Apokalypsis | Book 6 | Apokalypsis 6 Morris, Kate (cheapest way to read ebooks TXT) 📖

well, as if nobody wanted to disrespect the poor girl further. Then came the process of digging through snow and frozen ground to bury her. It wasn’t an easy task at all. A few times, they used a pickaxe to chip away frozen ground while others scooped out the dirt it left behind. Their hour drew out into an hour and a half, but they finally managed to dig a grave about four, maybe five feet deep. They laid her in and covered her again.

A scream broke their concentration as they were finishing filling in the last foot of dirt. Elijah jumped because they’d all been so quiet during the entire process that hearing something so loud and shockingly eerie startled him. The others looked rattled, too.

“Shit,” Tristan blurted quietly. “It’s too dark down here in this ravine. Too much tree cover. We need to move.”

They hurried and whipped the dirt into the concave space as fast as they could, nobody taking breaks.

“Let’s go!” Tristan whispered fervently when they had the last indent filled in. “Now!”

They were each armed with weapons and knives, but carrying the shovels and other supplies was burdensome, so they’d each chosen to strap on pistols instead of rifles when they’d left their homes. Everyone except for Tristan, who had his rifle.

“This way,” Tristan said, leading. “Less steep. Less chance of sliding back down.”

He led them up a path closer to the wall of the precipitous hill where the rock formations jutted out. Tristan froze suddenly and held up a fisted hand.

Elijah gulped while waiting. Nobody moved. Tristan must’ve seen something. Or heard it.

Then he motioned for them to come forward slightly where they met up in a cluster of white pines with branches that were hanging all the way to the ground. Tristan led them into those clusters where they were concealed.

He whispered, “There’s a cave.”

“Cave?” Elijah asked and got a nod of confirmation.

“We almost went past it. I think I saw one of those things moving in there. Not sure. Something was. I want to check it out.”

“You sure?” Roman asked and got the same nod. “It’s almost dark.”

“Yeah, I think we should look.”

“I’ll go with you,” Elijah volunteered.

Tristan nodded again. “You guys cover us. Anything chases us out? Just shoot it.”

“Got it,” Roman agreed.

Alex didn’t look as pleased, but Elijah expected that sort of a reaction from his brother. Instead, he handed off his shovel, crept back out from under the thick cover of pine branches, and followed Tristan, who backtracked them about ten yards.

Then they climbed up about five feet onto one of those rock formations, which were kind of slippery and wet from the snow.

“Here,” Tristan whispered and bent slightly over as he moved forward.

He was right. There was some sort of cave. The opening was more than big enough for three or four people to go in and out at the same time. Elijah just followed Tristan instead as he led them inside.

The walls were black and glossy as if damp. The floor a dry, chalkier black appearance. It wasn’t exactly entirely dark, but there wasn’t much for illumination, either. During the morning or middle of the day hours, he could see that this part of the cave would’ve been well-lit. Unfortunately, Tristan was leading them further, deeper into it. He took out his flashlight and cupped the end. Elijah looked over his shoulder to ascertain they were still alone as they went. He did this often.

Tristan stopped in front of him, causing Elijah to almost run into his back. He pointed down. There were bones in front of him, what looked like animal bones, or so Elijah hoped. They seemed too small to be from a human.

They kept going until the space split in two directions. The path to the right seemed simpler and definitely wider. The path to their left splintered into narrower spaces and at least three different new paths. Tristan went right.

A sound so shrill it caused his eardrums to ache hit them next. One of those things was somewhere deeper inside the cave and had cried out. They didn’t make human noises anymore. It was either grunts, growls, or the awful screaming banshee sounds like this one. Their solitary screams would fill the night’s quiet solitude back in the city. Sometimes even in this area, they’d hear one still. However, this was followed by many others.

“Out!” Tristan whispered fiercely, spinning toward him.

Elijah needed no encouragement. He turned and practically ran. Then he heard clamoring, uncoordinated footsteps behind them and knew they were in trouble. This wasn’t a safe situation. They were so much faster than regular people. He and Tristan were nearly running blind. One wrong turn would lead them into what was probably a maze.

When he got to the split-off, Elijah went the right way. There was no way in hell he was going to get lost. He was learning a lot about military maneuvers from Tristan and his brother, as well. He was getting smarter about having an exit point and strategy. Those things were clearly inhabiting this cave, so they’d know it better than him and Tristan. Getting lost on the way back out was not an option. And when he got to the opening, he jumped off the overhang onto the ground instead of climbing down carefully. It wasn’t exactly the safest way, but it was definitely the fastest. Tristan did the same. They were both lucky because neither twisted an ankle.

Gunfire immediately erupted from the pine trees, and he spun to look up as one of those things came flying down toward them the same way they’d taken their exit. Alex had shot it, causing the man to fall near them, where it twisted and contorted in an inhuman manner of expressing pain. Then they were on their feet and dashing parallel to the wall so as not to get shot by their allies. Soon, they were joined by his brother, Abraham, and Roman, who brought up the rear.

When they