Aftershock

by Jill Sorenson

Penny nodded her agreement. The baby had quieted, but his mouth was making sucking motions. Although she hadn’t planned on breast-feeding, she unbuttoned the front of her dress, offering him the only milk available.

  * * *

  LAUREN TRANSFERRED THE LAST half bag of Garrett’s blood to Sam.

  Don’s color looked better but she doubted he’d wake up. Older patients had slower healing rates and needed more recovery time. He might stay out for several days, like Sam. It was possible that he wouldn’t regain consciousness at all.

  She’d done everything she could.

  Cadence was still asleep beside Don. Garrett had also drifted off, depleted from the blood donation, a long night and a traumatic day.

  She studied him with hungry fascination. He was lying on his back, one arm tucked under his head, the other stretched across his stomach. Streaks of grime darkened his skin. He had dirt in his hair and blood on his shirt. The jeans he was wearing appeared almost black from soot, gasoline and motor-oil stains. His legs were splayed wide, one knee bent. She didn’t even want to know what was on his boots.

  The faint lines that bracketed his mouth were now relaxed. His chest rose and fell with steady breaths.

  Although she’d cleaned his face, he was still filthy. He had short, thick eyelashes, and heavy beard stubble that went well past his jawline, shadowing the upper part of his neck. His hands were large and strong. The bandage she’d applied yesterday had fallen off, revealing the neat black sutures on his knuckles.

  He looked dangerous, and disreputable, and highly unsanitary. She wanted to strip him naked and...wash him.

  For a few seconds, she indulged in a vivid fantasy of inching up the hem of his T-shirt and smoothing her palm over his taut abdomen. Would he have hair on that flat belly of his, a trail that disappeared into his jeans?

  He mumbled in his sleep, shifting his head to the other side. She moved her gaze away from his stomach, her cheeks hot. Awake or asleep, Garrett was off-limits. His confession had rattled her to the core. There was something else he wasn’t telling her. He’d appeared racked by guilt when she’d mentioned her father’s infidelity.

  Damn him. Damn all men.

  Today was supposed to have been her wedding day, but she hadn’t spared two seconds to think about Michael. Tragic events were supposed to encourage you to reconnect with old flames, but she had no interest in seeing him again. Instead of dwelling on the broken engagement, she shrugged it off.

  New troubles weighed more heavily on her.

  Although she was focused on the present, she knew she needed to learn from her mistakes. Maybe she was attracted to the wrong kind of men. Disloyal charmers, like her father. She suspected that Garrett was living a lie. Despite these concerns, and his disturbing past deeds, she still wanted him.

  If he asked her to sleep with him, just once, she might say yes.

  “You’re crazy,” she muttered under her breath. She hadn’t been the least bit tempted to forgive Michael’s betrayal. But for Garrett, she’d throw her standards out the window. Why, because he was handsome, well built and big all over?

  Flushing, she focused on reading Sam’s vital signs. Even in a survival situation, she couldn’t let hormones overrule her brain. Garrett had a lot going for him, besides being a delicious kisser, but bravery and kindness didn’t erase his other flaws.

  Sam didn’t seem to be having a negative reaction to Garrett’s blood, so she grabbed her medical bag and went to check on Penny.

  Owen was walking away from the RV as Lauren approached it. “How is she?”

  “Okay,” he said, touching the bridge of his nose. “It’s a boy.”

  Lauren was surprised she’d missed it. Penny had gone through a fairly quick labor and short delivery. Under these circumstances, that was great news. Hopefully her recovery would also be free of complications.

  “Thank you,” she said to Owen.

  He mumbled something unintelligible, continuing to the triage tent.

  She entered the RV and locked the door behind her. Penny was on the bed with the baby snuggled to her breast. “What did I miss?” she asked, smiling at the sight. The day had been so full of tense, terrifying moments. Lauren was relieved that one thing had gone well. She’d desperately needed a bright spot.

  Penny edged down the blanket so Lauren could see the baby’s face. He appeared healthy, and full-term. Newborns were rarely adorable, but this one was off to a good start. He had his mother’s fine, dark hair and even features.

  “He looks like you,” Lauren said.

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve been trying to feed him but it isn’t working.”

  “We need to cut the umbilical cord.”

  Penny frowned. “Will it hurt?”

  “No.”

  Lauren tied off the cord with gauze string and cut it neatly. She also cleaned the baby’s skin with a damp cloth and gave him a quick exam. He cried like a little champ the whole time. They didn’t have any diapers, but she’d found a box of sanitary napkins. She taped one on him and wrapped him in a fresh blanket.

  “Strong lungs,” she said, giving the baby back to his mother.

  Penny returned him to her breast. After a moment of fierce squalling, he calmed down and tried to suckle.

  Lauren had to help Penny expel the afterbirth, which was another uncomfortable task. Thankfully, her perineum hadn’t torn during the delivery. Lauren inspected the placenta for clotting before wrapping it up in newspaper.

  “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “Tired. My whole body aches.”

  She gave Penny a couple of pain pills and searched the cabinet for something to drink. There were three diet sodas. Lauren cracked one open, fighting the urge to gulp it down herself. She was extremely thirsty.

  Owen rapped his knuckles on the door. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes,” Lauren replied, unlocking it.

  “I forgot I had this,” he said, handing her a small bottle of water. “It was in my backpack.”

  She passed the water on to Penny and offered the soda to Owen.

  “Don’t you want it?” he asked, hesitant.

  “We’ll have to share.”

  He took a sip and handed it back to her. She drank sparingly, her throat burning for more. “Save some for Garrett and Cadence,” she said.

  Nodding, he went back outside.

  Lauren sat with Penny and the baby for a few minutes. He seemed to be getting the hang of nursing, his little mouth working. It was another good sign, as they had no access to formula. “How was Owen during the delivery?”

  “Fine. Wonderful, actually.”

  Lauren was warmed by the news that Owen had been gentle with Penny. She hoped Cadence could come back to the RV to help her with the baby. Garrett and Owen should rest for a few hours and conserve their strength for...Jeb.

  She dreaded the thought of a second battle on this side of the cavern. The last thing they needed was bullets flying through triage.

  Or the RV.

  “Look at his grip,” Penny said, smiling at the baby. He’d taken hold of her finger and wouldn’t let go.

  Lauren felt dizzy as she rose to her feet. She’d hardly slept since the earthquake, and hadn’t eaten much today. Penny must be starving. Breast-feeding mothers needed lots of extra calories. Using a plastic spoon, Lauren served her some peanut butter and jam. Then she opened a can of corn and headed out to share it w
ith the others.

  Despite his questionable appearance, Owen had become a strong asset to their group. You really couldn’t judge a book by its cover.

  That included Garrett. She’d felt safe with him from the start, but maybe she’d been reacting to surface qualities, like size and strength. There was more to him, though. He’d worked tirelessly to save people, and protected her from Mickey.

  He was a good person.

  She’d thought the same of Michael, of course. The difference was that her ex hadn’t been so forthcoming about his flaws. He’d lied to her and sneaked around behind her back. When caught, he’d refused to own up to his mistakes.

  Garrett might have some skeletons in his closet, but she didn’t think he was a liar. All the details he’d shared with her sounded true. He could have kept quiet about the bar fight, or claimed he was single. Instead, he’d been real with her, and she respected that. Her instincts told her she could trust him with her life.

  Just not her heart.

  * * *

  GARRETT WOKE UP about an hour after he’d drifted off.

  Lauren had left the tent. Owen was sitting there, his forearms resting on bent knees. “Here,” he said, giving him a can of soda.

  Garrett straightened and drank about half the contents, easing his parched throat. He forced himself to pass the rest back to Owen. It might be the last few ounces of liquid they had. “How’s Penny?”

  “Good,” he said, his lips quirking into a smile. “It’s a boy.”

  “Really? Hot damn. I wish we had some cigars.”

  Owen laughed.

  “Lauren got back in time?”

  “No.”

  “Get the fuck out. You delivered the baby?”

  “Yep.”

  “What was it like?”

  “Scary,” he said, deliberating. “I don’t think I ever want to have sex again.”

  Garrett took one look at his traumatized expression, and they both burst out laughing. The stress from the past few days must have caught up with them. “You might change your mind about that,” he said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

  “Maybe,” Owen replied with a grin.

  Lauren ducked her head into the triage tent, glancing back and forth between them. “What’s so funny?”

  They sobered instantly.

  “Nothing,” Garrett said, clearing his throat.

  Lauren sat down to share a can of corn. Taking one spoonful for herself, she passed it around. Cadence stirred beside Don. She climbed out from under the blanket and accepted a few bites. Although Garrett wanted a pork chop and mashed potatoes, the corn tasted pretty damned sweet. He could have finished several cans on his own.

  “Penny’s baby was born,” Lauren told Cadence. “It’s a boy.”

  “Can I see him?” she asked.

  “I think so. Maybe you can keep them company.”

  Excited by the prospect, she kissed her grandpa’s slack cheek and prepared to leave.

  “I’ll take good care of him,” Lauren promised.

  Garrett needed to coordinate some details with Owen. He escorted Cady back to the RV and told her to lock the door. He wouldn’t have minded seeing the baby, but he was dirty and he didn’t want to invade Penny’s privacy. The inside of the RV felt like a sacred space now, for women and children only.

  Owen walked toward the semi with him, looking pleased with himself. As if he was a proud papa, not just a delivery boy.

  They lingered in the shadows to talk.

  “What’s the plan?” Owen asked.

  Garrett updated him on Jeb’s threat, and told him about Lauren’s CPR dummy. “We can use it as a decoy. Flush them out.”

  “I don’t know if I want to bring them over here,” Owen said.

  “We can defend ourselves better on this turf.”

  “Yeah, but there’s more to lose.”

  Garrett conceded his point. He didn’t want anyone to get hurt in the crossfire, either. They had a newborn baby among them, in addition to two critical patients. Protecting the others was a top priority.

  “Maybe we should do what we talked about earlier,” Owen said.

  “Slit their throats?”

  He moistened his lips. “Yeah.”

  “Okay,” Garrett said, his voice laced with sarcasm. “I’ll hide and wait while you sneak up on them this time. We’ll see how it goes.”

  Owen frowned at the suggestion.

  “You don’t like that idea?”

  “Fuck you,” he said, scowling. “I don’t have any experience killing people.”

  Garrett wished he could say the same.

  “By the way, I saved your ass back there.”

  “What?”

  “I threw a rock at Jeb.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he was going to shoot you.”

  “And instead he shot Don,” Garrett said, his temper rising. “You should have just run.”

  “Is that what you’d have done?”

  Cursing, he raked a hand through his hair. His fingertips brushed the sore spot where he’d hit his head yesterday. He touched it absently. No, he wouldn’t have left a fallen comrade behind. It was Garrett’s fault Don had been injured, not Owen’s.

  “Jeb and Mickey created an easily defensible space by clearing the debris on their side of the cavern,” Garrett said. “Now that we’ve tried and failed to raid their camp, it will be even more difficult to catch them unguarded. Drawing them out is the only way.”

  Owen fell silent, mulling it over.

  “Unless you want to climb the wall, and keep trying to break through. They might not shoot at you.”

  “No,” he said. “If they attack while I’m climbing, I won’t be able to help you defend the women.”

  Garrett liked the way Owen thought things through. Some men followed orders blindly. Others refused to be led. The best Marines used their brains and their ears. They listened to reason, but formed their own decisions.

  Owen’s protective feelings toward Penny were another advantage. Garrett suspected he’d walk through fire for her.

  “Where’s the dummy?” Owen asked, resigned.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ALTHOUGH THE DUMMY WAS CLOSER to Jeb’s camp than their own, they didn’t have to steal it from right under his nose.

  Garrett ducked behind a smashed car that lay between their enemies and the remains of the ambulance. A pile of concrete rubble provided another barrier, but it wasn’t a safeguard. Don’s blood made a dark stain on the ground next to him, proving they were within Jeb’s shooting range.

  There was no sound or movement coming from the north corner. Garrett held his breath, listening for a second before giving Owen the go signal. His partner stole into the back of the ambulance with the fluid ease of a practiced thief.

  Fortunately, the task was completed without incident. Owen found the dummy and returned to Garrett’s side in seconds.

  They sneaked back to their camp, Owen carrying the torso under one arm. Garrett followed at a close distance. The smell of decomposition clung to his clothes, reminding him of what he’d done to escape Jeb earlier. Even after they slipped behind the RV, home free, his heart hammered in his chest, broadcasting fear in heavy beats.

  “This bastard is heavy,” Owen complained, letting the dummy flop on the ground. It wasn’t a good likeness, as far as Garrett was concerned. His decoy was pale, slack faced and adolescent looking.

  Owen gl
anced from the dummy to Garrett, his expression doubtful. “We’ll have to dirty him up.”

  Garrett was more worried about the rest of the body. If the limbs appeared limp and useless, it would be a dead giveaway.

  They got to work, because without a realistic decoy, the rest of the plan couldn’t be implemented. Coveralls, gardening gloves and a pair of rubber boots provided the disguise. Owen found two sets of panty hose in the supplies. He stuffed both with insulation material while Garrett cut pieces of wire to create bendable knees and elbows.

  “He needs to be bigger,” Owen decided, adding more fiberglass to mimic Garrett’s heavy muscle mass.

  When the body was large enough, they dressed him in the coveralls. Garrett placed the remaining bits of wire inside the gloves for fingers. Owen smeared grease on the rubber face. With the cracked helmet on, and some safety glasses, the dummy didn’t look half-bad. He wouldn’t fool anyone at five feet, but at fifty, he could double for Garrett.

  “Watch out,” Owen said, smirking. “Lauren might like this guy better.”

  Garrett wasn’t amused by the joke.

  “Speaking of Lauren—”

  “Let’s not.”

  “All I’m saying is, you should hit that.”

  He gave Owen a warning glare. “Shut the fuck up.”

  Undaunted, Owen removed a condom from his pocket and passed it to him. “Just in case.”

  “Where did you get this?”

  “In the RV. There’s a stack of Hustlers under the bed, too.”

  Garrett stashed the square package, his neck heating.

  “Are you short time?”

  He didn’t bother to answer. The amount of time he had left was irrelevant. “Even if she’d let me, I wouldn’t do it.”

  “She’d let you.”

  He shook his head in denial. Lauren was brainy and beautiful and way out of his league. The only thing he could offer was a bit of brawn. In the outside world, where physical strength was less important, he wouldn’t have stood a chance with her.

  “You’re not interested?” Owen asked.

  “Please,” he scoffed. He was so interested, it hurt. But he needed to focus on getting out of here alive, not getting into Lauren’s pants. “This is a life-or-death situation. I have more important things to worry about.”