Page 45 of Duty Bound

“Wait here.” Blade did a lap of the ruins. “It looks safe enough. The vegetation will give us some extra cover.” It was surrounded by foliage, providing a natural camouflage, although, if someone looked closely, they’d see the rocks through the trees.

Lily followed him behind the building and sat, or rather fell, down with a long sigh. Her backpack had caught her off-balance and pulled her down. Sometimes, gravity sucked.

“You okay?” A raised eyebrow.

“Yep.” She kept her voice light, even though she’d landed on a pebble and would have a nice little bruise later. That was the least of her worries.

They were still on the far side of the river, which meant at some point they’d have to cross back over, right into enemy territory. She wasn’t looking forward to that. It seemed everywhere they turned, the enemy waited.

Blade prowled around like a predator, the veins in his neck bulging. He seemed wired, on edge.

“Why don’t you take a nap?”

He glanced at her and shook his head. “I’m okay.”

“You don’t look okay.”

He spun around. “What do you mean?”

“You’re jumpy and tense, and you haven’t slept since yesterday. I don’t want a zombie protecting me if we come under attack.”

At his sardonic look, she added, “Don’t worry, I’ll wake you at the first sign of danger.”

He did another lap of the broken-down building, just to be sure, then came back and shrugged off his backpack. Placing it next to him, he sat, his rifle's sling still around his body, hands on the weapon.

“You’re going to sleep holding your rifle?”

“Yeah.” Obviously, his look said. “The threat level is still high.”

She shrugged. The place seemed pretty deserted to her, but what did she know?

“Give me an hour.” He leaned back against his rucksack and shut his eyes.

A few seconds later, his rhythmic breathing told her he was asleep.

Left to her own devices, Lily took the opportunity to relieve herself, then assumed a position where she could see in all directions but was out of the line of sight in case anyone should come wandering through the clearing.

The sun was deliciously warm, and she tilted her face up to it. How different the day temperatures were from the night. Her clothes were completely dry now, and the freezing hypothermic episode of the early hours was fading into the background.

While Blade slept, she watched the tiny creatures scurrying around amidst the stones, oblivious to the plight of the westerners using their home as a makeshift camp. A squirrel, or something similar with a bushy tail, carried a nut in its mouth as it whipped across the clearing then into a crevice.

With detached curiosity, she listened to the rustling leaves and the scampering animals in the wood around them. The sounds of Blade's steady breathing reminded her how fragile their little bubble of security was and how, without him, she was incredibly vulnerable.

He took care of everything, including her. Blade might be her late boyfriend’s best friend, but she hadn’t known him at all. Hadn’t wanted to get to know him. Maybe if she had, this would have been easier.

Maybe there wouldn’t be this crazy sexual tension between them, or whatever it was. Too late to do anything about it now. Joe was dead, and it seemed she couldn’t get close to Blade without making a fool of herself. The awkwardness would be her constant companion until this ordeal ended.

The day wore on, and after an hour—at least she thought it was an hour—she got up to wake Blade. As she reached back to the wall, a tinkling sound wafted across the dry air. She crouched beside him and listened.

There it was again. Definitely a bell.

Crap.

She poked Blade on the shoulder.

His eyes flew open. “What’s up?”

“I heard something. A bell, I think.”

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