Page 11 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

“Ghost’s brother?” Asher asks, and I nod. “He’s a good dude. Helped me out of a jam a few years back. He said you were a part of the Saviors now.”

“Yeah, for a little over a year.”

“Tell him I said he still owes me twenty bucks,” Asher laughs.

“Alright,” Axel says once Keon gets back to the truck. “We need to find out why they gave us bad intel.”

“We’re on it,” Roland answers, looking more than a little pissed off.

Axel shrugs. “Sounds good to me. Let me know what you find out. Do you need a ride back to your truck?”

“Nah,” Koa answers. “We’re just over the ridge.”

They say their goodbyes, and I climb into the backseat of Ari’s truck. Tyler leans up between the seats as soon as we’re back on the main road. “Where were you?” he asks Ari.

“None of your business.”

“Were you tickling Jason’s pickle?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I laugh. “Where is this shit coming from?”

“Shhh,” Tyler says. “I’m interrogating.”

“All you’re doing is pissing me off,” Ari retorts. “Sit back and shut up.”

“Look, I’m not judging you. Jason’s hot. Maybe a little skinny for my tastes, but I’d still bury my dick?—”

Ari slams on the brakes, making Tyler almost fly between the seats. He jerks over to the side of the road and flicks open his knife. “I’ve had enough of your shit, like years of it. Unless you want to walk home, I’d suggest you shut. The. Fuck. Up.”

“I think I hit a nerve,” Tyler continues. “Was it the he’s too skinny or the fact that I said I’d fuck him?”

Ari moves, but Keon is faster and shoves Tyler back into his seat. “Look, I really don’t want to wash your blood out of this truck again. So stop,” Keon says.

“Again?” I ask.

“Ari stabbed me,” Tyler answers.

Ari whips back onto the road and looks at me in the rearview mirror. “He did get stabbed, but it wasn’t by me.”

“Don’t lie to him. He needs to know what happens when we disobey you.”

Keon turns around in the seat and punches Tyler in the arm. “Stop putting bullshit in his head.”

“Trust me, I don’t believe a word he says.”

“That hurts, Ace. Like really hurts.” Tyler crosses his arms in a huff and looks out of his window. Ari finally laughs at his antics, and Tyler looks like he won the lottery. We’ve been off since that mission, and it feels like we’re finally getting back to normal.

We spend the rest of the ride joking around, and I go straight to my room when we get back. I strip out of my clothes and collapse on the bed, hoping that sheer exhaustion will keep the nightmares away.

“Gavin!”I sit up in bed, covered in sweat, wildly looking around. “You were having a nightmare.”

I shake my head, trying to clear it, but all I see are the emaciated women and children. There’s blood everywhere and dead bodies. “Shit,” I groan when my breathing speeds up.

Tyler sits on the edge of the bed. “Breathe, man.”

“Turn the light on,” I gasp, and he reaches over, turning on my lamp. He’s in nothing but boxers, and his reddish brown hair is disheveled from sleep. “I’m fine. You can go.”

“Will you stop that shit?” Tyler barks, surprising me. “You aren’t fine, and it’s okay not to be fine. Stop bottling everything up.”