened, Alex? Did he force you to leave with him or what?!" he snapped.

  "No, he didn't force me to do anything. He was just on his way out to go hunting and I felt like going with him."

  "You just felt like going with him? The guy that drugged and kidnapped you. You just couldn't stop yourself from leaving with him?"

  "Look, I know that's how you see Drew, like he's some mental person trying to take me away from you all the time, but he's just looking out for me, he doesn't want me to go to Washington, so yeah...he made some mistakes, but he's not dangerous."

  "Alex, the guy drugged you."

  I turned my back on him and wandered back into the kitchen area.

  "So you left with him to go hunting. If you were that hungry why didn't you say something, they wouldn't have minded giving you an extra helping."

  "I wasn't hungry that's not why I went with him."

  "So why did you go?"

  "I-I don't know. You and Nick had annoyed me and I wanted to talk to Drew about the whole kidnapping thing because we hadn't really had the chance to talk and then he said he was going hunting and I just asked to tag along."

  "So you went hunting. Why didn't you come back? Hunting doesn't take all night, Alex!" Lane growled and walked over to a cabinet in the living room and opened a door.

  "I wanted to come back, I asked him to bring me back, but he told me that the gates are locked after dark and that they don't let anyone in after dark."

  "Of course, and you believed him?"

  "I didn't know at the time. We're new here, I don't know all the rules, for all I knew, that was a real thing."

  "So you went hunting and then what happened?" Lane asked, lifting out a bottle of something alcoholic.

  "What is that?"

  "Whiskey." Lane shrugged.

  "You're going to drink whiskey?"

  "If I don't drink something and calm myself down I'm going to go over to his trailer and rip his head off."

  I gulped. There wasn't enough alcohol to stop Lane from ripping Drew's head off, especially if I told him everything.

  "Alex!" Lane slammed a glass down onto the counter and I snapped out of my thoughts. "Hunting, then what?"

  "Um...he caught some rabbits, three rabbits, and then we made a campfire and I said we should take them back and cook them because it was getting late and then he told me about the gates being locked."

  "Then what?" Lane demanded, taking a sip from the bottle and not bothering to use the glass. This was going to be fun. Drunk, angry Lane.

  I eyed the whiskey. I needed a drink but I didn't want to drink that.

  "Then we, um..." I moved over to the cabinet and peeked inside and saw some vodka at the back. Perfect. I grabbed the bottle and then searched the kitchen for anything to mix it with. Lane opened a top cabinet and lifted out a carton of orange juice, it had already been opened but it smelled ok.

  "Sophhhie said he took you to the duck hut."

  I didn't like the way he had said Sophie, he clearly didn't like her, probably because she was conspiring with Drew and they were letting him stay in their trailer.

  "Uh...yeah, it was either that or we'd have to sleep outside in the rain."

  Lane gripped the edge of the sink as I poured myself a vodka and orange and sipped it. Yuck. I couldn't remember the last time I had drank vodka. My tummy rumbled and I remembered I hadn't eaten breakfast and it was gone noon so I had missed lunch as well. Great, drinking on an empty stomach. I predicted more vomit but I needed something to take the edge off or I would chicken out, or break down in tears.

  "And there was alcohol inside this hut?"

  "Um, yeah." It wasn't a good idea to tell Lane that Drew had brought along his own alcohol and supplied me with it. It was partially true, we did find some alcohol in the hut.

  "So you decided to get drunk?"

  "No. I just had a few too many."

  "And what was he doing while you were getting drunk in the middle of nowhere?"

  "There were comics and magazines, and he did the crossword puzzle." I said robotically.

  "Right." Lane said and tipped the bottle back again.

  I sucked it up and gulped my vodka and orange.

  "So where did you sleep, on the floor, no sleeping bag?"

  Too many questions. I took another sip.

  "There's a bed in the hut."

  "Bed? An actual bed?"

  "It's like a mattress on the floor" I babbled.

  "I know what a fucking bed is, Alex."

  I stayed quiet and moved over to the other side of the trailer and sat on the seat near the window.

  "So did you sleep in this bed?"

  I just nodded and glanced out the window, searching for something to focus on and I found an overweight man pushing one of those lawn mowers that didn't need power. He was wearing baggy shorts with his crack on full display and he had seriously hairy toes and was wearing a pair of womens sandals. Not exactly what I was hoping for to distract myself. Lane slumped down next to me with the bottle of whiskey.

  "Why were you out late today, I'm guessing you were hungover and overslept, but what were you doing miles away from the community? Alice said you were screaming and running away from Drew."

  I was glad he hadn't asked me any more questions about last night, including where did Drew sleep. I wanted to tell him, but at the same time, I didn't want to set a fire and Lane go after Drew again.

  "No, there were deadbies chasing me, I panicked and ran, and that's why I was screaming." I lied.

  "How did you end up so far away?"

  "Drew wanted to show me the lavender field before he brought me back." I said honestly.

  "I was worried sick, Alex, and you were out picking flowers?!" He stood up and started to pace.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't know the way back on my own and he really wanted to show me the lavender field, then we were coming straight back. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause so many problems, but you must have known I would be all right with Drew, he wouldn't let anything happen to me."

  "That's not the point! He lied to you about the gates, and then he led you miles away, don't you think that's a little suspicious? Like he was planning to do something?"

  I kept my mouth shut. Telling Lane what Drew had planned would only cause more trouble. I would just have to be more wary of Drew and not let myself be alone with him again.

  Lane continued to pace, and I peeked up at him and caught him looking at me. Feeling self-conscious I ran a hand through my hair and shook it over my shoulders. He suddenly came to a stop and stepped in front of me. I finished my drink, set it down, and ran my clammy hands down my skinnies, not making eye contact as he just stood in front of me, watching me.

  "What?!" I finally snapped, looking up at him and found him looking back at me with a frown on his face as he took another swig from the bottle.

  "Where did he sleep?" he suddenly asked. No. Why?

  "Um...on the edge of the bed." I said, wanting to stand up and move away but he was blocking my way so I had to stay seated.

  "Nothing happened?" he asked.

  "No, nothing happened." I lied.

  "So he didn't touch you?"

  "What? No. He stayed on his side of the bed and we just fell asleep."

  I was a terrible person, but I couldn't just tell him, not like this, not when he was like this. Later. Tomorrow. Maybe when he's sober and there are lots of people around.

  He took a step back, shaking his head with a grim smile on his face. He finished the rest of the whiskey and launched the bottle at the wall.

  It made me jump and I screamed when it hit the wall and smashed into hundreds of pieces.

  "Stop lying!" he bellowed.

  I stood up and moved to the side.

  "I'm not." I lied again.

  "Really? You think I'm stupid, Alex?"

  "No, of course not." I looked up at him and found him laughing to himself.

  "You're a terrible liar."

  I opened my mouth to say something but shut it again.

  "Go and look in the bedroom mirror." he growled.

  "Why?" I asked, touching my forehead, wondering if my head was bleeding but it felt dry.

  I quickly edged around him and hurried into the bedroom and leaned down to look in the mirror that was sandwiched between two closets and overhead storage cabinets.

  I stared at my face but couldn't see anything. Maybe he was trying to make a point or something, making me look at my own face and see what a terrible person I was.

  I sighed and walked back into the living room.

  "Ok, I looked in the mirror?"

  Lane laughed under his breath. "You know what, I'm done talking to you, come and find me when you want to tell me what really happened last night." he said, stalking to the door.

  He threw it open and it made me jump again and he disappeared outside.

  He knew. He must know.

  I hurried over to the net curtains and peeked out to see where he had gone but he'd already vanished. I huffed and poured myself another vodka and orange, another mistake. Just add it to my list of mistakes. I didn't think Lane had gone over to Drew's trailer, because I'm sure there would be people rushing around to see what all the commotion was by now, and I'm sure someone would have come and got me.

  Five minutes later, the door opened suddenly and my heart jumped into my mouth thinking Lane was back already, but it was only Nick and my heart sank a little. I wanted to say something to Lane, but I didn't know what.

  "Go away!" I groaned.

  I just wanted five minutes but Nick had other ideas as he marched up the steps.

  Chapter 11

  Nick stomped through the doorway, eyeing the trailer suspiciously.

  "Where's Lane?" he asked

  "I don't know he just walked out."

  "I wonder why?" he said sarcastically.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "What happened over here?!" Nick squawked, ignoring me.

  "Lane decided to finish off the whiskey and I'm not sure but I think he was aiming for the trash can."

  "Well, he missed by a mile." Nick grunted. "I suppose I'll clear this up, huh?"

  "I was going to do it, just give me a minute."

  "No it's fine, you just sit on your royal ass and let everyone run around after you."

  "What? Why are you being so mean?" I asked, stomping over to him.

  Nick was always the nice one, sure he told me off when I was messing around or behaving like a child but now he was just being mean.

  "Why? Um, I wonder? Half the community was out searching the woods for you last night, and then again this morning."

  "I already explained this like a million times before. Drew told me the gates were locked and that they don't let anyone in after dark."

  "Yes, I know that, and I wasn't talking about that. I meant while you're shacking up with your other lover everyone is worried sick about you and you couldn't care less."

  "That's not true. I knew Lane would worry about me but there wasn't anything I could do. And I wasn't shacking up with Drew."

  "Really? Have you looked in a mirror recently?"

  "What? Why does everyone keep saying that?" I ran my fingers through my hair but they got stuck on something and I realized I had dried vomit in my hair. Ew, gross.

  "Lane said the same thing five minutes ago." I huffed, untangling my hair.

  "Yes, probably looking at the same thing I am."

  "Which is?"

  "The massive hickey on your neck!" Nick pointed a finger at me and I gasped, quickly covering my neck but I had no idea where it was.

  I ran into the bedroom and looked in the mirror and lo and behold there was a giant hickey on the side of my neck. I had no memory of Drew putting it there, but I vaguely remembered him tracing over something on my neck, duh!

  "Let me guess, you told Lane nothing happened and then he stormed out of the trailer?" Nick said, looking at me around the doorframe.

  Lane knew I was lying. He must hate me.

  Nick tutted at me.

  "Don't you have anything else you could be doing?" I gritted out.

  "Yes, I need to clean up your mess." Nick turned on his heel and left the bedroom.

  "I didn't make that mess!" I yelled so he'd hear me.

  "No but you created it!" he shouted back. "And where's all my orange juice gone?"

 

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