Blood Moon by Gwendolyn Harper (books for students to read .TXT) 📕

for him, he looked up. “Nah, I’m alright,” he murmured. “Just takin’ a minute to think.”

Standing, he started to brush past her, but Caitlin grabbed his forearm, pulling him to a stop.

“Jack…”

“Listen, Cae, I know the past few days have been a lot,” he said. “And I’m sure what happened to me has made you start to wonder…”

Caitlin frowned up at him. “What?”

“But if you could just do me the courtesy of tellin’ me instead of—”

“Tell you what, Booker?”

He scowled, running a hand through his hair. “Look, I get it, okay? Me gettin’ sick didn’t exactly prove my abilities to handle things, but—”

Squeezing her eyes closed, Caitlin shook her head. “Booker, slow down. What are you talking about?”

Booker squared his shoulders, facing her fully.

“If you wanna call it—if you wanna end things, I’ll understand. You just gotta tell me, okay? I won’t… I ain’t gonna abandon you and Nicole, but—”

The breath in her lungs burned. Her stomach soured.

Caitlin blinked. Once. Twice.

He continued rambling but she couldn’t understand him.

“Booker…” She tried, voice cracking. “Booker…”

His words turned into a white noise hum.

“Jack, shut up!” Caitlin yelled, cutting him off. “I’m not trying to dump you, you jackass!”

Booker stared at her. “You’re not?”

“No,” she said. “Why would you think that?”

Sighing, he scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Ever since you got back, you’ve been…” He cleared his throat. “You practically run outta the room every time we’re alone together. You’re antsy, and upset, and I just… I know I put you in a bad spot, gettin’ sick like that. I should’ve been watchin’ out for you and instead—”

“Booker, that could’ve happened to anyone. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, an infection will take anyone down.”

“Is that why you’ll barely look at me?” He asked, voice rough. “Hardly let me near you? I mean, hell, you won’t even sleep in the same bed with me.”

“That was to help keep your temperature down.”

He sneered. “Sure, okay.”

“Jack,” she snapped, taking a step forward. “I am not trying to leave you.”

“Then what is it, huh?” He pressed, leaning towards her. “What’s got you twisted?”

“I killed someone!”

The words flew from her mouth before she could even register them.

She felt their traces like an ember in her throat.

Struggling to inhale, she blinked up at him.

“I… I killed two men.”

All the anger and resentment that had etched into Booker’s face bled out. He stood perfectly still, waiting for her to continue.

Pushing her hair away from her face, Caitlin took a deep breath.

“The day I went to the pharmacy… These two guys came in. They caught me before I could run out. They wanted my bag, but I wouldn’t give it to them. It had everything you needed in it. I couldn’t…”

Blindly, she inched backwards until her legs bumped the mattress, and she sat down.

“The first one, he… He grabbed me. But I remembered what you taught me, and I… I got away. I wasn’t fast enough though. He hit me in the back of the head.” Her fingers found the healing wound on her scalp, pressing into the bruise as a reminder. “I was on the floor, and he grabbed my ankle, pulling me back… And then suddenly I was holding a bloody tire iron and his skull was split wide open.”

Booker took a step forward. “Cae…”

“The second one though,” she continued. “That was different.”

He froze again, watching her.

“The fight was so noisy it brought every Geek around right to the store front. And the guy’s buddy was yelling, calling me a murderer, and I just…” She paused, glancing up. “It was him or me. The Geeks, they were all coming closer. Trampling through the store. And I just kept thinking I had to get home. I had to get back. You needed me.”

Caitlin blinked and tears fell from her lashes, turning into twin rivulets down her cheeks.

“I shot him in the knee. I knew he’d make so much noise the Geeks wouldn’t notice me running out the back. So, I shot him, and I left him there. Even after he begged me not to.”

Moving closer, Booker squatted in front of her, resting his warm hands on her knees.

“You listen to me, songbird,” he started, voice rough. “Those weren’t good men you killed. Nothin’ innocent about ‘em. Y’did what you had to t’survive.”

“He begged me, Jack,” she said through her tears. “Pleaded with me to help him, and I abandoned him. I let a man get eaten alive. Hell, I rang the dinner bell for those Geeks.”

Leaning closer, Booker took her hands in his, squeezing until she felt it in her bones.

“What’d you tell me after that herd came through?” He whispered. “Y’told me it didn’t matter what I did, as long as I came back. That’s what you said.”

Caitlin held his gaze. “You drove a Jeep through a fence and let out a bunch of Geeks. I murdered two people.”

“Call it self-defense. Justifiable homicide. Whatever fancy term y’gotta throw on it, it don’t matter. You made it back.” Reaching up, he cupped her cheek, wiping her tears with his thumb. “I don’t care if you had to kill twenty men. Fifty. A hundred. You came home.”

A quiet sob escaped her. “I don’t think I’m the same person I was anymore, Jack.”

“I don’t think any of us are,” he whispered, stroking the curve of her ear. “But we survived.”

Closing her eyes, she tried to force her tears to stop but to no avail.

“Why didn’t y’tell me sooner, darlin’?”

Leaning into his touch—a luxury she hadn’t felt in days—she murmured, “You were just getting better, and… you already carry so much guilt. I couldn’t add this to your conscience too.”

“Hey,” he said, urging her