Desolation ✔️

Chapter 13: Discoveries

Following us? What makes him come to that conclusion? The only people who come to mind are...quite a few, actually. The people who raided the flower shop? Whoever was at the Safe House? Maybe even Ash's group? Any are high possibilities.

"Wait here," Ash says, releasing me from his arms.

I turn my head to look at him just as he brushes past me, his eyes fixated towards the kitchen. The space we're in is so small and slightly dim; my arm bumps his chest as he squeezes around me. We switch places so he's closer to the entrance of the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" My voice is shriller than intended.

"I'm coming back, stay quiet." He slips through the doorway of the mini-room and pulls a sliding door shut. The door has rows of slats that allow slivers of light to slip into the now completely-dark room, so I peek between two of them and watch Ash disappear around the corner towards wherever he's risking his life. My heart thuds harder and I tighten my grip on my handgun. My shallow breaths sound muffled inside the small room...or, pantry? I blink rapidly and skim the walls around me, but they're all rows of shelves stocked with canned...everything. Boxes of cereal, jars of fruit, a case of water... How much has Ash saved up between him and his dad? And how soon after the apocalypse did they stock up?

Another thud from the front door snaps my eyes back to the slats in the pantry door. I hold my breath. That can't be knocking, can it? It's too sporadic to be. Unless whoever's on the other side needs help and can't call out. And who is on the other side, anyway? What if...what if it's Carter? Just the thought of it makes my heart leap in my chest. My fingers tingle with either excitement or fear; I can't pinpoint which. No. He wouldn't come here. Not this way. Not so secretively. But still...if it is Carter, how will Ash know he's the one I'm looking for?

He won't.

I reach for the door handle and prepare to push the door open, but when another gunshot goes off, I pause. I listen. The sound is too far to be anywhere near us. Maybe a few streets down, but definitely not on this street. No one's following us... Why is Ash paranoid someone is?

I take my hand off the door handle just as the door slides open. Light floods in and Ash slips into the room, bumping into me before I can take a few steps back. He shuts the door silently and presses his ear to it. Our breathing choruses together in the dimness and neither of us moves. Ash peers over at me as he listens. I read his eyes for any indication of what he saw or what he did, but as always...nothing.

"Where'd—,"

"Shh." He holds a hand up.

I wait and listen with him, though our space is so limited, we're practically pressed against each other. He doesn't notice, and I try not to, but the claustrophobic feeling constricts my chest and makes the air harder to breath. I inhale deeply, exhale slowly. Take a few steps back, but my back hits one of the shelves and something creaks behind me. I swivel my head around to see what it is just as the shelf near my shoulder flips down like a switch.

Before I can react, it collapses behind me and all the boxes and bags of food crash to the floor, a few hitting Ash and I on the way down. I duck and put my arms up and Ash does the same. One after the other falls, landing with painfully sharp thuds and plops that slice through the silence. When the last one hits my arm and lands at Ash's feet, I glance up at him. He shoots me a death glare.

"Sorry," I whisper, straightening up. Luckily, the heavier items and glass jars are opposite of me, behind Ash. Otherwise, there really would've been a problem.

"Dammit Scarlett," Ash mutters, kicking the mess on the floor away from him. He looks back through the pantry slits. Everything is silent, though the thuds at the door are louder.