Chapter 20
TWENTY
Jack
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
I ran faster, timing each step to the words. I was so stupid, and now they were going to—
I cut the thought off. Nothing was going to happen to them. They were fine. I would see to it. I just needed to stay focused and get there. Nothing in my life mattered more.
The smoke that greeted me as I drove to the farm had me ready to jump out of my skin.
I ditched the truck, knowing it was a big target, and ran towards the house.
Smoke billowed, and I worried the house was on fire. I glanced around and saw the smokehouse engulfed in flames. It was a relief, because the house still stood, its roof prominent in the early morning light.
I continued to take in the farm as I ran, noting the fences that Asia tended like her life depended on it had been cut. The outbuilding with the old tools that Elliot tinkered with was engulfed. The bunkhouse stood intact, as did Levi’s barn.
I kept running. Spotted five men wrangling a cow into a trailer.
I wanted to kill them.
I would kill them.
But I needed to find her.
I ran towards the house. Saw a silhouette on the ground across from another. I dismissed the first one—a man. The other was a woman. Not Asia. I was nauseated with relief. I crouched down, looked into Caitlin’s sightless eyes.
Seeing her gave me a clarity that nothing else would have.
The house could burn. The storehouse could burn. The entire fucking world could burn. Asia had to be okay.
I ran. Slashed at a figure that shambled towards me. I didn’t know if it was a zombie or a person and didn’t care. It dropped to the ground, and I didn’t give it a second look.
Instead, I kept running. Searching. I skidded to a stop when I rounded the house and saw Asia. A man—work coveralls, a heavy flannel jacket—lunged at her. She thrust upward, and her knife entered his shoulder. He screeched, then rushed towards her.
He didn’t make it.
I grabbed him, twisting his neck. The crunch and mush of bone wasn’t satisfying in the least. I paused just long enough to look at Asia. Stared at her. She nodded faintly and ran toward the house. I didn’t want her to go, but I forced myself to look away at my next target.
The men still hadn’t gotten the cow into the trailer, and they never would.
I slashed the first one, his scream sending an orgasmic surge through me.
I stabbed the other in the back, twisting, his spinal column severed for the thirteen seconds that he had left to live.
Maybe it was more like eight, my knife making quick work of his jugular.
I was vaguely disgusted that his blood was on this land, but like Asia said, it would feed the crops.
One of the others was smart enough to run away, but the one who ran behind him wasn’t so lucky. I stabbed him, the squish of his organs being pulverized grounding me.
I watched the retreating taillights. Everything in me told me to run after them. I didn’t. Instead, I jogged towards the house.