Chapter 11

Cutter jolted awake suddenly as the cries of the baby pierced the dead silence of the room. Confused, it was a few seconds before he realised that the bed next to him was completely Jenny-less. Huffing slightly, he staggered out of the bed, picked up the baby and jiggled her up and down in the semi-darkness.

"Sssshh," he said as gently as possible. "You're alright . . ."

He looked around the room, still rather bemused; where was Jenny? One thing he had learned about her since sharing a bed with her is that she slept like the dead - it wasn't like her to get up for an early morning wander. Cutter sighed, his brow furrowed as the baby hunted for her bottle on his chest; maybe Jenny was still upset that he was refusing to let her go and check on her family? But he was just trying to protect her. Then again, it's not like he had anyone else he was worried about - all the people he cared for were in this house with him. Maybe he was being selfish? After all, if his parents were still alive, he would be desperate to see if they were okay, even if it did mean traveling all the way to Scotland. Perhaps he wasn't being as sympathetic as he should be?

He sat down on the edge of the bed and fed the feisty little girl who was all but demanding her bottle. She fell asleep again before she had even finished her meal; much to Cutter's relief. He loved babies; he always had. But he was a long way off from being ready to take one on full time. The thought made him tingle slightly as he carefully placed the baby back in the basket; maybe one day it would be his and Jenny's child he was rocking to sleep. Then, realisation hit him like a tonne of bricks as he backed away from the cot quietly - what sort of world would this be to bring children into? A world filled with danger and death - was that any sort of environment conducive to child raising? The answer was, of course, no. Unreasonable disappointment burnt through him as he pulled his top back on - everything he had been planning for his entire life (unconsciously or otherwise) was now no longer possible. But he was being silly thinking about such things; at least he was alive, which is more than could be said for countless other individuals. He was being extremely selfish. And anyway, he and Jenny didn't exactly have a normal relationship; it was dysfunctional at best, and most importantly, it was very short-term. Who was he to be planning this future with her when they hadn't even had 'the talk' yet. That soul-crushing, nerve-wracking talk that women love so much; where is this relationship going? Are we moving too fast? Are we moving to slow? Do you see marriage in the future? Do you want kids? Now Jenny didn't really strike him as the type of woman that needed this talk, just as Helen wasn't. But she had a fiancé once - surely that meant she did want to be married some day?

God Cutter, get over yourself, he thought as slipped out of the bedroom door quietly. Who would they get to perform the ceremony; a Future Predator? And anyway, she may not even want to get married to you . . . why would she? And she's already said she hates kids, despite how good she had been with the baby.

This entire thought pattern was pointless anyway; why would marriage matter in a world lacking in society? He pushed these unreasonable ideas out of his head as he crept down the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone up; he just wanted to check that Jenny wasn't too pissed at him.

But she wasn't in the kitchen, or the living room - only Becker snoozing on the couch could be seen. Cutter opened the door to the back room where Abby and Conner usually slept; maybe she was with them? But all he was greeted with was the sight of Conner snoring on the floor . . . and no Abby.

That's odd, Cutter thought, as he entered the room.

"Conner?" he said, prodding him with his foot. "Conner?"

"Five more minutes," Conner mumbled, turning in his sleep.

"Conner!" Cutter snapped, more impatiently.

The student jerked awake suddenly, looking around in alarm. When he spotted Cutter, his expression relaxed slightly, and he leaned up on his elbows.

"What? What's the matter?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"Where's Abby?" Cutter inquired.

"She's right - " Conner began, glancing around at the couch. "there - " he finished, looking bemused. "Well she was there . . ."

Cutter was starting to panic now . . . where on earth were they . . . unless -

"Oh no," Cutter muttered, more to himself than Conner.

"What? What? " Conner demanded, getting to his feet.

"They've gone," he answered numbly, feeling fear descending on him, clouding his mind.

"Gone? Gone where? Who's gone?" Conner babbled, clearly not understanding.

"Jenny and Abby," Cutter answered, running his hand through his hair in worry. "They've both gone . . . they said they wanted to, but I didn't think they'd actually leave - "

"Cutter, what the hell are you talking about? Where have they gone?" Conner asked desperately.

"To check on their families. They've snook out."

"No," Conner said, shaking his head. "No, they wouldn't just leave . . . "

"Well whereelse would they be?" Cutter snapped, thinking hard.

They couldn't be that far ahead of them; but the thing was that Cutter had no idea where Jenny's parents lived, or Abby's for that matter. But maybe they left a trail to follow.

"Where are you going?" Conner demanded as Cutter turned to leave.

"I'm going to find them," Cutter answered, not bothering to look back - he wasn't interested in being talked out of it. But . . .

"I'm coming too!" Conner insisted, scrambling after him.

"No," Cutter replied shortly. "It's too dangerous - "

"All the more reason for me to come," Conner argued, as he nearly tripped putting his shoes on. "You might need me!"

Cutter turned to face him, wanting to argue that he'd be better off staying here incase the girls came back. But the look of determination glowing on his face made him hesitate.

"Okay," he conceded, sighing slightly. "But you exactly what I say, got it?"

Conner nodded immediately.

********

Jenny couldn't think straight; it was as though everything was happening in slow motion - terror was flooding through her every vein. She had raised Abby's upper body onto her lap, and was cradling her - she couldn't think of anything else to do.

Abby's blood-soaked hands were trembling violently, and she was breathing erratically in shock.

"You're okay . . . " Jenny breathed, stroking Abby's hair out of her face, tears clouding her vision. "You're okay . . ."

There was no wondering about who had fired the bullet; there was no fear about the fact that Jenny herself could be the next target; all she could think about was getting help. She wanted to scream Cutter's name at the top of her lungs, but she knew he would never hear her.

Think, think . . . Jenny thought wildly, hearing herself sob aloud.

"Come on," she whispered to Abby, her voice cracking as she tried to heave her up. "We need to get you some help, come on."

Unsurprisingly, Abby couldn't stay on her feet, so Jenny pulled the girls arm over her shoulders and held it tightly in place. She grabbed her around the waist and hauled her up.

"Come on," Jenny said desperately, struggling to hold up her weight.

She walked her over to the car she was going to use previously and awkwardly placed Abby across the back seat; she seemed to be losing consciousness. Jenny hurdled into the drivers seat and tried to start the engine.

But it wouldn't start.

"Damn it!" Jenny shouted, slapping both hands on the wheel.

She didn't care that she was making enough noise to attract every Predator within a few miles radius. Jenny flew out of the car again, fear fogging her mind; she pulled Abby out of the back seat and tried to hold her up again; her head lolled forwards immediately.

"Abby?" Jenny cried. "Abby, I need you to try and walk for me, can you do that?"

She didn't reply, but when Jenny moved forward, Abby's feet also staggered clumsily. With every step it became increasingly difficult to hold her up; the blood on Jenny's hands making her grip slippery. Jenny didn't know that a person could bleed so much; it was everywhere! As they moved forward, Abby's feet slipped and slid as she struggled to keep herself upright; her faint grip on Jenny's neck tightening slightly.

After a long while, Jenny actually found herself marveling at how Abby kept putting one foot in front of the other; she had a hole in her stomach! How was she doing this? However, no sooner had she thought that, Abby's knees buckled.

"No, stay on your feet," Jenny begged, tears still falling uncontrollably as she tried to hold her up.

"I . . . I can't . . ." Abby breathed, her face contorted in pain as she fell to the ground.

Jenny fell to her knees next to her, sobbing; this wasn't happening . . . she would wake up any moment and this will all just have been a bad dream . . .

"Tell . . . tell Conner," Abby said faintly in between short shallow breaths. "Tell him . . ."

"I'm not telling him anything," Jenny replied stubbornly, trying to keep her voice steady. "You can tell him yourself when you see him."

Abby started to shake and she let out a painful gasp, her face tear stained. Then suddenly, her head fell sidewards and her eyes went blank as though all the light had been taken from them.

"Abby? ABBY!" Jenny cried, shaking her violently; desperately.

But she remained motionless, sprawled across the middle of the road.

"No," Jenny sobbed, unable to take in what had happened. She lent her face against Abby's and wrapped her arms around her. "No . . . please don't die . . . " she begged, her shoulders shaking in grief.

********

:-( I hate writing character deaths!

Sorry everyone!

X x x