Chapter 148 Don't Follow Me

Chapter 148 Don't Follow Me
Tessa's POV
Thomas's warning carried across the clearing.
"Don't follow me."
Martha gripped her walking stick tightly.
"Thomas!"
His voice came again from somewhere beyond the trees.
"Mother, stay where you are."
She looked toward Dylan with a mixture of fear and relief.
"That's my son."
"I know."
"I have to reach him."
Dylan stepped closer.
"We'll find him, but we're going carefully."
Martha nodded, though every part of her wanted to run into the forest.
The villagers gathered behind her, anxious and uncertain about what the warning meant.
Thomas had found them.
He had also told them to stay away.
That distinction mattered.

Renwick raised his hand and motioned for everyone to remain together.
"Thomas!"
His voice travelled through the trees.
"You're speaking to people who want to help."
For several moments, nothing answered.
Then branches shifted somewhere beyond the clearing.
A figure appeared between two trees.
Thomas.
He was younger than I expected, perhaps in his early thirties, with tired eyes and a coat covered in dust from the road.
Martha took another step.
"My son."
Thomas looked at her and smiled.
The expression lasted only a moment before concern returned.
"Why did you come here?"
"Because I heard your voice."
"I told you to stay away."
"I've spent enough time staying behind."
Thomas lowered his gaze.
"I know."
His voice softened.
"That's why I don't want you following me now."

Dylan approached slowly.
"Thomas, we need to understand what happened to the others."
Thomas looked at him.
"You won't like the answer."
"Tell us anyway."
He glanced toward the villagers.
"They're alive."
Relief moved through the group.
"Where are they?" Hannah asked.
Thomas pointed toward the eastern hills.
"They're following the Guide."
Martha frowned.
"Why didn't you stay with them?"
"I tried."
"What happened?"
Thomas rubbed a hand over his face.
"I started hearing the voices too."
Samuel stepped forward.
"What did you hear?"
Thomas looked directly at him.
"Someone I loved."
Samuel understood immediately.
"Eliza?"
Thomas nodded.
"Her voice."
The name carried through the clearing.
Samuel's expression tightened.
"Did you see her?"
"No."
"Did the Voice show you anything?"
Thomas shook his head.
"Only memories."
He looked at his mother.
"I heard her laughing."
"I heard her calling my name."
"I heard her asking why I'd left her."
His voice broke slightly.
"It knew exactly what would make me follow."

Martha reached for his hand.
"You came back."
"I almost didn't."
"What stopped you?"
Thomas looked toward the forest.
"I remembered something my father used to say."
Martha smiled through her tears.
"What?"
"He told us that love should make you stronger."
Thomas squeezed her hand.
"It shouldn't make you forget yourself."
Samuel lowered his eyes.
The words struck him deeply.
He had spent years learning the same lesson.

Caleb studied Thomas carefully.
"How did you get away?"
"I didn't."
That answer made everyone focus on him.
"What do you mean?" Dylan asked.
"I stopped walking."
Thomas gave a tired smile.
"The Voice kept calling."
"I kept standing there."
"Eventually, the voice changed."
"Changed how?"
"It became angry."
Renwick's expression hardened.
"That's important."
Thomas nodded.
"It wasn't angry because I refused to fight."
"It was angry because I refused to follow."
Dylan felt the weight of those words.
The Voice needed movement.
It needed people to choose its road.
Standing still had become a form of resistance.

Thomas looked toward the eastern trail.
"They're going to the old quarry."
Micah's face changed.
"The quarry?"
"You know it?"
"Yes."
"What's there?" Dylan asked.
"An abandoned settlement."
Samuel looked toward Micah.
"How far?"
"Half a day's walk."
Thomas shook his head.
"Less."
"They've already reached the outer road."
Renwick glanced toward the fading sky.
"We should move."
Dylan nodded.
"We leave at dawn."
Thomas immediately shook his head.
"You can't wait."
"Why?"
"They're planning something tonight."
The villagers exchanged anxious looks.
"What?" Hannah asked.
Thomas looked at Dylan.
"The Guide has convinced them that the people they lost are waiting inside the quarry."
"He's taking them there tonight."
Dylan studied the darkening forest.
"Why tonight?"
Thomas hesitated.
"Because the voices become stronger after sunset."

Martha stepped closer to her son.
"Then we go."
Thomas shook his head.
"Mother..."
"I'm coming."
"You could be hurt."
"So could you."
She held his hand tighter.
"I've already spent enough years worrying about people I love from a distance."
Thomas's eyes filled with emotion.
"I don't want to lose you."
"You won't."
She looked toward Dylan.
"Because we're going together."
The words settled the matter.
Dylan turned to Renwick.
"Prepare the warriors."
Renwick nodded.
"How many?"
"Enough to protect the villagers, but keep the group together."
Caleb moved immediately.
"I'll take the eastern side."
"Renwick, stay with the families."
"Understood."
Dylan looked toward Samuel.
"You and Micah stay close to Martha."
Samuel nodded.
"We will."

The camp began preparing before the last light disappeared.
Food was packed.
Lanterns were checked.
The children were moved toward the centre of the group.
Anthony approached Dylan while Tessa helped secure his cloak.
"Are we going after the people?"
"Yes."
"Are we going to fight?"
"Only if we have to."
Anthony considered that.
"What if they don't want to come back?"
Dylan crouched beside him.
"Then we won't drag them."
"Even if they're following the wrong person?"
"Even then."
Anthony looked thoughtful.
"So we help them choose."
Dylan smiled.
"Exactly."
The boy nodded.
"I understand."

Night had fully arrived when Thomas led them toward the eastern trail.
The forest swallowed the last light from the farmhouse behind them.
Martha walked beside her son.
Samuel stayed close.
Tessa and Dylan led from the front.
The group moved carefully, following Thomas's directions rather than chasing every sound that drifted through the trees.
For nearly an hour, nothing disturbed their progress.
Then a familiar melody floated through the darkness.
A woman humming.
Thomas stopped immediately.
His face tightened.
"That's Eliza."
Samuel's breathing changed.
"I hear her."
The melody continued.
Soft.
Beautiful.
Painfully familiar.
Martha gripped Thomas's arm.
"Don't follow it."
Thomas closed his eyes.
"I know."
The song stopped.
A woman's voice followed.
"Samuel."
He froze.
The voice came again.
"Samuel, I've been waiting for you."
He took one step forward.
Dylan caught his shoulder.
"Look at me."
Samuel's eyes remained fixed on the darkness.
"She knows my name."
"I know."
"She sounds exactly like her."
"I know."
Samuel's hand trembled.
Dylan tightened his grip.
"You already learned this lesson."
Samuel slowly looked at him.
"The person you loved would never ask you to abandon the people standing beside you."
The words reached him.
Samuel took his foot back.
The voice disappeared.
A few seconds later, another sound emerged from deeper in the forest.
A man's laughter.
Then another voice.
This one belonged to someone else.
A voice each person in the group recognised.
The Voice had stopped calling Samuel.
It had begun calling everyone.