Page 76 of Red Rabbit
“How was the recon?”
I closed the door to the room and slid a chair in front of it for good measure then came and sat down next to her.
“I did what I could,” I said. Whether it would be enough to hold out until Cal got here—I wasn’t sure. She nodded and pushed the computer stuff aside.
“How much food and water do we have?”
“A week, if we stretch it. I’m catching rainwater now.”
“Smart,” she murmured. I sat down against the wall again and she lay down with her head against my leg. She turned the flashlight off and complete darkness closed in on us as we listened to the storm. I found my hand naturally going to play with her hair. It was meditative to me. I ran the strands through my fingers until there weren’t any tangles and let my mind wander. I soon realized she was asleep and prayed to a god I didn’t believe in that her nightmares stayed away.
Mine didn’t.
I sat there in the dark and thought about Trav.
I saw the panic and fear in his eyes when they dragged him away.
I saw the state of his violently twisted and mutilated body when I finally found him.
I relieved every scream of everyone I killed to get to him and felt the blood on my hands of everyone I killed in revenge afterwards.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins and I kicked the door down with a vengeance. I felt Cooper on my shoulder as we stormed into the room. I quickly shot two men and saw Cooper take out two more out of the corner of my eye. I advanced onthe fifth man. I shot him in the leg, grabbed him and shoved him down on the table. I let go of my gun and pulled my knife out, then slammed it into his hand so hard it went deep into the table. He screamed and Cooper trained his gun on the door, anticipating more company.
“Here’s how this is gonna go,” I hissed near his ear.
Thirty minutes and ten bodies later, I heard Cooper’s laugh though my blood haze and his hands yanked me to my feet as he pulled me off of what little remained of one of the men.
“He’s dead, Wolfman,” he said with a chuckle. “We got the info we need, let’s roll.”
“Trav—” A cry ripped from my throat and hands tried to hold me back but I fought so viciously they disappeared.
“Wolfe—it’s not good.” Someone tried to speak to me but I shoved past them and stumbled over to my brother’s body. I collapsed on my knees next to him and grabbed his body, dragging what was left of him into my lap. Tears were pouring from my face at the same time anger burned and raged through me.
“I’m going to make them pay,” I said to Trav. “I promise.”
I don’t know how long I clutched my brother to me but soon I let them pull me away from him and my grief gave way to fury. I stormed up to Cooper and grabbed the front of his shirt. I pulled him close, my lips curled into a snarl.
“I want every single one of those bastards responsible for this to suffer,” I growled.
Cooper chuckled and his lips twisted into a sinister grin.
“Then let’s go hunt.” He gripped my shoulders, his eyes darkening as he matched my grip and stepped into me. “It’s time to burn the world, brother.”
I didn’t realize tears were streaming down my face until a hand settled on my thigh. My hand was shaking where it rested on her shoulder and I pulled it back and cursed myself—I must have woken her. In the dark she sat up and without a word pulled me to her.
It was easy to let go when the pitch black allowed nothing but touch. Our words felt inadequate. We were truly in our shadows. I buried my face in her chest and in the silence let my grief surface. She ran her hands through my hair and over my back and then just held me while I quietly came apart.
Later we lay on the blanket together. Her head on my chest and my arms around her. I tried to stay awake but I couldn’t fight the heaviness that settled over me.
“Sleep Graham,” I heard her whisper. “I’ll stay awake.”
I was going to protest but my eyes were already heavy and it wasn’t long before exhaustion dragged me under and I hoped the nightmares wouldn’t visit me.
29
KAELIN
I was a mess the next day. I tried to distract myself with the computer, looking around to see if I could come up with anything useful but with such limited supplies, I didn’t have many options.
