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“Might wanna take a step back,” he warned, pulling the knife out of its sheath.

I darted to the side, taking Arlen with me.

He cut the man straight from his neck to his ribcage, splitting him apart before making another slit a little lower from the navel to the man’s balls, digging deep and grunting loudly from the force it took to break the man’s pelvis.

Blood went everywhere, spreading over the dirt and spurting like a fountain. The man never had a chance in hell of fighting for himself. He didn’t even get to scream.

“Okay, let’s go.” I grabbed Arlen’s elbow and began leading her away just as the man started cracking apart the ribs.

Bryce trailed after me with the two acolytes that could have been mimes, and even he looked sickened by what he’d just seen.

Arlen clung to me like Velcro, unusually quiet. “Are you okay?” I asked once the fire pit was no longer in sight.

She opened her mouth to answer, snapping it shut when we turned a random corner.

What the hell?

There was a chain link fence in front of us, caging a small area in like an animal pen. Inside with chains around their necks were seven people.

None of them reacted to our sudden presence. They all continued staring aimlessly with gaunt expressions on their faces. I didn’t blame them. They had to be well aware of what was going to happen to them.

These were outliers. This is what they had to fear most: being snatched up and never seen again. Their families and friends wouldn’t bother looking for them after a day or so. Everyone knew the ways of the Badlands.

There were animals, too. A few goats and a few chickens were inside the pen with them.

“I don’t understand why people do this…it’s sick. Everyone struggles; we don’t all start eating human beings because of it. I…I need a sec.”

She bolted, disappearing around the side of a trailer. The acolytes followed after her, leaving me with Bryce.

“Well, what am I supposed to do about that?” Placing my hands on my hips, I debated for a minute or so and then went after her.

“Her reaction isn’t completely unfounded,” Bryce offered up quietly.

“I know that, but I don’t deal with things like this,” I huffed. She wouldn’t like my response if she asked for it. The cannibals were just another way of having a safety net for some people. They resorted to human meat because it was either that or starvation. Or, they were born into it.

I didn’t condone it. It was a rock bottom place to be, but I couldn’t stand and point a finger when I wanted to kill people for fun and they killed them for nourishment. Yes, it was fucked up, but this was the Badlands, the wonderland of hell.

I couldn’t find her, but I did find the missing links of our fucked up entourage.

I heard their low voices and found them behind a green trailer. Their conversation ceased when they all saw me.

Cobra was leaning against a picnic table, Grimm stood beside a man I barely looked at, and Dhal was standing way too close to Romero. If she got any closer, her tits would be smashing into his arms.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I went right up to him, shoving her away from his side. Unprepared for my assault, she stumbled backward, landing on her ass

.

Romero instantly wrapped an arm around me and pulled me flush with his chest. “Cali, I don’t have time for your jealous shit. We were having a private conversation.”

“Wow, things men shouldn’t say for dummies,” Arlen quipped with heavy sarcasm, walking around the corner like she hadn’t just stormed off.

“Grimm get her the fuck away from me,” Romero bit out.

With no objections, Grimm made a sound in his throat and moved towards her.

“Don’t fuckin touch me,” she growled at him.

“Move your ass.” He ignored her demand, roughly grabbing her arm and forcing her to walk away.