He huffs and rolls his eyes. “I swear you’re more concerned about my ribs than I am.”
“Well, at least one of us is.” God knows the man acts like he’s invincible sometimes. I march over to the other bag and lift it up, almost tipping over at the weight. “What the fuck do you have in here? The kitchen sink?” I say as I drop it with athunkand turn to scowl at Rhys. “There’s no way you’re carrying that.”
“I’ll be fine,” he says, waving me off.
“No, you won’t. I don’t need you making your injuries worse.” While I’d prefer that he didn’t carry anything, with how precarious our situation is, we need all the supplies we can carry. Even if that means we risk making Rhys’s injuries worse.
With a sigh, I place my bag on the ground next to his and set about moving some of the stuff from his bag to mine. The idiot packed all the cooking equipment, sleeping bags and most of our food and weapon supply in his bag. No wonder it weighs a ton. He has everythingbutthe kitchen sink.
Rhys scowls but smartly doesn’t argue, instead watching me as I make our packs more evenly distributed. Once I’m done, I close them up and throw my slightly heavier bag onto my back before moving the other bag towards Rhys.
He reluctantly takes it, unable to hide his wince as he puts it on his back. I should have taken more out of it, but there’s no way he’ll let me touch his bag now. I’ll have to do it sneakily tonight—if we don’t get ourselves killed.
“Did you find a map at all?” I ask him as we walk through to the front of the shop.
Rhys shakes his head. “Unfortunately, not. I did find an address, though.”
“And?”
“I was right; we’re in Cardiff. On the northern side of the city.” He turns and helps me step over the various piles of rubble and debris that litter the front of the shop. “It’s going to make getting back to Haven harder since we’re going to have to stick to the outskirts and loop around since Luke and his thugs will be looking for us.”
Shit. I didn’t even think about that. The first thing they’ll expect us to do is head straight back to Haven.
Just the thought of them waiting to ambush us has ice-cold terror dripping down my spine and my stomach clenching with dread. Some of it must leak onto my face because Rhys pulls me into a tight hug.
“I won’t let them take you again, Ollie. I promise,” he murmurs into my hair.
I shake my head. “You can’t make that kind of promise.” Especially when I know it’ll involve him sacrificing himself to save me. That’s not an option.
He cradles my head in his hands and forces me to look up at him. “I can and will make that promise, princess,” he says is a hard voice that brooks no argument. “Let me be the one to save you for once.”
Before I can argue back, he leans down and captures my lips in an all-consuming kiss that has my toes curling and my heart pounding against my chest. He pours so many emotions into that kiss that it makes my head spin even as I kiss him back with as much fervour. By the time we part, I’m flushed and breathless, and he has a dark, hungry look on his face.
But, as much as I want to drag him back into that staff room and fuck like rabbits, we need to get back to Haven. Not only because I want to get back to Theo, Alex and everyone else, but because they might not know how much threat the Scourge pose with Elsa now on their side.
That’s enough to cool my desire, and it seems Rhys has the same idea because he presses a chaste kiss against my lips before stepping away. There’s still hunger in his eyes, but it’s tempered by wariness as he scans the street.
“Come on, princess,” he says, turning to me. “Let’s go home.”
We spend the dayeither dodging or killing zombies that decide we look too tasty to pass up. Thankfully, there’s no sign of Luke or the Scourge.
That night, we find a house stable enough to sleep in—thank God. Although Rhys insisted we set up a rota for one of us to be awake at a time, since the house has broken windows and a door hanging precariously off its hinges. So my sleep is fitful and far too fleeting.
The next morning doesn’t look that promising either, since we wake up to a rainstorm that has blown in overnight.
Sheets of rain pour from the sky, making visibility non-existent and dropping the temperature close to freezing once again. It reminds me of that fateful day on our journey from the Scourge camp all those weeks ago, where we were ambushed by a horde that seemed to come out of nowhere. Just the thought of that happening again has my gut knotting with dread.
Rhys glances out at the dark sky with a grim expression on his face. “We’re going to need to be extra careful today,” he says, no doubt remembering that day as well. “Although this could be to our advantage since the gang won’t be able to see us very well either. Hell, they might not even venture out into this.”
I grimace. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to either. But my need to see Alex, Theo and my friends and family at Haven overrides my reluctance.
“Come on, princess. The sooner we’re on the move, the sooner we can get back home.” He pulls me to him and presses a kiss to my forehead before flicking up the hood of my coat to protect my head from the rain. “You have your knife?”
I nod and brandish the hunting knife Rhys had given me from the outdoor sports shop yesterday. “Armed and ready.”
His lips twitch into a small smile. “Good girl.” He kisses my nose before flicking up his own hood and turning to face the rain.
The first hour of our journey isn’t too bad. Our clothing keeps us mostly dry and warm against the freezing rain and wind that batters against us. The hours after that, though, become truly miserable.
