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

by Maira Dawn

  Spencer ignored Joe and instead asked Jesse, “Is this what Dylan would want?”

  Jesse spit on Jack one last time and rubbed his shirtsleeve across his mouth before walking back to the group.

  Wade now stood over Jack, pushing his rifle into the man’s neck. “You answer me now, or I’m gonna let the boy back at ya. Then I’ll take my turn.”

  Jack glared at Wade, and the mountain man pushed his gun a little deeper into his skin. “I already gave them away.” Jack dropped his gaze to the ground.

  The anger that burned Wade’s chest spread to his entire body. It was all he could do to keep his finger from tightening on the trigger.

  He stared at Jack. “What does that mean? To who?” He pointed to the Containment Center. “Them?”

  “No, not them. We only meet here.”

  “You better say more, or I’m gonna start blowin’ parts off ya.”

  Wade moved his rifle to the man’s knee.

  Jack’s eyes widened. “We have an arrangement with these scientist-types. I’ve only seen them once, and I’m not sure where they come from. They have some go-betweens come to pick up the merchan—people.”

  Jack looked from Wade to the group. “But we already made the trade, and they’re gone.”

  Wade stilled for a moment, then said to Joe. “Ask him.”

  Joe hauled the driver, Mark, up and bent him back over the car. He flipped the safety off the gun and put it to Mark’s head.

  Mark was quick to agree with Jack. “Jack’s right. They’re gone. They never stay long.”

  Joe gave him a cold look. “Where are they from?”

  “We don’t know. We really don’t.”

  Joe looked to the sky and sighed. “I need to let you know somethin’ about me. I don’t like to get my hands all roughed up like Wade over there. They hurt for days when I go bashin’ someone. I’m not gonna hit ya, I’ll just shoot ya. It’s a lot easier on me.”

  Mark’s voice rose as he rushed to give Joe an answer that would appease him. “We already told you. We told you everything.”

  Joe shook his head. “Nah, you haven’t. There’s always somethin’ else.”

  Mark moved his head side to side as Joe pulled him higher on the car. “There’s nothing—there isn’t. I --“

  Joe shoved his gun into the meat of Mark’s thigh and pulled the trigger.

  Mark screamed.

  Joe shook him. “Stop that yellin’. You ain’t even feeling it yet. It’s just a flesh wound—ain’t like you’re dying. I should know, I’ve had enough.”

  Joe lifted his shirt to prove it, then dropped it and leaned toward Mark with his eyes narrowed. “That was a warning shot. You’ll get more if you or your buddy don’t start talking.”

  The driver’s face paled, and he started to talk. “There’s three to five of the go-betweens at any given time. They look kinda rough. They go south on the Interstate. That’s all I know, I swear.” He looked at his partner. “Tell them, Jack!”

  Joe moved the gun to Mark’s other thigh. “Names?”

  “We don’t ask names, and they don’t trust us with any information!”

  Joe leaned closer to Mark, almost nose-to-nose. “Did you hurt either of those women?”

  “No! No, I didn’t, but he did. Jack hit the one that told us her name was Skye. Hit her till she bled.”

  Joe dropped Mark, letting him fall to the ground where he stayed holding his leg and groaning.

  Joe’s jaw hardened, and he stiffened, his chin high.

  He strode over to Jack and crouched, putting his gun to the man’s head. He glanced up at Wade. “Get the info you want, then we’ll put a bullet in his head.”

  “You picked the wrong women,” Joe told Jack. “Skye is my friend—and his brother’s—girl. We ain’t people to mess with. You’ll pay for what you did.”

  Wade tightened his hand on Jack. “You beat her? Put your hands on her? I could kill you for just that. So if you’ve got anything else to add, now’s the time.”

  Jack shook his head. “Why should I? One of you is gonna kill me, anyway.”

  “Tell us,” Wade said, even though it made him sick to deal with the man, “and I’ll make sure you get a fightin’ chance.”

  Jack looked from Wade to Joe. When Joe agreed, he said, “They take them way South into the Carolina’s. I heard them talking one time. South Carolina along the coast.”

  “To these White Coats?” Wade asked.

  “Like I said, I only met them once when we set up terms. But most had on lab coats. You know, like a doctor wears. The leader wore a suit—a real suit—can you believe that? And he was real clean—right down to the smoothed hair and perfect nails. People like that stand out nowadays. Don’t see a lot of them anymore.”

  “That it?” Wade asked.

  “That’s all we have, and that’s the honest truth.”

  Wade nodded and told Reed to get the rope out of his car.

  Jack protested. “You said you’d let us go!”

  “Nah, I said I’d give you a fightin’ chance—meaning I won’t shoot you in the head like Joe here wants me to—like I’m aching to do. Instead, I’m gonna tie you to those trees over there.”

  Jack’s voice shook. “How am I supposed to untie myself?”

  “That’s your problem.” Wade hauled Jack up and pushed him to the nearest tree while Joe dragged Mark over.

  They shoved the men’s backs to the trees and pulled their hands behind them, tying them tight.

  “I’m wounded. I’ll bleed to death!” Mark cried.

  “What a baby! I ain’t cried like this since I crawled.” Joe rolled his eyes. “It’s only a bit of fat I shot off you. Shut up, or I’ll give ya another one.”

  Jack tried to make a case for himself as Wade tied him to the tree. “This is as bad as killing us. You’re just leaving us here to die. Think about it.”

  Wade turned his furious gaze on Jack. “I have thought about it. I’ve thought about how much you deserve to die, and still, I’m leavin’ you here with only a few bruises. You steal people away from their families after we’ve already gone through all this.” Wade waved his arm at the Containment Center.

  “You hurt Skye, you scum. You could be sending them to some kind of nightmare. There ain’t no law to take care of you, so we have to do it, or you’ll be out there doin’ this again to some other family.”

  Wade pointed a stiff finger at his own chest. “We are your judge, jury, and executioner. You better be happy I’ve got an audience, or this woulda went down a lot harder.”

  Wade turned and walked away.

  Jack yelled after him. “Where’s my fighting chance?”

  Pointing to the road, Wade said, “Maybe one of the trucks passing by will see ya.”

  “This far back?”

  With a shrug, Wade said, “There’s a chance.”

  “That’s it?” Jack sounded desperate.

  Wade pulled his extra knife from his boot, looked at it, then threw it out of the reach of either kidnapper.

  He turned and walked away.

  Jack stared at the hilt sticking out of the grass and broke down. “I was only trying to take care of my family!”

  Wade kept walking. “Ain’t we all.”

  Eight

  A Bullet in the Brain

  As the group walked away from a stone-faced Jack and bawling Mark, Wade stared at Spencer as the man threw an arm around Jesse. It was clear Spencer hadn’t liked the day’s events, but he was the only one who had objected.

  Joe glanced from Wade to Spencer. “I’ll take care of this,” he murmured to his friend.

  Joe jogged the few steps to Spencer, separating Jesse from him as he did so.

  “Hey, I apologize if I came on strong back there,” Joe told Spencer as Jesse and Wade listened in. “But the boy’s got a right to beat on that man for a while if he wants. They took his mom and friend.”

  Spencer grimaced at Jesse’s set face. “With his background, violence
is not something we should encourage.”

  “With his background?” Joe stuttered. “Ain’t any worse’n me and the Cole’s.” He shook his head. “Look, you gotta remember when it comes to parents, the four of us drew the short straw. That had no advantages the way things used to be, but it does now. You want the boy to survive?”

  “Of course.”

  “We can show him how to do it. Keep an eye open—seems you could learn a thing or two.”

  “Yeah,” Jesse added. “I want to learn. If Wade and Dylan hadn’t taught me stuff, I probably wouldn’t have made it home with the medicine. And wouldn’t have been able to find these guys at all!”

  Wade put his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “You’ve done great, son. Why don’t you head over to the truck and fire it up for me?” He pulled his keys out of his jean pocket and handed them to the boy.

  “Sure!” Jesse grabbed them and ran for the pickup.

  Spencer watched him go. “Dylan is trying to show him a better way.”

  “He is. Hopes to anyway. But with men like that,” Joe pointed behind them, “there ain’t but one. Dylan would be the first to agree with that.”

  Spencer shook his head. “I don’t think so. We could have taken them to the authorities.”

  “Ain’t much authority around,” Wade said. “I coulda killed ‘em. It’s what I would’ve done if you all weren’t here.”

  “They’re as good as dead. No one is going to see them back there in those trees.” Spencer pursed his lips.

  “Good. A bullet in the brain is what I should’ve done. But if they suffer a little, like others have suffered under their hands, that’s okay with me too.”

  Wade stopped and put a hand on Spencer’s arm, stopping him. He was sick of this conversation—there were more important things to do.

  “First off, the boy’s our kin now. We’ll raise him the way we see fit—which means how to survive in this world. When you got a kid, let’s see how you raise him. But for now, don’t be trying to cause problems. Especially right in front of the boy.”

  Spencer nodded and glanced at the rest of the group, who listened in. “You’re right. Not the right time or place.”

  “Second,” Wade continued. “You gotta better way to deal with those two back there, do it as long as they are punished or dead. You take whoever agrees with you. I’m here to get Skye and Kelsey, not babysit the people who took her.”

  “Oh, I don’t—I—” Spencer backtracked. “It’s just you know nothing about them.”

  “I know enough. Those men take people against their will to a place no one knows for what sounds like medical experiments. If they have to kidnap people, what kinda things do you think they do, uh? Think they’d be fun?”

  Spencer didn’t respond, so Wade went on, “Skye and Kelsey have been healthy. What if what they do gives them the AgFlu, or does something worse?

  Jack kills people—murders them—even if he doesn’t pull the trigger himself. Only one way to deal with people like that—destroy them. Destroy them before they destroy you.”

  Wade scoffed and continued, “But hey, if you think he needs some coddlin’—that we treated him too rough, you get yourself a couple of friends and go sing him some lullabies. But I ain’t waitin’ for you. We’re moving on.”

  Spencer looked from Jack, who now bellowed in anger and desperation, to the people from Cole’s Mountain.

  For a moment no one moved, then one woman walked back to the trees where the two men were tied.

  She stared at Wade’s knife stuck in the ground and pulled it out of the dirt.

  “I don’t truck with evil men. None of us do.”

  She walked to the vehicles, returning Wade’s knife as she passed him.

  Wade gave her a quick nod. “I guess you got your answer,” he told Spencer.

  Wade waved the group together. “Well, I’d hoped we’d find Skye here. So, now we need to split up. Me’n Joe will take half of you on ahead to scout the way—if we’re fortunate—maybe even rescue our girls. The other half will go on home and tell Dylan what is goin’ on. He’s gonna want to come out as soon as he can, and he’ll need people with him. How’s that sound?”

  Everyone agreed, so Wade split the group. He put Spencer into the group going home. Not only was he not on board with what was going on, he needed to see the doctor for his injuries.

  Wade walked where Jesse sat in the pickup, pushing a CD into the player, and explained the plan.

  Jesse stared at Wade. “What about me?”

  “What are you thinkin’?”

  “You want me to go home.”

  “I want you to help Dylan. I can’t be both places, and he’s all alone. The people he cares the most about are out here, and it’s gotta be driving him crazy. There’s only a handful of people he’ll be honest with about how he’s doin’ and you’re one of them.”

  “Okay. I want to help Mom, but I want Dylan to be okay too.”

  Jesse slid down from the truck seat and threw himself against Wade, mumbling into his shirt. “Take care of yourself.”

  Wade thumped Jesse on the back then put his hand on either side of the boy’s head, giving him a long look. “You too.”

  When Jesse turned to leave Wade stopped him. “Jess, I get where Spencer is coming from, but things aren’t that way anymore. They just aren’t.”

  “I know. I get it. It just takes longer for some people.”

  Wade laughed and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Okay. You go on now.”

  As Wade watched Jesse go, his heart sank like a stone. It wasn’t good for the family to be broken up like this. He didn’t like this—not one bit.

  He ran a hand over his face.

  Joe walked up and pounded him on the back. “Everything will be okay, man.”

  Wade hoped so. He really did.

  But he’d be a fool if he didn’t question whether they would ever be together again.

  Nine

  Pure Optimism

  Skye shifted yet again against the wall of the box truck, her sore body finding no comfort in the truck’s hard metal bed.

  She moved closer to Kelsey, and they leaned against each other for physical—and emotional—support.

  The truck bounced over another of the million potholes, jarring them against each other and the hard wall behind them, causing Kelsey to groan.

  Skye patted the girl’s arm, and Kelsey laid her head on the woman’s shoulder.

  They had grown close during the girl’s counseling sessions. It took a while to work through everything that happened to her in Fenton.

  “We certainly are going to have some interesting sessions once we get out of this one,” Kelsey said as she hugged Skye closer.

  Skye smiled. “That’s what I love about you, Kelsey, your eternal optimism. It’s a wonderful thing at a time like this.”

  “I wasn’t always that way. When I was alone in Fenton, I wished death would get it over with.” Kelsey shuddered. “But then Doc and Bre found me. If I got out of that—we can get out of this. It’s just a matter of time.”

  “We have to keep our eyes open for the best opportunity—one we’re sure will work.”

  Kelsey agreed.

  Skye looked at her with approval. Kelsey may still be a young teen, but her experiences made her far wiser than her years. She would need that wisdom to survive in this strange world.

  “I knew things were bad out here, I really did,” Skye said. “I believed everything you and others have told me. But I realize now, more than ever, that Dylan and Wade sheltered me from the worst of it—from as many of these ruthless, uncaring men as possible. I didn’t see the world for what it is—the individual troubles but not what it meant as a whole.”

  “Well, that’s your optimism. It’s not always a bad thing.”

  “No, but it could get me killed, and now, you too.” Skye hung her head. “Dylan told me that once, and he was right. I can’t go into situations with pure optimism—as if the people will react like th
ey used to. There’s no veil of civilization now. People can be as evil as they want to be.”

  “Strangers.” Kelsey shook her head, disagreeing. “We have to be careful of strangers. Look at all the good people living on Cole’s Mountain. There are good ones—lots of them. The world went all topsy-turvy, and everyone’s all mixed up. But pretty soon people will divide—the good and the bad. It’ll be easier to tell.” She shrugged. “That’s how it was in Fenton, anyhow.”

  “I believe you’re right, Kelsey. As time goes by, it will be easier to tell who people are. Until then, we need to treat new people like enemies until they prove otherwise. Some optimism is good, but it needs to be tempered with caution.” Skye stared through the window at the big man who had seemed sympathetic to their plight. “I’m not sure how that helps us now, but I am aware I need to think like you. My instinct is to fight, but that’s not possible yet. As you said, let them be top dog for now. Don’t fight until we’re sure we can do damage. We may not be able to beat these men physically, but perhaps we can out-think them.”

  Kelsey giggled. “Did you get a good look at them? That shouldn’t be hard to do.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Skye laid her head back against the wall as she pondered the Containment Center. How long had it existed? Had it always been so horrible? People penned like animals, not even sheltered from the elements. Were they fed?

  She shuddered. Would she and Kelsey end up in a place like that?

  The disease was tragic enough, but to be treated that way—what a nightmare.

  But maybe those Sick were the lucky ones. Soon, they would be out of their misery.

  But what would happen to the people who survived this disease? If the evil people of this world won, what would happen to the people of Cole’s Mountain?

  There were no answers to those questions.

  Skye pushed her worries away as she straightened her legs, bouncing them up and down to get the blood moving in them. This drive seemed to last forever—every mile taking her further and further away from Jesse and Dylan.