“It’s dead. You hit it,” he said, stunned.
“Are you hurt?” Roslyn rushed to him, almost tripping over in the process. She was shaking with adrenalin. How she’d managed to hit anything he did not know. He was just thankful she hadn’t hit him.
“No, I’m fine.” He climbed back to his feet. “You did good.”
“Thanks.”
“You really got him with that second shot.”
“The first was a warning shot,” she said, taking a deep breath. “You needed to cover your face.”
Huh. “That was on purpose?”
She nodded. “I was only five or six meters away. Unlikely I’d mess up and hit you at that range.”
“Oh,” he said. “Good job. But I could have handled it.”
She cocked her head. “It was about to fall on top of you, Nick. I couldn’t just do nothing.”
“No,” he said. “It couldn’t reach me. Its arm had caught on something. It was stuck. Come on, let’s gather this stuff and get out of here.”
He did a more thorough search of the wreck while Roslyn carried some of the boxes to the pickup. Hanging around after firing the shots wasn’t smart. But if they could just secure the food rations and medical supplies, round up the last of the weapons, they’d be doing well. She would be welcomed into Blackstone with open arms. No way could they say no with all this in the offering.
“Nick.” She stood staring at the cockpit hatch, eyes so wide he could only see white.
“What?”
“It moved.” She pointed at the dead infected, hand trembling.
“Ros, you killed it.”
“Yeah.” She stared at the thing, face deathly white in the low lighting. “I know, but it moved.”
She’d had a long day. Hell, he’d had a long day. They had enough supplies.
He cupped her face in his hands. Her wide eyes didn’t meet his, still trying to watch the infected.
“Let’s find some place safe for the night,” he suggested. “I’ll pick a fight with you and then we can have make-up sex. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
She gave him a pissy look. “I’m serious. It moved.”
“Probably just air escaping.”
“No. I know what I saw.”
Everything was quiet outside. There was nothing to disguise the noise of a fast-approaching vehicle. His heart punched hard. Shit, no. Getting caught in the wreckage wasn’t good. Tires squealed as someone slammed on the brakes. Car doors were thrown open.
“Get down. Stay behind me,” he ordered. Ros pulled her gun from the back of her belt as he chambered a round in his own. They both knelt behind the rows of seats, cornered by the newcomers. Fuck no. This was bad. “I’m serious. Stay back.”
“Hellooo!” a male voice called from outside. “Anybody there?”
Someone else spoke. There were at least two of them. Two people he could handle. And he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them both if they were a threat.
“Hey! Anyone in there?” The voice sounded oddly familiar. But it was the next one that turned him stone cold.
“Thought you guys were heading north,” Nick said for something to say. He should have known they’d be hanging around Blackstone, still plotting revenge. Not as if they’d have anything else to live for. But he had Ros, and he should have been a f**kload more careful.
“We got bored.” Pete looked the same as always, big and mean. His smile didn’t set Nick at ease in the least. Justin was smaller, but definitely more dangerous. He watched Nick warily, gaze all over his weapon. Let them be careful. That would give Nick more time.
“Who you got with you?” Justin asked. Of course he did. There was no getting out of it.
Slowly, Ros rose to her feet. “Hi.”
“You got yourself a girl? Fuck me.” Pete grinned, gaze glued to the curves of Ros’s br**sts. Nick wanted to gouge the f**ker’s eyeballs out with his bare hands. Holding back was hard. Thank God she wore a few layers. Eventually, Pete shook his head and laughed. “I mean … sorry. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a woman. I’m Pete, this is Justin.”