by Kit Tunstall
He shook his head, tightening his fingers perceptibly. “You should shut up now. It wouldn’t take much to silence you.”
Still, she betrayed no fear. “But we both know you won’t do that. After all, you’re trying to change.” Emme said it mockingly, in a manner meant to convey she didn’t believe he was making any legitimate effort. “If you’re really trying to be a better man for Mina, and you love her, you should leave her alone.”
Taking several deep breaths, Shane dropped his hand and stepped back. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”
“I’m asking you to do the right thing.” She walked to her door to hold it open for him, indicating she was finished with the discussion. As Shane passed through, she added, “I don’t expect you’ll do it, so know this. If you ever lay another hand on her, I will kill you, Shane West.”
He snorted. “Better men than you have tried, little girl.” Emme’s smile was cold, making him shiver slightly despite himself.
“I have many tools in my arsenal.” She waved toward the jars on her wall. “You can’t watch your food all the time, Shane. It doesn’t take a knife or gun to kill someone. A bit of the right plant, and you’ll be dead.”
His eyes widened, and he had to consider her claims weren’t just empty. “I don’t want to hurt Mina.”
She sniffed. “You’ve already hurt her so much that I don’t know if she’ll ever recover. Her PTSD seems better, but she’s always going to have scars.”
He frowned. “Her back healed nicely.”
Emme tapped her chest and then her head. “In here. You’ve left your mark on her, Shane, but not in a good way. For her sake, I really hope you’re changing, and you get to a point where you can let her go without hurting her.” She started to close the door, but stopped. “And if you ever sabotage any of my medicines again, I won’t kill you, but I’ll make sure Little Shane can no longer stand at attention.”
The door slammed in his face, and Shane started walking again, his mind reeling from the confrontation with that bitty slip of a woman. He’d faced battle-hardened soldiers, cold-blooded killers, and a host of desperate people trying to survive, but none had left him as chilled as Emme Marsden. Despite her appearance, he had a feeling she’d make a good soldier and a formidable enemy.
He returned to the bunkhouse, sliding into his cot for another hour of sleep before the day began. They were making another run today, hoping to find medicine and anything else of use. His senses needed to be alert, and he had to be rested, but he couldn’t help thinking about what Emme had said. Was he doing the wrong thing by clinging to Mina? Would she be happier without him?
If he removed his own emotions from the equation and didn’t consider how he’d feel giving her up, he could see her being happier and more relaxed if he let go. She’d be more like the teenager she’d been when he first arrived, rather than the woman she was now, who had grown up quickly. Had he done that to her? Had his selfish desires wrecked Mina’s future? Was she really going to be scarred for life?
He had no idea. Shane knew he’d hurt her badly, physically and emotionally, but he also thought he’d made up for that. He’d been trying to make her happy and be the man she deserved. Was he still being selfish? The idea of leaving her made him catch his breath, but if he wanted what was best for her, shouldn’t he do whatever it took to make her happy?
He was no closer to resolution by the time the others started rising. Shane got up with them, washing and dressing in fresh clothes quickly. Breakfast was a quick affair, and Mina didn’t make an appearance until they were finishing. He gave her a small smile, which she returned with a crinkle of her lips, though her blue eyes remained dull. Were they always like that around him? His heart ached at the thought.
“You ready, Shane?” asked Ben. He and Dana stood waiting.
Shane nodded, taking a moment to gulp the rest of his coffee—which Janie had mentioned was becoming a scarce thing in her pantry—before pushing away from the table. Coop did the same a moment later, and his eyes narrowed when he caught the glance Mina and Coop exchanged. His old friend looked pissed, and Mina looked pained.
He didn’t like the looks of that communication at all. Recalling he’d planned to stake his claim to the other man before additional issues arose, he acted on impulse. Shane walked around the table, standing over Mina. When she looked up at him, her brow furrowed with confusion, he bent and kissed her on the mouth lightly. Shane had to bite back a grin at the sparks that appeared in her eyes, coupled with Kelly’s gasp. The secret was out now.
“For luck,” he said as he stood up. Shooting a glance at Coop, who looked like someone had crapped in his Cheerios, he lifted a brow. “You ready, pal?”
“More than. Let’s get out of here,” said Coop, not glancing once at Mina. He stalked to the Humvee with an air of repressed anger, and Shane had to hide his satisfaction. He climbed into the passenger side after Coop claimed the wheel, with Dana and Ben getting into the backseat. They could have squeezed in another couple of people, but wanted room for supplies.
As they drove down the driveway, Hector opened the steel gate for the vehicle before closing it again after they’d gone through. Shane settled back in his seat, reliving the moment when he’d publicly staked his claim. He had a feeling Mina was going to be pissed with him when he returned home, but he’d make it up to her. His mouth had gotten him into trouble with her, and it would get him out again. He figured three orgasms should be enough to assuage her anger.
He looked up when Dana punched his shoulder. “Huh?”
“So, you and Mina, huh?” She grinned. “Are you planning to adopt her, Daddy Shane?”
He scowled. “Ha ha. She’s an adult.”
“I’ll bet she’s good in bed,” said Ben, sounding a bit wistful.
Shane frowned. Normally, he wouldn’t mind discussing the women he’d bedded, especially with a frustrated virgin like the nineteen-year-old private, but it was different with Mina. “Don’t talk that way about her.”
Ben blinked, and Dana smiled. “Twue wuv,” she said, immediately bringing to mind the bishop from “The Princess Bride.” “When are you getting married?”
He squirmed, finding this shift in topic almost as disquieting as the sex talk. “Slow down there, Dana.”
“Don’t be too skittish, Shane. You don’t want her to get bored and move on.”
Shane frowned when Coop let out a harsh bark of laughter. “What?”
The other man shook his head. “Nah, nothing.”
“C’mon.”
Coop lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “I just heard part of your conversation the other night. It sounded like she was the one acting skittish.”
Shane felt defensive, but struggled not to let it show. “Well, she’s young yet and doesn’t appreciate how quickly things can change. We could all be dead tomorrow. Or today.” There was always danger, even on the farm, but it amplified greatly when they left their territory to scavenge. “I don’t want to wait, but she thinks we have lots of time.”
Coop didn’t really respond, other than with a grunt, but Dana made up for his silence by gently teasing Shane about his relationship with Mina. He didn’t really mind. It must be what it was like to have an annoying little sister.
They drove more than an hour before reaching an area they hadn’t scavenged before. It was a strip mall and had probably been looted pretty well by now, though the fact that it was in a rural area might have shielded some of the good stuff.
Shane and Dana paired off, leaving Coop and Ben to search their half of the stores. Dana had dropped the teasing and was now silent and stealthy beside him, holding her assault rifle at the ready. What Shane wouldn’t give to come across a cache of ammo for the guns. They were getting seriously low, even with conserving it and using the rifles only for runs, other than the weapons and boxes of ammo stashed at the farm in the tower, for defense.
The first store was a clothing store, and he stood guard while she went thr
ough the racks and shelves, stripping serviceable clothes and shoving them into two large bags. They needed more winter clothes for everyone, but there weren’t any coats, since The End had hit in the middle of summer. The best they could do was layer up like the Michelin Man and hope to find what they needed elsewhere.
After Dana set the bags on the walkway in front of the door, to be retrieved when they came back through, they moved onto the next store. It was a game arcade, and the complete silence was nerve racking. Someone had clearly had a fine time playing vandal, with all the broken glass, twisted metal, and electronic innards scattered around the floor. They performed only a cursory sweep to ensure no one lurked in the shop before going to the next.
It had been a restaurant, and the smell of decay permeating the area, even with the door closed, suggested no one could stomach hiding in there. By mutual agreement, decided with a quick nod and no words, they moved on without exploring.
The hardware store two doors down yielded some usable items, including a maul and various tools, though it had been picked over. They left their bag of loot by the front door and went on. Shane and Dana had just entered a hair salon, intent on scooping up the shampoos, conditioners, and scissors, when they heard shots.
As one, they abandoned the salon and double-timed toward the direction they’d heard the shots. It was in a freestanding building in the corner of the lot, and he saw Coop dragging Ben out as they got nearer. Shane and Dana joined him behind the dumpster, where he’d taken cover.
“What happened?” He glanced at the sign, seeing it was a steakhouse.
“We went inside, hoping to find some knives or maybe some salvageable food. Ben wanted some liquor, though that wasn’t a priority.” Coop wiped his brow as Dana bent over Ben, looking at the wound in his stomach. “It was quiet, but felt wrong, you know?”
Shane nodded, knowing Coop referred to the instinct all soldiers quickly learned to listen to, if they wanted to survive. Sometimes, you just knew a situation was bad before you had any proof.
“I was about to suggest we leave, but then we heard someone screaming from the freezer.” Coop leaned out a bit before bringing his head back when someone fired at him. “We went to investigate and found five big men in the kitchen, clearly intent on keeping whatever’s in the freezer in their possession.”
Shane cursed. “Hostages?”
He nodded. “The scream was female, I think. Couldn’t be sure, but sounded like a young girl.”
Dana frowned. “We can’t leave them there, but Ben is bleeding badly.”
Shane cursed again. Moments like this made him regret being the de facto leader. If they took Ben back to the farm for help, those pigs in the restaurant would probably make off with their human cargo before they could return and even attempt a rescue. If they tried to save the hostages, they might lose Ben.
Ben helped make the decision. “You gotta get them, Shane. My sister’s only fourteen. Could be her in there.”
Shane nodded, knowing Ben didn’t actually think his sister was in the freezer. He just accepted the girl could be in a similar situation in this shitty new world. “Okay, we do what we can in five minutes. If we can’t get the girls out, we’re going to have to leave without them. Ben doesn’t have much time to spare.”
Bending near the former private, he said, “Can you stay here by yourself?”
Ben gripped his pistol, his rifle at his side. “Yes, sir. If they come this way, I’ll shoot the fuckers.”
He clapped the kid gently on the shoulder. “Good man. We’ll be back for you.” Then he turned back to Dana and Coop, so they could work out a rudimentary plan. Afterward, they took their positions. Shane crouched and ran for the front as Dana provided cover fire. Coop had angled toward the back, and he heard Ben’s pistol firing, which let him know Dana had made her run for the emergency exit.
He counted to fifteen, as was the plan, and they all burst into the restaurant, hoping to make the five men inside think there were a lot more of them. Shane got lucky and took out the first bulking behemoth within in seconds. After that, no one was visible, and he crept along the floor, annoyed by the desiccated peanut shells that crunched under his feet from time to time. It was like wearing a damned alarm that let the enemy know exactly where he was.
He heard another shot fired from the side of the restaurant where Dana had gone and hoped it was her taking out some human waste, instead of someone shooting her. He continued his sweep, freezing when he heard the snick of a gun being cocked. Looking up, he saw a large man with a rough beard and shaggy hair standing two tables away, aiming a large handgun at him.
On instinct, he rolled and brought up his own pistol to fire, just as the other man slumped to the floor. His ears rang, and it took him a moment to hear Dana approaching, having been close to the gunfire without ear protectors. He nodded his thanks as he got up to move beside her, where she knelt. She held up two fingers, and he added one. They heard another gunshot then, and he held up four with a shrug of his shoulders, hoping that meant Coop had taken out another one of the animals.
Cautiously, he and Dana moved toward the kitchen, where they found a tense scene. Coop stood with his gun aimed at the opened freezer, a body near his feet. He was tense, his voice cold when he demanded, “Let go of the girl and get your ass out here.”
“Fuck you,” shouted the voice.
Dana looked at her watch before tapping it twice, letting Shane know they had two minutes left of their five.
“Come on out, and you can just go,” said Shane. “We only want the woman.”
“Women,” said Coop, his attention not wavering from the freezer. “At least two, and that filth is using the youngest as a shield.”
“Just let the women go, and you can walk away,” said Shane again. “We don’t want to kill you.”
“Speak for yourself,” growled Coop, though he had the sense to do it quietly.
Shane tried again. “Look, there are a lot of us, and we’re all heavily armed. You can’t win this. Just give us the women.”
“Fuck you,” said the unseen assailant again. “Go get your own women.”
Shane went for a different approach. “Look, man, you know the state of the world. We just want to get laid. How about a trade? You give us some time with your women, and you can have some food and an assault rifle.”
Dana looked stunned, but Coop didn’t flinch. Shane winced when two female voices cried out in protest, but hardened his heart. He couldn’t worry about scaring them right then if he wanted to save them. “What do you say?”
“Get in here,” said the man. “Bring your gun, and we’ll talk.”
Shane put his handgun back in the holster and held out his rifle at his side, exaggerating his motions to show he was harmless. Entering the freezer, his nose wrinkled at the stench. It had a lingering aroma of rotted meat, but newer layers of unpleasantness almost covered that. Waste, recent sex, and unwashed bodies mingled in a mélange that made him want to vomit.
“Give me the gun.” The piece of shit was an obese man who resembled a redneck Jay Leno. He had a small handgun pressed to the temple of the trembling girl in his arms.
Shane held out the assault rifle, his stomach turning as he examined the young Asian girl, guessing she was around fourteen or fifteen. He flicked a glance at the older Hispanic woman, putting her age around thirty.
The man admired the gun, running a hand over the stock and licking his lips. “Okay, here’s the deal. You can have ten minutes with Valeria.” He jerked his head toward the older woman.
“What about that one?” asked Shane, looking at the girl, who whimpered.
“Oh, Yu is something special, my friend. She’ll cost you a lot more than a single gun, even for just a taste.” He dropped his hand from the rifle to squeeze the girl’s breast until she cried out. “She was fresh as a daisy until a couple of weeks ago, so we’re talking tight territory.”
“What do you want for both of them?” Shane swallowed, hating the
look of disgust on the women’s faces.
“Your vehicle. We saw your Humvee roll up and had decided to claim it for ourselves. You give me the keys, and you can have ten minutes with Yu and keep Valeria.”
Valeria called out a vigorous repudiation as Yu whimpered, “Valeria.”
Shane nodded. “Yeah, okay. Seems fair. Can I have my guys come in? They’re going to want a taste of this too.”
The man backed up, not letting go of Yu. “Fine, but sweetness and I will stand over here and watch. I want to insure you don’t try to go back on our deal. Greed leads to death, my friend.”
Shane nodded, turning his body slightly to gesture toward Coop and Dana. “Come on in, fellas. It’s time to fuck.” As he said it, he reached for his pistol, drew it out, and targeted the slime ball before the other man had a chance to react. He didn’t let Yu’s terrified gaze distract him as he shot, the bullet going right through the other man’s forehead. The girl screamed as the man fell, and Coop was there to catch her before she hit the floor.
In the process, the gun belonging to the man Shane had shot ended up at Valeria’s feet, and she had scooped it up. Now, she had it pointed at Coop. “Let go of the girl.”
Coop eased Yu to her feet and lifted his hands, backing away. “Okay, easy does it, ladies.”
Shane saw Dana look at her watch and make a zero motion with her thumb and forefinger. “Sorry to be so brusque, but here’s the deal. Our friend is bleeding in the parking lot. You are welcome to come with us if you’d like, but you need to decide quickly.”
Valeria pointed the gun at him. “Why would we come with you? Do you think we want to trade one set of rapists for another?”
Shane squirmed at the word, instantly recalling the first time he’d taken Mina. “We don’t want to hurt you.”
Dana stepped forward, hands held upward. “It’s true. We have a safe place—as safe as any place can be these days. No strings, other than hard work. You don’t have to pay in any fashion with something you don’t want to part with. Especially the little girl.”
“I’m fifteen,” said Yu, leaning against the freezer. “Not a little girl.”
