by Snow, Jenika
Once the camp was set up and everyone sat around the fire, they started passing around the food they had. Millie shared beef jerky. Tree Man shared two cans of mixed fruit he had. Malachi and Sasha had a can of baked beans, two small cans of tuna, and a family-sized can of French style green beans.
Hell, it was like a feast tonight, but everyone was in a good mood, spirits were high given the fact they only had one more day of walking and then they’d be in the general vicinity of the safe spot. They didn’t know its exact location, but they’d be in the area where it should be, so hopefully they would be welcomed with open arms.
After an hour of talking, Lucy was falling asleep beside Sasha, and Malachi was beside her, his arm around her shoulder, keeping Sasha close. Once everyone was done, they all headed toward their tents, but Tree Man and Millie were on first lookout, Malachi on the next, and Sasha on the third. Although to be honest whenever it was her time to do lookout, Malachi always stayed up with her, telling her he was too protective and afraid to let her be out here alone, that he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.
Sasha tucked Lucy in and went on one side of the tent, and then made herself comfortable. Malachi was on the other side of her a moment later, her back to his chest. He had his arm slung over her waist, his hand resting over hers. She was tired but she couldn’t sleep, couldn’t close her eyes as she thought about everything.
Excitement and hopefulness filled her. They were actually going to make it, actually going to be able to find a place to call home, a place that they could be safe.
A place Lucy would be safe.
What else could go wrong in one day?
Maybe fate and hope, but most of all luck was on their side and they’d be able to get to the safe haven unharmed.
Because wouldn’t that make for an incredible ending?
Chapter Forty-Nine
One more day… hopefully
Malachi knew if they walked for the entire day, they would make camp or at least make something. It had to be true because his people were running on empty. Tree Man, even as he tried to pretend otherwise, had gotten tired. Millie was pretty much quiet now, reserving all of her strength for the actual walk. Lucy looked like she was always ready to drop and carrying her on his back wasn’t going to be easy. Then there was Sasha. Little by little he saw the hope in her eyes, and he couldn’t be the one to extinguish it.
He’d already decided if they made it to this camp and it wasn’t what they thought it was, he’d kill Tree Man. It would be the least he could do after the journey they’d had. He hoped, prayed, and wished more than anything Tree Man wasn’t wrong. A safe haven after their journey sounded like the best freaking idea he’d ever heard.
“You okay?” Sasha asked, stepping in beside him.
She had on one of the large bags that carried their tents. He hated this. Hated that she had to even do this but if he tried to stop her, she’d be pissed.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You? How are you holding up?”
“I’m doing okay. I can’t really feel my legs. I think this is the most walking I’ve done in my entire life.”
“When we get there, I’m having a bath. I hope they have baths.”
She chuckled. “Look at mister macho man, wanting a nice bath.”
“It doesn’t even have to have bubbles. I just want something to clean myself.”
“You’re cute when you act somewhat normal.”
“I’m always normal.”
She put her arm through his and pressed her head against his shoulder. “You’re really not that macho, are you? You’ve been teasing me.” She chuckled.
He wrapped his arm around her and held her close. “I am macho but you’ve caught me at a weak moment.”
“I like this weak moment.”
“Are you two going to get married?” Lucy asked.
They both stopped and Malachi looked down at Lucy, who was watching them closely.
“I’m sorry?” Malachi asked.
“I’ve seen you kiss my sister and well, when you kiss someone you have got to marry them. Can I be a bridesmaid? I want to be one and I really think I’d make a good one. We can find some rings and you can get married.”
“Lucy, sweetie, it doesn’t really matter anymore about marriage, or any of that,” Sasha said.
Lucy started to pout. It was a little cute but now that Malachi thought about it, would it be so wrong to actually marry Sasha?
He let Sasha go and took Lucy’s hands in his, kneeling down in front of her so she had no choice but to look at him. He saw the tears in Lucy’s eyes.
“What is it, sweetie?” he asked. Again, how far his life had come. Talking calmly to a young girl, trying to soothe her. He was never this kind of guy before chaos hit.
“I … you don’t love my sister and there’s not going to be any more weddings, and they are so romantic and sweet. I think you should get married. You’re both in love and if you don’t get married it means all the badness has won. We’ve got to be happy. Mom and Dad would have wanted us to be.”
Tears fell from Lucy’s eyes, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt he was going to have to get her somewhere safe soon. She was tired and because of it, her emotions were running high.
“Lucy,” Sasha said. “It’s really not—”
He let go of Lucy and turned toward Sasha.
“Malachi?”
“Sasha, I know this is scary and everything we’re doing will always be together. I’m never going to leave you. I will fight for you and Lucy every single day of my life.”
“Malachi, what are you doing?”
“Marry me? She’s right. We can’t let them win. I know I’m not going to love anyone else the way I do you. You’re everything to me and I won’t ever leave your side. You own me, Sasha. No one has ever been able to do or say that. I’m completely, one hundred percent yours.”
His heart was pounding. He’d never proposed to anyone before and with witnesses, especially Lucy, this had to be … one of the scariest things he’d ever done.
“We don’t need to get married.”
“But I want to. Don’t you want to keep a little something from our old life? Marriage is for life. Lucy’s right. We can’t let them win.”
“It’s a virus.”
“It’s our life and when we get to the safe haven, I want them all to know that you belong to me. You, me, Lucy, Tree Man, Millie, we’re a family now. No one can take that away from us.” He saw tears glisten in Sasha’s eyes. “I won’t let you down.”
She sniffled. “I know. I didn’t know you could be so romantic.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes, it’s a yes.”
Lucy gasped and threw herself at the two of them. “Here, use this.” She tore off the small band of her shirt and handed it to him. “It can be used as a ring.”
Wrapping the fabric around Sasha’s finger, he tied it off, pulled out his knife, and trimmed off the excess.
“See, now you are engaged,” Lucy said, hugging them both.
“Congratulations,” Millie said.
“You’re perfect for each other,” Tree Man said.
After having the hugs and cheers from their little group, they started walking in the direction of the safe haven.
Tree Man went ahead with Millie, Lucy walked with her dog, and he, well, he watched Sasha’s ass because what else could he really stare at? He listened to the sounds all around him, hoping no one was waiting for them, lurking to capture them.
Holy shit, he was fucking engaged.
Sasha had said yes and if she thought for a second he was joking, she’d soon find out that he was going to take his vows with her very seriously.
Chapter Fifty
Finally
There it was. This massive structure, the walls erected of wood and sheets of metal. It looked like a fortress, with towers on each corner, men with guns that were pointed toward them and looking lethal and deadly, unmovable.
Malachi had Sasha
’s hand in his, and she had her hand in Lucy’s. Tree Man stood a little off to the side in front of them, Millie behind them. Sasha was frightened, terrified if she were being honest. It had taken them an eternity to find this place, but here they were, feeling more like enemies than being welcomed.
Once they found the general vicinity where they thought it would be, it had taken hours for them to actually find this fortress, this walled-in community. She had no idea how big it really was, but the sides went on forever, disappearing through the trees.
“Who do we talk to who’s in charge?” Malachi was the one to finally speak, although the guns were still trained on them.
Sasha had no doubt there were more men hidden in the trees, people guarding this place to make sure it was safe. She couldn’t blame them, but that didn’t make her feel at ease right now.
No one said anything, but after a moment the large double doors in front of them opened outward. There were four men, two on either side of the door, with their guns raised. Between them was a man and a woman, the man wearing a lab coat, and the woman having her hair piled up in a messy knot, glasses pushed up the bridge of her nose, and wearing a pair of acid washed overalls. She looked like she should be gardening.
Sasha’s heart raced, thundered. She had to assume that these were the leaders of the group, the people who called the shots, made the rules.
Would they let them in? Would they give them a chance?
Sasha took a step forward, and felt Malachi tighten his hand on hers, as if silently stopping her. She looked over her shoulder at him. “It’s okay,” she whispered.
She needed to let them know they weren’t here to screw anyone over, that they just wanted a safe place, a new home.
Sasha faced the man and woman again, swallowing roughly, hoping like hell she didn’t stumble over her words, that she could bring out the humane, empathetic side of these people.
“Hi, I’m Sasha,” she said and lifted her hand, placing it over her chest. “This is my little sister Lucy, and these are our companions Malachi, Milly, and Tree Man.” The dog sat beside Lucy, staying silent, being loyal.
No one said anything, and she felt sweat start to bead at her brow, nervousness clinging to her.
“We heard about this place on our journey, and we traveled a really long time, and a really far distance to get here, hoping that you’ll accept us, that we can be part of your community.”
The woman looked at the man, but he still stared at Sasha. Finally, the woman stepped forward, but not before she donned a face mask. She lifted her hands toward the armed guards on either side of them, and, as if on cue, they lowered their guns.
The woman was now just a few feet from where Sasha stood. “I’m Amanda, and the guy in the lab coat is Trevor.” Despite wearing the face mask, the woman couldn’t have been older than her mid-20s, but maybe even younger for as soft and smooth as her complexion looked. Her dark hair showed no signs of age, and when she held out her hand, Sasha saw a wedding ring on her finger.
Her heart started beating a little harder as she thought about being engaged to Malachi. It seemed like such a silly tradition, proposing, asking for her hand in marriage. This world certainly didn’t do weddings and receptions anymore.
But it was nice to have traditions from the times they were accustomed to.
It was nice to picture her wedding with all her family gathered around, even if that’s not how it would be.
Sasha held her hand out and shook Amanda’s. “It’s really nice to meet you.” Amanda tipped her head to the side and looked Sasha up and down.
“God, you’re young.” She then looked at Lucy, Malachi and the other two in their party. “You guys traveled from where?”
Malachi was the one to speak, telling her the story of how they met, where Sasha and he had come from, and the stuff they’d gone through.
A long silence passed between them, and Sasha could see that Amanda was mulling all this over. “Give me a minute, okay?” she finally said.
Sasha nodded, although she didn’t know what she was agreeing to. Amanda walked back to Trevor and they started talking softly. Although the armed guards on either side of the door kept their weapons lowered, the ones in the tower still had them pointed toward Sasha and her group.
After a few minutes, Amanda finally came back to Sasha and held her hand out, but then pointed behind her to the community within the walls.
“Welcome to Sunset Cove.”
It was almost a comical name with a beachy, California feel to it. But Sasha liked it. It seemed happy and uplifting.
“Some things have to happen before we can consider letting you into the community.”
Sasha nodded. “I understand.” She looked at the other people in her party. “We understand.” She looked back at Amanda and for a moment the two women held each other’s gazes. And then Amanda lifted her hand and snapped her fingers together.
The next series of events happened so fast that it made Sasha’s head spin. Men carrying guns filed out of the woods surrounding the compound.
“What the fuck?” Malachi barked and tried to pull Sasha and Lucy closer to him, but two beefy guys grabbed his arms.
Then two guys came toward Sasha and Lucy, grabbing their arms and keeping them immobile.
“What are you doing?” The hope Sasha had felt vanished. She felt frantic, and it was reflected in her voice.
“This is protocol. We don’t know who you people are, or if you’re sick. We don’t know if you’re carriers of the virus. We have to make sure you don’t infect the people that are here.”
Sasha felt her eyes widen even more, fear moving through her. Lucy was still beside her, but a big burly guy held on to her upper arm so she couldn’t move. “We’re clearly not infected and are immune, as we’re still standing.”
Amanda shook her head. “We don’t know how this virus works, and we don’t know who was directly exposed to it. We have to assume no one is immune, and until we can find more answers, and if you want to stay in this community, this is what you have to do.”
No one moved or said anything for long moments.
“What are you going to do to us?” Lucy asked and Sasha snapped her head to her sister, trying to act like she wasn’t frightened, like she had her shit together, even though she felt terrified.
“First thing is the health screen to make sure you’re clean of the virus. After that we can explain more.” Amanda looked at Sasha once more. “Unless you don’t want to participate. If that’s the case, that’s fine. But if you don’t agree, you will not be allowed inside.”
Sasha looked at Malachi, who hadn’t said anything since being immobilized. They held each other’s gazes for long moments, and then he nodded once.
Sasha looked back at Amanda. “Okay. Your house, your rules.”
Chapter Fifty-One
The rules were meant to be broken
It had been a long time and Malachi felt ready to kill. With metal cuffs around his hands and strapped to a table, he stared at the door, hoping that the next person through expected to die. He didn’t know how long he’d been waiting but it sure as shit wasn’t acceptable. Not only had he been dragged by five guards away from his woman and Lucy, but they had then dumped him in the coldest fucking bath he’d ever known.
The torture hadn’t stopped there. Oh no. They’d held him down, cut off most of his hair, shaved off his beard, and then proceeded to examine every inch of his body.
As if that wasn’t enough, they’d checked everywhere, and he was fucking pissed. If they touched Sasha and Lucy like that, everyone at this fucking facility was going to die.
He’d gladly cover the walls and floor in blood. Each and every single person would know the true beast they had unleashed.
After their very thorough and bullshit health check, he’d been given a pair of clean jeans and a plain white tee and put in this room.
No one would talk to him.
He needed to know his woman was okay and r
ight now, he was on the edge.
He tugged on the chains. They didn’t give, but he knew metal. It would, even if it meant cutting through his skin to get out.
“You don’t have to do that,” a man said, entering the room. He wore a pair of jeans and a plain black shirt.
He closed the door.
“I’m Abel,” he said, taking a seat opposite him.
Malachi glared at the man.
“Look, I know you’re pissed right now and we all get it, even accept it, but this is protocol here. You think we would have lasted as long as we have if we didn’t enforce our checks?”
Again, Malachi glared at the man. He would gladly sink the cuffs into the man’s neck.
Abel put a file down on the table. “You, Lucy, Sasha, and Millie, you’re all clean. Even your dog is clean.”
“You checked the damn dog?”
“You finally speak. Yes, we checked the dog. We had to. We don’t have a choice in this. Believe me.”
“If you did any of these kinds of things to my woman and her sister, I will kill you.”
“The women have a different health screening than the men.”
“Did you hurt them?”
“No. We also have them psychologically analyzed as well.”
Malachi frowned. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Abel sighed. “We don’t want any crazies in here, possibly hurting others and risking the very makeup of this camp. This is a safe haven for everyone. Crime, rape, you name it, we don’t accept it here and the punishment is steep.”
“What do you do?” Malachi asked.
“Well, depending on the crime, we either take them out and shoot them, or we release them back out there.”
“Really?”
“There is no greater punishment than knowing you can’t be part of something. You’re at risk in the outside world, and we promise everyone a chance. All we ask is they do their part.”