He opens his mouth, but before the words come out, a shrill scream erupts from behind us. FrominsideHaven. The scream is followed by another and then another, all of them filled with panic and fear.
What the…
A shotgun blasts from somewhere inside Haven, followed by a masculine laugh that’s borderline insane. There are several more gunshots and laughter that send icy shards of horror down my spine.
Because I know exactly what’s made Rhys act the way he is. I know it even before he opens his mouth again and tells us that awful truth.
“They’re inside.”
Pain in the Ass
Theo
“How has no onestarted this shit yet?” I grumble at Anthony for the tenth time in less than twenty minutes as we stop outside yet another caravan with lights on inside.
The other man sighs as he bangs on another caravan door. “I asked Elsa about it, but she just brushed me off and said the walls would keep us safe, so no need to panic people with the evac protocol.” He knocks again, louder this time.
Finally, the door to the caravan opens, revealing a middle-aged man with a woman standing behind him. “What do you want?” the man demands, scowling at both of us.
The scent of food wafts through the door, telling me that these poor people were probably eating a late lunch before we interrupted them. Not everyone eats in the communal dining room, although if you eat at home, you need to procure the food yourself. There’s a sliver of guilt inmy stomach at the knowledge that their food is going to get cold, but I brush it aside.
At least if they’re alive, they can complain about it.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, but you two and anyone else in your home needs to leave and go to your evac post,” I say, imbuing as much authority as I can into my voice.
The man sputters and shakes his head. However, before he can refuse, the woman behind him puts her hand on his arm, stopping him. She murmurs something in his ear before turning her attention to us.
“What’s going on?” she asks while still stroking the man’s arm.
“Gang members are outside the gate and while there’s very little chance of them being able to get in, we feel it’s best to have everyone prepared to evacuate, just in case,” I tell her, wanting to give them enough to details to get them moving but not too much that they panic.
She gasps, her face turning white, and even the man looks a little green. “We’ll go,” she says before grabbing the man’s arm and dragging him out of the caravan, only pausing to shut the door behind them.
“Well, that went better than the last lot,” Anthony says once they’ve gone.
I grimace at the reminder. A group of women had decided that theydidn’t want to leave, saying they’d rather take their chances and stay warm rather than traipse around in the freezing cold. I had to be pretty harsh with them, basically telling them if the Scourge get in, they’ll likely be kidnapped and taken for men to do unspeakable things to them.
Thathad finally got them moving.
“Come on, there’s at least another row we need to check,” I say as we move on from the caravan to the next one.
Luckily, this row is mostly empty with only two of the ten caravans having anyone inside. Even better, the people are quick to follow orders, and once the last person has dashed off to their evac station, I turn to Anthony.
“I’m going to go to the gate and make sure Ollie hasn’t started any more fires,” I tell him, causing the other man to laugh.
“Come find me if she does. I know she’ll want some pyromaniac company.” He winks and turns to go oversee the people at their evac posts.
However, before he can take a step, a scream cuts through the air.
“What the fuck?” I say as we both turn toward where the sound came from.
“Is that…?”
More screams rend the air, followed by maniacal laughter that has the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. All of them are toward the evac posts. My stomach sinks with dread and fear as understanding dawns.
And then several gunshots ring out.
“Holy shit. They’re inside,” Anthony breathes in horror.
