Raven's Hell - Jenika Snow Page 0,13

man’s jacket and stood. He didn’t speak while he went through the three motherfuckers’ bags and pockets, taking what he could use as food, weapons, and supplies. He then turned and faced the woman.

The sound of groaning was becoming more apparent, and the noise from the men shouting, of their death cries, and of the banging and breaking of shit in the store had the infected coming out of the damn woodwork.

“Listen, you don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but we need to get the hell out of here,” he said with determination in his voice. Truth was, she could leave without him, but he’d track her, follow her, and convince her that they needed to be together.

No matter how long it took him to do it. She didn’t respond right away, maybe thinking about what she wanted to do, or if she should try to kill him too. He glanced behind him, saw ten or so infected slowly making their way toward the grocery store, and faced her again.

“I’d love to sit here and get to know each other, but we need to leave. Now.”

She seemed to snap out of whatever haze she was in, nodded once, and then turned to head out the rear door that could be seen through the back of the store. He moved in front of her, stopped for a second, and held his hand out, touching her abdomen with his forearm. He wanted to make sure she was safe, and although a horde of infected were coming toward them, he didn’t want to be ambushed either.

When it was clear to move forward, he grabbed her hand, held the knife with his other one, and was pleased when she didn’t fight him on it. Her hand was much smaller than his, and she was cold, her fingers like icicles.

He knew it was because of what happened and not because of the weather. She was breathing heavily, and the sound of her jacket moving up and down from her rapid respirations had Collin wanting to turn around and just hold her. But they would have time for that later. Right now, he needed to get her away from this place, somewhere safe, and then they could talk.

They ran out the back door, and he kept a tight grip on her hand as they moved across the back parking lot and into the woods. There was an infected that staggered out of a gap in the trees, but Collin was ready for him. He wasn’t very decomposed, so that told him this one had been turned recently, and the bite mark on his neck was proof of that. His face was ashen, his eyes milky-white, and he groaned as he tried to swipe at them. But Collin already had the blade plunged into one of his eyes.

The infected fell to the ground, but Collin didn’t stop pulling the woman through the woods. They ran for another five minutes before Collin finally slowed. He pulled her behind him, scanned the woods, and then breathed out. He sheathed his knife and faced her.

She was breathing heavily, her eyes wide as she scanned their surroundings, but she didn’t look as frightened as she had in the store.

“You’re okay?” he asked.

She nodded, breathed out roughly, and then put her own knife back in the little loop of her pants. They stared at each other for a moment, and then she turned behind her, scanning their surroundings, making sure she was safe. When she faced Collin again, there was hesitation in her eyes.

“What’s your name?” he asked her, hoping to prove to her that if he intended on harming her, he could have done so already. When she didn’t answer, he spoke again. “I’m Collin Suthers.” He held his filthy, bloody hand out to her. She looked at it for a second before grabbing it and shaking it lightly.

“Rebecca Shaw.”

Rebecca.

He rolled the name around in his head, loving the way it sounded, how it made him feel, and had this proprietary sensation moving through him.

“So…” She looked at him, stopping what she was about to say. “If you want to come back to where I have been staying, maybe to rest or eat something, you can.” She licked her lips, glanced around again, and then looked at the ground. She was nervous, really fucking nervous.

He could hear it in her voice and see it in the way she held herself. It was the same reaction he’d seen on hundreds