Protecting Nova

by Belle Harper

  Noah shouted over and over. But there was nothing but silence in return.

  5

  Noah

  Fuck, fuck, and fuck. Kento was not strong enough. The fact he was here with me meant that there was no one left. Nova was gone. I didn’t know where to find her, but I knew she would find us. That was if that fucker was right. He’d kicked me in the guts before he leaned down next to my face.

  “I will bring her back. Wait here, don’t leave, we will be back, okay? I’m Adam.” he’d whispered in my ear before he cursed and spat in the dirt next to me. He was with those Bakersfield fuckers, the ones that burned our house down. One of those assholes was the one who sliced my head open, which almost killed me. Fuck.

  The sounds Kento made got weaker. I knew he was exhausted, I knew he had tried, but he needed to try harder. I’d scared him with my anger. I’d terrified him, that he withdrew back into himself. No matter what I said, he wouldn’t look at me. He needed to get me undone so I could find the others. I wiggled and pulled, tried so hard to get out of the ropes, but the only thing it did was scratch at my already raw wrists, and cut my body on the twigs and tree roots.

  “Kento, you need to help Nova,” I told him. He was quiet, lying in a fetal position. He slowly pulled himself up until he was sitting.

  “You need to go back to camp and get the knife from the truck. There are a few in there. Just get one, come back, and cut the rope. I know you can do that. You are strong. Just like Nova says. You are. You can do it.”

  He blinked a few times as I saw the despair slowly fall from his face. He stood, only to fall down again. I winced when he hit the ground. His bones were so prominent, his muscles almost gone. But that didn’t stop him. He started to crawl on his hands and knees. He was shaking; the pain he must be in almost broke me. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I knew he was my only chance to get out of this.

  I heard some shuffling sounds. It was now dark; night had come fast. I scanned around trying to see where the sound was coming from. Fuck, I hope it isn’t a bear.

  “Kento?” I breathed. My throat sore from all the screaming for Colton earlier.

  “Yes,” he whispered back. I let out a deep breath and my body sunk in relief. I must had fallen asleep while he was gone. Shit.

  “How long has it been?” I asked as his face came into view. The moonlight just enough to show his features. He shook his head and shrugged and held up the knife. I was relieved.

  “Can you see enough to cut the rope?” I asked as I leaned my body toward him. He made a sound as he touched the different areas the rope was wrapped around.

  “Get my hands free, then I can to do the rest,” I assured him. And he got to work. It was slow going but I knew he was doing his best. When he stopped for a breath, I let him. I didn’t tell him to hurry, I didn’t yell for him to put more pressure. He tried the best he could, I didn’t want to scare him again. I wanted us to be friends and I knew he was exhausted. I was too.

  When the rope finally snapped, my legs fell to the ground. I muttered at the pain as the blood rushed back into body parts long been numb. I rolled over, bringing my hands down and over my feet. I unwrapped the rest of the rope from my wrists and I took the knife from Kento, and he scooted back away from me. I didn’t think; I just grabbed.

  “Shit, sorry, I just wanted to get my legs free,” I mumbled to him as I cut the rope around my ankles and moved onto the rope around my legs. When it all fell free, I stood up and stretched everything. The burn from my muscles was welcomed.

  “Kento, do you know where Colt is?” I stretched my hand out for him to take. He hesitated but then slipped his small cold hand into my large one. I helped him too his feet. He was small like Nova.

  “No, only Ezra.”

  Shit “Take me to Ez.” I helped keep Kento upright as he led me through the trees. He only flinched the first few times, but then he stopped. Like he trusted me, that I wouldn’t hurt him.

  Ezra was almost unrecognizable. Holy shit. My eyes looked everywhere on him, the tears freely running down my face. I caught a sob in my throat. I needed to be like Colton, there was no time to breakdown. I needed to help Ezra. He had a blanket covering most of his body, and a rolled-up blanket under his head.

  “Did you put the blanket on him?” I turned to Kento, who was sitting in a tight ball next to the fire, well what was the fire.

  He looked up to me. “Yes, I tried… I couldn’t…” he broke off and hugged into himself more.

  I get it, he couldn’t do anything else, Ezra is too big to move for someone like Kento. I quickly opened the door to the Jeep and grabbed a flashlight to see the situation better. I gathered Ezra in my arms, my back burned from the added weight, and knees felt as if they would give out. But I carried him to the backseat and laid him gently down. He was safer in here. He moaned as I placed the blanket under his head.

  “Ez? Ezra?” I asked over and over, but I got no more sounds from him. Only his steady breathing, which eased me enough to leave him to find Colt.

  “Get into the Jeep, Kento. It’s the safest place. And watch Ezra, okay? Call out to me if anything changes. I will come running back.” He picked himself up and made his way over to the front passenger side and slipped in. I closed the door behind them, and turned the flashlight to our camp again.

  I needed to find Colton and Ryker. The last time I saw Colt was when we set out to hunt for some fresh meat, but I had to take a crap so I headed away to do my business, while he kept looking for trails. So I started in the direction I last saw him.

  I stumbled though the woods. It was hard to in the dark, even with the flashlight. It hurt. A lot. My throat was dry and scratchy from the amount of times I called out to Colton and Ryker. But there was no answer. Nothing but silence. Even the animals and insects weren’t talking anymore. Daylight was almost here, I could see the sky turning a slight hint of pinks and oranges. I had been looking for hours, I was worried they had been taken. I started to head back the way I thought the Jeep was, but everything was starting to look the same. My eyes were sore from straining into the dark, and my body was tired and shaky, my muscles screamed at me to stop. But I didn’t. I couldn’t stop.

  “Kento?” I called out, hoping he could hear me inside the Jeep. I didn’t want to admit to myself. But I was lost.

  Then I heard it. A low growl in the distance. I ran, tripping over tree roots, and cutting my hands up more as I landed over and over hands first into the ground.

  Until I almost fell into Ryker’s lap.

  6

  Ryker

  Fuck. I had never been so happy to see Noah in my life. I liked the guy, sure, but I loved him right at that moment.

  Colton and I had been beaten, gagged, and tied to this fucking tree. We had heard Noah call out to us for hours, but no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t break free of the holds. Colton started to mumble and then thrashed around. I couldn’t see the wolf, but Colton must see it from his angle because he had been in a panic since we first heard it growl.

  The look on Noah’s face as he glanced quickly from side to side told us there was more than one. Fuck… shit.

  I never thought life was going to get easy after getting Nova back from those sick Raiders, but this was just fucked. Bullshit was what it was. Couldn’t a guy catch a break?

  Noah scrambled quickly over to Colton and started to cut him free. I was not upset by the fact he chose him over me first. It made sense. Colton quickly scrambled up and Noah set his knife onto my ropes.

  Once my mouth was free, I hissed out, “Thank, fuck,” and he agreed.

  “There are at least five of them,” he stated. I saw his eyes dart around in the early morning light. My wrists were all raw and crusted with dry blood from the many failed attempts to break free. My arm hurt like a bitch where I got shot by the Raiders, and those Bakersfield assholes enjoyed that as they tied us up. They kept slamming their knuckles into the wound until I passed out from the pain.

  I looked aro
und to find the wolves staring us down with hungry eyes, their lips raised as they growled in warning, showing us their sharp teeth.

  I backed up slowly and reach down for something, anything I could use as a weapon against them.

  “We need to get back to the Jeep,” Noah said softly. But first we needed to get these wolves away from us. Didn’t need to be bit by one. For all I knew, they had rabies or some shit, and that was so not how I was going to leave this world. Not today, wolf.

  Not today.

  With all the energy I could muster, I ran for a large fallen branch and clutched it just as one of the wolves launched itself at me. I turned my shoulder just in time to avoid it’s teeth. I hurled the branch around in an arc and hit the wolf hard enough for it to land on its side, it made a whimpering sound so I used it too my advantage. I rushed at it and threw everything I had into the swing, only to miss as it as darted around me, stalking me. My arm screamed in pain and dropped to my side. It had not fully healed yet, the muscle still weak itself. But no time to care about that. We needed to get these wolves away from us.

  “Fuck you,” I screamed as I ran towards the wolf. It snarled and snapped its jaw at me. I hit it with enough force that it hit a tree trunk with a loud snap. A whimper came from the animal as it quickly darted away from me and into the woods. I grabbed my throbbing arm and turned to see the other two guys fighting off the other wolves. I charged at them, my branch held high and screamed with everything I had. It was enough to see the wolves back up and flee. I dropped the branch and clutched my knees taking a few deep breaths as my body hummed with pain. I felt my whole body pounding to the beat of my heart.

  “Anyone bitten?” I asked quickly. Because that was the last thing we needed. They shook their heads and I almost stumbled to the ground in relief.

  “We need to get back to the Jeep. It’s Ezra. They fucked him up badly, I don’t know how to help him.” Noah said as he started off without us. Colton grabbed my good shoulder and pulled me to standing and we followed Noah. After a few minutes stumbling around tress he started to call out to Kento. We all called out to him as we tried to find our way back to camp. Kento finally called out to us and I tripped over myself as I ran. We needed to get Nova back.

  “It’s been two days. I don’t give a shit anymore.”

  Colton growled out as he stomped toward me. His eyes were cold and hard as he shoved me into the side of the Jeep. My shoulder smarting at the move.

  I growled back at him and held my position. I had the keys for the Jeep for this exact reason. He wanted to go to her. Noah had told us how one of them said he would bring her back. Noah remembered hearing Nova talk about him, her first love. Adam. I wasn’t sure if that was true, but its all we had to go on.

  I’m not sure he would bring her back. He would have to share her and not every man would be okay with that. I have no problem with sharing her. After that kiss we shared, I didn’t think it would be possible to want someone as much as I wanted her. That there was no way she would want me. But she did. She hadn’t touched or made a move towards me since then. But then she had only kissed Colton and Ezra… well he got more than a kiss. If Ezra was doing a better job of protecting Nova, he would have seen the bastards fucking grab me. Okay… I shouldn’t take it out on him. I would have been doing the same thing. This was just all fucked up.

  “Shit Colton, stop this. Get the fire going again, Ryker. We have to show her the way back.” Noah said, his huge paw on my shoulder, I was a big guy. But Noah was built wider. I stepped away from Colton, leaving Noah there to deal with him and set out for more wood to burn. We thought of a fire, smoke after we couldn’t find our way back to the Jeep. It was a signal, I just hoped it would bring the right person here. And not the wrong ones. I wish I could go to her, if I only knew where she was, I wouldn’t be waiting around.

  I stomped into the woods looking for more wood. Twigs and leaves cracking under my feet as I thought of other things we could be doing, humming some of my favorite songs to try keep my mind off it. Muttering to myself about what we could do. Singing out loud trying to stop my brain from overthinking everything… and that’s when I heard it. My name.

  “Ryker.”

  I faltered at the sound of her voice. I swung my head to where I heard it and I saw her, her hair out hanging loose around her shoulders, brown from dirt mixed in with her white. Her skin was covered in cuts and scrapes, but she was here. She was right in front of me. I broke into a run and clutched her hard to my chest.

  “You’re here, you’re really here.” My body felt light, free. She was back. My beautiful Nova found us.

  “Beautiful, you’re back.” I choked on my words as I gripped onto her, I didn’t realize I was shaking until then. I never wanted to let her go.

  I looked down into her deep brown eyes, and her tears broke my heart. I cupped her cheek in my hand and placed a gentle kiss on her head as I breathed in her scent. “You’re back,” I choked out again as she cried in my arms. I looked up to where I had come from camp. The others, they needed to know she was here. Nova is back.

  “Colton,” I called out. “Noah.” And someone stepped out from behind a tree. He was pale and really fucked up. Dark stains on his tattered clothes and the way he held his right arm told me he had been injured.

  I held Nova close to me and turned so she wasn’t in his sight. “Who are you?” I growled at him. He froze as Nova looked past me to him.

  “Adam. That’s Adam and he needs help.”

  I didn’t care about him, as long as he wasn’t a threat to Nova because all that mattered right now was her. I picked her up and held her to my chest. Ignoring the pain shooting down my arm and ran like hell back to camp.

  “We have to go now!” Nova practically screamed as Colton came into view. He dropped the wood he was carrying and bolted for us as he yelled her name, grabbing her as she spun in my arms to hug Colton. I didn’t want to let her go but I did so she could hug him. Noah came running and she jumped into his arms hugged him tightly. Then I noticed as she scanned the camp.

  Fuck, she was going to see Ezra. And he was no better than he was two days ago.

  7

  Colton

  “Now,” I told Noah, who scrambled over to pack up the tent Kento had been using. The guy had gotten stronger and helped him as best he could, but he just didn’t have the strength yet.

  I didn’t let go of Nova, who desperately tried to get out of my arms and over to Kento. But I didn’t have time for hellos. If she was here and said we needed to go, we needed to go now.

  “Stop,” I ordered and swatted at her ass as I carried her over to the Jeep. Ryker was right there, opening the front door. I let her go as I deposited her on the seat. She jumped straight out and bolted straight for the woods where she had come. What the fuck?

  “Nova,” Noah yelled as he launched himself at her, but she evaded him. She called out “Adam” over and over as I chased after her.

  Adam. The guy Noah had told us was going to bring her back. He was here? I rounded a tree and there she was, holding up this sickly young guy. Fuck. He didn’t look good.

  “Help him,” she pleaded as Noah grabbed him and helped Nova by taking his weight from her. We quickly made it back to the jeep, which was already overcrowded as it was.

  “What’s happened to your arm?” I asked Adam. He was pale and clammy.

  He stuttered a few times before he let me remove the dirty material wrapped around it. It smelled bad and from what I saw, he had a deep nasty gash that went right down to the bone. My stomach rolled at the sight. How had he not bleed out from that.

  “It’s not good,” I stated dryly as I looked away.

  He nodded but didn’t speak. The way Nova watched me, as if I could fix him, was heartbreaking. I looked to Noah, and he looked away. He knew it wasn’t good. Fuck, Ezra was still fucked up and now this. We needed to get out of here before those assholes came back. We were too weak against them. Even I was man enough to admit that. I qu
ickly ran over to put the fire out.

  Ryker had the Jeep started, and Kento was in the front passenger seat.

  I tried to lighten the somber mood. I gave a big fake smile. “All right time for Jeep Jenga,” I said as I moved into the backseat and helped Ezra move into an upright position. His eyes flared open, the pain evident. Then they darted behind me, I looked back and saw Nova had got in and her face dropped as she gasped. “Ezra?”

  He didn’t make a sound as I shuffled him across to the window. I knew for certain he had broken ribs, and I was pretty sure his cheekbone was also broken. We had reset his nose, it would never be straight, but it was better than before. I wished I could do more for him, but we had to wait for Nova, and he refused to let us go get something for the pain.

  He held his hand out, and she jumped right past me and in beside him. Her hands hovered above his body. She didn’t touch but took in all his injuries.

  She started to cry and I held her tightly. Ezra spoke to her in soft whispers. I knew this pained him, but he wanted to comfort her as much as she wanted to comfort him.

  “All right we need to get going, let’s get everyone in. Kento, either you come up the back here or you will be sharing with Nova and Noah.”

  “Your friend Adam will sit in the back with Ezra and Kento. And I will sit on the console in the middle while you get to ride in comfort on Noah, my lady.” I tried to be lighthearted. I wanted her to smile. But I think my words had gone over her head. I forgot she was so much younger than me. She wouldn’t have watched those old fashioned movies my mom used to make me watch.

  Kento looked uncomfortable with the seating arrangement, but there was not much else I could do. Ezra needed to be on the window side so he could lay his head against it. And Adam looked like he was going to pass out, so he needed the other window. Kento just had to suck it up for now and be in the middle. I felt like shit knowing how much emotional pain Kento was in, being close to Ezra and this new guy Adam, but it was the best arrangement I could think of.