Page 26 of Before Their After

Metal walls towered over us, the gate squeaking as it opened and a handsome brown-skinned boy with locs stood in front, arms crossed as he took us in. I blushed under the intensity of his gaze, suddenly feeling embarrassed of my appearance, especially when he looked so clean. All six of the guards at the gate did, actually. And Seth and I were the embodiment of … savages.

Not just savages. Like Children of the Corn from the fields with our torn hunting gear we’d rotated into our daily apparel for months. The heavy coats we’d acquired while traveling were now crunched into one of the packs on the back of my mare, no longer needed under the suffocating heat on the coast.

“You have to dismount,” the man said, holding out a hand to help me off my horse.

“Why?” Seth said more aggressively than necessary. “My horses stay with me.”

His locs shook around his head, eyes scanning Seth before dismissing him and turning back toward me. “I’m sure you can understand my orders. Why I can’t let people we don’t know have access beyond this gate with an animal capable of hitting speeds of what? Sixty? Seventy miles an hour?”

I did, and it made sense. Taking his hand, I allowed him to assist me, though it wasn’t needed. “You’ll have to forgive him. We’ve been on our own for … some time now. Before that, just with our family on a ranch.Mannersisn’t a familiar word to him.” The man was tall, not as tall as my brother, but tall enough that he still had a few inches over me. Not as rare these days as the ones before.

“Reina,” Seth growled, not liking all the information I was disclosing, but I was nervous, rambling and excited.

I changed gears as I grabbed my bags, ready to bring them in with us. “This some kind of militia or something?”

“Something of the sort, a bit less organized, but yeah. First line of defense for The Compound,” he answered. His dark brown eyes were shifty, but trustworthy. Aware.

The gates opened wide, and I was transported into another world.The Compound. Fighting against a smile large enough to make my cheeks ache, I walked forward, knowing me entering would be the only thing to get Seth off his horse. Needing to follow me in and make sure I was safe or the guilt would eat him alive.

The man stopped in front of me, cutting off my path and pointed at my bags. “We’ll have to take those, unfortunately. Until a final decision is made. You’ll get everything inside back, but, safety first, so …”

“You wanna take our stuff?” I questioned, fist clenching my bow, defensiveness creeping in over trusting the last things I owned to a stranger.

He nodded, reading my thoughts. “You’ll get them back. Don’t worry. If you miss something, you can tell her Riley took your stuff.” He winked, motioning to grab my stuff. I handed them over hesitantly, not knowing who the ‘she’ was I was meant to talk to or what a final decision meant.

Another guard walked up, ready to grab my belongings, but was shook off. “I got it. Mohammed, can you please take my new friend Reina and her … brother?” he questioned, and I nodded in response. “To intake. I’ll let them know we have new arrivals and have these checked. They’ll be waiting for you wherever you end up. Good luck,” he said, before walking off.

My gut churned.Good luck?I wished I could have at least washed off, worn cleaner clothes, maybe brushed my hairor something. First impressions were everything, especially in moments like this. Looking like a savage was probably a sure indicator that you were one. In today’s world, judging a book by its cover could be the difference between life or death.

Though our journey had been easy compared to most, the weather and our own grief had been our biggest obstacles. Still, we’d done things to survive. We’d killed people. Seth had killed people, and I had at least stopped us in our tracks, demanded we’d buried them. We had to. It was either them or us. And I would do anything to make sure it would always be us, forever. But this place could be a new start for us both.

I frowned at him, every inch of his demeanor lethal. Threatening. I pushed my powers out, sending him a sense of peace. Wanting his mind to be open to the possibility of calling it home. Each area we passed through was designed differently than the last. There weren’t many buildings; in fact, most of the walled area was still a rubble mess. But the parts that were built were brilliant.

The cobblestone pathways flowed through The Compound, remnants of different cultures and time periods stamped into each completed structure. Victorian. Gothic. Tuscany. Modern. What should be a mess felt like its own journey. A guide through the lives of the people who inhabited the settlement, each bringing a piece of home with them. Their own bit of happiness, as simple as it sounded. It was the most beautiful place I’d had the grace of walking.

I never wanted to leave.

“General Living Quarters,” Mohammed said. “You’ll probably end up a street or two over.”

I smiled at him, nodding as I took it all in. “We get our own house?”

“Reina.”

Mohammed dropped a brow as he took in my brother’s snarl. “You can stay where you want, really. It’s mainly a roommate system. We’re pretty communal around here. Best I can say is you might get lucky and it’ll be a minute before you get a roommate. There are a few houses with only a room or two, but those are pretty high in demand, kept for families with a kid or two.”

The scent of fresh bread wafted through the air as we rounded a corner to a large brick building. My mouth watered at the promise of real food. God, it had been so long I’d eaten something I didn’t have to hunt, gather, or kill to keep.

We entered the building, cool from the outside heat. The first moment of reprieve in a long time. Mohammed dropped us into a homey room, nodding before closing us in behind the wooden door. The room smelled of dust, eucalyptus, and a hint of coffee. A wide smile covered my face at the decor, my eyes meeting Seth and faltering. He held my stare, undoubtedly deciding on how to tell me that he’d changed his mind, no longer wanting to stay. The door opened, and a doe-eyed woman a few years older than myself walked in.

Her clothes were clean, fit to respond to any situation, but relatively normal. The curls danced around her narrow shoulders against her reddish-brown skin. She was healthy, the smile on her face beautiful. Power emanated from her, confidence seeping from her movements though she hadn’t yet spoken. My face and neck warm again as she took me in.

She was the type of woman I’d always dreamed of settling down with. An auburn-haired man strolled in after her; her hair bounced as she intently studied his face, the smile pushing at her lips saying everything about the tension between them.

“Welcome to Monterey,” he said, noticing my stare. Irish,huh. I hadn’t expected the accent.

“I’m Amaia,” the woman said, her raspy voice strong but welcoming. “This is Jax. We’ll be conducting your intake interview today.”

She reached her hand out, Seth and I both staring at it. Uncertain how to interact with others anymore. Amaia smiled, taking a seat and not appearing insulted at all.

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