An Unyielding Desire (After The End Book 2) (5 page)

As he pushed down the handle on the hand pump for the last time, he snorted with amusement at himself. Here he was, a twenty-eight-year-old man, and he was reduced to sneaking around to meet the girl he liked in a chicken coop because he didn’t want her daddy to catch him. It was ridiculous and pathetic, though he saw the
silliness in the situation.

His humor faded when he returned to the thought that gnawed at the back of his mind most of the time. Did Mina see him in any way other than an old guy who was friendly? Maybe nine years wasn’t too much of a difference to her, but he couldn’t help
applying pre-Pulse norms to the situation. Not many nineteen-year-old women would want to date a career soldier almost a decade older.

Of course, that was then. Dating was already a forgotten concept, it seemed. He’d considered asking her out, but drew a blank as to what he could suggest. A walk in the hayfield? A horse ride? Maybe she could help him put up fence posts, and they could make cow eyes at each other.

“Ri-damn-diculous,” he muttered. Coop hefted the last bucket onto the garden wagon and started pushing the load back to the house. The End sure was a pain for the love life, all other considerations aside. He’d never had any trouble before everything went to hell. Of course, the women he’d chosen had mostly been short-term or one-night material, since he refused to be one of the soldiers deployed and worrying about a wife and kids back home. It was no way to live, being a half-assed soldier and a half-assed family man in those conditions. He planned to put off anything serious until he retired at the end of his twenty years.

The End had a way of screwing up plans too, though he had to admit that if he’d met Mina in pre-SHTF circumstances, he might have decided to reorganize his
goals. There was just something about her that drew him in. She was funny and sweet, but with a good dose of sass that often exited that smart mouth. And the lips were so tempting too. Half the time when they were talking, he had to force himself to listen to her words, instead of just watching her lips form syllables and imagine how she would taste if he leaned forward to lick them.

Finally, he finished his water errand and set off at double-time pace toward the chicken coop. Judging from the sun in the sky, she was probably long gone. He’d have another chance to catch up with her during some of the day’s chores, but they wouldn’t be alone, and it wouldn’t be the same.

Knowing it was unlikely, he still opened the door to the chicken coop, hoping to see her. At first glance, no one was there, but when he looked deeper in the room, he frowned at the mess. The nesting boxes were tilted against the wall, and food had scattered everywhere. The water dish in the middle was tipped over, leaving the frantic chickens pecking at the moist hay covering the concrete floor.

As he stepped inside, Coop’s heart sank when he saw a familiar figure lying against a
straw bale. “Mina?” He hurried toward her, his heart breaking when she began thrashing, putting up her hands to protect her battered face. “Hang on, Mina. It’s me. Cooper.” To his surprise, she stilled immediately, not protesting when he bent to lift her into his arms.

Looking down, he
discovered she was naked below the waist. His stomach churned with anger, and his chest burned when he tried to drag in a deep breath. He didn’t know whether to cry or scream, torn between empathy and rage. Knowing she needed him to hold it together kept his voice calm, his tone measured. “I’m going to set you down for a second, honey.” When she whimpered and clung tighter to his neck, he patted her back the best he could in the current position. “Just for a sec. You’re bare, and I don’t think you want everyone to see you like that.”

Her lips wobbled, but she shook her head in response, releasing her death grip so he could put her down. Coop looked around for options, but found none. After a second, he stripped off his own shirt, pretending he didn’t notice the way she recoiled from him. Ruthlessly, he ripped it down one side to give her more length, and then helped her fashion it like a sarong around her waist.

As soon as she was semi-covered, he lifted her again, and she snuggled against him, her body shaking violently. His rage was building, but he kept it in check as he carried her from the coop, calling out for help. Within minutes, several people surrounded him as he carried her onto the porch.

Her father was there, arms extended, but Coop walked on past him. “Where’s her room?” he asked Emme, who ran ahead to show him. He could hear people whispering and hoped she didn’t. He could only imagine what they were saying as they speculated why she looked the way she did, and he wanted to shield her from that, even though he doubted anyone was being malicious.

Her room was a little juvenile, with yellow paint and purple accessories. He laid her on the purple bedspread and stepped back so her mother and sisters could close rank around her. No one asked him to leave, so Coop took a spot against the wall, waiting to hear the identity of the person who had raped Mina. His Mina. He clenched his hands into fists so hard his knuckles hurt.

“What happened?” asked her father, his tone as gentle as a summer
breeze. It was strange, since he usually sounded on the gruff side.

“A man…in the chicken coop. He hurt me,” she whispered.

“Who was it?” asked Janie.

Mina shook her head.

“You don’t know?” asked Kelly, who seemed in shock.

“I couldn’t say,” she whispered. “Please, I need water.”

“You need more than that,” whispered Emme as she stood up. Walking by him, he heard her saying, “Pennyroyal and ginger.”

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” suggested Lia.

Mina scowled at her sister. “I don’t want you here.” She didn’t seem to care that Lia looked devastated. “I just want Momma.” Clasping her mother’s hand, she said, “Please make them leave, Momma.”

Coop didn’t wait to be asked or told. He stood up and slipped from the room, having learned what he needed to know. Rage was really bubbling inside him by the time he strode out to the porch, where her family and his friends waited.

“What happened?” asked Chelle.

Not even aware he was going to do it until he did, Coop slammed his hand into the post on the porch
, barely feeling the sting. “Some fucking animal laid in wait and attacked her.”

“You mean like a mountain lion?” asked Ben, the naïve private.

“No, you idiot,” said Shane, looking upset. “Some human animal. That means this place isn’t safe, if some piece of trash can just stroll onto the land and rape our women.”

Coop didn’t like the way he phrased that,
as though the women were objects, but he couldn’t argue with the conclusion. “Security has to be a new priority. We all know having a good harvest is important, but if we don’t protect it, what good will it do us? If we can’t protect the people living here, we’re all fucked.”

“Right, so let’s do something about it,” said Hector. His Latin blood was clearly boiling. “Gun turrets, tanks, the works.”

Shane scoffed. “Man, how are we going to get those things? Remember what a shit storm it was when we liberated the Humvees and the weapons cache from that National Guard unit? Firepower is important, but so are fences. It’s feasible to get supplies to build a walled enclosure, at least around the house. That way, people can regroup inside if needed.”

“And be caught there in a siege to starve to death,” said
Dana.

Shane nodded. “That’s why we’ll have some backup plans too,
like a secret escape tunnel, but fortification should be our first line of defense.”

They hashed it out, but Coop wasn’t much of a participant. His mind was too preoccupied with the sight of Mina Marsden lying on that full-size bed, surrounded by vestiges of her teen years, looking so broken. It pained him that he hadn’t been able to protect her from a random predator. “We should look for him,” he said abruptly.

“What’s that?” asked Shane.

“I said we should look for that piece of shit. He’s probably still around somewhere.”

After a second, Shane nodded. “Couldn’t hurt. If we find him, we can keep him from hurting anyone else.” With the natural air of leadership he’d possessed since Coop had been assigned to his platoon, he said, “I propose we split into two groups. A few of you go hunting for that dirt bag, and the rest of us will go scope out possibilities for fortification and defense.”

Coop didn’t wait to be assigned. Technically, he was no longer a soldier, and Shane wasn’t his commanding officer, even if
old habits died hard. “I’ll head up the team looking for the rapist.”

Shane nodded. “Sounds good. I know you’ll deal with him if you find him.”

It should have been abhorrent to be planning to summarily execute the offender, but his conscience didn’t twinge. In that instance, and for that occurrence, he was glad they were freed from the old system, where the rapist would have gone through a lengthy trial that would have further traumatized Mina, likely to end up either with probation or a ridiculously short sentence. In this new world, he would get what he deserved, and it would only take a few minutes and the cost of a bullet.

*****

Mina’s mom helped her clean up, and she didn’t protest Emme’s presence when her sister came back a bit later with a mug of tea. “No, thanks,” she whispered, her voice hoarse, though she hadn’t been able to shout or scream as Shane had beaten her. Maybe all the internal screaming she’d done had rendered her throat raw. The tea might be soothing, but she felt too nauseated to keep it down.

Emme smiled. “You really need to drink it, sweetie.” She knelt on the floor by Mina’s bed, pushing hair off her face. “It has some herbs in it that will help prevent pregnancy.”

Mina’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t help remembering the dark glee in Shane’s voice when he’d mentioned getting her pregnant. The thought of ever having his child made her want to curl up and die. Her hands shook, and Emme helped steady the cup while she drank it as quickly as she could. It wasn’t too unpleasant, though she could definitely taste the bitterness inadequately masked by the honey.

“Good girl. You’ll need to have a cup
each day until your next cycle, to make sure nothing implants. Okay?” Mina nodded, and her sister said, “I made a big batch. It’s in that old pig cookie jar downstairs. One level scoop, steeped as long as you can and as strong as you can drink it.”

“Do you want to tell us what happened?” asked
Janie, sitting beside Mina and holding her hand.

Mina shook her head. She couldn’t tell them. The idea of trying to share all those details, or even just a few, made her queasier than ever. It hurt even more to know she couldn’t tell them who had attacked her. Part of her thought maybe he was still a bully, just trying to intimidate her, but she couldn’t be sure. If he was being honest, and he had seemed chillingly sincere, she couldn’t risk her family’s lives by telling them the truth. That thought also made her want to curl up and die.

“You get some rest, sweetie.” Janie was stroking her brow. “I’ll be right here with you.”

She felt safe, for the moment, and closed her eyes. Her body ached from head to toe, especially her swollen wrist. She opened her eyes again when she felt Emme probing it. “Is it broken?” she rasped.

Emme nodded. “Yeah, I think so. All I can do is wrap it securely, and you’ll have to keep it immobilized the best you can for at least two to four weeks.”

Janie
frowned. “You’re sure you know how to do that, Emme?”

Her sister sighed loudly
, obviously irritated by another reminder of her parents’ lack of confidence in her chosen career path. “Mom, I’m a trained naturopath. I took biology and anatomy courses, same as doctors of western medicine.”

“No offense, but I wish you were an anesthesiologist right now,” said Mina. “You could knock me out and take away the pain.” The physical pain, anyway. She knew the emotional fallout would be haunting her long after the bruises had faded.

*****

Mina woke screaming, and the hands on her shoulders did nothing to soothe her fear. It wasn’t until she recognized Kelly’s voice that she was able to relax enough to stop screaming. The tension slowly left her, and she dropped heavily against the pillows.
She greedily gulped the water her sister offered, but shook her head at the suggestion that she eat something.

“My poor baby sister.” Kelly’s blue eyes, so similar to Mina’s, welled with tears as she grasped her hand. “I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, I expected violence, rape, and looting, but not on our farm.”

Mina didn’t know whether to comfort her sister or just close her eyes and feign sleep. Kelly was intelligent, but sometimes clueless, and wouldn’t realize now was a time to soothe her sister, not express her own fears and sorrows.

“I was so scared going to the barn to tend the horses tonight, even though Sergeant
Platt—Owen—walked me there and back. It’s just terrifying to know we aren’t safe here.”

Mina closed her eyes so she wouldn’t roll them. “Did someone feed the chickens tonight?”

“Yeah, that cute Cooper guy volunteered to take care of them.”

She managed a small smile, which made her split lip sting. “That was sweet.”

Kelly returned to prattling about how scared everyone was now, and how she was thinking everyone should never go anywhere alone. Mina closed her eyes and managed to fall asleep again.