Page 144 of Afflicted

The road dips off to the right, through the forest, and the highway continues along ahead of me, but the road is so damaged I know that Silas wouldn’t have been able to take that route. If he came this way, he had to take this road through the forest.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I tell myself it’s just the wind. I’m just cold. It isn’t my intuition telling me that danger lies ahead. There’s no one out here. It’s just me.

The feeling of dread presses down on my shoulders more and more as I advance. Something’s wrong. Silas isn’t down here. I stop, taking down the pack to retrieve the water bottle. I’m probably just tired and thirsty. I haven’t eaten in hours. I’m hungry. My body’s just reacting to all of that.

My hands are shaking so badly that I can barely hold the water bottle to my lips, and spill some of it down my chin. “Jesus, Juliet, get a grip,” I chide myself quietly, but I may as well be shouting the way my voice shatters the silence around me.

I tuck the bottle away in the pack, and as I zip it shut, my scalp prickles.

I’m being watched.

I can feel eyes on me.

I slowly pull the pack on, and turn around, heading back to the highway. I try to keep my movements measured, try to stop myself from breaking into a run, as though it’s a fucking bear andyou don’t run from bears. That’s the advice right? My brain isn’t working right.

There’s a snap of twigs, and sweat erupts on my top lip.Keep walking. Just keep walking.The highway is in sight. It’s OK. It’s just an animal. Keep moving.

Then there are footsteps. Heavy slow footsteps on the asphalt behind me. Very human footsteps, followed by a throaty laugh.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

I break into a run.

CHAPTER37

JULIET

The rasping laughter follows me,and for someone who sounds like they’ve been smoking their whole life, they catch up to me fast. I’m yanked backwards as their grip descends on the backpack, and I’m spun around to come face to face with a sallow face and yellowed teeth.

“Hey sweet thing.” The voice is carried on a breath that makes me gag, his eyes are red-rimmed and his lips are dry. “And what do you think you’re doing out here all on your own?”

“Get your fucking hands off me!” I fight his grip, driving a booted foot into his shin, but he just laughs some more. God, he smells so bad, the sharp, sour scent of his body odor assaulting my senses. “Let me go!”

“Hey now, it’s alright, just calm down.” He whistles over his shoulder, before leering back down at me. “We’re not gonna hurt you.”

“You’re gonna regret this,” I growl. “My husband, he’s just gone hunting, and when he finds you touching me-”

His hacking laugh sends another disgusting wave of his breath over my face, and I gag so hard I bring up the water I just drank.

“Your husband, huh?” His voice is drowned out by the approach of a roaring engine, much louder than the electric trucks from the compound. An ancient pickup emerges from the trees, the hood long gone, exposing a whining spinning engine. Three men hang from the sides of the truck, and two more sit in the cab.

They all look as mangy as the one who won’t let go of me now, and my mouth goes dry with panic. I can’t overpower this guy, let alone six of them. Shit, this was so stupid. I’m so fucking stupid.

“What you find there for us, Earl?” One of the men jumps down off the side of the truck, ambling towards me with a limp, his clothes hanging from his malnourished frame.

“Sweet thing says her husband’s huntin’ out here,” the one holding me, Earl I guess, says with a scoff.

The one walking towards us runs a hand over his mouth, looking me up and down as I dangle helplessly in Earl’s grip. “Ooh, I don’t know about you, but if this pretty girl was my wife I wouldn’t let her out of my sight.” He digs his hands into his pockets, narrowing his eyes. “Now tell us the truth, honey. Your husband, he’s not really here, is he?”

“He is.” I stick my chin out, determined not to show even a hint of fear. “He’s here, and he’s big and strong, and he’ll fuck you up if he sees you touching me.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Is that so?” He lifts one hand from his pocket and looks around him, eyes wide. “Hey husband!” Now that the engine has gone quiet, his voice bounces off the trees around us. He looks back at me, raising his finger, and poking it gently into my shoulder. “Oh husband! I’m touching your wife!” He cocks an eyebrow, his thin pale lips turning up into a grin. “Is he gonna come out and fuck me up now?”

I glare at him, shrugging him off and writhing again in Earl’s iron grip. “Get your fucking hands off me, you smell like shit.”

“Well maybe we just need a woman like you to come and clean us up, huh?” Earl chuckles, then lowers his nose to the side of my face, sucking in a whistling breath. “Oh, you smellgood.” I shriek as his tongue darts out and runs up the side of my face, leaving a trail of saliva on my skin. “Mmmm, taste good too.”

I jerk my knee up into his groin, and he yelps, his grip loosening for just long enough for me to slip out of it. He stumbles backwards into the skinny guy, distracting them as I pull the pack from my back and fumble with the zip.

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