by Jill James
“I would die for you and for Selena, but could we all not die right now. I’d really like to rescue our daughter and get the hell out of here.”
She sat up, a smile on her face. Wobbly, but there.
“You’re a woman. Do you think you could just walk in and get her?”
Lila shook her head. “It’s like an army base with a command structure and all. I only managed to get to you because the man cages were way in the back of their camp.”
“Man cages?”
“Like the zombie ones the church had, except it was all the men. They keep them for slaves.”
“The depth of human depravity never ceases to surprise me. I thought I saw it all in Afghanistan and Iraq, but even here we constantly repeat our mistakes, over and over.”
Lila sat up and grabbed his hand. “The school tent is on the edge.” Her brow furrowed. “The north edge of the camp, two-thirds of the way, between the entrance and the man cages.”
He laughed. “Lila Sterling, military intelligence.”
“I just thought ‘what would Jack do’ and then I did it.”
He squeezed her hand tightly. “I love you, Lila.”
She leaned in, her lips a breath away from his. “I love you, Jack.”
Her lips slid along his, a quick, sweet kiss.
He didn’t move. His fingers itched to slide along her smooth skin, and he held them tight against his side. His mind commanded control, but his erection had other ideas, pressing against the rough fabric of the blanket.
The kiss ended all too soon, but the feeling of contentment and togetherness lingered. They were together. They would get their daughter. The future would take care of itself. One day at a time.
Chapter Thirty-six
Selena
Someone picked her up and carried her into the woods on the edge of the camp. Selena opened her mouth to scream and found a hand mashed against it. She kicked her feet backward and was rewarded with grunts and groans.
The man, and she could tell it was a man by the hair on his arms and hands, wrapped his other arm around her and held her tight. The only sound in the woods was his footsteps on the leaves and his heavy breathing.
She twisted and turned, trying to get away. She opened her mouth and bit him. He dropped her. “Damn it, Selena. I was trying to rescue you.”
Looking up at a familiar voice, she saw Commander Jack staring down at her, holding his bleeding hand. His face was pale and dripping with sweat. He stood bent over, his face bleached and frowning as if he were in pain.
“I don’t need to be rescued,” she said, standing and glaring back at him. “I was perfectly fine where I was.”
“Baby, we found you,” a voice said from behind her. She whipped around. “Mommy. I thought you were dead.”
“We can remedy that very easily,” Belinda purred from nearby.
Selena turned and found a gun pointed at her mother. Two guards came up and grabbed Jack by the arms and twisted, taking him to his knees.
She rushed over to the leader’s side. Belinda reached down and ran a hand over her head. “My warrior princess. It appears you’ve found the escaped man and the woman who helped him escape. Corrine was telling the truth after all. Pity.”
“You had no right to take Jack prisoner. And you have no right to my daughter, you bitch,” Lila spit out as a guard grabbed her arm and dragged her behind the leader.
Confusion filled her head. Mommy was alive. But where had she been? If she hadn’t been dead, why did she let Juan take her? They reached the leader’s tent. She stood in a daze next to Belinda. The guards dragged her mother and Commander Jack in and shoved them to their knees in front of the desk. Alaina sat behind her mate’s desk in a cushioned chair.
“She’s my daughter, you can’t keep her here.”
Belinda laughed. “I’m not keeping her here. Selena is my finest soldier. She can do whatever she wants.”
She looked up at the leader. “I want to stay here.”
“You heard her. She’s made her choice.”
“She’s nine years old. One day she wants to be a dancer and the next she wants to be a firefighter or an architect.”
“I want answers,” Selena piped up.
Belinda stepped back. “Ask away.”
She turned to her mother. “You didn’t come for me. Juan said you were dead, but you weren’t. Why didn’t you find me?”
Lila spread her hands out. “I did come for you. I’m here now.”
“Where were you when Juan was selling me as a slave? Where were you then?” She yelled out and angry tears filled her eyes.
Lila looked at Jack. “We came as fast as we could. We followed every bit of information we got until we found you here.”
Her mother sounded so sincere. She would be just as sincere when Juan asked her things. Things she didn’t want to tell him.
“Juan said he wasn’t my father. That was why he could sell me. He said my father was dead and you didn’t know who he was. Who in the hell is my father?” She yelled, getting right in her mother’s face.
Lila took a deep breath and reached for Selena. She jumped back before her mother could touch her. Her mom stayed that way, her hands almost touching Selena. “You’re father is not dead. I’ve always known who he was.”
She turned her head and stared at Commander Jack. “Baby, Jack Canida is your father. He’s risked everything to find you and save you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Why didn’t he tell me? We were at the RV yard for months.”
Jack looked at her, tears in his eyes. “Selena, I didn’t know until your mother came to me when you were taken. We’ve searched for you. We never stopped. I want to be your father.”
She cried and fell into Jack’s arms. No, not just Jack. Dad. Her dad. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. She felt his arms come around her as he stood.
“You can’t take her away from me?”
Selena turned in Jack’s arms and stared at the leader. Belinda had a gun pointed at Jack.
“I’ll kill you before I let you take her. I’ll kill her. You can’t have her.”
Jack swung around and covered her head with his hand. She peeked over his shoulder. Alaina got up from her chair and put her hand on the gun, pressing down until it pointed at the ground.
“The mother of my child is not killing anyone,” the woman said, a hand against her stomach.
The gun fell to the floor of the tent.
“Let them go,” Belinda said, her eyes not leaving Alaina’s face.
Jack looked into Selena’s face. “Where do you want to go?”
She put a hand on Jack’s face and reached and placed one on her mother’s.
“Anywhere. As long as we are together.”
Epilogue
Jack, Lila, and Selena
The River Road
On the edge of Ryde
Summer, 1 AZ
“I don’t know no Commander Jack,” the man muttered. “We got a Commander Paul.”
“What’s your name, sir?”
The man stood taller at the sir. Jack knew he would. A little respect went a long way. Even in the zombie apocalypse.
“My name is Thomas Pennington, but people just call me Tommy.”
“Well, Tommy,” Jack said, leaning out the SUV’s window. “I’ve been friends with Paul Luther for more than twelve years. So why don’t you take that walkie-talkie on your belt and call him and say Jack, Lila, and Selena are here. Can you do that for me? We’ve been on the road for over a month and I’d really like to sleep in a real bed for at least one night.”
“Yes, sir,” Tommy replied, stepping behind the red line painted on the road and getting his walkie-talkie.
He laughed as Tommy held the walkie-talkie out about a foot from his ear and they could hear Paul’s voice all the way to the car.
“I take that as a yes,” Lila said, smiling back at Selena in the rear seat.
She turned back to Jack with sadness
in her eyes. Something had broken in their child at the camp on Mount Diablo. She had good days and bad days and this just happened to be a bad day. She hadn’t smiled or spoken for hours. She would cry, and then she would get mad, and then she’d be sorry she was mad.
Jack prayed being around people who cared about her would help. Her friends should be there and he had his fingers crossed for Doctor Shannon and Michelle Greggs. Between them, the women had to have an answer to unlock Selena from whatever prison she’d put herself.
He reached over and held Lila’s hand. Her bruises had faded and her nightmares came less and less often. She’d told him bits and pieces about her ordeal and he hoped it helped. If only Selena would tell them what she was keeping wrapped tightly up inside.
“I liked the camp,” Selena’s voice came from the rear seat.
They turned.
“I liked that the men were prisoners. I liked that women were in charge.” She started crying and opened the SUV door and got out. She started running away from them.
Jack jumped out, his boots pounding on the road as he caught her. She twisted and fought in his arms. Words came through her tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to like it. I’m bad. I’m so bad.”
He hugged her. He kissed her face. “You are not bad, Selena. You went to war like no child should have to and you had to do terrible things to survive and now you worry because you liked some of those things. I wish I could take all those terrible, bad things away from you, but I can’t. No more than I can take away the bad things that happened to your mother or you can take away the bad things that happened to me. We can only love each other and help each other. One day at a time.”
She smiled up at him through her tears. “Really, Dad?”
At her first utterance of anything other than Commander Jack, his heart swelled until he thought it would burst through his chest “Really, sweetheart.”
She kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. “Let’s go home.”
# # #
If you enjoyed A Time to Kill Zombies, please look for Time of Zombies series, Book 1, Love in the Time of Zombies, Seth and Emily’s story and Time of Zombies series, Book 2, The Zombie Hunter’s Wife, Teddy and Michelle’s story.
Discover how four little boys became Rogue Vantage, how they became brothers at the end of the world as we know it. Download Rogue Vantage for free HERE!
Dear Reader,
I’ve enjoyed my time in the zombie apocalypse and thought this would be the last in the series, but a new couple came and told me they wanted their story told, so look for Zombies in the Grass, Danny and Willa’s story.
Thanks, Jill James
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Other books by Jill James
The Time of Zombies Series
Love in the Time of Zombies
The Zombie Hunter’s Wife
The Lake Willowbee Series
Divorce, Interrupted
Dare To Trust
Defend My Love
The three novellas are also available as audio books.
The Lake Willowbee Series (3 novellas in boxed set) is available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook.
Short Stories
The Christmas Con: A Short Romance – available to newsletter subscribers only
The Reluctant Bride: A Lake Willowbee Novella – Available in ebook and audiobook
Rogue Vantage: a Time of Zombies short story – available to newsletter subscribers only
Sweet Lake Willowbee Romance Series
Waking Up For Christmas
Baby Steps and Snowflakes
Retreat, Interrupted
In My Dreams
Sugar Sprinkled Memories
All Sweet Romance books are available in the Authors of Main Street boxed sets and individually.
Shifters of San Laura
Book 1- Dangerous Shift
Available in paperback at Amazon
Ghost Releasers, Inc.
Ghostly Intentions
Author Links
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Website: http://www.jilljameswrites.com