7. Adrian
CHAPTER SEVEN
ADRIAN
Morning in Gideon’s settlement started with the hum of generators, distant gunfire, and the smell of burning infected wafting over the walls. People moved in groups to the small café for breakfast and to escort their kids to school.
It was all so surreal.
It was a crazy contrast — birds singing and spotless streets right next to the smell of burning bodies and the moans of the infected outside the gate.
There were kids in school, though it wasn’t the same as before, since there were only a few students and one teacher who used a single room for all age groups. Families still lived in houses, though only the strongest groups were afforded that luxury.
And that was the biggest difference of all… the families.
Those were no longer made up of a husband and a wife, but of several men with one woman.
A larger family group had won two women, but those men were all fully enhanced, like Beck and I were.
Groups of men in threes and sometimes even fours, depending on their strength levels, were allowed to claim a woman.
I understood it on an intellectual level.
Things were dangerous, and the number of females who had survived was dwindling every day. If humanity were to survive, we had to fiercely protect the ones left.
I had an idea brewing.
It wasn’t something I necessarily wanted, but it was the logical answer to keep Taryn safe.
Everything I’d accomplished was because of my love for her. Some would even call it an obsession. I wanted to give us an extraordinary life. A life of luxury, adventure, and challenges.
I guess two out of three wasn’t bad.
Hearing a grunt, I glanced back at the gate and saw a guard opening it for some men who had probably been out scavenging.
The fence didn’t encompass the entire town.
That wouldn’t have been feasible. Rather, the central part of the town and the broad residential areas on both sides of Main Street were carefully maintained.
There were still groups of men sent out to scavenge homes and businesses outside the fence, and Beck and I had been lucky enough to get that assignment a couple of times.
The second time, we’d hoped to escape and head back to the farmhouse, but we’d been watched too closely, so we settled on stashing what we could when our chance to leave finally presented itself.
Taryn's arrival had altered the entire situation.
We didn’t have a home yet because, for obvious reasons, we hadn’t planned on staying. Additionally, neither Beck nor I was interested in anyone but the stubborn female sitting in a holding cell.
That had been a problem before… maybe not anymore.
We were staying in a room at an old boarding house near the railroad tracks. The place had about fifteen rooms, each with a kitchenette, two twin beds, a large couch, and a small table.
Beck and I had to prove our worth just to claim this. It hadn’t been easy. Gideon appreciated that we were enhanced, but we had to show we were ready to do whatever it took to stay.
Beck wanted to tell him to ‘fuck off’ and try to get kicked out, but I didn’t think we’d get off that easy.
Other survivors were accommodated based on their usefulness to the community. If you weren’t enhanced and had no skills, you were most likely set up in tents on the furthest edge of town, next to the fence.
Not a place anyone wanted to be.
I leaned against the second-floor railing outside the boarding house and watched patrols rotate through the street below.
Three guards remained outside the jail, which was more than usual.
Gideon typically got folks moving fast after the medical check.
Keeping Taryn and Lila there overnight meant one of two things: He wanted to find out more about them, or he already had someone in mind for them.
Neither option pleased me.
The boarding house door creaked open behind me before Beck stepped outside shirtless, tattoos stretching across hard muscle as he scrubbed a towel over his damp hair.
Beck and I had gotten to know each other better. He was a fiercely loyal man who didn’t speak just to hear himself talk. He could be brutal, but there was usually a reason for it.
In short, I liked the guy. I just didn’t want to share the woman I loved, and I was sure he felt the same way.
We were both going to have to move past that.
Max was still asleep on the couch, refusing the pallet on the floor I’d made for him. Apparently, Taryn had kept spoiling him after we left.
Several women walking toward the cafe slowed at the sight of Beck, and I rolled my eyes. “Put on a shirt before they break their necks.”
He hadn’t even fought in the ring yet, and the females were already trying to get him to claim them.
I’d also had to be blunt with several myself.
Beck curled his lip in disgust and ignored them. “What are we going to do about Taryn?” He sighed. “And Lila?”
“I’m working on it.” I stared out toward the jail.
“Are the guards still there?” Beck asked.
“Yes.”
His jaw flexed.
Violence sat close to the surface in Beck at all times now. The apocalypse hadn’t created it. It had simply removed the need to hide it.
“She hates enclosed spaces,” he muttered.
I snorted, “Taryn is smart enough not to let them know that.”
A faint grin touched Beck’s mouth, surprising me, before disappearing again. “She is smart, among other things.”
I knew, ‘Among other things,’ was her ability to think on her feet and her ruthlessness. We had that in common.
Lucas, not so much. I tried to keep my smirk from forming. He’d gotten a taste of that before everything went to shit.
Below us, a group of men walked past, laughing loudly after a night at the ring.
One of them mentioned “future claims” casually, and Beck went still.
“Did you hear that?” he asked quietly.
“Yes.”
The settlement also had rules. Rules that I hadn’t paid much attention to until now.
No assault.
No forced claims.
No touching girls before they came of age.
Civilized on paper… but underneath? Not so much.
Men still made arrangements.
Promises.
Deals.
And Gideon tolerated just enough of it to keep the settlement from fracturing apart.
That was the problem with controlled corruption. Eventually, the control weakened while the corruption remained.
Finley walked out of the cafe and held up two cups of coffee. “Would you two mind a little company this morning?” He yelled up at us.
Beck glanced at me, and I nodded subtly. “Sounds good, come on up.”
The doctor looked exhausted enough to collapse standing up, his faded CDC badge still clipped near the pocket of his coat like a relic from a dead world.
We’d become tentative friends when I told him I’d worked for NASA before the world collapsed. It had come in handy because he’d shared most of his research with me.
The CDC believed the meteors had caused all of this. When things fell apart, they’d been working on a theory that blood types were the root cause of the differences in contamination levels.
I found it equally fascinating and horrifying that something so simple could cause the downfall of civilization. Now it was up to those of us left to rebuild as best we could.
There was a knock at the door, and I went to let him in. Then we both joined Beck, who was still shirtless on the balcony.
“You both look homicidal this morning,” he said, handing each of us a cup.
Beck took a long sip. “Good morning to you, too, Doc.”
Finley leaned beside me at the railing. “They’re fine.”
I raised an eyebrow in question.
“You’re not as contained as you believe.” He smirked. “No one but Harper noticed when she stepped outside after hearing the news about the girl's arrival.” Finley laughed. “She said you both looked like you’d just been given an enema.”
Beck grimaced. “She has quite the way with words.”
“Nurses.” Finley shrugged his shoulders like that was explanation enough.
Harper emerged near the outside stairwell a second later with Aurora walking close beside her. “We’re coming up.”
“It’s like a fucking party up here,” Beck grumbled.
Finley narrowed his eyes. “She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t have information for you.”
Beck rolled his eyes. “You’re too fucking sensitive.”
“He didn’t mean anything by it.” I ran my hands over the front of my shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles. “We value your friendship.”
If I were the one to soften hurt feelings, things were becoming dire. It helped me recognize the value of my friendship with Lucas, as I relied on his charm to influence others, freeing me to prioritize what truly mattered.
Finley shot us a warning look before heading inside.
Max growled when they knocked but stopped instantly upon seeing Rory.
The little girl was talking animatedly to her dolls, while her mother occasionally contributed to the conversation. That stopped as soon as she saw the big dog. She rushed to his side, and he sniffed her doll before shoving his head under her hand for pets.
Harper smiled. “He looks vicious, but really he’s a big baby.”
“Only with children. He’d rip the arm off anyone else.” Beck grabbed a shirt from his pack on the floor and pulled it over his head.
Finley was smiling as he pulled Harper in for a hug. She mumbled something to him, and the look on his face turned serious.
“What do you know?” Beck asked brusquely.
Harper took a deep breath, and I noticed she stayed tucked under his arm, as if she might need protection.
It troubled me that she believed she required protection for whatever she was about to say.
Finley looked between all of us quietly before lowering his voice. “You should know Gideon’s discussing the girls already.”
Beck’s expression flattened instantly. “With who?”
“Mace and Gage,” Harper said. "I’m stalling for the blood test results as long as I can, but I only have an hour or two left before he loses patience."
The coffee cup cracked slightly in Beck’s hand.
Harper sighed tiredly. “It was to be expected. I doubt it comes as a surprise to either of you that Taryn is enhanced.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your observations to yourself.” Turning around, I closed the balcony door.