Ryder carries me up the ditch, and I think to myself. Maybe Ryder’s starting to like me a little. Or at least tolerate me more.
Reese and Tobe give relieved sighs when the two of us show up. When Ryder sets me down and climbs into the driver’s seat of the jeep, Tobe runs over and hugs me. There are tears welling up in her eyes, and she smiles shakily. “When the fighting got done and we realized you weren’t here, we feared the worst. We had to look at each of these things to see if one of them was you. I’m so glad you’re ok.”
She pulls away from me and climbs into the jeep without another word. I notice that during our exchange, Reese kept a respectful distance, and he doesn’t move to hug me or even congratulate me on surviving on my own for the remainder of the fight. He just looks away and hops into the back with Tobe, leaving me up front with Ryder. I’m not sure what’s going through his mind, but I don’t like it.
When I get in next to Ryder, he finally speaks. “I’m glad you’re ok,” Reese says softly. I look over my shoulder at him. “I was really worried about you.” He’s looking out the window, and I wonder if that’s all that’s bothering him.
He might be jealous of Ryder, a part of me whispers. Ryder got to play hero and carry you away like a damsel in distress. That might have angered Reese a little. He’s probably wishing it was him that got to save you, not his brother.
Is that what’s happening? Am I creating a rift between the brothers? Ryder and I seem to get along alright, but I wouldn’t consider us friends, let alone anything more than that. Reese is the one that’s shown interest in me, not his brother. I don’t know where he’s getting this idea, if that’s even what he thinks.
Ryder and I are two completely different people. I’m shy, trusting, and a follower. He’s brave, abrasive, a born leader, and not to mention perfectly capable of taking care of himself and others. Unlike me.
Suddenly, I remember something my mother said to me once. “Opposites attract, Sam. Sometimes your soul mate is that man that annoys the hell out you and makes you just want to smack some sense into him.”
I glance at Ryder from the corner of my eyes, and frown. Ryder definitely fits part of that description. I can’t count the times I’ve wanted to reach over and smack him, but that’s because he’s annoying and often times rude, not because I’m secretly falling for him.
Am I?
It shouldn’t be possible to fall for one guy that you’ve only known for about three whole days, let alone two guys. Let alone two brothers! What the hell am I doing?
While we drive back to the SUV, I start to think about both Ryder and Reese. Reese has a sense of humor, and he’s often more patient with me, and he actually tried to get to know me better. I don’t have a lot of experience with men, but I’m fairly certain he’s shown genuine interest in me.
Ryder, on the other hand, has made no attempts to get to know me, and he doesn’t have a sense of humor. He gets angry and frustrated easily, and he hasn’t shown interest. At times, he seems to tolerate me only because Reese does.
But those eyes…
I think about the soft look in his eyes and the gentleness of his hands as he cleaned and bandaged my leg. He didn’t try to take advantage of me, or make any rude comments about my stupidity; he just took care of me, and then carried me back to the others.
Part of him has to care what happens to me, or he would have left me behind instead of looking for me. Right?
I clear my mind, and try not to think about anything for the rest of the drive. When I finally see the SUV, I almost cheer along with Tobe. We’re just minutes away from transferring our supplies to the jeep and heading up to Michigan. Then we’ll find a safe place to survive and make lives for ourselves.
Everything is going to be alright.
Ryder parks the jeep and the four of us get out and stretch our legs. I feel awkward, uncomfortable, and exposed wearing nothing but my shirt, boots, and panties, and I can’t wait to get my clean pants on. They’re in a duffel bag in the backseat, along with my cooler of vegetables, and I can’t wait to get to those too. As I pull on my clean pair of jeans, I open the cooler, and freeze.
The cooler is empty.
“Hey, did you guys eat the rest of these vegetables earlier?” I call over my shoulder.
“No, why?”
I look back at Ryder. “The vegetables are gone. I was sure there were some when we left. You guys really didn’t eat them?”
“Someone got into the water too,” Tobe says from the back. “There are three bottles missing. And some of the ammunition is spread out.”
Ryder and Reese just have time to raise their weapons when three armed men emerge from the trees, guns raised. One of the three lunges for me, and I bring my knee up into his stomach. He coughs, fighting to catch his breath, and I duck behind Ryder for protection.
The three strangers are evenly spaced out about fifteen feet from us, and all of them have their guns pointed at Ryder or Reese, who are clearly the two biggest threats of our group. Two of these men are holding shotguns, and the third has a powerful looking rifle, one I recognize from the back of our SUV.
“They raided our guns and supplies,” Reese says angrily, taking a step forward. His rifle is aimed directly at the heart of the biggest man, the one in the middle with the rifle. He looks to be the leader, and he’ll be the most important one to take out if it comes to a fight.
“You’re trespassing,” one of the men says tightly. “This here is our stuff.”
“Like hell it is,” Ryder snaps. “These are our supplies, and we’re not giving them up. So you can just give us back our ammo and be on your way if you know what’s good for you.”
“We do know what’s good for us, and it’s this stuff right here,” he says with a thick accent of some kind. “We’ve been walking for four days with little water and no food. We thought we’d won the lottery when we found this abandoned car and these supplies.”
“This car isn’t abandoned. It’s ours,” Reese says, glaring. “And you can’t have any of it. Now, return the things you’ve taken, and we’ll let the three of you walk away from this.”
The leader laughs. “You’re outgunned and outmanned. Don’t forget that. You’re two cowboys with two dependant girls waiting to be taken care of,” he says, slowly looking Tobe and I both over. I don’t like the way his eyes linger on our bodies. “I’ll make you a deal though. We’ll keep the water and give back the ammo, in exchange for an hour with her,” he says, pointing at me. “She looks like a fighter.”
Ryder moves in front of me, shielding me with his body. His hands tighten their grip on his rifle, and he narrows his eyes. “Try it and you’ll be dead before you can undo your pants.”
My hands start to tremble, and right now I’d rather be facing an entire horde of zombies than these men. Zombies can’t think, they can’t plan, and they can’t negotiate. They just do what their basic instincts tell them to do. They don’t plan to screw people over.
The leader smiles. “All I need is one hour, and you can have your ammo back. There doesn’t have to be any bloodshed today. We’re all just trying our best to survive this crazy world, right? Survivors help one another.”
“Not gonna happen,” Ryder says. “If you don’t give back what you took and take off, you’re gonna regret it. I can promise you that.”
The leader laughs again, but his two friends don’t look so happy. They’re staring at the brothers and their rifles with uncertain glances, and I think they’re considering running. I don’t blame them. Ryder and Reese look incredibly rough around the edges, and they look like the kind of guys you would never willingly mess with.
The leader seems to sense that his partners are wavering, and tries one last desperate plea. “Alright, we’ll hand back the ammunition we took, just don’t hurt us.”
He sets his gun on the ground, and takes a couple of magazines from his pocket. Slowly, he walks forward, hands up in surrender. I instinctively back away, not wanting to be anywh
ere near this horrible man. When he’s near the open hatch of the jeep, he sets the magazines inside, and reaches back into his pockets for more.
Instead of ammunition, he pulls a knife out of his pocket and lunges at Ryder.
Chapter Nine
Ryder reacts fast, and jumps away from the knife. It slashes through the air, missing his neck by a couple of inches. Ryder grabs the leader’s wrist, and twists it sharply. The leader curses and the knife falls from his hands and into the dirt. Ryder twists the wrist harder, and it snaps.
He draws the leader closer, and brings his knee up directly into his stomach. The leader wheezes harshly and doubles over, trying to catch his breath. Ryder doesn’t give him the chance though. He brings his arm up, and slams his elbow down directly onto the leader’s spine. He falls to the ground and doesn’t move again.
His two companions just stare at him, unsure of what to do next. They’re still holding their weapons, but Reese has them at gunpoint. I can’t see what he says to them, but they drop their shotguns to the ground and start to back away, hands raised. They don’t want to mess with Ryder or Reese now that their leader is laying face-down on the ground, and isn’t responding to their calls.
“Leave now, or end up like your boss. The choice is up to you, friends,” Ryder says, glaring at them. “And for future reference, try to have a little more respect for women. If you don’t, I’ll teach it to you in a way you won’t forget. Now, come pick up your friend.”
It sounds like something one cowboy would say to another after a bar fight. Come scoop up your friend. For just a second, I feel like smiling at how badass Ryder and Reese are. I’m incredibly glad they found me when they did, or I could have ended up with two losers that didn’t know a gun from their elbow.
The two strangers dart forward, pick up one arm each, and drag their friend back into the trees they came from. The second they’re gone, Reese picks up their weapons from the ground and keeps one watchful eye on the woods, and another on the SUV. Ryder starts packing the ammunition into a duffel bag of his, and transfers it to the back of the jeep.
While he’s busy checking and rechecking the guns, Tobe and I stack the three and a half remaining cases of water, and then pile the food in beside it. There isn’t much, and I’m upset that the vegetables are all gone, but our losses could have been worse. Just thinking about what that monster wanted makes my skin crawl, and I rub my arms nervously.
Ryder glances over at me and frowns. “Are you ok? You know me and Reese would never let them touch you. They would have had to go through both of us to get to you, and it wouldn’t have been worth the effort.”
“I’m fine,” I say, cracking open a bottle of water. I take a sip and, even though it’s warm, it makes me feel much better. I cap it, and relax a little. “Let’s just get out of here before they decide to come back. They might have friends in the area nearby.”
Ryder nods, and packs away the ammunition. He and Reese take the seats up front, and Tobe and I hop in back. She’s still shaking slightly, and she doesn’t look up to conversation. I wonder if she’ll always react this way to threat, or if it’ll get better with time and patience.
I’ve never met someone that suffered as much as she did at the hands of the Warriors, but from what I know about victims like her, her behavior isn’t all that abnormal. It doesn’t necessarily help our situation, since she doesn’t do much but use up supplies and cry herself to sleep, but I don’t do that much either I guess.
Ryder starts the jeep. “How much farther do we have to go?” I ask.
Reese looks down at the map in his lap. “About seven hours. We should make it by morning if we drive straight through the night.”
I lean forward to peer into the driver’s seat. “Ryder, are you going to be ok driving that long? I know I’m not great for a lot of thing, but I do know how to drive a jeep. I could take a turn if you’re tired.”
He turns and actually smiles at me. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll be alright for a bit longer. But, if you really want to, I guess I can let you steer the boat once we get to the marina. You ever spend time on a boat before?”
“I had an uncle that lived in Georgia. He took me out on his boat a few times, but I never got to do any of the work; I just got to watch him and take notes. It’s been a long time though. I’d probably crash the boat and strand us out in the middle of Lake Michigan.”
“That would suck,” Ryder says dryly. “Alright, perhaps you won’t be steering.”
Smiling, I lean back in my seat, and stare out the window. Ryder isn’t driving as fast as he was the night before, but the trees still zip by at an unbelievable rate. Staring at them too long makes me feel queasy and sick, so I close my eyes, hoping to get a bit of rest before we reach the marina and the island.
“Hey, wake up.”
A hand gently shakes my shoulder, and I swat them away, turning over to go back to sleep. After yesterday, I could definitely use some more rest for what lies ahead. We still don’t know how infected the island might be; we could have a week’s worth of decontamination to do, or even more.
“Sam, we’re here. Get up.”
I recognize Reese’s voice, and slowly open my eyes. Reese is leaning in through my open car door, and his face is inches from mine. For a minute, we just stare at each other. His blue eyes meet mine, and he smiles easily.
My heartbeat quickens, and there’s a gentle fluttering in my stomach that makes me feel giddy. He slowly reaches out a hand, and I think he wants to touch my cheek. There’s a second of indecision, and he leans in.
“What’s taking so long?” Ryder shouts. “We don’t have all day!”
Reese drops his hand and backs away quickly, leaving me alone in the backseat of the jeep. I’m not sure how I should feel: relieved, or upset. There’s so little time to just stop and figure out your feelings or thoughts that I have no idea what to do. Should I have feelings for Reese? But what about my feelings for Ryder? Do I even have any?
Tobe appears by my side. The corners of her lips are tilted up in the barest of smiles. “Looks like you have a decision to think about in the near future. Choose wisely.”
I look up at her. “What?”
“I would think that having two hot redneck cowboys entirely devoted to you would be nice, under normal circumstances. Right now, that probably doesn’t feel so cool, does it?”
“Would it ever? No matter what happens in the future, somebody is going to get hurt. Whether it’s one of them, both, or me, somebody is going to have to pay.”
“Try not to think about that right now. Instead, focus on helping us find a working boat. It would suck to come all this way just to get stuck at the marina with no way to get to the island.”
I hop out of the jeep and follow Tobe over to where Ryder and Reese have their heads down. My ankle is sore, but usable. The two brothers are planning something, and I want to be a part of it. I want to actually contribute, and not just as an occasional zombie killer. I want to be worth the food and water I take up.
The two look up when we join them, and Reese smiles, but he seems nervous, and more than a little confused. That makes two of us buddy…I think to myself. “So, what can I do to help out a little more around here?”
“We’re gonna split up and get things done twice as fast. Two of us are gonna check the docks for keys to a working boat, and the other two are gonna spread out and check for other supplies we’ll need to sustain ourselves.”
“Like what kind of supplies?”
“Batteries, flashlights, boxes of matches, warm clothes for winter, if we can stay that long, and maybe some fishing supplies. Anything else we can find that might come in handy. We should probably build a first aid kit that at least has bandages and antiseptic cream.”
“Who’s going where?” Tobe asks, straightening a little. She’s not trembling or sobbing and, for the first time since we met, she looks stronger, healthier, and happier. She’s holding a crowbar in her hands, and she’s twisting i
t in anticipation.
“Tobe, I want you and Reese to search these docks for any boat that still has the keys. I know it’ll be hard to do, but the keys might be in someone’s pocket, and you’ll have to dig around for them. Be careful, and be back at the jeep in an hour or less, got it?”
Tobe leans closer and whispers to me. Reese and Ryder give us strange looks, but I just nod, and she smiles before taking off. Reese doesn’t look happy to go, but he does. With his rifle held up, he scans the area around him, looking for any signs of danger. Tobe is stuck to his side, waving her crowbar dangerously. She looks ready for a fight, but I hope they don’t find one and risk getting hurt.
Ryder looks down at me. “Well, let’s go. We’re on supply detail. Anything we can find that might be of use can go in this,” he says, handing me a duffel bag. “Remember to keep an eye out for anything that moves. You’ve still got that gun, right?”
I nod. The Glock 17 is fastened in a holster at my hip, and I have two extra magazines in my pocket. Hopefully I won’t get flustered and drop them this time. If we’re planning to survive long, we’ll need all the ammunition we can get our hands on. “Yeah, I’ve got it.”
The holster feels bulky and uncomfortable on my belt, but I can’t risk going without one. After running into those three men yesterday, we have to be more careful than before. Not that anyone in their right mind would mess with Ryder.
He looks like he was born to survive the end of the world in one piece.
He’s wearing faded jeans, black combat boots, a tight-fitting black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. There is a thigh holster for his handguns on each leg, and there’s a hunting knife in a sheath on his belt. He should look like a cliché Rambo, but he doesn’t. He just looks like a muscular hero.
He catches me admiring him, and before I look away, I swear I see a faint reddish tinge to his cheeks. “Like what you see?” he asks, playing off his obvious embarrassment.
I smile and duck my head. “What if I do? You gonna tease me about it?”
Zombie Island Page 8