Red shot the infected, and another man grabbed Beck from behind, dragging him back even as he fought like a madman. He would have gotten free, but the redheaded man suddenly jammed a gun under his chin.
“Enough,” the man growled. “If you want the cheerleader to keep breathing, you stop now.”
Beck froze. Every muscle in his body went rigid, fury rolling off him in waves I could feel from where I stood.
I carefully reached into my bag for my gun, but I felt an arm reach around me, jerking the bag out of my hand before I could grasp it.
“I don’t think so, Buffy.” The sudden waft of body odor almost made me gag.
I turned and saw a huge man, at least six and a half feet tall, smirking at me with yellow teeth, holding my bag in one hand and my arm in the other.
“Keep your fucking hands off her.” Beck snarled between gritted teeth.
The giant just laughed and pulled me closer. We were surrounded, with the first man still holding a gun under Beck’s chin.
“Calm down, little Reaper.” The man with the gun grinned.
He must be blind, calling Beck ‘little’ anything. He was shorter than Beck by at least a head.
“Fuck you, Red,” Beck said, his eyes never leaving my face.
His name really was ‘Red.’ How cliché.
“No need for violence. We just want to talk.” Red winked at me.
The guy holding my arm bent his head close to my ear. “We weren’t expecting to capture us a pretty cheerleader.” He flicked at my skirt as I felt his fetid breath on the side of my face.
“Get the fuck away from me,” I demanded as I jerked out of his grip and punched him in the nuts, ignoring my inner monologue from a few seconds earlier.
He grunted and let go of me, falling to the ground.
“You shouldn’t have done that, little girl.” Red laughed. “Big George ain’t going to take kindly to that.”
Before I could reply, the third guy backhanded me across the face. “No bitch is going to disrespect my brother like that.”
My head fell back on my shoulders, but I recovered quickly and glared at him. I could taste blood on my lips and feel my right eye beginning to swell.
Beck screamed in rage, “I’m going to kill you!”
Big George rose to his feet, breathing hard, and grabbed my arm, still holding his nuts with one hand.
“I like it when a woman fights,” he said, then licked the blood from the corner of my mouth. “As soon as I kill the boy, you can kiss ‘em better.”
I gagged then, but he just laughed.
“We’ll see who kills who, fucker!” Beck gritted out between clenched teeth.
“This is what’s going to happen,” Red said as George and his brother tied my hands behind my back. “You’re going to get on your bike and follow us. If you try to run, I’m going to give the girl to Big George.”
Big George groaned. “Please run, little Reaper.”
Beck stayed silent, his eyes filled with death, his gaze never leaving George.
“Do you understand?” Red growled, any trace of the earlier playfulness gone.
“I understand,” Beck growled, low.
“Someone wants another shot at you,” Red smirked. The playfulness returned to his voice. “This time we’ll make sure the results are different.”
