Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Asher

By mutual consensus, we agreed to travel to the nearest outpost and ask around about the alleged 'paradise.' Fallon made it clear that we would not partake in a wild goose chase; if the outpost led to a dead end, we would bunker down in a fenced-in home.

The drive was relatively uneventful. Beside for a splatter of acid rain and a couple dozen Ragers, we ran into very little trouble.

The heat, on the other hand, proved to be a problem. It crept up on us with the force of a freight train. The sun sat high in the sky, but it felt like it was mere inches from my body. Even with the air conditioning blowing, sweat coated my skin. It was blistering hot, almost to the point of making you feel sick.

Half a dozen water bottles littered the ground of the backseat. Addie was insistent on Tommy and Nikolai staying hydrated. She herself wasnotcovered in sweat, cheeks and forehead red. Definitely dehydrated.

After she shoved another water bottle at Fallon, I placed my hand on hers gently.

"Sweetheart, don't neglect yourself by taking care of us. You need to drink too."

She made a face at me, but complied when I handed her a second bottle of water.

Up ahead, the van that Tonya, Davis, Jared, Kai, and Doc were driving slowed to a stop.

"Stay here," Fallon instructed gruffly. With a pointed look at Ronan, sitting beside him, the two exited with their guns loaded.

The car idled on the road, and Addie took their absence as an opportunity to lean forward, pressing her face to the vents.

"So. Hot," she moaned dramatically. Ryder, sitting in the middle row of the car beside Nik and Tommy, wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes, you are."

"Language!" Tommy spat out, and Ryder frantically gripped his chest, the dramatic asshole.

"I didn't even swear!"

"Sexual innuendos are the same as swear words."

"Look at you. Using big words," he teased, and Tommy's glower deepened.

"Look at you. With your nutsack removed and fed to Ragers."

"No nutsacks are being removed," Addie said absently, still staring intently at the blower. Cold air blew her brown hair back, and she moaned.

That sound made blood rush to my cock, and I shifted uncomfortably. The memory of Addie's lips around my erection…

I was barely able to contain my own moan.

Fallon and Ronan returned to the car seconds later, faces somber.

"What's up?" Tam asked. He and Declan sat behind Tommy, Nik, and Ryder. We were fortunate to have found a van that both ran and fitted all of us in a used car lot. An eleven passenger.

"Ragers. Probably at least fifty of them up ahead."

"Shit," I breathed. Instinctively, I inched closer to Addie as my eyes scanned the horizon.

Their forms were minuscule, silhouettes in the blinding sun, but it reminded me eerily of a wave approaching the shoreline. In this case, the wave was full of flesh-eating monsters.

"Is there another way to the outpost?" Addie asked. We had been planning on driving to the one a few hours east of Atlanta, in a town I couldn't remember the name of, but now, I wondered if that was even possible.

Paradise or not, Fallon would never do something that could cost us our lives.

"We'll go around it," our leader said resolutely. It was this behavior alone that had caused us to nickname him Sarge - a drill sergeant and a play on his last name all in one. He knew what he wanted and cupped life by the metaphysical balls. "It might add a few hours to our trip, but I'd prefer that over…" he trailed off ominously, his hand clenching the steering wheel.

I heard the words he didn't say.Couldn'tsay.

Over another death.

Memories of Calax bombarded me, assaulted me, but I brushed them away. I would be the first to admit that I wasn't as close to him as some of the others had been. I was reserved, soft, some would say, while he was hard-edges and penetrating eyes. If it wasn't for our team, we would've fallen out of sorts years ago.

If it wasn't for Addie…

I glanced towards the brunette sitting beside me, eyes scanning her surroundings in rapt interest. Her brow puckered as it always did when she was deep in thought.

"I'm so happy we're stopping," she muttered to no one in particular. Another quirk of our girl. "I need to shit."

Ronan snorted, and Ryder cracked up behind her. Her cheeks pinkened, but she held her head high.

My girl was crazy, but then again, so was I.

I glanced at my brothers, and I knew they were thinking about the conversation we had the other night while Tonya was talking to Addie.

Fallon nodded once to show he understood, and my lips quirked.

If Calax's death taught us one thing, it was that life was too short. We needed to hold onto the little things while we could. Grip them for dear life.

And those big things? Like the ones we loved above all else? We needed to show it to them constantly.

And tonight, we would do just that.

* * *

Calax

"You are a horrible singer," I quipped, resting my head against the cool stone of my prison.

Doug chuckled but continued to sing loudly, horribly out of tune.

"You're just jealous of my gift!" he cooed.

Gift.

What he had was a weapon that could be used for mass destruction.

His song was interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing. Doug immediately ceased his singing.

Standing up, I moved to the bars and gripped them firmly. It was rare we would see our prison guards more than once a day. They would arrive periodically to deliver us food and sometimes dump out our chamber pots.

Yup. Chamber pots.

A fucking bucket I had to squat over to take a shit.

The click of heels was the only indication it wasn't our usual stone-faced guard. A second later, Bitch appeared alongside Asshole. Her blond hair was, as always, impeccably straightened and cascading to her shoulders. Her cold, dead eyes flickered to me and my gaunt, skinny form. Her lips twisted in disgust.

"You look horrible."

"Not trying to impress you, sweetheart," I drawled.

Ignoring my snark, Bitch turned towards Asshole with a raised brow. "He'll need a shower before he meets with…" She slyly cast her eyes in my direction, thin lips pursing. Meets with who? "I'll wash him."

Fuck, no.

"You'll do no such thing," Asshole sneered. "You're still my wife, and that's crossing a fucking line."

"Trouble in paradise?" I asked teasingly, my lips twitching at the accidental relationship reveal. Bitch glared at me hotly, but Asshole kept his attention firmly on her.

"You may have been rejected by your last boyfriend, but that doesn't give you the right to be a cheating bitch. Look all you want, but don't fucking touch."

She sniffed haughtily. "Fine. It's not like I want to touch him anyway. He smells disgusting."

"It's shit," I piped in helpfully. "You know, from the lack of soap and water after I drop a mean one."

If it was possible, and I didn't think it physically was, she looked even more disgusted. Her face turned a shade greener.

"Step away from the door," Asshole instructed me, and I complied. I was too weak, too tired, to do anything else. The lack of food was beginning to weaken me. But still, I was the good boy who moved without question. Listened. Obeyed.

Like a fucking dog.

Asshole procured a set of dangly keys and placed one in the bronze lock. When the bars were pushed open, Asshole grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me out. My knees buckled, but he kept his arm firmly around my shoulders to keep me steady.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?" I asked roughly as we moved to the exit. I tried to peek into Doug's cell, but it was too far away. Only shadows greeted me.

Asshole shoved my shoulder roughly, and I fell to my knees. High heels appeared in my vision as Bitch crouched down. Her pinstripe skirt bunched upwards, revulsion filling me as she purposely tried to flash me her disgusting pussy.

"You have a meeting, Calax. And he won't be as generous as we have been. Either you help us find Addie...or we kill you. Simple as that."