The McClane Apocalypse Book Five (57 page)

Simon chuckles at the girls and steps on the
gas but not in an unsafe manner, of course. Plus, he has to swerve
around a tipped over school bus in the middle of the road. They get
lost a few times, have to backtrack, but eventually find the Lowe’s
store. Simon pulls around to the side, cautiously watching out for
dangers.

“There, park over there, bro,” Cory
instructs, pointing to an area near four dumpsters.

There isn’t a soul in sight, which
is
a good
thing. Simon still
can’t shake his feeling of edginess.
The
space
is perfect for hiding the vehicle, but he
wonders if the store will prove abandoned or if they are walking
into an inhabited village of people living in there.

“Well, I can’t wait another second,” Sam
blurts and jumps out of the SUV.

Simon grits his teeth and tries not to get
mad at her. He and Cory also get out, followed by Paige.

“Over there,” Paige says, pointing toward a
rickety wooden privacy fence. “We can go over there, Sam.”

“No, that’s too far,” Simon counters as he
slings his rifle over his shoulder.

“Too bad,” Sam says. “We’re going over there.
Just wait for us. We could use some privacy if you don’t mind!”

The fence is a good twenty to thirty
yards away across a patch of overgrown grass. On the other side of
it seems to be some sort of
junkyard
or scrap metal facility.

“Find somewhere else,” Cory chirps. “That’s
too far, kiddo.”

Sam is shoving her rifle and handgun into
Simon’s hands without asking.

“I gotta go!” Paige insists.

Cory sighs hard and jogs over to the area the
girls want to use. He comes back a minute later and declares the
area empty.

“I’m still not sure. I don’t know if we’d
hear you that far away,” Cory announces.

“Control freaks,” Sam reprimands. “Look
around, Cory. There isn’t a single, solitary person anywhere. Come
on, Paige.”

“Really, guys,” Paige says, tossing her
jacket into the SUV. Sam does the same with hers. “Lighten up and
give us some damn privacy. We don’t just whip it out anywhere
and
wizz
. Just
give us a
couple minutes, ok?”

“You have two minutes and I’m comin’ after
you whether you’re done or not,” Cory says before Simon can even
respond with more arguments.

He doesn’t miss the sneer that Paige shoots
his friend. Apparently she doesn’t like him ordering her around.
He’s learning that most women don’t appreciate that, even if the
men doing the ordering only have their best interest at heart. They
really are irrational sometimes. His sister is about as good as
Samantha at taking orders.

Paige glances over her shoulder. She isn’t
looking at him, though. She’s hitting Cory with a perplexed look
before turning back. Sam giggles at something Paige says to her. He
regards his friend, who is staring hard at the girls as they
retreat. His face is concerned like Simon’s right before he turns
away to shove articles farther into the trunk to make room for the
valves they will hopefully find. He doesn’t think Cory is too
thrilled with the girls’ behavior today, either. At least his
sister still has her gun on her hip.

Chapter Twenty-four

Paige

“I’ll just go over there, Paige,” Sam
suggests once they round the tall, faded brown fence.

“Where? We shouldn’t split up,” Paige says
with concern.

“Just on the other side of that shed. I don’t
want to pee in front of you. I have a shy bladder,” Sam says with a
grin before walking away.

“Um…” Paige stammers.

“It’s cool,” Sam reassures her. “I’ll be one
minute. I can go fast. Lots of people I have to share a bathroom
with back at the farm has given me new skills. I’ve learned. Be
fast or have kids banging on the door.”

Her long black hair is hanging loose and free
today instead of in the usual ponytail. It nearly blends seamlessly
into her black turtleneck, the same one that Paige is pretty sure
belongs to her brother. Sam smiles over her shoulder before
disappearing to the other side of the old shed.

Paige looks around to make sure they are
still alone. She quickly squats and does her business, not wanting
to anger the men or have Cory come after her. The last thing she
needs is to have him catch her in the middle of going to the
bathroom. This morning had been unpleasant and strange enough.
After a night of the best sex, the most insanely great sex of her
life, she’d practically passed out from exhaustion. She’d fallen
asleep on his wide, muscular chest on an antique bed in a
beautiful, Victorian mansion. She’s gone in a one month period from
loathing to wanting him. The whole scenario had been surreal.

She’s never felt like that with anyone before
Cory. He played every square inch of her body like a finely tuned
instrument, one that only he possessed some secret passport of
information for bringing to pleasure. She is also quite sure that
she doesn’t really want to know where he seems to have attained
such valuable insight into the female anatomy. But their second and
then third time together had been even better than the first. He’d
brought something out of her that she never knew she could be,
could feel. She’d been uninhibited and carefree with him. Gone was
her gangly, awkward ineptitude. He’d made her feel confident and
beautiful, something she’s never felt before. She has no idea how
he feels about their sexual escapades last night because he didn’t
discuss it with her. His libido knew no limits. He’d initiated
their third time before dawn, had awakened her from a coma. Paige
hadn’t felt like she’d be able to. Her poor body was exhausted,
rendered weak and limp by him, but he’d somehow reawakened a desire
within her. He had an insatiable appetite for touching and
caressing her so softly. Paige never would’ve thought Cory could be
gentle, either, but he was. She’s under no false assumptions that
he has feelings beyond anything merely sexual for her. He’s
certainly not in love with her. Most of the time, they can barely
tolerate being in each other’s company.

But this morning was the worst part.
She’d awakened
in
a cold, empty
bed. Cory was long gone. She’d slowly dragged her fatigued body
from the expansive bed and found a fresh set of new clothing
waiting for her beside her pack. She has no idea where he got the
clothing or how he knew her sizes, but he’d gone somewhere and
found her new, clean clothes. Perhaps he had
gone
into the dormitories of Belmont University and
ransacked for items. It was greatly appreciated. He’d brought
her
a pale
lavender, fishermen’s
knit, cotton sweater, a warm, sheepskin-lined denim jacket and a
pair of blue jeans that fit the length of her legs correctly. He’d
even found another pair of socks, pink cotton undies and a new
black bra. She’s pretty sure how he figured out that size. With the
amount of time his hands had spent roaming freely about her body,
he’s probably more qualified to choose her sizes than
her.

She pulled on her new clothing, tried not to
wince at her aching muscles. Her inner thighs were especially sore.
She’d quickly brushed out her hair and tied it in a ponytail with
one of the leather strips from her wrist. His gear was gone. He was
gone. The fire was out, long since gone out and only cold gray ash
remained in the bottom of the fireplace instead. She hadn’t been
sure if he was coming back for a few panicky moments. He’d left a
small brown paper sack on the stand where they’d eaten the previous
evening. A bottle of water was next to it. She scarfed down the
homemade scone and hardboiled egg that was tucked away in the bag,
her appetite at an all-time high. Then she’d swigged some of the
water, thankful he’d left sustenance for her. Paige had packed up
her gear and was ready to head out and find him right as he came
through the bedroom door.

It was uncomfortable. It was so way far
beyond uncomfortable that Paige doesn’t even have a name for it.
He’d grabbed her rifle for her, announced that it was time
to
move,
and left the room all
without looking directly at her. She’d asked him to use the
bathroom before they left the mansion, but that had been their only
conversation. In his defense, she’d been the one to say that their
sexual encounter would never be repeated.

He’d led her through the city to meet
up with her brother and Sam all without speaking or looking at
her.
He was careful of her, helped her over
some debris in the middle of a road they had to cross, looked over
his shoulder frequently to make sure she was still with him, but
that was it.
There wasn’t a big profession of love, or
talk of feelings, or morning time cuddles. Just as she’d thought,
he has zero feelings for her. Last night was
merely
another notch in the belt for Cory. It hurts
a little more than she cares to admit. Mind-blowing sex is
apparently the norm for him, but it certainly isn’t for her. The
fact that he is ignoring her tells Paige that he isn’t interested
in pursuing anything more serious in nature than their one-night
stand. She’ll just have to move on, as well, and try to put it
behind her. Distancing herself from him is probably the best plan
of action.

She stands and zips her pants again,
readjusts her gun belt and waits for Sam. After a few seconds, she
calls over to her.

“Hey, Sam, you ready?”

No answer comes. Paige gives it another
few seconds, calls again, gets nothing, and decides to walk around
to the other side of the shed. Perhaps she can’t hear her calls
over on this side. She bumps her thigh into a piece of scrap metal
near the shed,
curses
, and rounds
the building. The hedges and overgrown grasses are tall on this
side, making
a deep
camouflage.
She feels like a gazelle, as if a lion could be hidden in
that
thick
, wheat-colored,
blowing grass. It sends a chill up her back.

“Sam?” she calls quietly.

Paige creeps closer through the thick
foliage. Then her heart sinks because she sees Sam’s backpack on
the ground. Beside it is one of Sam’s short leather boots. Sam is
nowhere to be seen.

She calls out but gets no response, just
nothing but the deafening silence of her own voice echoing off of
the buildings without a reply.

“Simon!” she screams loudly for her brother.
Paige screams again and dashes back toward the guys, who both meet
her in the middle. “She’s gone!”

“What? Sam? Sam
’s
gone?
” Simon asks with a huge scowl.

“Yes, she went over there behind the
shed to go,” Paige babbles frantically as she leads them
at
a run toward the other side of the
small building. “She wanted more privacy. I shouldn’t have let her.
Shit! This is my fault. This is all my fault. She’s
gone!”

Cory lays a hand gently
on
her shoulder as Simon grabs Sam’s
pack and shoe from the ground.

Cory questions, “It’s ok. We’ll find her. Did
you hear anything? A scuffle? Voices?”

“No, no, nothing!” Paige exclaims with
hysteria.

“They went this way. They dragged her but
then it stops. I assume one of them carried her at that point. The
footprints go deeper into the ground after that. Looks like two,
maybe three men,” Simon announces as he checks the soggy, muddy
ground for footprints.

“Come on,” Cory orders as he pulls her
hand.

Paige follows dutifully as they sprint back
to the SUV. Simon doesn’t follow them. He takes off in the opposite
direction.

“Where’s he going?” Paige asks. She doesn’t
like the idea of her brother going off without them.

“He’ll track. We’ll follow. But we need more
firepower and to lock the car,” Cory explains patiently as they
arrive at the Suburban.

Her hands are shaking. Cory does everything
without her. She just stands there feeling useless and guilty for
allowing Sam to be kidnapped in the first place. He grabs a few
extra magazines for his rifle from the trunk. Then he locks the car
and pockets the keys. He takes her hand again and tugs her after
him.

“Stay close,” he orders, letting go of her
hand. “Don’t leave my side unless I tell you to.”

“What happened? How could something happen?
Did someone take her?”

“Yes,” he answers
simply
. “But they haven’t gone far, especially if
she’s putting up a fight or if they have to carry her.”

“What… where…?” Paige stutters, tears
blurring her vision.

“It’ll be ok. We’ll find her. This isn’t your
fault,” Cory says tightly.

“It is,” Paige chokes, close to a full
breakdown.

“Hold it together,” Cory orders calmly.
“We’ll find her. They couldn’t have gone far.”

“Where’s my brother?” Paige asks a moment
later as she jogs beside Cory.

They are out of the scrap yard now and
jogging down a long, narrow road, hardly wide enough for two
vehicles. Industrial buildings line either side of the street. Most
of them are brick, many have broken windows and wide open
doors.

“He’s up ahead of us. Not far. See?”

Paige squints into the distance and
after a
moment,
spots her brother
moving furtively through parked cars and trucks and then
disappearing down another street. He’s running very
fast.

Cory picks up the pace, closing in on
Simon with her. She has no idea how her brother is tracking them if
that is what he’s still doing. That
is
obviously a
skill-set he’s learned from the Rangers.
They run for another five city blocks until they finally catch up
to Simon, who has halted at the corner of a cement block building.
There is an old stone church across the street, but much of the
area is filled with manufacturing facilities, the grass overgrown
and coming up through the cracks in the pavement, buildings looted
and burned.