Page 6 of Outbreak (Revolution X #1)
CHAPTER 5
Ghost
“ L et me go, fucker,” Death screams, struggling against my hold on her, but I just tighten my grip.
She can fight me all she wants. I’m bigger and stronger than her. My 6’7 stature towers over her by more than a foot. In my time away from her, I’ve gotten bigger. My muscles are more defined, my shoulders broader.
She’s changed, too—grown into her delicious curves. She’s always been the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. But now, she has the body of a woman that makes me want to pin her against one of these trees and trace every curve with my tongue.
I parked my truck just through the woods behind her building, so I skirt the edge of the building and away from the crowds of people running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
“Put me down, asshole!”
Growling at her pitiful fight and filthy mouth, I haul her over my shoulder and smack her ass hard. “Be still.”
Her body goes rigid against me for a moment as she processes her predicament before she lets loose like a wildcat, hitting and clawing at my back and ass with her long, black nails.
Not to worry. I came prepared. Slipping my free hand into my pocket, I pull out the capped syringe, popping the cap open with my teeth and plunging it into her plump ass cheek.
Her scream echoes into the night, stirring the wildlife hiding in the darkness. The fight leaves her slowly, like water swirling slowly down the drain. Her muscles relax, and she slumps over my shoulder, making her hands bounce against my ass as I take off into a run again.
When I get to my truck, I have to adjust her on my shoulder to reach my keys in my pocket. The chirp is loud in the quiet when I unlock it now that we are away from the screams and panic on campus.
“Up you go,” I say, opening the passenger door, lifting her up onto the seat, and buckling her in. Her eyes flutter open and shut as she fights the drugs. Placing her arms in her lap, I grab the rope from my bag on the floor. When she wakes up, she’s going to lose her mind. This is more for her safety than my pleasure, though seeing my ropes wrapped against her pale white skin has me needing to adjust myself. Soon, I’ll have her tied up at the mercy of my cock. Very soon she will pay for her betrayal with tears streaking her perfect face.
Once her hands are secured, I loop a piece of rope through the knots at her wrists and attach it to the ‘oh shit’ handle on the dash. When I’m satisfied that Death won’t be able to dive out of my moving truck, I click the child lock just to be extra cautious, grab her phone from her pocket, and close her inside the cab.
With the space cutting off her addictive scent, I drag in a deep breath, gripping the bed of my truck. I’ve only been back in her presence for a few minutes, and already she’s invaded my whole body. I just want to bury my face in her neck and my cock deep inside her, marking her as mine. Because she is mine . She always has been. She might have lost her senses and fucked up, but I can blame that on her young age and her history with shitty people.
She once told me her biggest fear. And like the shitty person I am, when she betrayed me, I made her biggest fear a reality to hurt her back. I left her behind and became a ghost in her life, watching her from the shadows and through a screen—never letting her know I was there. We both fucked up. But with everything going to shit in the world right now, none of that matters. She will pay for what she did, but she will do it at my side, where she belongs. We’ll move past this and be stronger together.
Pushing off the side of my truck, I round the back and double check I have everything. I don’t know if she noticed or not, but earlier today, when she was out with her friends, I snuck into her room and packed some essentials she’s going to need. Reaper said to meet him at the cabin, and I have plenty of supplies there but no clothes for her. We can find more along the way if we need to, but this should get us through.
I slip her phone into the side of my own bag before climbing into the driver seat and starting the engine. Normally, the drive to the cabin from here would take about ten hours, but with whole cities shutting down and the virus spreading quickly, we’re taking the long way around, sticking to back roads and staying off the beaten path. I want to keep as far away from the bulk of the population as possible until we know more about what’s going on. The news is reporting a deadly virus, but something about this just doesn’t add up with what I’ve witnessed. This feels different, and I have a dreaded feeling that we’ve only seen the beginning of what’s really going on.
I’m itching to take my mask off and breathe in some fresh air, but I’m a sadistic fuck who wants her fear before I reveal who I am. Death has always brought out my dark side. I would burn the world if anyone hurt her, but I want to hurt her too. I want her tears on my tongue as I drive her over the edge of oblivion over and over until she’s begging me to stop. Even then, I’ll make her give me one more.
Fighting the urge to take her is hard, but I drag my gaze away from her and focus on getting us out of these woods. We won’t have to stop for fuel for a while; I filled up just outside of Lake Charles. The virus has already spread to this area, and pretty soon, it’s going to be impossible to find supplies and fuel. From New Orleans to here, whole cities were already taken over by the military and pretty much shut down. No supplies going in or out. Hopefully we have better luck in the smaller, less populated areas. If not, this trip could take us days, not hours.
The truck bounces over the uneven terrain of the woods I parked in before smoothing out when we hit the pavement behind the college. From here, I can see people gathered around the buildings, panicked and upset. This college won’t last another couple of days with how fast people are falling to the virus. As far as they’ve determined, it’s not airborne, so that’s a plus. The rumors have been all over the place, with some people reporting crazy ass stories of people eating each other and their loved ones dying and coming back to life only to try to kill them.
Who knows what’s actually true and what’s something cooked up by some cracked-out idiots looking for clout on social media? The only thing I know to trust is my gut; it hasn’t let me down yet. And my gut is telling me to take my girl and get the fuck out of dodge for a while.
About an hour into the drive, I spot a little gas station that’s still open. We’re out in the middle of bum fuck Lousiana, so maybe this part of the state hasn’t been effected yet. My tires crunch the loose gravel as I swerve into the parking lot and park at the open pump. I’ve still got three-quarters of a tank, but I’m anticipating fuel being hard to come by. I can top it off and see if they sell gas cans inside and get a little extra, just in case.
Glancing over at Death, she’s still out from the drugs I gave her. She’s barely moved at all from the position I put her in, but it won’t be long before she starts waking up. I didn’t give her a high dose, just enough to knock her out for a little while. Turning the engine off, I take my keys with me and slide out of the truck, quietly shutting the door behind me. I slide my mask off, putting it in my back pocket, and head into the store.
The attendant is a little young thing, late teens or early 20’s. Her long, bright green hair is shaved on the sides, ears gauged, and tattoos climb up the low-cut shirt she has on displaying her small chest. She side-eyes me as I step into the store, heading to the back to look for a gas can. She looks like the ‘fuck around and find out’ type you’d find out here in the woods that would sooner shoot you than greet you, but I ignore her. She probably saw my masked face when I got out and assumed I was going to rob the place. My bad.
Grabbing the last can on the shelf, I head to the drink cooler to grab some energy drinks for the road. I spot Death’s favorite snack on the way back to the front—sour gummy worms. Even with my arms full, I take every bag they have. Anytime something was wrong with her, I would bring her gummy worms, and all would be right in the world again. I have a feeling I’m going to need them when she wakes up.