The Red Sky Series Box Set Books 1-4: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Series Read online

  Bronx had made it clear that he was over me, or whatever he’d said, but that didn’t mean I could be with Jamie. I couldn’t let it happen. I couldn’t allow my heart to go there.

  As long as I didn’t fall for him and he didn’t fall for me, it would be okay. I had to protect my heart, and I had to protect Jamie. I cared too much about him not to.

  I didn’t regret a second, but I couldn’t let something like that happen again. No matter how much I couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt to be with him.

  “Hey,” Nick said the second I turned the corner into the storage room. “Where have you been hiding?”

  “Sorry?” I was pretty sure my pink cheeks had turned red.

  “Nothing,” Nick said shaking his head. He turned his head toward the office. “She’s not doing too well.”

  I crossed my arms hearing movement behind me. Jamie walked into the room and images of being with him flashed through my mind.

  “Is there anything we can do for him?” I asked clearing my throat at the end of my sentence.

  “If there is I have no idea what.” Nick’s head moved side to side slowly. “Jamie,” he said and my body tensed. “You have any ideas?”

  “Wish I did,” he said opening one of the boxes. He ripped open a bag of chips and started snacking.

  I looked around the room and peered into the office. “Where’s Bronx?”

  “He’s with Blair,” Nick said as he knelt down and unzipped his backpack. He sifted through the items. “I just wish I could think of something.”

  “Maybe there isn’t anything,” I said keeping my voice low.

  Nick’s eyes met mine. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” He pushed his backpack to the side and kicked it for good measure. “Fuck!”

  I watched as Nick reached into one of the smaller boxes near the wall, he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and opened it. He took a long drink before offering it to Jamie.

  Jamie took a drink and passed it over to me. Normally I would have refused, but under the circumstances, I could use a break from the thoughts shifting through my mind. I didn’t even have the energy or the desire to judge Nick for taking the first swig.

  Bronx stepped into the room, his arms were crossed as he looked at Nick. There was a coldness to his shoulder that seemed to radiate a chill out from his whole body.

  “What’s going on?” he asked glancing briefly at the bottle in my hand.

  “A break,” Nick said, and I held out the bottle. Bronx turned and looked at me and then at the bottle. He yanked it out of my hand and walked away as if I was infected with a contagious disease.

  Bronx took a swig, and then a longer drink. He didn’t pass the bottle back instead he took it over to his sleeping spot and sat down on the ground, resting his back against the wall.

  “Um, okay,” Nick said reaching into the box. He pulled out another bottle.

  “Blair wants a break,” Bronx announced after he took another drink. I watched him as he swung the bottle around with his fingertips between his legs. “Maybe Jamie or Gwen should take a turn.”

  My insides swirled with a myriad of emotions. Bronx’s tone hurt, and it had made me angry.

  “It’s my turn,” I said stepping out of the room, wanting nothing more than to be alone.

  Chapter 14

  Nick had tried to relieve me from watch duties twice, but I’d insisted I was fine. I was enjoying being alone although it would have been better if I didn’t have to stare at the swirling blue cloud outside the window.

  It was near dinner time when Jamie came stumbling into the room. He laughed at himself as he walked into one of the shelving units.

  “Excuse me,” he said bowing politely to the shelf.

  I exhaled slowly. If Jamie was wasted that wasn’t a good sign. My brother’s tolerance was probably insane, but there had been a lot of booze in the storage room.

  “It’s my turn,” Jamie said, dragging out each word several seconds longer than normal. “I’ll take watch turn now.”

  “You’re drunk,” I said not even attempting to hide the fact that I was annoyed.

  “You’re not. You should be!” Jamie clapped his hand.

  I shook my head. “No, I shouldn’t be. What if something happens?”

  “Oh shit,” he whispered. “I really fucked it up this time, didn’t I?”

  “Just go sleep it off, please,” I said keeping my voice calm.

  Jamie leaned closer, and I winced at the strong scent that wafted out of his mouth. “Will that make you happy?”

  “The happiest, now please, go lay down.”

  “Anything for you my love,” Jamie said taking a bow as he weaved his way back to the storage room.

  I followed him, making sure he made his way to his sleeping area. I was almost surprised when he actually flopped down and closed his eyes. He almost instantly fell asleep.

  Whispers came from the office, and I tried to listen between Nick’s snoring and Jamie’s heavy breathing. I was pretty sure they were talking about leaving and not waiting for the cloud to dissipate.

  I looked around the storage room to see if I was the only one listening. Nick wasn’t alone on his blanket, Blair was next to him, her arm wrapped around his middle.

  Just as I was about to leave, Bronx rolled over onto his side. His open eyes happened to land on mine for a second before he looked away. He was listening to the women, and he really didn’t want to look at me.

  I went back to my post. If the women wanted to leave, I wasn’t going to be the one to talk them out of it. It was a suicide mission that I was almost certain of, but I guess that was their choice to make.

  I crossed my arms and leaned back in the chair we’d brought to the window. My body jolted upright when the floorboards behind me cracked.

  “Sorry!” Bronx said holding up his hand.

  I pressed my palm to my heart and drew in a deep breath before I was able to relax back into the chair.

  “What are you doing out here?” I said too harshly. I hadn’t meant for my words to come out that way at least not consciously. “How come you aren’t drunk like the others?”

  “Who said I’m not?” Bronx grinned but then shook his head. “I’m not. You heard what they were saying, didn’t you?”

  “I did.”

  Bronx shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “And you don’t think we should say anything?”

  “No. It’s their choice.”

  There was a long moment. The floor creaked again as Bronx took a step forward.

  “They’re drunk. They don’t realize how dangerous it is out there,” Bronx said.

  I snorted. “Nonsense, that one with the crush on you sees her foot. She knows what caused it. If she wants to do something stupid, who am I to stop her.”

  “She doesn’t have a crush on me,” Bronx said. “If she did she wouldn’t want to leave.”

  I didn’t know if that was a valid point or if Bronx was thinking too highly of himself.

  “She’d do whatever Shannon tells her to do. At least that’s how it seems to me.”

  Bronx crouched down next to me and looked over his shoulder toward the storage room. He turned back, but he didn’t look at me.

  “I might have made a mistake,” Bronx said.

  “A mistake?”

  Before he could answer, loud noises from the storage room filled the air. He stood and made his way toward the doorway.

  Bronx hesitated for a long moment before stepping out of view. After a moment there was a loud clank, followed by a heavy thud. Something was wrong.

  I stood and took a step toward the storage room. I wanted to call out for Bronx my voice wouldn’t work. There was a new silence that was different from the usual silence.

  With each step, I took toward the storage room my body filled with more and more dread. My mouth opened, but still, I couldn’t find my words.

  I stepped into the storage area, my eyes scanning the floor. Jamie wasn’t where he’d been min
utes ago.

  Bronx was lying on the floor his arms splayed out to the sides, and his head twisted awkwardly. There was a gash just above his eyebrow, and blood streamed down the side of his face.

  “Bronx!” I said, but it was more of a gasp than it was a word. Before I could take a step, something hit me in the back of the head.

  I spun on my heel, which put me face to face with Shannon. She grinned as she raised something over her head and before I realized what was happening, she smacked me across the side of the head.

  My body twisted and darkness swallowed me as I fell to the floor. I could hear them, but I couldn’t see them. Their words, however, made little sense.

  They were moving around the room. They were somewhere behind me… talking about a gun. Talking about supplies. Telling someone to move.

  Their footsteps got louder as they moved past me. I fought with all my might to open my eyes, but it felt like they were sewn shut.

  I had to see.

  Somehow, I managed to blink, but everything around me was a blur. I had to move my hand… press it to my eyes… get them to work.

  Even though I couldn’t move, I managed to blink again, and again. Each time my eyelids closed and opened, I was able to see clearer.

  “Move!” Shannon said. When she stepped to the side, I could see there were two people with her. One was definitely Monica, but it took me several more blinks before I realized who she had with her.

  He didn’t have to turn around for me to know, but when he did, I could see that Jamie had his hands tied and his mouth sealed shut with a thick band of duct tape.

  “No!” I said, but the word got stuck in my throat. Since no one reacted, I was pretty sure that they hadn’t heard me.

  Shannon clicked on the flashlight and opened the front door. I could see the thick fog swirling around.

  I reached out for Jamie even though he was well out of reach. The feeling started to come back through my body. I was able to raise up my head.

  “No!” I said again, but my voice scratched against the back of my throat, barely finding its way out of my mouth.

  They hadn’t heard me. Shannon pushed Jamie through the door, and before I could even get to my feet, they were gone.

  Chapter 15

  My legs wobbled, and the room moved as if I was trying to walk across a merry-go-round. I felt the side of my head where I’d been hit and looked at my hand.

  Blood.

  There was blood on my hands.

  It wasn’t much.

  “Bronx!” I said shaking him. He groaned and rolled to the side.

  I turned and looked around the room. Danny was standing there staring at me as if I’d just murdered someone.

  “Danny! You have to help,” I said, but as I took a step closer to him, he took a cautious step back.

  “What’s going on? Why is there blood on your hands? Why is he on the floor?” Danny asked.

  I shook my head. “They took him. Those girls, they just took Jamie. We have to do something… we have to help him!”

  “Took him?” Danny asked. “Took him where?”

  “Help me wake them, please!” I begged, kicking at Nick’s side. His snoring stopped for a moment before he drew in another deep breath that made his lips tremble. “Shit!”

  I couldn’t think clearly. My mind was a jumbled mess of words and blackness. What happened was like a puzzle, but half of the pieces were missing.

  “Wake them up,” I said digging through Nick’s bag searching for another flashlight. I pulled it out, and stood, clicking on the light. “I’m going after him.”

  Danny stood there frozen as still as a statue. I could feel his eyes on me as I made my way to the front door.

  I filled my lungs with air from the main room as though I was about to dive down deep into a large body of water. My hand shook, and my heart pounded as I wrapped my fingers around the cool metal door handle.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, mustering up the courage to pull open the door. As I pulled back, something pushed against the top of the door holding it in place.

  My eyes popped open, and I turned meeting Bronx’s eyes. Blood coated his eyebrow, and the corners of his eyes were wrinkled with worry.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “They took Jamie,” I said trying not to break apart into a million pieces. “He’s out there.”

  “You can’t go out there,” Bronx said shaking his head. “You know that.”

  Nick and Blair stumbled into the room clearly still at least somewhat affected by the alcohol. It didn’t seem as though Danny had gotten them up to speed on the situation based on how they were looking at us.

  “Where are they?” Nick growled.

  “They knocked me out, and they left,” I said biting my cheek to stop the tears that were threatening to roll down out of my eyes.

  Blair chewed her fingernail. “Those bitches were crazy… I didn’t think they’d actually do it.”

  “You knew?” I asked, my tears drying from the heat that was rising through my veins.

  Blair looked from me to Nick and then to Bronx. “I didn’t know,” she said, turning back toward me. “If I thought they’d do something like taking someone I obviously would have brought it up. You know that, right?”

  “Then what do you know?” I asked.

  “They talked about leaving,” Blair said her fists balled up at her sides. “But they didn’t mention anything about knocking you out or taking Jamie with them.”

  “Why would they take him?” I said looking at Nick. It was a question I knew he didn’t have the answer to.

  He shook his head.

  “You should have said something,” Bronx said, the veins in his forearms popped out as his muscles tensed. He started pacing.

  “They also mentioned something about praying to make the cloud go away, should I have mentioned that as well?” Blair asked with a sneer, but her eyes revealed that she was blaming herself.

  “Shit,” Bronx said.

  “We have to do something,” I said pointing the flashlight out the glass panel on the door. Over my shoulder I noticed Bronx turning away slightly as he ran his fingers through his hair.

  My hand moved before I gave it much thought. I pulled open the door.

  “Gwen!” Nick said, I could hear him moving behind me. The noises stopped abruptly, and I was pretty sure I knew why.

  My hand shook as I lit up the cloud outside the door. It was like a thick curtain that had been pulled down in front of the door, and it was bizarre, but it didn’t enter the building.

  “Jamie!” I screamed. “Jamie, where are you?”

  Someone touched my shoulder, and I swatted at the hand as I twisted away.

  “Gwen.” Bronx’s voice was soft. Calm. And it angered me.

  “No!” I said, fury bubbling up inside of me. “I’m going after him.”

  “Wait!” Bronx shouted. “Is there any rope?”

  Danny moved through the room stopping at one of the shelves. He bent down, vanishing out of sight for a moment before standing, holding two packages of bright yellow rope.

  “Tie them together,” Bronx ordered.

  “They’re too far out there,” I said.

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Bronx said tying the rope tightly around my middle.

  He threw the rope over his head and wrapped it around his waist keeping a bit of slack between us. Bronx turned, breathing heavily as he stared at Danny.

  “Do not let go of that end,” Bronx said, his finger shaking as he pointed at the rope. “Seriously, do not let go.”

  “I won’t,” Danny said.

  “Fuck,” Bronx whispered just loud enough for me to hear. “This is a terrible idea.”

  I turned. “Then don’t go.”

  “Move,” Bronx said jerking his chin forward. “It would be worse to let you go out there alone. Let’s go.”

  “Wait,” Nick said, and I turned just in time to see him stumble and fall into one of the shelving unit
s. He shouldn’t have had any alcohol. None of us should have.

  Blair knelt down and started fussing over a small cut on Nick’s cheek. I turned around, ignoring them and facing the cloud.

  Every fiber of my being was begging me not to move my feet, but I didn’t have a choice. I took a step, and my heart raced faster than I thought possible.

  Were my lungs tighter?

  Was my throat closing up?

  I was too close.

  What choice did I have?

  I took another step, and just as I was about to go out of the doorway and into the cloud, Jamie’s face pushed through the cloud. Bronx pulled me back before launching himself forward to close the door. He flipped the lock into place, and the metallic noise echoed through the room.

  “Jesus Christ!” Jamie shouted.

  I could hear Bronx breathing heavily as he stared at Jamie with a fair amount of uncertainty. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill him or hug him.

  Nick looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open. I wasn’t even sure if he knew Jamie was back.

  Jamie’s hands were still tied together, and if I’d seen duct tape on his mouth, he’d somehow managed to take it off. He held his hands toward me and then at Bronx shaking them vigorously.

  “Help me get these off,” Jamie said his voice shaking.

  Bronx quickly retrieved a knife and cut the rope. He stared at Jamie as if he were somehow different.

  “What happened out there?” Bronx asked.

  “They took me… taped my mouth while I was sleeping and then tied me up,” Jamie said. “I thought I was going to die out there.” He looked at me. “Am I really here?”

  My eyebrows squeezed together harder than my lips. I couldn’t say anything, but my head bobbed up and down.

  “Yeah, you’re here,” I managed to say after a moment. I bit my cheek after I finished speaking to keep myself from bawling uncontrollably.