Page 26 of Shattered Love

Within moments, his entire body was shuddering, his lips hovering over mine, our eyes never breaking contact as he came. Once his muscles relaxed, he pulled out gently, rolling onto his back, pulling me onto his chest.

We were back to cuddling, the position so familiar, as if we had been doing it for years. His hands trailed lazy circles across my back, his heart beating fast under my cheek.

“Thank you,” Murphy murmured after several minutes of silence.

Popping my chin up on his chest so I could look him in the eye, I asked, “For what?”

His eyes traced my face, landing on the small smile tilting my lips. “For reminding me what it feels like to be alive. For giving me a reason to keep fighting.”

I pressed my mouth against his, my smile widening. “You never need to thank me. Aiden told me that he’d take one last moment with our family over never seeing them again.” I cupped his cheeks in my hands. “You are my family, Murphy. And I’ll take every moment I can get with you, no matter what happens.”

His smile mirrored my own, reminding me of the man who had saved me in the woods before the shield had dropped, revealing all the darkness of the world we now lived in. “You’re my family too. And I need you to know that even if the world wasn’t ending, if I had only met you in a random bar, I would have chased you down.”

Holding me tightly against his chest, his hands stopped moving, all my attention on his next words. “My mom used to tell me that there were things in the world we couldn’t explain, but they were meant to be. And you, this, I know it was meant to be.”

My heart stuttered at his words before beating heavier than before, now filled with something an awful like love. Dazed from his touch and his words, I closed my eyes, lulled by the rise and fall of his chest.

I held onto his words, realizing that I liked the belief that the people around me were meant to be in my life. That we were meant to form this makeshift family, this group that would die to protect each other. And I had to believe that if the universe brought us together, it would make sure we survived whatever came next.

Chapter Fourteen

The gun in my hand was a warning of what was to come. I knew that even if this went in our favor, not everyone would come out of it unscathed. I just had to hope that it was the guards instead of one of us.

“Are you sure about this?” Murphy whispered for the thousandth time since we had left the abandoned farmhouse.

I wanted to tell him no, that I wasn’t sure about anything. In fact, now that the camp was in view, the lines of tents begging to bring up bad memories, the only thing I wanted to do was flee. But my friends were inside those gates, my family was waiting for me, and I needed to find that bravery that sat beneath the surface.

“I’m positive,” I responded.

Our plan wasn’t foolproof, and so many things could go wrong. Murphy pulled me into his arms, holding me tight. Our hearts beat as one, pounding an uneven rhythm.

“I’ll see you soon.” Murphy pressed his forehead against mine, breathing me in, and then he broke away.

Stealthily moving out of view of the guards manning the gates, he trekked around the perimeter, heading toward the front. Unfortunately, I was no tactical specialist. Which meant this plan was eerily similar to the last. We were banking on a distraction.

I had offered to be the distraction like last time, but Murphy had vetoed that idea. On one hand, he was a better shot, and if it came down to that, he’d be able to last longer against the multiple guards. Also, Murphy had never stepped foot inside the camp. If one of us had a better opportunity to find the others, it was me.

I tracked Murphy’s movements until he vanished from my sight, and then I took a fortifying breath. My chest heaved with anxiety, my hand twitching around the pistol I gripped firmly. The bag filled with the extra guns heavy on my back.

Trying to settle my nerves, I took one last breath, and then I walked toward the back gate.

I channeled Warner, blending in with the shadows of the trees, to avoid detection. The gate came closer and closer, an imposing force, the hairs on my arms sticking on end. The back of the gate had fewer guards than out front, although a couple still milled around.

“Come on Murphy,” I mumbled under my breath, waiting for their attention to be drawn elsewhere.

Seconds turned into minutes, my hands growing sweaty, my grip on the gun lacking. But just when I was about to give up hope, decide that turning back was the better option, shouting drew my attention.

The camp wasn’t that large, but the space between the front and back was still more than my voice could ever be heard. And yet, Murphy’s loud voice reached me from where I stood.

“Hey assholes! I’ve seemed to have lost something and I’m pretty sure you have it!”

Terror was a steady stream through my veins, but my lips still tilted up in a ghost of a smile. The three guards dotting the back of the gate looked to each other in confusion, their feet planted as they glanced toward Murphy’s noise.

Murphy continued yelling, shouting nonsense about all that they had stolen, creating a list of things he wanted back. One of the guards held a radio up to his ear and then, finally, they wandered to the right, making their way to the front of the camp.

Pushing out of the shadows, I ran toward the gate, knowing that Murphy had done his job, and now it was my turn. In the dark, it was hard to make out exactly where the gap in the fence had been.

After several minutes of searching, I realized I couldn’t find the right spot because it no longer existed. They had one chink in their armor, but after we had abused it, they had fixed the issue. And now I was fucked.

---