Afterglow: An Apocalypse Romance by Monroe Maria

Author:Monroe, Maria [Monroe, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-07-13T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

–Creed–

He’d made his way back through the woods, his heart searing like it’d been cut, pounding out of his chest as he tore through the trees. Maybe she was OK. The thought kept him going. Maybe she was hidden in the woods, waiting till it was safe to come out. Maybe any second she’d come running out from behind a tree and into his arms.

Or maybe he was deluding himself. He knew in his gut that they had her, that Nina was with those assholes, being taken away to wherever the fuck they’d come from. He tried to remember what the old woman had said to Nina. Something about a gang out this way, a dangerous gang on a killing spree.

The sleeping bag was tossed aside in a heap. His leather jacket was gone, and only then did Creed realize it was cold out, the harsh wind gusting around his bare arms. He crossed his arms across his chest, and when pain screeched through his brain he remembered he’d been shot. Or grazed. It was insane that he’d forgotten that in his hurry to get back here, and now he saw that his arm was slick with blood and sweat, but the wound wasn’t deep, the flow already slowing. There’d be time to take care of it later. Right now he had to figure out what his next steps were.

His bike was gone too. Of course. Of course they’d taken his bike, leaving him with no way to go after them. His urge was to curse, to break something, but that wouldn’t do any good. Next steps, he reminded himself, taking a deep and calming breath.

He could head back to the old couple’s house. They’d be long gone by now, but maybe they had a spare car tucked away somewhere, with a spare battery that hadn’t been ruined by the solar flare.

Fat fucking chance, he knew, but heading on foot after the gang didn’t seem like the best plan either. He turned and headed back the way they’d come, keeping up a swift jog, his ears and eyes on high alert for any sound, any sign that he needed to hide in the woods or the fields alongside the road.

When he saw the old couple’s home he slowed down, still hearing and seeing nothing unusual but warning humming in his head. He couldn’t mess this up. He had no second chances here, no extra time. If he failed, he’d lose Nina for sure, and that thought filled him with fury, black and ferocious.

Shock and surprise stopped Creed as soon as he saw that their car, that old wood-paneled station wagon, was still in the driveway exactly where it had been the previous day. He remembered the woman loading it up with bags, the urgency on the man’s face. The white-haired couple hadn’t planned to stay another night. Something was wrong.

Creed inched closer, then froze as sudden movement behind the car caught his eye. Silently, he stepped closer, then closer still, raising his gun in front of him as he heard a low snarling.

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