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He pushes his hand through his hair in agitation. “Fuck! I wish we had weapons, I don’t know how we can fight against men with guns.”

“I might be able to help with that.”

Chapter thirty-eight

Darla

“What did you say?” Weston asks, looking at me in confusion.

“I said, I might be able to help with that. The only problem is, we need to travel along part of the beach to get there, and we’ll be out in the open.”

“That’s okay, if they are still in the air we might be able to time it right, will you take us there?” he asks, bending so he’s eye level with me. I nod my head and he smiles, cupping the side of my face. “Good girl.”

I lick my lips and quickly turn away, heading down the path towards a place I haven’t stepped foot in for fifteen years.

We barely speak as I lead us silently through the jungle. Thankfully, the chopper is still circling the island when we arrive at the edge of the beach where we need to sprint to our destination.

The smoke from our fire is high in the sky, and I hate that we wasted it on assholes trying to kill us.

“Okay, we need to make a run for it, it’s maybe… 400 feet or so, the cave is around the corner there,” I tell them, pointing to our right.

“We’re ready, Zee, lead the way,” Kingsley whispers from behind me. I take a moment to make sure the chopper sound isn’t getting closer,then take off running. The sound of their boots hitting the sand is heavy around me as I sprint forward.

When we’re only a hundred feet away, the sound of the chopper grows louder, vibrating through the air. I push myself to run faster, and so do my guys. But as we reach the edge of the cave, I suddenly stop dead in my tracks while the three of them race ahead, disappearing into the safety inside.

A soft whimper slips from my lips as I stare into the cave. My body is frozen in place, no matter how much I know I need to follow. But it’s like my body isn’t listening, refusing to respond.

Arms wrap around me and I’m dragged inside as I gasp in surprise. I look up and see Bower’s concerned face staring down at me. “Are you okay? Why’d you stop?” I shake my head, unable to speak. My hands come out to grip his biceps as I try to ground myself in the present, and not think about the last time I was in here.

I lean my forehead against his chest as I whisper, “I… I thought I could be in here, but I can’t. I can’t look.”

He hugs me tightly, pushing my face into his chest and covering the side so I can’t see anything. “You don’t need to look, Tink. Just tell us what we’re looking for, we can get it, don’t even open your eyes for a second.”

I take a deep breath as my fingers dig into his chest. I’m so thankful I have them here with me. I think I’d still be frozen at the entrance if it wasn’t for them.

“This is where I put them… and all their stuff. The ones… I killed.”

His arms tighten around me.

“They had weapons. I took a knife, McStabby, because I needed it, but I didn't want anything else that belonged to them. I don’t know where the weapons are, exactly, but I put their bodies at the back of the cave.”

“West and King are looking now, we’ll just stay here while they search.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, a small amount of relief filling me, knowing I don’t have to see them again.

“You don’t have to thank me, Tink. I’m impressed with how strong you’re being.”

“I don’t feel strong, I feel weak,” I tell him honestly as my body relaxes into him.

“I can only imagine what you’ve been through, and being back here, after all this time, is incredibly brave. Thank you for bringing us here. Any weapons we can find can only help us.”

We stay silent as we listen to rustling and movement from the other two, and I wonder if they’ll find anything useful. I don’t really remember much about their possessions, I was in a fog when I dragged their bodies in here, refusing to give them a real burial. It took a damn long time to do it, too.

“We got a few things that should help,” Kingsley says, startling me. He and Weston move to stand between us and the cave entrance, so I can look at them without seeing what’s behind me.

Weston’s holding a sword and a gun as he smirks down at me. “This will definitely help, assuming it works.” He opens it up and checks the chamber. “I’ve got two shots in here, but I have a handful of bullets to reload it with.

“There’s another one here,” Kingsley says, holding up a second one and passing it to Bower. “You should take it, I haven’t shot a gun before.I’ll take the sword.” Weston passes him the sword, and all three of them inspect their weapons.