“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I asked.
“It’s not a big deal and I don’t want you to overreact.”
Tension tightened my brow. “I don’t overreact. What makes you think I would overreact?”
“I just think that you will. But you can’t. You really can’t,” Leah said. “We’re not ready. The wrong move could make things so much worse. We can’t take risks.”
“Ready? Ready for what? Leah, you have to tell me what’s going on. You can’t keep me in the dark forever,” I said.
Leah let out a long exhale. “I wasn’t far from home when they pulled me between two buildings.”
“Who’s they?” I asked. “Which two buildings? I’m not following.”
“Two female guards,” Leah said.
“And then they hit you?” I asked lightly touching her just below the scratch on her cheek. It was red and swollen, and even though I didn’t touch it, she winced.
Leah looked down. “They pushed me around a bit. I didn’t fight back, though. If I would have, I’d have been arrested again. It was just hard for me to stand there and take it, you know?”
“Why were they pushing you around?” I asked. “I should go out there and—”
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” Leah said rolling her eyes. “There isn’t anything we can do about it.”
I let out a slow, controlled breath. “Why did they do this? What was the purpose?”
“They gave me a message,” Leah said pressing her lips together for a quick moment. “It’s a message for both of us.”
“What’s the message?” I asked.
“Eva hopes we’re enjoying the amenities of the resort,” Leah said. She kept her head down but her eyes flicked upward, locking with mine.
My eyes narrowed. “That’s the message? I knew she wasn’t done with us. We need to enjoy it while it lasts, that’s what she should have said. But she does like her games.”
“That’s essentially what it breaks down to,” Leah said.
“Why did they have to do this to you?” I asked slipping my hand behind her neck. My thumb grazed her soft cheek.
“She wanted to make sure you got the message,” Leah said. “Eva wants to make sure you know she’s serious and to be fair, I got a little snippy with them. Perhaps this could have been avoided.”
I shook my head. “They’ve probably been waiting weeks for us to be alone.”
“Or maybe she hasn’t been sitting on this could be something she thought of when your dad left the room,” Leah said.
The taste in my mouth turned sour. “You don’t think my dad’s in on this, do you?”
“No,” Leah said firmly. “I really don’t think so.”
“I can’t believe I even questioned it. He’s my dad.”
“He’s being taken advantage of, that’s what it is.”
I let out a breath. “Eva is good at getting what she wants.”
“Which means we won’t be here long,” Leah said.
“Still,” I said looking at the scratch on her face. “This wasn’t necessary. What did you say to them?”
“Nothing that bad.” Leah smirked. “After they gave me the message, I told them to go to hell.”
My jaw tensed. “They could have taken you away.”
“Which is why I controlled myself,” Leah said.
“It doesn’t matter, you didn’t deserve this,” I said with a sigh.
“This is why it’s important for us to get our bags packed,” Leah said. “Our suspicions have been confirmed. Just like we thought, our time here is limited.”
“Eva isn’t going to do anything that would mess up her relationship with my dad, though,” I said. “She isn’t going to pull anything that could put their relationship at risk and I don’t think he’d let her get away with kicking me out of the resort.”
Leah shrugged. “I don’t feel as confident about that as you do. She wouldn’t have done this if she thought you’d tell him, though. How long was she your girlfriend?”
“Much too long,” I replied.
“She knows you well enough to know you won’t take this to your dad,” Leah said. “That’s why she did it.”
I sighed. “And she’s right. At least for now, I won’t say anything but if they try something like this again, you can bet I’ll tell him. I’ll take it to Mr. Tate if I have to.”
“Should we do that?” Leah asked biting her lip. She shook her head. “I don’t think it’ll do any good. In fact, it could make things worse.”
I took her hand into mine and lowered it away from the cut. It wasn’t deep and it had already stopped bleeding but my anger wasn’t subsiding.
“Adam,” Leah said squeezing my hand. “It’s just a scratch. I’ve endured much worse than this in my life.”
“But not because of me. I wish I would have never met her,” I said. “How did I not realize the type of person she was?”
“She’s a good actress,” Leah said.
“You can’t do anything like that again. We never leave this cabin on our own again. Not even with my dad,” I said wrapping my arms around her. I pulled back and stared into her eyes. “Promise?”
“Of course,” Leah said. “It wasn’t like I wanted to go with your dad in the first place.”
I sucked in a breath. “I know. It’s just… just… I’m so pissed off. They shouldn’t get away with this. Eva shouldn’t get away with this.”
“This is her kingdom,” Leah said.
“She wants everyone to know it, too,” I said. “How does she get people on her side? How do they not see right through her?”
Leah shrugged. “Because they don’t know her.”
“Not everyone in this town can be fooled, can they?”
“Who knows?”
Another knock at the door silenced us both completely. My heart slowed and my breathing softened.
Three knocks at the door was a record for us. And it was much too many.
Leah started toward the door and I grabbed her hand. I shook my head.
My lips pressed together. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to force my voice to work. “I’ll get it. They could be coming for you.”
12
Stevie
I let out a long breath when I saw it was two unarmed people. They were looking around the property with scared, confused eyes as they hugged themselves.
More survivors. That’s all it was.
For the most part, they appeared healthy. They were just soaked to the bone. People were staring out of the window of the next house over. Two of them stood on the porch, watching the couple.
I opened the door and stepped out to greet them. Gage and Shawn both followed me.
“Hello,” I said lowering the shotgun when their eyes landed on it.
“They sent us over here… those from the other house,” the man said. “Said you could help us.”
“What kind of help are you in need of?” I asked.
The man looked at the woman. “Shelter?”
“We have that,” I said. “Are you passing through?”
“Is there another option?” the man asked with a half-smile.
I smiled back. “Everyone you see here was passing through at one point. They come and then they stay.”
“By choice,” Gage quickly added.
The man and woman exchanged a glance. I took the opportunity to look them over.
The woman’s clothes were torn at the elbow and the knee. There was a snarl in her hair on the left side of her face that had a twig stuck in the center. Her skin was as gray as the sky and drops of rain speckled her face.
The man was taller than her by a solid six inches. They didn’t appear to know each other well since they didn’t get all that close to each other but there was a trust between them. If I had to guess, they bonded after our world had been changed by whatever they had done in an effort to fix climate change.
I guess it was fixed. In that it wasn’t changing. The
rain didn’t let up. A drizzle… a downpour… or a storm. It was always something. And it was always wet.
“Well, we’re from a government rescue program. We’ve got off course. We never expected to find so many people here,” he said looking around. He quickly stuck out his hand. “I’m Henry and this is Clara.”
I took his icy hand in mine and shook. There was strength in his grip. They definitely hadn’t been out there struggling for food and water.
“I’m Stevie, and this is Gage and Shawn,” I said jerking my chin at each of them in turn.
“This is quite the place you have here,” Henry said.
“Thank you,” I said.
He placed his hands on his hips. “Can we come in and talk?”
I glanced at Gage over my shoulder. He gave me a quick nod.
“Sure,” I said.
As we entered the living room, Clara squeezed my arm. “I hate that we’re getting your nice home so wet and dirty.”
“It’s not a problem,” I said. “Where did you say you came from?”
“Oh,” Henry said. “We didn’t say. Far up in the mountains, there is an army base. They’re bringing all the survivors there.”
“We’re being rescued?” Ella asked as she walked into the room.
Henry chuckled and Clara’s shoulders squeezed up as she smiled.
“Yeah, we’re here to help,” Henry said.
“Oh, my God!” Ella said clapping her hands. She turned and looked toward Noah. “We’re getting rescued!”
Everyone in the house filed into the room except for Lucy and Kieran. They were likely busy in the kitchen preparing the next meal.
“How far away is the base?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a hike,” Henry said. “We’re a bit tired and hungry. This is going to sound insane but we lost some of our stuff when we were chased by a lion.”
I smirked. “Doesn’t sound that insane. We’ve seen them and gorillas too. Say, did you go through a town to the north of here?”
“No,” Henry said shaking his head. “We came from the west. Why do you ask?”
“We received word it wasn’t safe,” I explained. “Thought maybe you had more information.”
“Sorry,” Henry said with a shrug. He hesitated for a long moment as he looked around. “Quite the group you have here. Might you have a few bites of food you could spare?”
My lips pressed together into a smile. “Of course. Lucy?”
There was a sharp gasp around the corner. She straightened her clothes as she approached. Lucy was always nearby… listening around some corner or another.
“Would you mind?” I asked without bothering to finish my sentence. I was confident Lucy already knew what I was going to say.
Lucy curtsied awkwardly and dashed from the room. Sounds of movement in the kitchen followed by the sounds of a metal bowl crashing to the ground.
My eye squeezed together slightly and Clara grinned. Henry cleared his throat.
“More people to our north. We’ll have to check that area next,” Henry said.
“Didn’t you say the army base you’re from was to the north?” I asked.
Henry’s brow raised. “I only said it was in the mountains.”
“I see,” I replied.
“But it is to the north,” he added. “We were off to the west looking for survivors. Sadly, we hadn’t come across anyone until we arrived here.”
Clara smiled. “Everyone is gathering here.”
“So, can you take us to the base?” Ella asked.
“We’ve been traveling for quite some time,” Clara said folding her hands together. “After a bit of rest, perhaps we could discuss everything.”
Lucy came into the room, carrying a tray of various snacks and two tall glasses of water. Henry reached over, grabbing one of the glasses before she had a chance to set down the tray. He swallowed the whole thing down in one gulp.
“Sorry,” he said wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
I waved my hand. “No need to apologize. When you’re finished, we can set you up in a room next door. You’re welcome to rest as long as you like.”
Ella groaned. She averted her eyes when I turned to her.
“Could we have a look around first?” Henry asked.
My eyes narrowed. If they were part of some rescue program, why did they need to be shown around?
“I like to know the layout of where I’m staying,” Henry explained after noticing my expression. “Just in case.”
After they finished, Gage and I showed them around the property. Of course, we didn’t show them any of the spaces where we stored food and supplies.
They seemed overly interested in everything. How was the food prepared? How many people were in each building? Was there a generator? Did we have a lot of food? How did we clean the water? The questions were endless.
“Isn’t it like this at the army base?” I asked.
“Similar,” Henry said.
I waited for him to go on but he didn’t. I should have asked but when Clara yawned, I decided my questions could wait.
I showed them to their room at the house next to the main one. They wanted to share a room. In the morning, they promised to explain the rescue plans.
That night I couldn’t sleep. I played everything that happened over and over again in my head. Eventually, I stopped trying and went downstairs.
Noah was thrilled I relieved him from his post early. When he was gone, I stood at the window and stared at the house next door.
There was a candle flickering on the first floor. I could see the shadow of whoever was at the window move every so often.
Upstairs, Henry and Clara were probably sleeping peacefully. I should have demanded they told us more. The others were excited and anxious. I could hear the girls whispering, wondering what it would be like at the base.
I wanted to know too but also, I was conflicted. What we built was going to be hard to walk away from. In fact, I wasn’t even entirely sure I could do it.
Morning took forever to arrive. Winter came to take her shift and I waved her away.
“I’m sorry but I can’t let you stay longer,” she said. “It’s your own rule.”
“Fine,” I said grumpily as I stood from the chair.
Before I moved from the window, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Henry and Clara were on their way over, both suddenly with two large bags strapped to their backs.
I opened the door before they could knock. “Where did you get those?”
“Good morning to you too,” Henry said.
“Oh, dear,” Clara said. “It looks like you didn’t sleep well.”
“I slept fine,” I lied. “Where did you get the bags?”
Henry grinned as he set it down next to the shotgun. He seemed to stare at it for a moment too long.
“We hid them in a pile of dead leaves and grass before we came this way,” Henry explained as he gestured down the road. “You know, just in case.”
“You said you lost everything,” I said.
Henry wagged his finger. His smile irked me probably because it was quite early and I hadn’t slept nearly enough. “I said we lost some of our things.”
“Are we too early?” Clara asked looking over my shoulder. “Everything still so dark and quiet here.”
“They’ll all be up soon,” I said. “We can talk now, though.”
Henry chuckled. “Anxious to get to safety, huh?”
“Some seem to be, yes,” I replied.
“You’re not?” Henry asked cocking his head like a wide-eyed rooster.
“I’m curious,” I said.
Henry sat down on the sofa and placed his hands on his thighs. “All right, then. Let’s talk.”
I sat on the edge of the recliner, my hands lightly rested on the armrests. My eyes stayed on Henry as Clara walked around and sat down on the opposite end of the sofa. She crossed her legs and locked her eyes on Henry.
&n
bsp; “The road back is treacherous,” Henry started. “This is the part no one ever likes.”
My head tilted and my eyes narrowed.
“We can only take two back at a time,” Henry said.
I shook my head. “Why?”
“It’s not only treacherous but it can also be incredibly dangerous. There are people out there that real savages. The fewer people at one time, the better. It’s easier to stay hidden,” Henry explained his hands gesturing with each word. “Oh and let's not forget about the wild animals too.”
“What about everyone else?” I asked.
“Well, we’ll come back for them,” Clara said smiling. “It’s a long process to get everyone transferred. This is just how we’ve always done it but we’ve never come upon a group this large.”
I pressed my lips together. “Everyone will want to go.”
“You’ll need to convince them to wait,” Henry said.
“How do we choose who goes and who stays,” I asked.
“It’s not like people here are suffering,” Henry said his hands gesturing at everything around us. “Our bosses insist that this is the best way to handle things… to keep everyone safe.”
I exhaled slowly. “What makes your place safer than ours?”
“That’s a question we’ve never been asked before,” Henry said with a laugh. His eyes darted over to Clara, who smiled back at him. “We have everything you have and more, specifically, an army. We are already starting to rebuild. You’ll want to be there. All survivors will want to be there.”
“Okay.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“But to keep everyone safe, we need to move in very small groups,” Henry said. “We know the way. We’re good at avoiding what we need to.”
Clara leaned forward, clasping her hands together. “It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be great. After we rest up, we’ll be ready to go. Tomorrow, right, Henry?”
“That’s right,” Henry said smiling. “Tomorrow.”
13
Joss
I had to do something. There was no way I was going to let Ashton get away with what he was attempting to do. In fact, he had already gotten away with too much.
The Reset Series | Book 5 | Torrent Page 6
