Ravaged Land: Divided Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Books 1-3

by Kellee L. Greene

  “I don’t know. No one here wants to be found. They don’t want the natives or The Evolved to find us any more than we do.” Ryder shrugged.

  I pressed my lips together and looked out at our surroundings. Everything was different. All the snow was gone, and it seemed weeds were trying to sprout up through the wet earth.

  “Still,” I said keeping my voice low, “I think you’d want to double check.”

  Tina’s head jerked in our direction, but she didn’t come over to tell us to keep it down. It wasn’t like she needed to. The look she’d given us was more than enough to send us the message.

  In a way, I admired Tina. She was hard, but she kept her group in order. It seemed like she’d do whatever she could to help them. Tina was a captain that would go down with her ship if it came to that.

  After a long silence, Charlie and Abby broke out into a fit of laughter. They tried to hold it back, but it only made it worse. Every time they looked at one another they laughed harder. And louder. It was almost infectious. I could feel my mouth forming a smile even though I had no idea what they were laughing about.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ross marching over toward the girls. He crouched down and dug his fingertips into Abby’s arm as he roughly yanked her to her feet in one swift movement.

  Her cheeks turned a shade of bright red. I didn’t miss the grimace that appeared on her face before she was forced to turn away.

  My body leaned forward as if I was going to go after her, but Shawn stepped in front of me.

  “Don’t stare,” Shawn advised.

  As I looked away, I noticed the dark purplish bruise on the back of Abby’s arm. It wasn’t the first time he’d grabbed her like that.

  “I told you something wasn’t right,” I whispered. My eyes darted around to make sure no one was watching me. I’d been adamant about leaving, but maybe I needed to stay and do something first.

  “What’s on your mind?” Shawn asked as if he could actually see the gears in my mind turning.

  “I need to talk to her.” My eyes shifted quickly toward the front of the group where Ross was talking to Abby. His face only inches from hers. Tina and everyone else for that matter were pretending nothing was happening.

  Tina whistled sharply, and everyone stood up. She had her group perfectly trained.

  “You think that’s a good idea?” Shawn asked.

  My head bobbed up and down slowly. “I think she might need my help.”

  “Our help.”

  “Up to you.”

  “So, we’re staying?” Shawn’s lips barely moved.

  I let out a quick breath. “Temporarily.”

  That night we camped out in the open. The stars above twinkled in the dark blue sky.

  It was clear the group knew the routine. Four people slowly walked the perimeter in a slow, methodical way, while watching and listening for anything out of the ordinary. The rest of the group sat anywhere inside the large circle, resting.

  “Remember,” Tina said as she walked around the area with her hands on her hips. “If anything should happen, don’t hesitate to get the hell out of here. Run. Don’t worry about our supplies. Your lives are far more valuable than what’s inside these boxes.”

  I looked around the area as I hugged my knees to my chest. Shawn, Ryder, Logan, Charlie, and I were huddled together, but everyone else was much more spread out.

  Ross, Benny, and Abby sat together far enough from us that they wouldn’t be able to hear us whispering. Abby’s smile and her cheerful attitude seemed to have gotten lost since last night.

  After Ryder, Charlie, and Logan fell asleep, I turned on my side and faced Shawn.

  He blinked several times and flashed me a gorgeous smile.

  “I could really get used to falling asleep like this,” Shawn whispered.

  “Shh,” I said narrowing my eyes at him. It was a sweet comment, but I couldn’t let it distract me. I had important matters to discuss, and I didn’t know how much time I had to discuss them. “I have to tell you something.”

  Shawn hardened his jaw and exhaled slowly. He didn’t ask me to continue, he waited for me to go on.

  “Last night, Ross came into our room—”

  “What?” Anger radiated out of his body so strongly I could feel it. “And this is the first you’re telling me about it?”

  “Calm down!” I whispered. “This is the first opportunity—”

  “Are you OK?”

  Shawn’s head was moving up and down my body as though he was looking for something out of place.

  I shook my head. “I’m fine. He didn’t do anything to me, or Charlie, he came for Abby. He carried her out of the room.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know. She came back a while later on her own. It was dark except for a candle, but I could have sworn she’d been crying.”

  The muscles in Shawn’s neck protruded out like thick cords. “I thought I’d heard someone leaving last night.”

  “Tina. After she checked on us,” I said quickly closing my eyes. There were footsteps behind me, not that far from where we were laying. Had we been that loud?

  After several minutes, Shawn nudged me. I looked around, but there wasn’t anyone nearby.

  “So, Tina left the basement, and then Ross brought Abby into their room?” Shawn asked.

  “That’s what I suspect.”

  “Christ,” Shawn said, letting out a heavy sigh. “If that doesn’t bring back memories.”

  I swallowed hard. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Just like when I was with The Evolved. I couldn’t help those girls.” Shawn looked around. “But I can help her.”

  I nodded. “But I don’t know anything for sure. I need to talk to her.”

  “You think she’ll come out and tell you what’s going on?”

  “Probably not, but I’ll see what I can learn nonetheless. She told me she hasn’t been with the group that long.”

  Shawn nodded once. “Be careful. There’s just one major problem with all this.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Convincing them that there’s something going on.”

  I sighed. He was definitely right about that. It was going to be difficult to convince Ryder and Logan. And it was going to be impossible to convince Charlie.

  But first, before I could even worry about that, I needed more evidence. I needed to be sure.

  Chapter 16

  After traveling all morning, we came upon a small river. The group stopped and began refilling their water bottles without being instructed to do so.

  Tina walked up and down the riverbank, her eyes busy sweeping the area to keep her group safe. Ross walked over to Tina, and I looked over my shoulder to locate Abby.

  She was sitting on a rock by herself tossing pebbles into the water. Charlie was discussing something with Ryder and Logan.

  It felt as though I were walking through glue as the soggy ground grabbed at my boots as I made my way over to her.

  “Hey,” I said as I stepped up next to her and picked up a small pebble.

  “Hi,” she said without looking at me.

  I threw a pebble into the water. “Things always like this?”

  “Like what?”

  “Quiet.”

  “Oh.” Abby hugged her knees. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  I stared at the water, trying to think of what to say. It wasn’t like she was going to just come out and tell me she needed help. She didn’t have anywhere to go. These were the people taking care of her.

  “Everyone seems pretty nice,” I said but my words tasted sour, and I worried she’d been able to sense it.

  “Yeah,” she said, but still her smile didn’t resurface.

  “Tina seems to run a tight ship.”

  Abby nodded. “Yep.”

  She was being short with me. Maybe I needed to just come out and ask something more direct because I wasn’t making any headway with small talk.

 
“About the other night,” I said sitting down next to her.

  She turned to glare at me. “I was in the room the whole night.”

  I squinted at her. “Sorry?”

  She turned and looked over her shoulder, and I followed her gaze. Ross wasn’t with Tina anymore. He was standing at the riverbank pretending to watch over everyone as they filled their bottles, but I was pretty sure what he was really doing was watching Abby.

  “Don’t. Just don’t ask me.” Abby stood abruptly. “It’s nothing, and if you make a big deal about it, everything will just get worse.”

  “I want to help you,” I said standing to look into her eyes, but she started walking away.

  “I don’t need help. You need to leave me alone. Don’t,” Abby said forcing a smile on her face. “Just don’t.”

  Abby turned and practically skipped away. She stood next to Benny without giving me another look.

  Shawn was looking back and forth between us. He ran his hand through his hair as he made his way over to me.

  “I take it you didn’t learn anything?” he asked.

  “What makes you think that?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “The worry in your eyes is still there.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “I didn’t learn anything. Well, maybe that’s not exactly true.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She told me not to ask questions. That I had to leave her alone and if I made a big deal, it would get worse,” I said crossing my arms. “That implies there’s at least something to ask about doesn’t it?”

  Shawn shifted his weight. “It sure does.”

  Tina stepped toward the middle of the group and whistled. “Let’s move.”

  I washed my hands in the river and dried them on my pants. When I turned back around, I saw Ross grab Abby by the arm again and drag her away from everyone else.

  He glanced over at me before he said something close to her ear. Shawn’s body stiffened, and I put my hand on his shoulder.

  “Looks like maybe I already made things worse,” I said. “I’m not sure what we should do, but I do know we can’t do anything with all of them around like this.”

  I drew in a deep breath, trying not to stare at Ross.

  “There’s no doubt in my mind they’ll all gladly gang up on us without even knowing what we’re trying to help her.” I nodded toward his markings. “You’re one of The Evolved, and I’m a native. That’ll be what they see first. Not that we’re trying to help a young girl out of some kind of weird situation.”

  “I know. You’re right.” Shawn nodded.

  “Besides,” I said with a quick shrug, “we can’t help someone that doesn’t want to be helped, can we?”

  Shawn exhaled loudly and picked up his pace. Tina was watching us. Everyone else was already at their carts.

  “We can… if we’re smart about it,” Shawn said.

  Ryder turned and looked at us with his eyebrows scrunched together.

  “What’s going on with you two?” Ryder asked in a low voice.

  “Nothing,” I said flashing him a smile. “We were just enjoying the fresh water.”

  Ryder’s head tilted ever so slightly. It seemed as though he didn’t believe me.

  When Ryder turned back to face forward, I let out the breath I’d apparently been holding. I didn’t like keeping secrets. Ryder deserved to know that I thought something was going on. Would he really be that loyal to them? It wasn’t like he’d tell Tina what I suspected. Would he?

  Of course, he wouldn’t. I could trust Ryder. After everything we’d been through, I had to believe that. If it hadn’t been for what happened with Charlie, we’d still be… whatever we’d been.

  I could tell him.

  I nudged Shawn. “I’m going to tell the others.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Shawn asked, keeping his eyes forward.

  “We might need them. It might be the only way.”

  Ross stopped walking and stood there as the line kept moving past him. As we got closer, I couldn’t look at him, but I could feel his eyes on me.

  He was already suspicious of me because of my lack of markings. All I knew for certain was that this group was not where I wanted to be. After I figured out what I was going to do about Abby, I was leaving, and hopefully, Tina would let that happen without a fight.

  Ross took a step toward me, but something whizzed past him, hitting one of our boxes. The arrow wiggled until it came to an abrupt stop.

  “Shit,” I said pulling out my gun.

  Ross took off toward the front of the group. “Tina! Get down!”

  Ryder turned around and spotted the arrow. He grabbed Logan and Charlie pulled them behind the box on their cart.

  “Natives!” Tina shouted.

  The others started to run, leaving behind their carts. Another arrow zipped by several feet from us and landed in the ground.

  “What do we do?” Charlie asked.

  “I guess we run,” Ryder said looking back at the group.

  “Then why aren’t we?” Charlie’s voice was shaking.

  When another arrow landed nearby, I was able to spot where it had come from. There was a single person standing behind a what was some kind of crumbling stone wall.

  “There’s just one,” I said. My eyes carefully moved along the area. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind.

  We could run, and let whoever was back there feast on Tina’s goods, or we could do something about it.

  “You’re sure,” Ryder asked.

  “Yes. Right back there.” I pointed to the wall. “He’s reloading his arrow now.” I glanced down at the club sitting in the cart with the boxes. “I could shoot, but it’ll make noise.”

  Ryder followed my gaze. “Cover me?”

  “When he reloads again,” I said, and Ryder nodded.

  The guy hiding behind the wall didn’t shoot. I glanced over my shoulder, everyone was still in sight, running to get away.

  “Why isn’t he shooting?” Charlie asked.

  “He doesn’t know where to shoot,” Logan said. “He needs a target.”

  Logan stood up, and we all whispered for him to get down. Shawn pulled on his arm, but Logan wouldn’t move.

  “Get down!” I whispered.

  Shawn used more of his strength and pulled Logan down behind the box. Seconds later, an arrow ripped through the sky just above his head where he’d been standing.

  I swallowed hard. “Go!”

  Ryder took off, running for the wall. I followed ten feet off to his left with my gun aimed right where I needed it. If I pulled the trigger, I was certain I wouldn’t miss.

  But it wasn’t going to be necessary. Ryder was more than halfway to the wall when the native dropped his bow and started running.

  When Ryder got to the wall, he hopped over it and picked up the bow and single remaining arrow and held them up. I waved for him to come back because, for all we knew, the native’s backup wasn’t that far away.

  Ryder and I jogged back to the others. Logan turned back and chased after the group of renegades.

  “How far away do you think his friends are?” I asked.

  “Can’t even guess,” Shawn said.

  “You think if he had more friends he’d also have more arrows,” Charlie said, yanking out the arrow that had been stuck in our box.

  Ryder shook his head. “I think it’s odd he was traveling alone.”

  “You traveled alone back with Jacob’s group,” I said.

  “I’m not a native,” Ryder said raising his eyebrows.

  Charlie grimaced. “Jacob didn’t like you traveling alone either.”

  I turned away from the wall for a second to see Logan had managed to gather everyone up. They were on their way back.

  “Tina doesn’t look happy,” Charlie said, glancing at me.

  The scowl on her face was hard to miss, even at our distance. She started jogging, passing by Logan.

  “Shit,” Shawn said.
r />   I didn’t put my gun away. Tina’s eyes were on me as she approached.

  “You know that was fucking stupid right?” Tina said. “I said, if we’re attacked, we run.”

  “There was just one of them,” I said, sweat stinging at the back of my neck.

  “Does it look like I fucking care how many there were?” Tina stepped closer, and I noticed both Ryder and Shawn arms twitch. “I have rules for a reason, and if you don’t like them, you’re free to go.”

  Her arm jerked out to the side. It didn’t escape me that she’d just so happened to indicate the area to our south.

  “If you stay, you follow my rules is that clear?” Tina looked at each one of us.

  I considered telling her I was happy to leave, but then I caught sight of Abby. The worry in her eyes was so heavy it almost leaked out of the corners.

  “Yes,” I said my voice soft. The others echoed me.

  “Good,” Tina said flapping her hands at everyone else. “Hurry up before he comes back with his friends. Let’s go!”

  It hadn’t been bad enough that Ross didn’t like me, I had to go and make sure Tina didn’t like me either. It didn’t matter that we’d saved their supplies. All that mattered was that we hadn't followed their rules.

  As we moved forward my expression hardened. I really didn’t want to be part of this group. I was going to tell Ryder, Logan, and Charlie about what I’d seen with Abby.

  I didn’t want to spend any longer with Tina and her group than I had to. It was time to come up with a plan.

  Chapter 17

  After our incident with the native, I’d told the others I had to talk to them when everyone was asleep. They stared at me in the darkness waiting.

  My palms were sweating, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was listening, but night was the only chance I’d get to tell them about Abby. I glanced at her wincing even in her sleep. That was all it took for the words to come crashing out of my mouth.

  I told them everything from the night Ross took her out of the room, to Abby pleading for me to stop asking her questions. Charlie looked annoyed, but Logan and Ryder both seemed concerned.

  “You just want to leave, so you’re making up some stupid story,” Charlie said, and everyone shushed her at the same time.