She sighed softly and rested her hand lightly on my arm. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I don’t,” I admitted honestly.
She squeezed my arm gently before hooking her arm through mine and leaning against my side. “He is gorgeous,” she muttered.
I chuckled softly as I hugged her to me, taking solace in her warmth. “It’s time to head back.” Cade was suddenly beside us, he didn’t acknowledge the midnight hair falling into one of his eyes as he focused on me. “Your brother is determined to read that thing cover to cover.”
“Of course he is,” Abby said as she pulled away from me.
She only made it one step before an echoing, crashing screech froze her in place. The sound rumbled throughout the night, shaking the building as its crescendo rose to ever higher levels. Abby threw her hands over her ears. She took a step back as it grew steadily louder, and more ear piercing with every second. I didn’t even realize that Jenna was screaming until Molly slammed her hand over Jenna’s mouth to silence her. It made little difference though; I never heard Jenna’s screams above the rising shriek pulsating through the air. It was so loud that the bones in my body, and my teeth, began to rattle.
Abby was nearly on top of me as she fell back. Cade seized hold of my arms as a series of rambling crashes, and the brutal squeal of twisted metal, resonated through the air. It seemed to go on forever, rising and falling in streams of sound that shook the windows and caused the floor to tremble and shake. I didn’t know what the hell was causing the noise but I was beginning to fear that it was never going to stop, that it was just going to continue endlessly on until it deafened us, or drove us all mad with fear and confusion.
And then suddenly it stopped. The ensuing, encompassing quiet was more unnerving than the awful sound had been. We all held our breaths, our eyes wide in the dark as we strained to hear or see anything. My ears were ringing; I was shaking slightly within Cade’s grip. I kept waiting for the noise to start again, kept waiting for something to happen, but the world remained eerily quiet.
“What… what the hell was that?” Molly gasped.
Aiden took a step from behind the counter; his face far paler than normal. “I think it was the bridge.”
“What!?”
“The bridge, I think the bridge just collapsed, or was blown up, or whatever. But I’m pretty sure that was the Bourne bridge.”
Horror curdled through me. Though I couldn’t see it from here, I knew that he was right. The Bourne bridge was gone. It had been a constant staple in my life. As a child I had feared driving over it, terrified that it would collapse beneath us. After my father’s death I hadn’t stayed in a car long enough to make the trip over the bridge until a couple of years ago. Both bridges were a major topic of conversation for the locals, in the summer, when the tourists flooded in and created massive congestion. Everyone planned their days around them, knew when to avoid them, or when they were going to be completely screwed and have to sit in traffic, sometimes for hours. The bridges had been nearly identical, and beautiful. They were large, sweeping testimonials to the architecture and technology of the thirties and now, at least one of them was a pile of rubble within the canal it had once gracefully spanned.
“Why would they destroy the bridge?” Jenna whispered.
“Someone must have tried to get across again,” Abby replied.
“No,” Aiden’s forehead furrowed in thought as he puzzled it out. “Someone madeit across.”
A jolt of surprise rocked me. “What?” I inquired.
Excitement filled Aiden’s eyes. “Think about it, those things were waiting for us to try and cross that bridge, waiting for us so they could spring their trap. They wouldn’t destroy the bridge; it was the perfect opportunity for them to catch more of us. For them, those bridges were like picking off ants at a picnic, easy, simple, and they had the right bait. They wouldn’t destroy that opportunity unless something had gone wrong, unless some onehad made it across. Unless someone survived.”
Hope swelled up my throat. “You really think so?”
“I do.”
I glanced eagerly at Cade, but his eyes were distant and turbulent as he focused on the far wall. “Or wedid it,” Cade said softly.
“Huh?” Abby asked.
“There has to be some military still around, there are most definitely other survivors out there. It could have been either group that destroyed the bridge.”
“But why?”
“To deter others from attempting to cross it. To ruin the trap, to keep more people from getting killed.”
There was a long silence before Bret finally spoke. “Either way it’s a good thing that the bridge is gone. Either someone made it safely to the other side and is seeking help, or there are others on the other side looking to hurt the aliens, and they could help us. At least no one else will be hurt again.”
“We should get out of here. No matter which side did it, it’s going to attract a lot of attention and we aren’t that far from the bridge.” Molly worriedly bit on her bottom lip as she stared wearily at the window.
She was right, of course, but the last thing I wanted was to go back outside. I felt even more exposed and vulnerable right now, though that made little sense. Everyone seemed to feel the same way, as no one moved. I finally broke out of the paralysis that was clinging to me. Slowly, shaking slightly, I pulled away from Cade and made my way to the front door. I pulled the blinds apart as I peered out at the dark night. I could see nothing, but I had the unsettling feeling that there was a menacing presence just waiting for us out there.
I backed away from the door. Goose pimples broke out on my skin as a cold chill swept down my spine. “How long will it take you to read that thing?” I managed to croak out.
“I don’t know, an hour maybe two.”
“I don’t think we have that long.”
“Betha…”
Aiden’s words were cut off as another rattling explosion rent the air. I jumped back, nearly following over my own feet as I staggered away from the door. The glass window exploded inward, littering the store with shards of sharp glass. Cade lurched forward, grabbing hold of my arms he pulled me down, covering me with his body as another loud bang rent the air. I curled into a ball beneath him, throwing my hands over my ears as I tried to protect them from the noise.
Cade scrambled slightly over me for something I couldn’t see. He returned, pulling my hand away he pressed his mouth to my ear. “We need to go Bethany.”
“Where!?” I cried over the resounding explosions.
Cade didn’t answer as he seized hold of my hand and helped pull me to my feet. Another loud bang shattered one of the windows at the far end of the store. The explosions seemed to be getting steadily closer, and we were in a room filled with oxygen tanks. Horror filled me, cold terror seized me.
Cade released me, stumbling forward as he staggered toward the wall containing the scuba gear. “Give me a hand!” he yelled at Bret.
Bret and Aiden lurched forward. They helped Cade to tear the equipment from the walls. I seized hold of one of the boxes containing an assortment of floaties and tubes. The contents scattered across the floor as I hurriedly dumped them out. I tossed the box to Aiden, searching for another one as they began to fill it.
Another explosion shook the earth; I could barely breathe through the terror filling me. My ears were ringing from the continuous onslaught of noise. The ground beneath my feet was vibrating. I jumped slightly as a hand wrapped around my arm, Bret pulled me against his side. “This way Bethany!” he shouted above the noise.