Chapter 33
Pain in the Ass
Theo
“How has no one started this shit yet?” I grumble at Anthony for the tenth time in less than twenty minutes as we stop outside yet another caravan with lights on inside.
The other man sighs as he bangs on another caravan door. “I asked Elsa about it, but she just brushed me off and said the walls would keep us safe, so no need to panic people with the evac protocol.” He knocks again, louder this time.
Finally, the door to the caravan opens, revealing a middle-aged man with a woman standing behind him. “What do you want?” the man demands, scowling at both of us.
The scent of food wafts through the door, telling me that these poor people were probably eating a late lunch before we interrupted them.
Not everyone eats in the communal dining room, although if you eat at home, you need to procure the food yourself.
There’s a sliver of guilt in my stomach at the knowledge that their food is going to get cold, but I brush it aside.
At least if they’re alive, they can complain about it.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, but you two and anyone else in your home needs to leave and go to your evac post,” I say, imbuing as much authority as I can into my voice.
The man sputters and shakes his head. However, before he can refuse, the woman behind him puts her hand on his arm, stopping him. She murmurs something in his ear before turning her attention to us.
“What’s going on?” she asks while still stroking the man’s arm.
“Gang members are outside the gate and while there’s very little chance of them being able to get in, we feel it’s best to have everyone prepared to evacuate, just in case,” I tell her, wanting to give them enough to details to get them moving but not too much that they panic.
She gasps, her face turning white, and even the man looks a little green. “We’ll go,” she says before grabbing the man’s arm and dragging him out of the caravan, only pausing to shut the door behind them.
“Well, that went better than the last lot,” Anthony says once they’ve gone.
I grimace at the reminder. A group of women had decided that they didn’t want to leave, saying they’d rather take their chances and stay warm rather than traipse around in the freezing cold.
I had to be pretty harsh with them, basically telling them if the Scourge get in, they’ll likely be kidnapped and taken for men to do unspeakable things to them.
That had finally got them moving.
“Come on, there’s at least another row we need to check,” I say as we move on from the caravan to the next one.
Luckily, this row is mostly empty with only two of the ten caravans having anyone inside. Even better, the people are quick to follow orders, and once the last person has dashed off to their evac station, I turn to Anthony.
“I’m going to go to the gate and make sure Ollie hasn’t started any more fires,” I tell him, causing the other man to laugh.
“Come find me if she does. I know she’ll want some pyromaniac company.” He winks and turns to go oversee the people at their evac posts.
However, before he can take a step, a scream cuts through the air.
“What the fuck?” I say as we both turn toward where the sound came from.
“Is that…?”
More screams rend the air, followed by maniacal laughter that has the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. All of them are toward the evac posts. My stomach sinks with dread and fear as understanding dawns.
And then several gunshots ring out.
“Holy shit. They’re inside,” Anthony breathes in horror.
How the fuck did they get past the walls?
I shake myself and spring into action. “You go to the gate and warn Rhys and the others.” I shove him toward the gate.
In an all-out sprint, Anthony is much faster than I am and the better choice for alerting Rhys.
Although with how loud those screams are, he probably already knows that something is happening.
He stumbles and turns to me in shock. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to make their jobs ten times harder,” I tell him before shoving him again. “Now go!”
He hesitates before nodding and racing off.
I wait for a moment, just to make sure he does as I say before running towards the screams. Caravans and trees blur by me as I push myself to go as fast as I can, my heart thumping like a drum against my chest. Adrenaline surges through my system, but the usual euphoria that follows is absent.
No, I’m too busy feeling sick with dread and terror at our home being invaded. Again.
Another gunshot cracks in the distance, spurring me on. It’s followed by masculine laughter and disgusting taunts as a woman shrieks.
“Do you think she’d scream like that if I fucked her into the dirt?” a man says with a laugh.
“You want to find out? We have time,” another says. “I can hold her while you do.”
“Sure. Grab her arms.”
Oh, no you fucking don’t.
I round the corner of a caravan just in time to see two men shoving a crying woman to the ground.
They’re both big men, easily outweighing her, although that doesn’t stop her from fighting back, clawing and biting at them wherever she can.
She manages to slice her nails down the arm of one man, causing him to jump back and curse.
“You fucking bitch.” He pulls his arm back, intending to slap her.
I don’t hesitate.
My gun is in my hand and aimed at him before I can blink.
In the next breath, he’s collapsed to the ground, a bullet in his head.
The other man whirls around at the sound of the gunshot, and his eyes widen.
He fumbles with his own gun—a hunting rifle—but I don’t give him a chance.
The bullet rips through his throat, and he drops to the ground, gasping and gurgling on his own blood.
A sick sense of satisfaction thrums through me at the sight of his suffering, but I shove it aside to cautiously approach the woman. “Are you injured anywhere?” I ask, not bothering to ask if she’s alright because it’s clear she’s not.
No one would be after that.
“Not injured,” she says, her voice wobbling slightly. Panic still lingers in her eyes, but it appears she at least knows who I am because she doesn’t flinch when I offer her a hand. She takes it and I help her up, releasing her hand once she’s upright and doesn’t look like she’s about to keel over.
But now I have no idea what to do with her.
She can’t stay with me. I’m about to run headfirst into danger, but where can she go? The evac posts are compromised—that much is clear—but where else is safe in Haven? Her home, maybe? But that could leave her isolated…
“Go to the main building and hide. If you find anyone else along the way, tell them to go there.” It’s the safest place I can think of right now.
She nods and scrambles off without protest.
Praying that I’ve made the right choice, I turn and continue my journey towards the laughter and cries. More people are running for their lives, eyes wide with fear as they weave through the maze of caravans. They stumble to a stop when they see me, relief flooding their faces.
“Oh, thank God,” one of them sobs—an older woman—as she hurries over and clings to me like I’m the only thing keeping her grounded. “They came out of nowhere and just started waving weapons around while rounding people up.”
I rub her back in a soothing motion as I look at the other man and woman who are with her. “Do you know how many of them there are?”
“At least a dozen, if not more,” the man says with a grimace. “We arrived at our evac post late, saw what was going on and ran as soon as the screams started.”
A dozen? Shit. That’s a lot more enemies than I was hoping. I extract myself from the crying woman’s arms. “You three need to head to the main building. Tell anyone you find on the way to go there, and if you see any security members, tell them what you told me.”
I gently push the woman towards her companions, and they bundle her up in their arms.
“Be safe,” the other woman says.
I just nod and hurry away from them without a backward glance. Everything in me is screaming to get to the evac posts as soon as possible, to save as many lives as I can.
Halfway there, the screams die down and silence descends upon the settlement. My stomach clenches and roils with nausea because that’s not a good sign. It either means everyone is dead, or the Scourge have subdued everyone.
I push myself harder, running as fast as I can, even as my lungs scream for air and my legs burn. However, the true scale of how fucked we are doesn’t hit me until I round the corner of the last caravan and finally see what’s going on.
Nearly half of Haven huddle together, their backs against the wall as they watch the Scourge gang members in front of them.
Four bodies lie on the ground—both Scourge and Haven members—blood pooling around them as they stare up at the sky with unseeing eyes.
Several other people are curled up on the ground next to them, shaking and crying as they try to stem the bleeding from their wounds.
The stench of gunpowder, blood and terror is thick in the air.
Kneeling in front of the Scourge are Rachel and Tobias. They’re both looking up at the gang members with pure hatred in their eyes, although thankfully they appear unharmed. Rhys’s sister, Harriet, and her husband are behind them, pinned to the wall by two other Scourge bastards holding knives.
The Scourge who seems to be in charge, pushes the barrel of his shotgun into Tobias’s face. “I could blow your head clean off your shoulders, you fucking idiot,” he sneers. “You sure you want to keep running your mouth?”
Tobias says nothing. He just glares up at him with a defiant tilt of his chin, looking so much like his sister.
I grimace at the sight. Ollie will be devastated if Rachel or Tobias get hurt during this, but there’s no way I can take on over a dozen armed gang members by myself. I need to buy time until the cavalry arrives. Which means I need to channel my inner princess and do something stupid and reckless.