Chapter 3
Pure Dumb Luck
Theo
After several attempts, we’re finally able to find a suitable place to spend the night; an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Birmingham city centre.
There are a few zombies that need clearing out, but between me, Alex, Rhys, Ollie, her brother, and a few others that seem competent, it doesn’t take long.
Thank God because I am fucking tired. Exhaustion clings to my limbs, making them feel like lead weights as I drag myself over to where I dumped my bag to find my medical bag. As much as I want to lie out my sleeping bag and pass out, Rhys and Ollie need looking at.
Rhys is the first person I go to. The bastard has been in a foul mood all day—not that I blame him—so I figure I’ll get his medical treatment out of the way and spend the rest of the evening with Ollie.
I find him helping a small group sort through the bags of supplies they took from the camp.
Various piles of blankets, clothes, tins of food and other items are strewn across the concrete between them.
Every slight movement causes him to stiffen and wince as more blood soaks through the fabric of his shirt.
But he ignores it, continuing to remove supplies from the bags and put them in their designated pile.
I stifle a sigh. The guy has definitely ripped out a couple of stitches. It’s a good thing I picked up extra for this mission, otherwise we’d be fucked.
I stride over to him and tap his uninjured shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you stitched back up again.”
His amber gaze flicks up to me, and he shakes his head before returning his attention back to the supplies. “Later. I want to dole these supplies out first.”
Stubborn idiot. I glance around until my eyes land on Alex. He’s helping some people pitch tents on the other side of the warehouse. “Alex,” I call.
He whips his head towards me, a frown on his lips. I motion to Rhys with a grimace, causing the big guy’s lips to twitch. He turns and says something to one of the people he’s helping before striding over.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“Rhys is being an idiot, so could you help these people sort out these supplies and give them out while I sort his shoulder out?”
“Consider it done.” He crouches down next to Rhys and shoves his shoulder. “Go get looked at. I’ll sort this shit out.”
“Come on,” I say, tapping Rhys’s head. “You have no excuse now.”
He grumbles something under his breath and sighs as he stands. “Lead the way.”
I turn and lead him to the far side of the warehouse, away from the rest of the group. Mostly so he doesn’t get roped into helping anyone else.
Along the way, we pass Ollie. She’s helping her brother and a woman cook the food; the three of them huddled around a couple of camping stoves with steaming pots.
Harlow lies between Ollie and her brother, her eyes intent on the pots as she licks her snout.
In the low light, I can still see the blood smeared across Ollie’s cheek and neck, a stark reminder of just how lucky we were during the fight last night.
My eyes narrow. “Ollie, you’re with us,” I call out as we pass.
Her head snaps up, and she frowns at us. “Why?”
“I need to look at your cheek.” I nod my head toward it.
“And Alex said something about filling us in about what happened at the gate,” Rhys says. “Since he’s busy, that falls to you.” He gives her a hard, knowing look.
Her eyes widen and she grimaces at the reminder of the small conversation we had after her reunion with her brother. Tobias and the woman are also watching us, a small grin on the woman’s face while Ollie’s brother is frowning as he glances between us.
“Shit,” Ollie sighs and clambers to her feet. Harlow glances at her owner, huffs, and turns her attention back to the pots and potential food. “I’ll be right back,” she tells them before heading over to me and Rhys.
“I’ve changed my mind,” the woman says to Tobias. “My money is on the grumpy guy.”
Tobias doesn’t answer. He just shakes his head, and the two of them go back to watching the pots. Ollie rolls her eyes at the woman’s words but also doesn’t comment as Rhys and I share confused looks.
“Grumpy guy?” Rhys asks.
“You don’t want to know,” Ollie grumbles as the three of us stride away to the far side of the warehouse.
While most of the warehouse floor is empty, over here there are various bits of steel and pieces of machines I have no way of identifying. They’re perfect for us though, since they’re just high enough for Ollie and Rhys to sit on so I can look at their wounds without bending over too much.
“I don’t know, it sounds kind of interesting since they were talking about Rhys,” I say as I place my medical bag on a pile of rusted steel and start digging for supplies. “And bets are always more fun when shared.”
“You think everything is better when shared,” Ollie says with a snort.
A grin stretches across my lips. “You want a demonstration?” I waggle my eyebrows, letting her know that I’m not being completely serious. Although I definitely wouldn’t say no to making her come again. After I’ve looked at that cheek.
She huffs out a laugh and shakes her head.
“I swear you can’t go five minutes without thinking about your dick,” Rhys complains with a scowl as he shoves off his jacket and pulls off his T-shirt, exposing the bloodied bandage on his shoulder.
Damn, it looks worse than I thought. I should have checked him as soon as we were clear of the Scourge camp instead of waiting until now.
However, while my eyes are firmly on Rhys’s injured shoulder, Ollie’s eyes are roaming the man’s chest and stomach like he’s a work of art.
Or a piece of juicy steak, and she’s starving.
There’s a slight flush to her cheeks and her lips are parted, revealing a pink tongue that darts out to wet her lips.
I bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing. The two of them are inevitable, and while I’d love to give them a hard shove at one another and tell them to kiss, I understand that this is something they need to work out between them. Without my interference. At least for now.
But I make no promises if they continue to be stubborn idiots.
I turn my attention back to Rhys’s shoulder. “Take the bandage off,” I tell him as I set about cleaning and sanitising my hands. By the time I’m ready, the bandage is a bloody pile on the floor and Rhys’s shoulder looks like mince meat.
Ollie sucks in a sharp breath at the sight. “Jesus, Rhys. You look like you got into a fight with a blender and lost.”
She’s not wrong.
“Grab a canteen and pour the water over his shoulder so I can see what I’m working with,” I tell her as I grab my suture kit.
She does as she’s told, pouring clean water over the wounds and giving me a better insight into how many stitches Rhys ripped out. With the blood gone, it’s not as bad as I first thought, with most of the blood coming from one of the bigger holes.
“Alright, sit still. This is going to suck.” I prepare my needle and thread before closing the distance to stitch him up.
He grunts as his face contorts with pain, but he otherwise doesn’t react. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to stitch him up like this, and I imagine it won’t be the last.
I step back once I’m done to check my work before nodding. Satisfied, I grab a clean bandage and wrap him up again. “Don’t rip these out. I only have so much suture left.”
“I’ll keep that in mind the next time someone shoots at me with a shotgun,” he says before sliding off the machinery and motioning for Ollie to take his place.
She does, and after I rewash my hands, I check her cheek. The wound has already stopped bleeding and appears shallow. Nothing to worry about.
“How did you get this?” I ask her as I place butterfly stitches across the cleaned wound to support keeping it closed.
“From a tree,” she says, her eyes darting between me and Rhys.
Rhys’s brow furrows. “How? Did you run into it?”
She shifts. “Not exactly.”
Not exactly? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
“Princess…” There’s an edge to Rhys’s voice.
Ollie grimaces. “I may or may not have… encouraged the guards at the gate to shoot at me to lure a horde towards them.”
Rhys and I stare at her with mouths open in shocked silence.
Did she just…?
“You can’t be serious.” Rhys rakes a hand through his hair as he turns and paces in front of various machine parts. “You goaded a bunch of gang members to shoot at you, and Alex was okay with that?” He stops, staring at Ollie with the same incredulous disbelief that I feel.
“Well, I wouldn’t say he was okay with it. More like there weren’t any other options, and I didn’t really give him much of a choice.”
“Fucking hell,” I mutter with a shake of my head. I know Ollie can be reckless, but running in front of men so they’ll shoot you is beyond reckless. It’s borderline suicidal.
“But it all worked out and I’m fine,” she rushes out as Rhys pins her with a murderous look.
“You’re only fine because of pure dumb luck, Ollie,” he snaps, his amber eyes flashing.
“What you did was incredibly stupid and dangerous. If you were mine, princess, I’d make sure you wouldn’t be able to sit for a week,” he says in a low, dangerous growl that has Ollie’s eyes widening and her breath catching in her throat.
“But you’re not, so I’m going to make this very clear; do anything stupid like that again, and my threat of tying you to Bean will become your reality. ”
He gives her a hard look before turning on his heel and storming away.
Ollie blows out a shaky breath as his footsteps fade. “Goddamn, is he intense.”
I turn my attention back to her. “He is, and for good reason.” I close the distance between us and frown down at her.
“He’s also right. What you did was incredibly dangerous, even more than when you saved our lives at the bridge.
” Without conscious thought, I reach out and trace my thumb across her cheek, just below her cut.
“It could have ended far worse than a small cut on your cheek.”