Page 50

CHAPTER 49

Ghost

WRITTEN BY HEATHER BEAL

“W hen this is over and we have Reaper back, we will be having a conversation about this,” Rue huffs, trailing behind me as we leave the sandy beach and weave through the trees behind Oasis.

“About what?”

“About the fact that you’ve let me traipse across the country in an RV packed with enough explosives to level an island without so much as a heads-up!”

My feet come to a skidding halt as I swing around on her, letting her run face-first into my chest. My hands are on her throat, and her back slams into a tree before she can blink. “Let’s get one thing straight, Death. I would never put your life at risk. These explosives are harmless without a detonator.”

“Oh…” she sighs as she stares up at me, the inky black pupils nearly overtaking her icy blue eyes.

My fingers flex over her collar, and I take a long, calming breath at the symbol of my possessiveness. If this road trip around the new world has taught me anything, it’s that life can be ripped away in a second. Every day I wake up grateful that the love of my life is still with me. But with the gratitude comes the underlying fear that today could be the day I lose her forever. Like I lost Viper—and Reaper. I want to believe he’s here—that he somehow survived Viper’s bite. But I can’t let myself fully accept it until I see him with my own two eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Rue whispers. “I know you wouldn’t. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. And we’ll find Reaper, I promise.”

“Let’s keep moving, Baby Girl,” I breathe against her lips, pressing my forehead firmly into hers.

She nods and stretches up on her toes, placing a gentle kiss on my lips before I release her delicate throat and tug her behind me.

Noah and the rest of our little rescue crew are heading to the living quarters side of the facility. So we’re heading in the opposite direction.

The plan is simple—blow shit up to distract the people inside long enough for them to find and rescue Reaper—albeit a stupid plan. There’s a million and one things that could go wrong. But time is not on our side, so this is the best we’ve got.

“Um… Ghost—” Rue says, tugging me to a stop as we come to a break in the trees.

“Well, shit.” Just a few feet beyond the treeline, a military-grade fence surrounds the back of the building. There’s a small loading dock leading up to the door. “Well, this is kind of perfect.”

“What part of this exactly screams ‘perfect’ to you?’ Rue whisper shouts over the low rumble of growls coming from the yard.

“Well, it’s stupid and perfect. If I can blow that door, they’ll come running to see what exploded, and the zombies can take care of the idiots inside.”

“And how exactly do you think you’re going to get to the door without being eaten alive? There’s at least 20 dead out here!”

“You’ll distract them; I’ll cut a hole in the fence, just next to the building, and slip inside. I’ll place the bomb and set the timer, and we’ll be back on the boat before it blows,” I explain, and Rue looks at me like I’ve grown four heads.

“Don’t do this to me again, Ghost. Don’t put me in this position—again! I can’t lose you!”

“I’ll be fine, Baby Girl. I know you don’t like to think about it, but this is kind of what I do, Death.”

The way she is staring at me right now could cut glass, but I don’t back down. After a few moments, she sighs heavily and nods. “Fine. But I swear to God, Ghost. If you let those dead fucks kill you, I’ll let you come back so I can chain you up as my personal pet.”

“I would expect nothing less from my Death,” I chuckle. My girl has a little psycho side to her, and I love it. Pulling her into my arms, I kiss the top of her head. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“Okay. What do I have to do? I don’t think I can flirt them into a distraction,” she deadpans, pulling back and looking up at me.

I thought for sure Mav was going to have a coronary over his girl's outfit for this little mission. Better him than me.

I swing my bag over my hip, rummaging through and pulling out a crowbar. “Use this to bang on the fence and draw them to the far corner. Use your knife if they push too hard. When they move to you, I’ll do my thing and get the fuck out of there.”

“Kiss me, asshole,” she says, and I can see she’s trying really hard to hold it together for me. I love her even more for it.

My lips crash into hers, our tongues tangling. She kisses me like she might not get the chance to do it again. I decide then and there that I’ll do everything in my power to give her the peace of mind she deserves. I won’t put her in positions like this to lose me again, if I can help it.

She pulls back first, squaring her shoulders and letting strength steel her spine. “I love you.”

“I loved you first,” I say, meaning it even more than the first time I told her.

She turns and walks ahead to the fence, throwing a reassuring smile over her shoulder before dragging her crowbar along the metal. The grating sound awakens the dead, their growls growing louder as they turn to her, their feet shuffling slowly across the sandy yard.

“Come and get me, fuckers,” she yells, banging on the fence. I wait until they're halfway across before moving from the cover of the trees to the side of the building where the fence stops. I pull the bolt cutters out and start snipping the fence until I have a hole big enough for me to slip through.

I keep my attention divided between Rue’s safety and my own. All of the dead have pressed into the corner of the fence. If I don’t hurry, they could overtake it and be on top of her.

Just a few seconds, and I’m at the gate leading up to the loading dock and door. It’s close enough that I can set the explosives outside the gate and save time. I set my bag on the ground and kneel down.

I wasn’t lying; the C4 is harmless without a detonator. You could burn it for heat, and it wouldn’t explode. I stack the pre-wired bricks along the wall before carefully placing the timer on top. All I have to do now is connect the timer with the top brick.

Fifteen minutes is plenty of time for us to get back to the boat and give our people enough time to find Reaper and get him out. As soon as it's connected and the timer starts counting down, I’m back at the fence and climbing through. As soon as I’m on the other side, the door on the other side of this gate swings open.

“What the fuck?” The guard yells, looking first at the explosives and then up at me before reaching for his radio on his hip, but I’m quicker. The grenade is out of my bag and tossed over before he can hit the button to call for backup.

Okay. Maybe I didn’t think this through. Those fifteen minutes have turned into seconds as the grenade hits the concrete slope and rolls next to the C4.

“Rue, RUN!” I scream just as the initial blast goes off.

The second blast hits me like a shock wave, throwing me into the treeline. Sounds are muffled as the high-pitched ringing in my ears keeps me dazed for a few moments. When the world returns upright, the smoke and dust make it impossible for me to see anything beyond a few feet in front of me. Panic races inside me as I stumble to my feet, using a tree to pull myself up. Nothing appears to be broken, just some superficial cuts, and I’ll sure as hell feel the pain tomorrow, but I’m alive.

Rue.

“R-rue,” I try to scream, but my throat is coated with dust particles, like I swallowed a bucket of sand.

I stumble around in the smoke, falling into trees to keep upright with my unsteady balance as I make my way towards what I think is the back of the fence. When the trees turn to white sand and the smoke clears, my panic surges. I made it back before her. My knees hit in the sand; there’s nothing left to keep me standing out here in the open. I crawl towards the trees, screaming her name the best I can.

Then, a dark figure emerges from the smoke, a crowbar swinging at her side. She looks like Death incarnate, blood splattered across her chest and dripping down her face.

“You’re alive!?” I say, coughing a cloud of dust and falling down to my hands, letting the relief wash over me.

“A fucking grenade? Are you fucking serious? You could have killed yourself.”

“Yeah, not my finest moment, Death.” She kneels in front of me, pulling me up as she launches herself at me, holding on to me like her life depends on it. “I’m going to fucking kill you, asshole. I thought you were dead… again!”

“I’m sorry. I love you, and you can kill me later though. The fence is down, and we’ve got to get to the boat.”

“It’s not far. Can you walk?” She asks, pulling herself to her feet and grabbing my hands to help me up.

“I’d crawl if I had to,” I tell her, getting to my feet and steadying myself. “There’s no place too far for me to follow you, Death.”

“Don’t worry, sir. You’ll crawl for me, yet.”