28. Adrian
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ADRIAN
Wren knew where we were going… approximately. That was the problem.
“Past the creek,” she said for the third time.
I looked at the stretch of trees ahead. “What creek?”
“The one with the bad bridge.” She threw her hands up in the was a moron for asking.
“That narrows it down considerably.” I raised an eyebrow.
Wren glanced back at me. “It will when you see it.”
Beck snorted out a laugh.
I was glad we could entertain the asshole.
Taryn smiled at Wren with affection, probably happy that Wren was giving me a headache.
Lucas had his hand at the small of her back again.
Of course he did.
The man had spent months pretending that touching her would violate some kind of moral code, and now apparently couldn’t go thirty seconds without putting a hand on her.
Beck noticed too, and his expression soured. “Can’t you keep your hands to yourself for more than thirty seconds?”
Great, now I was on the same wavelength as the biker.
Lucas rolled his eyes. “You mean like you do?”
The sarcasm was thick with this one.
“Fuck you, teacher.” Beck flipped him off. “I wasn’t the one going on and on for months about how I didn’t care about her.”
Lucas pulled Taryn closer. “Well, I was wrong, and now I’m making up for lost time.”
Taryn looked delighted at their antics, but after listening to them bicker for most of the morning, I was over it.
I’d only taken a few steps when I glanced back and saw Taryn kneeling to tie her boot. “Keep up, baby,” I said, not wanting her to fall too far behind.
Taryn stood, and a slow smile spread across her face. “Yes, sir.”
“For fuck’s sake!” Beck growled. “Now you’re starting.”
I was fairly certain Beck was doing all of this to distract Finley from his thoughts. The man hadn’t spoken more than three words in over an hour.
“Found it.” Wren pushed through a curtain of wet branches ahead of us.
A narrow creek cut through the woods, swollen from last night’s storm. The remains of an old wooden bridge sagged across it, one side collapsed completely into the rushing water.
Wren spread her arms. “Bad bridge, just like I said.”
One side of my mouth lifted. “I get it now.”
“I thought you would.” Wren adjusted her hat, then pulled Mojo out of her pack.
Colson pushed her gently out of the way and stepped down the embankment first. He tested the mud with one boot, then reached back for Wren.
She looked at his hand, then back at him. “Take Mojo first.”
“How about I take you both at the same time?” Colson smiled through his beard.
Damn, that’s the most I’ve heard him speak since we found him. It looked like Wren was having a positive effect on the large man.
Wren shrugged and handed him the stuffed animal. He grabbed it, then wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled them both across.
Rory crossed with Finley and Max. The little girl hadn’t left his side. Every few minutes she’d looked up at him as if checking that he was still there.
Taryn watched the little girl with a worried eye ever since we left Harper’s grave.
I caught her doing it again as we climbed the opposite bank. “You can’t fix everything, baby girl.”
Her eyes moved to mine. “I know.”
That answer surprised me enough that I didn’t respond. A few months ago, she would’ve argued with me out of spite.
She looked forward again. “But I can fix Lila.”
One of the many things I’d always loved about Taryn was her self-confidence. Not to mention her determination. She wasn’t a fan of hearing it, but both of those traits came from Ben.
Wren had given us more of what she knew while we buried Harper. The men Gideon traded with operated southeast of the settlement. Their trucks came in from beyond Miller Creek. Scavenging teams were forbidden to cross that boundary.
Not discouraged, but forbidden.
Wren had never seen their compound, but she had seen the trucks.
Twice.
The first time, they left with two women. The second time, three. Then, as the weeks and months passed, the numbers had increased significantly.
Realizing the extent of Wren's information, I decided to locate the men who took Lila rather than pursue Gideon. I preferred not to confront both simultaneously. We might have to face Gideon later, but for now, our priority was rescuing Lila and returning to the farmhouse.
If I were honest, I’d have left her behind to prioritize Taryn’s safety. But I knew better than to argue with Taryn. She and Lila had become real friends, and for all Taryn’s faults, she was loyal.
Wren stopped near the top of the hill, looking confused. “There used to be a dead cow here.”
I closed my eyes and sighed.
Beck laughed at my frustration, with Lucas joining in. If those two ever became real friends, I was in trouble.
“Are you okay?” Taryn walked up and nudged my shoulder.
“Perfect.” I pulled her in for a soft kiss.
I don't know how I lived without her. Now that I had the freedom to love and touch her, I could never go back to how it had been before.
Wren pointed toward a patch of weeds. “Big one.”
“Wren.” I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“What?”
“A decomposing animal is not a landmark.” I swatted Taryn on the ass when she giggled at my comment.
“It is if nobody moved it.” She was still pushing weeds aside, looking for the dead animal.
Lucas coughed to hide a laugh. I looked at him, unimpressed, and his expression went blank. I would’ve thought I’d imagined it; except I saw him wink at Taryn.
I might have to take Beck’s side. This new, happy Lucas was going to take some getting used to.
Colson crouched near the edge of the old road, his fingers brushing the dirt.
Everyone quieted, curious about what he saw.
Wren walked over to him. “Good job! You’re much better than some old dead cow.”
“Thanks.” Colson smiled at her wryly.
The tire tracks appeared recent because the storm last night hadn’t washed them away.
Several heavy vehicles had traveled this way.
Taryn moved beside me. “Which way are they going?”
“Southeast,” I responded, gazing down at the tracks again.
Diesel stained the mud near a rut. It was fresh enough that the smell was strong.
“Let’s get off the road.” I didn’t want anyone to spot us.
We advanced along the trees, running parallel to the tracks, while the woods became eerily silent. Sadly, that didn’t mean they were unoccupied.
We found the first rotter ten minutes later. It was tangled in a section of old barbed-wire fence, one arm twisted behind it as it snapped uselessly at anything within reach. Its clothes had rotted away almost completely.
As Rory saw it, a quiet whimper escaped her lips, and Finley instantly placed himself between her and the threat.
Beck drew his knife as the rotter lunged, caught the back of its skull, and drove the blade through its temple.
Quick and quiet.
The body sagged against the fence, and we moved on.
Wren turned around and walked backward so she could face us. “The road should split soon.”
I studied her. “Did you scavenge this far?”
“Not quite this far.” She shrugged. “At least not when I was with a group.”
I raised a brow in question.
She pointed through the trees. “There’s an old grain elevator about two miles north. We scavenged the houses around it.”
“Gideon approved that?” I asked.
She nodded. “Before he decided that everything past the creek belonged to them.”
“The fuel men?” Colson asked, in his gruff voice.
Wren nodded again.
“What happened if someone crossed it?” I could guess, but I wanted her to confirm it.
I was surprised when Finley answered. “They usually didn’t come back.”
Beck glanced at him. “Usually?”
“One guy did,” Wren spoke up.
“What happened to him?” Lucas grabbed a bottle of water from his pack and offered it to Taryn.
Suck ass.
“He wouldn’t talk about it,” Wren smirked. “Probably because Gideon had his tongue cut out.”
Nobody asked another question for a while.
The road split exactly where Wren said it would. One branch curved east, and the other continued south past a rusted sign half-hidden by vines.
Taryn wiped mud from the metal:
BAUCUM PETROLEUM I tilted my head, maybe four.
The first truck came around the bend, and my stomach tightened.
Gideon.
Even through the windshield, I recognized him.
Taryn went rigid beside me. “Son of a bitch.”
“Yes, he is. I knew his mother.” Wren piped up as Colson shushed her.
Mace sat in the passenger seat; another truck followed behind them.
It looked like what remained of Gideon’s town rode in the beds and cabs, and they looked like hell.
Their carefully maintained civilized appearance was gone.
One man had his arm strapped to his chest. Another wore a bloody bandage wrapped around his head, and a third had burns creeping from his collar to his jaw. Clothes ripped, faces hollow, not nearly as many weapons as usual. Maybe nine men in total.
Only nine.
Maybe the warehouse held more survivors. But even so, for a town that had once held dozens, that was nothing.
The small number of men in the trucks were still dangerous. All of them moved differently from ordinary survivors.
Faster.
Sharper.
Definitely enhanced.
Taryn had pulled GG from her pack and was gripping the bat tightly.
Beck whispered behind her, “That’s all that’s left?”
“No,” Wren breathed. “That can’t be right.” Her face had gone pale.
The trucks passed.
Lucas leaned close to Taryn. “You okay, Menace?”
She shot him a look, but he ignored it and leaned in to kiss her temple.
Beck made a strangled sound, and I almost laughed.