Page 81 of Dark Fey Captive

Each night, they would leave to find whatever I wanted. And they always left more supplies at the dock. Although they were gone by the next night, I didn’t get another note.

Twice, they heard an engine, but they said it was coming from the south, not the north. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Had my family found a way to rescue me?

But more importantly, did I want to be rescued?

CHAPTER THIRTY

NAV

I paused with the shovel planted in the frozen ground and listened to the faint rumble of an engine to the south.

“They are either foolish or desperate to return. Do you think they will try to cut through town to get to the store from the other direction?” Belak asked.

Most of the nearby infected lingered around the big store he and I raided for supplies each night to the east. The same store that the humans had briefly scouted yesterday. They hadn’t stayed long after losing several of their members. We’d heard the gunfire and their retreat, even though we hadn’t left the yard then to check.

“If they are foolish or desperate, they might,” I said.

If the humans tried to go through town to get to the stores, they would draw the infected closer to Arena. The slow ones didn’t concern me. However, not all of the infected near the store were newly turned. A few were missing limbs, and I found a foot inside the doors near a puddle of muddy water the first time I went there. I thought again of the frozen infected in the bedroom and wondered if some of the intelligent ones had survived. If so, was that why the infected were staying close to the store? Did they know it would attract humans?

“Nav.”

Belak’s voice broke through my thoughts, and he shook his head at me.

“You are like the rest who have found females. Absent-minded.”

I grunted. “I was thinking of the infected by the store. Some are older and might be smart enough to set traps. The humans will lose more of their numbers if they try again, no matter how they approach it.”

Belak made a non-committal sound.

I set down my shovel. “I am going to check on Arena.”

Belak chuckled. “You are thinking with your cock and not your head.”

I moved to playfully cuff him, which he dodged, and I jogged around to the front yard, where Arena was happily planting seeds in the trays we’d brought back last night.

She liked us to stay close while it was light out but didn’t care if we left after dark. She hadn’t wanted us to leave yesterday when we heard gunfire. It warmed me to know she was concerned for us, but I was worried that the humans would bring trouble to the home we were building if they kept trying to reach the store.

She looked up at me and smiled as I joined her inside.

“It’s crazy how much warmer it is in here, isn’t it?” she asked as I closed the door behind me.

It was warmer, but not as warm as the greenhouses back in the communities. Those were much larger and had wood stoves.

“The seeds will like the warmth,” I said, coming to watch her work. “We heard an engine.”

She tensed as she did every time I told her I heard one.

“What direction?”

“South.”

Some of the tension left her.

“We think it’s the same group who tried to reach the big store yesterday. They might try to go through town, either to reach the stores or to search the houses for supplies. You should wait inside until they are gone.”

She paused and looked at me.

“You think they’re dangerous?”