The Red Sky Series (Book 2): Blue Cloud

by Greene, Kellee L.

  “I’ll get you out,” Jamie said. “Don’t worry.”

  I forced a tight-lipped smile, but if I said I wasn’t worried I would have been lying. I probably couldn’t have been more worried.

  My brother had managed to survive the attack, both of the attacks, and so did I. What were the odds I’d survive this and see him again? Surely, they were not good.

  It wasn’t like they were going to find us. Nick couldn’t even walk, and even if he could, they had no idea where we were. The only chance at seeing him again, or Bronx and Blair for that matter, was to escape. It would be far easier to get away while we were still outside of the fence.

  “Go on in,” Tom said staring at me. His body was so tensed up I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. “I know it’s not much to look at from here, but it’s what’s inside that matters.”

  Jamie squeezed my hand again and took a step inside the gate. My stomach was sloshing around so vigorously it was like a washing machine on spin cycle. It was a miracle I hadn’t dropped to my knees and lost the small amount of food that was in my stomach.

  When they closed the fence behind us with a loud clattering bang, my entire body shook with it as if I were an extension of the metal. I turned around ready to beg to be released, but the hard look in Tom’s eyes had me taking a step back. It wasn’t just Tom’s eyes on me, it was all of the men. The men that had been with him and the two men that had been at the gate. All of them… staring at me.

  “This way,” Tom said, taking a step around me and leading us through the base. He pointed to the buildings near the fence. “Those have supplies. We live in the buildings at the center of the base.”

  The fenced in area wasn’t that large. There were about thirty buildings, and I could see the fence in every direction.

  “How many people live here?” I asked.

  “Enough,” Tom said. “We’re growing.” He gestured off to the side where there was a tilled-up patch of dirt. “That’s where the garden will go. And in there,” he pointed to a building that resembled a garage, “that’s where we keep the pigs. We only have those on special occasions. We are working on breeding them.”

  I could feel eyes on us as we weaved between the buildings. Tom walked up to one of the buildings and brought a key up to a padlock. It made a loud click before he pulled open the door.

  “Come,” he said taking a step inside the building. I was tempted to push him inside and lock the padlock, but his men were surrounding us.

  Jamie, Danny, and I followed him. The building had looked like a shed on the outside with its tan siding, but inside it looked like a living room.

  There was a sofa and a couple chairs placed on a rug with a colorful triangle pattern on it. On the wall, there were several paintings hanging, but there were no windows.

  “No,” I said taking a step back, but something stopped me. When I turned, I was face to face with one of Tom’s smirking men. “You can’t do this to us.”

  “Trust me,” Tom said placing his hands on my shoulder. He pushed down with so much force I thought my spine was going to snap in two.

  “Please,” I said as Jamie took a step closer to Tom. He stared at him before pulling his fist back and throwing it at Tom’s face.

  Tom ducked out of the way masterfully. It was as though he’d had his share of punches thrown his way.

  “Don’t do that again,” Tom said between his teeth as he stared at Jamie with wide eyes.

  “You can’t lock us up like this,” Jamie growled back just as ferociously.

  Tom chuckled. “I can do whatever the fuck I want. This is my town.”

  “Is there even anyone else here?” I said fighting back the tears.

  “Of course, they’re just not ready to come out yet and say hi.” Tom was still smiling. “Hopefully you’ll adjust quicker than they have. Why don’t you three go on and make yourselves at home?”

  Tom and his men started to back out of the room. I could hear Danny breathing heavily behind me. Tom was just at the door when I saw Danny launch himself toward the door.

  Tom flashed him a smirk as he slammed the door closed. Danny winced when his shoulder crashed into the heavy metal door.

  “Crap! That hurt,” Danny said rubbing his shoulder. His anger quickly turned into panic. “What are we going to do?”

  Jamie and I exchanged a quick glance. It was clear he was just as worried as I was.

  His shoulders rose as he drew in a deep breath. “We’ll figure this out. I’ll get us out of here.”

  Twenty-Three

  There were two doors inside of the small living room. One led to a makeshift bathroom which seemed like a slightly larger than normal porta-potty shoved into the small room. The other was a small bedroom.

  At each corner of the room was a small vent and just below the one in the living room, was a cabinet stuffed with food. I couldn’t help but wonder just how long they planned to keep us locked up.

  I tried to think back to what we saw when we came into the fenced in area. There’d been several buildings near the fence which Tom said held supplies. There were other buildings scattered about that were just like the one we were inside.

  Maybe there were others like us locked in their rooms, or maybe we were the first. But it didn’t really matter. All that really mattered was getting out, and that didn’t seem like it was going to be an easy feat.

  Danny kicked at the door, but it didn’t budge. All it did was make the whole building rattle and shake and causing its metallic noises to vibrate my brain.

  “We’re trapped,” I said dropping down onto the hard over stuff cushions of the sofa.

  “They’ll come back,” Jamie said. “Eventually.”

  “Yeah, and they’ll be heavily armed,” Danny said. “Gwen’s right, we’re screwed.”

  Jamie paced in front of the bookshelf running his hands through his hair. “We’ll figure this out. It’s not time to give up.” Jamie looked at his fingertips. “At least not yet.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, but he kept pacing. “We don’t even know what time of day it is. I’m going to lose my mind being stuck in here.”

  “That’s probably what they want,” Danny said. “Like a form of torture. Wear us down.”

  “Is that something your dad taught you,” I said wishing I wouldn’t have said the words with such a harsh tone. A tone Danny didn’t deserve.

  “He talked about it, he talked about a lot of stuff, but he didn’t teach it to me,” Danny said. “We need to stay calm.”

  I chuckled. “You don’t look all that calm.”

  “I’m not,” Danny said clenching his fists. “But I need to be.”

  “It could be days before they come back,” I said.

  Jamie stopped pacing. “Danny’s right. We need to be ready for when they do come back. We should get some rest. That metal door is so noisy we’ll hear them coming.”

  “I’ll take the sofa,” Danny said nodding. “Makes more sense for you two to have the bedroom.”

  My eyes shifted up to meet Jamie’s, but he wasn’t looking in my direction. His eyes were on the door.

  “It’s not like I’ll be able to sleep anyway,” I said pushing myself up off of the sofa.

  “Well, you’ll just have to try,” Jamie said changing the direction of his pacing until he stopped in front of the bedroom door. His hand slid up the door frame as he peered inside of the room shaking his head. “If we’re rested, we’ll be more alert and more prepared for whatever they’re going to throw at us. We’ll be stronger and ready. We won’t let Tom and his men wear us down.”

  Jamie stepped into the bedroom. I could hear his feet scratching at the floor as he continued his pacing. I glanced at Danny, offering him a small nod before I left him alone in the living room.

  The bed squeaked as I sat down on the edge. It was just a thin mattress on top of an old metal frame and not even a little bit comfortable.

  My eyes moved around the small rectangular room taking in t
he floral painting hanging on the wall just above the headboard. There was a lopsided wooden nightstand where the lamp sat.

  I watched Jamie continue his pacing. His hand shot up to the area just below his neck. Jamie’s fingertips dug into the fabric scratching at the flesh below the collar of his shirt.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “I’m fine,” Jamie said with a loose cough he tried to quickly extinguish with his other hand.

  The room was dark except for the tiny bit of light that came from the bedside lamp. It was plugged into a single outlet. I hadn’t realized it at first, but there had been a lamp in the other room as well.

  “Electricity?” I asked looking up at Jamie.

  “Apparently. My guess is there is probably a generator out there powering all these buildings,” Jamie said. “There were at least ten others just like this one out there… could have been more.”

  Jamie walked across the floor, stopping at the door. Its hinges squeaked as he slowly closed the door.

  “I don’t want to disturb Danny,” Jamie said.

  “Okay,” I said squinting at him with one eye through the darkness. Jamie was in a strange mood. Even before we arrived.

  He let out a breath and crossed his arms. The silence in the room between us was making my throat feel dry.

  “For all we know, those other buildings contain people who want to be here,” I said lowering my voice as if everyone else in the camp could hear me.

  Jamie had a faraway look in his eyes. I bit my lip as the tension between us grew. When he opened his mouth, it snapped like a rubber band.

  “I need to talk to you about some things,” Jamie said turning and leaning back against the wall.

  My eyes darted up, meeting his blue eyes in the dimly lit room. “Oh?”

  “I meant to do this sooner, rather I was waiting for a better time, but I have to do it now. I need to tell you how I feel,” Jamie said taking a step away from the wall… closer to me. “About you.”

  My heart started to pound even faster than it already was. It seemed like an awkward time to talk, but it was better than sitting around dwelling on how I couldn’t get out of the building. If I continued to focus on that, surely my anxiety would get the better of me, and I’d have a panic attack. That wasn’t something any of us needed.

  “About me?” I asked.

  “I know I’ve been crazy,” Jamie said sitting down next to me. His voice was soft, probably softer than the two pillows lying at the head of the bed. “You probably think I’m a real idiot by now.”

  “Of course I don’t,” I said shaking my head.

  “It’s just that with everything that was going on, it was hard to understand what I was feeling, and maybe it still is, but I do know one thing,” Jamie said swallowing hard as he took my hand into his. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I want to do everything I can to make sure you’re safe.” Jamie sighed. “I really, really like you, Gwen, and I wish to God things would have been different.”

  “Different?” I didn’t think he was talking about what had happened to end the world.

  Jamie looked down, letting a small smile stretch across his face. “Wish I would have asked you out sooner, you know, before all of this. I’ve never been good at asking women out. And when I have, it hasn’t gone well.”

  “You didn’t have a problem with Blair,” I said wishing I could take the words back.

  Jamie laughed. “I didn’t ask her out. She more or less demanded a date.” Jamie shook his head. “You know how she is. Anyway, she’s the last person I want to be talking about right now.”

  Jamie leaned closer. I could feel his breath against my cheek.

  The already warm room had suddenly turned into a tropical rainforest. My heart rate quickened as he inched in closer and closer. Each second felt like an eternity.

  His fingers slid off my hand and onto my thigh sending a shiver down my spine. Every fiber of my being tingled.

  “Jamie,” I said breathlessly as I stared at his lips through half-closed eyelids.

  His mouth was so close that he and I were sharing the same oxygen. It was mind-numbingly intoxicating.

  As his hand slid further up my leg, it felt as though my body was being wound like a clock. Each twist of the dial tightened every muscle in my body.

  His lips curled into a small smile as if he could tell what he was doing to me. “Gwen.”

  My name coming out from between his lips was like him speaking an exotic foreign word. The way his lips moved when he said it was overwhelming. Intense.

  I stood abruptly, unable to take everything. It had become far too much for me to hold on to. I needed fresh air. I needed to get away from him.

  After four steps, something came over me. I realized it wasn’t that I wanted to get away from Jamie, in fact, it was the last thing I wanted.

  Since the moment I first saw Jamie I wanted him. Of course, I never thought it would happen. Just because I was trapped in a giant storage bin didn’t mean I should deny myself of what I wanted. In fact, it was all the more reason I should have what I want because maybe I’d never get a chance like this again.

  I wasn’t going to deny it any longer. I wanted to be closer to Jamie. To feel alive.

  Our eyes met through the darkness, and he charged at me. He noisily slammed his palms against the wall boxing me in before I could escape.

  His body moved closer. And after a long moment, neither of us could stand it a second longer. Our lips touched as if we’d both gotten a green light.

  Twenty-Four

  Jamie’s hand felt like a hot coal as it slid down my back toward my bottom. The air between us was so hot, it felt like I was in a sauna, but yet, his touch caused me to shiver.

  His lips moved down my neck as he grabbed my wrist and pressed it tightly to the wall over my head. I gasped as Jamie pressed his hips forward and I bit my lip at the feel of him through my pants.

  The metal coffin we were stuffed inside of was noisy. The bed squeaked, and the metal walls clanked.

  My fingers twisted into Jamie’s hair as he kissed every inch of my exposed skin. He twirled the fabric of my shirt around his fist and pulled it downward giving himself more of my flesh to torture.

  Jamie was a different person. Passionate. He knew what he wanted, and it was driving me wild.

  His hands moved over my body as if he was trying to memorize every inch.

  “I want you,” Jamie whispered into my ear as his fingers popped the button on my pants. “I want you so bad.”

  “I want you too,” I said, my head spinning with desire. It was like I was a balloon slowly being filled with air and sooner rather than later I was going to burst.

  Jamie jerked his knee between my legs and drove them apart. My fingertips dug into his muscular shoulders. I slid my hand down his rock-hard chest and over his abs.

  He grabbed my hand and pulled it up over my head with the other one. Jamie held both hands tightly with the one. He grinned at me as he rocked his hips from side to side.

  I swallowed hard before smiling back at him. Jamie gazed into my eyes as his finger grazed my cheek. His thumb glided over my lower lip before he kissed me again, letting his palm glide down over my breast, finishing where he’d left off at my pants.

  My breath felt as though it was stuck in my throat as he yanked down my pants letting them drop to the ground. I looked up at him through my eyelashes as I stepped out of them.

  “So beautiful,” Jamie said, his eyes moving up my body stopping when our eyes met. He leaned closer kissing my jaw.

  I couldn’t stand his torture any longer. I wanted him, but I couldn’t move my arms. It was almost as if he was waiting for my okay.

  “Jamie,” I said my voice squeaking awkwardly. I almost didn’t even recognize my own voice.

  “Yeah?” he said, grinning.

  “Yeah,” I smiled back, and he unbuttoned his pants with his free hand.

  I was barely able to draw in a breath befor
e I felt him between my legs. Everything disappeared as Jamie pressed his lips to my neck and rocked his hips forward.

  I wanted to move my hands, run my fingers through his hair… or glide them up and down his back feeling his muscles tighten as he moved. But Jamie was in complete control of everything, including my body.

  “Oh God,” I said with a heavy breath as he quickened his pace.

  The room started to spin. All of the pale colors swirled together putting us into what felt like the eye of the storm.

  Every fiber of my being was wound as tight as it possibly could be. I ached for a release.

  My breaths quickened as Jamie brushed his lips against mine. His hips pressing me harder against the wall with each rapid movement.

  It felt as though I was drowning in pleasure when the eye of the storm shrunk and sucked us inside. Explosions rippled through my body, becoming bigger and bigger as the tension in my body hastily dissolved around me.

  “Oh God, oh God,” I repeated as the sparks of my release turned into fireworks.

  Jamie's lips pressed hard to mine as if attempting to silence our pleasure. After a moment he pulled back, touching his forehead to mine.

  The smile that stretched across his face was filled with satisfaction. I could feel the one on my face matching his as he lowered me back to the ground.

  Jamie held me for a moment making sure I was steady on my feet before pulling up his pants. He kissed my lips, my forehead, and then the top of my head.

  “Being with you makes me feel like a whole new person,” Jamie said with a smile that nearly turned my legs into jelly.

  I quickly pulled on my pants and patted my hands over the fabric smoothing out the wrinkles. My eyes were on the door. “You think he heard us?”

  “Probably,” Jamie said wrapping his arm around me.

  I covered my face with my hands. “I can’t ever leave this room.”

  Jamie chuckled and squeezed me tighter. He led me over to the bed and turned me, so I was facing him.