“What you got there?” one of them asked raising a brow.
“Mmm,” the other said lightly touching his thumb to his bottom lip. He smirked as he looked me up and down.
Unable to stop myself, I swung my free arm. My closed fist connected with Mr. Smirk’s cheek, causing my knuckles to crack.
His head jerked to the side but he didn’t change his expression. If anything, it only made his smirk grow.
“I like it rough too,” he whispered.
“Enough flirting, you too,” the guy holding me said. He jerked me forward and led me down the road as the other guys dispersed.
I laughed. “You don’t want backup?”
“Why would I need backup?” he said with a snort.
I twisted to the side sharply and yanked my arm free. As I ducked, I swung my leg out and threw my foot into the back of his knee.
He fell into the mud and I took off. My foot slipped behind me but I managed to maintain my balance. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it far before I was tackled.
The guy grabbed my shirt and pulled me up. I saw his fist coming toward my face and I tried to get out of the way but he didn’t let go of me.
The blow to my face was intensely painful. My brain started to numb. I tried to keep my eyes open but I couldn’t.
Everything went black.
I groaned as I forced my eyes to open. My wrists were bound.
The room was dark except for a few battery-powered lanterns in the corners of the room. I was tied to a chair. There was a fireplace to my left and a window with the curtain drawn to the right.
Several shadows moved around the room. The man in the chair across from me cleared his throat.
In the dim light, I could see he was clean-shaven. His jaw was perfectly angled and his face sculpted. Something told me I was sitting across from Zachary. What I hadn’t expected was how good looking he was.
“Are you all right, my dear?” he asked. His steepled fingertips tapped together. “My friends here can get a little rough.”
“I’m fine,” I said as I straightened my spine. My outer shell was up and there was no way I was going to let anyone know how terrified I was.
Had Shawn gotten back to the compound? Did Gage know I’d been captured?
“I’m Zachary and this is my community,” the guy said holding out his arms. “Let me be the first to welcome you.”
“Um, thanks,” I said.
Zachary smiled. “You’re not happy to be out of the rain?”
“Of course, I am,” I said unable to hide the sarcasm.
“What’s your name?” Zachary asked leaning forward.
I hesitated. “Stevie.”
“Is that the truth?” Zachary asked cocking his head.
“Why would I lie about my name?” I asked.
“You paused as if you didn’t know your name.”
I huffed. “I was punched in the face. Took me a second to remember.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Zachary said. “Can you tell me where are you from?”
“I was living in a small house to the north with my parents,” I said. The lie came so quickly I almost believed it myself.
Zachary, however, shook his head. “We’ve checked every house for miles. No one lives to the north.”
“Well, I did.”
“What color was your house?”
“White.”
Zachary cocked a brow. “We know about a group to the south.”
“Oh?”
“Know anything about that?”
“Nope. Wish I did since things have been rough for me since my parents died,” I said.
Zachary pressed his lips together. “Sorry to hear that. You don’t seem all that upset.”
“You must have forgotten that one of your goons punched me in the face. Forgive me if I’m still in a bad mood about it,” I said sharply.
“Well,” Zachary said as he got out of his wooden chair. “Since you have nothing to go back to, this should be easy.”
My eyes narrowed as I bit down on my cheek. I breathed into my nose to keep myself calm.
“We’d like it if you joined us,” Zachary said with a laugh.
“That’s all?” I managed to ask.
“That’s all. We’ll take good care of you here. Keep you fed and dry,” Zachary said.
I licked my dry lips, tasting mud that had managed to stay on even after walking through the rain. “And if I don’t want to stay.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to stay?” Zachary asked. “You have nowhere to go and we’ll take care of you.”
“I haven’t liked what I’ve seen so far,” I said flatly.
“Are we still on the getting hit thing?” Zachary asked.
I gave him a quick nod.
“He’ll be reprimanded,” Zachary said crossing his heart with his finger. “You have my word.”
“I don’t want to stay here,” I said even though I knew there was zero percent chance he was going to let me go. If there had been any chance of that, they wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble they had just to catch me.
Zachary sighed. “Take her to building six. Let her think about her options.”
“What are my options?” I asked trying to wiggle free from my restraints.
“If you want, you can choose to stay peacefully or if you can choose to be difficult,” Zachary said.
I laughed. “I can answer that now. It’s not going to be peacefully.”
Zachary jerked his chin toward the door. All hints of a smile disappeared from his face.
Two of his men walked toward me. One of them bent down and cut the rope around my middle. My body was free but my wrists were still tied.
They worked together to lift me out of the chair and drag me through the house. The rain cooled my hot cheeks as it washed down over me, taking what remained of the mud with it.
“Let me go,” I said softly. “You both know this is wrong.”
They ignored me. It was as though they’d heard it before and were numb to my pleas.
I could still see the house I’d been in with Zachary when we stepped up to a blue, two-story house. The man on my right reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. He opened the door and roughly pushed me inside.
I landed hard. My face smacking into the wood floorboards stunned me. I growled as a knee pressed into my back but felt a bit of relief when my hands were freed. Seconds later, the pressure released and the door closed behind me.
I got to my feet and placed my hands on the door. My hand gripped the knob as I angrily attempted to twist it. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t budge.
I took several steps back, clenching my shaking hands into tight fists. My eyes shifted toward the window. There were thick bars bolted to the outside of the house.
I was essentially in a prison. There was no way out.
A hand touched my shoulder and I gasped as I pulled away.
“Sorry!” a woman said as she held up her hands. “The new ones always react the same, yet I keep trying to do that.”
“What?” I said shaking my head.
The woman talking to me wasn’t the only one there. Five other women stepped out of the shadows, looking at me with sorrow filling their eyes.
“Poor girl,” an older woman with gray hair said shaking her head.
Two of the others hugged each other. They looked at me as if they were afraid I might lunge at them at any second.
The one closest to me offered me a sympathetic smile. “It’s confusing, I know.”
“What’s going on here?” I asked.
“Welcome to hell,” a second girl said as she walked over to the window. Her black hair fell over her dark eyes.
“I’m Melinda,” the girl who was still holding up her hands said. Her head tipped to the side, indicating the girl at the window. “That’s Lydia. Those two are Tami and Abigail and—”
“I’m Mrs. Cottonwood,” the gray-haired woman said stretching out her thin hand. “But you can call m
e Ida.”
I swallowed before shaking her hand. “Hi, I’m Stevie.”
“Nice to meet you, dear,” she said with a small curtsy. “It’s unfortunate that it’s under these circumstances.”
“You can say that again,” I mumbled. “What is this place? Why are you locked up?”
“All of the women are locked up,” Tami said.
I shook my head. “How many women are locked up? Is it just us?”
“Oh, definitely not,” Melinda said. “If I had to guess, I’d say there are maybe twenty of us?”
“Hell, no,” Lydia said. “There are at least forty women here. All of us are treated like shit. We’re maids and waitresses. Slaves and whores.”
Ida clapped her hands together. “Lydia! Watch your mouth.”
“I’m not wrong.” Lydia shrugged. She lifted her shirt and turned. There were dark purple bruises scattered on her skin. “We’re also punching bags.”
I touched my face. “I’ve already experienced that.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Melinda said with a frown. “The women here are not treated well. We can’t leave unless we’re called to do a job. We’re under constant watch. If we speak, we’re slapped and if we try to escape, we’re killed.”
“How did you even end up here?” Lydia asked.
“I need to get to the pharmacy,” I said. “One of the people in my group desperately needs his medication.”
Lydia cocked her head to the side. “The people in your group? You look like you’re all alone to me, girl.”
It was probably a mistake but I couldn’t stop myself. I told the defeated looking women everything about the compound.
It wasn’t like the men running the place didn’t know about it. The only thing they didn’t know was that I had come from there. Although, I was almost positive they suspected it.
Their eyes widened and their mouths dropped open. They stared at me as they tried to decide if I was telling the truth.
“Now, where is the pharmacy and what is the quickest way to get there?” I asked. I looked at them one by one as I exhaled slowly.
Lydia crossed her arms. “I can get you out.”
22
Joss
Jenna was frustrated. When Cal cried, she’d hand him to Allie or me, claiming he didn’t like her.
“He doesn’t get that I’ve just given birth,” Jenna complained.
“He probably didn’t enjoy the experience that much either,” I said.
Jenna shot me a look that almost knocked me back. I looked down at Cal to avoid her deadly glare.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do if he won’t eat,” Jenna said. “He tries and tries but nothing comes out. It’s not like I can give a newborn oatmeal.”
“It’ll take a bit for your milk to come in,” Allie said. “At least, I think that’s what they said.”
Jenna crossed her arms and grimaced as if it were painful. “And meanwhile he starves to death? How long can he wait? What if I can’t make milk because of how malnourished we are?”
“I’ll go out and try to find formula,” I said. “There must be some somewhere, right? I can’t imagine that would be an item that’s in very high demand right now.”
“You know I can’t ask you to do that,” Jenna said.
“You didn’t ask,” I said. “It might just be what I have to do.”
Cal started crying. His sharp little cry pierced my ears like tiny daggers stabbing at the side of my brain.
“Anyone in a few miles will hear him,” Jenna said taking him back. She bounced up and down until Cal cried himself back to sleep. “It might be time for all of us to strike out. We need help.”
“There’s nothing out there,” Allie said.
“There has to be,” Jenna said without looking up. “There just has to be for all our sakes.”
A half-hour later, when Cal woke up crying again, Jenna sat down on the sofa and tried to feed him. Again, it just ended with more crying… from both of them and Jenna frustrated.
“Maybe it’s time we talk about packing up what we have left and leaving,” I said.
“Oh, yeah, he’s more likely to eat in the cold rain,” Jenna snapped. “We’re just supposed to take turns carrying him? What if this house is all that’s left?”
“I just don’t want to end up back where I started,” Allie said.
I shook my head. “None of us want to end up there.”
“Cal could get sick,” Jenna said.
“We’ll bundle him up,” I said. “Make a sling. It’s not like we have that long left here anyway.”
“What about all the bear meat?” Jenna asked.
Allie sighed. “There wasn’t that much. He was a thin bear.”
“We can take what we have,” I said. “Besides, it’s not like we can just live on bear meat forever.”
Jenna placed a bundled Cal on a sheet on the floor. There were pillows around his sides, forming a little nest for him.
“Are you sure about this?” Jenna asked her voice much calmer.
“If you think it’s better, I could go myself,” I said.
“I really don’t think we should separate,” Jenna said.
I let out a breath. “I think it might be better if we head out while we have the energy. If we wait too long, it might just make everything harder.”
“What if we don’t find anything like this again?” Jenna asked.
“And what if we find something better?” I asked.
Jenna snorted. “Look at you looking for the bright side of things. Sorry, Joss, there is no bright side anymore.”
“I know that,” I said. “But they’d want us to keep trying.”
“Okay,” Jenna said. “You’re probably right but for the record, I don’t think there will be anything better than this.”
Cal started crying. Jenna covered her face.
“Aren’t they supposed to sleep more than fifteen minutes at a time?” she asked.
“Want me to get him?” I asked.
Jenna held up her hand. “Nah. I might as well try to feed him again.”
“I’ll start packing our things,” I said.
“Can I help?” Allie asked.
“Yeah, of course,” I said.
We’d gathered as many bags as we could find in the house and start sorting and packing. Allie was kneeling on the floor, going through some of the packages. She stopped abruptly and placed her hands on her thighs.
“Joss?” She looked up at me. “Can I join you?”
“I just assumed you were coming with us,” I said feeling the confusion wrinkle my eyebrows.
“Oh, good.” She turned back to the bag. “I’m really worried about running into them again but I think I’m more afraid of being alone.”
Whispers from the living room drifted through the air. My eyes narrowed, unable to decipher the words.
“I’ll be right back,” I said as I turned the corner into the living room.
Jenna was beaming as she pointed at Cal. Her voice was feather-soft. “It’s working!”
“That’s great,” I said smiling at them.
“How’s the packing going?” Jenna asked.
“There isn’t much,” I said crossing my arms. “We’ll be ready to leave in the morning. If you’re able.”
Jenna stared at Cal with so much love in her eyes. “Yeah. I feel good.”
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“Positive. No pain. Nothing,” Jenna said. “I feel really good. Better than I did when I was pregnant, to be honest.”
Jenna yawned. She flicked her eyes toward me.
“Although I am tired,” she said.
“I bet he’ll sleep better with a full belly,” I said.
“God, I hope so.”
By the time morning came, we were ready to go. I hadn’t slept well. I was anxious and worried that I was making a mistake.
Clover paced nervously at our feet. It was like
she knew what was happening and she wasn’t thrilled about it.
Allie and I carried the two large backpacks and Jenna carried Cal in the sling we’d made for her. He looked so peaceful. It was too bad the rest of us couldn’t feel the same way.
Jenna groaned when she was hit by the first raindrop. She turned and started back toward the house. Clover followed her.
“I quit,” she said throwing a hand into the air.
“Jenna!” I said.
She turned back—her shoulders slumped. “If we don’t find anything in a few days, we’re coming back here, right?”
“Sure,” I said. “But that won’t make any sense since there isn’t anything left to eat here.”
“That’s fine. I just don’t want to die in the mud and rain,” Jenna said.
We headed south like Robby had suggested. Our long break was over and it was time to get back to the plan.
Maybe things would get warmer as we traveled further south. Maybe the rain would stop. Of course, I didn’t think it would.
“I hate this,” Allie muttered.
“I know,” Jenna said. “The rain is awful.”
“That’s not what I mean, but I don’t like being wet either,” Allie said.
I glanced at Allie over my shoulder. “What did you mean?”
“I hate being out in the open like this,” Allie said her eyes darting in every direction. “It just feels like they’re watching us.”
“We’ll see them,” I said. There wasn’t much around us other than a few dead trees and random shrubs. Everything was dying or already dead.
We spent most of the day walking. For the first several miles, we traveled quickly, stopping only to snack and for Jenna to feed Cal. The last few miles didn’t go as well as they had at the start of our day.
None of us were used to walking so much. Eventually, a house came into view.
“We can stop there for the night,” I said.
“What makes you think it’s available?” Jenna asked.
I pressed my lips together and pulled the empty gun out of the back of my waistband. “I guess we’ll find out.”
“What do you plan to do with an empty gun?” Jenna asked snickering.
“No one else knows it’s empty,” I said keeping my eyes forward.
The Reset Series | Book 6 | Striking Page 10
