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In a swift move, Mason was before the female and had his knife raised high. He plunged the blade into the side of her neck, causing the infected to gurgle out a ghastly sound. He pulled the knife out and stabbed it in the eye, and the infected fell to the ground. After he pulled his blade out of its eye, he wiped it clean on her dress. But before he could make a step toward them, another one came from out of the trees across from them. This one had his arms out in front of him and green-and-black goo coming from its eyes.
Sparrow had her weapon in her hand, a thick steel pipe that did a lot of good when brought across the heads of the sick, but before she could move, Asher tightened his hold on her. “He’s got it, Sparrow. You’ll just distract him running out there.”
And Asher was right. Right when she thought the walking corpse would have grabbed Mason, he had him on the ground and his blade buried right in one of those nasty, dead eye sockets. Mason pulled it out and wiped his blade clean once more, turned and scanned the area, and then came back to them. He stared at her for a moment before grunting something out to Asher.
“Come on, let’s see if there’s anything useful in the car. Just stay behind me and close.” He tried to take hold of her hand, but she took a step back. He stopped, which had Mason doing the same. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She looked between the two of them. Mason had that perpetual scowl on his face, as if her stopping them was wasting their time. “I just want you guys to know I can handle myself. You don’t have to watch over me like I’ll break.” She held up her weapon. “I’ve killed plenty of them, and joining you means I want to help, not be a hindrance. I can hold my own with you guys and carry my weight.”
Mason grunted, and Asher sliced an irritated look at him.
“We found you nearly getting eaten and clawed to death by one of those fuckers,” Mason said low with a hint of anger in his voice. “So excuse me if I’d rather you do what we say instead of getting in our way.”
What. An. Ass. Sparrow tightened her hold on the pipe and glared at him. She had learned over time that keeping her mouth shut was for the best, but there were some things that just needed to be said.
“If I am such a burden to you, which your attitude seems to claim, then why in the hell did you even ask me to join you?” Sparrow had never been one to speak her mind. She was perfectly content in doing what she wanted, and if someone didn’t like it, they could go fuck themselves. But for the last few days of being in Mason’s company, seeing the glares and narrowed-eyed looks he gave her, and the overall icy disposition he wore like a damn chip on his shoulder, he was pushing it. “I survived this whole time without you, and I certainly can manage it again.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, but she would not let the sight of his raw masculinity sway her better judgment. He was an asshole, and all she said was she wanted to help.
“And I’ll say it again. If we hadn’t come along when we did, you’d be half eaten and walking around infected like the rest of them.” He turned and took a step but stopped and looked back at her. “And for the record, I didn’t offer to take you along. Ash did.” Mason said it so icily, so fucking dead-toned, that Sparrow’s entire body stiffened. He looked at Asher. “Now let’s fucking look through the car and get the hell out of here. I’m done talking and drawing even more attention to ourselves.”
He was moving toward the car, and Asher opened his mouth to say something, but she shook her head and followed Mason onto the street and toward the car. Okay, so she wasn’t welcome by Mason. That much was clear. And she certainly didn’t want to be somewhere, traveling with someone who clearly didn’t want her there. So she’d just have to leave. She’d go with them into town, see if she could scrounge up some supplies, and get the fuck away from them. Maybe they should have just left her there for the infected, but maybe she wouldn’t have been okay if they wouldn’t have shown up.
One thing was certain. Sparrow wasn’t about to hang around someone who didn’t want her there. She much preferred to be on her own anyway.
Chapter Six
The interior of the car hadn’t offered anything, but when Mason popped the trunk, they found a gallon of water, a few blankets, and a few cans of fruit. They took what they found, shoved it into their packs, and moved back into the shaded and partially hidden tree line. For the next ten minutes or so, they didn’t speak, but that was fine with Sparrow. Asher kept looking over at her, and she didn’t miss how he lingered back from Mason’s quick, determined steps and stayed closer to her.
She didn’t need or want his help and was starting to feel really fucking stupid for taking Asher up on his offer and joining them. Mason’s words had been like a slap to her face, and because of what? Saying she wanted to help, that she didn’t want to be the person who relied on them for everything?
She remembered just last night though, when Mason offered her the rest of his water. Had he showed her a glimpse of the human inside, or was the machine he portrayed every other time just trying to appease her, because he felt sorry for her?
No, he didn’t feel sorry for her, because he didn’t feel anything. She had seen it on more than one occasion, when someone just detached themselves from others. But it was just her, because it seemed his relationship with Asher was solid.
That was probably it though.
He might think she would ruin whatever connection the men had together, but honestly, she didn’t give a shit about what they did. Yeah, they were attractive, and yes, she had thought of some very dirty things concerning them, but she was a female, and they were the first males who caused a warmth inside her since the fucking world ended. Damn her hormones, damn the fact that she hadn’t been with a man in God knew how long, and damn Mason for making her feel like a thorn in his side.
They stopped when they reached the edge of Rockport. The town looked like something out of an old country movie, with cobblestoned sidewalks and gas-style streetlamps. It looked deserted, like the occupants rushed out of their homey little world, leaving their belongings scattered along the street, their previous lives lost in the wind. A telephone pole leaned to the side, perilously close to falling completely over. There were a few cars parked along the curb, some with their doors hanging open, and others with the remembrance of life that they once had.
The trio stayed in the center of the street, all three of them with their weapons of choice held tightly in their hands, and their gazes moved back and forth along the deserted, eerily silent town. The sound of banging had Sparrow tensing, but she saw a shutter smacking back and forth against the side of a building. She saw a hardware store, a little video store, and even a kiosk-style ice cream stand. She tried to image what the town of Rockport looked like before the fall of the world. She could visualize the people walking back and forth, laughing, shopping, living.
“Come on, there is a pharmacy and grocery store up here and around the corner.” They followed Mason as he made quick work up the street and then took a right. She first saw the pharmacy with the once quaint little mortar and pestle with a recipere in the center of the mortar.
“Let’s stop in the pharmacy first. I want to see if anything is left.” Asher nodded, and Mason continued leading them toward it. They stopped in front of it, but the door hung from the hinges. They listened and slowly stepped inside. The interior was dark where the light didn’t penetrate it through the windows.
“Let’s make this quick. I don’t want to spend a lot of time in town.” Mason kept his voice low. There were only two aisles, with a long shelf between them running along the center. Because it was so small, they stuck together and made a sweep of the whole place. They stopped at the counter in front of the pharmacy, but they could see down each small aisle and didn’t spot anyone.
“I’m going to see if there is anything left that might be useful to take.” She looked between them. “Any allergies?” She smiled, but apparently the men didn’t think it was funny, since they just stared at her. She shook her head and moved around the counter to step up into the small box-like drug dispensary. The shelves were still standing, but there were boxes and bottles scattered all along the floor.
The room was murky with shadows, but there was enough light coming through the windows that she could at least see well enough. She got on her haunches and pushed some of the pill bottles around. Stool softeners, pain relievers, and cough suppressants were some of them. She grabbed a few bottles of the pain relievers and shoved them in her bag. Standing and going over to the shelves, she scanned what was left. A lot of stuff and been picked through, but she did manage to find some antibiotics, grabbed the bottle, and put it in her bag. She took a few more things and headed back around the counter.
“Get what you needed?” Asher asked.
“I grabbed some things. Let me see if there are any first aid supplies.” She went through the two aisles, feeling the two men following behind her. There wasn’t much of anything left, but she found some medical tape, gauze, a few bottles of sterile water, and several other supplies that would come in useful if one of them got injured. “Okay, I think I got enough.” They made their way out of the pharmacy and headed toward the grocery store.
The grocery store was smaller, but she supposed for the town it could have been considered large. The sign stating the store was called McMillian’s hung right above the front doors. The once red lettering had a few holes littered in it and had a washed-out look to it. A lone shopping cart was tipped over in the center of the parking lot, and grass and weeds were starting to make their way through the numerous cracks in the pavement, but aside from a dented and old blue Toyota Corolla sitting in one of the parking spots near the front, the place was still and silent. They did a quick scan of the lot and then slowly moved toward the front doors. Asher leaned forward and looked inside through the dirty and almost foggy-looking front window.
