Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (38 page)

Trish laughed. “Oh yeah, you’re sweet with death.”

“I love you too.”

Heather looked around. “Well, what should we do then? This is going to be a very long day.”

Fluffing the backpack, Trish rested her head on it, stretching out. “Taking a break from all this work to take a nap sounds good to me.”

Alex groaned, lighting a cigarette. “Not me. I’ll keep watch.” While the three slept, Alex created more weapons out of things that were trash. Once darkness fell, she fell asleep as well.

It was the fifth day when Mark emerged from the trailer. Closing the door, he stretched, smiling, as he looked up at the sky. Turning, he saw the girls sleeping in the raft. Diving in the water, he swam over towards them, cleaning himself off with nature’s bath, scrubbing to get the layers of stink off.

Trish woke when she heard the splashing, and leaned over the raft. She smiled when she saw it was Mark. “Well, welcome back to the land of the lost.”

Looking over he smiled back. “Well, thank you.”

“So what happened yesterday? Neither one of you made a peep. We thought you might’ve died or something.”

“I’m not sure, but I think we just slept all day.”

“Where’s Trina?”

“She’s still sleepin’, wasn’t ready to get up yet.”

Hearing the two talking woke Alex. She sat up looking at Mark. “What happened to you?”

“I dunno, but I feel fantastic. I’m all healed an’ not a scar to show I was in a head to head with a bear. I hear chicks dig scars so that’s not a good thing.”

“Bullshit, an attack like that would leave you with at least a scar,” Amber said, yawning as she stretched. “Nice try though.”

He treaded water closer to the raft, watching her. Reaching up, he pulled himself up onto the raft, splashing her in the process, showing them his arm. “I said,
not
one scar. If you see a scar there, I’ll kiss your ass.”

Alex touched his back, looking at his arm. “Okay, that is odd. There’s not even a little scratch.”

“Please tell me you guys didn’t finish off the rest o’ the food.”

Scoffing, Amber sat up. “As much as you guys made us wait for you, and then sitting here bored all day yesterday?”

Heather shook her head. “
She
was bored. The rest of us created weapons for this long walk to wherever we need to go.”

He looked around the raft, seeing all the new supplies. “Oh yeah, what’s all this?”

“They don’t like water. We found some water bottles, squirt guns, a couple of knives, some big poking forks that will make great weapons. A few flashlights so we’re not sitting around in the dark. I even found a couple of cans of chemicals that with the proper lighter can turn into a flamethrower. Oh, and it was cold so we got some of the blankets.”

“Impressive.”

“When I say
we
I mean not Amber of course. She couldn’t be
bothered
to come and help us with anything.”

“I kinda figured that when you said there was work involved.”

Alex tossed him the backpack. “And no, we didn’t eat all the rations. We were good about that.”

Trish watched him. “You guys didn’t eat for like a week.”

Opening the backpack, he nodded as he pulled out a Slim Jim, tearing it open. “I know. I’m starvin’ right now.” Taking out the bottle of water, he downed half of it in one gulp. “So, what did I miss? Did anything interestin’ happen?”

Yawning, Trish sat up. “No, other than the mad rush through the camp, we were forced to stay in the raft and sleep most of the day.”

Alex smiled. “I got in the water. The need for a bath outweighed what might be in there.”

He laughed. “Good for you! I told ya there was nothin’ in here that would hurt ya.” He pulled out a pack of honey-roasted cashews and wolfed them down.

Heather held up her hand. “Easy there bottomless pit. We need to make sure that food is gonna last us until we get to this wonder place you wanted to go.”

“I know, but I’m so hungry.”

“Yeah, well no need to go through it all in one sitting.”

Trish looked at the water, turning to Alex. “So nothing even touched you?”

She shook her head. “Nope, it was like I was the only thing in there.”

“I need a bath so I might at least get in to just rinse off.”

“It will make you feel better. I feel wonderful right now, though not as good as Mark over here.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he probably got laid yesterday.”

Wiggling his brows, he tipped the bottle up and drank the rest it. “Damn, I’m thirsty. So all you girls have been doin’ has been hangin’ out in this raft?” He put the bottle with the rest of their water bottle collection.

Nodding, Heather pointed to the Johnny-on-the-spot on shore. “For two days, and if it wasn’t for that thing this river wouldn’t be good for swimming.”

“Ew, that’s a little too much info for me, thanks.” Lighting a cigarette, he coughed as he sat back. “I guess we might as well get comfy.”

Amber groaned. “If I never go camping again… it will be too soon.”

Suddenly he grabbed his stomach. Turning, leaning over edge of the raft, he threw up over the side. The girls all moved further away from him. When he finished he leaned back wiping his mouth. “That was weird. I felt great until I ate an’ drank that water.”

Groaning, Trish leaned back in the raft. “I don’t think I’m going to be taking that bath now.”

“I don’t blame you there,” Amber said, cringing as she looked away. “I hope I don’t puke, which is what I do when someone around me does.”

“Then don’t look. I’m not.”

Shrugging, Alex handed him another bottle of water. “Maybe sip this one. You didn’t eat for five days so it’s probably not a good idea to chug it like a beer drinking contest.”

Taking the water, he smirked. “Now ya tell me.”

“You didn’t ask.”

They stayed in the rafts talking about anything and everything they could think of to keep their mind off what was happening with Trina. He ran around the campsite finding them more weapons that they could use so the girls were extra protected when they walked.

It was later that night when Trina came out of the trailer. When the door opened, creaking loudly, Mark was in the water swimming for shore. It didn’t take him long. He stepped out, the water splashing off his wet body. She backed away from him, growling, with blood dripping down her face, lips, and down her arms where she ripped them open.

He sighed. “Oh baby, what happened to you?”

Shaking her head, Heather looked to shore. “What the fuck happened to her?”

Alex gasped. “Oh my God.”

Shocked, Trish looked over. “This can’t be! How is Mark okay, but Trina has turned into one of those night walkers?”

Yawning, Amber settled back in the raft. “I can’t handle another night in this raft. I hope this means we get to finally move on.”

“You claim to be a sister, but you quickly forget the people who used to mean so much to you.”

Mark slowly walked towards her. “Baby, are you okay?”

Trina growled rushing towards him with her hands outstretched. When she got close, she sniffed the air, backing away from him. Turning, she tried to run.

He raced forward and grabbed her holding her back to his chest, his hands resting on either side of her head. He pressed his lips to the back of her. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. I don’t understand why I survived an’ you didn’t. Please forgive me. May you rest in peace.” Twisting her head with such force, her eyes turned to look at him as she slowly sank to the sand.

Heather screamed. “What the fuck dude! I thought you liked her?”

Alex cried. “You killed her! How could you kill her?”

“Couldn’t you have done something else other than kill her?” Trish yelled, tears streaming down her face.

He dipped down to one knee and cried like a baby as he held her. He stood with her in his arms turning to face the raft. “I’ll be back for you in the mornin’. Stay in the damn raft.” He turned and ran into the woods, carrying her dead body with him.

“Wait!” Heather screamed.

Alex cried softly, clutching her knees to her chest. “He’ll be back.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because he’s proven he won’t leave us.”

Yawning, Amber looked around the raft. “He also proved he won’t hesitate to kill one of us.”

“Maybe he didn’t have a choice?”

“I wonder if she still has her pills on her. Maybe one of us should go and check the trailer and see if she left any behind?”

Standing, Trish moved from her raft to Amber’s with lightning speed. Raising her fist in the air, she knocked her in the side of the head. Amber slumped over the side of the raft, knocked out cold. Trish pulled her back in, before moving back to her own, shaking her head. “Fucking bitch. I told her to shut the fuck up.”

Heather sniffed. “Trust me. If you didn’t do it one of us was going to. Do you remember when we first met Trish?”

Alex smiled. “How could we forget that day? We were all excited about the good times we were going to have cheering. Granted we didn’t realize how much work it was going to take.”

“She never gave up though. She cheered us cheerleaders on.”

“It was like having our own pep rally.”

They laughed, cried, and talked until the last one fell asleep.

As promised, Mark returned in the morning. “Let’s go. You can’t sleep all day.” His clothes were torn and covered in blood. He dove in the water and swam out grabbing the anchor, towing them to shore. “I want to get there before night. You don’t wanna see what goes on in the woods after dark.”

After he pulled them in, Trish handed him his pack of cigarettes and the backpack. They each gathered their weapons, wrapping them around their bodies. “You look like you had a rough night.”

“Yeah, but it was productive.” He noticed Amber still sleeping and scooped water in his hand, tossing it in her face. “Yo lazy ass, wake the fuck up!”

She jumped as the water splashed her, looking around, before holding her head in both hands. “Bitch, if you ever fucking touch me again I’ll kill you.”

Trish smirked. “You mean you’ll try. You’re not much without your family’s money and influences and you have to do shit on your own. When someone tells you to shut the fuck up next time you should listen.”

He looked around at the girls. “Looks like I missed somethin’ good.”

Alex nodded. “Trish knocked Amber the fuck out.”

“Oh, I
did
miss somethin’ good!”

“Yep, Trish clocked her and Amber was out for the count.”

“I hold a new respect for you Trish.”

Wiggling her brows, she sighed. “I guess I’m gonna be your first baby mama, eh?”

“Stop claimin’ my damn sperm.”

“You love it and you know it.”

Thirty-Two

The next morning, Rachel was in such a good mood that she got up early and made breakfast for everyone. She was happy and it showed. There was a bounce in her step and she kept singing, and dancing around the kitchen. Sophia and Montana were the next up, laughing and teasing each other as they sat down at the picnic table with their coffee. It was obvious they had taken their relationship to the next level with their actions.

Looking over at Rachel, Sophia smiled. “Oh wow, somethin’ smells good in here.”

Montana nodded. “Yes, it does. You didn’t go over the rations, did you? We still have to watch those.”

She brought out a plate of food. “Nope. It’s like amazing what you can make with the like proper ingredients. Just a dash of this and like a smidge of that. But like look at you two! I’d say that like movie night was just what the doctor ordered. “She winked.

“Yeah, it was a pretty good night.”

Sophia nodded, blushing softly. “I have to admit, it was.”

Rachel chuckled. “Sounds like we all had like a good night for a change.”

“Mm, this looks really good! You outdid yourself!”

“I guess I’m like just excited to get this like moat done so we can like go back to some normalcy like in our lives again.”

Picking up his fork, Montana stabbed his potatoes. “Wow, you made
all
this?”

“It’s just like fried potatoes, eggs, with some like cheese and ham mixed in with like bacon on the side. With the little bit of like rations we’re doing, it’s like easier to fluff things up so it’s like more filling.”

“True, rationin’ out the food supply was the smartest thing we could’ve done.”

Justice staggered in tired and looked around. He pulled Rachel back into the kitchen with him, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her in for a kiss. “So, this is where the warmth disappeared to this mornin’. I rolled over for you an’ you were gone.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled, leaning up to kiss him. “I couldn’t like sleep any longer and you like snored up a storm. I figured I’d get up and like get breakfast ready, since we have like such a hectic day ahead of us.”