Page 150 of After the Burn

As Rory saw it, a quiet whimper escaped her lips, and Finley instantly placed himself between her and the threat.

Beck drew his knife as the rotter lunged, caught the back of its skull, and drove the blade through its temple.

Quick and quiet.

The body sagged against the fence, and we moved on.

Wren turned around and walked backward so she could face us. “The road should split soon.”

I studied her. “Did you scavenge this far?”

“Not quite this far.” She shrugged. “At least not when I was with a group.”

I raised a brow in question.

She pointed through the trees. “There’s an old grain elevator about two miles north. We scavenged the houses around it.”

“Gideon approved that?” I asked.

She nodded. “Before he decided that everything past the creek belonged to them.”

“The fuel men?” Colson asked, in his gruff voice.

Wren nodded again.

“What happened if someone crossed it?” I could guess, but I wanted her to confirm it.

I was surprised when Finley answered. “They usually didn’t come back.”

Beck glanced at him. “Usually?”

“One guy did,” Wren spoke up.

“What happened to him?” Lucas grabbed a bottle of water from his pack and offered it to Taryn.

Suck ass.

“He wouldn’t talk about it,” Wren smirked. “Probably because Gideon had his tongue cut out.”

Nobody asked another question for a while.

The road split exactly where Wren said it would. One branch curved east, and the other continued south past a rusted sign half-hidden by vines.

Taryn wiped mud from the metal:

BAUCUM PETROLEUM & FARM SUPPLY/ 2 MILES

Wren tapped the sign. “This is it.”

Suddenly, Max growled, low and mean.

I tilted my head, then heard what he was growling about.

Engines. Still distant, but coming closer fast.

“Vehicles,” Taryn beat me to it. “Hide.”

We moved fast.