Page 17 of The Forever (When the World Fell #3)

Cruz

L iv sighed and gave me a disappointed look. “I don’t think we’re going to find the place today.”

I shifted the rifle strap higher on my shoulder and followed her line of sight. “Probably not, but now we’ve got less ground to cover tomorrow.”

We were on the outskirts of the main town grid, with standard houses on one side of the road and acreages on the other. After passing several properties that shared similarities with the pictures in her pocket, nothing had been close enough to consider a match.

Liv stood with one hand shading her eyes and the other resting on the hilt of her sword. She gazed up at the long stretch of open road that led to even more acreages at the top of the hill.

With the ocean views, I’d bet anything all the money was up there—along with the house we wanted—but with only half an hour to go until we had to be back at the house, we’d run out of time. “C’mon. We’ll check out the rest of this row, then call it a day.”

Distracted, she nibbled on her lower lip as we took off walking down the centre of the road. “Do you think it’s like the town on that TV show?”

I frowned and looked over the top of her head, searching for nothing, everything. “What town on what TV show?”

“The one where you drive in there, but you can’t leave. A lot of weird stuff happens.”

“Isn’t that the Hotel California?”

“The what?”

Jesus. We weren’t that far apart in age. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a song, not a show.”

She sent me a sideways look. “Well, now I’m curious. Why don’t you sing it to me?”

“Because I have a terrible singing voice, and I don’t want to give you any reason to stop sleeping with me?”

Her eyes shined with laughter. She stopped walking and snagged my elbow to halt my steps, too. “There’s literally nothing you could do that would turn me off you, mi amor .”

Affection rolled through me whenever she attempted Spanish, the feeling warm and sweet and addictive. “Nothing? You haven’t seen me dance.”

“You could look like a big, goofy idiot, and I’d still want you.” After giving me a lengthy look from head to toe, she added, “I might even want you more.”

“Funny.” There wasn’t a chance in hell of me testing that theory by dancing outside on a deserted street. We’d already taken cover once to avoid a passing car, and people could be watching us from inside any number of houses at this very moment—but that didn’t stop me from appreciating her dilated pupils or the flush in her cheeks.

“Come here for a second.” With my right hand gripping the loaded rifle, I slipped my left around the back of her neck and pulled her closer.

Keeping my ears tuned into our environment, I dipped my head and kissed her. When my mouth captured hers, all I heard was the screech of cockatoos as a flock passed by overhead and the wind rustling the trees. No cars or footsteps—and that same unnatural lack of shuffling, moaning corpses we’d had in our lives for years.

It was quiet here; the solitude wrapping around us like a protective blanket. Maybe that was why I let down my guard when it should have stayed firmly up. The notion of finally being here made me feel invincible.

Liv grabbed the front of my shirt with her free hand and rose on her tiptoes, kissing me back with an eagerness that would easily have me spiralling if we didn’t stop soon. Her tongue met mine, and she pressed herself against me, taking the kiss deeper, sending my heart rate into a thudding gallop.

The knowledge that we’d hear any cars long before the occupants spotted us had me giving myself over to the moment—just a few seconds, a minute where all we did was lose ourselves in each other.

She made a satisfied sound against my mouth and slipped her hand under my shirt, running her fingertips over my abs, sliding higher to skim my nipple with the edge of her thumb.

Every part of me turned hard and ready for her, my tongue thrusting deeper, my grip on the back of her neck tightening.

I wanted to sweep her away somewhere private. Behind a fence, amongst some greenery. A secluded place where we could take our time and indulge every single urge without worrying about being seen.

Her soft breaths turned the ache into desperation, and I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on. She kissed me with a fierceness that nudged me even closer to the edge, then dragged her mouth from mine and said, “Let’s find a house.”

It was exactly the right and wrong thing to say to me. “We’re supposed to be on duty.” My protest sounded weak even to my ears.

“You are,” she said, rubbing herself against me. “I can feel you standing to attention. Very impressive, by the way.”

With a frustrated laugh, I cupped her cheek and contemplated taking her up on the offer when something hit me smack in the middle of my back.

“What the…” Liv pulled away and checked the ground, staring past me, then at me. “It’s an apple.”

Before it had even rolled to a stop on the road, she’d unsheathed her sword and readied herself for the unknown threat.

My heart gave a hard thump, and I yanked the rifle up in front of me, wondering how the fuck I’d been hit by an apple when there were no trees within fifteen metres of us.

Liv and I separated to perform a one-eighty, neither of us speaking as our eyes darted around.

She moved into a fighting stance and lifted her sword, her lips still puffy from our kiss, her chin pink from the rub of my scruff. “I love you,” she said.

“Stop.” I aimed the gun at one house, then another, watching through the sight. Waiting for a signal that we’d found our target.

“I need you to know. Just in case.”

“I love you, too—more than my own fucking life—but this isn’t the end.“ A jolt moved through me. There. A glint of white light in the shadowed area beside the brick house. Hidden amongst the bushes beneath an old, gnarled apple tree. “Did you catch that?”

“I did.” Liv walked toward the area, keeping her steps slow, her shoulders pulled back. All confidence and grace, but in a measured way that reassured me she wouldn’t rush into the situation unprepared. “Are we a hundred percent sure it’s not Jonah and Gabe pulling a prank?”

“They know better. Stay out of my shot, carino,” I murmured.

We approached the house together. Whenever she turned her attention left or right, I kept mine straight ahead, ensuring one of us always had eyes on the target. Nothing moved. My muscles were taut, my pulse thundering. Whoever threw the fruit wanted to get our attention, but were we closing in on a single person, or did we need to expect an ambush?

The light flashed again, only this time we were close enough to see it was a torch. On. Off. On. Off. Sending a message, but going about it in a way that was almost as off-putting as the town itself.

If you want to talk, show yourself.

“Is that supposed to be morse code?” Liv whispered.

“No clue.” I didn’t feel a prickle of unease to warn me we were heading straight into danger, but I wouldn’t relax until I’d confirmed it for myself. “If I had to put money on it, I’d say it’s a woman.”

As we reached the curb, the figure emerged from the shadows, proving me wrong about one detail. A man. Late forties to early fifties, with salt and pepper hair and a full grey beard. He looked to be about my height with a strong build, someone with a base and a stable life.

“Get over here,” he said in a harsh whisper, waving us toward him. “You idiots are gonna get yourselves killed.”

Liv and I exchanged a look as we approached, then she raised her brows and turned her attention to the man. “Hello to you, too.”

“No time for pleasantries,” he snapped. “You’ve got no idea what you’re dealing with here. Point that gun somewhere else—and get off the damn street .”

His hands didn’t move toward a weapon, despite him having a few attached to his belt.

He maintained eye contact with me as we closed in on his location, his direct manner relaxing my hold on the rifle.

I lowered it to my side and said to Liv, “Stick close to me. Don’t make a move yet.”

I stepped over the knee high brick fence and paused as she did the same, then made my way down the side of the house with her to meet the man.

The sound of a vehicle registered in the distance again, and after three circuits in less than an hour, I concluded it had to be a patrol. We may not have known who was behind the wheel, but going by the sudden strain in his features, this man did.

“Who’s driving the car?” I asked as we joined him. “And why are you hiding?”

“And who the hell are you?” Liv demanded.

His eyes were grey, his skin weathered in a way that suggested he’d spent most of his life outdoors even before the pandemic. I pictured him on a boat in the middle of the ocean or on the end of a pier fishing. He wore a black and red flannel shirt and faded jeans, with boots that were so worn on the toes, they showed glimpses of the steel caps beneath.

“Garrett McKenzie,” he said, “and you just stumbled into a shitload of trouble.”

Didn’t we always? Every safe place had been obliterated. Even when we thought we were secure, it was just temporary self-delusion.

I introduced Liv and myself, then moved deeper into the shrubbery to keep out of sight until we’d decided how to handle him.

“Are you alone?” I asked.

“Right now? Yeah. I’ll bring you up to speed inside.” He jabbed his thumb at the rear door, his hand just as leathery as the rest of him.

I took in the house and frowned. “You live here?”

“Shit no. I’ve been holed up here for the past few hours.”

Hours, not days. I kept close watch as he turned his back on us and headed for the door, leaving himself open to attack. He wasn’t scared of complete strangers, and yet something or someone had spooked him enough to have him hiding out like a fugitive.

He opened the screen door and passed through, holding it open for Liv. I followed her inside, and we moved into the kitchen, immersing ourselves in aged laminate, brown vinyl, and a feature wall of ugly seventies tiles.

It was dark and dank. Depressing.

Garrett sat on a wooden chair that had already been pulled out from the table and waited for us to join him.

Liv stowed her sword and took the chair opposite him.

I remained standing for now, leaning against the wall beside a retro refrigerator covered in magnets. “So, what’s going on?”

Rather than answer my question, he eyed up the rifle and the bloody strap slung over my shoulder. “How much ammo have you got?”

“Enough. Explain the town to me.”

“Why is it so clean?” Liv rested her elbow on the table. “And who’s doing the upkeep?”

Garrett gave her his full attention. “I am. We are.”

“We?” She looked my way, then returned her attention to him. “You said you were alone.”

“ Right now . I have people. I just can’t get to them.”

I pushed off the wall and grabbed the seat beside Liv. “Let’s take it back a few steps. Where do you live?”

He leaned his forearms on the table, clasping his hands in front of him. “A place up on the hill called Harmony Ridge.”

“Has it always been yours?” Liv asked.

He regarded her first, then me. “No. It belonged to my friends, Joe and Alicia Barker. One of those fancy off-grid places. Fully self-contained.”

My heart beat faster, and Liv slid her eyes in my direction. What were the chances of two houses matching that description in a beachside town? It had to be ours. “Why would you move in there when the streets are free of corpses?” I asked.

Garrett kept his hands clasped, steady and sure. Still no fidgeting or nervousness. “It hasn’t always been that way. We’ve invested a lot of time in cleaning up the town.”

“How many people live on the property?” Liv asked.

“All the survivors. Twenty-three of the immune moved in there when everything went to shit. It’s a community. Babies have been born there—two so far—and we fish, hunt, and grow everything we eat.”

Liv lifted her hip from the seat and snagged the article from her back pocket. “Is this the place?” she asked.

I watched him closely as she unfolded the pages and set them in front of him. Garrett scanned the pictures and frowned, making a surprised sound as he turned them over to examine the backs. “Where’d you get these?”

“An architectural magazine.” She relaxed in her chair and glanced my way. “We came here to find it. It’s taken us days to get here.”

He stared a little longer, then looked up and shook his head in disbelief. “This is it. This is our place.”

A smile hovered at her mouth, but she wouldn’t let herself get too excited. Convincing him to make room for nine strangers wouldn’t be easy—unless we earned our way in there.

“Where have you been housing everyone?” I asked. “The article says there are five bedrooms.”

“Tents at first, then we drove around collecting caravans. A builder in a neighbouring town used to make custom tiny houses, so we took a few of his unfinished projects and did the rest of the work ourselves.”

I lifted my brows. “Everyone has a home?”

A subtle look of pride filled his eyes. “They do, and there’s still plenty of land left over to make room for more.”

“You talked about Joe and Alicia in the past tense,” Liv pointed out. “If they were immune, what happened to them?”

Garrett let a silent beat pass. “She died late last year, a couple of days after giving birth to her son. We don’t have doctors or nurses on site, so no one knows why. Complications from labour, I suppose.” He released a gusty breath. “A month after that, Joe went out for a walk and never came back. Pretty sure he took a dive off the cliff.”

Liv closed her eyes as she absorbed the information.

“Sorry to hear that,” I said, “but why aren’t you with your group now?” I didn’t want to sound callous, but our people were waiting for us and we needed to move this along.

“A crew leaves the compound every morning to work on the town boundary,” he said. “We’re lining up cars end-to-end to keep the flesh-eaters out.”

“Why haven’t you blocked off the main roads into town yet?”

“We’re working up to it. Believe it or not, we rarely get live traffic through here, only the dead ones—and they don’t always follow the roads.”

“Why did you wait so long to secure the place?” Liv asked.

“We didn’t know what was going on in the rest of the country. Most of us thought this was going to pass, and that all we had to do was wait it out. We still don’t know shit about what’s going on anywhere else, so we started rebuilding about six months ago.”

I leaned back in my chair and examined his features. His speech and body language didn’t raise any concerns, but his story had nothing to do with his current position. There were too many missing details, and we’d agreed to be back at base in—I checked my watch—ten minutes. “You haven’t got to the most important part yet, and we’re running out of time. Who’s driving the car?”

He paused as a vehicle drove straight past the house, tearing down the street as if the driver was getting impatient. They couldn’t know our hiding place, but we’d left an apple lying in the middle of the road where fruit didn’t belong.

Liv turned in her seat to gaze in that direction. The wall blocked our view, so we waited. Seconds passed, and nothing happened.

“I don’t know a single thing about them,” Garrett continued. “A group of men—four of them.”

“Your numbers are far bigger than theirs,” I pointed out.

“Fat lot of good that does when they have guns, and we don’t. We were working on the boundary when they showed up this morning. Haven’t seen strangers the whole time, then two groups turn up on the same day.”

“How did they find you?” Liv asked. “You can’t see the row of cars on the way into town.”

“Pure luck on their part. They were circling and scoping out the outlying streets. We heard ’em, but they spotted us before we could make up our minds about hiding.” He cleared his throat and looked past me for a beat. “We’ve never had to figure out if people are safe until now.”

Liv pursed her lips and nodded. “So, they saw you, and then what?”

“Pulled their guns right off the bat. Guessing they’ve seen some things over the past couple of years, and they assume everyone’s a threat—or they’re just assholes who get off on intimidating people.”

“The latter,” I said. “We’ve seen some things, too, and good people are still good, even now.”

He gave me a vague look of appreciation before the seriousness crept in again. “They’ve got two guns between them. A handgun and a rifle. The one with the handgun asked questions about where we were staying, what kind of setup we had, and Dolan… he was shitting himself and started begging them not to hurt him, pleading and all. You know what the guy did to make him stop?”

Liv had been taking it all in with her usual watchful eye. “Killed him.”

Her opinion matched mine. These men were a different type of dangerous. To patrol your own territory and terrorise the people in it was one thing. To drive into an unfamiliar town with its own rules and procedures and bring violence was next-level—and there was only one way to deal with those people. No talking it through, no compromises. Kill on sight.

“Almost,” Garrett said. “Jammed the gun against his temple and threatened to fire. Looked like he planned on following through, so I hit him with a shovel, and the four of us scattered in different directions. We only made it out because we know every inch of the town. I haven’t seen the others since.”

Maybe Gabe and Jonah had run into one or more of them. “Do you know if the men have found your compound yet?”

“I can’t make it that far to check.” Garrett rubbed his hands down his face and sighed. “The road up the hill’s a kilometre long with no cover. I’d only lead them straight there—but if one of us doesn’t make it back in the next hour, our people are going to come looking for us, anyway.”

They wouldn’t have a clue what they were walking into, and we had no way of sending a warning or controlling the outcome. Either way, they were in danger.

Garrett nodded at my gun, his features rigid. “You know what you’re doing with that thing?”

I held his gaze. “I do.”

“You’re prepared to use it? On them?”

I nodded, positive this wasn’t just the right decision, but the only one given what we were up against. “They know you’ve got something worth protecting here, and they won’t stop until they find it. We need to finish this now before it gets out of hand.”

Liv didn’t look my way or show a shred of concern. She knew, too. If her experience with Dane had taught her anything, it was that dangerous people needed to be eliminated.

He exhaled loudly through his nose and looked from Liv to me. “Why would you do that for strangers? You hardly know anything about us.”

“I know enough, and we’re earning our way into your compound,” I said, leaving no doubt about our motivations. “There are nine of us. If we do this for you, we’re doing it with the understanding that we have a guaranteed place at Harmony Ridge—if we like what we see there.”

“You’ve got it,” he said without hesitation. “You have my word.”

“All right. Let’s go introduce you to the rest of our people.”