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Hayden slowed to weave around them but didn’t stop. None of us said anything; there was nothing to say. We were well aware that something major had happened.

“I’m really feeling like we’re part of a movie script,” I whispered.

Warrick squeezed my hand as I gazed at the empty, abandoned homes. Fear was crawling up my gut, and I didn’t shove his hand away. I leaned into his strength and body heat for reassurance, but there was none to be had.

We passed houses with front doors wide open and several fires burning in trash cans. Litter covered the streets, and we saw dogs with glowing, hungry eyes staring at us.

“This can’t be happening,” Belladonna murmured, and Sapphire wrapped an arm around her. She shrank into Sapphire’s embrace as Wylde passed Badger Island over Memorial Bridge. And just past it, we stopped.

A barrier of buses, cars, and trucks stood in front of us. Someone didn’t want anyone to pass this way.

“Back we go,” Wylde muttered, beginning to reverse. We swapped glances. What the fuckin’ hell had happened here?

Sapphire

I was beyond tense as Hayden carefully reversed off the bridge and headed toward I-95. The Maine Turnpike booths were open, and we drove through silently. Several burned-out cars sat on the Interstate, many abandoned. Quietly, we watched as we crossed into Portsmouth, and the same scenes as Kittery met our eyes. Hayden drove past Irving Oil Terminal as we stopped. Once again, the road was blocked. He tried to reverse, but we heard a grinding noise, and then the bus died.

“Christ. Anything else?” I exploded, and Hayden reached for me.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. We were partying, and then this. What happened? Did a war start? How long were we out? Who kidnapped us and why?” I blurted as I clutched his cut. My fingers curled into it, and I burrowed into his chest.

“We’ll get answers. The clubhouse isn’t far; we can walk,” he soothed.

“What if it’s gone?”

“Babe, it will be there,” he promised.

I nodded.

“It’ll only take an hour on foot,” Hatton said, and everyone agreed. We climbed down off the bus, and the eeriness hit. It was freaking terrifying. It felt like we were the only ones alive.

“Who’s tooled up?” I asked.

Everyone but Teddy and Warrick held up their hands.

“That’s odd,” Belladonna remarked, frowning.

“What?” I demanded.

“We were kidnapped, but they didn’t disarm any of us?”

I paused. Belladonna had a good point. “Yeah. I get where you’re coming from.” That was another mystery to be solved.

Tinkerbell handed Teddy her gun. “I’m better with my hands.” Teddy accepted it without a word.

Hayden offered Warrick his spare piece, and Warrick took it.

“Let’s go,” I said, pulling myself together. Whatever this was, wailing about it wouldn’t solve it.

We’d been walking for ten minutes when we noticed movement. We paused as someone shuffled out of an alley. A head eerily turned towards me and shuddered. Milky white eyes stared at me as his mouth opened and he hissed.

“What the fuck!” I yelped, raising my gun.

“Don’t shoot! That’s a person in a costume,” Hatton yelled.

The guy was on me before I realised it, his teeth gnashing at my face. He stank to high heaven, and I shrieked and shoved him away.