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Chapter Thirty-Nine
Better to trust a rambling man than no man at all
Malachi and Tree Man had checked the entire town and had found no signs of life but that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone lurking. He didn’t want to leave Sasha and Lucy for too long, especially with Sasha’s lack of trust in Tree Man. Now, to a point, he completely understood it. Tree Man rambled and half of the time he made no sense, but Malachi had been around men who were much worse.
He’d seen real crazy and so far, Tree Man hadn’t come at them with a knife. In fact, he’d even seen him talking to Lucy, telling her ways to protect herself. The man was weird, no doubt about that, but it could be down to the damn dog bite. He didn’t know. The bite on the man’s arm looked seriously dangerous and he wanted to get it covered.
Also, with Tree Man showing protective instincts when it came to the women, he wanted another man willing to take care of them.
He knew it meant another body to walk around, carry, feed, and to just cause him more work, but it was also another person who could help shoot, and if shit really did hit the fan, it was another body to be killed. His logic wasn’t great but he would do whatever it took to protect these women.
Lucy deserved a shot at a normal life and the only way he was ever going to be able to get that for her was to have as many people as possible around to help her grow up.
Walking through the small town, they didn’t go straight to the grocery store but to the gas station. The windows were smashed and there was toilet paper everywhere. There were no traces of blood. He’d been to places where there were people dead on the ground from being shot or stabbed.
That was why he wanted Tree Man, who was leading their little party.
Sasha and Lucy took the middle and he was at the back, keeping an eye on everything all around. He knew without him keeping a check on them all, Sasha wouldn’t be happy.
He wished there was something he could do in order to help her relax. Not everyone she met would be normal, or what an average girl thought was normal.
Damn.
Malachi knew he was going to have to really fucking get over the fact she was in high school, even though she was of age.
There he went.
His morals coming back into place, although he certainly had none of them when she was in his arms, and he wanted her.
The ache he felt for her wasn’t going away. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted from her. Tree Man wasn’t just giving him a chance for Lucy to have a normal life, he’d also offered Malachi a possible future with Sasha as well, and he was going to take it, and hold on to it with every single chance he got.
Tree Man stopped and looked into the gas station. They weren’t at the door yet and Malachi saw Sasha getting angry.
“What’s the holdup?” she asked.
“Don’t you hear anything?” Tree Man asked.
“No, nothing, because nothing is there.”
“Oh right, it’s just me.” Tree Man smiled at Lucy. “Don’t listen to every single voice you hear.”
Lucy giggled.
Malachi drew his gun as he heard sudden movement and noise. Even Sasha did.
He was tense, waiting for it, and then a Labrador walked out of the gas station. His tail was down and he looked terrified.
“Doggy!” Lucy dropped down to her knees, opening her arms.
“Lucy, no.”
It was too late as the dog charged toward Lucy. Malachi was poised to shoot it if he had to. Only the dog started to give Lucy kisses as if they were the best of friends.
Lucy’s laughter filled the air around them with joy.
He’d never heard her laugh like that. He looked toward Sasha and saw the tears in her eyes as she knelt down beside her sister and the dog moved toward her as well, trying to get more attention.
“Do you think he’s a stray?” Sasha asked.
“His owner could have left him, or not made it.” He was speaking in code so as not to upset Lucy.
“I love him,” Lucy said.
Tree Man chuckled. “Told you I heard something.”
Sasha turned toward him. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“Oh that’s okay. I’m going to give you many reasons to doubt me.”
Sasha chuckled.
“Can we keep him, please? I’ll take care of him and we can buy him dog food at the grocery store. The shelves were never empty of dog food. I want him. I want him. I want him.”
Malachi laughed. “You don’t have to worry about it. What do you say, Sasha? Do you want to keep the dog?”
Sasha got to her feet, biting her lip. “Do you think it’s safe for us to?”
