Dale tightens his arms around me as my body trembles, and rests his cheek against my head, shushing me quietly. This is wrong. He shouldn’t be holding me like this. I shouldn’t be feeling this way. I don’t deserve his comfort. Bobby deserves comfort. Hazel deserves comfort. We should be able to comfort each other. I shouldn’t be here with some stranger who is partially responsible for the clusterfuck of a storm that is consuming us.
I push against Dale’s chest, his muscles hardening as his arms flex to stay around me. I realize how weak I’ve become when it takes more effort than it should. He goes to push the hair out of my face so he can see me, but I turn my head away allowing my hair to conceal me.
“Red?” His low voice cracks a little. The way he says it holds so many questions. The main one, did I hear what they were just saying?
“I…I need to go to the bathroom.”
I refuse to look at him. I know what will happen if I do. I just need to get the fuck out of this room. His hands keep a tight hold on me as I attempt to stand on my shaky legs. My head spins a bit making me lightheaded as I steady myself with Dale’s help, and my eyes lock with Cash’s. His invasive stare chills me to the core. I allow it to harden me and put up a wall so he can’t see more than he already has. I can feel their gaze on me as I make my way to the bathroomand shut the door. I lay my forehead against it and take a deep breath.
“Fuck!” Dale’s voice booms.
I put my ear to the door with the hope I can catch what else they say, but all I can hear is mumbling before the front door slams shut, vibrating the walls around me. I crack the door open to see what’s going on, but the living room is empty.
I didn’t use to put much thought into believing people or trusting them. I just did it. The majority of people are relatively good. The worst thing we had to worry about in our small town was if someone would steal from us, or spread rumors to damage our reputations, or cheat on us with one of our friends. I want to go back to that point when trust was about not hurting someone’s feelings or breaking their heart. Not worrying about if I was going to die tomorrow.
I’m not sure what Cash plans to do now, or if he’s even considering Erick’s murder at all, but what little trust I had in him is gone. The death count is rising. It’s now taking people I love, and no one is doing anything about it.
Thumps on the wall remind me of someone else trapped in this hell. As angry as I am with that man, he didn’t know Hazel would be at RCC when Phil broke in. If he knew that Phil planned to kidnap people, I don’t think he would’ve helped him. His regret seems sincere, and he’s done nothing since he’s been here to indicate that he is a threat, yet Cash keeps him tied up in Hazel’s room. For what? What is the purpose of keeping him now? Cash got what he wanted from him. I don’t wantanyone else to die. If he were to die, it would just add to the toll of pointless deaths, and too many have died already. I can’t let that happen to him.
The door is silent as I pull it open and peek around the apartment. Cash and Dale are still outside, so I step out and close the door behind me to make it seem like I’m still in bathroom. I sneak to the bedroom and open the door. Samuel is leaning up against the wall, his dirty hair falling over his face. His head turns toward me as I shut the door as quietly as I can. He squints through his swollen lids as I go to him and squat down. His lips move around the fabric gag trapped between his teeth, and I raise a finger to my lips to silence him.
“I don’t know you, and I have no reason to trust anything you say to me. But after watching you these last couple of days, I believe you aren’t a bad man. Just one who made stupid decisions.” His confused gaze wanders over my face before meeting mine again. “Are you a bad man?”
Samuel’s eyes drop to my hands clasped together on my knees, and he shakes his head.
“You have a family?”
He raises his head up and nods.
I lean forward, and he watches me like a hawk as I tug the gag out of his mouth. It drops around his neck as he moves his lips around and closes his mouth to swallow.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
“I don’t know how much time we have, so we need to make it quick.”
His brow furrows as I move to kneel by his side. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting you the fuck out of here,” I tell him as I push him forward to get to his tied wrists.
“Why? Aren’t you worried he’ll hurt you?”
I stop long enough to look him in the face. “I’m not sure what will happen to you if I don’t. I don’t want you to die.” I go back to working the knots. “That’s a good enough reason for me.”
He doesn’t respond, only helps the best he can to pull at the rope as I loosen it. Once he’s able to pull a hand free, he reaches down and frantically starts pulling at the one around his ankles. I run across the room to Hazel’s dresser and grab the envelope I’ve been stashing my extra tip money in. He needs it more than I do at this point. Flipping through the bills, I count almost two hundred dollars. Hopefully, it’s enough to get him fed and all the way home.
When I turn to him, he’s standing and pulling the rope free from his other wrist. I go to the window and pull the curtain to the side, but it’s hard to see out in the darkness. Trying not to make noise, I ease it open and stick my head out. I can hear Cash and Dale talking from the porch, but other than that there is no sound or anyone else around.
Turning, I hand the envelope to Samuel. “Take this. I hope it helps you get back to your family quickly.”
Samuel stares at the envelope for a moment before slipping it from my fingers. His lips pull up sadly as he shoves it in his back pocket. “I’m not sure I deserve your help or charity, but thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He climbs out the window, and I point for him to go around the back to the alley.
“Follow that to the left and take a right on the next street. There will be a gas station about half a mile down. Good luck.”
Samuel looks around before jogging around the back of the building and entering the alley. As I watch his shadow disappear under the streetlight and into the darkness, I hope I made the right choice.
