“I am, too. I think I’ll feel guilty forever over what I’ve done to him. I fucked him up, Quinn. Big time.” The shame hit him, making him look at his lap.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I can’t help but feel I have severely contributed to all his mental issues. I need to do everything I can to make it up to him.” Gunther let out a heavy sigh. “Anyway, he wants me to help him get back into shape. Apparently, someone is jealous of my stellar physique. Not bad for an old man, yeah?” Gunther winked at her.
“If you are old, so am I.” They both laughed loudly. “This is when you say I don’t look a day over twenty-five.”
“Right. Quinn, my beautiful fiancée…”
“Oh, can it,” she grumbled with a smile. She settled back in the chair and continued to read more of the book in front of her on the table. Out of nowhere, she was hit with a bout of nausea. “Oh god…” She got up and bolted toward the door.
“Quinn?” Gunther chased after her. She made it as far as just outside the door before vomiting. “Oh, love…” He knelt and helped her to a sitting position.
Cora came out behind them. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she squatted next to Quinn.
“I must have eaten something bad,” Quinn said, completely mortified.
“What did you eat last?” Gunther asked.
“I shared some carrots with Josie.”
“Cora, watch her for a sec, please.” Gunther got up and jogged into the cafeteria. A few minutes later, he came back with a roll of paper towels and cleaner. “Josie said she feels fine.” He looked at Cora and shrugged.
“I think I’ll steer clear of carrots for a while,” Quinn mumbled as she wiped her face with a towel.
“I’ll take care of this.” Cora grabbed the cleaning supplies from Gunther. “Go take her to bed, just in case she’s coming down with something. We should keep her away from the others for now.”
“Right. Good idea. Thanks, Cora,” Gunther murmured as he helped Quinn to her feet.
He held her steady as they walked to their room. By the time they made it, Quinn was completely wiped out. He helped her change, wash up, and get into bed. “Rest up, love. Do you need anything?”
“Maybe a bucket…just in case?”
He tucked her wavy brown hair behind her ears, then cupped her cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
Quinn was exhausted. The past week of staying up late, working on projects for Elaina and Henry’s ceremony, and Nick’s death had wiped her out completely. She was ready for a week-long nap.
By the time Gunther came back with a bucket, she was sound asleep. He left her a bottle of water and a cloth. He worried about her and hoped there wasn’t something wrong. His throat tightened thinking about what life would be like without her. After watching her sleep for a minute, he decided to take off and let her rest.
When Gunther quietly closed the door to their room, he saw Henry sprinting down the hallway toward him.
While looking out the window, I heard a commotion outside the doorway, but decided to stay put since it looked like Gunther and Cora had it handled. I slipped in and out of a daydream, thinking about my upcoming wedding. I was so excited to actually be able to call Elaina my wife. She still hadn’t really decided when, but she assured me it was still going to happen. I grinned like a nutter, which made me chuckle to myself.
Seconds later, I was snapped out of my thoughts when I saw a few people come into view outside. Then a few more and a couple after that.
“Shit. Gunther!” I called, without looking behind me.
“He took Quinn to bed,” Cora said. “She’s not feeling well. What’s going on?”
Without responding, I ran out of the cafeteria and headed down the hall to find Gunther, seeing him leaving his room. “Come on. Gear up,” I barked as I passed by him, heading toward the weapons room.
“What’s up?” he asked as he easily caught up to me.
“There’s a group of people coming into town.”
He ran back into his room, grabbing his vest and a hoodie. Seconds later, he met me in the weapons room. We both loaded our vests with a variety of weapons, along with taking fully automatic assault rifles. With a larger group, those would make a much bigger impression. We sprinted back to the cafeteria.
“Listen up!” I yelled. “I want everyone back in their rooms with the doors locked immediately. Thomas, make sure your gun is loaded and station yourself by the side door. Josie, alert Elaina and Quinn to lock both of their doors. Then inform the others. No one is to leave their rooms until Gunther or I come knocking. Clear?”
“What’s going on?” Cora asked. Henry pointed and she looked out the window. “Oh, wow.” She scooped up the kids and ran out of the room.
As Gunther, Thomas, and I ran to the side door, Gunther and I slipped into program mode. “You go around and come up the back. I’ll be up front and stop them. Follow my lead.” Gunther nodded at my command. After all, I was the captain of the ship.
With silent, deft, and calculated footsteps, I positioned myself behind the bush at the front of the building. I counted seven. Only a couple had packs with no visible weapons, but that didn’t mean shit.
I licked my dry lips, waiting for the perfect moment. They were all looking around at the town center, chatter hanging on their lips.
I jumped out with my rifle pointed at the group. “Stand down!” I ordered. The group stopped just as Gunther stepped up to their rear. “If any of you make a move, my partner and I will take all of you out, no questions asked.”
It was a little harsh, but I wasn’t about to take any chances.
A couple of the people glanced behind them and saw Gunther. He smiled and waved. It was quite sadistic but, bloody hell, it was great fun.
A middle-aged, partially bald man spoke up, “We intend you no harm. We have no weapons, except baseball bats and a couple of small axes.”
How the fuck did they survive? “Empty your packs and pockets!” I ordered, and quickly took inventory as they pulled out everything. “What brings you here?” I asked.
“We were passing through, looking for shelter for the night,” he replied.
“Where are you headed?”
“We have no destination. We’re just wandering…trying to survive.”
“Line up against the building.” I waved the tip of the rifle at the wall.
Frightened, a couple of the women started crying. Gunther and I stood in front of them, looking over the whole group. There were a couple blokes about my age that looked like they would be of use working around the area. My eyes lingered a little too long on the one who was taller than Gunther, lanky, and completely scarred up…like he had scrubbed a jagged edge of a glass all over his face. He caught me examining him and pulled his ball cap further over his face, eyes looking at the ground.
“Please, don’t hurt us. We mean no harm,” a younger woman begged. She reminded me of some sort of doll. The bird had make-up on, for crying out loud! I couldn’t imagine Elaina saying, “While you’re out getting those essentials to survive, grab me some eyeliner.”
“People do mental things when they are in survival mode, sweetheart,” Gunther smiled.
“Do you take shelter here?” asked the balding man.
“Yes. This is our home,” I stated with a firm set of my jaw. “We have been here for quite some time.”
“May we have a room for the evening?”
Gunther looked at me. We took a couple steps back and spoke quickly, barely audible, “Mate, you are really gray,” I said with a raised brow. He shrugged, obviously not caring right then. We needed to get the situation under control first. “We could lock them in the workout room for the night, then let them out in the morning. We can rotate guards.”
“Sounds good,” Gunther murmured.
We stepped forward again. “I want everyone’s hands in the air,” I demanded. “My partner is going to lead you to a room. We’ll lock you in and will be standing guard at the doo
r. When we let you out in the morning, you are to leave. Am I understood?”
The group looked at one another, murmuring about the safety of walls, then agreed to our terms.
“Single file, please. Follow me.” Gunther led them to the side door. “Walk with us,” he said as he passed Thomas.
Thomas looked to his right. In an instant and with a stagger in his step, his breath was stolen from his gaunt body. A taller teen girl with brown wavy hair looked at him through her long eyelashes. She wasn’t gorgeous, but I could see the immediate attraction to her.
I knew the look right away. It was the same one Elaina and I had when we met. She looked down at her feet when she realized he was gawking at her.
He looked back toward me, trying to remember what he was supposed to be doing.
“Thomas…,” I warned. “I need you with me.”
“Yes. Sorry.”
With a chuckle, I took up the back.
Gunther began parading the group toward the gym. Just as we made it to the cafeteria, Quinn came out. “Stop!” Gunther shouted, freezing Quinn. “What are you doing? We are in lockdown!”
“I had no idea. I was sleeping…” Quinn looked at the group, dropping the bottle of water she was holding.
Chapter 24
Quinn gasped. “James?”
“Quinn?” The balding man looked stunned.
“Oh, my god…,” she whispered.
Gunther looked back at who Quinn was addressing. As the man ran toward her, Gunther screamed, “Stand down!” He jumped in front of her and stopped him in his tracks.
“Quinn, baby, I’ve missed you so much.” He grinned. I could have sworn I heard Gunther growl.
“Is this him? Really? This little fucking twat?” Gunther seemed a bit shocked. Frankly, so was I. He was a tousled, scrawny man and was shorter than Quinn, who was of average height for a woman.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Gunther glared at Quinn as her eyes filled with tears, and his filled with panic. He was working hard to keep it at bay. He would die if he lost her.
Quinn’s anger-filled rant pulled me away from watching Gunther. Her fury had a fierce quality that was almost vicious, yet dignified. I would hate to be on a receiving end of her words.
“Do you have any idea what I’ve gone through?!” she screamed at James. Aggressively pointing at Gunther, she followed up with, “If it wasn’t for this man, I would be dead myself! But, apparently, that never mattered to you!”
“I’m here now, baby. Where are Carrie and Max? I can’t wait to see them.” He took a step closer to her. A snarl rolled off of Gunther’s lip, then Quinn slapped James across the face. Nice. I chuckled as I watched his hand fly up and rub his cheek. “Ow! What was that for?”
“You fucking asshole!” She raged so much, her voice was going hoarse. I was a bit surprised by her reaction because she was usually much more controlled and collected. “Of all the things you could have done, you chose to leave your family! You said you were going to hunt down formula for Max!”
“I couldn’t find any, then I got stuck in a few tight spots. You get that, right, baby?”
“You never tried to come back, did you?” Quinn waited a brief second for James to respond. “Did you?!” she roared.
“No, I didn’t,” James admitted. “Where are Carrie and Max?” He looked around.
“They’re dead! I had to kill both of them! You want to know why? Carrie went outside with Max to go across the way to see if the Wheelers had any formula they could spare and they got attacked. I had to beat them to death with a shovel.” Quinn fell apart.
Jesus Christ. I had no idea that was what happened. My heart ached for her.
Gunther grabbed and held her tight. “Shh… It’s all right, love,” he murmured. She tucked her face into his chest and he nestled his face into her hair.
“Love?! That’s my wife! Get your hands off of her!” James charged at Gunther.
Not a smart idea, but I wasn’t going to stop it. Stupidity tends to shoot oneself in the foot…and head.
Before James even made it to them, Gunther had him face down on the floor, his arm twisted behind his back. He bellowed in agony as Gunther continued to apply the pressure, adding a knee to his back for good measure. The others in his group tried to charge into the situation, but Thomas and I held them back.
“Gunther! Let him go!” Quinn yelled. He looked up and saw the serious flare in her eyes. Letting him go, he stood, only to “accidentally” kick James in the ribs. “Gunther!”
Trying to control the seething energy pouring off of himself, he dropped back, a sinking look in his eyes as Quinn helped James up. It would get ugly before Gunther let James take her away from him. I had hope that once they left, things would settle down because if this was how it was going to be while they were here, the stress would get to me.
“Thanks, baby.” James coughed a few times. “Are you screwing him? Good god. He’s a bit beastly, don’t you think?”
“That’s none of your concern. And he is ten times the man you could ever be,” Quinn snipped.
“I believe it is my concern. You are my wife,” he snarled back.
“You lost your wife when you walked out on your family when we needed you the most.”
“Quinn, baby, come on.” James held out his arms and had a cocky grin on his face. I wanted to punch the douche myself. I could only imagine what was running through Gunther’s mind. “I want to make things right.”
“Shut up, James.” Quinn turned toward Gunther, who smiled when she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Come on. We had a lot of good moments.”
“In this current world, I’ve had better times with this man. He knows how to treat a woman.” Quinn stepped over to Gunther. His lips curled into a devious grin. “Maybe if you didn’t walk out on your daughter and grandson, I would have an ounce of respect for you. However, clearly, you’re an asshole.” Watching Quinn’s face as she scanned the group, it seemed as if a light bulb went on in her head. She walked around in front of the rest of James’ group. “So tell me… Which one are you screwing?” Walking back and forth, her index finger tapping her lips, she stopped in front of the Barbie look-a-like, who was maybe twenty-five. “You. What’s your name?”
She looked at James and mumbled, “Savannah.”
“Well, Savannah, did you know you were fucking a man who walked out on his family?”
“Quinn…”
“Shut up, James!” she roared, annunciating every syllable. “I am not speaking to you at the moment.”
Gunther chuckled, enjoying every second of her belittling that prat. He was relaxed but attentive, standing a short distance away from Quinn, ready to intervene if necessary.
“No, I didn’t know he had a family. He said he lost his family.”
Quinn laughed at Savannah’s response. “Did he now?” She turned on her heel. The ire was flaming as she faced James. “I can’t believe how dumb I was for all those years. All those late night ‘business meetings’, all those ‘emergency situations’ you had to go into work for… You were fucking other women, weren’t you?”
James seemed a little defeated. A bit late for that. “Quinn…please. Forgive me.”
“Why should I?”
“Because, baby, we had some good times.” He glanced around, feeling every pair of eyes staring at him. “Can we do this in private?”
“Oh, I don’t fucking think so,” Gunther growled.
“Gunther, I’ve got this. Let me ask you, Savannah. How’s the lovemaking?” She shrugged. “That’s what I thought. Honey, find yourself a real man. Not one who leaves his sixteen-year-old daughter, six-month-old grandson, and his wife to fend for themselves in the midst of a motherfucking apocalypse! Oh, and find one who knows how to make you scream because I know for a fact this man can’t.”
Dig! I couldn’t help myself and broke out laughing.
Quinn walked to the real love of her life. “That’s my girl
,” Gunther murmured, pulling her to his side.
Completely humiliated, James stood, shamefaced. Well-deserved, if I do say so myself. “Well, wasn’t this a happy accident?” James huffed.
As much as I was enjoying the show, we needed to get things moving. “Gunther… The gym?” I prodded.
“Yes. Back in line!” Gunther barked at James.
“Whatever, you testosterone-filled ape.”
Gunther’s body stiffened. Here we go. But Quinn touched his arm to make him come back down to reality. “James, I suggest you do what he says because I may not stop him the next time,” Quinn warned.
“Why? Is it going to shoot me? Because, at this point in my life, I really couldn’t care less.” He sauntered back in line and, with a loud sigh, put his hands in the air.
The glare from Gunther’s eyes was fiery. “Gun…,” Quinn whispered. As he slowly turned and looked at her, she grabbed his face. “I need you to calm down.”
“I am calm,” he growled through a tight jaw.
“No, you’re not.” Then she leaned in close to his ear.
I heard them murmur, exchanging a few words between them: J.T., somersault in my cargoes, deep throat, come all night long. I had the urge to plug my ears like I was five and yell, “La, la, la.”
“I will be on my best behavior, love. You can count on that.”
“I will hold you to it.” She raised a brow at him. “You’re really gray.”
“So I’ve heard.” He kissed her cheek. “Be back in a few, love. I want you to go back to our room and wait for me.”
After he tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear, he turned around, finding James glaring at him. Gunther’s lips twisted into another wicked grin. A visible flicker of jealousy flared up in James’ body, making Gunther chuckle.
He led the crew to the gym and pulled open the door, but before James could go in, he threw his arm across the doorway. Shit, I just want to get this done. “I just would like to thank you for leaving her. She is an amazing woman, and any man would be lucky to have her. I’m privileged she chose me.”
“And when she closes up shop, I won’t send my condolences.”
Fractured Hearts (Shattered Lives, Book Three) Page 24
