“Come on, woman,” Brant teases, tugging me forward.
With him leading me, I take another step in the direction of a town I’ve never felt like I belonged in. There’s tension all throughout my body, but I try to dispel it by watching Madix and Theo’s asses as they walk. It’s a nice view.
We travel down the rocky hill, and it’s hard to miss that there’s been a barrier wall of some sort erected around where Main Street leads to the heart of Endstone. It gives off serious Mad Max vibes. I shake my head and mentally concede to what these three have been telling me. It’s definitely true that if any place is bound to survive a plague, it would be Endstone.
“Shit, they work fast,” Brant observes.
“Wonder where they got all that sheet metal?” Madix asks, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.
I chuckle, but it sounds hollow. “They’ve probably been collecting it for years,” I say. “ThisisEndstone we’re talking about. “They get off on hoarding supplies and swapping shit with their neighbors.”
“True that,” Theo agrees, and then the distinct smell of a silent but deadly bomb reaches me.
“Really?” I ask, exasperated. “Who did it?”
I am gonna purple nurple the hell out of them. I scrunch up my nose before pulling the collar of my shirt up to cover it. I glare at the guys, who are all feigning innocence while trying not to laugh. Predictably, they all point to Puddles at the same time.
I roll my eyes and drop Brant’s hand so I can rub her head. “Men,” I say to her. “Always blaming women for their shit.” Puddles looks up at me and yawns, and I nod at her. “I know, itisexhausting!”
I break away from the group, giving them a pointed look so they know not to pass me. “I’ll be leading the rest of the way. You guys stay downwind.” I get three chuckles at my back, but Puddles wisely stays at my side.
Every step I take closer to Endstone feels like the beginning of the end. I haven’t been here for years, or talked to my dad in that long either. My stomach churns with nerves at thought of the inevitable reunion. If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve been trying to figure out how to reconnect with my dad without having to reconnect with this town. I just never imagined it would ever be under circumstances likethis.And yet, as crazy as it is, I’m glad I met these three life-sized GI Joes. I’m a big believer that sometimes, the universe gives you exactly what and who you need.
Puddles keeps to my side, and I work to convince my feet to keep walking towards the town instead of turning around and running from it like I want to. The memory of my dad, his eyes filling with tears as I threw another box into the backseat of my Cherokee before I drove away, tries to fight for my attention. I slam it back down and focus on my feet as they hit the dirt with each stride.
“Why so serious?” Theo asks me, doing a respectable impersonation of Heath Ledger’sJoker.I laugh, and shake away the apprehension that’s clawing at me. I turn to him, flashing a Joker-worthy grin across my face. He chuckles and pulls me in for a quick kiss.
“Stop mouth-fucking and let’s go,” Madix grumbles. “I’m tired, and want a shower as soon as possible.”
“Oooh, in a hurry for some hot shower sex?” I tease. “I get that. I respect your needs. Last one there has to smell Theo’s rotten-egg farts all night long.”
“For the last time, that was Puddles!” he shouts at me as I sprint towards the last place on earth that I ever wanted to call home again. I laugh, letting the breeze that brushes past me carry some of my reservations away. I’m here now. There’s no more hiding from this place. Besides, I now have three very muscled and sexy men to help me get over my issues and pass the time. If I have to face this place, I’m glad I have the three of them—and their cocks—to distract me.
We make good time, and before I know it, we’re approaching the newly constructed metal barrier that blocks off the entrance to the town. Right before we leave the treeline, Madix pulls us up short.
“Hold,” he says, in that soldier-bossy tone of his that makes me both bristle and get wet. I’ve never had a man as naturally dominating as he is, and I gotta say, it’s sexy as hell.
We all stop and gather around each other, and Madix eyes us. It’s hard to take him seriously with Coon still wrapped around his neck like a scarf, but I bite my lips to keep from smiling. “Okay, listen up. We’ve been gone for days. We don’t know what we’re walking into,” Madix lays out. “For all we know, Endstone could have been overridden with the Handshake Plague by now. However, the fact that they’ve built a barrier is a good sign. It means they still have a reason to keep people out. I want you three to stay here while I check things out first.”
Theo shakes his head. “No way, dude. You can’t go alone.”
“I’m not asking,” Madix tells him. “If I’m not back in thirty, I want you to turn around and make your way back to Remington’s house.”
“What? That’s—”
My argument gets cut off from a voice over a megaphone.
“You four to the north! We have eyes on you. Come forward and state your business.”
Madix curses and yanks Coon off his shoulders, making her hiss in protest. I reach out and take her, and Brant opens the carrier so I can put her, and the rats, inside. “Stay back,” Madix orders us, but he’s looking at me, as if he knows I’ll be the one to not listen. Smart guy.
Madix turns and strides toward the wall, until someone yells, “Stop right there!”
While Brant is distracted, locking Coon and the rats into the carrier, and Theo is scanning Madix’s back, I take the opportunity to sidestep around them and join Madix. The guys curse at my back and try to grab me, but I dart around a tree and over a bush before they can.
When I break through the treeline, Madix shoots me a glare over his shoulder, but I ignore it. I expect him to yell at me to go back, but he surprises me by instead holding his hand out. My blonde brows jump up, but I take his hand to stand next to him, and we both look up at the person standing at the top of the wall.
“Endstone is closed to outsiders,” The guy says, holding up his rifle like he wants to make sure we don’t miss exactly what he means by that.
