Chapter 34 #2
“Fucking hell,” Theo mutters with a groan. “We leave you with Alex for a few hours and you somehow create a war zone.” He looks annoyed, but I can see the amusement twinkling in his silver eyes.
Rhys sighs heavily and rakes a hand through his short brown hair.
“I suppose this could have gone worse,” he says after a moment.
“Alright, we need to finish the rest of the zombies before the cart comes in the morning.” He eyes my bow.
“Keep doing what you’re doing, princess, while Theo and I meet up with Alex. ”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I wheel Bean around, nudge her back into an easy canter and take out more targets with my arrows. Every now and again, I’ll look back and check on the guys before focusing back on my targets.
I don’t know how long it takes before the gunshots and screams finally stop.
Bean is covered in thick, frothy sweat and I’m not much better.
We’re both breathing hard and my arms feel like lead weights as I take out the final zombie.
As it falls to the ground, I glance around to see that the only people standing now are the captives and the guys.
I don’t know how, but we survived.
In the distance, the rising sun casts a soft pink hue across the star-studded sky. I admire it for a moment before urging Bean over to where the guys have congregated with a few of the freed captives.
I throw myself from the saddle when a familiar pair of green eyes meet mine. “Toby!” I shout as I race over to my brother and launch myself at him.
He’s covered in zombie gore and dirt, but I don’t care as he wraps me up in a massive hug. He’s too thin; I can feel his ribs beneath his shirt and he looks like shit, but he’s fucking alive.
“Thank God you’re okay. I’ve missed you so much,” he mumbles in to my hair.
Tears sting my eyes, and I tighten my arms around him. “I missed you too.”
We cling to each other for a while before Tobias pulls back. He gazes down at me, a look of disbelief on his face. “I still can’t believe you’re out here.” He shakes his head and his brow furrows. “Fuck, do you know how dangerous the world is now, Liv?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s dangerous out here? I never noticed,” I say sarcastically.
He scowls at me. “I’m serious. It’s fucking hell on earth out here. You shouldn’t have come after me.”
I glare back at him and cross my arms over my chest. “Well, it’s a good thing I did, otherwise the guys would’ve been fucked.”
“What do you mean?” There’s an edge to his voice. He’s going to be livid when he hears about the ways I’ve saved the guys’ asses out here. And that’s without mentioning my harebrained scheme from earlier.
“It’s a long story,” I blurt before changing the subject. “Is Andy’s daughter here? Rachel?” I glance around but only see the guys and Tobias close by.
Rhys narrows his eyes at me, picking up on my evasiveness. Theo crosses his arms over his impressive chest and cocks an eyebrow at me. Thankfully, neither of them say anything.
Alex, the bastard, just grins. “I’ll fill you guys in later,” he says almost gleefully, outing himself as a traitor. No wonder Harlow likes him.
“Yeah, Rachel’s here. She’s in the warehouse defending the people who couldn’t fight,” Tobias says, drawing my attention back to him. “You guys actually got here just in time. She and a few other women were about to be put on a cart and taken to the main camp.”
Shit, the cart. “We should get moving before the cart gets here, just in case they turn up with more guards.” Last thing we need is to fight another battle. We’ve pushed our luck enough for one night.
Rhys nods. “She’s right. We need to move and find a safe location. From there, we can do a head count.”
“How many people are there?” I ask as I glance around. I find about ten people spread out across the camp, all in various states of starvation, and wearing dirty rags.
Tobias scratches the back of his head. “I estimate about twenty to thirty people.”
Twenty to thirty people? How are we going to find enough food and clothes for all these people? We only just have enough supplies for the four of us.
“We should grab as much as we can before we leave,” Alex says, having come to the same conclusion. “You know, food, clothes and other supplies.”
“Good idea.” Rhys turns to face the camp. “Everyone spread out. You have fifteen minutes to grab whatever you can before we leave and we will leave without you.”
Everyone, including Tobias, shuffles off, leaving me and the guys to stand on guard. Rhys keeps glaring at me while Theo shoots concerned looks toward the injured side of my face. They’re desperate to ask Alex what happened, but they understand that this isn’t the best time.
I ignore them and watch as the sun rises in the distance, a smile on my lips. We did it; we survived the night against ridiculous odds and I saved my brother. But my mission isn’t over. We still have to journey home, and I have a choice to make.
Do I stay with Tobias and go back to my boring, but safe, life? Or do I stay with the three men I’m falling for and risk everything?