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His screams echo through the woods as she twists it, staying on top of him until he gives up the ghost.
“Banks? Talk to me, sexy.” The concern in Javier’s voice is the first emotion he’s shown—other than boredom.
“She’s fine,” I report back.
“I told you not to call me that.” Banks sounds flustered for once, and it sure isn’t over the man she just killed. “Thanks, Eddie. I missed the other guy.”
“Eddie, any chance you saw Tyton get hit?” Mike asks, sounding as tired as I feel.
“Negative. Unless Banks got him, I didn’t have a clear bead on him once the action started.”
“I didn’t have a clear view of him, so I don’t know. Banks out.”
I look over to see her dragging the body of the man I shot, dropping his foot when he’s next to the one she finished off. It startles me when I see Banks start to scavenge gear from the bodies, until I see her untying a boot. I zoom in and start praying that one of the deceased wear the same size I do—there’s some solid looking footwear on both of the dead guys that I’ve zeroed in on.
Banks lets out a whistle and when I look back to her, she’s holding a radio above her head. I whistle back, acknowledging the find; one that could be a game changer.
When Max returns, he and his team decide to scout down the road. He’s, rightfully, worried that our attackers might try to cut through the fence and hole up in Elsbeth’s home. When he takes off, Mike and Aiden continue the job that Banks had started, quickly amassing a nice pile of supplies and usable clothing.
Wishing I had another painkiller, I ignore both my aches and the suggestion that I head back to the cabin to get some rest. Silently watching over the others as they gather the supplies, pile up the bodies, and change the tire on the loner vehicle from Lee.
A whistle alerts me as Max, Javier, and Banks return and that’s when I finally climb back down to join the others.
“We went down a couple of miles. The walking wounded left an easy trail to follow, not to mention at least one more dead body along the way,” Max informs us. “How many did we drop up here?”
“Twelve, well, thirteen with the one you found,” Lee replies. “And that’s mainly because they weren’t expecting any heavy weaponry.”
“That won’t happen again,” Javier says, getting a snort from Lee. And I realize that none of us have seen what he’s hiding around the bend.
“Look, I know you all have a lot to process, but we could hear what sounded like a gun battle coming from town. I’d like to suggest that at least six of us go and investigate,” Max continues. “We stand a better chance in two vehicles, I just think that if there’s an uprising down there, we could make a difference.”
“I’m in. Be right back.” Lee turns and walks up the road without another word.
“I’m going also,” Dylan replies, pulling himself up to his full height and looking at us each in turn.
We all look at Mike, waiting for him to dispel that idea, instead, he’s rubbing his hand in a continuous motion along his jawline until he finally nods.
“That’s not my first choice, and I’ll be the one to tell Shelby,” Mike says, holding his hand up to stop Aiden when he opens his mouth. “But realistically, four of you standing here don’t know Dayton. If you have to split up into smaller groups, you’ll need someone who does. That being said, young man, you are there to help navigate, you will follow their orders. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.” The tone of Dylan’s reply tells me that he understands the gravity of the situation. Gone is the boyish excitement I saw in him the morning after The Event.
“That leaves me back here with Shelby, Elsbeth, and Julia to help with defense. Aiden and Eddie, what are you going to do?” Mike sums up the groups, and honestly, I’m torn between going to keep an eye on Dylan and being worn out from the past week.
Aiden opens his mouth to speak when we hear a vehicle roaring to life and all turn to look the way that Lee had just walked.
Javier is the first to start chuckling as I just stare with my mouth wide open.
“Goddamn showoff,” Mike grumbles.
“Motherfucking rednecks,” Javier gets out between peals of laughter, ignoring a glare from Max.
“I’m riding with him,” Dylan deadpans, the look on his face is absolutely comical.
Lee is in an actual tank coming down the road, the smoothbore gun is aimed directly at us and I have no doubt that he has ammunition for it.
It once again squeals to a stop, this time within ten feet of us and Lee’s head pops out of the top.
“You might have saved us some trouble if you had just pulled up here in the first place,” Mike yells up to him.
