Chapter 25
Stubborn Bastards
Theo
Nothing is going right today.
First, we get attacked at the house we were staying in for the night and Rhys ends up severely injured.
Then Ollie has this terrifying freak out while on the road that leads to Alex kissing the fuck out of her.
But instead of it cementing their relationship like it should have, it’s only driven Ollie further away.
And not just from Alex, but from me, too.
She’s walking apart from us both, keeping her horse between us so neither of us can even try to catch her eye while we walk.
Alex is in a foul mood, constantly shooting daggers at the back of my head that I’m sure would have murdered me a million times if looks could kill.
I told Ollie I’d convince the other two that a relationship between all four of us would work, but the longer Alex glares at me, the more I’m questioning that.
And it pisses me the fuck off.
The sun is high in the sky by the time we find a small stream to take a quick water break at.
So far, we’ve only come across a few zombies that were easily taken care of and there’s been no sign of the Scourge.
I have no idea how the hell they found us at that damn cottage, but it seems they’ve lost our trail.
Which is a relief because we’re in no shape for another firefight, especially with Rhys still unconscious on Bean.
After checking his wounds, I sit down by the stream, watching the water trickle by as I absently sip from my canteen.
There’s a thick, uncomfortable silence weighing heavily on us that not even the chirping of birds and the rustling of trees can slice through.
Alex is sitting on my left, and the bastard is still glaring at me.
The anger that’s been simmering in my chest burns hotter the longer he stares until I can no longer take it.
“Take a damn picture, it’ll last longer,” I snarl as I stare at him with a glare of my own.
His hands flex as they rest on his thighs and his face reddens. “Why the bloody hell would I want a picture of your ugly mug?”
“Fuck if I know, but you seem hellbent on glaring at me, so what is your fucking problem?” I know exactly what his problem is; she’s sitting several metres apart from us, with both Harlow and Bean between us and out of earshot.
“You know what my problem is.” His hands ball into fists as they tremble, and I can tell he’s struggling against the need to rearrange my face. “I can’t believe you fucking told her about Willow, after everything that woman did to me, to us.”
I wince at the raw hurt in his voice. “Alex,” I say with a sigh, my anger draining away. “It’s been nearly ten years since she left. You need to let it go.”
His eyes harden. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one she dropped like yesterday’s rubbish and laughed in your face.”
“She still cheated on me,” I shoot back.
“She cheated on all of us, not just you! But at least she fucking wanted you.”
Shit. This isn’t getting us anywhere. I blow out a frustrated breath and rake a hand through my hair. “Ollie isn’t Willow,” I say, changing tactics, hoping to get through his thick skull.
We like to laugh that Rhys is the stubborn one of our group, but Alex can be just as bad, especially when it’s about something that scares him.
Because this is what all this is about; he’s terrified of being hurt again and I don’t blame him.
Honestly, he and Ollie have a lot in common with their stubborn need to protect their hearts.
“You think I don’t know that?” he snaps back with a frustrated growl. “But just because she’s not like Willow doesn’t mean that I want to do that again. I can’t do that again, Theo. I refuse to share Ollie like that.”
God, I really want to wring his stupid, stubborn neck right now and knock some sense into him. Forcing her to choose will only drive her away. Can’t he see that this is just going to end in disaster? That his fear is stopping all of us from being happy?
“Can you two keep your pointless argument down? My shoulder and arm are already sore as fuck; I don’t need to add a headache to the mix,” Rhys grumbles from Bean’s saddle.
He’s still lying on her neck, his head facing us with his eyes half-open.
His face is contorted into a grimace and his jaw is tight from pain, but he no longer looks like he’s on death’s door.
I scowl at him as his words sink in. “Pointless?”
“Yes, pointless. Alex won’t budge and neither will you, so both of you are just going to argue in circles until one of you eventually snaps and kills the other.
” He pauses to wince and curse as he moves his injured shoulder.
“My money is on Alex snapping first, since he’s already fucking gone for the princess. ”
“Fuck you,” Alex snarls at him.
I narrow my eyes at Rhys. “So, what about you? Where do you fall with this argument?”
He snorts. “Nowhere. I’m not even in the running.”
“Liar. I’ve seen the way you look at her. You’re as gone as the rest of us.”
“Fucking typical,” Alex scoffs at the same time Rhys snaps, “I’m not lying!”
I roll my eyes. “You’re both as bad as each other.”
“No, you’re just trying to push something that no one but you want,” Alex shoots back.
“Oh? You’ve talked to Ollie about this, then?” I cock an eyebrow in challenge, knowing full well he hasn’t. It’s clear as day that she likes all of us just as much as we like her.
His expression hardens. “I’ve made my stance clear, Theo. I’m not budging. You want Ollie? Then you’ll have to compete with me because I’m not fucking sharing. Ever.” He stands and stalks off further down the stream before either of us can say anything.
I blow out a long breath and shake my head while praying for patience.
“Pushing him isn’t going to get you what you want,” Rhys says, sounding uncharacteristically reasonable.
“He’s an idiot if he thinks making Ollie choose between us will end in anything but disaster.”
“He probably knows that, but you know what he’s like with scary shit; he’ll ignore and deny it until he’s blue in the face. Only after it’s bitten him on the ass will he realise he’s wrong.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I say with a grimace as I stand and rummage through my medical bag until I find some painkillers and antibiotics. “Here,” I say, handing the tablets and a canteen to Rhys.
He takes them and then washes the tablets down with a good gulp of water from the canteen. “Why are you afraid of him realising the error of his ways?” he asks as he hands the canteen back.
“Because by the time he learns, the damage will already be done and there will be nothing left but pieces of broken hearts. And Ollie will be long gone.”
I refuse to let that happen.
Later that day, we hole up in a corner shop after clearing out the few zombies that made their homes there.
Someone has already ransacked the place, so there’re no supplies, but with the boarded-up windows and doors, it’s the safest place for us to hide out.
Especially since every other house in the area is mostly rubble.
Darkness falls as we all sit behind the cash register, the plans of the second camp Mark drew lying on the floor in front of us.
Rhys is leaning back against the wall, a permanent grimace of his face from the pain while he waits for the pain meds to kick in.
Alex is sitting on his other side, as far from me as he can get, while Ollie sits opposite us, completing our little circle.
She hasn’t said a word to any of us all day and I wonder if she caught any of the argument we had earlier.
It’d make sense since she looks completely shut down.
Her normally brilliant emerald eyes are dull and her face is an expressionless mask.
Only Harlow causes a flicker of emotion as she lies at her owner’s side.
“We’re about three miles out from the camp, which means we need to stay hidden and be on guard for any attacks,” Rhys says as he flicks his gaze to each of us. “Since I’m out of commission, at least for tonight, the three of you will need to set a rota for guard duty.”
“I’ll take first watch,” Ollie says, speaking for the first time in hours.
Alex leans forward toward her, his brow furrowed with concern. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” she says curtly, keeping her eyes trained on the crudely drawn map lying in the middle of our small circle.
Hurt flashes on Alex’s face before he covers it with his cool mask. “I’ll take second watch.”
I sigh. “Guess that means I’ll be taking third.”
Rhys nods. “Good. Now that’s sorted, we need to decide how we’re planning to attack this place.” He leans forward with a wince to peer at the map. “We’ll need to scout this place out, preferably tomorrow, since it’s already Tuesday and the delivery on Friday will be the best time for us to attack.”
“Me and Alex should go,” Ollie says, shocking the fuck out of me.
“What?” Rhys and I exclaim at the same time while Alex just stares at her with a mixture of confusion and hope. Jesus, the guy really is gone for her. If only he’d pull his head out of his ass and realise making her choose won’t give him what he wants.
“Alex and I are the best choices. Rhys, you’re still injured and we’ll need you to stay here, Theo, so you can monitor his wounds and protect him.”
“I can protect myself,” Rhys grumbles with a scowl.
Ollie snorts. “Not like this you can’t. I’m pretty sure Ketchup is deadlier than you are right now.”
A bark of surprised laughter erupts from my lips. “She has you there.”
“Piss off.” He flips me off before turning his attention to Ollie. “Princess, I don’t think you going is a good idea.”
“Well, gumdrop, unfortunately for you, we don’t have a choice,” she snarks back and I can’t help but smirk at her fire. It’s good to see snippets of the old Ollie shining through, especially when they’re directed at the grumpy ex-SAS officer.
“We do have a choice. You stay here with me while Theo and Alex scout ahead.”
“And what happens if you open one of your wounds and you start bleeding? I’m not sewing you back up; I suck at sewing and have zero idea on how to treat injuries.
Out of the four of us, I’m the least valuable.
If I die or get captured, you won’t be missing anything.
” She shrugs, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world to call yourself worthless.
“That’s bullshit,” Alex snaps, echoing my thoughts as all three of us scowl at her.
“It’s the truth.”
“No, it’s a shit excuse to put yourself in danger, princess,” Rhys says in a hard voice, matching her stubbornness with his own. “Martyring yourself won’t save your brother and will only end in your death.”
Her nostrils flare and her emerald eyes burn with anger as they narrow at Rhys. “My point still stands. Theo needs to stay here for his medical experience.”
“Alright, fine, you have a point there,” I say, butting in before Rhys can snap back.
The two of them have enough fire and stubbornness to argue the entire night and still not agree.
With Rhys’s wounds, that’s the last thing he needs and, judging from the purple beneath Ollie’s eyes, she needs the rest, too.
Rhys and Alex look at me with shocked and disgusted expressions while Ollie just looks triumphant.
I roll my eyes and shake my head. When did I become the responsible one of this group?
“That doesn’t mean you’re right about being worthless, princess.
You’re deadly with a bow, and I imagine with that knife you have as well. ”
A shadow crosses her eyes, and she swallows hard, the triumph gone from her face. The stony mask from before slides into place on her face and the fire in her eyes dims. “Right,” she says in a deadened voice.
I share a confused look with Alex. What the hell just happened? Did I say something wrong? Rhys doesn’t seem confused. In fact, there’s a sympathetic expression on his face as he gazes at Ollie.
He sighs. “Princess…”
“Don’t,” she snaps. “I don’t want to talk about it.
I’m going tomorrow and there’s nothing any of you can do to stop me.
Now excuse me while I take up first watch.
” She stands and strides away to take up her post at the window on the floor above us.
Surprisingly, Harlow doesn’t follow and instead snuggles up against Alex’s side.
Alex and I turn our confused gazes to Rhys.
“What the bloody hell was that about?” Alex asks as he absently strokes Harlow’s head.
Rhys grimaces and shakes his head. “It’s not for me to say.”
“Bullshit,” Alex snaps.
My jaw clenches. I hate that the two of them are keeping secrets from Alex and me, but from Rhys’s expression, he’s not going to budge.
“Leave it, Alex.” I catch his eye over the top of Rhys’s head and I try to convey with a look what I want him to do.
If he’s going with Ollie tomorrow, he’s going to have several hours alone with her.
A perfect time for her to open up to him.
He presses his lips together and nods. “I’m going to get some shuteye before my watch, then.” He stands and steps over us before disappearing into the darkness of the store. Harlow grumbles at being jostled and cuddles against my side.
I stare after him with a sigh and sink my hand into Harlow’s fur.
What a shit fucking day today has been, but I’m under no illusions; things are only going to get worse.
We have the almost impossible task of rescuing a bunch of people from a notorious gang, and there’s a looming dread that things between the three of us and Ollie will only get worse.