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Mason was breathing heavier, and when he reached around, it was only to push her back to do what Asher had said. “Here.” Mason looked over his shoulder and bent to grab a small pistol he had tucked into his boot. He shoved the gun in her hand and forced her to hold it tightly. “There are six bullets in there. If any fuckers come after you, shoot first and ask questions later.” She knew her eyes were big, but she nodded and kept her mouth shut.
He turned back around, and the gap between the guys’ bodies showed her that right outside, waiting for them like some kind of welcoming committee, were five men. They leaned against the side of a rusty orange pick-up truck that looked about fifty years old. The men were scuzzy and grungy-looking, but the guns they held up against their chests were new and gleamed with the promise of death. She knew they couldn’t see them inside the store, but it looked like the five of them were staring right at them.
The biggest one out of the five, and clearly the dirtiest one as well, pushed away from the truck and stood a few feet from the other men. Even from where she stood, she could see his smile. “We saw you guys head inside, so there isn’t any use in trying to wait us out. And the back door is blocked off, so there is no escape that way.” The other guys started laughing, and Sparrow found herself gripping onto the backs of Mason and Asher’s shirts.
“What do they want?” It wasn’t lost on her that she hadn’t moved and hidden in the back, but shit, they knew they were in here, and they outnumbered them. Mason and Asher might’ve been strong in their own right, but it was five against three. Sparrow could handle her own against a slow-ass infected, could even fend for herself when it came to a person one-on-one if she needed to—and had, in fact. But there was no way she could cause any damage to these men, certainly not when they were packing that kind of weaponry.
“Sparrow, go hide in the fucking back, and whatever you hear or see, do not come out.” Asher glanced over his shoulder and held her eyes with his bright blue ones. “No matter what.”
“Do what the fuck he says, Sparrow.” Mason looked at her, and there was a dangerous expression written across his face.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” There was more cackling from outside. “I’ll tell you what, if you hand over what we want, you can leave unharmed.” She swallowed and started walking backward, making sure to keep her eyes trained on the men right outside the store. “And you know what we want, right, boys?”
Her throat was dry and closing in, and her heart was beating a mile a minute. She held the gun tighter, feeling sweat start to coat her palms, but not afraid to use it when the time came. And the time would come. There was no doubt about it.
“What we want is the girl.”
Chapter Seven
Mason waited until he knew Sparrow was toward the back of the store and hidden behind one of the clothing racks before he motioned for Asher to come closer. “They know she’s in here, so there’s no point in lying about it. There’s also no reasoning with them, seeing as they’re already making demands for the girl.”
Asher held a hard expression, and Mason knew a part of his anger was because he wanted Sparrow. Those emotions were not welcome at the moment.
Right now, it was about getting them out safely. He may have been reluctant to take on another member, because frankly he was content with it just being Ash and him. He may also be annoyed that the little slip of a female thought she could keep up with them. She may have lasted this whole time, but Mason was not blind to the fact that she wouldn’t last another five months in the world as it was now.
But all of those things combined didn’t mean he was going to hand her over to these motherfuckers. He might be an asshole on the best of days, but he wasn’t a bastard to give up a life just to save his own, and he knew Ash felt the same way.
“I’m not going to hand her over to them,” Asher said through gritted teeth.
“Neither am I, so that means one thing.” They looked at each other, knowing they were going to have to take five lives in order to get out of here. They nodded to each other once, dropped their bags on the floor, and grabbed their guns. They didn’t have an endless supply of bullets, so they would need to make these shots count. But Mason was trained for war, trained to take down his enemies before they even knew he was standing right behind them. He checked his weapons: gun at the small of his back, gun at his hip, and his knife in his hand. Asher was doing the same, and with a glance back at the rack he knew Sparrow was behind, he took a step forward.
It wasn’t that he didn’t think Sparrow could handle herself, but she was a female, and call it pigheaded, but Mason wanted to protect her, wanted to make sure she was safe. Unlike what he had been able to do....
No, now was not the time for those thoughts. No way she could go up against all these assholes, and having her near him was already fucking with his head. Yeah, he wanted her, had wanted her the moment he first saw her, but this was reality, and nothing would work out between them. It just couldn’t, because adding her to the mix, having her remind him of what he lost, was almost too painful.
He had Asher, cared for the man deeply, and the man knew when to back off when he needed it. But Sparrow had a mind of her own, liked to mouth off, and thought she was as strong as they were. Besides, no way in hell would she be all about shacking up with both of them, because honestly that’s the only way it would work. He wouldn’t isolate Ash, not after everything they had gone through.
Pushing those thoughts aside too, he moved with Asher to the front door and stepped outside. The main guy, whom Mason assumed was the leader of this little posse, grinned broadly at them. He had some nasty-ass yellow teeth, a few scars littering the side of his face, and it was clear he hadn’t cleaned up in probably the whole five months the shit hit the fan. The stench of him under the sun was pretty ripe too.
“Drop the fucking weapons and kick them away.” Mason tightened his hold on his gun, but the other four men lifted their own weapons in warning. He and Ash slowly lowered their knives to the ground and kicked them away. “The guns too.” Mason pulled the gun from his hip, and Asher did the same. Once those were on the ground, they straightened. The guy clearly thought those were the only weapons they had, but that was all right. The more ignorant, the better. “I asked for the girl.” He still held a smile. He flicked his eyes toward the inside of the store, but Mason knew he couldn’t see Sparrow. “Saw the three of you enter my town. I’m not very hospitable and don’t take kindly to strangers coming in unannounced.”
“Next time, I’ll phone ahead.” Mason said the smart-ass comment with a straight face. The guy chuckled and looked behind him at the other four men.
“We got a comedian on our hands, boys.” That had the other men chuckling as well. “Listen, I’m gonna be straight up with you, because you guys know what it’s like to be without female company, right?” Neither of them responded. “It’s just me and my boys, and I’ll tell ya, we can get pretty lonely at times.” His smile vanished, and he glared at them. “So, how about helping a brother out and passing that pretty little thing on over to us? I’m sure you two had enough fun with her. Time to share.”
Mason gritted his teeth. “First off, we are not your brothers. Secondly, I’m not giving you a damn thing. If you want her, you’ll have to get through us first, and I’m going to warn you that the ending to that will be five motherfuckers lying dead at our feet.” They stared at each other for a long second, and he sensed the anger coming from Asher as if it were his own.
“Don’t like to share, huh?” The fucker in front of him grinned once more and shrugged. “That’s all right. Neither do we. So, when we get that fine piece of ass back to camp, I want you to know she will be good and used by all of us plenty of times.”
Asher took a step forward, the low sound of warning coming from him like a blast of fire. Mason reached out and gripped his shoulder, stopping him.
“She isn’t yours, will never be yours, and if you want to keep this going, I’ll make sure to cut out your tongue and shove it down your fucking throat before I shoot you in the goddamn head.” He had seen Ash pissed plenty of times, but this was near to explosive. But Mason couldn’t blame him, not after what this douchebag said, because Mason was feeling the same kind of homicidal need. No one said anything for several seconds, but everyone’s guard was up and blaring strongly. There was a crashing sound in the back of the store, and he and Asher turned, but the sound of guns cocking had them turning back to the men. Five guns were pointed right at them.
“Don’t fucking move, boys, or I’ll wound you just enough so that I can fuck her in front of you before I kill you.” One gunshot rang out. “Martin, what the fuck is going on?” the leader yelled out. There was a grunt and a scream, and then the heavy footsteps of something being dragged coming right at them. The sound of Sparrow struggling had every protective instinct in him roaring.
They emerged from the store, with some burly motherfucker all but dragging Sparrow behind him by the hair. “The fucking bitch shot me in my foot.”
Pride filled Mason, but it was short-lived when the bastard holding onto her lifted her head so they could see her face. She was already sporting a nasty fucking bruise on the side of her cheek. A low growl left him at the sight, and he felt his heart start to pound and adrenalin pump through his veins.
