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“Sorry,” she croaks, “I don’t know what came over me.”
“You were just abused by a twisted asshole, I’m pretty sure it's understandable so don’t worry,” I tell her but she only shakes her head.
“No, it isn’t even that,” she tells me, “I wasn’t kidding when I said I had worse, men are fucking pigs. But…”
My eyes catch a flickering of light and I turn around to look toward the clearing the rest of us are in.
“What are those idiots doing!” I exclaim, interrupting Sammi. She turns her head to look.
“Making fires it looks like,” she replies to my rhetorical question. Huffing out a sigh, I rush back over to the clearing as fast as my weary body will carry me. Sammi’s footsteps are right behind me.
“What the fuck are you doing!” I exclaim once I step into the clearing. Sure enough, there are three fires in our little camp and every set of eyes seems to turn to look at me.
“Making food?” Luis answers confused.
“No, why the hell didn’t you guys make fire covers!”
“What’s the problem?” Ax asks as he strides up. The lightness of his expression brings a twinge of annoyance.
“Well, ya’ll have basically announced our presence to anyone within miles but whatever, not like we’re escaped convicts or anything!” I all but shout. Ax’s eyebrows raise and his expression is nothing but amused by my outburst. Maybe I’m about to get my period or something because I’m seriously close to punching him.
“Don’t worry so much,” he says soothingly.
“What do you mean ‘don’t worry’!” I hiss.
“No one is coming after us, not yet.”
I look at him with exasperation, trying to decide if I should even acknowledge his statement, when Sammi chimes in behind me.
“She’s right. There’re a few small towns not so far from here and The Watch goes through often. Even if you weren’t all escaped convicts, running into them is not what we need tonight,” Sammi explains reasonably.
“Good point,” Ethan replies, coming up behind her. “Put one of the fires out and make vision breaks around the others.”
Immediately, the men start doing as he says and I’m not sure if I’m more annoyed or vindicated.
“Better?” Ax asks with a hint of a smirk.
Chapter Two
Axle
Iwatch as a range of emotion crosses Ana’s face, most hinting at her wanting to hit me. The bruise around her eye has darkened enough to be obvious even in the dim light, though my eyes have been used to the dark for a long time. I notice the slight quiver at holding herself up and realize it’s probably sheer anger and her stubborn disposition keeping her standing right now. I feel a twinge of guilt I haven’t taken better care of her. Instead, I’m antagonizing her. The distraction of the free world is immense, but hardly a good excuse.
Taking a step closer, I let my smirk drop along with my voice. My hand reaches to her, craving her touch. “Let me take care of you,” I say quietly. “Please.”
As expected, she melts at the request, though I don’t doubt she’s still annoyed at me. Stubborn, strong little thing. When her stomach rumbles loudly, I have to hide a smile at the timing. If it were light enough, I’m sure I’d see the flush on her face.
“Fine,” she mumbles, and I can tell by her tone she isn’t mad anymore. “But I’m going to the stream to wash off first.”
I watch her turn and begin to stumble towards the stream before I go to the fire to grab a few bowls. I notice Sammi is finally talking with Ethan off to the side but can’t hear what they’re saying. His face is animated and he’s clearly annoyed or upset, so I leave him to his own woman troubles without another thought.
Bowls in hand and a bag over my shoulder, I start to leave the clearing, whispering to Brutus on my way past to make sure no one comes after us. I look forward to taking care of Ana tonight and don’t want to be interrupted.
The stream isn’t far from the clearing but a few steps into the brush I hear the unfamiliar sounds of the night pick up around me. Small bugs I don’t know the names for singing a creaky song, seemingly not bothered by our disruption. The moon is bright and full, and the path is easy to see. A sense of calm and peace I’ve never known hovers around me, wanting to take root but too unsure.
The moment I left The Tomb walls, the feeling of release was there, but loss and suffocation are hard things to forget. I don’t think I could lose my freedom again and survive it.
Violence is all I’ve ever known, how I grew up. Just being outside is almost too much to process, and now we have to start to think about what is next—how to survive. What the fuck is there for a man like me in the world?
