“You’re checking for my gun, aren’t you?” I asked.
“What else would I be doing?” she asked grinning.
“I wouldn’t say no,” I said smiling back at her.
Leah rolled her eyes.
“What?” I asked innocently. “How can you not be in the mood?”
Leah blew out a breath, flinging a strand of hair into the air. She stopped at the window. “Oh, crap.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked feeling my stomach fill with acid.
She turned slightly but kept her eyes focused on something outside. “There’s someone out there.”
3
Stevie
It wasn’t a matter of if they’d come looking for us, it was a matter of when they’d come. And when they eventually did, we’d need to be ready for them.
We knew after what happened, the men from the town weren’t good people. They weren’t reasonable people. They wanted to control us. Take our things. Destroy us.
We did what we had to when they came. Things I didn’t let myself think about.
Several months had passed since that day and I was thankful for each one but also, I knew it put us closer to the day they came looking. They’d want what we had and not just our supplies… they wanted us too.
I didn’t want to find out what they would do to us. Likely some of us would die. I often wondered if they came and captured us if death would be our best-case scenario.
They’d already succeeded in killing two of the people who lived with us. It wasn’t like they’d stop there. They were the type of people who would do whatever the hell they wanted if it helped them.
Jake Quinn had helped us. They’d taken his things, forcing him to stay on our property.
We focused on staying safe, and Jake helped with that by watching our surroundings. He helped us with our plan for what we’d do when the men came back. Jake was part of our team and for that, I was thankful.
The men would take everything. Then they kill us or make us do far worse things. Either way, I didn’t want to find out.
Jake Quinn stayed in the house at the far end of the property. He mostly liked to be alone but also, he liked to keep watch. It was his way of helping out and because if things went south, he’d be able to easily make it to the basement.
He wasn’t at the top of his game. He pretended otherwise but his medication was out and without a refill, I could tell he was worried. Jake needed to stay close to the basement because he couldn’t travel far.
We’d started bringing supplies into the basement. Things that would keep us alive for weeks, hopefully, months if we got trapped down there. The basement was where we’d all go if we had to hide.
Then, of course, we’d have to hope they wouldn’t find us. We still needed to work on a plan c. That was a work in progress.
The house Jake stayed in was the only one that had a basement. It was hidden in the floor and hopefully well disguised. Also, once we were all inside, Gage had built a lock on the inside he was certain would hold.
Positioned all around the property, we set up various traps and alarms. If we couldn’t see them coming, we’d hear it.
Unfortunately, though, it didn’t make me feel safer. There were a lot of men in the town and if they came, we would be outnumbered.
Over the last several weeks, the alarms had been triggered a few times. We were lucky that it was only more survivors. Of course, after having been so easily tricked, we had to have a much more thorough process for interviewing the newcomers.
It was an extensive process. New people were kept separate for weeks while we observed them. But the most important part was that no one was allowed to go anywhere with a new person.
Of course, it wasn’t a foolproof process but it was the best we had. Trust wasn’t something we could just hand out… it would need to be earned.
Our group was big and over the last few months, it had grown even more. Every time someone arrived, it was surprising that there were still people out there.
The biggest problem wasn’t the rain, it was that if their group was growing, she could only assume that the group in town was also growing.
“Stevie,” Ella said peeking her head into my bedroom.
“Yeah?” I said turning.
“He’s back.”
I smacked my hands together. “It’s about damn time.”
I ran down the stairs and threw my arms around Gage who was soaking wet. He squeezed me back.
“Hey, pal,” he said.
“I was starting to get worried,” I said.
He pulled back and grinned. “Only first starting to worry now?”
“I know you can take care of yourself,” I said. I stood back and crossed my arms. “Did you find anything?”
“No,” he said looking away. “I tried, though, Stevie. Everything is just… it’s gone.”
Gage had traveled further south in the hopes of finding somewhere else we could escape to should we need it. A few weeks ago, he’d traveled west, which hadn’t turned up much either.
Everything was flooded… washed away… destroyed.
We couldn’t go east and we couldn’t go south. West was out too. The only two choices we had were to protect what we had or go north and fight.
When I looked into Gage’s eyes, I saw that he knew it too. At some point, we’d have to tell the others.
“Where’s Shawn?” Gage asked.
I shrugged. “I think he’s working on the basement. He was gone before I woke up.”
“Good,” Gage said. “Everyone knows about the basement, right?”
“Yes,” I said. I lowered my voice so those in the kitchen wouldn’t hear me. “But it’s going to be hard to get everyone down there if they come.”
“We’ll do some trial runs,” Gage said.
I let out a breath. “Even with practice, I’m not sure we’ll all get down there. And if we do, we won’t be able to stay down there forever.”
“Maybe they won’t stick around,” Gage said.
“Or maybe they’ll all move here,” I said.
“We’ll have to refine our plan,” Gage said.
I rubbed my forehead, trying to erase the growing tension. Gage placed his hand on my shoulder.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “Not to mention we’re growing. Maybe we can take them. Give us a little credit.”
“I need to keep everyone safe,” I said. “That’s my only job. I couldn’t ever ask anyone to risk their lives.”
“Did you ever think that maybe it’s this place that’s worth fighting for?” Gage asked.
The front door opened with an intrusive squeak. Shawn’s eyes were wide. He didn’t acknowledge Gage.
Something was wrong.
Shawn sucked in a quick breath. “We have a problem.”
4
Joss
Jenna walked over to me. Our shoulders touched as we took small steps toward the living room, which was where I thought the sounds had come from.
The clanking and scratching noises had stopped. It no longer sounded as though someone was trying to come in through the window.
We stood there in silence for several minutes.
“Did we imagine that?” Jenna asked squeezing my arm with her fingertips.
“Maybe it was Clover,” I said.
“You know as well as I do that it wasn’t Clover making those noises,” Jenna said.
Jenna looked at me with wide eyes. “What will we do if someone is out there?”
“Hope they leave,” I said.
“What if they get inside?”
“There’s nothing here. They won’t stay,” I said.
Jenna blinked. “Except for us.”
“No one would want us,” I said flatly.
“Don’t kid yourself,” Jenna said. “They’ll have their way with us and then turn us into a meal.”
“Gross,” I said handing Jenna my knife as I slowly continued toward the front window.
My palm lig
htly rested on the cool wall as I leaned forward. I curled my finger around the curtain and started to pull it back, stopping abruptly when a shadow moved past the window.
I swallowed down a breath as Jenna pulled me back. My heart pounded so loudly I worried whoever was outside could hear it.
“Here,” Jenna whispered giving me the knife back. “You might still need this.”
I jumped back at the scratching sound next to the window. It was like something was pawing at the siding of the house… nothing like what I’d imagine it would sound like if a person was trying to get inside.
I sucked in a breath and moved back to the window. My fingers stiffened. I shook my hands and hooked my finger behind the curtain.
I moved slower than a turtle as I pulled it back, stopping when I saw the black fur. My shoulders relaxed and I jerked the curtain halfway open to reveal our visitor to Jenna.
“Wonder if it’s the same one we saw miles back,” I said.
Jenna exhaled. “That was weeks ago.”
“Was it?” I asked shaking my head. “Still, it could be the same one. Maybe it followed us.”
“It would have made a meal of us,” Jenna said. “Poor thing is so thin. We should try to catch it.”
“We have enough pets to feed,” I said.
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Funny.”
“There isn’t much left on its bones.”
“But there is some,” Jenna said looking as though she was staring at a table with an entire Thanksgiving dinner perched upon it.
“Maybe we should try to catch whatever it's been eating,” I suggested. “Squirrels, rabbits… whatever.”
“We don’t know the first thing about setting a trap,” Jenna said with a frown.
I shrugged. “Guess we’ll just have to figure it out.”
“I think killing the bear might be easier,” Jenna said.
“It’s too dangerous,” I said. “All we have is knives.”
Jenna raised a brow. “And that pot.”
“I can’t bash it over the head, can you?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Jenna said.
“No,” I said shaking my head. “You or I could get seriously hurt or even killed. We have no idea what that thing is capable of, even in its current condition.”
Jenna held up her hand. “Maybe we could find some ropes. We could figure out a way to tie it up.”
“Let’s say we managed that. You’re going to slit its throat?” I asked.
“I will,” Jenna said confidently.
My eyes quickly shifted away from her. “Well, we don’t have any rope. And it would probably try to bite you if you get close to it.”
“That’s where the pot comes in, I guess,” Jenna said as if it all made sense to her. “Knock it out.”
“I don’t think you know me at all,” I said.
“I think you have to change who you are,” Jenna said.
I sighed. She wasn’t wrong. “Fine. Let’s find some rope.”
“You’re serious?” she asked.
“Yeah, I guess. But we have to wait until it’s safe.”
It wasn’t like we were going to catch it anyway. There was no reason we couldn’t try to set up traps for smaller animals. Maybe we could catch a squirrel or something, not that I would have any idea how to cook it.
The house we were staying in had a garage that wasn’t attached to the house. There was also a shed in the back but we’d have to wait until the bear was going before venturing out.
He didn’t stick around long. When he hadn’t been able to get the food, he moved on.
“It’s gone,” Jenna said staring out of the window. “Let’s set up.”
“This is never going to work,” I said.
“There’s the negative Nancy I know and love,” Jenna said.
I raised a brow. “Love, huh?”
“Yeah, sure, why not?” Jenna’s brow wrinkled. “You mean, you don’t feel the same.”
I blinked repeatedly.
She punched me in the shoulder. “Relax. We are all that’s left, though.”
“Yeah,” I murmured as we walked out of the house toward the garage.
We found a long rope, which we tied into a large loop and tossed one end over a branch. The branch's strength was questionable but there wasn’t a great chance the bear would come back.
We’d also found several large bins that we set up with a thin branch. I tied a piece of twine to the bottom of the twig and at the backside, I placed a chunk of beef jerky.
“Now, all we do is wait,” Jenna said. She blew out a puff of air. “In the rain.”
“We have more twine,” I said turning toward the house. “Maybe we can’t put the string through the window or under the door.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Jenna said. “Although I’m not sure it’ll work.”
We tried a couple different methods. It didn’t work through the window because we were unable to lock the window with the twine underneath. And under the door didn’t work because it was pinched too tightly, making it impossible to pull on the string.
The only way that would work would be to sit outside in the rain. I let out a breath.
“I guess we’ll take turns sitting in the rain,” I said.
“I guess so,” Jenna said crossing her arms. She turned slowly, meeting my eyes. “Or we could both sit out here together.”
I forced a smile. “Okay. Sure. For a while, anyway.”
It wasn’t even twenty minutes before Jenna gave up. The bear didn’t come back and there were no signs of other wildlife.
It was sad but I’d known we wouldn’t catch anything. I followed her back inside.
We gathered up our supplies for pasta and got to work on making food. The fire was warm and perfect. I stared into the flames as the food heated. My thoughts drifted and I didn’t realize I was thinking about Robby until a tear rolled down my cheek.
I quickly wiped it away and portioned out the food. A huge pile for Jenna and what would be just enough for me.
It wasn’t until after we’d finished and I brought everything in the kitchen to clean up that I decided to check the cabinets. Our food situation was edging on dire.
I had no idea how long we had until we’d have to leave to find a new place… more food… more supplies. Jenna and traveling weren’t a good mix. It had caused her pain, although she’d tried to hide it ever since we’d lost Robby and Caleb.
I’d wait to tell Jenna… until I had a better idea of when we’d have to leave. Maybe it would just be me that would leave. Could I do that? Would she even want me to do that?
Maybe I wouldn’t have a choice.
5
Adam
The young woman had her hands at her sides, balled up into tight fists. There was a big, brown satchel over her shoulder but otherwise, she had nothing. She seemed to be wandering from side to side but mostly, she moved forward toward the trailer.
She was bone thin. Worse off than we were. And she looked frightened. Worse than we did.
Her skin was pale and her long, wet hair dirty and stringy. She needed help.
“I don’t think we need to worry about her,” I said.
“Never let your guard down,” Leah said.
“You’re right,” I said turning to her. “So, what are we going to do?”
Leah met my gaze for a second. “We’re going to help her as best as we can but we aren’t going to let our guard down.”
“This isn’t going to help with my sleeping issues,” I said.
“We’ll make it quick. Give her some food and water. Then we’ll see if she knows anything.” Leah straightened her spine. “Then we’ll be on our way.”
I nodded. Even though the girl was thin and frightened, I was still nervous. Over my travels, it felt as though more people were bad than they were good.
Someone could easily say the same thing about me. I’d killed. My excuse was that I was doing it to help… for survival but my life wasn’t more important
than anyone else.
Shit.
There was a time I thought I had everything figured out, well, except for my love life. I’d know who I was but now I had no idea.
“Ready?” Leah asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
Leah gestured toward my back. “Take out your gun.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” Leah said. “Just in case.”
“I… I don’t want to scare her,” I said.
Leah let out a breath. “Fine.” She took out her gun. “Perhaps it’ll be less scary for her if I’m the one holding it.”
It wasn’t exactly what I’d meant but I didn’t feel like getting in an argument over it when the girl was almost to the trailer. Leah took my hand and pulled me out of the front door.
The girl stopped abruptly. She held out her hands but then her lips curled into a smile.
“Hello!” she chirped.
Leah and I exchanged a look. It was a greeting we hadn’t been expecting.
“I’m so happy to see people,” she said. “Say, I know this is incredibly weird but can I have a hug?”
I shook my head. Leah’s brow wrinkled.
“Oh.” Her body deflated slightly. “I told you it was weird. Maybe another time. It’s just been so long.”
The girl wasn’t old. She was maybe sixteen or seventeen. It was amazing she was surviving on her own. I wasn’t even sure I would have been able to accomplish something like that. I needed Leah at my side.
“How long?” Leah asked.
“A few weeks, I think,” she said.
“What’s your name?” Leah asked.
The girl smiled. “Heather, and you?”
“Leah. This is Adam.”
“My parents were murdered,” Heather blurted out. She gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
“Are you okay?” Leah asked.
Heather shrugged. “Physically? Yeah. Mentally? I’ve been better. I wasn’t in the house when the men came. I don’t know what happened but I heard the gunshots. I stayed hidden… I waited in a thorny shrub through the night until the men left. I was a coward. I should have done something more.”
The Reset Series | Book 6 | Striking Page 2