Jerri scoffs. “Like you did anything that night. I’m pretty sure the only reason you’re still alive is because Theo and Alex enjoy fucking you too much to let you die.” The few people grouped behind her murmur in agreement.
Ollie cocks an eyebrow. “I haven’t fucked any of them, actually, but if that’s how we’re deciding who lives and dies, then why the fuck are you still alive? Since I’m pretty sure neither of them or your ex-husband can stand the sight of you and you’ve been about as useful as a chocolate teapot during fights.”
Theo chuckles, his eyes gleaming with dark glee, and I barely stop myself from snorting as Jerri’s face turns a very unnatural shade of red. Even Rhys is struggling to contain his amusement, his lips twitching slightly and his eyes sparkling in the low light.
“Youbitch,” Jerri snarls as she rounds on the other woman. “Just because I don’t whore myself out like you do.”
Harlow growls and bares her teeth at the other woman.
“Jerri,” Rhys says in warning, his eyes burning with fury as he stares her down. “I suggest you think long and hard about what you say next and don’tevercall Ollie a bitch or a whore again.”
Theo takes a menacing step toward Jerri. “Unlike your ex-husband, I’m more than happy to feed your caustic ass to the zombies if you piss me off enough,” he growls, the humour gone from his face as he glares at her.
Rachel follows him, her lips pulled back into a savage snarl that’s eerily similar to the expression on Harlow’s face. “I’ll be more than happy to help.”
The barely contained violence in their voices, along with Rhys’s warning and a growling Harlow, cows Jerri enough that she turns her ire back to Rhys. Apparently she’s smart enough to realise that while Rhys won’t let anyone defend him—the stubborn bastard—he won’t stand for her to do the same to Ollie. Or anyone else, for that matter.
“This shit is allyourfault,” Jerri snarls as she closes the distance between her and Rhys. “What happened to poor Ingrid, Jake and Terry is onyourhands.”
Ollie clenches her hands into fists as her eyes flick from Jerri and Rhys to Theo and then me. I can almost hear her confused thoughts, of why we’re standing by and letting this woman lay blame on Rhys without trying to defend him.
The truth is, while we’d both love to, we can’t.
The last time we did, Rhys had a go at us before refusing to speak to either of us for an entire month. It was just after Jerri had filed for divorce, and both of us had been terrified that he’d done something to himself when we couldn’t find him. Turns out he’d gone to his grandparents’ old house in North Wales and drank himself silly for a month before coming back. Those weeks had been torture, so both Theo and I came to an agreement: we let Rhys handle Jerri even if it kills us.
Rhys sighs heavily. It’s the sound of a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. “What happened today was awful and tragic, but also completely outside of my control. I can’t control the weather, and those infected were on us before we could react. I wish I’d done things differently, but that won’t change the fact that three people are dead.”
Jerri hisses like a snake and stabs her finger into his chest, hard enough for him to rock back onto his heels. “Maybe if you weren’t such an incompetent leader, then those deaths wouldn’t have happened!”
Rhys flinches at her words. The movement is slight, barely visible unless you know the man well.
Anger stirs in my gut, and I grind my teeth together as I force myself to stay where I am and keep my mouth closed. Saying or doing anything will only make things worse. Theo vibrates behind Rhys, his silver eyes blazing with fire as he glares daggers at Jerri. At least I’m not the only one struggling to keep myself under control.
Ollie also seems to notice Rhys’s reaction because she staggers towards the two of them, her body tense like she’s ready to leap to Rhys’s defence. But she stops short and crosses her arms over her chest, no doubt to stop herself from reaching over to stab the bitch. Harlow hunkers down next to her owner, still snarling.
Jerri ignores all of this. Her entire focus is on tearing down her ex-husband piece by piece until there’s nothing left.
“You’re so fuckingpathetic,” she snarls as she pokes him again. “No wonder the SAS discharged you and I divorced your ugly ass. I didn’t think you could get any more useless, but apparently you’re proving me wrong.” She laughs, the sound brimming with caustic venom.
Bloody hell. I get that she’s scared and probably traumatised from her time in the Scourge camp, but there’s no excuse for this.
“You’re a fucking disaster. No wonder you lost your entire team in that explosion. I don’t know how you even survived it considering how hopeless you are. You gotthreeof us killed without even trying, and now you’re going to get the rest of us killed with your incompetence.”
Several people suck in sharp breaths at her words, including those who are on Jerri’s ‘side’ of the argument. A few people stare at her in disgust and shake their heads. Theo and I are barely holding ourselves back from ripping into the abhorrent harpy and throwing her assoutside for the zombies to eat. The only thing keeping our feet planted where they are is the promise we made to one another.
Especially when I see the look on Rhys’s face. His stoic mask is completely gone, and he’s looking at his ex-wife with a mixture of horror and mortification.
But it’s Ollie who has the biggest reaction.
“You’re going to fucking regret that,” she snarls, sounding borderline feral as she stalks towards the other woman with a surprising amount of malice considering how haggard she looks. Harlow trots after her, ready and waiting to jump to her owner’s aid at a moment’s notice.
Jerri turns her attention to her, a smug smile spread across her lips.
I expect Ollie to verbally rip into her or to snarl something. What I don’t expect is for her to ball her hand into a fist and slam said fist into the side of the smirking woman’s face.
Sometimes Violence is the Answer
Olivia
