As the World Ends (15 page)

Rob pulled up short. Lauren walked right into him. “What’s up?”

“Quiet.”

“Why?” she whispered.

“Hear that.” Straining to hear, he turned an ear to the road. “Quickly, Lauren, head for the woods over there. Run.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m gonna climb up this tree to see exactly what that noise is. Hurry, go deep into the woods. Make sure you’re completely out of sight.” He pushed at her back to get her going.

“Rob…”

“Not now, Lauren, go,” he said forcefully.

He watched her run into the woods, and then he climbed up the tree. “Son of a bitch.”

It was a big white box truck, probably Roan’s.
I didn’t think the bastard had it in him.
He hit me as a cry baby and he fought like a damn girl. The question is, why isn’t he lying around and moaning? Roan had seemed incapacitated when we left him.
Maybe he needed an audience for his whining
. Rob watched the truck drive by with Roan stretching his neck in all directions. Definitely looking for someone.
Well, duh, of course he is, he had to have run into our truck. If he had a brain in his damn head, he’d know we’re traveling on foot
. Looking through his binoculars, Rob continued to watch Roan until he disappeared out of sight. Well, they’d have to make their way to town off road now. He climbed down from the tree and headed into the woods in search of Lauren.

“Over here, Rob.” She stood up, revealing her position. Wow, she blended well with the scenery, he thought.

Draping his arms around her, he rubbed her back, more to sooth him than her. “It was Roan in a truck.”

“Son of a bitch.” Her cursing made him smile.

“That’s the same thing I said.” He quirked a brow, looked down into her eyes. She brought her arms up and wrapped them around him.

Lauren laid her head on his chest while offering up a silent prayer.
Please get us out of here, and I promise I’ll start going to church again.
She added a Hail Mary for insurance.

“Rob, let’s get out of here. Do you know the way through the woods?”

“We each have a compass and a map, that’ll get us out of here,” he said, then added with a smile, “You can’t make fun of me ever again for my gadgets.”

“I promise,” she said, crossing her fingers behind her back.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Roan drove slowly, careful not to hit anything and rip the bottom of his truck. He didn’t want to lose his wheels like the Hendersons had. No, that just wouldn’t do. Cracking his window, he stuck a Patsy Cline CD in the player and sang along to take his mind off the pain. That woman had the purest voice he’d ever heard. It always soothed him.

Forty-five minutes later, pissed-off because he never saw a sign of them not even a glimpse. Frustrated, he banged his hand on the steering wheel. Rob was smart enough to stick to the road. It’s the only thing that made sense. Did they have a day on him or half-day? Once he’d made it to his truck, he’d made good time. He should’ve caught up to them by now. Rubbing his fingers over his forehead he tried to ease the tension building inside his head.

“Where the fuck are they?” he screamed. “Christ, I’m losing it.”

Slowing down to a crawl, he decided to stop while he thought it out. At any point in time, they could’ve walked into the woods. The truck wasn’t quiet. An important piece of information’s missing, he thought. How far ahead of him were they? Should he backtrack or go forward, he debated.
What to do?
What to do
?
What would you do, Rob?

Rob plotted a course that ran parallel with the road, or as close as they could, deep enough in the woods not to be seen from the road. Would Roan double back? Now that was the question. If it were him, he would. The fatigue showed in Lauren’s face and stance but she never complained. Bone tired after walking for over two and a half hours, Rob had to admit he needed rest too. He almost wished he ran into Roan to take his truck away from him. How strong could the guy be? He looked behind him at Lauren and smiled.

“Hey, why don’t we rest here for awhile?”

“I thought we had to keep moving.”

“It won’t do us any good to exhaust ourselves. We’ll take a little water and eat something before we move on.” Relief washed over her face.

“Okay, I could use a break.” Impressed with her strength, it reminded him of one of the reasons he married her. The other, let’s not forget the smoking hot body, he grinned inwardly.

Inching up behind her, he helped take her backpack off her shoulders. Weary, he ruffled through his bag and found two protein bars and offered her one then sat down alongside of her.

“Hey, hey, Lauren, slow down on the water. We need to make it last. Here take the bar.” Recapping the water bottle he’d taken from her, Rob shoved it back in her bag.

“I’m just so thirsty, Rob, can’t I have a little more?” she begged.

“No, not until we come across some water, hopefully soon.” He stood up abruptly.

“What?” Lauren asked.

“I hear an engine. Go deeper into the woods, Lauren, I’m gonna climb up a tree again and see who it is.”

He watched Lauren scramble up, grab their stuff, and run for cover. When she was well hidden; he picked a tree with the best view. “The son of a bitch is back.”

As he tried to balance his weight, the branch let go. Tumbling out of the tree, he hit the ground hard.

“Rob,” Lauren ran at him screaming his name.

Roan hadn’t heard the tree branch snap but that beautiful scream was music to his ears. Lauren, his Lauren was close.
Soon my pretty—real soon—you’re mine
. Slamming the truck into park, he grabbed his gun, his stick and checked the knife on his ankle before sliding down and out of the truck.

“Shit, Lauren, he had to hear you. Stop fussing. I’m fine,” Rob said angrily.

“Sorry, but you scared me, I didn’t think.” She pouted.

He was angry but not at her. How stupid was he to give their position away like that. “Lauren, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. He stopped his truck so he heard us. You take cover while I’ll deal with him.” He rubbed her back as he spoke.

Damn my back’s sore. But I should be able to handle a guy with a bullet in him. God I hope so.

“Rob, I’m staying. Two people are better than one. I can fight,” she said defiantly.

“Lauren, I can’t be worrying about you if he and I get into it. Please just hide, I’m begging you.”

“Okay, but I’m not going far. I’m just warning you, I’ll jump in if he has the advantage over you.”

“Please don’t. You have your knife and your gun?”

“Yes, the knife is on my ankle and the gun is loaded just like you told me, remember?”

“Okay, go hide, I hear twigs cracking.”

He pushed her away. Standing, he ignored the pain shooting up his back. Warm blood trickled down his neck.
Christ, I must have cut myself
.
It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to let this bastard win.

Roan spotted him as he entered the clearing.
Should I advance or wait?
Rob had his gun trained on him, so he brought his gun up and leveled it at Rob.

“We can both shoot at the same time and see whose left standing, Rob, or we can talk.”

Roan had no intention of talking.
Time has run out for you, Robbie boy. You have what I want. And it’s time to take it
. He started to walk slowly over to him when he noticed Rob’s posture.

“Something wrong, Rob? You don’t look so good.”
Well, well, well, I’m not the only one hurting.
He laughed.

Silence. The bastard wasn’t going to talk to him. Stopping short, he pulled up.
Was he waiting until I got closer to shoot me?

“We have a lot in common, Rob. Neither one of us gives up easily. You’ll find I’m hard to kill.”

“If I wanted to kill you, Roan, I would have put the bullet into your heart or your gut,” Rob answered.

“Ah, I wondered why you shot so low.”

“What do you want, Roan?”

“I heard Lauren scream and came to offer you my services.” He started walking as he talked.

“Hold up right there, Roan. I’ll shoot if you get any closer. I don’t believe you. Why did you double back?”

Son of a bitch, he’d seen me before
. “I saw your truck broken down and figured you would need a ride.”

“How neighborly of you,” Rob answered.

Roan heard the sarcasm in his voice and laughed. “I thought so.”

“We don’t want anything from you, Roan. Get in your truck and drive away.”

“No.”

“No.” Rob pulled the trigger, catching Roan by surprise as he went down.

I’m gonna really kill this bastard if he doesn’t stop shooting me. And it will be a slow torturous death. Crap, he grazed my arm. A couple of inches over and it would have been my heart.
He watched Rob drop to the ground. Firing back he didn’t think he hit Rob.

“It could have been closer, Roan. Do you really want to test my skills and play this game?”

“I’m playing until the finish and to the victor go the spoils. You know what the spoils are, don’t you, Rob?” Purposely, he baited Rob, hoping to distract him. The guy could shoot.

“You’ll never get near her, Roan.”

Fuck, he’s a controlled little bastard. He had to give him that. “We’ll see. You look hurt. Did you fall out of that tree?”
Damn, he’s not moving like he’s hurt. I better make the next one count.