Chapter three

    There’s no way I’m leaving this stupid camp without what I came for. I knew I was being an idiot, and that I should just run for the hills, literally, but if I didn’t grab a container of gas then everything had been for nothing. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I crawled under a loose flap of the tent, sparing one last glance at Brown Eyes laying unconscious on the dirty ground, and circled back around to pick up what seemed like liquid gold and not gasoline to me. With my ‘man costume’ back in place, I walked slowly and with feigned confidence towards my goal. It was just as I was picking up another of the bright red containers that I heard a roar of anger. Shit. I knew with certainty Brown Eyes must have been discovered. I clutched the hard plastic in my hand and started to run. Men dashed past me going in the opposite direction I was heading, towards the tent I’d just left and hopefully it would buy me some time.

“There she is!” A deep voice echoed across the clearing.

My heart tripled in time and I started running at full speed, pumping my arms as fast as I could, while still clutching the gas container in one hand. Something inside of me refused to let it go. Goddamn Evo. If her plan gets me killed, I’m going to come back and haunt her. I wouldn’t let myself check behind me to see how close my pursuers were; it would do me little good and only slow me down. My lungs burned and my legs shook as I struggled up the hill. Would Evo and the rest of the girls still be there? Or would my little sprint have all been for not?

I yelped as a hand wound into my short blond hair and yanked me backwards. “Going somewhere?”

A shot rang out and the hand gripping my hair was suddenly gone. I didn’t look back—didn’t pause at all; I merely continued my mad dash up the remainder of the hill, gas container still in my possession.

“Took you long enough.” Evo spared me a smile as she pulled the trigger on her rifle twice more.

I’d never been more happy and pissed off to see someone at the same time. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Right behind you,” Evo said as another shot found its home in the forehead above a set of menacing blue eyes.

I hurried over to Evo’s Volkswagen Bug, threw the gas container on the floor in the back seat and closed the door behind me. Izzy revved the tiny engine and Evo flew into the passenger side while still shooting at men. With her door swinging wildly as Izzy gunned it, we made our get away.

Only when we were back on the open road did I let myself take in a full breath. “Shit. That was close.” I sat forward and gripped the back of Evo’s seat. “You guys shouldn’t have waited for me. Emily—”

“Emily, Shona, and Cynthia are cowards. It wasn’t like we were going to wait forever. But if we don’t have each other’s back then we’re all screwed,” Izzy spoke up in a rare show of anger. “We weren’t leaving you there, Max. I may not like them, but I have read a few dystopian novels, and we’re living one. I know what we need to do to survive.”

I laughed and some of the tension left my chest. “Well, if we’re living in a dystopian book, dear ole’ Izzy, then I’m about to let you know what the twist in the story is…” It was then that I filled both Izzy and Evo in on Brown Eyes, of course leaving out the part were I’d been moments away from letting him strip me naked and have his way with me. A girl had to keep her dignity after all, and he wouldn’t be showing up anytime soon to reveal my secret.

“A cure? Is it even possible?” Evo murmured in a daze.

“Well, it must be since apparently all men haven’t been infected like we thought.” Why Ricki? If every man hadn’t been infected, then why did Ricki have to be one of the ones that was? And if a cure was discovered…would I be able to go back to him after what he’d done? I couldn’t even begin to process that line of thought.

“So what did Brown Eyes look like?” Izzy asked with a smirk as she flicked her eyes back and forth between the road and me.

I groaned. “Oh my god, Izz…seriously? Despite everything that’s your question?”

Izzy stuck her tongue out at me. “I can’t help it, just because most men have been infected doesn’t mean I’m suddenly attracted to women.” She blushed. “No offense to you two.”

“None taken.”

“No worries,” Evo and I said at the same time.

“I mean, I wish I could be like Emily and Shona and start up some kind of relationship but—I mean damn—I still dream about men—literally.” Izzy blushed again, only this time it spread down her neck.

“Yeah, I get it.” A sensory memory of Brown Eye’s heated lips burning a trail down the side of my neck washed over me. I could still smell his tangy scent—feel the scruff on his face abrade my skin… I felt my own cheeks flush. I knew who would be starring in my dreams when I went to sleep tonight.

The rumble of a motorcycle’s engine broke into my reverie of Brown Eyes, and I swung around to peer out the small back window. “Izz—floor it! We’ve got company!” I palmed my handgun and knew that Evo would already be ready with her rifle as well.

The bike sped towards us, kicking up dust and debris in its wake. I narrowed my eyes on the driver and recognition hit me. “Wait—no—don’t shoot!” I yelled with desperation. “It’s Brown Eyes! Don’t shoot!”

“Are you sure?” Evo called over the wind in the car.

“Yes! I’m sure!”

Izzy slowed down so Brown Eyes could catch up to us. “What do you want?” I called out to him as he rode parallel to us. I noticed he had dried blood on his face. I wondered if it was his or someone else’s.

“They’re coming after you. And they’re not far behind me.”

I gripped the edge of my window until my knuckles turned white. “How did you get to us first? How did—”

“I blew my cover. I couldn’t let them get you—and your friends.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Evo yelled, a slight panic to her voice.

“Follow me. And don’t ask questions. I’ll explain everything later. You’re just going to have to trust me for now.” He pulled down his sunglasses so his eyes could meet mine over the top edge of the dark tinted glass. His brown eyes studied me, waiting for my answer.

“Yeah okay,” I muttered, knowing he couldn’t hear me over the wind, but he must have read my lips because he smiled briefly before speeding up to lead the way. “Follow him, Izz.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s our best bet. He already saved me once. I’m not saying that I trust him completely, but I trust him enough.”

Izzy nodded but didn’t say anything.

*    *    *    *    *    *

    We’d been traveling for several hours, and within that time we’d had several close calls. But somehow we’d managed to get out of them all relatively unscathed. I was pissed I had to sacrifice my container of gasoline. I’d for some reason grown strangely attached to it, like it had become some sort of trophy. When we’d had to use its contents to make several Molotov cocktails, I hadn’t been happy.

“I think we’re here,” Evo whispered.

“Why are you whispering and why—” I clamped my mouth shut as Brown Eyes pulled up to a chain link fence topped with barb wire. Several men wearing military fatigues stood at the gate with assault rifles of a much better quality than Evo’s.

Brown Eyes motioned to us and then got into a brief but heated argument with the guys. Finally they seemed to come to some kind of agreement and they stepped aside. The gate slid open and we followed Brown Eyes into what looked suspiciously like some kind of military base. My first clue had been the military guys out front. I’m super observant like that sometimes.

“I think this is a military base,” Izzy stated nervously.

“What was your first clue? The guys in military fatigues out there—” Evo motioned back towards the front gate. “—their military grade weapons, or—”

I snorted and bit my cheek to keep from laughing. Evo and I shared the same brand of sarcasm. “We don’t really have a choice now, do we?”

“No, I guess we don’t,” Izzy said as she pulled up behind Brown Eye’s bike and cut the engine.

Brown Eyes hopped off his bike and approached our car. “Come with me,” he said gruffly.

I stepped out of our car first. “I’m trusting you against my better judgment.”

Brown eyes smirked. “Yeah, because your judgment seems to be completely reliable, as evidenced by your visit to the camp earlier.”

I scowled at him but didn’t say anything. After all, he sort of had a point, even though I wasn’t going to admit that to him.

“By the way, my name is Owen—Owen Miles.”

“You can call me Max,” I replied.

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The next installment of M-Day will be posted on February 28th!