Page 55 of Dyana
Bryce cut me off. “Let me stop you right there, Sweetheart. Any plan of yours that starts with anything but we is automatically vetoed.”
I made a frustrated sound in my throat. “How about some tea?” I suggested. “I’m going to need something to hold to keep myself from smacking the next person who interrupts me before I finish speaking.”
“If you need something to hold, I can help with that,” Jack purred.
I smiled at him sweetly. “I don’t think you’re going to want me holding that. I might accidentally pull it off.”
I put the kettle on and started preparing the teacups. “As I was saying, I could sneak into town to draw Harris out, and we could attack him there, away from our home.”
“We’re safest here,” Evan replied. “Everything we need to defend ourselves is here. Plus, we know the forest is relatively void of zombies. In town, we risk fighting more than one enemy.”
“Don’t worry, Doll. He’s outnumbered and outgunned. We won’t let him hurt you again.”
Jack’s words were sweet, but it wasn’t me I was worried about. “You’re probably right,” I conceded as the kettle started to whistle. I poured the water into the cups and stirred them beforehanding them out, and then prepared my own. “I just don’t like the idea of risking what we’ve built here.”
“We understand wanting to march down there and kick this guy’s ass,” Bryce said as he sipped his tea. “Believe me, there’s nothing we’d like more than to go handle this guy, but we have to be smart about it. We can’t let our emotions get the best of us and rush into a dangerous situation. We’ll beat him together as a family.”
I nodded and smiled. “I like the sound of that, as a family. It’s been a while since I’ve had a family to fight for. Who is taking the first shift?”
“Me,” Jack said with a yawn. “I’m supposed to take over in about an hour, but I think I’m going to get a little shut-eye first. I’m tired.” He finished his tea and shuffled over to the bed.
I stifled a yawn. “Sleep sounds good,” I agreed. We all finished our tea and then snuggled up in our bed.
Regret filled me as I lay there listening to their steadying breaths. After about forty minutes, I poked Jack, who moaned sleepily but didn’t otherwise move. Carefully, I crawled off the bed without disturbing them. They were going to be pissed when they woke up and discovered what I did. Slipping a sedative into their tea had been risky, but necessary. I couldn’t let anyone else get hurt because of me, especially my newfound family.
In the past, whenever Harris showed up, I ran, leaving those I was with to deal with his fury. Harris was my responsibility, and it was time I faced him. I was proud to say the thought of running hadn’t occurred to me. This was my family, and I couldn’t run away from Harris anymore. I had to protect them, which meant handing myself over to him. If I could get him to let Amber go in the process, I’d consider my endeavors successful.
I left a note for them when they woke up. I hadn’t expected to say goodbye to them so soon after coming together, but I also never expected to be able to live out my happily ever after. Itjust wasn’t in the cards from the start of the apocalypse. I had accepted that years ago. Not wanting to give Harris any more weapons, I left with only a knife and a flashlight. I had one more hurdle to jump before I was in the clear.
Quietly, I made my way down the tower steps and to the top of the path leading to Cora’s house. I flashed the light twice and waited for a reply. A few seconds later, Derrick returned the signal. I watched quietly as the living room light came on as he went inside. A few minutes later, the light went off again. Confident I was the only one awake now, I made my way down the hill. I didn’t know how long the guys would be knocked out, so I needed to put as much distance between myself and them as I could before they could sound the alarm and come after me.
Making my way down the mountain in the dark was a challenge, even with an almost full moon, but I didn’t want to risk using the light unless I had no other choice. I didn’t want Harris to see me coming until I was already there. I was on edge as I crossed the bridge into town, expecting Harris to jump out at any minute and grab me, but he never did. Before I knew it, I found myself in front of the police station questioning my sanity. My cause was noble, but now that I was here, I was thinking that the guys had been right.
This was a mistake.
But then I thought of Cora, little Johnny, and the baby on the way. I thought of Cora’s men and how they allowed me to stay in the tower even though they didn’t want to at first. And then I thought about my guys. The love and confidence they’ve given me filled my heart with purpose more than they will ever know. Even if this was a mistake, there wasn’t a risk I wasn’t willing to take to ensure their safety. As long as they lived, this would be worth it.
With more bravery than I felt, I pushed the door open and walked into the station. I snatched at the little bit of satisfactionI felt when Harris nearly fell out of the chair he had tipped back. He hadn’t been expecting me. We could have ambushed him after all. When he composed himself, Harris grabbed his gun and pointed it at me.
“There’s no need for that. I came alone and willingly,” I said as I tossed my knife and flashlight on the desk and raised my hands.
“I’ll determine that for myself, thanks,” Harris replied. “Down the hall,” he ordered, waving his gun in that direction. “First door on the left.”
I entered the room and came face-to-face with Amber.
“Search her.”
Amber patted me down roughly. “She’s clean.”
“Ok. I’m going to make sure she’s alone.” Harris left us, and I didn’t hear the door lock.
“Amber, you have to get out of here. Go back up the mountain. They’ll take care of you.”
Amber approached me slowly, and as she neared, I reached for her. Her face twisted in disgust as she pulled away from my touch. I cried out as I felt a sharp sting across my cheek, and it took my brain a moment to catch up and understand that Amber had slapped me.
“Shut the fuck up, whore!” Amber yelled. “Sometimes I wish you had left me in that fucking tree. Death would have been better than this life. It would have been better than listening to the people I cared about get murdered. I had to watch them do unspeakable things to my mother and the other women, all because of you!”
Recovering from the blow, I stepped back to put some distance between myself and the hurting teenager and tried to reason with her. “Amber, I understand why you blame me. All these years with Harris, it would make sense that you werebrainwashed, but I didn’t do those things; he did. He’s the monster.”
