by Stasia Black
Graham looked around uncomfortably and of course, his forefinger went to the bridge of his glasses. “I have heard rumors of an all-female colony. But that’s all they are. Rumors.”
Nix put a hand to his temple. Jesus Christ. Didn’t the idiot know that any kind of support or validation for her idea would only make her ten times more stubborn?
“They’re more than rumors,” Audrey said, chin jutting out. “My Uncle was a programmer too and he communicated with them. So did I. They’re real. I video-chatted with the woman who leads the colony.”
Nix sat up straighter in his chair. Shit. This was more than just a pipe-dream to her. Most people these days had one of those—some place or time they fantasized about where the hell would end. And if they could just survive long enough to make it there, then everything would be okay. It was the biology of hope—it kept people alive sometimes when the going was so tough you’d just lay down and die otherwise.
But Audrey… She truly believed the fantasy place was real. That there was a magical island utopia where women were free and safe and there were no men around to dominate and abuse them.
Nix had seen enough of the world to know better.
Violence was like a virus—when there was an outbreak, it spread as far and wide as it could, multiplying and replicating to the furthest reaches of the earth. And the coast she was talking about was between them and Mexico, one of the most fought over boundaries of the entire war after the Fall. Even now, President Goddard was still barely managing to hold the line. Hardly the ideal spot for a matriarchal paradise.
“It’s just not safe,” Danny said, eyebrows drawn. “You gotta forget about it. You’re safe here. Where we can protect you.”
Her eyes might be demurely downcast as she said, “I don’t need protecting,” but there was steel in her voice.
Shit, Nix was going to have to make sure one of them was with her 24/7, wasn’t he? He looked at Graham who was watching her with a similar look of dismay and worry as all the others. With the hissy fit she’d thrown about the dart gun, wanting to surgically implant a GPS tracker in her arm probably wouldn’t go over well.
“You just need to settle in,” Clark said, moving to stand behind Audrey so he could massage her shoulders. Her entire body went tense at the initial contact, but as Clark started working his magic, bit by bit, Nix watched her eventually relax.
“Life is good here,” Clark went on, kneading her shoulders. Sneaky bastard. Finding a way to get his hands on her before any of the rest of them. “Wow, you’ve really got a lot of tension in here. Working with the horses must have been some hard labor.”
He massaged her for several moments in silence before he went on. “We’ll make sure you’re safe and comfortable here. You won’t want for anything. Not anything,” Clark said, leaning over and whispering seductively in her ear. Even from across the table, Nix could see the small quiver than ran through her body.
Shit. Were the rest of the guys at the table fighting a monster stiffy like he was? Seeing her react to Clark like that, just, damn. She was so goddamned responsive, it was driving him crazy.
Nix hadn’t had a woman in five years and even then, it had only been one of the prostitutes at a San Antonio brothel. The joint seemed like one of the less sordid establishments and she was nice enough. She’d given him a quick suck and fuck. He’d paid the extra twenty grams of gold for a condom—only a year out of date, too.
You were always taking your life in your hands when you went to a place like that. STD meds were one of the highest value items in a post-Fall world. Ironically, it was the same gene-splicing technology that allowed scientists to find the cure to Herpes as it was for the madman who created Xterminate. With universal healthcare in most developed countries, indiscriminate sex was fairly safe… until there were barely any women left to have sex with.
But that was part of the thrill of going to a brothel, right? Taking your life in your hands? There was even a name for it—whore roulette.
At the end, Nix had measured out the gold and felt so goddamned empty he’d sworn he’d never do it again, no matter how tired of his own damn hand he got.
Audrey let out a small moan as Clark dug his thumbs into her shoulder blades. Mateo had gotten on his hands and knees, massaging one of her feet as well.
“Just give us time,” Clark whispered in a low, rasping voice. “Let us show you what life could be like here. We’ll give you everything if you let us.”
Audrey’s eyes dropped closed and she seemed to give herself over to the pleasure and release Clark and Mateo were bringing her.
“Well, the women here do seem happy,” she said in a breathy little voice. With those cherubic cheeks and her pink little mouth, she looked like a beautiful, filthy, filthy angel.
Goddamn.
Well Nix’s hand would sure as shit be getting a helluva workout tonight.
Chapter 13
AUDREY
Every morning that dawned, Audrey heard the timer ticking down. She’d been here for two and a half weeks now. There were only eight days left until the window for the rendezvous with the Nomansland contact was lost, maybe forever.
Six days until the supposed wedding.
And she still didn’t have any weapons other than the stupid bread knife she’d been eyeing from their kitchen. It wouldn’t be any use against a gun. Not to mention that if she was close enough to be able to use the damn thing then she was probably already screwed.
But there was no use in thinking about that because she had a much bigger problem. She still didn’t have a vehicle.
“Don’t overthink shit,” she whispered to herself as she pulled a fresh t-shirt on and glanced at her hair. Sophia had a homemade dry shampoo made out of arrowroot and cornstarch that worked surprisingly well. For the first time in years, Audrey didn’t feel like an oily, bedraggled mess.
She’d asked Mateo if she could spend the day helping out at the shop. At this point she could only desperately hope she’d find something valuable enough to steal so she could barter it down the road for gas.
Because it wasn’t strictly true she hadn’t found any cars. There were some old pre-electric cars from around town. All the trucks had been co-opted by the city and were held in a heavily guarded lot by the central gas dispensary.
But Audrey took long walks through town sometimes and had made note of an abandoned white Toyota Corolla. Yes, the windows were broken and she didn’t want to think about what it smelled like inside after being abandoned for who knew how many years, but if she could find a working battery and gas and if the engine was still in working order…
Her head slumped.
Those were a lot of ifs.
The other option was to steal one of the township vehicles. She’d seen Danny driving a communal construction truck around town carrying materials. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to manipulate him into taking her on a drive. Then she could incapacitate him—maybe poison him?—and steal the truck.
Just the thought gave her a sour feeling in her stomach, though. Danny was a bit of a goof, but he was a sweet goof.
Maybe it wouldn’t come down to that, anyway. She wasn’t completely out of options yet. She gave herself one more glance in the mirror, took a deep breath, and headed for her bedroom door.
Who better to help her than Mateo—Mr. Fix It, that’s what Clark called him, right? She might discover all sorts of delightful weaponizable little items in the shop.
Not to mention, out of the five, he was definitely the one most sympathetic to her cause. Yes, he was adamantly opposed to her leaving, but with him, she genuinely believed it was out of concern for her safety. With Clark and Nix, it was likely nothing more than lip service. A handy excuse for them to keep her there.
But Mateo. He wore his heart on his sleeve. She was surprised such a sensitive guy had made it in this world, but hey, all the better for her.
She opened her bedroom door.
And yelped in fright at the figure looming
in the hall.
“Jesus, Nix,” she shouted. “You scared the crap out of me.” She smacked him on the chest. “What are you doing lurking outside my room?”
He just lifted a mocking eyebrow and held out his arm. “I’m your faithful escort for the day, me lady.”
She glared at him. “You mean you’re still on guard dog duty. Will it still be like this after we’re married? I won’t be able to go to the outhouse without tripping over you?”
Nix shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry. Mateo seems up for the role of lapdog. I bet if you ask him, he’ll lug all the water you want up the stairs so you can keep using the toilet like the princess you are.”
Audrey’s teeth ground together. She swore she’d never wanted to punch anybody as much as she wanted to punch the man standing right in front of her. Okay, that wasn’t strictly true, but Nix was a close second. She still vowed to someday get him back for the whole dart-in-her-ass incident the day they met. And, you know, the whole kidnapping her and forcing her to marry him thing too.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she pushed roughly past him. He didn’t budge, which meant far more of their bodies came into contact than she would have liked. Jerk. He did that on purpose.
When she got downstairs, it was quiet. It galled her to even talk to him, but she asked anyway. “Where’s Mateo? I told him I’d help out at his shop today.”
“He always gets an early start. He left some bread and prickly pear jam for you in the kitchen, though.”
She glared at Nix. “At least some people know what it means to be a gentleman.”
Nix smirked. “Darlin’, I’ll bet you ten pounds of gold that that supposed gentleman you’re so impressed with did the same thing we all did when we climbed into bed last night. Grabbed his cock and choked the chicken until he was screaming your damn name into his pillow.”
“You’re a pig,” she spat, pushing past him again and heading for the kitchen.
He didn’t follow her, but his laughter echoed around the sparsely decorated house.
She put a hand to her cheek as soon as she got out of sight. She couldn’t believe he’d just said that to her face! And how he’d put it. Did the same thing we all did in bed last night. So that meant Nix had— While thinking about her—
The thing was, when Clark and Mateo had their hands on her last night, she’d gotten so relaxed, and there’d been that buzz of electricity zooming all throughout her body. She’d felt it before and sure, when she’d been the only one in the shelter, she’d explored herself down there sometimes. Figured out just how to touch herself so she’d—
She poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher and took several long swallows, then grabbed the jam covered bread.
Enough of all that. She was on a mission.
She shoved a large bite of bread in her mouth. The bread was stale and a bit tasteless, and the jam was too tart without much sugar to balance it out. But it wasn’t porridge, which meant it was a damn treat.
She swept back through the living room and out the front door without giving Nix another glance. Nix’s deep chuckle sounded behind her as he followed behind her.
***
“So you’ve fixed all of these things?” Audrey couldn’t keep the awe out of her voice. She didn’t know what she’d expected when Mateo talked about where he worked but it hadn’t been this. She supposed she thought it would be in one of the small shops along main street.
But nope, Nix had led her about a mile and a half down the road to an old grocery store that had been cleared out—on the front there were faded letters proclaiming it had once been an HEB.
They’d entered from the back where big loading dock doors were all open. Audrey’s mouth dropped open when she saw the vast array of engines—some inside cars, some not—and farm equipment and shelves full of trinkets and children’s toys and kitchen appliances.
Her heart started beating a mile a minute as she took it all in.
She’d hit the friggin’ jackpot.
She didn’t know where to look first. Cars. There were cars here! If any of them were close to working, that meant— And if there were cars, then surely there was gas too. Holy shit, the answer to all her problems was right here.
“Well, most of them are in progress,” Mateo said, wiping his temple with his forearm. “And as you can see,” he gestured out at the men working at stations all over the open floor. In the far corner sparks flew as men did welding. “I’m just one of many worker bees.”
“But still,” Audrey said, walking forward and trying to take everything in. There had to be something she could use as a weapon amid all this stuff. Maybe there was even a cordless chainsaw or something. Anyone came near her and waaa-chaa! She’d slice them in two.
“This is so awesome,” she said, turning back to Mateo. She didn’t try to hide her enthusiasm. She didn’t know anyone alive today who wouldn’t find this place amazing. The buzzing noise of electronics came from all around her—after living with only the noise of nature for almost a decade, the sound made her want to cry.
“What did I tell you about taking breaks?” said a balding, middle-aged man striding up to Mateo, “Get back to your rathole n—” He cut off midsentence, eyes widening when he saw Audrey. His countenance did a complete one-eighty. Suddenly he was all charm. “Oh, ma’am. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.” He puffed up his chest. “I’m Shawn Rawlings. The manager of the Jacob’s Well Township Machine Shop here. Everything you see here is my brainchild.” He smiled wide, showing off yellowed teeth.
Ugh, and to think, if a different slip of paper had been drawn, this man could have ended up one of her betrotheds.
She didn’t respond to the pompous ass. She simply turned her back in his face and looked to Mateo. “So,” she smiled. “Show me to your workstation.”
Mateo had been standing stiffly, eyes to the floor, but they flashed up at this. And they were full of… gratitude? Adoration? Something more? It almost took Audrey aback.
She was leaving. It wasn’t good for him to get so attached. She was about to take a step back when his annoying boss said, “You heard her, rat, take her to your workstation.”
“Maybe you have work of your own you’re supposed to be attending to,” Nix said, stepping out from the shadows behind them. “I’d hate to have to tell The Commander his chief tinkerer was too busy getting involved in petty bullshit power plays to do his job.”
That had Shawn going so pale Audrey thought he might pass out. But it served him right.
He just lifted his chin, stared down Mateo and then nodded toward Audrey. “Lovely to meet you.”
And then he turned on his heel and ran away with his tail between his legs.
“You didn’t need to do that,” Mateo said, eyes flashing up at Nix. “I can take care of myself.”
“Good.” Nix shrugged. “Then do it next time.”
A cord stood out in Mateo’s neck but he didn’t say anything else.
“Will you show me around?” Audrey held out an arm to Mateo. A peace offering.
“Oh sure,” she heard Nix mutter behind her, “his arm you can’t wait to take.”
She rolled her eyes and then turned a mega-watt smile on Mateo. “So, tell me everything. Where’d did you learn to do all this? What are you working on today? Can I help?”
Mateo finally seemed to relax. He chuckled and it was a nice sound. When he looked her way, his brown eyes were full of warmth. “You know I’d never deny you anything. Come on.”
He led her on a tour of the huge shop, pausing at each station to introduce her to his fellow workers and to give a little bit of background on who they were and what they were working on. She was impressed with how much he knew about each individual as much as what their projects were. Some were much older than Mateo and others young, maybe even Sophia’s age. And to a one, they all treated Mateo with the utmost respect, several asking his guidance on problems they were stuck with. He always seemed ready with an answer or a fix.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mateo brushed her words off with a wave of his hands.
Audrey pursed her lips. Then asked her other burning questions. “Well where’d you learn all this stuff? And just how old are you exactly?”
Mateo laughed. “I get asked that all the time. I’m twenty-eight. People mistake me for a decade younger. As for how I learned it all—” Another shrug. “I grew up in foster care and I don’t know, stuff just didn’t get done unless I did it.”
“I’m sorry.” Audrey took a small step closer, only just barely tamping down the impulse to put a hand on his arm. “Was that after Xterminate? Did you lose your mother?”
He shook his head, a sad smile on his face. “No, I never knew her. She left right after I was born. My Dad was in and out of jail so,” he shrugged, “foster care.”
Wow. Audrey’s eyebrows furrowed and again she had to fight the urge to reach out to him. She both wanted to and didn’t. In the end, she stopped herself. Because she didn’t know if she would be doing it out of genuine empathy or because she was trying to manipulate Mateo into helping her and that just felt…well, wrong.
She was used to everyone having a sad story—most of the population lost their mother or sisters when Xterminate hit. Charlie used to say she was too soft. You gotta be hard, Aud. No matter what, you keep going. Surviving is all that matters.
“So I was always tinkering with something or other,” Mateo continued, oblivious to her internal debate. “One of my foster dads was into restoring old cars. I learned a lot about working on engines that year and then I just kept up with it everywhere I went after that.”
Be hard. Surviving is all that matters.
“So you work on a lot of cars?” Audrey forced herself to ask.
“Sure,” he said. “Come on, I’ll show you some.”
And he did. Just like that, with no more coaxing or prompting. He showed her a couple trucks whose engines he and a team were rebuilding. Something called a dune buggy that was in pieces all over the floor. Which was unfortunate, because it looked like the perfect light little vehicle to take on any terrain.