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He crossed his arms over his chest, but she would not let the sight of his raw masculinity sway her better judgment. He was an asshole, and all she said was she wanted to help.
“And I’ll say it again. If we hadn’t come along when we did, you’d be half eaten and walking around infected like the rest of them.” He turned and took a step but stopped and looked back at her. “And for the record, I didn’t offer to take you along. Ash did.” Mason said it so icily, so fucking dead-toned, that Sparrow’s entire body stiffened. He looked at Asher. “Now let’s fucking look through the car and get the hell out of here. I’m done talking and drawing even more attention to ourselves.”
He was moving toward the car, and Asher opened his mouth to say something, but she shook her head and followed Mason onto the street and toward the car. Okay, so she wasn’t welcome by Mason. That much was clear. And she certainly didn’t want to be somewhere, traveling with someone who clearly didn’t want her there. So she’d just have to leave. She’d go with them into town, see if she could scrounge up some supplies, and get the fuck away from them. Maybe they should have just left her there for the infected, but maybe she wouldn’t have been okay if they wouldn’t have shown up.
One thing was certain. Sparrow wasn’t about to hang around someone who didn’t want her there. She much preferred to be on her own anyway.
Chapter Six
The interior of the car hadn’t offered anything, but when Mason popped the trunk, they found a gallon of water, a few blankets, and a few cans of fruit. They took what they found, shoved it into their packs, and moved back into the shaded and partially hidden tree line. For the next ten minutes or so, they didn’t speak, but that was fine with Sparrow. Asher kept looking over at her, and she didn’t miss how he lingered back from Mason’s quick, determined steps and stayed closer to her.
She didn’t need or want his help and was starting to feel really fucking stupid for taking Asher up on his offer and joining them. Mason’s words had been like a slap to her face, and because of what? Saying she wanted to help, that she didn’t want to be the person who relied on them for everything?
She remembered just last night though, when Mason offered her the rest of his water. Had he showed her a glimpse of the human inside, or was the machine he portrayed every other time just trying to appease her, because he felt sorry for her?
No, he didn’t feel sorry for her, because he didn’t feel anything. She had seen it on more than one occasion, when someone just detached themselves from others. But it was just her, because it seemed his relationship with Asher was solid.
That was probably it though.
He might think she would ruin whatever connection the men had together, but honestly, she didn’t give a shit about what they did. Yeah, they were attractive, and yes, she had thought of some very dirty things concerning them, but she was a female, and they were the first males who caused a warmth inside her since the fucking world ended. Damn her hormones, damn the fact that she hadn’t been with a man in God knew how long, and damn Mason for making her feel like a thorn in his side.
They stopped when they reached the edge of Rockport. The town looked like something out of an old country movie, with cobblestoned sidewalks and gas-style streetlamps. It looked deserted, like the occupants rushed out of their homey little world, leaving their belongings scattered along the street, their previous lives lost in the wind. A telephone pole leaned to the side, perilously close to falling completely over. There were a few cars parked along the curb, some with their doors hanging open, and others with the remembrance of life that they once had.
The trio stayed in the center of the street, all three of them with their weapons of choice held tightly in their hands, and their gazes moved back and forth along the deserted, eerily silent town. The sound of banging had Sparrow tensing, but she saw a shutter smacking back and forth against the side of a building. She saw a hardware store, a little video store, and even a kiosk-style ice cream stand. She tried to image what the town of Rockport looked like before the fall of the world. She could visualize the people walking back and forth, laughing, shopping, living.
“Come on, there is a pharmacy and grocery store up here and around the corner.” They followed Mason as he made quick work up the street and then took a right. She first saw the pharmacy with the once quaint little mortar and pestle with a recipere in the center of the mortar.
