"Next time I'll be nicer to the person shooting at us," Cade retorted.
Bishop shot him a nasty look while Darnell smirked and even Aiden broke into a smile. "Can you tell me your name?" Bishop demanded as he turned his attention back to the injured man.
The kid just blinked again, opened his mouth and closed it. "His name's Dan."
We all jumped as a woman slid from the shadows of the side tunnel. She was tall and lean, with an athletic grace that reminded me of a jungle cat getting ready to strike. The dim light flashed off of her ebony skin and highlighted the striking beauty of her refined features and chocolate eyes. Her hair was cropped close to her head and a dirty blue bandanna was wrapped around it.
"And I'm Arlene." Darnell grasped his gun as he rose to survey the newest arrival. Cade took a small step forward and nudged me behind him with his shoulder. I scowled at his back but didn't argue with him, it wouldn't do me any good right now anyway. "What did you do to him?"
"Knocked out, probably a concussion," Bishop answered. "He'll be fine."
"You didn't have to hurt him." Though Arlene's posture seemed almost casual, there was an air of tension and anticipation surrounding her. I suspected she was a lot faster than she was trying to portray as she leaned back on her heels and watched us.
"He shot at us, for no reason," Darnell informed her.
"You're in our tunnel," she retorted.
"I didn't realize that it had been claimed," Darnell grated.
Arlene grinned disarmingly but the tension in her shoulders didn't ease. "We take what we can get now, you know. Dan didn't mean any harm but we've had problems down here with people trying to steal our supplies."
I felt like a bug that had just walked into a spider's web and I kept waiting for the trap to spring as I searched the shadows. "We're not here to take anything of yours," Darnell assured her.
Arlene nodded but her eyes lingered on the weapons we held. "I'm sure," she finally responded.
"We really aren't a threat," Aiden insisted.
Arlene's gaze flickered to Dan. "You see our weapons if we wanted him dead, he would be," Cade grated.
Arlene's eyes once again searched us before her shoulders relaxed and she lowered the rifle to her side. "Have you seen any aliens down here?" Darnell inquired.
Arlene shook her head as she rested her hands on her slender hips. "I haven't seen them since we were driven down here."
"You were in the tunnel above?"
Something sinister slithered through her eyes as her lip curled in a sneer. "Until they broke through. They don't seem to be able to make it down here though."
"Yet," Lloyd said.
Her head bowed. "Yet," she agreed. "But we're better prepared for them now. You were also in the tunnel?"
"Unfortunately," Bret said.
"I know what you mean." She studied all of us again. "You look like you could use some rest, a shower maybe."
I grasped hold of Cade's arm; excitement spurted through me at the possibility of a shower. "You're willing to trust us now?" Lloyd demanded.
Arlene shrugged absently. "Well if your uniforms are any indication than you're a couple of soldiers, shouldn't I trust the military?"
"I'm not sure I'd trust anyone anymore," Lloyd muttered.
"That's true, but you don't seem like some of the gangsters, druggies, or thieves we've run into. If you were like any of them Dan would be dead. You look like you need a break. We've been there before."
Three more people emerged from the shadows as she finished speaking. They had blended in with the dark so completely that I hadn't noticed them until they moved. The only one who didn't take a step back from them was Cade as he remained unmoving before me. "We have a place where you can stay for a bit. Eat, rest, if you would like."
"Sounds good," Darnell agreed, but he kept hold of his gun as he studied the three men behind Arlene now. She was willing to trust us, but were we willing to trust them? "How many of you are there?"
"Not as many as you. Come on."
"Arlene," one of the strangers grumbled at her.
"It's fine Lyle. They're just looking for a safe place. You might want to help out Dan though; he's going to have a bad headache come morning."
"That's for sure," Bishop agreed.
Chapter 6
I dropped the towel on the pile of blankets that had been set up in my "room." Really, it was just a small space blocked off by sheets hanging from the ceiling in order to offer some form of privacy. It was the most I'd had in months though, and it was fantastic. Cade had set it up while I'd been in the shower. It wasn't a real shower in the technical sense of the word, but a broken pipe that spit out luke warm water that felt like heaven. As had the single bar of soap I'd used to wash my body and hair with. I smelled like lavender, a scent I normally despised, but I found myself inhaling deeply and repeatedly now.
I'd handed my stench laden clothes over to be burned afterward. There was no washing the filth or blood out of them. Arlene had given me a set of relatively clean clothes in exchange. The jeans had a hole in the knee, and they were too big on me, as was the plain maroon shirt, but I didn't care. I almost felt human again, almost felt like a girl again.
It had been a long time since I'd experienced either of those things.
Cade had set the blankets up apart from the others at the far end of the tunnel, but there was no one around now anyway. They'd all been gathered in the main room, getting to know each other, when I'd left. The tunnel was lit every thirty feet by flashlights that had been hung from the ceiling. They cast a circle of yellowish light on the floor and constantly swayed in a nearly imperceptible air current. I tried not to think about the walls surrounding me, but I was acutely aware of the stale air and the ground pressing above me.
I settled onto the blankets and savored in the simple act of being alone. It had been so long that I'd almost forgotten what it was like to simply just be. I wasn't fooled into thinking that we were safe down here, but it was the safest I'd felt since all of this had started.
I knew Cade was there even before the sheet was pulled back to reveal him. I'd know the nearly soundless tread of his step, a step I was certain most of the others would never pick up on, anywhere. A tread I was certain I never would have picked up on before consuming his blood.
I refused to think about it, refused to acknowledge the changes within my body. I hadn't spoken to Cade about them yet, I knew I should but I couldn't get the words to leave my throat. I'd just gotten him back; I wasn't ready to put a damper on the joy that still came with that reunion.