Page 34

Chapter Thirty-four

T he next afternoon as I get dressed behind the closed curtains of my room, I hear raised voices from beyond the door that leads to the entrance foyer. My brow wrinkles in worry and look around quickly for a weapon, before my eyes land on the knife Nate gifted me, sitting under the t-shirt I quickly pull over my head. Hunter and Chase left half an hour ago to get the house ready for my arrival, whatever that means, and Nate left only a minute ago to head down the hall and through to the pharmacy to get my take home drugs ready. For the first time since the guys found me, I’m alone. And the raised voices outside my cubicle are getting louder.

I shuffle to the curtain and twitch it back enough to see the door that divides this section of the hospital from the rest and unclasp my knife. I put all my weight onto my uninjured leg and wait to see what will happen as the voices get clearer, obviously nearing the door.

“Isabella!” Linda exclaims “You are not permitted back there! Dr Thompson has already told you the patient needs rest!”

“She is being discharged this afternoon, is she not?” an icy voice demands, one obviously belonging to this Isabella woman that the guys mentioned. I don’t drop my knife, instead tucking it up behind my back, out of sight for now. “Then she is obviously well enough to answer some questions for the council! It is unacceptable the Alpha team broke protocol and brought her here first.” Isabella snaps.

“The girl was a heartbeat away from unconsciousness, Isabella. I hardly think taking her before the council in that state would have been productive.” Linda deadpans. Isabella makes a frustrated noise in response. “Now, why don’t you head back to the council and let them know I will send one of the Alpha team over as soon as they return- HEY!”

The door barges open and I watch as Isabella storms through, having obviously strong armed a furious looking Linda out of the way. Isabella is tall and graceful as she prowls into the ward, her black hair hanging sheet straight at her back and her face perfectly done up in full make up. I have to admit, that throws me off for a moment, because holy shit it has been so long since I saw someone with make up on. It makes her look regal and imposing and I’m pretty sure that’s the point as she pauses to flip her hair out of her face before gliding into my room as if she were the owner of the establishment.

Linda follows hot on her heels strawberry blond hair curling wildly about her pretty face and blue eyes glaring daggers at Isabella’s back.

I keep still in my corner by the door, watching in satisfaction as Isabella pauses at the sight of the apparently empty room.

“Hello.” I state pleasantly as I step into the opening she left behind her, safe now that I have an exit at my back. I have the petty thrill of watching as Isabella shrieks and spins to face me, nearly knocking poor Linda to the ground in the process, as she tries to use her as a human shield. Linda brushes her off with a snarl and retreats to start stripping the bed, keeping a close eye on the conversation but apparently willing to see how this will unfold. “You must be Isabella.” I state in an even tone, trying desperately to keep the smile out of my voice.

She narrows her eyes on me coldly before allowing a pleasant mask to drop over her face.

“Yes. I am Isabella, of course you must have heard all about me from my Hunter.” She says in a saccharine sweet voice, while she watches me with shrewd eyes as I stiffen. “Unfortunately, he and I haven’t had a chance to catch up since he has been away…” she leaves the sentence hanging, waiting for me to say something, when I don’t her eyes harden and she snaps “And you are?”

I have to bite my tongue from saying something sarcastic. She’s a member of the mysterious council, Angie, you have to play nice for now.

“My name is Angie.” I tell her easily, and then for some unknown reason I feel the need to stake my claim, “I’m Hunter’s girlfriend.” I add sweetly and watch her caramel-colored eyes widen and mind explode at my audacity.

“And mine.” Nate’s deep rumble precedes him as he rounds the opposite corner of the cubicle. “And don’t forget Chase, sweetheart or you’ll hurt his feelings.” He gives me a dark grin as he swoops down on me, cradling me against him as he takes a long, drawn-out, open-mouthed kiss from me. Cheeky.

Eventually he releases me, and I giggle into his chest as Isabella stamps her foot in annoyance. Literally stamps her foot. Like a three-year-old.

“Are you done?” she questions in an acerbic tone, lifting a perfectly manicured eyebrow at the two of us. I grin up at Nate and he just barely holds in a laugh as I say, “Not quite.” Quickly pulling him down for another kiss. Linda doesn’t even bother to hide her laugh as Isabella huffs and storms past us.

“It was nice to meet you!” I call to her retreating back, Nate breaking into laughter to match Linda’s.

I slip my knife out from behind my back and Nate gives me a sly, approving smile as I slide it back into its case. I catch Linda looking at me from the corner of my eye and when I turn to her, she gives me one of her genuine smiles and nods, “You’ll fit in just fine here, girly.” She declares, then she bustles out of the room with an arm full of dirty laundry. “See you around, Angie. Take care of those boys of yours.” She cackles as she leaves us alone.

“So. That was Isabella.” Nate tells me unnecessarily making me laugh even as I swat at his chest.

“That was about what I expected from your description of her. I don’t think she likes me very much.” I muse as he leads me out the door and back into the waiting room of Linda’s hospital. I know it’s not technically Linda’s hospital, but she’s the only nurse I’ve seen, and the evasive Dr Thompson doesn’t count in my mind, because I only met him once yesterday. The older man Nate had been speaking with when I woke up proved to be in high demand and had hustled himself out of my room as fast as politely possible when we met.

My thoughts stop as we step out into warm afternoon sunlight and I get my first real look at Charydale.

The little hospital sits on the corner of one of the main roads through town, a pharmacy squatting directly next to it. The two buildings are obviously connected inside and take up most of the space on this side of the street. Across from where we emerge storefronts line the pavement. I spot a dress mender and launderer humming with activity as well as a café and several unmarked shops, one of which has musical instruments displayed proudly in their window. Above the stores I notice living quarters, homes with washing lines strung between buildings and children leaning out windows to watch the people pass by underneath.

“Wh- what? Is this real?” I ask Nate, clutching his hand tightly as though I’m worried he, and this idyllic town, might vanish in a weird fever dream.

“It’s real, sweetheart.” Nate reassures me as he watches me take everything in with wide eyes, my gaze tracking a horse and cart as they trundle past carrying a load of… potatoes? Where the fuck am I right now.

“How is this place possible?” I ask him in wonder, voice hushed as though I still might scare the illusion away.

“That’s a long story, Angel.” Chase rumbles and my eyes dart to his as he steps up onto the sidewalk with me, Hunter not far behind him. He presses a lingering kiss to the top of my head and moves around to take my other hand as Hunter takes up a place behind me, his hand smoothing down my back and lingering. “One that we should definitely start over dinner. At home.”

I nod dumbly and they tug me in the direction that the horse and cart came from, away from the center of town.

They let me walk, small hobbling steps, until we reach the last building at the edge of the town, then Hunter scoops me into his arms, and we make much quicker progress, following a gravel road out into rolling pastures that spring up almost as soon as we step foot out of the square.

Again, my brain struggles to comprehend what I am seeing. Small ranch houses dot themselves throughout large paddocks growing an assortment of produce, some even holding paddocks full of cattle and sheep. All around us, surrounding the town and its many acres of habitable land, looms huge mountains their jagged cliffs a dusky golden color in the afternoon sunlight. My head swivels as I try to take in everything, peering back behind Hunter at the buildings nestled against the hill we travelled down yesterday. At the top of the hill, I can just barely make out the tops of the trees beyond the gleaming gate.

The guys continue down the laneway as I gawk, taking a few twisting turns around houses that are scattered throughout the landscape, until we end up much closer to the mountains that had seemed so far away only moments ago. They keep moving, until the path we tread stops looking so well used, and the pastures and manicured fields give way to rougher looking prairie grasses and thick trees that erupt sporadically from the ground. They cross a bridge over a small creek, gurgling happily in its deep trench below, and suddenly a small cabin pops into view, nestled in the middle of nowhere, not another home to be seen or heard, the structure dwarfed by the cliff face at its back.

“Home sweet home!” calls Chase, from up front, taking the lead to prop open the cabin door for us to enter. But I don’t want to go in yet, the scenery calling me to explore. So, I squirm out of Hunter’s hold and use him as a crutch instead as I lead him around his home, peering at the vegetable patch that is thriving and overflowing at the side of the house. Inspecting the water tanks dug into the ground just beyond that and the back porch that points directly at the cliff face. Lastly, I stand and crane my head back to simply stare at the enormity of the mountain in front of me. The cliff is sheer and jagged, and rocks and boulders litter the ground underneath it. The house is set several acres back from the rocky face, but it feels as if I could reach out and touch it. A fence runs a line between the homes’ backyard and where the rogue stones and boulders have fallen.

The whole area comes across as intimidating and I couldn’t imagine my guys living anywhere else. As I turn back to the house, the dark glint of solar panels snags my attention and I have to wonder how much sunlight gets through here, the untamed trees along the riverbank sending their shadow nearly to the cabins door as the afternoon sun sinks lower.

I finally allow myself to be led inside and smile at the rightness that settles my soul. The entire space is open plan and much larger than it looked from the outside. The kitchen/dinning/living space are all integrated in a seamless flow that takes up the entire left side of the house, while to my right a door leads to a distinctly masculine bedroom that feels inviting despite it having only the essentials. The next door leads to a functional, basic bathroom that consists of a shower/tub and basin. The final two doors reveal bedrooms similar to the first. The roof arches high above us and I fall in love with the exposed beams and high windows that allow as much light as possible in while giving a glimpse of the sky. The floors are hardwood that has been polished smooth and the furniture is a ramshackle collection that looks like it was put together purely for comfort.

“I love it.” I manage on a sigh, and each of my men relax a little, letting out breaths I didn’t realise they were holding. “Where’s your toilet though?”

They share an awkward laugh, and Hunter reaches up to scratch the back of his neck, a nervous gesture I’ve noticed. “Well… we are a bit far out for indoor plumbing to be easy… what with the water tanks and limited solar we get…”

“So… you guys have an outhouse?” I ask, a twist to my lips. I’m not sure I can live with that. Not after living with the compound’s cesspools.

“Yeah, but it’s done up real nice.” Chase rushes to assure me. “It’s just off the other side of the house, there’s a little path and I did up some garden beds around it.”

“He even put in some stained glass.” Adds Nate dryly and I smile, not quite sold, but not withering away in disgust either.

“Come eat, I made you soup.” Hunter calls out from the kitchen. They guys settle me in a comfortable chair at the dining room table as Hunter brings me a heaping bowl of fragrant soup and snags the chair by my side. None of the others have soup and I eye them curiously even as I dig into the hot meal. There’s a brief silence as they watch me eat for a moment before Nate speaks up.

“Isabella came to seen Angie today.” He tells the other two nonchalantly and they whip their heads in his direction.

“What?”

“When?”

“Mhmm, she bust her way into the hospital to meet me, I guess? I dunno, I got a bad vibe from her, but she didn’t really do anything threatening. Then Nate came and she kind of just scuttled off.” I tell them. Nate snorts.

“She was trying to put her claim on you.” He says to Hunter. “She insinuated the two of you had something going on and Angie just told her she was your girlfriend.” Hunter slides a look to me that is pure heat, and I squirm a little in my seat, my heart rate picking up. “Then she claimed us too.” Nate continues, looking to Chase and sharing a smile with the other man. “I might have gotten carried away showing Isabella just how on board with that we are, she got in one of her snits and stormed off. I expect we will be summoned in front of the council tomorrow. I’m surprised Thompson was able to hold them off this long to be honest.” Chase nods his head at that and Hunter grunts in agreement, then turns to me.

“So, sweetheart, there are so many things you need to know. I’m sure you have lots of questions and we will do our best to answer them for you. I’m going to start from the top and when I’m done, we can answer any questions you have, yeah?” I nod, settling in over my soup. I haven’t asked many of the questions that I have because there always seems to be something more important happening, but now we are here, and I want to know everything.

“We told you that we were part of a refugee camp at the start and that when it collapsed, we managed to get a few people out?” Again, I nod. “Well, after that, we shepherded the survivors about for months, moving from place to place, trying to find them a permanent base. We had women and kids with us and each day we spent out there... we lost a lot of them, gained some too. Everyone lost people we cared about, and we were just about out of ideas when we decided to head into the mountains. We were in the foothills, hunkered down in a school at the outskirts of the closest town when we all noticed a huge smoke column rising in the near distance. We three went to investigate the smoke, we left the others behind in case it was dangerous, of course. We followed it all the way to the wall, took us nearly the whole day to get there too. Of course, when we arrived, we weren’t the only ones to have followed the smoke signals. Dead were piling up at the gate, which was nowhere near what it is now, and the people of Charydale were struggling to get them under control. Of course, we jumped in with what we had and helped them to dispatch the remainder of the groaners.” I smile, I can just picture the three of them, dirty and hungry, swinging in to save the day like it was their self-proclaimed job. “Once we finished up with the bodies, the people invited us in.”

“Which was a dumb idea, and we told them as much.” Nate interrupts with a shake of his head. “They didn’t know us from dog shit, what if we had of been murders?”

“Yes. Anyway, we were reluctant to enter but they told us one of the houses had burnt down and asked if we could help them. When we stepped past the gate… well you saw it, I guess. The town was basically as it is now, but the main wall and the front gate were the only defenses already there. There were gaps in the perimeter that needed to be shored up, and improvements made on what was already here, but it gave us hope. We worked the rest of the day helping to salvage what we could from the fire site and getting to know the people here. The whole town was something called a ‘prepper’ village. They grew up or moved here many years before the dead started to rise and they built themselves a sustainable community for when shit hit the fan. Obviously, they weren’t planning on that shit being dead people, but they adjusted. Web, you’ll meet him tomorrow, he and a few of his college friends started this place. They brought the valley land, all three hundred acres of it, and built the community from the ground up about twenty odd years ago. They built everything with the view of non-reliance on the government. Every building is powered by solar that is collected and distributed by their own ‘grid’, every place has water tanks attached, and fireplaces built in. The things they have done are incredible. The farms have been producing food for the town for years but they also stocked their stores and homes full of preserved basics, there’s enough food stored here to last the whole place at least five years, even without the farms supplementing them. And they actively recruited people with out-dated skills to move here. At the moment we have seamstresses and pottery makers, a glass blower and a blacksmith, we have people that make cheese and other foods the old way. It is incredible the amount of planning and effort that Web and the other founders put into this place.” I can feel his passion and respect for what was built here in his voice, and I give him a soft smile, liking being able to see this side of him. “But, back to the story. Once we had helped them for the day, we told them about our people and they invited us all to become part of their community. They had suffered losses at the beginning, just like everyone else, and they needed the extra manpower to help reinforce their defenses. We offered to help them fortify the town in exchange for a place for us all to live. So, we moved our group to Charydale and spent months building and guarding and training until, eventually, we were done. In that time, while we were busy, the people we brought with us assimilated into the people of the town, which was no easy feat. The council was decided on at that time and it consists of three representatives from each group to make decisions on the communities’ behalf. Of course, the community has a voice here too, a loud one. So, everything works pretty well, for the most part.”

“Once everything was done here...” Nate takes over the story, “We found that we” he throws Hunter a look “couldn’t be still. We got restless quickly and started to venture outside the walls, first it was for little things, any excuse would do. Someone would say they missed a particular brand of toothpaste, and we’d jump at the chance to go find some. We were venturing further and further each time we went out, looking for the next fight, looking for something to quell the restlessness.” Again, he looks at Hunter. “And that was when we found Ty. We were in a new city, having driven there in one of the only cars still up and running, we came across a group of survivors, a bunch of skin headed thugs. We were shocked, to say the least, but curious so we followed them for a while, and they eventually lead us back to their base camp. That was where we found Ty. He was all trussed up and it was obvious they had been beating the shit out of him for some time. So, basically, we set him free. We annihilated the entire crew and Ty finished off those that we had left alive. He wasn’t in a good way but managed to explain that they had grabbed him as he was trying to catch a few hours’ sleep before moving on. Ty, he’s different. He doesn’t talk much but he cares a lot, and we could see that, so we brought him home. Turns out he used to forge weapons for fun and immediately took up an apprenticeship with the local blacksmith. Now he makes all our gear… anyway, sorry I got off track.” He says waving a hand as if to clear the air. “The point was, once we brought Ty back the council got it in their head that we should be actively looking for survivors. They picked four teams of volunteers, us included, to head out and comb the surrounding area for people to bring back. For a while, it was good, it gave us an excuse to be out of the walls so often we were barely back before we would leave again. But then, we found that when we did eventually find someone alive, they were awful. We never approached them first thing, always followed and watched and not a single person lived up to our expectations. Obviously, the other teams were not as… selective as we were and one time when we returned… one of the people brought in had touched one of the kids. He had a trial scheduled for the next day, but he never made it there. They found him hanging from his cell with a bullet between his eyes. Obviously, no one was unhappy about this, but the council was divided on how to handle the situation. Eventually, Web declared that justice was served and we got away with it. That’s how we became what we are today to the towns people. We take out the trash. Quickly, the other teams started doing things our way, leaving behind those that were not worthy and bringing in those that they felt deserved a chance. For a long time now, we haven’t stepped in to deliver justice, but the people remember, and they treat us differently.”

I nod my head in understanding then ask into the silence. “How many people have you had to kill here?”

“In these walls? Four.” Nate answers.

“And they all deserved it? They were guilty?”

“Without any doubt in our minds.”

“Then… good.” I push my empty plate away. “You said a while ago that you only ever brought back two people, obviously Ty was the first but who was your second?”

“Ah. Charlie.” Chase says with a big smile on his face, I can tell this Charlie person means something to him, maybe to all of them. I slight stab of jealously sears through me at the thought. “She’s something different altogether. We didn’t so much find Charlie, as she found us. She… look, she’s a character you just have to meet for yourself. Through she’s not a fan of people in general and her humor lays somewhat on the sharp side… I’m sure you will love her.”

“Wow.” I say, still simmering in a touch of jealousy. “I can’t wait to meet her.” It’s not a lie, I’m anxious to put a face to the name and eyeball the potential threat.

“Yeah, we’ll introduce you around town soon, sweetheart.” Hunter says a sly light in his eyes as he watches me through half lidded eyes that see far too much. Changing the subject with a last knowing glance he continues, “Tomorrow we will likely have to meet with the council, the regular procedure is to bring any outsiders directly to the council, so they can meet them and decide if there is a place for them here. There has only been one case where the council found the applicant unacceptable, so don’t worry. Besides, we already have a claim on you so this whole thing is just a formality.” He says with a flirty smile and a shrug.

“About that, what is this whole ‘claim’ thing people keep mentioning?”

“Oh, right. Um… I guess the easiest way to summarize that would be to compare it to like, courting someone? It’s something we adopted to prevent men from hanging all over girls that were already taken. You remember how there’s a very significant divide in the number of men and women? Well, we found that some of the women were having trouble with interested parties, after they had already picked their partners but were not yet ready to get married or engaged. Boyfriend, girlfriend titles didn’t seem to be enough to keep some men in line so the council came up with a ‘claim’. Once a woman has claimed her chosen men, and they her, she then becomes unattainable, untouchable to other men. Unless, of course, she wishes to add to her claim, in which case only she can approach the male to ask him. It all sounds very complicated but… it works.”

I take a moment or two to mull over the concept. It is an interesting way to solve an interesting problem and if it works for the community then that’s all that matters. “So, you guys have claimed me?” they all nod, “And I have claimed all of you?” More nods, but slower this time, less sure.

“Unless you have changed your mind about us, Angel?” Chase asks, his heart in his eyes.

“Of course not! Just making sure I’m clear on the rules.” I assure them. “So, tomorrow we meet the council, confirm our claim on each other and then come home?” I question, already tired, even though the sun has barely set.

“More or less, sweetheart. If you’re up for it, we could take you on a tour too.”

“I’d like that.” I reply to Hunter around a yawn. “But would you guys’ mind if I went to bed now?”

“Of course, precious!” Hunter exclaims, jumping up to help me out of my chair, Nate and Chase close behind him. They all hesitate as they look at the doors to our right. Then Hunter tugs me forward, into the middle room. The blue bedspread looks a little rumpled but there’s no real signs of who this room belongs to.

“Chase has the biggest bed.” Hunter declares as he leads me to the mattress and sits me down.

I remove my shirt and pants, and Nate helps me toe off my boots, checking my wounds as he does so and then helping me to slide between the covers. I fall asleep before they even have a chance to climb in after me.