Abandon by Stephanie Dorman Page B

expected her to tell him that she stole them from a dead guy, much less that she had seen the dead guy.  He felt an unexpected rise of self-loathing that he wasn’t there with her in that moment.  She shouldn’t have had to deal with that alone.  He searched for some words to say that would ease the pain she must be feeling, but none came to mind.  Instead, he gathered her into his arms and started rubbing her back.  
    Immediately, Annalise relaxed against him.  He was struck between the difference in the emotions he felt compared to the scene with Katy earlier.  With Katy, he felt a need to protect her, somehow keep her safe from the knowledge that nothing was ever going to be the same.  With Annalise, he knew she was already aware of the truth, and he only needed to lend her a shoulder.  
    Initially, Katy had been a drain on his nerves.  Before the events in DC, she had been nothing more than a fuck-buddy but after the time they spent out here he regarded her almost as a child.  She had been so sheltered from the reality of life that she had a kind of innocence about her that her sexual experience had hidden from him.  Yes - part of that was a selfish streak a mile wide, but in this new world he thought that kind of innocence should be protected, and cherished.  There had been far too little of it already in the world, he could only imagine that Katy might be one of the last people on earth to possess those traits.  
    In a strange way, he imagined himself as Noah, and the people he had gotten out of DC as the animals.  There was one every kind.  Jake was the strong silent type, Kevin was the thinker, Jenna was the always cheerful cheerleader - and Annalise?  She was the walking wounded.  She was like a vase that had been shattered and laid on the floor with all those sharp edges.  You could put her back together, but she would never be whole again.  It always marveled him that she carried so much baggage from her own past, but it never stopped her from being strong and helping those around her.  It was probably the entirety of the reason she had answered his text and come out here.  She couldn’t resist it when someone needed her help, and he definitely needed her help.
    “When we went to Cumberland, the first morning out here, I didn’t tell you guys everything,” Cort confessed.  Something about the story that Annalise had just shared with him made him want to share his burdens too.
    She moved away from him, one of her lips curling up in a sort of twisted smile.  “I know, I figured you’d tell me when you were ready,” she repeated, nudging his ribs to lighten the mood.
    He laughed, and lit up another cigarette.  “The cop, there was something wrong with him.  He looked sick, in a way I have never seen anyone look before.  It was strange, unnerving.”
    Annalise lit up another cigarette as well and took a deep drag before releasing it and letting the smoke mingle with his.  “Whatever is going on out there, we’ll make it through,” she said finally.  “We just have to figure out what we’re up against.”

Chapter 15:  Annalise
    Deep Creek Lake, Western Maryland
December 20, 2012
    Midnight scouting was the absolute worst kind of scouting.  During the day, it was possible to have conversation with scouting buddies.  Something about the light shining through the trees and onto the lake made it seem less like a mission to make sure there wasn’t anyone about to crash their little party and more like a nature walk.  Night scouting though, Annalise had to pay attention.  Her body was on high alert for any noise or any sound.  Maybe it was the reduced visibility and the fact that walking in the woods at night had been beaten in her head by every horror movie and Law and Order type procedural show as a bad idea.  Whatever the reason, by the time she and Jenna rounded the last corner and the house was in sight she let out a large sigh of relief and let her body relax a