Page 9 of Purgatory (Devil Dogs of the Apocalypse #1)

Hawk

“Stew’s good, man, thanks.” I say over a mouthful.

With the limited resources, it’s amazing some of the stuff Jax comes up with for meals.

Granted, we usually only have breakfast and dinner and while breakfast might be minimal, he makes sure that dinner is hearty enough to satisfy everyone after our long days.

He nods his response, digging into his own bowl.

I managed to coax him inside by verbally applauding his mad culinary skills and practically begging to indulge in his latest creation that was currently overtaking my senses.

He shook his head, trying to hide his erupting laughter at my over-the-top gratuity but ultimately gave in and led the way to the kitchen.

“We should bring some upstairs for Cole and the girl.” I suggest, hoping to ease him back into the knowledge that there is a new addition.

He stops eating, puts his silverware down, tents his hands in front of his face and takes a deep breath.

I can understand his reaction. He won’t talk about it but we all know he has some issues, possibly due to some PTSD.

I’m not sure if it was ever fully diagnosed but, over the years, Cole and I have seen the symptoms and try to ease the burden.

That’s why he made the choice to buy this property and live the way he does.

It gave him a routine and allowed him to only see the people he wanted to who also understood what he was going through.

Having a complete stranger in his safe space can’t be easy for him.

Especially when they don’t know what he’s dealing with or how best to handle it.

Granted, he’s a bit more off than usual ever since everything happened with the outbreaks but, come on, that’s to be expected.

“Has he said anything about her condition, yet?” He asks.

“Yea. He’s not positive, but he thinks she might be suffering from heat exhaustion as well as severe dehydration, and possible high blood sugar. He’s watching over her now and monitoring her symptoms to make sure her condition doesn’t worsen.”

He nods and grunts his acknowledgement.

“Was she alone?” Jax airs the question he’s most concerned about.

There are two reasons for this question and both are logical.

First, if she wasn’t alone, we could potentially have more new people at our doorstep looking for her.

They may or may not have the impression that we weren’t actually trying to save her but rather, taking her.

Kidnapping, trafficking, whatever you want to call it, is still occurring.

We were witness to one incident a while back but we weren’t able to stop them, unfortunately.

Fucking bullshit outcome of being grossly outnumbered and majorly underprepared.

Three guys against a couple dozen aren’t exactly great odds.

We ended up getting our asses kicked and they still took the girl.

If anyone deserves to die, it’s those bastards.

The second reason, is that if she was with another group, they could potentially be infected by now, if they weren’t already, which would just increase the zombie population even more in this area.

There’s a horde that comes through every now and again but they’re, for the most part, predictable.

New zombies, means new chaotic elements a.k.a, unpredictability and a correlating direct pain in each of our asses.

“We watched her most of the afternoon and didn’t see anyone else. Plus, when we first saw her in the house, she was having some sort of breakdown. Honestly, I think she’s been on her own for a while.”

Looking up at me, he seems shocked by that statement.

Appropriately so. Cole and I had the same reaction when we first saw her.

Living, surviving rather, nowadays would be difficult even with our resources and we had each other to rely on.

She’s had no one. And for how long? It impresses the shit out of me, to be honest.

“Did she have anything on her? Weapons? Drugs? Anything we have to worry about?” Jax continues.

“I checked her pack after I got her upstairs and it wasn’t much.

A few toiletries, a baseball bat, an empty water bottle.

.. but she had shit ton of marshmallows.

” I laugh under my breath and shake my head.

“Come to think of it, she downed an entire bag of them on the way back from the market. Girl’s got one hell of a sweet tooth. ”

He takes a second and looks up at the ceiling, a slight smile forming in the corner of his mouth that I don’t think I’m supposed to see, considering how quickly he tries to hide it.

That tiny movement, however, is enough for me to push him just a little further.

Get him to see that not all of humanity is out to get us and that there is still some good in the world.

“Look, man. She’s all on her own. If we weren’t there today, she could have died,” I implore him but then decide to offer some of my quick wit and sarcasm to diffuse the tension “The most that we might have to worry about is the possibility of her being cuckoo crazy, but if that’s the case, she’s at most, what, a buck-10?

And there’s three of us to her one potentially psychotic ass.

.. I think we could take her if we needed to.

” I lean back and relax my face to show that I’m not worried in the least bit.

Maybe, if we’re lucky, it’ll transfer to him and ease his worries.

Sadie, his German Shepard, moves and sits by his chair, putting her head in his lap while he absentmindedly pets her fur. He takes a quick glance down to her, studies her reaction and then looks back to me, sighing to himself.

“Ok...She can stay... for now... but if she pulls any shit she’s out.” He points his finger to me and then to the door.

“Got it. We’ll make sure she knows what’s up.” I nod and take the little victory.

“Uh huh... And make sure she stays out of my room.”

I give a mock, two-fingered salute. “Sure thing, boss.”

I stand, clean my bowl and make two more to bring upstairs while Jax takes another timid look upstairs and then outside the window.

His jaw ticking and knee bouncing the entire time with pent up tension and obvious frustration.

He closes his eyes and blows out a harsh breath to soothe his nerves.

It’s like the call sign for Sadie as she pushes her nose more forcefully at his hand and lap, nudging him to get his attention.

He notices and decides to move to the floor to sit and cradle Sadie to his chest.

Watching the interaction, he visibly calms. It’s worrisome, however.

His reaction to these sudden events. We knew it would be difficult for him but what choice did we have in the matter?

I’m hoping that this new addition won’t trigger anything for him because I'd hate to have to throw her out. Especially in her predicament. I guess we’ll see.