Chapter 20 - Survive.

"Brad, come on!" Carson whispered loudly, tapping her fingers anxiously on her leg waiting for the boy to get out from underneath the house. She'd heard Elliot burst into the flaming room the second she and Bradley had been under the tiles, and she couldn't bear the thought of being caught by the madman.

Bradley crawled onto the snow a second later, Carson taking a breath of relief before grabbing his arm, pulling him farther out and making sure he was ok.

"Did he see you?" She asked frantically.

"No," Bradley replied, but the calling of his name from inside the house stopped whatever he was going to say next.

The two looked at each other for a moment, then they started sprinting through the trees, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the burning cabin as possible.

"Bradley! Carson!"

Elliot's voice only pushed Carson to run faster, push harder through the snow, Bradley still running next to her. They had to get to the truck before Elliot caught up to them, and Carson's karma following close behind. She knew what her fate was in this situation, and she was actually surprised she'd lasted this long.

Elliot called out Bradley's name again, and this time he sounded far closer than before.

Carson stopped dead in her tracks, and Bradley looked at her questioningly.

"What are y–"

"He's too close," Carson explained, looking around frantically for someplace to hide. "If we keep running, he'll hear us and catch us. We have to wait, hide somewhere until he's farther off."

Bradley closed his mouth –which had been hanging open, waiting to finish his previous sentence– and nodded, grabbing Carson's hand and pulling them both under the thick branches of the closest tree.

Carson's back was to Bradley's chest, and she watched, horrified, as Elliot got closer to them. Every fiber in the girl's body to stay still, holding her breath as the man stood in front of her, only a couple of feet away. She subconsciously grabbed Bradley's hand, him giving it a squeeze, reassuring her he was there.

"Caleb!" Elliot called, and Bradley took a step back, a branch breaking under his weight, and Carson's eyes widened. They had been caught.

Carson turned immediately, going to run away from the man, and Bradley followed suite, but Carson felt his presence disappear from her side, and she turned around, her eyes filling with fear and horror when she saw Elliot grabbing his arm.

"Come here," Elliot growled menacingly, only making Carson's fear rise.

"No! Dad, please! Dad! Stop!" Bradley yelled, trying to raise him arms to protect himself.

Elliot was holding his shotgun, and he wrapped held it tightly in both hands, Bradley's neck between the barrel and his chest.

Elliot hadn't seen Carson yet. She could have easily turned, running away and leaving Bradley behind. Save herself. Instead, she did the one thing that anyone would define stupid.

"Hey!" She called out, gaining the attention of the two.

Elliot's eyes landed on her, and they were completely covered in madness, bloodlust, even.

"They're gonna find us, you know?" She said, holding her voice steady.

"We can't leave," Elliot responded, and eerie sound to his tone. "We can't go back. They're gonna take you away." He paused for a moment, mistaking Carson's fear for hesitation. "I know what I'm doing."

"No," Carson replied, a plan fixating in her brain as she spoke. "No, they won't take us away. They won't take me  away." She suddenly felt a presence behind her, but she didn't have to look to see who is was.

"Dad," Caleb said, and the man's gaze snapped towards him.

"Caleb?" He said, letting go of Bradley and walking towards his youngest son. Once Elliot had passed Carson, the girl immediately looking to make sure Bradley was alright, watching as he nodded at her, and she nodded back.

"Hi," Caleb spoke again, and Carson stood still beside him.

"Don't look at me like that," Elliot said, and the girl noticed that while she could keep her stone facade on, the younger boy couldn't as easily.

Caleb took a breath. "I– if we stay here," he said, stepping away from the man, "can you teach us to go fishing? A– and to hunt? We can make it work."

As much as Carson wanted to slap Caleb right now, she stood her ground, hoping Elliot would be too blinded by insanity to notice the clear lie running from Caleb's mouth.

"Caleb, what are you doing?" Bradley asked, bewildered, yet confused.

"Yeah," Caleb replied, ignoring his brother. "I– it'll be fun. Right?"

Carson caught Bradley's gaze, his looking at her in utter confusion, her returning the contact with a pleading look to not do anything. Caleb's idea was smart, but she didn't know how long it could last. She was working on a plan inside her head, feeling all the gears turning, trying to figure something out while the youngest Baker bought them time.

"We can rebuild the house, and..." he trailed off, looking at Carson for help, for he was running out of excuses.

"Just us," the girl cut in.

"Yeah," Elliot said dreamily.

"It'll be ok," Carson said again.

"Yeah... yeah. Of– of course." Elliot smiled then, a maniacal smile that made Carson want to run for the hills. "We can go fishing, we can go hunting, we can do whatever you want!"

His rant was cut off, though, by a body slamming into him from behind, and Carson placed a hand over her mouth to keep from yelling out.

"Go!" Luke yelled, pushing the three towards an unknown direction, away from Elliot. Carson had never been more thankful for the stranger.

"Come on! Quickly!"

"Faster, let's go!"

"No!"

Carson turned around, the sickening crack of the shotgun against Luke's skull echoing in her ears.

A pained 'go!' was the last thing the man said, before more crunches filled the air, the sound of every bone in Luke's face popping out of place making Carson turn around, grabbing Caleb's arm. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. His dad had once been his idol, his hero. And he'd had to stand back and watch as he turned mad. She knew the feeling. And she wasn't going to let the boy go through it alone.

The three finally reached the truck, Carson climbing into the passenger's seat while Caleb got in the back, Bradley yelling out for the keys as he got into the driver's seat.

"Come on, come on," Bradley muttered, turning the keys into the ignition repeatedly.

Carson looked out the window, hoping to see anything except for Elliot running after them. But that's exactly what she saw. Her eyes widened and she yelled at Bradley to go, to hurry, but she knew it was over. It was done. Her body fought against Elliot's grip on her arm, but her brain was shut down. All the voices around her sounded muffled as her legs tried to kick Elliot away, but she couldn't really see or feel anything. This was it. Karma had caught up to her at last. She was done for, dead already, she wasn't going to survive and–

A sudden pain in her lower arm is what snapped her back to her senses, and her eyes grew wider than before, her golden orbs watching as a piece of broken glass dug into her skin, scarlet flowing freely down her wrist and hand. She kicked out one last time, hitting Elliot square in the chest, the man stumbling out and away from the truck. Carson finally realized how much the glass in her arm was hurting, and she let out a closed mouth scream, ripping the shard out of her vein.

No one said anything, or, if they did, the girl didn't hear them. Tears rolled down her face, and she was holding a piece of her shirt –one she'd already ripped due to a branch in the woods– to her wound, only hoping there were no extra pieces of glass inside. She suddenly felt a hand on hers, and her gaze went to Bradley.

"We'll be ok," he said, and Carson's lips couldn't bring themselves upwards, but, inside, deep down, she couldn't help but believe him.

Maybe they would be ok. Maybe they would be able to move on from their lives. And maybe, just maybe, after all this time, Carson could finally breath.