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“What are you—” before I can finish the question, Max is taking a knife to the pants he’d tossed, slashing them up a bit before handing them to me. They still have some mud on them, but I’ve worn worse.
He waits patiently while I step into them, and grins when he sees the surprised look on my face that they’re the right length this time. They’re still huge, but he pulls on some of the slashed pieces and ties them together so they’ll stay in place. “Much better.”
“Let’s go, princess.” Griffin motions for us to follow.
“I’m not a damn princess,” I grumble, but I take my spot behind William and follow anyway.
We make our way through the hideout undetected. Dregs nod at us as they pass, and I have to keep myself from jumping out of my skin every time one of them looks at me. William reaches his hand back and laces his fingers with mine. It’s oddly comforting, and it helps.
“Don’t worry, pet, we won’t let anything happen to you. You’ve got the trio surrounding you,” Max says, resting his hand on my shoulder while we walk. Releasing the death grip I had on my knife, I take calming breaths. I never thought I would feel this safe and comforted by being with these men, when all they’ve done until now was stress me out. Still, I would also feel a lot safer if we weren’t in a dreg hideout, but right now I’m really glad they’re here. There’s no way I would’ve gotten in undetected if I was on my own. Damn Griffin always being right.
Griffin keeps looking back at me and each time he does, his eyes linger either on William’s hand in mine or Max’s hand on my shoulder for a moment before looking forward again. Buddy is by my side, and a wall is on my other. My free hand rubs the top of his head now and then. I’m realizing how ridiculous I was when I tried to run away and find this place on my own.
We check every room as we pass. Most of them are empty or have dregs sleeping in bed. One door I open is a restroom and I lock eyes with a man at a urinal. I would’ve rather faced a horde of rotters. Griffin shuts that door pretty quickly.
Another dead end door.
And another.
Max’s idea to blend in works perfectly. The building used as the hideout is dark inside, due to a lot of lightbulbs that are burned out. I don’t know how they’re running power here, but they are. It seems to be a better setup than my colony has. I wonder if we have time to figure that out before we leave.
Men walk by without paying us even a single glance, and I have to keep myself from gagging on the body odor. I know that it’s the apocalypse, but that doesn’t mean we always need to smell like it.
A few women walk by, too. Their eyes remain downcast while they follow the men leading them. I stare at the back of Griffin’s head. He didn’t try making me stay in the car a couple of days ago because he’s an asshole. He really tried to help. That realization annoys me even more, and if I let him know, then he’ll become even more insufferable.
I’m growing anxious. We’ve checked behind a lot of doors, and so far nothing that could hold medical supplies. I pick at my nails and William reaches back and grabs my hand again, forcing me to stop. His warmth radiates through me. How are these guys not freaking out like I am?
A door opens in front of us and a man walks out, talking into a walkie-talkie. “Front entrance, respond that you understand. I need an update.”
William’s hand slides out of mine when he leaves us. He claps a hand on the man’s shoulder and plasters a smile to his face. “Hey, I’ve been looking for you. I was told to come find you to see where you wanted me.”
The man looks at William through slitted eyes. “Who are you, again?”
“George, remember?” William shakes his head. “Those guys were right about you. Your memory is going. We’ve met three times already.”
The man’s face turns a light shade of red. “Who said that? I never—fine,” he lets out a sigh. “George, right, I remember now. Why don’t you go find out what’s happening at the front entrance? I have something else to take care of.”
“Don’t worry about it. You can count on me.”
He turns away but then stops and looks back at William again, and then at the three of us who are standing there waiting for him. I press my back against the wall. Why didn’t we keep moving? We’re going to blow it.
“Who are all of you?” The man brings the walkie up to his mouth but William spins him around and pushes him through the door he’d come out of, before following in himself.
There’s a grunt and something heavy falls to the floor. William reemerges with a spot of blood splattered on his chin. I pull my hand into the sleeve of my jacket and step up to him, reaching up to wipe off the blood. He gives me a soft smile. “I had to do it.”
“I know,” I whisper.
“Willie-boy having all the fun,” Max grumbles.
“It’s William,” he responds in a bored tone.
Laughter rings out from a room up ahead where a door is ajar. We pass by, peeking inside, but see only a group of dregs sitting at a table and playing cards. I’m passing by it next, then I catch part of their conversation. One of them talks about how he left his family to die in order to save himself, then he laughs as though it’s the greatest punchline to a joke.
Before I can finish my thought, wondering how someone could be so cruel, something brushes against me and I look behind me to see Max striding into the room. I tug on William’s hand, who gets Griffin’s attention, but it’s already too late. Max walks up to the dregs with a chilling grin, then pulls his morning star from his back and swings it around. They never stood a chance. It happened so fast.
Light shines down from the skylight above and Max tilts his head back, so the light illuminates the fresh blood that’s splattered across his chin and jacket, still shiny and wet. His tongue runs along his bottom teeth and he lets out a laugh before putting his head upright and meeting my gaze. His grin widens even more when he sees me, and he strides back to my side and licks my cheek. I let out a squeal and use my oversized jacket sleeve to wipe it off, hoping that he didn’t just get blood all over my face.
“Relax, pet. Let’s keep going.”
