Page 36 of Heathens (Badlands 4)
The word died on my tongue.
He made it less than halfway there when a fucking arrow zipped through the air.
“Fuck!” I yelled, watching it find its mark.
“Sonofabitch,” he groaned, and stumbled off the path. He wisely turned to come back, grabbing for the arrow sticking out of his shoulder.
I jumped off the step and ran towards him, hearing the yells of his employees that lived on the property coming over the hill as they made a run for the barn.
They were a bunch of dumb fucks that weren’t thinking clearly.
The barn wouldn’t spontaneously burst into flame.
I reached Luther and grabbed hold of his good arm, propelling him to the house.
“You’re not the brightest crayon in the box, are ya?” I asked.
“Fuck you. This shit hurts,” he laughed, unable to pull the arrow out.
“Motherfuckers,” I muttered when I barely missed taking a hit myself. “Who the fuck shoots arrows?”
Over the yelling and pandemonium behind me, I could hear the sound of approaching vehicles.
“You need to go get Blue and—”
There was a wet splat, and a spray of blood hit the side of my face as a second arrow found a home in his left eye.
Chapter Thirteen
BLUE
I jack-knifed into a sitting position, goose-bumps erupting across my flesh.
A quick survey of the room told me I was alone.
Hearing yelling from outside, I climbed out of bed and went to the sole window in the bedroom.
I pulled back a corner of the curtain and peeked out. Seeing the barn going up in flames, an unmoving body a few feet in front of it, and all the people rushing around had me jerking backward.
I needed to get out of the house.
Rushing to the stool, I hurriedly dressed in the clothes that had been placed on it, a dress and a pair of combat boots a size too small.
There was no underwear or bra, but I could worry about that later. All I could think about was Cobra. I had no idea where he was or if he was okay.
Leaving the room, I froze in the hall when a gun went off.
My palms clammed up as I forced myself to keep walking.
Before I could reach the end of the hallway where the stairs began, I heard heavy footsteps slowly ascending them.
Walking backward, I ducked into the first room on my right and quietly shut the door.
It had one of those knobs with a simple lock, but that was better than nothing. I pushed it in and took a second to figure out my best option.
This was a man’s room.
The masculinity of it made that apparent.
