7. A Fucking Disney Princess
A Fucking Disney Princess
Rhys
I’d say this shit journey couldn’t get any worse, but I’m sure the universe would be delighted to fuck me over again.
We should already be there, but everything just had to go wrong. First, we had to dodge two different hordes of infected, forcing us to add another day to our journey. And then our electric vehicle died. So now we’re on foot and three days behind schedule.
I hate it.
Not the walking part, but that I’m having to put in so much effort to save a woman who doesn’t give a shit about me.
She didn’t when I found her in bed with her best fucking friend.
Or when she called me Frankenstein because of the scars I got from an IED blast during my last deployment.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that she didn’t know that Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster.
Jerri’s never been the sharpest tool in the shed.
But, as much as I detest her, she and the other people taken don’t deserve the fate in store for them.
And since Theo, Alex, and I are the best of the best in our community, we couldn’t sit by and allow innocent people to suffer when we can save them.
I just wish I didn’t have to walk nearly a hundred miles to go save my ex’s ass and then another hundred and fifty to get said ass back home.
All because our fucking car decided it no longer wanted to live.
Or maybe it just didn’t want to meet Jerri.
I can relate.
I must be grumbling to myself because Theo shoots me a look. “You’re in fine form today,” he says, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
I scowl at him. “You’re not the one who’s going to have to walk at least ten days with an ex-wife.”
He barks out a laugh. “True. I still don’t know what you saw in that harpy.”
“Fuck if I know.” Maybe at one point she was sweet and caring, but that’s a very distant memory.
“Hey, maybe we’ll be lucky and that gang will have taken care of her for us.”
“Theo, you can’t say that, you bloody asshole,” Alex snaps from somewhere behind me. “She may be a bitch, but she doesn’t deserve that.”
Theo huffs. “Fine. Maybe they’ll mark up her face a little.”
“Theo, stop it.”
“But she fucking deserves it and you know it!”
I shake my head as my two best friends continue to argue with one another.
We’ve known each other since we were ten years old and it’s a friendship that’s turned into a brotherhood.
When shit hit the fan and the dead started rising, the first thing we did was make sure that the three of us were safe before we searched for survivors and a place to live.
And then we came across Haven. What a Godsend that place is and has been for nearly a hundred people, including my ex-wife. Ugh.
I shake thoughts of the bitch from my mind and focus on the situation at hand.
It’s already sunset and we don’t have a safe place to hunker down for the night.
Sure, we could camp out in the woods we’re traipsing through, but that means a night of barely any sleep and constantly being on guard.
Those infected fuckers don’t mess around once night falls.
Thankfully, we’re heading toward a small town.
Normally, I’d avoid urban areas like the plague, but we have no choice tonight.
If there are gang members there or infected, we’ll deal with them.
That’s what the guns are for, something most people in this world don’t have or even know how to use.
It’s an advantage I’ve used since the world fell and might need to use again once we head into this town.
“Alright, you two, cut it out,” I bark, using the stern voice I learned from my time in the Army and then honed in the SAS.
Both idiots stop bickering and turn their attention to me. All the annoyance and humour from their argument is gone from their faces, replaced by determination. We’ve all been out in this world long enough to know when to take shit seriously.
“Since we’re coming up to a small town, about two hundred metres ahead, I’m thinking we keep to the outskirts and find a house that’s a little separated from the rest. Maybe one that’s on the edge of this green belt, in case we need to bug out.”
Both men nod.
“I’ll take point. Alex, you stay in the middle and Theo, you take up the rear.”
Alex’s jaw tightens, and his blue eyes flash with anger. “Theo took rear last time and the time before that. Don’t you trust me to watch out backs?”
I bite back a sigh. “I do, but I like having you directly behind me, just in case.”
He grinds his teeth but stays silent.
I understand Alex feels like I baby him and maybe, to a certain degree, I do.
As a former rugby player, he’s never had to make decisions in a life or death situation like I have during my service, or like Theo has as a paramedic.
I trust him with my life, but I don’t want him to have to make the hard choices.
At least one person in this shitty world should keep their humanity, and that person is Alex.
“Let’s move. I want to be bedded down by the time the sun sets.” I estimate we have roughly forty-five minutes to locate and clear a suitable shelter. More than enough time as long as we don’t run into trouble.
I unhook my CQB Carbine rifle from where it hangs on my hip and do my final checks on the weapon. Alex and Theo follow suit, taking out the Glock 19s we scavenged from an air base a few months after the world went to shit. Ready, they nod to me and I move, taking point as we head toward the town.
We only just reach the road that leads through the housing estate at the edge of the town when a low growl followed by a feminine scream echoes down the street.
Before I can react, Alex—the big, stupid brute—charges forward like he’s in the middle of a fucking rugby match.
I curse and chase after him with Theo hot on my heels just as Alex darts down an alleyway that cuts between two houses.
We follow, only for my steps to slow as I take in the chaotic scene on the road in front of us.
Six men are converging on a woman struggling beneath a man who’s having a tough time trying to keep her restrained.
One man is trying and failing to defend himself against what looks to be a blue Merle Australian Sheppard while two others are warily advancing toward a black and white horse that’s charging and striking out at them.
The fifth guy is being attacked by a squawking magpie and the sixth is rushing over to help the man restrain the woman.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
Alex holsters his handgun and barrels toward the man failing to restrain the woman, just as she unsheathes a wicked-looking knife and stabs her attacker in the leg. The man howls in pain as she yanks the knife out of his thigh.
“How’s that for using the correct weapon!” she snarls as she tries to stab him again. He grabs her wrist before she can and slams her hand into the tarmac. The woman cries out in pain and drops the knife just as Alex reaches them and hauls the guy off her.
This causes the man hurrying over to help his buddy to change tactics and instead race toward Alex. I put a bullet in his head before he can get close.
That catches the attention of the two men who were approaching the horse.
They change tactics, using abandoned cars as cover against the rampaging horse to rush toward Alex, who’s now in a fistfight with the first guy.
I aim and squeeze out two shots, one for each man.
The bullets hit their targets and the two collapse to the ground, dead.
A shot rings out from Theo and the guy getting attacked by the magpie screams as he drops to the ground.
He fires another round, and the guy falls silent.
The woman scrambles to her feet, a bow in hand with an arrow ready to fire. “Harlow! Heel!”
The dog—who’s ripping at the guy’s leg as he bellows—drops its prey and races toward the woman.
I’m impressed by the control she has over it as the dog stands next to her legs, snarling.
A shot rings out from Theo and the man the dog attacked collapses to the ground, dead.
The only man left alive is the one getting pummelled by Alex.
“Alex, move,” I bark out.
He shoots me a glare but does as I say, giving me the perfect shot.
I take it and the last guy falls dead. With the threats neutralised, we all lower our weapons and turn toward the woman.
She’s backed up to stand next to the horse, bow drawn, and the snarling dog at her feet.
I barely pay attention to it because I’m completely captivated by the woman.
She appears to be in good condition, her body well-fed but lean with muscle that comes from hard work.
She’s wearing a pair of jeans smeared with blood and dirt and an oversized grey hoodie that’s in similar condition.
The hoodie makes her look tiny, fragile, and her delicate facial features only add to that.
But the hard look of determination in her green eyes highlight an inner strength, one that’s probably kept her alive in this brutal world.
Strands of her chestnut hair have escaped from the braid and brush against her fine cheekbones. For some odd reason, I have an overwhelming urge to tuck those strands behind her ears and stroke her cheeks. My hands flex on my weapon as I banish the thought from my mind.
“Stay back,” the woman demands, aiming her bow toward us, or rather me.
At least she’s intelligent enough to know who’s the biggest threat out of all of us. Or maybe it’s because I’m the one holding the biggest gun.
Alex holds his hands up in surrender and takes a step toward her. “We’re not here to hurt you,” he says in a low, calm voice.
Her eyes widen, and she jerks her aim toward him. “I said, stay back!” Her hands tremble, her knuckles torn and bloody, and there’s a slight grimace on her face that tells me she’s in pain. She’s minutes from crashing and I’d rather she did that somewhere softer and not on the tarmac.