Page 17 of Claimed By Ruin

“Caitlin,” I said, nodding at the blonde when I reached her.

She had a clipboard in her hand, scribbling notes much more aggressively than she needed to.

“Jack, nice to see you. I supposed I’m glad you’re alive,” she said, her lips curling as she looked at me.

I shook my head. “You even want to try to convince me you mean that?”

She laughed, her soft, lilting laugh 180 degrees from the anger in her eyes. “After what you did, you think you deserve it?”

“You’re sticking up for Asia?” I said instead of answering.

“I’m sticking up for all of us. I don’t know if you’ve looked around, but things aren’t exactly great. We have to rely on each other. And if you aren’t going to be reliable, you should get gone and stay that way.”

I glared at her, then shook my head.

“Look—”

My words were cut off by a low whistle, followed by two others in rapid succession.

Caitlin was immediately on alert.

She moved, and I followed.

I grabbed my sidearm and grabbed the ax that Miles had left in the woodpile. We followed the sound of the whistle, and I took everything in. Zombies, about eight of them, staggered into the pasture. The first one was a hundred yards away.

Asia marched toward it, her steps not rushed but resolute, the machete in her hand glinting in the sunlight.

She swung the machete and sliced off the top of the zombie’s head. Before it hit the ground, she moved toward the others. Miles was behind her, with Elliot flanking, and a man I didn’t recognize approaching. I stepped in front of them, then quickly dispatched the last seven zombies before any of them reacted.

She glared at me, but then looked toward the other man.

“You got this, Roger?”

He nodded, and together with Elliot and Caitlin, started to remove the bodies.

“Jack, can I talk to you?” Asia said.

She nodded toward the barn, and I followed her in. The barn was different now with a couple of stalls cleared and stocked with caches of weapons and supplies. But it was still homey. Welcoming.

She washed her hands in the small bucket to the left of the barn door. I did the same, then turned to look at her.

She was waiting, and wasted no time. “We appreciate your help, but⁠—”

I didn’t, either. “What the fuck were you doing?”

“What are you talking about?” Other than the tilt of her head, she seemed so calm, so unbothered. That pissed me off even more.

“Asia, you’re preg⁠—”

She pointed at me. “I know exactly what the fuck I am, Jack. You think that changes anything?”

I glared at her, my heart racing, but I didn’t answer. She looked at me, her nostrils flaring with her disgusted exhale.

“Look, just remember we do things a certain way around here, you can’t come in and just⁠—”

She cut off and turned away. It was clear her anger had gotten the best of her.

Mine did, too.