pulled at his hair. “But South America? Hell, could they have picked a worse destination?”
“That’s a long way away,” Nelson reminded us. “Let’s just see where it goes. Maybe, they change their minds. Maybe we find a better plan. The end goal isn’t about where we end up, but that we end up there together.”
“Wise, brother,” I smirked at him.
“Alright,” Vaughan looked up at us and nodded. “Alright, we do this.”
“And we don’t give them a choice,” I added. “I mean, we can make them feel like they have a choice, but we all know that they don’t, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Vaughan agreed. “This is the only way. This is the only way they survive.”
What I didn’t say, what I couldn’t say, was that I was beginning to think this was the only way for me to survive too.
We hatched a plan to approach them in the morning and then crawled into our respective beds. The room was completely quiet; still and pensive with silence. I closed my eyes but couldn’t fall asleep. There were too many things on my racing mind, plus the very real possibility Reagan would try to sneak out of here in the morning without alerting us.
I wasn’t sure how long I laid there, thinking about what I would say to her, how I would convince her that joining forces was the only way to go, but when the first hand of a Feeder fist landed on the steel encasing we’d melded over the stairwell I wasn’t even surprised.
I sat up in bed and realized this was the exact opportunity I needed.
She couldn’t leave me, if she needed me.
But I would let it be her choice. I would always, always let it be her choice. Well, kind of. I wasn’t going to hit her over the head and drag her back to my cave. But our futures were connected now and she would just have to accept that.
I got up, slipped my boots on and armed myself to the hilt. We were all ready for this. We had a protocol in place, and an escape plan that had been hatched and practiced since we arrived here. I walked over to the girls, intending to help them get ready. I caught the girls looking a little dazed and disoriented in the bed they were sharing.
Taking a breath for courage, I said, “Girls, we’re moving out in three minutes. Throw some shoes on. You don’t have time to pack.”
She snorted again. “Like, we’re not completely ready to go.”
And then they jumped up and threw some shirts over their tank tops and shouldered their packs.
“Ready,” Haley said with a smile.
I watched, fascinated, while Reagan threw her hair on the top of her head and tied it together with a rubber band. Incredible.
“Do you have any more of those you want to share?” she asked me, eyeing my semiautomatic hungrily.
“Over by Vaughan.” I pointed at our healthy stash of weapons we’d been accumulating since we began this whole journey. Hell, half of them were from even before that. Our house hadn’t exactly been against the second amendment. “Take your pick.”
And then I stood stunned, half-paralyzed as I watched them bounce over to drool over guns, knives and bullets.
Damn, I was already in love with this girl.
I kept an eye on her while she armed herself and her friend and while I helped my brothers get ready and pack up Page. We worked seamlessly, a well-oiled machine of preparedness. Our skill with planning for the worst and understanding which obstacles to expect would always save us. Our dad trained us well. We could navigate these uncertain waters simply because we already came equipped with internal compasses.
Finally, we stood in a clustered group, waiting for the melded shut elevators to be pried open. I found Reagan in the crowd and chose to stand next to her. I now had a place in her life, this was me stepping up to fulfill it.
Could I finally blame this on destiny? Fate? A greater being that thrust us together- right time and right place… all that?
It was hard to say. But only because the impossible life we lived made believing in something bigger and wiser than me nearly impossible.
Had someone asked me this same question before the world went to shit, then I might have believed in cosmic forces shifting earth plates and stars aligning until Reagan and I were put in each other’s paths.
Now, I was less concerned with what destiny had in store for us and much more determined to make the best of this beautiful prospect.
Maybe I wasn’t spiritual anymore, but I had definitely turned into an opportunist.
Reagan was my opportunity.
“This leads to the outside?” she asked me in a strong voice. She wasn’t even afraid. The entire room quaked and echoed with the pounding fists of hungry Feeders trying to get inside to eat us and Reagan was only determined to get out.
“Eventually,” I answered. I couldn’t even pretend to be as cool as her. Energy and adrenaline hummed through my blood, bringing me fully awake and setting every one of my instincts and senses on edge. I felt torn in half trying to keep an eye on Page and on Reagan.
Page would always be my first priority, but I couldn’t deny the intense urge I felt to protect Reagan.
I took in my surroundings, visualized our escape plan and mentally pictured each and every future kill. The key to survival and keeping those you loved alive was to always be prepared.
I was a goddamn Boy Scout when it came to a fight. Everyone in this room would make it to safety.
There was no other option in my life.
“Alright, well thanks then,” Reagan whispered to me sounding sincere and final.
My blood went cold, freezing in my veins. I watched Nelson and Vaughan finally pry the door open but it was in a detached, confused kind of way. They began working with another one of our pulley systems and I began working to process Reagan’s words.
“For what?” I turned to her realizing she hadn’t come to the same conclusion that I had about our remaining lives. Even if we never became involved with more than friendship, we definitely had a future together. From this day forward.
“For everything,” she shrugged and turned away.
Maybe she wasn’t as brave as I gave her credit for. Maybe she was resigned that this was a no win situation. She had no idea who she was traveling with now, though. The Parkers didn’t believe in no-win situations. We won everything, every chance we got.
I needed her to believe that too, though.
“You sound like you’re expecting to die, Reagan,” I barked, a little harsher than I intended. But I was irritated that she didn’t trust me. Yes, I knew I was being irrational. But I couldn’t help it. Testosterone had fused with the adrenaline to transform me into the super soldier I needed to be. “We have an escape plan. You’re going to be just fine.”
Confusion warred with frustration as she tried not to laugh at me. I scowled at her, waiting for her to explain. “I know that.” And then because I still didn’t understand she sighed and made it clear why she was thanking me, basically telling me goodbye. “But we’re headed south and you’re headed north. I was just saying thank you before we got separated and I never got the chance to. I mean it, thank you.”
I stared at her. She still didn’t get it. And then I started to panic a little. Was I the only one that felt this connection between us? I felt fused to her, hooked by a titanium steel fishing line that would never release me. How could she just not assume that from this moment on our lives were entwined?
My brothers started getting people through the elevator, following through with our escape plan and momentarily pulled Reagan’s attention away from me. I took the opportunity to step forward and lean down so I could speak directly in her ear.
“Alright, Reagan,” I said softly. She shivered at the feel of my voice in her ear and I knew at that moment I wasn’t the only one that felt this. There was something real between us, something tangible and worth exploring. “I get the independence thing, but you’re not going south until we get the hell out of here and to safety. You stay directly b
ehind me, you got that?”
She whipped her head around and stared me down with a soul full of fury, “Sweet offer, but I can take care of myself.”
“Never said you couldn’t,” I admitted. And I knew that she could. But that wasn’t the point. “Stay behind me, got that?”
“Whatever makes you feel like a man,” she sighed, sounding completely exasperated by me.
I suppressed a smile. “And we’ll talk about going south later.”
She opened her mouth to argue with me, sputtering a little and seeming completely flustered. I did smile this time, I couldn’t help myself. I ushered her forward and she crawled through the elevator space without hesitation or further prompting.
I let her get adjusted and when she couldn’t quite get in a comfortable position to get strapped in I laid down on my stomach and grabbed her ass so she could settle. In any other situation, I would have capitalized on this moment and investigated how far she would let me take this. But this was life or death, survival or Feeder-food. This was clinical, methodical, necessary to our escape.
Although the surprised squeak she made when I touched her did confusing things to my resolve.
“What the hell?” she growled at me.
“Just,” I strained against her weight and clicked the carabineers into place, “there.”
She was now supported by the rope, although it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable way to travel. It would do the job. That’s all that mattered.
I slid under the elevator that hovered above a
Love and Decay, Boy Meets Girl Page 8
