“You wouldn’t believe it even if I told you. Find Samuel,” I ordered. “I don’t trust anyone else on this but us.”

  Reed nodded, looking over Fitri before turning to do as I asked. My hackles rose. That was another problem I would have to take care of when we got back.

  Fitri handed a gas mask over to Gunner who turned it over to inspect. “This shit looks like it’s older than me. What the hell is this supposed to do? How do we know it still works as intended?”

  “Let’s head back to my place and I’ll tell you what the good doc told me, yeah?” I patted his back. “I don’t need anyone eavesdropping on us.”

  Gunner’s eyes sharpened, understanding what I was not saying. It wasn’t going to be good news and early, unsolicited rumors flying in the community might cause panic. There had been enough excitement going around with them finding Fitri’s real identity.

  By the time we made it to my front porch at the farthest southwest corner of Ashborne, the rest of the men were already there. This mission would only be between the five of us, and we would probably have to sneak out during the cover of darkness to reduce the likelihood of witnesses.

  Unlocking the front door, I pushed Fitri in first, then followed after her. She headed to the living room and sat on the couch, deciding on a meeting spot for us.

  “Alright, what’s going on Eliseo? What the hell is up with these masks?” Samuel asked, turning one in his hands.

  “Crazy Otis told me some shit I didn’t want to believe myself. I don’t know what the hell he does down there and how he even gets his intel, but the possibility of things going to shit by not believing him makes me take his word as the gospel until proven otherwise.”

  “Spit it out, already,” Reed growled, sitting beside Fitri.

  My temper flared not only from his attitude, but from the fact that he chose such close proximity to her, knowing what was going on between us. He stared right back, knowing full well what he riled up, challenging me.

  First things first. I dropped the initial bomb. “Clan Cirse from the far north is rumored to be able to clone.”

  The guys’ eyes bulged out before they all started firing their questions at the same time.

  “That’s not all,” I lifted up a hand. “There’s other rumors that say some of these bloodsuckers can fly—with wings.”

  “Fucking hell. Does the world want to eliminate the human race? How can they have all these advantages over us? What kind of evolutionary bullshit is this?” Samuel leaned back in the chair and ran his hand over his face, staring at the ceiling, lost in contemplation.

  “I feel you, brother. The last thing crazy Otis told me is his theory that all this shit possibly started from an airborne virus instead of bloodsucking, like we thought,” I added.

  “Are you shitting me? How do we fight something we can’t even see and probably already breathed in?” Gunner said with exasperation.

  Tossing masks to the rest of them without one, I tilted my head to the item in hand. “Seems this is the only protection we’re afforded, men. Crazy Otis wants us to get a sample of the decayed wings if they exist at all. Says he’s close to a cure.”

  “I don’t believe that old fool,” Reed shot back quickly. “He’s out of his damn mind on good days. Who’s to say this isn’t going to get us all killed? Fucking crazy doctor and his crazy ass requests. Why us?”

  As much as I hated to agree with Reed right now, I felt the same. But what if the doctor was right? I leaned back with my arm behind the couch and stared at them all. “So what are you guys proposing? You want to skip this shit, or complete the mission handed to us?”

  I might commonly take the role as head on most missions but at the end of the day, when it comes to life and death decisions, we were a team. I respected each and every one of these men as I patiently waited for their answer.

  “Why us?” Samuel’s question broke the pregnant silence. “Why not any other group that’s been out scavenging? We’re not the only guys capable of this job.”

  Samuel had his elbows on his knees, looking at me with eyes full of questions. Many days, I wondered the same thing. At the same time, I saw how incapable these groups could be. It was why we decided to start breaking into teams with each one of us leading. The death count decreased dramatically since we took over strategy and planning in Ashborne.

  “I don’t know, man. I’m just the messenger,” I admitted easily. “He called me down to his bunker and told me all this shit. Handed me the masks, and that was that.”

  Sili fidgeted next to me. Yeah, I didn’t forget the strange sounds coming from the tunnel either.

  “Fucking fishy as heck,” Samuel said, a thought that ran through all our minds. “His bunker has more secrets than everyone here combined. You know that shit goes under this entire place?”

  “Yeah, I’m well aware, Samuel. As we all are. Look, I don’t make the rules here.”

  “Pfft, the governor sits on his ass in his house all day,” Gunner joined in. “He doesn’t do shit either. Crazy Otis got more sway in this community than Sergio.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Our makeshift governor only came out when he thought it was necessary to improve his position within the community. How? I had no clue, since there was really nothing higher than that here. We were all pretty self-sufficient in Ashborne, with competent men who maintained the turbines and solar panels to keep the place running.

  “Hannah is going to sever my ball,” Samuel groaned. “This trip is going to take more than a week at best.” Samuel continued to stare at the ceiling, his thoughts elsewhere.

  “What will it be, gentlemen?” I asked again.

  “Fuck. If the world’s going to shit, we might as well go down fighting. Let’s find this decayed flesh and get home.” Gunner had his arms crossed with a look of steely determination.

  “Where is it located? Do we know? Or are we wandering until rumors get louder and things get warmer?” Reed inquired.

  “It’s in a human camp,” I told them. “We just need to keep our eyes peeled around Clan territory and not disturb any hordes around us on the way.”

  “That’s easier said than done,” Gunner replied. “A few of them versus us might mean life or death with extra abilities like that.”

  My eyes burned when I noticed Reed leaning in toward Sili, the tips of his fingers dancing at the back of her neck. She looked uncomfortable. My hand shot out and knocked him away. We both threatened each other silently until Sili spoke up and broke our silent confrontation.

  “People die every day,” she asserted. “Let’s just get this and go home. I ran across a few human flocks on my way to this community. We can start there and see where it leads us. Most of them were located toward the east and northeast.”

  Clan Lekim territory. Rumors had it, they were the worst and most ruthless of the bloodsuckers combined. How was it possible to have pockets of humans thriving on their territory?

  “Where did you come from, Fitri?” Reed asked.

  Her spine tensed, and I waited anxiously for her answer. Maybe this would help piece some of her scattered memories together.

  “I-I have memories. Flashes. Fragmented at best.”

  “You got amnesia or something?” Gunner asked bluntly.

  “I-I guess you can say that. The farthest back I can remember is my travel here. The rest comes to me in nightmares or during my waking hours and inopportune times.”

  “PTSD,” Samuel interjected. “It happens to me too. Feels like you’re living that shit again in a constant loop.” He didn’t talk about his past much, and I never asked. Most of us in the group had gone through some shit, surviving in this world.

  “Fuck it. Fitri’s right,” Reed added. “Let’s do this shit and come home. Might as well rest up before we head out tonight.” My eyes burned as I watched Reed place his hand over Sili’s.

  She didn’t push him away.

  I jumped up, and so did Reed. We stood toe to toe until Sili squeezed in between us. “Can you assholes just go to a different room or something? Damn. Cock fight another time, alright? We have shit to do.”

  I watched as she left us and headed to the kitchen. The other men were shaking their heads, but I ignored them.

  “You’re sleeping your ass on the floor,” I snarled at Reed.

  He didn’t say anything, instead walked away to another room.

  “This wouldn’t have happened if you fools would have just dipped your dick like I suggest, to get rid of your built-up tension,” Samuel laughed, and I kicked his crossed ankles before walking over it toward the kitchen after Sili.

  I found her chewing on some vegetables, staring out the window over the sink.

  “What kind of welcome did you get when you came across these human flocks you speak of?” I prodded.

  She turned her head and gazed at me with a dreaded look on her face.

  “I remember them burning me alive.”

  8

  FITRI

  The small nap we took at Eliseo’s house only did so much. Some of the guys looked like they merely mimicked the motion of sleep instead of receiving any rest.

  Hannah came by to scream at Samuel for leaving her again. It was heartbreaking to see. She really did seem like she loved him.

  “Didn’t you just come back, Sam?” she whined.

  “What am I supposed to do, Hannah? I don’t control this shit.”

  “You can say fucking no and stay home!” she cried out.

  Samuel grabbed her by the upper arms, rubbing his hands up and down to try and calm her. She melted into his chest, and they embraced.

  My face flushed from such an intimate scene, and I turned and walked away, unable to watch anymore without my own personal emotions boiling over. Reed followed after me, finding me in the back of the house running my finger along some of the cabinets in front of me.

  “Hey. You alright?” he asked quietly.

  “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” I turned to look at him with my arms crossed defensively.

  His eyes softened as he walked up to me. I tilted my head back to look at his face trying to swallow whatever was happening inside of me. Reed was almost as tall as Eliseo—all the men in this group tower over me.

  “If you need someone to talk to, you know you got me, right? I’m a good listener.”

  Reed touched my arm the way Samuel touched his girl and I flushed, warmth spreading through my blood. It was a strange comfort. I was surprised I didn’t flinch like I normally would have reacted to the touch of another, but then again, the men of this team made me comfortable in their presence as they took me as I was.

  The sun went down a few hours ago, and we waited for the community to settle into their homes before we took leave. The air had already become crisp once again, sending a slight shiver down my body, when a breeze filtered through the crack of an open window.

  Reed came impossibly closer, and I could feel the warmth radiate off his skin. He was not as scarred up as Eliseo, and looked at least a decade younger. The crows feet around his eyes when he smiled made me want to smile back.

  “I appreciate it. My memories are in pieces at best, most of them not happy ones. Maybe this trip will help me put the pieces back together?” I said hopefully. I wanted to know what caused my mind to be this way. Or if my mind was doing this on purpose to protect itself from something.

  Both of his palms cupped my face, and my breath caught. My nipples pushed against the oversized shirt I was wearing, and I instinctually cast my gaze down to hide myself somehow.

  “Don’t. Don’t do that. It’s just me,” he whispered.

  We could hear Samuel’s and Hannah’s fight get louder until the door slammed and it became abruptly quiet. Was that what it was like to care for someone? I looked into Reed’s eyes with all my mental questions, too timid to voice them aloud. When did I become this girl? My memories hazed in my mind every time I tried to inspect possible past relationships. The only ones that came to the forefront of my mind were my parents, and the bloodshed.

  Lost in thought, I didn’t realize Reed was slowly leaning down toward me. Not until I heard an angry growl cut into the moment, and my head snapped up.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Eliseo stood a few feet from Reed, veins popping out of his neck.

  My eyes took in his hostility and stepped away from Reed. I didn’t need these guys to kill each other over me. I was the newest addition to the group. Guilt stabbed me in the chest.

  Gunner walked by and saved the awkward moment by shoving Eliseo to the side to shake him out of his anger. The men’s eyes never left each other, and suddenly I was feeling claustrophobic.

  I left the room swiftly, not wanting to suffocate from the testosterone and found Samuel sitting on one of the chairs. “Hey.”

  Samuel looked up at me, his face tired. “Hey. Sorry about that. Hannah’s kind of…”

  “Worried,” I supplied. I get it.

  “Yeah, you can say that. She’s also not happy with the fact that our mission includes another woman. But I told her she had no say in how we operate our team,” he said with finality.

  I sat down on the couch, checking the weapons I had in my boots, a different kind of guilt assaulting me. But Hannah had nothing to worry about. I was positive Samuel and I had no romantic feelings for one another—the idea never once on our radar. Again I began to wonder why Eliseo decided to integrate me into his team to begin with… before things went down between us. “I bet that didn’t go over well.”

  “Such is life. We all gotta deal with something. We ready? Where are the other guys?” he asked, getting to his feet, looking around curiously.

  Sighing, I stood up too. “Cooling down Eliseo.”

  Samuel chuckled and hollered, “Hey, old bastard! Let’s get going!”

  Multiple bootsteps got louder, approaching us. I turned to see all three men in the living room with scowls on their faces. There was a red mark on both Reed and Eliseo, but I didn’t say a word. They needed to get this out of their system, because I didn’t know what I could do to help—if I could help at all.

  “Whiteridge,” I blurted out. My mind supplied images of the human camp equipped with a small wall and a farm.

  “Are your memories coming back, Sili?” Eliseo asked, coming closer to me.

  I stared at him. The man who took me in and gave me a group to watch my back. Despite my guilt, gratitude spilled over. This fractured memory would give us a place to start looking at the very least. “I remember they had a place that housed criminals and such. We can start there. Maybe they’ll have what we’re looking for.”

  Flashes of chains rattling and tormented screams floated with the breeze brought me back to the moment where I escaped and ran.

  “You’re an abomination. You shouldn’t exist, yet here you are, tainting the remaining human populace.” His spittle sprayed out as he snarled in my face.

  For such a small town, their hate for bloodsuckers was strong. The fact that I didn’t require blood for sustenance wouldn’t sway them, even if I mentioned it—which I wasn’t. There was no point. Not when they chained me the moment they saw my skin heal.

  “Pity a womb like yours will go to waste.” The man kneeled down, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to rip his face off when I got out of here. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun before we kill you. After all, what difference does it make, in the long run?”

  The chain beside me rattled, stealing his attention. The old man beside me has his sharp gaze fixed on the man before me. There was an aura hidden beneath the old man’s frail body that screamed danger despite his appearance. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I could feel it.

  “You getting excited, old man?” the leader of Whiteridge taunted. “Bet you wish you didn’t try to steal that food right about now. You could have been partaking in the events.”

  I shivered in disgust. Whiteridge’s leader smelled of fermented drink and a type of smoke I was familiar with back in my home village. The older ladies partook in the burning of the leaves, shoving it in their pipes during the day.

  But this whole town hid their true faces. They welcomed you with open arms, only to see how they could exploit you and use you to their advantage. When one of them tried to blame me for touching their husbands, she stabbed me, only to witness my skin stitch back up…

  “Be wary,” I told the men as I checked all the weapons on my body one more time. “It’s a town of lies. Keep your guard up.”

  They nodded and we all began our last preparations for departure.

  We moved under the cover of darkness, Gunner showing us an area of the wall that was easier to climb over than what I found when I tried. The second to climb, I jumped the edge of the wall and landed in Eliseo’s arms. He smiled at me, refusing to put me down.

  “Sili,” he whispered.

  “Put me down, Eliseo.”

  He slid me down his hard body until my feet hit the ground. My face heated up and I shoved him away only to have him chuckle quietly. The men quickly followed suit and we all started our trek outbound for the next few hours until the sun slowly crested the sky.

  “Hey, guys. That car looks like it still runs,” Samuel pointed in front of us.

  We reached an abandoned town about a mile ago. This car sat off the road by itself at a strange angle. The top was rusted out, but the body was pretty much still intact. The sun had beaten down on us today, making us sweat profusely under our clothes. A vehicle would help us cover more ground quicker.

  “You think it’s fresh?” Reed asked.

  “Only one way to find out,” Samuel replied.

  We cautiously walked around the vehicle and checked around the parameter. It was the loud crash against the nearby tree that stole all of our attention, then the splatter of blood spraying like rain in our direction. The tree creaked loudly as it fell over and hit the other ones nearby.

  “What the hell?” Samuel murmured as he pulled his gun from his pants.

  I readied a bolt and the rest of the guys all brought their weapons up, looking at the blood-splattered trunk.

 

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