Responsibility

     "It's your responsibility, Cade!" I yelled, swiping some soaked hair from my eyes. "However afraid you are, it's your responsibility. You cannot just leave them behind."
     Cade stopped abruptly. "What? Leave them- I'm not leaving them behind! I'm not- I- You-" He clenched his fists. "I'm doing what's best." 
     "No, you're not. You know you're not." I took a step back from him, pointing back the way we'd come. "You're leaving them there to rot, all because of your own cowardice. Yes, you've messed up. Yes, you have failed in the past, but don't make this another failure!" 
     Cade's eyes flashed. With his fist still clenched, his gaze locked onto mine, and his posture stuck between defensive and defeated, I couldn't decide if I'd gone too far. But everything I'd said had been true. He was afraid of failing, he was being a coward. He was afraid of committing himself to something just to watch it crumble before his eyes again. But I couldn't stand back and let his fear doom hundreds of people to bondage. 
     I blinked rain from my eyelashes, jerking my head a little to unstick some hair from my face. Cade's jaw was still tense, and I began to wonder if he would ever say something. His eyes were a swirling mass of confusion and anger. 
     "You know, you're beginning to sound like my father, Janet."