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Chapter 24

Fallon

Istared through the binoculars so intently that a headache erupted behind my eyes.

When Tamson had rejoined our group, sweating profusely from his run, he led us to the building he’d seen Addie’s car disappear into.

Tommy and Nik has stayed with Tonya, Jared, and Davis at a house a few miles back. Doc and Kai had elected to come with us. Addie had worked her way into their hearts as well, even though Doc would deny any attachment to the slender brunette who made up my entire world.

I recognized the warehouse-like building. Before the Ragers and the storms, before the world went to shit, it had been an army base. It was comparably smaller than others across the country, but Uncle Lucian had run it with an iron-fist before he had been promoted. I myself had spent more days than I could count in there, both as a boy and a man. Running through the maze-like subbasement much to the frustration of recruits. Wielding my first gun. Partaking in extensive training regiments. Training unruly cadets.

Most of my career had been inside those four gray walls.

What the fuck was going on?

Were we wrong? Was it not Addie’s parents kidnapping her but someone else entirely?

I would kill everyone inside if there was a hair out of place on my beloved's head.

I told myself repeatedly that she was fine. Probably scared and angry, but fine.

I deluded myself into believing that the parasite hadn’t entered her bloodstream, wasn’t slowly corroding the mind of the girl I loved. A diminutive part of me, hidden beneath miles upon miles of misguided hope, knew that she would be either dead or changed by the time we got to her, but I refused to believe it. I would lose my sanity.

Instead, I focused on what I would have to do to bring my girl home.Ourgirl.

The front entrance of the base would be impossible to breach. Guards with guns manned it twenty-four seven. The fence was electrified and impenetrable, sprouting from the ground like silver teeth preparing to devour their next meal.

But the back entrance…

Security was lax, rightfully so. A hoard of Ragers, at least one-hundred of them, mindlessly stood in the road leading to the gate’s entrance.

As such, the men and women inside were cocky, relying on savage monsters to protect their building.

Well, they’d learn to regret that decision when we stormed the fortress and rescued the princess, so to speak.

Tamson, who was peering through the second pair of binoculars, lowered them.

“I counted one-hundred and twenty-two,” he said, nodding towards the hoard of Ragers. I lowered mine as well.

“Same.”

“What’s the plan?” Kai interjected. The young man was bouncing from foot to foot, his nerves beginning to overtake him. He wasn’t a fighter by any means. When Ryder and Ronan had met him - and eventually kidnapped him - he had been meek and scared of his own shadow. Of course, the brothers were known for over-exaggerating their stories. I believed this one had swords and dragons in it.

“Kill the Ragers. Enter through the back once Ryder cuts the power. Have a team near the front detonate the bomb for a distraction.” I spoke in my no-nonsense voice, as if I truly believed this plan would go off without a hitch.

But even my contingencies had contingencies. There was Plan A and Plan B all the way to Plan fucking Z.

The basic principle? Save Addie and fuck shit up.

Kai swallowed audibly, and Doc put a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing once.

“And how do you expect to get through the flesh-eating monsters?” Doc asked dryly. “If we’re sacrificing someone, I vote Ronan.” When Ronan whipped his head in the doctor’s direction, momentarily shaken out of his stupor, Doc shrugged unashamedly. “What? You’re my least favorite harem member.”

“Dick,” Ronan murmured, but the word held no malice. He was too fucking tired to verbally spar with the other man.

“No distractions. No virgin sacrifices or whatever...though you won’t find any here.” I chuckled humorlessly, scraping my hand over my light hair. It was getting longer and was in desperate need of a cut. Even my ponytail couldn’t contain the silky strands completely. “We don’t want to clue the men and women inside what we’re up to. We kill only enough Ragers to get through.”

As I spoke, I put a silencer on my gun. We had chosen to use a variety of weapons, each fitting our strengths. Ronan carried twin daggers while Declan had a sword. Asher had both daggers and swords, his body covered from head to toe in weapons. Tamson would be setting off the bomb as soon as we radioed him, and Ryder would be in charge of cutting the electricity from a nearby plant the assholes had left severely underprotected.