Page 5 of Split You Open

“I’m a fugitive on the run, remember? I needed to figure out transportation fast.”

Right… Not only am I wanted by some unknown assailant, but Rhett is wanted by the law. We are so totally fucked if we’re caught by anyone.

As I consider our predicament, a random thought pops up. “Is Rhett your real name?”

He shoots me a look I can’t decipher.

“No.”

“What is it?”

Rhett doesn’t respond right away. He stares straight ahead, his brows furrowing. After a minute he mutters, “It was Tyler, but I don’t… Tyler died right alongside Abby. I’m not him and haven’t been in a long time. I like Rhett. I am Rhett.”

I nod but I don’t think he can see it. Staring at his paling complexion and the way his shoulders have grown tense, I decide not to ask any more questions. He’s stressed enough as it is.

Switching back to the issue at hand, I offer, “Once we get a new vehicle, I’ll take over driving.”

If I’m beat, he must be too. It’s nearly five in the morning and the sky is slowly beginning to lighten. We’ve been out all night, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be catching a break anytime soon. Thankfully, I’m not too banged up from the car wreck. I’m scratched up but the glass I pulled from my skin wasn’t deep and I didn’t break or sprain anything.

Small miracles, I guess.

I pause before adding out of guilt, “If you want to stay behind and contact one of the others to come pick you up, I would understand, Rhett.”

Rhett’s grip tightens around the leather steering wheel, causing it to creak, but that’s all the reaction I get. Maybe he’s considering it? I hope he is and pray that he’s not. A ball of emotions works its way up my throat as I try to think clearly. Dad prepared me for events like this. I can handle this on my own.

But I’ve gotten used to having people around.

I don’t want to be alone anymore.

It’s been a little over four hours since we left Santi on the side of the road and countless bodies in the street. In that time, I’ve been warring with the typhoon of emotions in my chest. Somehow, in the blink of an eye, I’ve lost everything and everyone that I’ve come to care for. I no longer have Wes to lean on, to steady me as I fall apart. Santi isn’t here to pepper me with kisses and make me smile. The cabin I’ve been calling home is now miles away.

And Ledger…

I clear my throat to cover up the soft grunt that wants to erupt past my lips. I don’t know why he set all of this in motion or what I did for him to want to see me dead. Whatever I did, I wish he would’ve just confronted me about it. Knowing that he’s simply been waiting and watching and hoping to witness my demise hurts so much that it feels like a physical, gaping wound in the middle of my chest.

The pain of his betrayal is so abhorrent and heartbreaking that it steals my breath away.

I mentally shake my head, halting all thoughts of him. Now isn’t the time to entertain reasons behind Ledger’s betrayal. When I’m safe and alone, I’ll fall apart. Until then, I have to keep it all together. No more thoughts of Wesley or Santiago either. The agony of knowing I’ll probably never see them again is enough to cripple me.

With a heavy sigh, I reach forward to open the glove box to see if there’s anything in there that might give us a clue as to who just tried to kill me. My hand pauses halfway there.

“Ah, we’re going to need to wash off before we’re seen in public,” I tell Rhett.

Between the blood of our victim from The Hunt and my own blood from the car accident, I look like I walked out of a horror movie. One glance at Rhett and I see he’s the same way. There’s blood smeared on his forehead and staining the entirety of the front of his clothes as well.

He nods but otherwise remains silent.

I open the glovebox to find several boxes of ammo, a map of Caddawalk, and a picture of… me. Frowning, I hold it up and study it. This picture… It’s not recent. My hair is pulled back into a bun, meaning it was longer than it is now, and I’m wearing dark maroon scrubs. I only wore those when I’d been a trauma nurse in Springfield, Ohio, which was nearly six years ago. I’d been there for only a few months, four max.

“What the hell?”

Rhett’s head turns slightly in my direction. “What is it?”

“This picture…” I mutter. “It’s of me from a while ago. Have they been watching me for years?”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Rhett mutters as he frowns. “Santi said he noticed the initial hit went out only a few weeks ago, just before you got to the cabin.”

I look from him to the image of me. Why would they have this picture? With a sigh, I tuck it away into my pants pocket and reach for the ammo next. Just as I finish reloading the clips in both of our guns, Rhett swears.