Savage (The End 1)

His fingers itched to touch her hair, to see how soft it was between his fingers. He wanted to bury his nose at the base of her neck and inhale, seeing if she smelled as sweet as she looked.

What the fuck was wrong with him? One look at this woman and he felt everything in him change, shift. He felt this possessiveness rise in him.

The world was a dangerous place and he wanted to be the one to watch over her, to make sure she was safe.

He wanted her in the most selfish way possible.

But on the heels of that, he also knew that he was one of those dangers. Malachi was one of those evils, and the last thing he wanted to do was have his ruin consume her.

Chapter Twenty-One

Never trust a quiet town

Sasha found a map hidden in the office. It looked relatively new and as she checked all the co-ordinates, she attempted to plan a new route.

“What is it?” Lucy asked, bringing her a bottle of water.

“It’s a map.”

“You wanting to fly away or something?”

She chuckled. “Not at all. I’m thinking we can plan how best to get out of here and where we can go.” Sasha didn’t add that she hoped to avoid the larger towns and cities for fear of what they’d turned into. She didn’t need to remember watching other disaster movies to know they would be alive with activity and not very good ones either.

“We’re going to have to walk, though, right?” Lucy asked, groaning. “We’re going to die out there.”

Sasha rolled her eyes. “Do not be so dramatic. We’ll be able to find a way out and besides, I saw a couple of cars around. We’ll have to go into the houses and try to find the keys.” The only problem with that? The potential dead bodies and decay they could find. She rubbed at her temples. Either way they did this, it was going to be risky. If they took a car, there was a chance of them being heard down the road.

Pressing her hands to her face, she tried to clear the exhaustion from her brain, only it wasn’t working.

“You’re tired. You’ve got to rest,” Lucy said.

“Why are you sounding so mature all of a sudden?”

Lucy smiled. “I’ve got to take care of you. I know Mom and Dad said you’ve got to take care of me but we’ve only got each other.”

“You’re a good sister, Lucy.” She hugged her sister close and blew out a breath. “There’s so much to consider right now.”

“I think we need to find a car, then load it up with food and after that, we’re out of here.”

“You’re right. We can’t stay too long.” They’d already been here four days and she was starting to find comfort in the silence. Even though there were times she felt someone watching her.

Gripping the back of her neck, she stretched out her muscles before taking a sip of the water from the all but destroyed bottle. Once she’d had her few minutes to relax, she went back to planning out their route. There were not many chances she could take but she’d be able to take a lot of backroads, which meant getting to certain places would take longer. The other problem was gas. If they got to a town and didn’t have enough fuel, then they were done for. No matter which way she looked at it, they were screwed.

“Just my fucking luck,” she murmured softly.

She circled each town and then placed the map back in the bag. Lucy was already sound asleep in the living room. Sasha checked the doors and windows to make sure they were locked.

Only when she felt safe did she take a seat and attempt to think. But exhaustion claimed her and she found herself drifting off to sleep.

Ever since the attack at the cabin, she rarely slept more than a few hours at a time. It was as if the threat of the world, and the danger that surrounded her, were an alarm clock constantly going off.

Opening her eyes, she realized she’d fallen asleep. It was still dark outside and Lucy was still asleep. Getting off the sofa, she headed into the kitchen to triple check their supplies and make sure nothing was missed.

But then she felt something, a feeling that had the hairs on her arms standing on end.

It had her looking around the kitchen, her nerves riding high.

Grabbing the supplies they had left, she went in to wake up Lucy. Whatever made her feel this way, she knew they couldn’t stay. They had to leave. Something was wrong.

“Come on, we’ve got to go.”

“What? Is something wrong?”

“No. But we’ve got to move,” she lied easily. Something was wrong. Sasha just couldn’t place it.

They quickly dressed and were packed and ready to go. The sun had started to rise, giving a clear view across town.