Page 35 of The General’s Captive (The Rift #1)

A fter this last dream, I tried not to think of the way it felt to have his body on top of my own.

Or how gentle he could actually be despite his threats and whispered warnings.

I wanted to hold on to my anger and hatred, letting these be the only reasons to still think of him.

But I also knew that I was lying to myself.

I didn’t want to be so attracted to him or feel connected this way, it was exhausting the way my mind felt at constant war with myself.

All my dreams before were of my own making and since he had taken over them, they had become far too real for comfort.

The way I could still feel his hands on me…

A touch that still lingered long after reality returned…

I wanted the memory of his hands on my body to sicken me.

But the truth was that it didn’t, and shame filled me because of it.

And despite how much I fought against him in my dreams, a dark, secret part of me also craved it.

Craved for more dreams of him.

But I didn’t understand why I would feel this way about the enemy. I had no answers, just a lot of self-loathing that wasn’t enough to get me to stop. The guilt I felt because I knew that he had Riley held captive, and yet here I was, still obsessing about The General. It was unforgivable.

Even now, as I drove Riley’s truck toward where he was being kept, in Boise of all places…

well, it was enough to have me gripping the steering wheel hard with frustration.

Because as soon as I woke up, it had been all about putting plans into action.

And seeing for myself that Michaels was a man of his word, I walked out the office to see just that.

People were being loaded into the buses and filing into cars, all of them eager to return to what they considered home.

As for me, I had jumped into Riley’s truck with Tiffany, Volkov, and Jenkins, who had her usual bag of medical supplies she never travelled without.

And a good job too, because after this last attack, there had been more than a fair share of injuries for her to treat.

I had no doubt she was as eager as the others were to return to her infirmary, where she would be able to do so much more.

Although technically, she was a trained nurse, she had been acting as our doctor for a while now.

And she certainly knew her shit, that was for sure.

As for the previous doctor, the one who had once treated Riley when I first arrived, he had died about a year ago of a heart attack.

But not before teaching Jenkins everything he knew, and thank God for that.

At the Jerome base, it was all hands-on deck, and people got to work. The gate had been first on everyone’s list because the walls had fared well, with only a few minor repairs needed.

So, after helping as much as I could, I grabbed a well-needed shower.

But no matter how much I scrubbed my dirt covered skin, it wasn’t enough to rid me of the pain from the past twenty-four hours.

Which was why I ended up sliding down the tiles and holding myself on the floor, my arms shaking around my legs.

I let the sound of the water hide my hopeless sobs that felt like they would never stop, because every time I closed my eyes all I saw was the sight of Riley dropping to the floor.

The last of his strength leaving him and the defeat I saw in his eyes… it was too painful.

I knew he would be angry at what I was planning, because all he wanted to do was protect me, but he also knew me better than anyone. He knew that if there was even a small chance at saving him, then I would do it.

I would come for him as he would for me.

After my shower, I got myself ready, filling my trusty old backpack with everything I would need.

The weight of it quickly took me back to those early days of survival.

It had been my uncle’s; the same one he had tossed in the back of his truck that fateful day and what had gotten me through those first few harrowing weeks.

And now I was back there again, making my own way out in the world. But the difference now was that I knew exactly what I was up against. Which was why I was prepared, with all my tricks as The General had called them.

Well, I would show him!

I hugged Tiffany goodbye, slipping from the base before anyone else noticed. I knew I should have waited until morning because the sun had already started to set. But honestly, I was afraid of what my dreams would bring next time.

It wasn’t just The General I feared… it was my own response to him that terrified me far more.

Which made me question how I would act when I was actually in the same room with him, the barrier of my subconscious state no longer held between us. The certainty of escape always made me feel far braver than I would be when knowing it was real.

I glanced at my backpack in the seat next to me before my eyes naturally looked to the mirror, wishing to see Riley there sprawled out on the backseat like that first day. But all I saw were tears filling my eyes as I questioned what the future now held for us.

That was until something caught my attention in the front of the road.

I squinted my eyes, slowing right down and leaning forward to get a better view.

My foot hesitated above the brake, unsure what the best course of action was.

Then, realizing just what I was looking at, I slammed my foot on the brakes hard, the seatbelt tightening hard across my chest.

I stared for a moment, unsure if I was seeing this right. I even rubbed my eyes to make sure. Then I was out of the truck and running to him.

“Aster!” I shouted.

He beamed at me, that big easy grin lighting up his eyes.

“Alex! I thought it was you!” he said, and I couldn’t help my reaction to him, taking him by surprise and hugging him.

“Are… are you real?” I asked. It was barely a whisper as the words caught in my throat, I was so happy he was still alive.

“You betcha,” he replied, and his cheeky smile brightened those startling eyes of his. But they looked like they held something more, something I couldn’t put my finger on.

My eyes roamed over that soft olive skin on his prominent cheek bones, those dark heavy brows above his forest coloured eyes, and I continued to scan for injuries, or evidence of the fight, but there was none.

His straight nose was still perfectly intact, just like his flawless skin. Not a bruise in sight.

“You’re not hurt,” I stated.

“I’m pretty hard to kill,” was his answer.

“Where were you?”

His eyes hardened ever so slightly before he replied.

“I got cut off from the rest during the attack… is everyone back at the base?” he asked, looking down the road where I had come from.

“Yeah, but I’m not headed that way,” I pointed out, but this was something he had already gathered.

“I can see that, so where are you headed?”

“What were you doing standing in the middle of the road?” I asked instead of answering him.

“I wanted to get your attention.” He smiled, his teeth so bright and straight he could have given Tiffany a run for her money.

“Well, that’ll do it… you damn near scared the shit out of me,” I said. Looking down at his scuffed biker boots I could see that those, his jeans, and his black Tee had seen better days, which indicated that he had been wandering around for a while.

“So, are you going to tell me why you are by yourself and where you’re headed?” he asked again, not letting it go.

“There was a second attack at the Train Yard, we lost a few more people but The General… he took Riley, so I’m on my way to get him back,” I admitted, sighing in between this explanation.

His eyes widened before he lifted his big shoulders and said, “Okay, let’s go.”

“Wait… what?” I asked as he walked past me toward the truck.

“We wanna get there as soon as possible, right?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m not going back to the base, so you get that I am heading straight into danger, to where the Myths are… right?” I reiterated.

“Sure,” was his nonchalant reply, before he went to hold my door open, trying to prompt me to get back in the truck. Something I did after shrugging my shoulders.

“Alright, but I can’t be held responsible for your safety,” I said, trying to get him to understand this, but he just chuckled and said,

“Honey, I have been wandering around this barren flat land now for two days, trust me, I’m just glad to sit my ass down, and I don’t care where you’re going.”

I laughed before sliding behind the wheel and watching him round the truck so as he could get in next to me. Reaching for my bag, I put it in the back, making room for him.

“That’s not the real reason,” I stated.

“No, it’s because I like Riley, he’s a good guy.”

I gave him a questioning look, seeing as he hadn’t had much opportunity at getting to know him.

“I saw what he did for others Alex, and in my book, that means a lot. So, if a good guy needs saving, then I’m not going to let a woman go and rescue him alone,” he explained, and this was good enough for me, which was why I told him,

“You’re a good guy.”

“I try to be,” he replied with an appreciative nod of his head.

“Okay, so I can see I’m not going to change your mind.”

“Nope… want me to drive?” he asked, making me frown.

“Nope.”

“Great, then do you wanna do it… actually drive, that is?” he teased wryly.

Putting it into drive I muttered, “Smart ass.” Something he grinned big at.

“So, I take it we are driving toward the guy on the horse with the fucking big army, right?’ he asked, sounding not as affected by this as he should.

“You know about The General?”

“Nothing much, just to stay away from him like everyone else does,” he replied with a shrug of his big shoulders.

“Yeah, he took Riley to some prison in Boise,” I informed him, making him nod.

“Any ideas on how we are going to break him out?” he enquired, making me release a pent-up breath.

“Not sure yet, but we have an hour and half to figure it out, so I am open to suggestions,” I told him, making him grin.

Seriously, I tell this guy we are heading into the enemy’s lair, most likely to our deaths, and he smiles like it’s an average Sunday!

“I’m sure we can come up with something.

We will have the element of surprise, at least, and I doubt this General guy would think you’re brave enough to go and try break him out alone,” he replied, not realizing just how wrong he was.

Because even though I had made this deal with The General, I still couldn’t trust him to keep up his end of the bargain.

Couldn’t trust that he would actually let Riley go and not just keep him to use him as leverage against me.

To get me to do whatever he wanted for fear of what he would do to the man I cared about.

So, my plan was to break him out first and what came after that… well, I still didn’t know.

“The General doesn’t know me,” I stated firmly, ignoring the look he shot me.

“No, but I bet it’s not the first-time people have underestimated you,” he commented and I shot him a look of surprise.

“What makes you say that?”

“Back at the base, all that stuff you told me about how to kill the Myths, you came up with it, right?”

I nodded.

“And how long did you survive before finding the base?”

“Six months,” I answered.

“Six months and you spent it using your brain, not just shooting bullets and hoping for the best.”

I scoffed and told him, “I wouldn’t give me too much credit, most of it was dumb luck, to be honest.”

He laughed and said, “You tell yourself that if you want, but fear makes some people stupid, and it makes some people smarter, I think I know which one it made you.”

I had to say, that was nice to hear.

“My uncle always said that fear will get you killed,” I told him, making him nod.

“Smart man,” he replied.

I winced before telling him in a sad tone, “He was.”

Aster took this for what it was, a sad ending to a great man’s life, and to move on from this, he asked me more about my experiences.

Yet I did start to notice that he wasn’t as forthcoming about his own.

I pushed a few times, trying to get him to give me something other than just basic stuff, but he remained cagey more often than not.

In fact, we were only about twenty minutes from the city and had just been going through a potential plan, when suddenly disaster struck!

Out of nowhere, something huge landed on the hood of the truck, crushing the front. The whole thing felt like it was folding in around me as glass exploded and the airbag detonated in my face. My body slammed forward, the seatbelt cutting in deep before I was jerked back and thrown off to the side.

My head hit something hard, and just as my blurry eyes could make out the crazed beast ahead of me…

My world went…

Black.