Reign of Hellfire (Hellfire Society #2)
1. Ali
one
Ali
“ R un!” Riot’s words barely register as he shoves me forward, my legs moving automatically as the first explosion goes off, only feet away from where we just were. We all move as one, Cash and Arsen taking the lead as Riot stays with me. Glass, wood, and dirt fly all around us as building after building explodes. Everything around us is going up in flames as my ears ring, and the sudden heat threatens to cook me alive. My senses are going haywire with the scent of smoke, causing my eyes to burn and water, but I can see the end of this old, run-down town a block away as our boots pound the dirt.
We’re almost there.
I can almost smell the fresher air just beyond when suddenly one of the buildings in front of our group explodes next. Before I get a chance to react, Riot throws me to the ground, ash and debris covering us in an instant. I groan out in pain from the impact but push the pain aside as Riot rolls off. Glancing up, I see a trail of flames splitting Cash and Arsen from us.
Cash yells something like, “Split up. We will meet you on the other side.” But I can’t be sure, as the roar of the flames has the ringing in my ears intensifying. Thick black smoke begins to drift our way, cutting off our view of the others. Panic floods my system.
What if something happens to them? What if something happens to us? Fuck, this was worse than we thought it would be. Their fathers are really making sure my guys are dead after this.
Everything around me is a haze as I feel Riot grabbing my hand and tugging me to my feet. “Fuck.” Cough. “Ali, baby. We need to move now.” He curses, dragging me in the opposite direction of where we last saw the guys. My own lungs begin to protest, my throat burning as I accidentally inhale the smoke surrounding us. I try to cover my mouth and nose the best I can with my free hand, but it’s no use. The damage is done. “Come on, baby, you can do it.” Gripping Riot’s hand tighter, I send up a prayer to any and all Gods who might be listening to get us out of here alive. “Almost there.” Riot’s words reassure me, but my worry for the other two guys has me glancing back, hoping I can catch a glance of them to make sure they’re alright at least. This was the wrong move.
My boot catches on debris and I go flying forward, my hand slipping free of Riot’s. I land hard, the breath whooshing out of me as I take another inhale of black air. The dense smoke curling and twisting before settling in my lungs, making me feel like I’m burning alive. I’m practically coughing up a lung as Riot reaches down to grab me again. His hand barely grips mine when the two buildings I had fallen between decide it’s a perfect time to explode as well.
This impact is deafening as a scream escapes my lips. Riot, who was still standing, gets thrown back a few feet from me, and true terror sets in. Oh God. The flames have completely engulfed the area and have singed the hairs on my body, but my body won’t move. I feel like I’m being cooked alive, but I’m frozen. My watery eyes are trained on Riot’s unmoving form, the worst possible scenarios running through my head. He’s dead. I just found my kind of crazy, and he's being taken from me, leaving me. Why does this universe hate me so much? But then a deep, painful groan barely audible to my ringing ears comes from Riot, and then I’m moving. Crawling a few feet to keep low and away from the dense smoke billowing up into the early morning sky, I move as quickly as I can. “Riot!” I scream. At least I think I scream. My ears are still ringing, making hearing clearly almost impossible right now; add in the roaring of the flames, and I’m surprised I heard Riot groan at all. At least I think I did.
When I get to a spot where the smoke hasn’t consumed too much, I jump up, my body protesting in pain, and run to the crazy man I didn’t know I needed in my life. “Riot!” Leaning above him, I try to take in the damage, but there’s just so much. He has a few burn marks littering his exposed skin and scrapes that are bleeding but don’t look life threatening. No, I’m more worried about the possible internal damage he might have. “Wake up, asshole. I need you to get up,” I tell him, but his eyes flutter a few seconds before his head slumps to the side. Fuck, this isn’t good . Another whoosh of heat reminds me we are too close to roasting ourselves alive, and I know I need to move fast. Standing, I grab his arms and place them above his head. Looking around, I spot a large rock formation not too far from us. It’s still somewhat close to the town but will give us some type of protection. “You owe me so many orgasms for this,” I say to an unconscious Riot before I start to drag the heavy asshole. My own muscles burn and ache, but I don’t stop. What’s that saying? No pain, no gain.
“We need to have a talk about your diet when we make it out of here. This would be a lot easier if you didn’t weigh a ton, asshole,” I say, even though he hasn’t given me any indication he’s awake yet. I finally make it to the large rocks, and just in time because my body gives out, and I drop to the dirt ground, breathing like I smoke ten packs a day and just ran a marathon. With how much smoke I’ve inhaled, I wouldn’t be surprised if my lungs were black at the moment. With what little strength I have left, I take off my backpack and scoot over enough to place Riot’s head in my lap. Riot must have lost his pack at some point because I don’t see it. Rummaging through my pack, I grab a rag and the water bottle I have. I gulp down a few drinks, the water immediately soothing my burning throat before dampening the rag a little. Slowly I start to wipe away the dirt and blood I can see covering Riot to get a better idea of his injuries.
Once I get a better look, Riot doesn’t seem too injured, but there’s no telling what the blast did to his insides or if he hit his head hard enough to cause a brain bleed. I’m hoping he is still passed out due to something small, like shock or a concussion, but only time will time, and right now we have lots of time. Resting my head against the rock I’m leaning against, I close my eyes for a moment.
“You guys can’t leave me yet. I just found you. If we don’t all make it out alive, I swear I’ll find you in hell and kill you all again myself.”
I t’s been what feels like hours when the roaring flames behind us finally die down. The heat of the day is blistering against my skin as the sun begins to set, giving me a much needed break from its blazing UV rays. Riot has yet to wake up, and my worry that something serious could be wrong is ever present. I haven’t heard from the other two, which only adds to my concern. What if something happened to them? No, I can’t think like that. I already have Riot to worry about.
As the minutes tick by, concern reaches an all-time high. I need to find supplies. Something to tend to Riot’s wounds and more water for the both of us. The only thing is, I have no idea when “reinforcements” will be coming through to make sure we all died in the explosions. Scooting until I can set Riot’s head on my pack, I slowly stand, stretching my muscles from lack of movement. Honestly, the last few days have been painful, and I could really use a nice, long, steamy hot bubble bath. Moving to the edge of the large rock we are hiding behind, I peek my head over. I thought the town was basically a pile of rubble before, but now most of the town has completely dissolved into piles of embers and ash, except for a few small buildings still half standing on the far side of town. Those will be my best bet at finding anything helpful right now.
Glancing down at Riot, I weigh my options. Wait here and hope this all ends sooner rather than later. Also hope that Riot’s injuries aren’t as bad as I think and that the others are equally as safe. Or take my chances in the large fire pit, hopefully find supplies, and of course not die in the process. Both options kind of suck right now, but I have to take my chances. If for nothing else, but to maybe find the guys who can help with Riot. Without another thought, I grab the small knife I stashed in my boot this morning and move away from our hiding spot. Staying low, I move quickly and quietly, not wanting to jinx myself in any way. There’s not much coverage, but I’m small enough to hide behind what is still left standing as I move to the less destroyed area.
After a few minutes, I make it to the first semi-standing house and peek inside. When I see that it’s all clear, I creep inside. It’s a small one-bedroom house that has seen better days. Quickly I search through the few cupboards and luck out by finding two water bottles. But then I realized I left my pack as a headrest for Riot. Rookie move, Ali. Nonetheless, I move to the small bathroom and search it next, finding a few Band-Aids and some type of first aid cream. Jackpot. It’s not a lot, but I can make do for now.
Knowing I don’t have much time, I move to the next building. This one is much like the last one, but I find a single granola bar and, surprisingly enough, a small tube of burn cream. Deciding to play my luck one more time, I move on to another building. Unfortunately, my luck ran out because right as I’m about to enter the last place, the sound of engines can be heard. I freeze, glancing around, trying to pinpoint which direction the vehicles are coming from before ducking down and into the place. Glancing around, I try to spot anything I can use as a weapon or even a hiding spot, but the entire place is bare. Fuck. Fighting it is.
It doesn’t take long before the pounding of feet can be heard just outside. So, I prepare myself, because if I’m dying today, I’m bringing some of these fuckers with me. With my knife at the ready and the footsteps getting closer, I let out a war cry that Athena, goddess of war, would be proud of.
And then I’m charging.