Chapter Forty-One
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INSTEAD OF JUST TAKING three days off from their task so Monica could recover, they took a full week off. Nazab found boardgames in a closet and they’d played while talking. Monica couldn’t believe how kind and patient her knight was while he’d been taking care of her.
“I guess we should hit the road today,” the cambion said after she ate breakfast. She wasn’t going to miss the musty old house, but she would miss their cozy chats and squabbles while playing Monopoly.
“Duty calls,” Nazab said, but she could tell he was also reluctant to leave.
Packing their gear, they climbed into the truck and headed northward. Nazab had searched the nearby sites he’d circled on the map on his own while she’d been sleeping. They’d all been a bust, but at least he hadn’t run into any danger.
The warrior was behind the wheel and Monica navigated. She directed him to the area he’d chosen this time. “We’re pretty close to the Adirondack Mountains,” Monica said as she peered at the mountain range through the windshield. “I bet it snowed heavily up there during the past few winters.”
“Perhaps the weather will settle down now that the apocalypse is in full swing,” Nazab mused. “The houses are few and far between here. Choose whichever one appeals to you.”
Monica gazed around, then glanced at the map. “There’s a small town a few miles away. We probably shouldn’t get too close to it, just in case it’s infested with bad guys.” She looked out her window and pointed at a distant house. “Let’s check that one out,” she decided.
Nazab parked on the side of the road and went closer on foot to inspect it. He waved that it was safe after checking out the house, so she moved to the driver’s seat and drove to meet him. “There’s no power or running water,” he reported, to her disappointment.
“I’m glad we decided to bring a generator with us,” she said when she exited from the vehicle.
They had spare fuel for the truck and the generator that was in the bed of the truck.
An eerie feeling stole over her and she shivered.
“I feel like we’re being watched,” she whispered as she studied the area.
The house was surrounded by barren fields, but the woods were just a short distance to the right.
“So do I,” Nazab agreed. They’d both scanned the area already and hadn’t detected anyone.
“Is that a bear?” Monica asked when she saw something big and shaggy with black fur lumbering into the trees.
“It’s a black bear,” her knight confirmed. “It should leave us alone as long as we don’t antagonize it.”
They stashed their gear inside, then returned to the truck. Monica guided Nazab to the first site he wanted to search, then waited in the truck for him as usual.
“There’s a lot more places for us to search in this area this time,” the cambion said when her gorgeous companion returned.
“I was thinking of staying here for a couple of nights,” Nazab said, switching on the ignition and taking off. “I have a feeling we’re getting close to my brothers.”
“I hope we find them soon,” Monica said. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting kind of sick of this never-ending road trip.”
He nodded in agreement with a rueful smile.
Despite her complaints about being on the road so often, Monica enjoyed the scenery most of the time. Coming across traffic accidents that had been caused by the Rapture ruined the serenity. So did the skeletons they always saw whenever they passed through deserted towns.
“Gross,” Monica said when she saw rotting corpses hanging from a tree when they drew closer to the last location for the day. “Those bodies are a lot fresher than the other remains we’ve seen,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“Someone has been removing their limbs and cutting off their flesh,” Nazab said grimly.
“More cannibals?” the cambion figured. “They must be somewhere in this area.”
“We need to find them and wipe them out,” her warrior said. She knew part of his mission was to keep humans safe. No one had a white soul anymore, but a lot of people had gray souls. They didn’t deserve to be tortured, then cut up and eaten.
Monica was driving this time and she pulled over behind some trees. “I bet the bandits are in the building you want to search,” she predicted.
“It’s happened far too many times by now,” Nazab said. “I must have a knack for rooting out evil people.”
“I’m going with you this time,” she told him. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my distance from them so I don’t get shot.”
He was still uneasy at the thought of Monica putting herself in danger, but he respected her enough not to coddle her. “Be on the lookout for snipers, female,” he said. “We’ll try to stay out of sight as much as possible and move too fast for them to track us.”
Monica grabbed their guns from the back seat while Nazab worked out how he wanted to approach the location.
He picked her up when she was ready, then sprinted closer to the equestrian club.
Stopping a short distance from the property, he put her down beneath some trees.
“I can sense twelve people inside the main building,” he said.
“They all have black souls,” Monica said. The barn and stables were empty. She couldn’t hear or sense anyone inside them. “I can hide behind that big tree close to the building and step in if you need my help,” she suggested, gesturing at a large oak tree.
“Can you smell that?” he asked when a breeze blew towards them.
“It smells like blood, sewage and spoiled meat,” Monica said, trying not to gag at the stench. “It’s coming from the barn,” she added.
“That must be where they kept their prisoners before hanging the bodies from the tree,” her knight figured.
He carried her to the barn and they entered through a side door. “Yep, they’ve been holding people prisoner here,” Monica said after one glance at the chains that had been bolted to the wall. Shackles were attached to the chains. They were big enough to close around humans’ necks.
“They’re barbaric,” Nazab said, taking in the scene. Not only did they keep survivors captive, they slaughtered them in front of each other. Blood coated the floor of the barn. A hand had been overlooked and was the cause of the stench of rot.
“Let’s eradicate these dudes so we can go home,” Monica said, feeling sick to her stomach.
Nazab picked her up and sped over to the oak tree to put her down. At her nod, he ran over to the building. She would have to rely on her gun rather than her talents this time, since she didn’t have any prisoners to infuse with energy she could steal.
Her worry eased when her knight went on the attack. She sensed Nazab moving through the building like a whirlwind. He used his sword to silently cut his opponents down. A shot was fired when only two marauders were left. It missed and she felt the humans fade from her radar a moment later.
“That was a piece of cake,” Nazab said with a grin when he loped back outside to retrieve her.
“I wish all of our battles with the bad guys went that smoothly,” Monica said, glad he’d come back to her unscathed.
They drove back to their base and the eerie sense of being watched immediately returned. She spied not one, but two black bears this time. The animals were sitting in the shadows just inside the tree line of the woods, staring at them. “They give me the creeps,” she murmured as they headed inside.
“They’re probably wondering why we’ve wandered into their territory and hope we’ll move on soon,” Nazab said.
“We’ll skip target practice so we don’t antagonize them,” he decided, putting his hand on her lower back.
Just one touch of his fingertips was enough to ignite her desire.
He would have to sleep in a separate bed again.
She wasn’t sure she would be able to control herself if he wrapped his strong arms around her tonight.