Chapter 20
Just Friends
Rhys
We made it.
Somehow, we evaded the Scourge, the Lodge assholes and the infected and travelled all the way to Haven with most of our group. It’s something I dreaded wouldn’t be possible, but here we are.
I stand in the middle of Haven, watching everyone hug and greet one another with tears of joy in their eyes. It’s beautiful and I should be happy, relieved.
But I’m not.
There’s a churning in my gut and a tightness in my chest that tells me this isn’t over. That getting to Haven in one piece was only half the battle.
“Rhys!” a familiar feminine voice calls out, followed by heavy footfalls.
I turn just in time to catch my younger sister, Harriet, as she barrels into me with a happy squeal. Matt, her husband, strides after her, a soft, indulgent smile on his face as he watches her cling to me like a monkey.
“You’re back! You’re finally back!” she babbles, crushing me against her before she drops back to the ground and slams her fist into my shoulder.
My still-healing shoulder.
“Motherfucker!” I yelp, jerking away from her. “What the hell was that for?”
“You’ve been gone for nearly a month, Rhys! I thought you were dead.” She ends on a sob as tears fill her eyes. “We all did. You said nothing, left in the car in the middle of the night, and none of us heard anything from you.”
Ah, shit.
“I’m sorry, Ri,” I say as I awkwardly wrap my arms around her and pat her back. “I didn’t mean to worry you. We just wanted to chase after the Scourge before they got too much distance between us.” Not that it mattered since the car broke down the next day, but she doesn’t need to know that.
Harriet sniffles as she clings to me, like I might disappear if she lets go. “You’re still an asshole.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Matt comes up and pats my shoulder. “Good to know you’re all okay, man.”
I nod at him as Harriet loosens her hold to look up at me with a tear-stained face. “Don’t do that again,” she says sternly.
I grimace. “You know I can’t promise shit like that.”
She huffs and steps away from me with a scowl. “Don’t I know it. Prick.”
Movement over Harriet’s shoulder catches my attention.
I tense as the leaders of Haven—Charles, Adam, Katherine, and Elsa—all stride out of the main building.
It used to be the check-in and main event building back when Haven was a holiday site.
Now it serves as a town hall of sorts, where meetings and other important admin things happen.
The four of them pause, eyes widening when they catch sight of just how many people there are. I guess they weren’t expecting me to come back with nearly thirty people, but it’s not like I could leave them there. Plus, many of them wouldn’t have survived by themselves.
Matt sees them and grimaces. “Come on, Ri, before Elsa catches sight of you.”
My eyebrows dart upwards. What has Harriet done now?
He must see the question on my face because Matt shakes his head and mouths later as he grabs his wife’s hand and drags her towards their caravan. I shake my head and watch them go. Some things never change.
Once they’re out of sight, I stride over to where the four leaders stand, the knot in my stomach tightening as I ready to defend my decision. “Councillors,” I say, inclining my head in respect.
Katherine waves me off. “Don’t start with that formal shit, Rhys,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “You know as well as I do that we’re nothing more than glorified desk jockeys.”
Adam snorts. “Ain’t that the truth. You’d think in the apocalypse that paperwork would be a distant memory, but apparently not.
” He’s the newest elected member of the leadership and a few years younger than the other three.
“If I’d known I’d be sitting at a desk all day, filling out forms and reading reports, I’d never have applied for election. ”
“We warned you,” Elsa says with a smile as she bumps her shoulder into his.
Katherine grins in agreement.
The only one not smiling and joking around is Charles. He’s the oldest of the four and one of the first to be elected leader. He’s staring at the large group of people, his grey brows pulled down into a frown.
“How did you find so many people?” he asks, turning his frown to me.
“They were Scourge captives.”
He makes a noise of disapproval. “And you brought all of them here? When we’re already full of people?”
Here we go. While I understand where he’s coming from—Haven is almost to capacity with the food and water we have—he’s also kind of a dick.
Even more than I am. “Well, I couldn’t exactly leave them there.
A lot of them lack the skills needed to survive outside with the infected, and some were too injured.
Would you rather I had left them to die? ” I arch an eyebrow at him.
“Of course not!” he sputters, looking at me in horror. “But wasn’t there any other settlements along the way that could have taken them?”
“You mean the Lodge?” There’s a bitter edge to my voice.
He nods.
“I would have, if they hadn’t allied with the Scourge and attacked us.”
All four pairs of eyes widen. The blood drains from Elsa's and Katherine’s faces while Adam looks like he’s about to be sick. Charles looks less disturbed and more annoyed by the revelation.
“What?” Adam says, shaking his head. He’s the most shocked out of the four of them, which makes sense considering he originally came from there. “Mark wouldn’t do that. He hates the Scourge just as much as the rest of us.”
“Well, he did. We have confirmation from one of his men that not only did he ally with the Scourge, but he used me and the guys as pawns to secure a better position for himself.” Anger sparks in my chest at what that bastard did.
Charles’s face pinches like he just bit into a sour lemon. “I’m assuming that means we’re no longer allies, then.”
No shit unless you want to deal with potential rapists and murderers. I bite my tongue and simply nod. “We should update our defences since some members of the Lodge have been here and could feed the Scourge vital information.”
Katherine nod vigorously. “Excellent idea,” she says, clapping her hands together.
Adam and Elsa make noises of agreement.
Charles just sighs. “Are you sure that’s necessary?”
“Completely.” After the brutal attack the Scourge launched at us last month that set this whole journey in motion, I’m not fucking around with people’s safety. Especially with Ollie being here now. While I might have told her I wanted to be friends, I’d be blind not to see the way she looks at me.
Or the way I look at her.
I’m not stupid or na?ve enough to think that we’ll always stay as friends. My attraction to her is only growing—along with my feelings—so the idea of her being in danger makes me sick to my stomach.
“I’ll set up a meeting for tomorrow,” Adam says before turning on his heel and marching away, still looking nauseous.
Elsa moves up to me and pats my shoulder. “Thank you for bringing these people home safely.”
Katherine echoes the sentiment before the two of them walk back into the main building. Charles lingers, a frown on his weathered face as his clear blue eyes flick to the new residents of Haven with suspicion and doubt.
“I won’t pretend that I’m happy you brought all these people here,” he says as he snaps his attention back to me. “But I’m relieved that you returned yourselves and the women who were taken unscathed. Don’t make a habit of picking up more strays.” He turns and strides away.
While it’s not the glowing warmth and relief Elsa and Katherine had, it’s the best I’m going to get from him. The guy is more uptight and stoic than any military officer I’ve ever met; including myself.
“I see Charles still has that rod firmly inserted into his asshole,” Theo says drily from my right.
Alex snorts as he sidles up on my other side. “I thought the guy was going to burst a blood vessel when he saw all the newcomers out here.”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “At least he seems on board with beefing up our security here.” Eventually. I glance around, frowning when I don’t see the familiar chestnut hair. “Where’s Ollie?”
A shit-eating grin spreads across Theo’s lips. “Are you also in denial?”
I roll my eyes. This must have been what Ollie was complaining about earlier when she said people were ganging up on her. “No, but I also need to earn back the trust I lost when I was a massive prick to her.”
Theo’s eyebrows shoot upward, but Alex nods like he’s been expecting that answer.
“Good,” he says as he places a large hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “That’s the right thing to do.”
Theo huffs. “Fine. But don’t take too long. Fuck knows this relationship should have been solidified over a week ago.”
“None of this has answered my question,” I say, ignoring him. He’s just being his usual drama queen self. “Where’s Ollie?”
“Why do you want to know?” Theo asks, still pouting.
“Because I figured she’s moving in with us considering she’s fucking the two of you and, I don’t know about you, but I’m dying for a hot shower and food that doesn’t come from a tiny tin or needs to be rehydrated.”
“Oh.”
Alex shakes his head. “Last I saw her, she was talking with her brother off to the side.” He glances over his shoulder and frowns. “Although I only see him and I think that’s his wife.”
“Come on. Let’s go find her so we can show her where she’ll be living.” And so I can grab an actual shower. Just the thought of hot water cascading down my shoulders and back is enough to have me hurrying as I stride off in search of her.
It doesn’t take long for us to locate her.
She’s standing next to a massive man who appears to be in his late fifties to early sixties, with greying hair and a tanned, weathered face.
He has his hand on her shoulder, gazing down at her with a mixture of awe, relief, and joy as he talks to her.
Harlow is still racing around her, kicking up mud and water as she zooms around like a bat out of hell.