“What about Alpha? I’ve heard it is pretty rough in there,” Frankie asked.
I again scoffed, “That’s an understatement. You’re not human in there. I don’t even think animals are treated the way those prisoners were treated. Not that anyone would care about the blacklisted. Most of them were one teaspoon away from peeling their own skin off.”
“So how did you get out?” They both leaned forward tentatively.
Feeling uncomfortable, I quickly dodged the question. “It was Diesel’s plan. Thanks to his contacts, he got us out.”
“Those contacts are an amazing discovery,” Frankie said with a grin. “Did he tell you how he did it? Or how he made them?”
“What do you think you’re doing?” I jumped as Diesel stepped into the camp light. The sticks in his hands snapped as he closed his fists. “I don’t like you asking about my business.”
“We’re just curious.” Frankie shrugged. “No harm in swapping stories over a campfire.”
Diesel scowled as though a bad thought had been gnawing at him for hours. He reached down and pulled me into a stand by my elbow. “This conversation is over.” He yanked me around with him as he turned, “Come, I want to talk to you in private.”
His fingers dug into my arm as he ushered me away from the camp fire. As I walked, a sense of unease filled me. He didn’t speak when I pulled against him, “What’s your problem?” His rage bruised my skin and I jerked myself out of his grip. “Let me go! What’s gotten into you?”
Diesel’s palm lashed outwards, hitting me so hard in the chest that I gasped. The impact shoved me back into the tree as Diesel held his forearm to my throat, pinning me against the trunk. The flash of his blade caught the moonlight as the chilled metal nipped my neck. Immediately, I clenched up, automatically holding my breath as Diesel’s face blurred in with the shadows.
I could only see his eyes beneath the mane of hair, and how his lips pulled back to bare his teeth. “Alright, enough of this bullshit!” He was so close that I could feel his body heat through my clothes.
I inhaled a sharp breath and stretched my neck away. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t fuck with me! I know you’re up to something!”
“What?” I caught his gaze. The shadows sunk into every dark speck of his intense stare. He looked crazed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Listen carefully because I’m not going to repeat myself. You do not want to mess with me.” He pressed his forearm in a little harder, squeezing my throat. “I’m always going to be two steps ahead of you, so whatever you’re planning you can just forget it.”
“I’m not… planning… anything! Stop… stop I can’t breathe!” He eased back and I gasped loudly. Adrenaline pumped into my body, swelling my head with panic. “What the hell is wrong with you, you lunatic?”
Diesel didn’t say anything. He just looked at me. He looked at me like I was a walking, talking dog that he couldn’t figure out what to do with. He kept the blade near my throat, but for a split second, I forgot it was there. “You’re unbelievable! The others were right. You’re ... you’re just some psychopath.”
“No, no I’m not the crazy one here. I know you’re planning something. I know the look of a back stabber when I see one.”
Diesel inched closer as the prick of the blade pressed into my voice box again. The way he looked so intensely into my eyes was like he was trying to stab me with them.
“If I’m such a raging lunatic, then why would you come back to me?”
My gaze hardened. What the hell does that mean? Diesel must have seen the confusion cross my face as his brows tightened. “Why did you come back?”
The question shocked me that my jaw dropped a little. “I don’t understand—”
He snarled, “Back in Chinatown, when we were jumped by Twiddle Dumb and Twiddle Dee, there was no way I could follow you. You were out on the streets, you had the contacts, and you were free to go anywhere you wanted. I want to know why? Why did you come back? What do you really want?”
The words choked up in my throat as though I was swallowing rocks. Had this been bugging him the whole time? I vaguely remembered the look of distrust he had the moment I returned to the room. I didn’t think too much of it back then, but now it made sense.
“If it makes you feel any better, I did contemplate on running, but I figured it was pretty dog of me to ditch you.”
He shook his head and pressed the sharp tip closer into my throat, “That’s not an answer.”
“What do you want me to say? Sorry that I didn’t let them blow your brains out?” The answer as to why I didn’t want to leave him wasn’t just out of guilt. People who went through the change lose their sense of trust. When I was young, I was often teased for showing signs of loyalty or dependability on others. They said I was being manipulative, that no one acted like that anymore. That I couldn’t be trusted.
“I’m not trying to trick you and I’m definitely not planning some sort of ambush. I didn’t leave you, Diesel, because you didn’t leave me. Plain and simple.”
Diesel lowered his arm back to his side. As he stepped back, I quickly smoothed my throat and checked for blood. He watched me with calculating eyes and I squirmed frustrated at his judgemental stare. “You still don’t believe me?”
“Of course I don’t believe you. In this fucked up world, trusting someone is like drinking poison. It will kill you it’s only a matter of when.”
“Frankly, Diesel, I don’t care what you think of me. I did what I thought was right, so at least I can sleep with a clear conscience and-”
“Oh would you just shut up!” He growled with a frustrated eye roll, “It’s just…no one has- I didn’t expect you to come back. You surprised me.”
His answer dropped a stone to the base of my chest. For a split second, I even felt pity for him. Not being the most trusting person either—hell, I packed a hunting knife when I went to the toilet—I understood him on some level, but I didn’t think my distrust in others stemmed so deep that I couldn’t trust anybody. I had no idea if I felt more angered or sad that Diesel lumped me in with everyone else.
Diesel’s jawline jumped as he bit down and turned himself away. I weakly shook my head. “Obviously, you’ve got serious trust issues you have to work out. You’re the one who searched me out, remember? This is your plan…” Before I could finish speaking, Diesel turned away. I shouted after him, “If you don’t trust me, then how am I meant to trust you?”
He only slowed to throw his voice over his shoulder. “You’re not.”
CHAPTER TWENTY:
I didn’t sleep well that night. The drop of temperature definitely didn’t help as I curled my knees to my chest and clenched the blanket close to my body. My own stupid emotions blinded me. His acts of protectiveness weren’t out of concern for my wellbeing, but concern for his own gain. I mean, of course I knew that I was just some freak with no soul imprint, the perfect blank canvas. Beyond that deformity, I wouldn’t be in the same room as him and he definitely wouldn’t stick his neck out to save mine.
I cursed myself internally. I was the one being irrational here. I was the one who forgot what the deal was and how people acted in this world. We may be aiming for the same goal, but that didn’t put us on the same team.
The distinct sound of faraway voices woke me up. My eyes blurred as I sat up and glanced around. The blue sun light squeezed between the shutters suggesting it was dawn. Frankie and Vance slept head to toe on the bunk bed beneath me as Diesel elected to stay outside on the couch. I positioned my ear against the window but the movements were too subtle to catch. Quietly, I crept down the ladder and went outside to find the couch empty. I looked around, pulling my jacket around my body when I noticed him spying on something behind the caravan. He had his back pressed to the wall and held the pistol next to his waist.
He remained alarmingly still as though unaware of me. I gulped at the feeling of unease climbing my throat, remembering our
last conversation. Part of me even felt the need to arm myself with a pistol in case he figured trusting me wasn’t worth the risk.
“Diesel?” I called as he spun and shushed me. With a slight tilt, he motioned me over and I crept on the soft pad of my toes toward him. He shifted to the right to let me squeeze between him and the caravan.
Around the corner approached a small band of men who had scattered themselves throughout the park. They were working their way up from the entrance, rifling through each caravan and poking into dark corners. They moved in a pack of fourteen and left a trail of gasoline behind them as they moved.
“Raiders,” Diesel whispered as he crouched closer. I swallowed heavily, unable to count the amount of machetes, bullets and auto machine guns that armoured the men. “After they’ve scouted the area, they’re going to set the whole place on fire.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I used work for a gang like them. It’s a way to mark where they’ve been. We have to leave.”
“I’ll wake the twins.” I quickly and quietly went back into the caravan where I shook the twins awake. I covered their mouths to shush them and motioned to be quiet. After briefly explaining what I saw outside, the twins were fast to get up. We shrugged into our backpacks, but the invading group had already formed a thick wall of bodies throughout the park. They talked in shouts to one another, boasting about their last catch and kill. Diesel indicated to move further into the back of the woods, away from the camp.
The dampened leaves helped quietened our movements as we reached the back fence to find barbwire webbed over the top. Beyond the fence, the ground dropped into a steep dip and continued into thick thorn bushes. Even if we attempted to climb over, our clothes would catch in the spiked loops and we could risk dangling like a human piñata.
“Well… we can’t get through here,” Vance whispered. “Any other plans?”
“Maybe we should head back to where we came in last night; it didn’t have any barb wiring.”
Diesel shoved off the fence irritated, “It’s too far. We’ll have to go through them to get to it.”
“Don’t tell me you’re scared?” I teased.
Diesel cocked his eyebrow and glanced at me side on, curling that arrogant smirk I had grown to recognise. I checked over my shoulder at the noise from the men as they moved slowly and casually up the campsite. Some were even whistling as they slashed their way into abandoned trailers. “If we just stick to the sides, hopefully they won’t see us.”
Frankie nodded. “We don’t have much of a choice. We stay here they’ll set fire to the entire camp and we’re dead. Let’s go.”
I was thankful for the low sunlight and the barrage of trees scattered between them and us. With my pistol in hand, I breathed a little easier; the familiar weight reminded me of home.
We moved swiftly to the far left of the park and pressed ourselves into the back of the abandoned trailers. Instead of moving on, like we had hoped, the men took up their own camp and settled down. I hadn’t realised just how small the caravan park was until I was trapped within the walls of it. Diesel signalled with his hands to move on. Unable to avoid it, we moved back into the centre where the men were heavily gathered. In front of us, perhaps no further than a stone’s throw, were five men discussing the next spot to hit. Separating us from them was an old trailer, three scattered trees and a single lawn chair. Once we got past them, it was just a matter of taking a sharp left and escaping into the bush land toward the side fence.
Diesel moved first. He was both fast and quiet. In three strides, he dashed across the clearing and ducked in behind the lawn chair. He tilted his head, catching the sound of their conversation before kicking off again into another sprint. He crossed the next clearing and hit his back against the tree. After four more precise steps, he crossed the open space before taking cover behind the neighbouring trailer. He signalled me to follow.
I took a big breath in. Quietly and quickly, I can do that. I mimicked his steps as I crouched down and hunched over, making myself appear as small as possible as I darted out. I got to the first tree then stopped. I craned my neck around; the men were distracted so I kicked off again into a quick sprint. I skidded on the slippery leaves as I took cover behind the lawn chair.
“Hey! What’s that?”
I dropped down hard and fast, squeezing myself behind the chair. I had my gun tightly gripped in my hand, and as I dared to look across to Diesel, I could see he was pressed to the very edge ready to spring out shooting.
“What?” another man answered. There was a bang as a caravan door swung open and shut again.
“Whoa! Check ‘em out, I’ve hit the jackpot!”
“What are you spewing about?”
I could hear one of the men lug forward with a case of bottles clattering together. “Feast your eyes on these beauties.”
“They’re blue labelled. Give ‘em over here.” The surrounding men flocked to him. I took three sharp breaths and used the distraction to cross the rest of the way.
“Get your hands off ‘em. I’m gonna go put it in the truck, and if there’s one sip missing, I’ll shiv the lot of ya.” The box of beers rattled as he walked away.
Diesel scooted over as my back hit into the side of the trailer next to him. The small five-metre dash had me breathless. Frankie and Vance were still on the other side as they each made the dash across silently and easily. Once we all had crossed, Diesel turned to keep going when I grabbed his sleeve.
I mouthed, “Wait, they have a truck.”
Diesel’s lips curled. “Good idea. Do you know how to drive?” I blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the natural curve of his smile. Dare I say it, it was actually quite charming on him. Wait! Charming? Diesel? You’ve had one too many knocks to the head, Nadia. I nodded as his smile grew wider. “Let’s get ourselves a truck.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
We followed the clicks of the bottles to a small gang standing guard around a well-stocked truck. The truck looked more like a rough terrain Ute, big enough to fit two at the front, three at the back and a large tray covered beneath a tarp. The two guarding men had their rifles out and were chewing on straws.
“What the bloody hell are you carrying?” one of the older men asked at other’s approach. He swung his weapon down casually next to his hip.
“Some souvenirs.” The man held the box up and smirked, completely unaware of Frankie sneaking into position behind his car. “Gonna bring it back to the boss. Think he may even give me a promotion.” He then reached into his pockets, pulled out a key and unlocked the passenger door.
“I didn’t realise you were his little bitch.”
The second man stepped around and peered into the box. “I haven’t seen beer that fancy in ninety years.” From where I stood behind a small wall of hedges, I could see his face crinkle up as he reached into the box. “Give me at least one. Boss man won’t know.”
The man reaching into the carton stepped back into the tip of Frankie’s blade just before she plunged the knife upwards, severing his spine. As his back arched backward, his face suddenly warped in pain. Frankie reached around and sliced quickly across his throat. A thickening dribble of blood ran down his brown skin when there was a click of the crossbow being fired. Vance waited in the high weeds closer to me, hitting his target as the arrow pierced straight into the eye socket of the second man, and another into his windpipe to silence the yelp climbing up his throat.
The last remaining raider swung his gun around only to turn into the incoming swing of Diesel’s fist. Teeth flew out with the thumping crack followed by a snap as Diesel broke his neck. He then dropped the lifeless body in a heap to the ground.
We wasted no time. As the others attacked, I crossed the driveway toward the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat. Frankie and Vance quickly jumped into the back, the doors on either side of me slamming as Diesel scooted into the passenger seat. He tossed me the keys and I started the ignition. After a
brief choke, the engine purred and I slammed my foot down on the accelerator after putting it in gear. I could hear the distance shouts as the rest of the group scouted back, alarmed at the noise.
Gunfire shot off but they were too far away for a clear hit. There were five other cars parked out the front as both Frankie and Vance rolled the windows down and poked their heads out. With the hand pistols, they fired into the tyres of the trucks, blowing out one or two tyres each before we got too far away to see clearly.
I didn’t ease my foot off the accelerator as the tail of the car swung outwards, shooting us onto the main road as the back wheels bounced over the ditch. The car roared as we took off down the road, leaving kicked up dust behind us.
My heart raced that I thought I was about to vomit it up. Tingles shot through me as shivering excitement had my knuckles clenched white over the steering wheel. Unknowingly, I had been holding my breath, checking and rechecking the rear-view mirror for the pursuit until we were a good distance away. Frankie and Vance broke out into cheers and I drummed my hands across the steering wheel, laughing and panting at the same time.
Diesel kicked one leg up onto the dashboard smugly. I glanced at him once, but then did a quick double take. “What the hell, Diesel?”
Diesel lifted a bottle of black labelled beer up. “What? Not like dead men can drink.”
“Did you grab enough for the rest of us?” I grinned. Diesel looked at me, and for a split second, before his lips pulled too tightly, there was a genuine smile. He distributed out two others to Vance and Frankie and popped one open for me.
“Those pricks wouldn’t know what to do with fine beer like this,” he said as kicked both legs onto the dashboard.
I could hear the hiss of the bottle cap popping before the clink of the bottles hitting in cheers. Frankie and Vance sculled their drinks and both slipped further into the curve of their seats.
Soulless (The Immortal Gene Trilogy Book 1) Page 14