Page 95 of Ravaged Saints

“They aren’t fresh,” Ryker says, pulling me from my thoughts.

I exhale sharply. “Not sure if that’s a good thing.” I rise, scanning the dark. “Did they just pass through, or did they see the base and turn back to get more men?”

Ryker stands, his gun raised. “Want to check the area?”

“Yeah. See where the tracks lead, if towards the town or the river.”

He nods, and we slip deeper into the woods.

We still need to find Ethan, but my guess is he went to the river, but the footprints don’t lead that way or toward town. They continue north.

“Maybe they were hunting?” Ryker whispers, his eyes locked on the darkness ahead.

“Maybe. But we’ll need to make rounds over the next week to be sure.” The prints lead far enough away that, for now, we’re safe.

“It’s weird,” Ryker mutters and rolls his shoulders, just as tense as I am. “All these years, and someone just happens to pass by here now? Even before the plague, no one came through this side of the woods.”

He’s right. That's the main reason we chose this place because no civilians ever made it this far. The woods are too dense, crawling with wild animals, and if you get lost out here, no GPS can save you. The fact that someone passed through now, it’s too much of a coincidence.

“Maybe they’re after the girls.” They’re the only outsiders we’ve come across in years, and even they were almost four hours away when we found them.

“If they came for one of them, it has to be Bryn,” Ryker points out. “Aspen’s been gone from her old community for years.”

I shake my head. Whoever it is, if they come near, we will kill them.

“Let’s find Ethan and Bryn.” I move toward the river, Ryker right beside me.

We reach the river, but there’s no sign of them, and my pulse kicks up.

“Where the fuck are they?” I murmur.

“Fuck, Reaper.” Ryker scans the area, gun up, checking the other side of the water where the flow is low, and if they were nearby, we’d see them.

“Let’s head back.” I set a brutal pace, Ryker following as we take another path, checking for more footprints or cut traps.

An hour later, we approach the back gate, whistling to keep Max or Dante from putting a bullet in our skulls.

“They back yet?” I ask, yanking the gate open.

“No.” Dante shakes his head, glancing behind me like Ethan and Bryn might appear out from the trees.

“Bryn?” Aspen’s small question comes from behind him.

“No, pet,” I say, sounding steady. “But we’ll find them. Both of them.” I need to be in control. I am always in fucking control.

Aspen nods, but unshed tears glisten in her lashes, and Max shrugs his jacket off, draping it over her shoulders, and she leans into him. Her face is pale, and her icy blue eyes scan the woods.

I need to find those two. If anything happens to Bryn, Aspen will break. And Ethan… even with his temper, he’s still one of us.

Ryker climbs onto the roof, lying flat, gun trained on the tree line, and the rest of us stay outside, pacing, waiting. No one speaks, and the hours seem to not pass…

“There!” Ryker shouts from above.

Aspen bolts for the gate but stops short. She doesn’t know the code. Fuck. I need to change that. She needs to know it in case we’re attacked, in case she has to escape or get back inside.

I punch in the code, and she tears through, throwing herself at Bryn so hard they almost go down.

“Where were you?” Aspen shouts. “There’s someone out there!”

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