“You should,” the girl said. “This is just too hard. I can’t take it anymore. I don’t even want to do this!”
Jenna’s face relaxed and she let out a sigh. The girl didn’t look relieved that Jenna wasn’t going to shoot her. She just sat there, blinking her round, dark eyes. Almost… disappointed.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Allie Waters,” she said. “Feel free to joke about my last name.”
I ignored the suggestion. “I’m Joss and this is Jenna.”
Allie nodded as she clasped her hands together in front of herself. “I’m so incredibly sorry for taking your things. I wouldn’t have done that if I would have known. Things have been so bleak. I’m starving to death.” Her lips curled and she giggled. “Honestly, when I saw this place, I thought I must have died and this was my heaven. I guess that’s a silly thought when everything out there has still gone to hell.”
“How did you get in here?” I asked glancing toward the kitchen. I could see the front door was still locked, although she could have flipped the lock after she’d entered. My eyes popped wider. “Are you alone?”
The girl’s brows curled down along with her mouth. “I’m alone. There’s no one else, thank God. My experience with others hasn’t been good.”
She held out her arms. In the dim light, I could see she was skin and bone. There were marking some fresh and some scarred on her pale, thin arms.
“What happened?” I asked. “If you don’t mind sharing.”
“It’s easy to get scratched up running in the darkness with no idea where you’re going. The bear encounter didn’t help,” Allie said jerking her chin toward the gun in Jenna’s lowered hand. “Just so you know, I have no idea how to use that thing. If I had, I would have tried to use it on the bear.”
Jenna shrugged. “I don’t really know either. At least, not really.”
“I really am sorry,” Allie said reaching down and picking up the jar of peanut butter. She stretched her arm toward me. “It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten much of anything.”
“We don’t have much left,” Jenna said.
My head bobbed. “We’ve been rationing what we have left.”
“I feel terrible,” Allie said.
I crossed my arms. “You didn’t know. You couldn’t have known. Still, I can’t help but wonder how you got inside.”
“The back door was open,” Allie said.
My eyes shifted toward Jenna. She knew I was looking at her but she ignored me.
“You didn’t question the candlelight?” Jenna asked.
“I didn’t really think about it,” Allie said. “I looked around and didn’t see anyone… then I saw the food.”
I left the room to check the back door. Both Jenna and Allie were silent until I returned.
“I locked it,” Allie said. “I had to. It wasn’t that long ago I escaped from a group of men. Terrible, awful, dreadful men.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Some things I can tell you and some I can’t,” Allie said. “At least not yet.”
I nodded as if I understood. I did understand. There were things I wouldn’t share about what I’d been through with her either. Not now. Maybe not ever.
“The men essentially have women as slaves,” Allie said looking down at her mud-covered shoes. “They did all sorts of things to us. We were kept in buildings. We cooked, we cleaned, we did everything women should do. Whatever they wanted… whenever they wanted.”
“There were others with you?” I asked.
“Not that escaped,” Allie said. “In the houses. I left them behind. I should have helped them but I couldn’t… I couldn’t.”
The girl was obviously traumatized by what she’d gone through. I could see it in her eyes. I didn’t trust her completely but still, I could tell she was telling us the truth.
“You’ll be safe here,” I said.
“We’ll never be safe again,” Allie said.
Jenna took a step forward. “Do you think they followed you?”
“I did at first,” Allie said. “But I’m not sure anymore. I’ve been on my own for a while.”
The girl looked so sad. Her nearly black eyes filled with so much pain. Her blonde hair was coated in so much dirt that it looked almost brown.
“Why aren’t you going to kill me?” Allie asked. “Who are you? What do you want from me? I’m not going to do things for you.”
“We’re just survivors,” I said. “We’re not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
Allie shook her head. “There are no normal people left. You want something.”
“How could we? You came into our house. We didn’t know anyone was going to break in,” I said.
“We’re not going to do anything to you,” Jenna said her brows squeezing together. She held up the gun between her finger and thumb. “Where did you get this?”
Allie cocked a brow. “I stole it. When I escaped. You should know I killed the guy.”
I blinked. I couldn’t stop looking at the petite girl, unable to imagine her harming a fly.
“I see that makes you uncomfortable,” Allie said with a frown. “You should also know he deserved it. For everything he did to the women… and me.”
“Would you like more peanut butter?” I asked holding out the jar.
Jenna cleared her throat before Allie could answer. “I’ll see if I can find you some clean, dry clothes.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Allie said. “Why are you being so nice?”
I gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Because we are nice.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Allie said.
“You don’t need to,” I said. “We’ve all been in a bad place. Jenna and I didn’t have help.”
Allie frowned. “I can’t take your food.”
“We’ll share what we can,” I said. “Eventually, we’ll have to leave here to find more.”
“And if I just leave, you’ll be able to stay longer,” Allie said.
“We don’t want that,” I said. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you went out there and something happened.”
Allie sniffed and quickly wiped away a tear. “Thank you.”
She sat down on the edge of the sofa with her hands between her legs. Allie appeared to be stunned… speechless.
I came back into the room with a breakfast bar and a bottle of water. Jenna was standing at the bottom of the stairs holding a small stack of clothing.
“Should we wake her?” Jenna asked.
I shook my head. “Probably not.”
“She’s getting the sofa all wet,” Jenna said.
“It’ll dry,” I said looking at the girl. Her mouth hung open slightly. It looked like it was probably the first time she’d slept in days. Maybe weeks. “Go on, get some sleep.”
Jenna narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to stay up?”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s okay.”
“Take this,” Jenna said handing me the gun.
I held up my knife. She practically placed the gun in my hand.
“Just in case,” Jenna said.
I shook my head. “I don’t think we need to worry about her.”
“Me either,” Jenna said.
I sighed as I sat down next to the window. It seemed as though we had a new member of a group. Someone that needed our help. I only hoped we’d be able to help… and not make things worse.
11
Adam
Heather started digging in her bag. She pulled out a little metal rack and a mug.
“I can help,” Heather said.
“What are you going to do?” I asked as she took out a lighter.
Heather flicked it quickly and held up a packet of hot chocolate. “I don’t have a lot, so you can’t have one.”
“Seriously? Hot chocolate?” Leah asked with a smile. “That’s amazing.”
Heather set it up and held the lighter un
der the rack. “It takes a while but I’m completely serious. This will warm you up in no time.”
The lighter gave the shed a warm orange glow, highlighting the awfulness of our situation. After what felt like an eternity, Heather handed Leah the mug.
Heather packed her things away. Leah sipped the hot chocolate from the mug.
“Oh, my God,” Leah said. “This is amazing. Thank you.”
“Yeah, of course,” Heather said.
After she finished the hot chocolate, giving us each a drink, of course, Leah fell asleep. It didn’t take long before Heather curled up in the corner of the shed and found her way to dreamland too.
I couldn’t sleep. I desperately needed to sleep but my eyes just wouldn’t stay closed. It wasn’t anything new.
There were a few brief moments I’d drifted away but the nightmares quickly woke me. I could hear Eva’s voice… mocking me. Her criticisms echoing through my head.
I would never be free of her.
The gray light of morning arrived quicker than usual. At least, it seemed that way.
The yawns hit me one after the other. There were so many tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes because I was just that tired.
Leah noticed but she didn’t ask what was wrong. She already knew how much I struggled with sleep.
We hadn’t walked long before Leah began limping. I tried to help but she narrowed her eyes and walked quicker. She was making it clear she didn’t want to talk about it and that I shouldn’t mention it.
“Are you guys married?” Heather asked as we sloshed through the mud.
“No,” I said quickly.
Leah raised a brow. Perhaps I had responded too quickly.
“Did you have kids?” Heather asked.
“No,” Leah replied.
I chuckled. It was her turn to answer quickly.
“Are you going to have kids?” Heather asked.
“No,” we both answered at nearly the exact same time.
“Okay,” Heather said smiling.
I wiped the rain off the back of my neck. “Why so many questions?”
“I just want to know what to say to my uncle. He’s going to want to know about the both of you,” Heather said.
“Do we need to be worried about him?” I asked.
“No, no, no,” Heather said shaking her head. “You’ll both like him but he’s built his safe place. He’ll be careful about who he lets into it.”
Leah and I exchanged a glance.
“Don’t worry,” Heather said. “It’ll be fine. You’ll be much safer and much happier when we get there.”
“So, we’re doing this?” I asked Leah when Heather was a few steps ahead of us.
“I guess so,” Leah said. “It’s weird, though, all this just sort of happened.”
I nodded.
Heather turned abruptly and stopped. Mud splashed around her feet.
“You know, I’m just assuming he survived. I actually have no idea since we were unable to contact him after everything happened,” Heather said. “Either way, I know he has the place. If he’s not there, then we’ll just get it all to ourselves.”
Heather turned back around and started walking. She talked to us over her shoulder… the rain washed away some of her words.
“I wish I would have taken more than medicine,” Heather said. “A bag full of medicine. I should have taken more. It’s okay, though, because all these pills are helpful too, right? I was more interested in medicine than being a nurse. I wasn’t going to have a choice but I wanted to be a pharmacist. Oh, well.” Heather turned, wearing a disappointed grin. “None of that matters now, I guess. I won’t get to be either. How about you, what did you want to be?”
Leah chewed her lip. “I wasn’t going to have much of a choice.”
“Hmm,” Heather said. “What about you, Adam?”
“He would have had the luxury to choose anything he wanted,” Leah said bitterly.
Heather looked impressed. “Oh, interesting! Were you going to be like a doctor or something?”
“No,” I said laughing. “I didn’t really know, I guess. I definitely wasn’t going to be anything special.”
It sounded like something Eva would have said. Or maybe she had said it. It was true, though. I wasn’t going to be anything special then and I wouldn’t now either.
“Adam,” Leah said apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
I raised my hand, stopping her from continuing. “It’s fine.”
And it was.
Leah never liked that I had come from an extremely wealthy family. She came from a very different world. It wasn’t anything against me personally, I knew that, but still, the dislike for my past was palpable.
I probably wouldn’t have liked the person I would have been either. I didn’t want to think about it. The only thing I wanted to think about was finding a place that would keep us safe.
Staying alive.
My priorities had changed. Perhaps that somehow was a good thing.
The days and nights had blended together. I wasn’t sure how many days had passed.
We hadn’t talked much. Heather had apparently asked all her questions. Leaving us all deep in thought about our pasts… or maybe about our futures.
The food in our packs was running low. My stomach ached with my constant worry that we wouldn’t find Heather’s uncle's place or anywhere for that matter where we would be safe.
Everything around us was flooded and destroyed. The few remaining buildings had fallen apart. Anything inside those that still existed had been cleared out long ago.
We were in need of help.
Desperate need.
We walked past a green sign still at the side of the road. The town name had mostly worn away, making it nearly unreadable.
Heather started waving her arms and pointing. She jumped up and down, splashing the mud up so high it splattered my face.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Heather squealed and clapped her hands. “I recognize this. I know where we are. I know the way!”
12
Stevie
Gage wasn’t thrilled but he agreed to be in charge while we were away. Shawn and I packed a bag, took a gun, and headed out to find medicine for Jake Quinn.
Tucked into the back pocket of my jeans was a small square of paper with the name of the medicine written on it. All we had to do was to carefully find a home that was still standing and search through their medicine cabinet.
Someone out there surely had used the same medicine. Whether or not it would be Jake’s dosage was something we’d have to worry about later.
It seemed odd to be out traveling again… like it wasn’t even me. It felt like I was back home watching myself on a TV screen.
Shawn didn’t tell me how crazy I was. Instead of fighting me, he volunteered to be the one to join me.
Gage, however, didn’t hold back. He let us both know that he thought we were being reckless.
I had a good night’s sleep but it wasn’t long before I was tired. Traveling through the mud in the cold rain was exhausting. It took a toll.
It wasn’t long before we stumbled upon a two-story yellow house. The building was so soggy it looked like a stack of melting butter on top of pancakes.
“First one’s the charm?” Shawn asked as we cautiously approached.
“God, I hope so,” I said with a shiver.
We moved through the house quickly. Checking for both the medicine and anything else that we might need.
The house had already been picked over except for the mostly full jar of peanut butter that had fallen to the floor. I picked it up and held it like it was a first-place trophy.
“Looks like they missed something,” I said.
“Nice,” Shawn said raising a brow. “Should we sample it? It’ll save the food we have packed.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I said lowering myself to the dirty floor.
I wiped my h
ands on my shirt and twisted off the cap. The nutty smell made my stomach rumble.
“There are no spoons,” Shawn said slamming the last drawer closed.
“I don’t need one,” I said sticking two fingers into the jar. I closed my eyes as I let the salty, sticky, and creamy peanut butter slide onto my tongue. “Oh my God.”
Shawn plopped down next to me and scooped out his own serving. “Wow. Why doesn’t Kieran give us peanut butter more often?”
“I’m not about to complain about the meals she makes,” I said. “But a few scoops of peanut butter would do us all good.”
“Right?” Shawn said watching me as I licked my fingers clean.
My eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Nothing,” Shawn said with a smirk that twisted my heart. “Watching you devour it isn’t too bad either.”
“Oh, my God,” I groaned.
Shawn was already gone.
“Seriously,” he said scooting even closer than he already was.
His thumb grazed my jaw as he moved my hair away from my face. He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
Shawn licked and savored me as if I were his own personal spoonful of peanut butter. He eased me down to the floor and I let what was left of the jar of peanut butter roll away.
My hands slid inside his shirt and he shivered at my cool touch. Shawn’s lips kissed down the side of my neck.
I exhaled as I melted into his warmth. “We should stop.”
“Should we, though?” Shawn asked.
“Did you lock the door?”
“I did.”
I smiled. “Still, we have a job to do.”
“You’re terrible at taking breaks,” Shawn said as his hand slid down my body, stopping on my hip. He kissed my breast through my shirt, sending a shiver up my spine. “If you want me to stop, I’ll stop. Just say the word.”
A small moan seeped out between my lips. “Part of me thinks we should stop.”
“What does the other part think?” he asked.
Biting my lip, I reached forward and unbuttoned his pants, giving him my answer with the gesture. Shawn smirked and reached out his hand as he got to his knees.
I took his hand and he quickly helped me to my feet. Shawn caressed my body as I wiggled out of my pants. His touch drove me crazy. I could barely think straight. All I could think about was how badly I wanted him.
The Reset Series | Book 6 | Striking Page 5
