Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,222

What the hell has happened to the world?

I ran forward, shoving a guy away from her as he tried to take the frayed roll, throwing a hard punch to his solid gut.

He lurched backwards, clearly not looking for a fight as he raised his hands in innocence and darted away again. Kyan came swinging with his bat, taking out the final three assholes who were attacking the Unspeakables in a single freaking blow.

He tossed me a wink before darting back off into the crowd and man I almost fucking liked the guy sometimes.

“Thank you,” Freeloader gasped as she and the others gathered up the supplies and made a run for it.

The Night Keepers and Monroe were driving more and more of the outsiders toward the gate and my heart lifted with hope.

Someone grabbed my wrist and I jerked around, ready to fight, but relaxed at the sight of Bait standing there.

“Come on,” he demanded. “We’ve gotta run with them. Let’s go. This is our chance!”

He started tugging me toward the gate and I could see that he was right. We could run, escape this place and never look back. But a tug in my gut made me hesitate for a second as I looked toward the four men fighting valiantly in the crowd. They’d saved me tonight. Wet their hands in blood for me. How could I run now? Surely things would be different after tonight? But was it insane to think that?

I should have been running.

“Come on Tatum, I did this for us! And it’s gone even better than expected,” Bait exclaimed, excitement darting through his eyes. “I just had to lift the gate key off the janitor – couldn’t believe I did it as first but then-”

I yanked him to a halt, my blood turning icily cold. “You did this? You let them in?” I breathed, horror rushing through me.

He nodded, tugging my hand again and I yanked it free of his grip.

“I almost died!” I shouted at him, starting to shake. “People have been hurt. How could you do this?”

Bait gaped at me, opening and closing his mouth as he hunted for an answer. “I didn’t…I mean, no one was supposed to get hurt. I just…”

“What did you think was gonna happen?” I demanded.

Bait turned pale, shaking his head then ran off into the crowd without another word.

My throat thickened as I stood there, torn between running and staying. Unsure why I couldn’t simply make myself go.

People shoved their way past me and a huge hairy guy suddenly slammed into me full force. I was knocked to the ground as he leaned over me, clutching his gut and coughing heavily, seemingly unaware I was even there as he hacked his fucking lungs up.

“Stop!” I screamed in disgust, throwing up a hand to cover my mouth and nose.

I spotted a reddened rash of rose shaped marks on his skin peeking out from his collar and horror and fear consumed me as I tried to scramble away. No fuck, no!

I threw a kick at his calf and he stumbled back, blinking down at me through bloodshot eyes like he’d just realised I was there. A baseball bat suddenly slammed into his arm and he jerked sideways, hurrying away with a yelp of pain as Kyan took his place.

He leaned down to take my hand but I shook my head, needing to keep the hell away from him as I scrambled back.

“Don’t touch me!” I yelled. “He was infected.”

Fear took root in my chest. Sixty percent of people died from this virus within a week. A fucking week. Was I gonna be just another statistic? Was the virus already snaking its way into my body and sliding its teeth into my life force?

Kyan’s lips parted in horror as I got to my feet. He yanked his shirt off, rushing forward and I raised my hands to try and stop him. “Keep still!” he barked, giving me no choice as he used it to wipe over my face, my clothes, any part of me he feared the virus had touched. It was beautifully sweet and painfully pointless.

“Get back, Kyan,” I urged, my voice cracking as I stepped away from him.

He gave me an intense look, tossing the shirt on the floor. “Follow me,” he barked with no room for dispute and I hurried after him as he cut a path through the crowd towards Aspen Halls. A fire caught my eye on the bottom floor and my heart thrashed at the