Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3) (2 page)

BOOK: Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3)
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The government promised that in a few days they would lift the travel restrictions, but for right now people had to shelter in place. Ann Arbor had been overflowing with visitors and people who worked in the city, so the National Guard had been coming in and moving some of them out to the surrounding communities. Chelsea had gotten its share, and Paige had seen a girl earlier she recognized from school, Karen. She said Ann Arbor had become just what Roxie predicted, a crap hole full of pretentious, whiny assholes and entitled college students along with criminals who took advantage of the chaos. While Karen had holed up in her friend’s apartment with the door blocked and a gun, they’d watched the stores across the street from them get ransacked, and that was before the sun went down. Karen had shakily said she was pretty sure her friend had shot a guy who’d been dragging a screaming woman down the street past their apartment.

Paige thanked her lucky stars again that Roxie had gotten them out in time.

In true country strong fashion, the people of Chelsea had pulled together and treated the strangers in need like family. Everyone pitched in to help, and Paige went wherever she was needed. Normally she’d be hiding at Casey’s house where she was staying, fighting off anxiety attacks, but something had changed in her after the Event. Some remnants of her childhood trauma had burned away as she watched the world she thought she knew change forever. Again.

The scientists at NASA, sudden celebrities thrust into the limelight by a public desperate for answers, theorized that a series of large magnetic waves had hit the Earth, ripping through the atmosphere and taking down every airplane in the sky and causing a host of problems.

There had been riots, massive fires, looting, murders and there was even word that a political coup had happened somewhere in Africa. But she had to remind herself that there were also stories of great heroism, of people risking their own lives for others, of humanity coming together to help each other out. There was a sense of community here in her small town that had been dwindling, but was now back full force. Neighbors watched out for each other, banded together and formed watches that had deterred any further vandalism. A few stores had been hit during the terrible night after the Event, but for the most part people had stepped up and stopped the violence before it started.

Karen said she was moving there, and Casey was pretty sure her friend was serious.

“Paige.” Mrs. Westfall, Casey’s curvy and dark-haired mom, gave Paige an exasperated smile. “Can you give me a hand with this?”

Seeing Mrs. Westfall struggling with opening an industrial sized can of creamed corn, Paige moved past another volunteer who was sorting produce donated by the local farmers. The scent of the fresh corn filled the room with an earthy smell she’d always associated with life and growing things. The backyard of her childhood home had butted up to vast cornfields, and she’d spent many afternoons with her friends playing in them. Happy memories filled her, and she welcomed them, momentarily seeing the world again through a child’s eyes.

“Paige?” Mrs. Westfall smiled at her, then cocked a carefully arched brow.

“Sorry.” She flushed. “I was just thinking about how nice fresh corn smells.”

“It does smell nice, doesn’t it?” Mrs. Westfall reached out and smoothed back a stray strand of Paige’s hair. “Did I tell you yet today that I love you?”

Flushing with embarrassed pleasure, Paige focused on the can opener and muttered, “Only four times since breakfast.”

“Well, I do, and I want you to know it.” Mrs. Westfall’s lower lip trembled when Paige looked up, her tired eyes welling with tears. “I promised myself I’d never let a day go by again where I didn’t let the people around me know how important they are to me. Paige, I know I’ve told you this before, but you are my daughter in every way that matters, and I adore you.”

Now it was Paige’s turn to blink back tears, and as she was trying to wipe them away from the corner of her eye, she heard a familiar woman’s melodic but weary voice ring out.

“Jesus, Ma, I told my troops you’d hook us up with some food, but if you cry in the chow it’s gonna be too salty.”

Paige whirled around with a big smile, taking in the sight of a battered and dirty Roxie, still dressed in combat gear that had seen better days, giving everyone a tired smile.

While Mrs. Westfall and Casey were short and curvy, Roxie was tall with lean muscles and had the strong bone structure of her Norwegian father. Roxie wasn’t attractive in a beauty queen way, she had resting bitch face to the tenth degree, but she was stunning, and she had some invisible quality to her that made men take a second look. Even now, covered in what looked like soot, maybe some blood, a bright bandage on her hand, a good sized bruise on her neck along with various scrapes, and she still turned heads. Everyone in the dining and lounge area of the Lodge was looking at Roxie and her troops, not that Paige could blame them.

It wasn’t every day you saw a dozen lethal female soldiers, dirty and obviously fresh from battle, standing in a Lion’s Lodge surrounded by soccer moms and retirees.

Roxie smiled at Paige then held one of her arms open. “Come here, little sister.”

“Yes, ma’am, Captain Westfall.”

“Just get over here, smartass.”

Unable to maintain her cool, she barreled into Roxie and hugged her friend, careful not to touch any of her weapons, then grimaced. “Ugh, you smell terrible.”

Laughing, Mrs. Westfall dabbed at her face then took a step back. “You really do.”

“Yeah, well, the truck leaving Detroit headed for Ann Arbor was moving out, so it was either catch a ride or be stuck in that shit hole another day. You try going without a shower for four days and see if you feel fresh as a fuckin’ daisy.”

“Language,” Mrs. Westfall said as more people gathered around, standing a respectful distance back, but all smiling at Roxie and trying to catch her eye.

Here and there people were wiping away tears, and Roxie’s smile got uncomfortable. “Ma, do you have someplace we can eat and clean up, alone?”

“Oh.” Mrs. Westfall looked around and cleared her throat. “Of course. Right. Yes, just follow—”

“Roxanne? Captain Westfall,” an older man’s voice called out above the low hum of conversation.

Paige saw her friend flinch, but she squared her shoulders and turned to Mr. Wychek, their friend Kimber’s grandfather. He was an old Polish man in his eighties who always proudly wore his Army hats and liked to talk about military stuff with Roxie. She usually indulged him, but right now her patience was clearly thin.

“Hey, Mr. Wychek, can I talk with you later? I’m beat and need to get some food in me and my ladies.”

Mr. Wychek slowly stood at attention, drawing his bent frame straight and adding two inches to his height. Holding her friend’s gaze, he saluted her as his eyes filled with tears. “Thank you, and your fellow soldiers, for your service. I’m proud to know you and call you my friend.”

All around them more and more people said thank you until they were all clapping and cheering. The high ceiling of the Lodge rang with noise, and Paige found herself clinging to Mrs. Westfall and crying while the soldiers shuffled uncomfortably before the crowd. Their eyes were wide, weary and Paige could tell they were uneasy beneath all the attention.

Through all the cheering she heard Roxie as she ducked down to Mrs. Westfall then said, “Ma, I can’t handle this.”

Mrs. Westfall jumped into action and grabbed Roxie’s hand, dragging her away with a bright smile. “You must be starving. Thank you, everyone, but I need to feed my girls. Paige, can you show the rest of the ladies the way? Grab some baby wipes as well. You can use the big industrial sinks in back to wash up, and we have a huge pile of donated clothes you can look through. Thank you, everyone, but let’s just give them some privacy so they can eat in peace.”

Moving to the overwhelmed women, a few of whom were scrubbing away clean tear marks on their sooty faces, she quickly ushered them through the back and into the industrial kitchen area. Mrs. Westfall was already herding people out of the big space in full territorial pit bull mode. Despite being sweet as candy, when it came to her children Mrs. Westfall was no joke. In less than five minutes she was distributing clothes and baggies full of travel size toiletries donated by the local grocery store while getting everyone settled in.

Roxie stood in the corner of the room, now wearing a bright lime green T-shirt that showed the cuts and bruises marring her tanned skin. Her shoulders were drawn up tight as she stared at the bottom of the stainless steel sink, her hands gripping it hard enough that her knuckles turned white. A visible tremor went through her, and Paige was pretty sure it wasn’t just from physical exhaustion. Despite her badass ways, Roxie had a kind heart, and she must have seen and experienced some terrible things while down in Detroit.

Paige exchanged a worried look with Mrs. Westfall, but the older woman shook her head. “Okay, looks like we have some pot roast back here, and Mrs. Oplin made her special meat pasties. You must try one. There’s also pasta and spicy taco dip, as well as some vegetable casserole in case anyone’s a vegetarian. So grab your plates, ladies, and eat up. There’s plenty, so don’t feel shy about coming back for seconds or thirds.”

Roxie rubbed her face with a paper towel before turning around, her eyes red-rimmed but her expression neutral.

Everyone moved out back to the picnic tables to eat beneath the massive elm trees, the warm summer day perfect, except for those ribbons of light in the sky caused by the Event. The scientists also said those arcing ribbons of undulating colors would disappear in time, but right now they were visible reminders of a day that still made her chest ache with sorrow. So many people had died, or vanished, and some of her friends had lost loved ones during the lawless times after the Event.

The news had covered the riots that had burned most of the east side of the city of Detroit to the ground. It had been so bad that some of the fire had jumped the Detroit river and set parts of Windsor up in flames. Morons had
shot
at firefighters trying to control the blaze, and Paige had been furious that someone would try and kill a person already putting their life on the line to save the city. At one point they’d watched a gunfight between the National Guard and a bunch of guys with their faces covered, shooting it out over a pharmacy. The drugs inside had become more precious than gold with the supply chain as messed up as it was, and the National Guard wasn’t going to leave the store and the lifesaving medicine inside to a mob of rioting people. She also knew that the National Guard lost over two hundred troops that night in Detroit, and there was no way Roxie wouldn’t have personally experienced the loss of a friend or co-worker.

As they were clearing the plates away and Mrs. Westfall was arranging for places for Roxie’s troops to stay, Paige went over to where Roxie was stacking mismatched plates and bumped her shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Roxie muttered back, not meeting her eyes. “Look, I’ve got twenty-four hours of leave to rest up, and I want to see you while I’m here, but I don’t want to talk about what went on down in Detroit, okay?”

“Okay.” Paige swallowed hard. “I’m glad you’re all right. I was really worried. We all were.”

Roxie looked up sharply, appearing older than her twenty-nine years. “How are you holding up?”

“Not bad.” She pulled herself together and gathered up the silverware while Roxie shuffled around to the other side of the table, wiping up spills. “I mean, this is crazy to the tenth degree, but…I guess when you’ve been through bad stuff, really bad stuff, you have to learn how to roll with the unexpected. How to cope with the punches life throws at you. That doesn’t mean I’m not scared out of my mind, and that I don’t have to fight back panic attacks, but there are worse things than being scared, right?”

“Right.”

“Roxie!” Mrs. Westfall called out from the backdoor. “Do you want some apple pie?”

“Sure, Ma,” Roxie yelled back, then sighed. “Thanks for talking with me, kiddo. Even when I don’t want to.”

Paige hugged her tight before Roxie could stop her, then released her blushing friend. “You know that night, at the hospital, when you promised me you’d be here for me if I ever needed to talk? That everything was going to be all right? Well, I’m making you the same offer to talk in confidence, but I’m hoping it doesn’t take you two years and a ton of therapy to get up the balls to do it like it did for me. So if you get in a dark place and you need someone to listen without judgment, I’m here. Understood?”

Roxie looked at her, then grinned and saluted. “Understood, ma’am.”

Throwing a half-eaten roll at her, Paige muttered, “Whatever. I’m going to tell your mom that you think Gordy Clintok is hot.”

It was a long running joke between them, each threatening to tell Mrs. Westfall—who viewed herself as being a great matchmaker—that the other was in love with a totally icky guy. For example, Gordy Clintok, who was known to be seen driving around town in his tow truck casually eating his boogers. He’d gone to school with Roxie and still had a crush on her that was never reciprocated.

“You do that and I’m going to tell her you love that Hebbles d-bag with the Cheetos orange spray tan.”

At the mention of the greasy sleaze that was Casey’s boss at the local supermarket, Paige shivered. “Ewww.”

BOOK: Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3)
11Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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