I rounded the corner to the short hallway which led to my bedroom just as he opened the bathroom door.
We collided.
Water sloshed over the sides of my glass onto the carpet.
“Oh, crap. Sorry.” Ian reached behind him and grabbed a towel from the bathroom. He bent down to mop up the water before I could stop him.
“It’s fine, really, don’t worry. It’s just water.”
When he stood, only a foot separated us. My gaze roamed from the top of his head to his toes. I couldn’t stop the smile that tugged up my lips. “Nice pajamas.”
He chuckled. “I could say the same to you.”
Whereas I wore green and white striped flannel pajama pants with a plain white T-shirt, Ian wore red and blue flannel pajama pants with a plain blue T-shirt.
“Great minds think alike,” he quipped.
“Don’t you mean great minds dress alike?”
He laughed and then moved to the side so I could pass. Smiling, I entered my room and set the water on my bedside table. Rustling sounded from the living room. It sounded as if he was getting ready for bed.
I was about to ask if he needed anything else when the light turned off.
Taking that as a no, I shut my bedroom door but left it cracked in case he needed something. Climbing into bed, I pulled my sheets up to my chin, loving the feel of my own bed surrounding me.
Moonlight shone through the window. As my eyelids started to drift closed, I realized that in less than a day I’d see Davin, Sara, Sophie, and the other Kazzies on Reservation 1.
That was, if we were admitted.
DAVIN SAT LOCKED in the Chair. His entire body was restrained. Metal bands immobilized his limbs. A tight cuff wrapped around his neck, squeezing the life out of him. I banged against the glass wall that separated us, screaming his name.
He didn’t see me.
They’d done something to his eyes.
Those beautiful, sapphire irises stared unseeing straight ahead.
A machine descended. A whirring drill maneuvered until it was positioned beside his temple. It began cutting into him. Blood splattered. The drill moved deeper, relentlessly.
Davin’s eyes closed as a silent roar erupted from his mouth.
“No!” I screamed and banged on the glass wall again and again. “No!”
My bangs were useless. I couldn’t reach him.
He would die.
And it was all of my fault.
“Meghan!” Someone yelled my name from far away. “Meghan! Wake up!”
“No! Davin!” I pounded again on the glass wall.
Hands shook me. Large, rough hands. “Meghan, please, honey. Wake up!”
I opened my eyes, blinking as hands continued to grip my shoulders. Darkness surrounded me.
“Meghan, wake up! It’s just a dream. You’re okay.”
Ian’s voice permeated the dark room. I blinked again as the nightmare receded, but images still pummeled me. Davin. The Chair. The machines cutting him.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “No!” I sobbed. “Davin . . .”
Ian pulled me into his arms. He was shirtless. Coarse hairs on his chest brushed against my arms. I vaguely recalled him going to sleep with a T-shirt on, but that thought was there and then gone, like whispered words carried away in a breeze. The dream still felt too real.
I took a deep shuddering breath as Ian’s cedar scent washed over me. I blinked again as I became more aware of my surroundings.
Ian was holding me. We were in my bed, and he was shirtless.
“Shh, it’s okay. It was just a bad dream.” He pushed hair from my eyes, apparently oblivious to how intimate our position was. In the darkness, I could make out some of his features. He was watching me.
Stiffening, I cleared my throat. “I was screaming again?”
“Yeah.” He pushed more hair from my eyes. “It took me awhile to wake you up. That must have been some dream.”
I shuddered as images of Davin being tortured resurfaced.
Ian shifted, his arms loosening around me. I awkwardly pulled back. His long, hard thighs pressed against my side from how he sat. The rest of him hovered inches away.
My heart rate increased, and it wasn’t from the dream. I’d never been with a man like this in my life.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded. My hair brushed against my face so I pushed it back. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
He fingered a lock of hair behind my ear. “Good. You scared me.”
Shrugging awkwardly, I mumbled, “Um . . . sorry about that.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”
“Was I screaming loudly?”
He grunted. “It woke me from a deep sleep. My first thought was someone was trying to murder you.”
I ducked my head. “Nope. No murderers in here.” How embarrassing!
He grinned. In the moonlight, I couldn’t see his dimple, but I knew it was there.
We sat like that for a moment, and with each passing second, the tension between us grew. I felt every hard inch of his leg. He made no move to pull back. Instead, he shifted closer.
Breathing harder, I tugged the sheets up higher as his gaze dipped to my mouth. My eyes flashed wide open as I pushed back into my pillow.
He immediately straightened and pulled back. An awkward moment of silence passed before he said hoarsely, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, yeah really, I’m fine.” The words tumbled out of me. I rubbed my eyes. The clock read 4:28 a.m. “Sorry again that I woke you.”
Ian’s hard muscles flexed when he pushed to standing. “We should probably try to get a few more hours sleep. Who knows what today will bring.”
He was right. Come this afternoon, we’d be arriving at the reservation. Who indeed knew what today would bring.
“Yeah. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” After he left, I lay in the darkness, my heart still beating hard and my breath still coming too fast. I turned to face the wall and closed my eyes. Oh, Davin. My beautiful Davin. I’ve never missed you so much.
I SOMEHOW MANAGED to fall back asleep after Ian returned to the living room. His scent stayed in my sheets. It was a nice scent, but it didn’t cause shivers to race to my toes or heat to clench my core. That was what Davin’s light spicy scent of soap and aftershave did to me.
The nightmares stayed at bay for the rest of the night. Instead, I dreamed about prairie fields, strong arms, and love from two men pulling me in different directions.
I didn’t even try to decipher that one when I woke. My brain was apparently trying to stir up unconscious worries that in the real world were not actual problems. Davin had refused to let anything develop between us despite his feelings for me, and Ian had seemed fine with our intimate position during the night, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.
Scents of coffee wafted into my bedroom as I lay there. My door was open. Ian apparently never closed it when he returned to his makeshift bed on the couch.
Banging sounded in the kitchen. Following that a curse when something crashed to the floor. I pushed back the covers and scrambled out of bed.
Ian stood in the kitchen, still wearing his flannel pajama pants, but he now had a shirt on. He grimaced when he saw me. “Whoops. Sorry to wake you. I was trying to make breakfast and instead dropped half of your pans.”
My frying pan, a baking sheet, two mixing bowls, and a whisk were scattered on the floor.
“I see you’ve found my never-been-used cooking supplies.”
Ian chuckled. “Is that why they were so haphazardly stored in that cupboard?”
I eyed the shelf with its door wide open. “Sorry. That cupboard should have a warning label on it.”
Ian’s light blue eyes twinkled. His reddish blond curls were mussed from sleeping, and his beard was thicker than it normally was. Once he picked up the mess on the floor, he put his hands on his hips. “It’s kind of hard to cook breakfast when
you have next to no food.”
I shrugged and grabbed a coffee mug. “I wasn’t expecting to be back for a month, remember?”
He sighed. “I found some cereal, but there’s no milk.”
I pulled a loaf of frozen bread from the freezer. “Toast and jam? I’m pretty sure I have jam in the fridge.”
Ian sighed in exaggeration. “So much for making you omelets, homemade pancakes, and bacon.”
I perked up. “You know how to cook all of that?”
He put a hand to his chest, as if wounded. “I’m hurt you’d think I was capable of anything less.”
I put the bread on the counter and smothered a smile before filling my coffee cup. “I’m always amazed when people can cook. My specialty is burnt everything. Except for coffee. I do know how to make that.”
I took a sip of the rich brew as Ian pulled out plates and put slices of bread in the toaster. I offered to help, but he shook his head. I again got the impression that he liked being the one in charge.
Sipping my coffee, I relented, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Since moving away from my parents’ home when I was eighteen, I’d always lived alone. And prior to a year ago, I’d never had friends. Being alone, doing everything by myself—that was something I was used to. Having a man come into my life and take charge wasn’t.
Frowning, I topped off my coffee. I’d already finished half of the mug.
“Is everything okay?” Ian stood by the toaster, lathering each slice with jam.
I forced a quick smile. “Yes, everything’s fine. Should we sit?”
Ian grabbed his coffee and balanced the two plates on his other arm. Once seated, we both dug in. I felt his eyes on me while I ate, but every time I glanced his way, he looked away as if not wanting to be caught watching me. Our intimate encounter during the night flashed through my mind. Since Ian was acting like it never happened, I intended to do the same.
The clock on the wall struck seven. Mitch was due any minute.
“I’m going to grab my bag and get dressed.” I brushed crumbs from my T-shirt and began collecting the empty plates.
“I can do that,” he said.
He whisked the plates from me and moved to the sink before I could respond. “I’m already packed and ready to go so I’ll clean up. You go on.”
I walked stiffly out of the kitchen. I knew Ian was trying to be nice, but still I felt coddled. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
7 – SHARON
The drive to the reservation took forever. Part of the road was closed for maintenance near Aberdeen. A large section of the neglected highway had finally crumbled. There was no getting through it so we had to backtrack and navigate on county and dirt roads. It was slow going.
To make matters worse, Cate called and said she’d be delayed two days. Apparently, another Compound director had the MRI plane in a different state, and they’d been snowed in by a freak northeast blizzard. The plane was still stuck there, so Cate was out of luck.
In other words, we were on our own for trying to get into the reservation.
“How much farther?” Ian asked as the flat South Dakota land flashed by our windows.
“About half an hour.” My heart pounded harder with every mile that passed. It felt like my soul knew what was coming. I’d soon be reunited with Davin. The Kazzies.
My friends.
Or will I? The doubt clung to my mind. There were no guarantees they would let us in. We may be five respected MRI employees, but we didn’t hold any power.
I studied our ragtag group. Amy sat in the front passenger seat. Mitch drove while Charlie, Ian, and I sat in the back. Since Mitch had an oversized SUV, there was plenty of room.
Ian ate an apple as the miles ticked by. His crunches filled the cab. We’d stopped at the South Dakota Food Distribution Center before leaving Sioux Falls and bought enough food and supplies for a week knowing there wouldn’t be any restaurants or grocery stores around the reservation. It was one of many logistics that we’d had to consider last minute.
As for accommodations, we still hadn’t figured that out. The one thing I was worried about was finding a charging station for the SUV. I knew there wouldn’t be one around the reservation, so we’d have to be smart about how much we drove. Most likely, we’d need to drive to North Dakota to replenish Mitch’s battery.
Heightened energy permeated the cab as the reservation grew closer. It felt like we were at the movie theater, all of us sitting on the edge of our seats as the climax unfolded. None of us knew what the ending would be.
“Where’s Sharon meeting us?” Amy turned in the front seat to face me.
“By the old grocery store in Mobridge.” My leg fidgeted as the outskirts of the forgotten town appeared. Mobridge wasn’t big. It never had been, and since nobody lived here now, the streets were empty.
Ian gazed ahead. Across the Missouri River lay Reservation 1. Snippets of the tall fence could be seen from certain angles.
My heart thumped. It had been over three months since I’d left this place. I’d had no idea if I would ever come back the last time I’d seen that perimeter, but my hope had been if I did, that it would be to free my friends once and for all.
That was a hope that still lived in my heart, yet with each day, it seemed more unattainable.
Sharon was parked outside of the abandoned grocery store. She stood leaning against her car, her arms crossed. Long auburn tendrils escaped from the bun at the nape of her neck. They flowed across her cheeks in the breeze. She wore jeans, sturdy boots, a down jacket, mittens, and a hat. It was even colder up here than it had been in Sioux Falls.
As soon as we stepped out of the SUV, Sharon pulled me into a hug. Her arms wrapped around me as her lavender scent tickled my nose. Our winter jackets made the hug bulky and awkward, but I still returned it fiercely. I’d always been like that with her. Touching Sharon felt like hugging the mother I’d never had.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered. “It’s been awful.”
I pulled back and looked her over. “How have you been? And more importantly, have you been eating and finding water?”
She nodded. “That kid I met, Cash, he lives on an old farm about ten miles from here. He gave me a few gallons and some food.”
“Where have you been staying?”
She pushed a stray tendril of hair from her gaze. “An abandoned house that way.” She nodded north.
I let go of her and stuffed my hands in my jacket’s pockets. “Tell me more about this kid.”
I could feel Ian and my co-workers listening in. All of us stood around Sharon.
Davin’s mother stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Cash’s parents were farmers before Makanza hit. They were one of the few families around here that survived. When the Second Wave struck, they moved up to Bismark. It had been too hard for them to survive here, but now that things are changing, they’ve moved back. They only returned a month ago, but Cash has already seen a lot of what’s happening on the rez.”
My shoulders stiffened. “And he has it all on video?”
“Yes. Hours worth of videos.”
“Good.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Megs, but are you going to introduce us?” Mitch stood with his hands on his hips. Beside him, Amy watched Sharon and me with an alert gaze.
It suddenly struck me that none of them had met Davin’s mother before. I smacked my hand to my forehead. “Sorry. Sharon, this is Mitch Hess, Amy McConnell, Charlie Wang, and Ian Gallager. Mitch, Amy, and Charlie all work with me in Sioux Falls. Ian’s from Compounds 10 and 11 in Washington state. He flew back with me.”
Sharon nodded hellos to everyone.
With the introductions complete, Charlie blew onto his hands and rubbed them together. “What are we going to do from here?”
“From here, we go to the reservation and see if we get in,” I replied.
A cold breeze rolled through the streets. I shivered and not just from the cold. Just across the r
iver lay answers to all of my questions.
Now, it was just a matter of getting them.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, the five of us lay on a hill overlooking the reservation. We’d parked our vehicle at the bottom and then hiked to the top to observe what was going on. But even at this height, we couldn’t see the town, it was too far into the rez.
The rolling prairie stretched as far as the eye could see. A tall, chain link fence surrounded the entire reservation’s perimeter. Watch towers were stationed every couple hundred yards. Even in daylight, it looked like a prison.
Things had definitely changed on the rez since I last visited. More guards patrolled the grounds. In each watch tower, at least four guards were stationed with combat gear and assault rifles.
It was freezing out here. Literally. There wasn’t any snow on the ground, but the earth was frozen solid, and the temperature was only in the twenties. The ground felt like a giant ice cube beneath the tops of my thighs.
“I don’t see any Kazzies.” My teeth wanted to chatter, but I locked my jaw and stayed flat on the ground.
“No, you won’t. They never allow them near the entrance.” Anger filled Sharon’s words.
“How does Cash video them?” Ian asked. He lay on my other side. Beside him were Amy, Mitch, and Charlie.
“And more importantly, how has he not been caught?” Amy’s hair blew in the breeze. It looked like fire.
Sharon shifted on the cold ground. “He’s been sneaking down to the western side where there’s a dip in the valley. He can get pretty close to the perimeter without anyone seeing him. He said there’s an outdoor area near there for the Kazzies. He’s witnessed a lot from that place.”
“An outdoor area?” I pulled my hat down more. “So the Kazzies aren’t locked up?”
A pained expression crossed Sharon’s face. “I don’t know. Cash hasn’t seen anyone in that area in over a week.”
Amy uttered a sound of disgust. “Didn’t you say the president was monitoring Dr. Roberts?”
“She said she would.” I bit my lip. “But maybe she stopped since nothing bad was happening.”
The Complete Makanza Series: Books 0-4 Page 66