Sanctuary's Aggression Complete Collection Box Set: A Post-apocalyptic Survival Thriller Series

by Maira Dawn

  Skye trembled. "I helped shut the car trunks. Not hers, I don't think, but a lot. They had to stay for the night in this creepy junkyard. High, drunk, people freaked out. They screamed as we drove away.”

  Skye squeezed her eyes shut. "I wasn't there when they opened the cars. They said she tried to claw her way out. Drinking, drugs, panic. I don’t know, but she was dead.

  “Perhaps her heart gave out, or she ran out of air. I asked no questions. I didn't want to know.” Skye put her hands on the edge of the kitchen sink, forcing her shoulders up as she hung her head again. "That is one thing I'm not proud of."

  Skye glanced at Wade. He looked stunned. He would assume a girl like her had it all. His voice turned grave when he asked, "Why ain't you in jail?"

  Skye blew out a quick breath. “I was, for a little while, but I had wealthy parents and a powerful grandfather with connections. He got me out—out of it all."

  With her back still to Wade, she removed her hands from the sink and re-wrapped her arms around her middle. "Totally erased—can't even tell I ever was on the property. That's another thing I'm not proud of. All the others had to pay, and I should’ve paid too."

  Wade stayed silent, but Skye’s ears pounded with the rush of her pounding heart. Her cheeks burned. What would he think of her now?

  Skye dragged herself around to face Wade. But, his wasn't the first face she saw. It was Dylan's.

  Fifteen

  Not Enough

  Dylan took a step back, out of the doorway, turned and walked away, berating himself. Skye’s face had paled when she saw him standing there. This was something she wished to share with Wade. Not him.

  When Skye spotted him, tears of shame had filled her eyes. They had almost been his undoing. She hadn't wanted him to know.

  Her story shook him to the core. He would have never guessed. I guess I always expected people like her to have everything together, and here she is carrying that around.

  Dylan stopped and kicked at the ground. It was a surprise that Wade and her were that close. He thought his brother got under her skin.

  Well, of course, he did, only not in the way I thought. All the times I’ve been out hunting or scavenging while her and the boy were at the cabin with Wade. He’s always had a way with people once they get acquainted with him. When they push past his annoying side, they love him. Who knows what's been going on when I'm not here?

  Dylan scraped at the ground again and blew out a heavy sigh as he rubbed the center of his chest. I've let myself get too attached. With one last glance over his shoulder at the cabin, he headed to the forest.

  When Dylan returned to the house that day, Skye, Wade, and Jesse were in the yard. Wade gave Jesse some pointers on the snare he was trying to set up, and Jesse immediately put them to use. It looked like he took to it naturally.

  The lawn was littered with the camping equipment from Skye’s Jeep, and she stood in the middle of it all. Her face got redder and redder as she tried, without success, to set up a large tent. Wade snickered at her attempts, and Dylan couldn’t stop himself from chuckling as he watched from a distance. When Wade saw Dylan, he nodded him over.

  Skye glared at Wade when she heard his laughter. "What are you laughing at? It says easy. It is not easy!" She huffed her words out between heavy breaths. "If you were a nice man, you would come over here and help me."

  "Yeah, well, I ain't never said I was a nice man." Wade looked at Dylan, nodded toward Skye, and winked.

  Dylan sighed. Yeah, I get it, bro. Your layin claim.

  Regardless, Dylan took pity on Skye. He walked over, picked up the correct pole and handed it to her. "Skye, you need a tent, but what's all this other stuff?" His arm swung over the outdoor kitchen complete with sink, stove and even a paper towel holder. Then the hot outdoor shower with its own privacy curtain and a portable toilet.

  Skye avoided Dylan's gaze, instead looking at the ground and the tent, anywhere it seemed but him. "The sales guy said it would make camping easier. If I have to camp, I don't want it to be just the dirt and me."

  "Sounds like the sales guy fed you a bunch of bull to line his pockets," Wade said as he continued to grin.

  “Skye,” Dylan said, “Some people may camp like this, but not us, and you’re with us now.”

  “But Jesse—”

  Dylan snorted. “Don’t be bringing the boy into this, he’s slept in a hole in the ground more’n once. He don’t need all this to survive.”

  Skye stepped back and looked at Jesse, who shrugged. Dylan wasn’t sure if she was more surprised over the information or the fact that Jesse already felt close enough to Dylan to tell him these things. Guess we’re all lettin out the past now.

  She let go of the tent, letting it fall to the ground, and flapped her arms. "What then?"

  Dylan pointed to Skye‘s cabin tent. “That's too big. Not only can you not set it up quick but it's for about twelve people.” Moving over to the rest of her equipment, he said, “You need about a third of this, even less once we show you how to live out there.”

  Skye puffed out a breath, disturbing some hair that had fallen forward on her face. “Fine then.” She brushed the loose hair back and stepped out of the jumbled items.

  She still won‘t even peek at me.

  “I hope you didn't waste as much on it as it looks like you did,” Wade said.

  “I did.” Skye shook her head and shrugged. “It‘s only money.”

  Dylan and Wade exchanged a glance. When Jesse saw it, he piped up, "Ya, Skye's filthy rich, just filthy. I was at her house once. It's crazy. She has..."

  "Jesse." Skye patiently stopped him, her face turning pink. "Things don't matter, remember? I probably won’t ever live in my house again and no one is rich now. Not in that way."

  Skye awkwardly turned to Dylan. "Please show me what I really need."

  Dylan and Skye pared down the camping supplies to necessities while Jesse worked on his snare. When they were done, Dylan looked over what they had accomplished. “Well, that looks fine. Good job.”

  Dylan glanced at Skye, hoping to lighten the mood between them, and sent her an amused glance. “Next time,” he threatened her, “I think I'll show you how to set a snare and skin the catch.”

  Skye put her hands on her hips as her eyes sparkled. “Well then, I think I’m turning vegetarian.” Dylan uttered a deep chuckle as he walked away.

  When Skye laid her hand on Dylan’s arm, he glanced from that to her face. She bit her lip, looking up at him with nervous green eyes. "So, you don't hate me now?"

  Dylan frowned. "What are you talkin about?"

  She bowed her head. “What you overheard in the kitchen. Do you... does that... I don't know…“ She fluttered her hand away from him.

  Dylan gentled his voice. "No, I don't hate you. You were a kid, and you did a stupid thing. Kids do stupid things."

  She shook her head and raised it. Once more looking directly at his face, "It was more than that. I was an entitled, self-involved, rich brat who assumed she could do anything she wanted without consequences."

  "Maybe, but you ain't like that now. You're better." Dylan laid his hand on her shoulder and let his thumb stroke her arm.

  "Maybe." Skye looked at the ground. “I try to do better. I’m a work-in-progress—like most people, I guess. At least, that’s what I try to tell myself.”

  Dylan caught the downward curve of her lip and heard a small sniff as she half-turned away. He turned her back. "Skye, you are. Look at all the good you've done. Look at that boy over there."

  Skye nodded. “It never seems enough though.”

  "I know that too." Dylan folded her into his arms, then remembered Wade. When Dylan looked over Skye’s head at his brother, Wade gave him a knowing expression and a raised eyebrow.

  Is he wanting me to back off? Dylan stepped back, muttering something to Skye about snares and walked off.

  Sixteen

  Happy for You

  That evening, Skye and Jesse debated
which card game to play. Skye wrinkled her face and rolled her eyes at Wade's obvious suggestion of strip poker and ignored him. Deciding on Go Fish, Skye and Jesse invited the men, but they refused. Dylan seemed to keep his distance, instead preferring to clean his weapons at the kitchen table. Wade stated if they would not play a game he wanted, he would not play theirs.

  Skye and Jesse sat on the floor, spreading the cards out between them. As they played, Jesse happily chatted with all of them. "We used to play games during my sessions all the time. Skye always let me pick the game."

  Skye prompted him. "Which was always...”

  "Jenga, of course, because you suck at it, and I always, always win."

  "Yes, thanks for that, by the way." Skye laughed at both his pride and the truth of his words.

  "So, what did you have sessions for? You crazy, kid?" Wade asked.

  Skye sighed. Well, he’s in a mood. Leave it to Wade to undo weeks of therapy.

  But Jesse took it in stride, answering him with his same bubbly manner. "No, I got taken from my dad, so I had to see a therapist."

  Wade opened his mouth again to continue with what Skye could only assume would be another stupid remark, so she shot him a "You better shut it" look. At that Wade hoisted himself out of his recliner to sift through the vast array of chips that still occupied the side table in the kitchen.

  Dylan grumbled at his brother in a low voice Skye couldn’t catch, then stretched out on the floor beside Jesse. "You played games at therapy? Sounds like fun."

  “Yeah, Skye's pretty fun. Course she had to do some things for her job, so she had to ask me questions now and then, but mostly, it was fun.” Jesse turned to her with a glint in his eye. “Cause I beat her butt every time in Jenga."

  Skye smirked at him surprised he admitted it was entertaining because as far as she could recall, he'd spent much of it in a sullen mood. She poked him in the ribs. "Hey, I was busy being the world's best therapist. It's hard to do that and win games too."

  "Oh yeah,” Jesse taunted, “but I bet if we had a Jenga game here you'd still lose."

  "Um, we’ll just have to wonder about that since we don't have one," she teased.

  Dylan seemed more at ease with Jesse tonight than Skye ever remembered him. A shadow of a smile rested on his mouth. It was not a teasing smirk or a sarcastic snort, those she had experienced before but the grin of a happy man. It reminded her of the first time Jesse had smiled that way for her. Just the tiniest upturn of the lips, a subtle softening of the face. One didn't dare show you noticed, or it would evaporate at once.

  She wondered if Dylan would be the same. Skye caught Dylan's eye and shared a small smile of her own. He returned her grin for a few seconds, then glanced at Wade and cleared his throat.

  Dylan hopped to his feet. “Welp, I better finish those dishes.”

  Skye allowed her eyes to settle on Dylan’s back. Well, that is an improvement to what he would have done a few days ago.

  Skye checked herself. She was drawing closer to all three of them much faster than she had anticipated. Jesse, she had expected and looked forward to, but the two men, especially Dylan—that was a surprise.

  Uneasy, she resettled herself on the floor. She was leaving. Becoming emotionally closer to someone, relying on them, that wasn’t part of the plan and would only make it harder when it came time to leave.

  Skye bit the inside of her cheek and ran a finger down the pattern of wood grain floor as she realized how often her gaze turned to Dylan if he were near, and how many times her thoughts strayed to him when he wasn’t. When they were in the same vicinity, Skye sensed his intense stare lingering on her, and more often than not, he would end up beside her.

  Her mind wandered to her disastrous marriage. It was a sharp reminder of how inept she was at relationships. And that is why I stay away from men, I'm not ready for this.

  Skye stared at Dylan as he stood at the sink, his back to her. She followed the motion of his body as he slid a cloth over a shiny, tan-colored plate. His broad shoulders swayed back and forth; biceps jumped in tandem with the movement of his rough hands in the sudsy water.

  Attraction battled her uncertainty as amusement over what she found attractive slipped over it all. I have to say there is nothing sexier than watching a man do the dishes.

  Skye forced her gaze away instead looking out the window at the rolling, green-topped mountains. As soon as I hear from Tom, the decision will be out of my hands. I’ll be going home.

  Wade nodded his head to Skye when she tipped hers indicating she was headed outside. Jesse bounded up off the floor and followed her. Wade watched as they jumped off the porch laughing, a warm spot growing in his chest. It was real nice having them here. He liked it.

  He flung a glance Dylan’s way as his brother returned to the table. Dylan sat in his chair, muscles tight, as if he expected to burst out of it at any time. Wade shook his head. He wished he could say it was his brother’s nervousness over Skye and Jesse outside alone, as his quick glances to them gave away, but it wasn’t. Dylan had been this way since he was a boy, and it was his quick reflexes that had saved him a ton of hurt when their father had come after him. If Dylan hadn’t given up that stance by now, he had to wonder if he ever would. Did the man ever really rest?

  They didn’t get an opportunity to talk alone as often anymore so Wade reckoned he better say what he needed to say while he could.

  Dylan returned to the table. Wade poured himself a cup of coffee and offered to refill Dylan’s, then joined him.

  Wade cleared his throat. He didn’t want to mess this up. “So I wanted to talk about Skye— "

  Dylan gave him a sharp glance and cut him off. "No need. I see where it's headin."

  "Yeah? That’s good, real good. I think it's coming along, bro. Can't wait to see what the next step brings." Wade nudged Dylan and gave a low chuckle.

  A look of pain flashed across his brother's face.

  "D?"

  "I'm real happy for ya."

  Wade reared back in his seat. “Real happy for—” His entire body rocked with amusement.

  Dylan frowned as his indignation flamed. “Stop. It’s one thing to sit here with you bragging about it, but another for you to make fun.”

  Wade held up his hands as he struggled to swallow his chuckles. “Real happy for you, bro. For you!" Wade poked a finger into Dylan’s shoulder. “You idiot, all that trackin, and you can’t read what right in front of ya.”

  Surprise darted across Dylan’s face, and Wade slapped his forearm a couple of times. "She's a real nice lady. Bit uptight for me. She keeps eyein you up though."

  When Dylan turned to stare out the window at Skye running around the yard with Jesse, something lit in his brother he hadn't seen in a long time. A small flare of hope burned in his eyes.

  Seventeen

  Not Easy

  The day was wearing on much faster than Skye like with no word from Tom. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket. Two bars of service—that was a lot nowadays. She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get in touch with her family.

  Her hands shook as she tapped her parent’s numbers on her phone. What kind of news would there be? She hoped for the best, but still worried about her mother’s raspy cough.

  The phone clicked. “Dad?”

  Her father sounded tired but happy to hear from her. “Hi, baby girl. You doin okay?”

  Warm relief washed over Skye when she heard his voice then rushed to tell him her news. “Yes, I'm fine, Dad. Really good. We have everything we need.”

  "You still with those boys?"

  "Yes. I am, all safe and sound. How about you?"

  “Doing okay. We’ve been going into the neighbor’s for food, the empty houses, plenty of those now. I can’t imagine us hungry anytime soon. We are just trying to pass the time. There’s not a whole lot to do with no TV or newspapers, but someone is running the radio station here.”

  Skye imagined that her father, with his limited mobilit
y, wouldn’t have much to keep him occupied in the suburbs.

  “We’ve been busy here, Dad. The Cole’s are teaching Jesse and me more about fishing, some of the edible plants around here and self-defense. That takes a good part of the day.”

  "Smart," her dad said, "those boys are smart. You keep that up, girl. It'll keep you alive."

  "That's what I was thinking. We also scavenge some and check on the neighbors."

  "You don't get close, do you?" Her dad’s voice sounded nervous.

  “No, we yell at them across the yard. Some places up here are empty. People got sick or moved away, but some families are making it through this thing. How about our neighborhood in Ohio?”

  “The street is getting empty between those getting sick and others leaving to be with family, but some stayed put and are doin okay.”

  “How's everyone in the family, Dad?” When her dad hesitated, Skye asked. “Can I talk to Mom?”

  Skye sensed something was wrong the minute she asked. Typically, one to hand the phone straight over to her mother, it was out of character for her dad not to even offer it to her.

  The longer the silence stretched the more nervous Skye became. When her father did speak, he didn’t say what she hoped. "Skye, I didn't want to tell you this over the phone, but there isn’t any other way. We've had some losses."

  Skye’s heart seized, and she bent forward. She had tried to prepare herself, but it hadn’t worked. She’d told herself that everyone lost someone to this thing, and she was no different. The pain sliced through her just the same. Tears spilled down her face, she knew what was coming.

  Dad gasped out the words. “Your mom... she's gone. She didn't suffer like some. It was quick.”

  Quick was something to be grateful for. Skye couldn’t imagine her despair if her mother wondered the streets disoriented and lost.

  Her father sobbed and though Skye wanted to comfort him, she couldn’t control her own gasps. They cried together for a while, Skye clutching the phone as if it were her father’s hand.