Page 74 of Survive the Night
Sarah couldn’t stop looking at Otto. As they walked through the snow, silent except for the slight crunch of snow underneath their boots—or paws or hooves—Sarah kept sneaking peeks at Otto over her shoulder. Having him so close, knowing that he loved her, made the bombs, the bodies, the long ride through the blizzard, Aaron—all of it—seem like a fading nightmare.
She glanced back at him again, smiling when she caught his gaze. The corners of his mouth tipped up in his gradual way, and her heart almost hurt from joy at seeing that again. Until that point, Sarah hadn’t realized how scared she’d been that something had happened to him. Now, she couldn’t stop glancing over her shoulder, just to check to make sure he was still there.
Out of habit, she kept doing an animal count. Hortense was doing a better job at keeping up, although whether that was because Otto was there or because she knew she was headed for someplace warm and dry for the night, Sarah didn’t know. Xena seemed a bit shyer with Grace there, and was walking so close behind Sarah that her paws brushed the backs of Sarah’s boots.
They were all on edge, staying silent, their gazes roaming the area in a steady scan as they walked in a tight group. Grace had something on her back. In the dim light, it took Sarah a few minutes to figure out what it was.
“Is that…a crossbow?” Sarah whispered.
“Yes.” A strange expression crossed Grace’s face. “I don’t know how to use it yet, though, so I’m not much help.”
Otto cleared his throat quietly. “You were a lot of help as a spotter, Grace.”
“What happened?” Sarah asked, looking at Grace’s unhappy profile and then back at an equally grim Otto.
Neither answered, keeping their eyes on anything but her. She fell silent, deciding to ask Otto when they were alone. They walked in tense silence for a few more minutes until they came to a tall, menacing-looking gate. When they stopped, Sarah realized how incredibly tired she was. The thought of taking even one more step was overwhelming.
Otto removed the lock and unwound the chain. Once they’d slipped through the gate, he rearranged it to look as if the gate was secured again.
Otto, leading Bean, put a hand on Sarah’s back, urging her forward. Xena followed, but Mort lagged behind, limping badly. After handing Bean’s lead rope to Sarah, Otto returned to Mort, lifting the large dog like he weighed nothing. Sarah and Grace waited until Otto had caught up, and then they continued their trek through the snow. The security lights were muted by the still-falling snow, and Sarah peered through the dimness, looking for the building housing the workshop.
When they reached an outhouse, Otto carried Mort inside.
Confused, Sarah and Grace stared at each other, and then inside the tiny shed. In the dim light, Sarah watched as Otto swung the seat to the side and opened the trap door beneath it, all while holding Mort with one strong arm. He looked at Sarah. “This ladder leads into the bunker. It’ll be safer in there.”
“I want to help put Bean and Hortense away.” She couldn’t admit that, now that she was with Otto again, she didn’t want to be separated, even for a short time. “We’ve been through a lot together.”
He hesitated, but finally nodded and gestured toward Grace.
“Wait,” Sarah said, unbuckling the waist strap of the backpack and slipping it off her shoulders. She fished out a folding knife and flashlight before holding the pack out toward Grace, careful not to jostle the cat. “Can you take Bob down?”
“Bob?”
“Otto’s cat.”
“Oh.” Grace gave a small choke of a laugh as she pulled off her crossbow before easing her arms through the straps. “I thought you’d named your favorite pack or something.” She swung the crossbow over her shoulder and visibly braced herself. Looking like she was scared out of her mind and trying to hide it, Grace started to descend the ladder, quickly disappearing into the darkness below.
“You brought Bob, too?” Otto asked quietly.
“Yes. I didn’t think he’d follow like the others, so I put the poor guy in the pack pocket. He’s pretty unhappy about it.”
Otto was quiet as he studied her for a long moment. “Thank you.” His voice sounded rusty. “I’ll be right back.” He used one hand on the ladder and the other to steady Mort over his shoulder as he followed Grace through the opening. In just a few seconds, Sarah was all by herself, hanging on to Bean’s lead rope with a white-knuckled grip.
“Dummy,” she whispered to herself, not able to take her eyes off the spot where Otto had disappeared. “You were on your own for much longer, and you did just fine. Don’t lose it now.”
The wind hummed around them, and Xena pressed against the backs of her legs. Sarah didn’t want to admit to herself that she was just as comforted by the contact as the dog was.
Otto’s head popped through the hole, and Sarah jumped.
“Come here, Xena,” he said quietly, but she hunched lower and looked away from him, as if she could disappear that way.
“I think she’s coming with us,” Sarah said, her voice shaking slightly.
Even in the low light, she could see Otto’s gaze sharpen as he looked at her. “That’s fine. We’ll bring her down with us once we get the other two settled. Are you cold?”
“I’ll live. Don’t you want to bring Hortense down there?”
“No.” He boosted himself out of the hole, closed the trapdoor, and swung the seat over it, hiding the entrance. “Bean needs the company.”
