6

Colt

I KNEW it!

I fucking know it!

In a flash, Iris raised her hands, eyes filled with fear. “Whoa! Colton, what are you doing?”

“It’s time to talk, woman. Who sent you?” I aimed at her head, and if she moved, I would not hesitate to pull the trigger.

She couldn’t take the rifle if she would ever think of shooting me. By the time she got a chance to grab the 9mm I gave her, she was already dead.

It had been months since the ambush, and until now we didn’t have any idea who they were, other than they were heavily armed and capable of killing as they wished.

As a law enforcer, it was killing me that I couldn’t even give my brother the justice he deserved.

“I told you I escaped,” she answered, trying to convince me as she showed the pain in her eyes. Still, I knew she was holding something.

I liked her, that was the fact, and she knew we were attracted to each other. There was something more than just attraction or sexual tension between us, and that scared me because I didn’t know shit about her, but if she was a threat, God knew I wouldn’t think twice of throwing her out of this camp if I couldn’t kill her.

It was not the first time people betrayed me, and I would not add to my list.

Gael said that cities were not the safest place for us. Just a few kilometers outside of the city, we were being ambushed, which led to the death of my brother and other members. Luckily, Gael survived. I knew someone sold us out because at that time, we were being recruited by a larger group, and they didn’t take well Gael’s refusal. And I was afraid Iris might be one of them, and she was here to finish the job.

Paranoia grew on us since the world crumbled down. This was the kind of living we were in now—we had to expect the inevitable.

“You know I will kill you without a second thought if you ever lie to me again.”

“I swear I’m telling the truth. What’s wrong with you?” She swallowed hard.

“Then why didn’t you tell me how did you get the bruise on your hand?”

“Because it’s not a big deal.” She looked down.

“Cora hurt you, did she? And you chose not to fight back, why?” I said between clenched teeth. I was not convinced by her answer—I needed more than that.

She handled me pretty well, and why on earth she didn’t do anything to Cora? Iris was never intimidated by me or scared of me, and I could feel that she was hiding something because she thought I was not going to hurt her. Then she’s wrong!

“I didn’t want trouble. I knew she hated me the first time we met. I couldn’t hold a grudge on everyone because I wanted to stay here just like I wanted to breathe. That’s all. It’s been months since I met good people that I didn’t have to look over my shoulder all the time. I like it here, and I felt safe.”

“Then you better talk! Who were you running from?”

“Don’t throw me out of here, please. I don’t think I’ll be able to survive once I step out of this camp. I’d rather pull the trigger to my head than to experience a slow death out there.”

“Tell me who are you? The truth, Iris.” My body heated and vibrated with anger. “Or I swear to God!”

“You know—” A high-pitched scream came from her before she could finish her words.

Gunfire echoed around us.

I meant not to shoot her, but that served her as a warning if she would lie to me again, and she knew what would come next.

“The next fire would be to your leg, Iris, and you know I won’t miss it.”

Her blue eyes widened. “I-I told you.”

I settled myself into a killer mode. Without breaking eye contact, I started, “No. You never tell me the whole story. And let me tell you something, I’m good at interrogation, and trust me when I say I don’t give a shit skinning you alive or pulling off your teeth or your nails one by one. Do you know why nobody checks us out here? Because they know me, and nobody dares to come to help you. You’re on your own right now, so help yourself while you can. The way you talk, handle a gun, and moves, you seem to know many things more than I expected from you. Now, tell me, who do you work for?”

Her fingers trembled. Her face blanched when she noticed me I was dead serious about it. “I don’t work for anyone.”

I pointed to her leg.

“Please, Colt. How can I convince you I am telling the truth? Damn it!” The way she said my name and the way she looked at me, it was like the first time I pointed a gun at her before she passed out—her stare was pleading and she was terrified. Good!

“Talk!” I commanded.

“I swear!” she screamed, tears rolling down her face.

I began to realize how much I hurt her and scared her that she would probably remember for the rest of her life, but as Gael said, I couldn’t let my emotion cloud my judgment.

“My patience is running low.” Something told me that talking about what happened to Iris wasn’t easy for her, but I needed to find out if we could trust her.

She swallowed hard. “A few days after I and my brother visited my parents’ home, we traveled to his outpost in his car, but I’ve never seen people panicking like that. God, it was like in a zombie-apocalypse movie. People running here and there wanted to survive. You could hear crying, screaming, children searching for their parents, people pointing guns at each other. Infected were everywhere, then vehicles just stopped on the road because people died just like that. So quick and seemed painless. I watched them bled from their noses, ears, eyes, then that was it. They’re dead.” She looked down, staring blankly at the floor. “No matter how they cried, it wouldn’t stop. You wanted to help, but you couldn’t do anything. Their screams are still in my head every time I fall asleep, I close my eyes, in the dark, in silence...”

She leaned her back against the wall as if she lost her strength. She kept on wiping her tears, but they kept flowing. “We reached the outpost after we walked for the whole day. It was too late—everyone was dead except my brother’s friends; Donovan and Simmons who locked themselves inside the interrogation room. They had masks on and biohazard suits. I guessed they figured out or they’d been informed. The only thing that kept me alive was the scarf—that was how we survived, I guess.” She stole a glance at me.

“The computer just shut down when we tried hard to communicate through any frequencies, but no one responded. Then the people came and started raiding the place. They stole our guns, supplies, and food. We couldn’t fight back because they were too many compared to just the four of us. We left. Dead bodies were everywhere. The smell. God, the babies...”

A shiver rippled through me at the thought of it. As quickly as the image of horror appeared in my mind, I pushed it back. Though I understood her breakdown, I had to know her true intention, and I had this feeling that I had not reached the best part just yet.

“Flyers littered, saying there were two safe zones for survivors, then it was bullshit. When we arrived there, loads of trucks of men in uniform with guns, and they were taking people in and...”

“And what?”

It clearly took so much effort and strength for her to open herself up to me.

“There were hundreds of us there at the football stadium. They came every night picking us one by one, but none had returned. They didn’t let us starve though, and since my brother’s friends were outspoken, they beat them to death when they were questioned about the missing people. My brother went snooping. People started talking about a secret facility working for the cure or vaccine.” She paused.

“My brother made an escape plan, and it was successful, but we got caught by a group during our scavenging. You probably heard about the Colony from the West. They had high strong walls and building their armies, and the scars you saw on my arms, they were from needle pricks, but not from drugs. They drained my blood like everyone else there.”

“Why?” Our gazes collided, and she shrugged.

We had not encountered any group since we found this camp. There were no radio traces as well. This site must not have been located by survivors since there was nothing much to make a living here.

“I didn’t mean to cause everyone trouble, but after what I told you, and you still see me as a threat, as much as I want to stay here, I won’t. I’m leaving in the morning,” she chocked out.

There was only one thing I could think of, they hurt her. That was what I saw in her eyes, but she was not completely broken, and she was stronger more that she could give herself credit for. She survived out there, and it meant only one thing—she wanted to live.

“Do you know who are they?”

She shook her head. “I wanted to kill them, to pay for what they did to us, to my brother, but I know it was impossible. I only wanted to live to keep my promise to my brother. I can’t let them win and let my brother die for nothing. I need to live for him and for myself. If there is something I keep holding on is that there’s still hope. In a few years, we will rise again. The country will rise again.”

Silent ticked around us, so odd after the overwhelming revelation, I couldn’t form a word. My tongue was tied with my own shit.

I lost control. I thought that was the only way to find out the truth was by threatening her, and I may have succeeded, but my suspicions were wrong. I was an asshole, and I fucking hated myself that I had to look away.

The part that I’d drawn to her was her kind heart despite how she threatened me. When she said not to get used to stealing someone’s property, it was her, who stole my breath away, and I knew for a fact that she already stole something from me.

I retreated my gun, and as sounded as it was right to say sorry, I stepped back and went down, unable to think about how I would be able to face her again.

***

I WAS pacing back in forth in the middle of the night at Colton’s grave—just at the back of my cabin. He was the only one that I could tell my shit, but now he was dead, I had to rub my face in frustration.

I couldn’t think straight.

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, but her horrified blue eyes kept coming into my mind. It was so fucking unfair on her part. I shouldn’t have done that.

Damn it!

I sat down, drew my knees closer to my body, and held them tightly. When I couldn’t take my guilt, I went inside my cabin and stayed there for God knew how long until I realized the sun was already up.

Knocks then bangs from my door interrupted me. I raced to the door and found out it was Darick.

“I see, you’re here. I was knocking on Gael’s, but he might still sleeping.

My brows furrowed. “What is it, Darick?”

“I just wanna ask him about Iris—”

My pulse raced. “What about her?”

“She asked me to confirm from Gael that he knew she’s leaving.”

“Fuck, no! She’s not going anywhere!”