V-Day: (M-Day #4) (9 page)

A few minutes later I sank into the steaming water that filled the tub. I groaned in bliss. I couldn
’
t remember the last time I
’
d had a bath. I knew it was a bit reckless and indulgent to be relaxing when I should have been doing something more productive. But then again I
’
d learned that no matter the situation, sometimes one had to regroup mentally before anything could be done. It was akin to putting your oxygen mask on first when on a plane. You wouldn
’
t be able to help anyone else if you were out cold. Maybe a rationalization but I didn
’
t care. I leaned my head back and let my eyes slide shut.

“
You
’
re so fucking sexy, Vivvy baby,
”
Riley murmured, his lips grazing my ear. I leaned into him, my back pressing into his chest as water sloshed around us. His dick swelled beneath my ass and I sucked in a sharp breath.

“
You know Ty would kill you if he knew what was going on between us.
”
I rotated my hips and his fingers tightened on my ribcage.

“
No, he wouldn
’
t. Not if I told him how I feel about you.
”

“
And how do you feel about me?
”

“
I love you, Viv. So fucking much.
”
Riley thrust his hips up, groaning in frustration as I pulled away from him.

He loves me.
My heart fluttered erratically in my chest. I rose up on my knees, straddling him.
“
I love you too.
”
I slid down on him, whimpering as he filled me up.

“
Fuck.
”
I hit my open palms against the water, splashing it across the bathroom.
I need to get my shit together.
I stood abruptly, the idea of a bath no longer as appealing as it had been a few moments ago. I made quick work of washing the ends of my hair and myself. I then rinsed out my hair wrap and wrung it dry, quickly braiding my long hair before tying it up again in the damp cloth. Somehow the little ritual made me feel better, as if I was suiting up for battle.
Now I need new clothes and my weapons.

Just as I gathered myself mentally
…
all hell broke loose outside.

The earsplitting roar shattered the peace just before the rapid pops of gunfire rang out. I dashed into the bedroom, my vision tilting slightly as I cursed what seemed like my ever-present head injury. I pulled open draws, scrambling to find a fresh set of clothes, and maybe some viable weapons. I didn
’
t think I was going to be able to take down any I-Men with just a hairbrush.

What the fuck?
It seemed like whoever
’
s room this actually was, had shopped at
Sluts R
’
Us
, or at least pillaged it. What happened to post-apocalyptic practical fashion? I was under the impression it was all the rage.
Of course the women of this house don
’
t seem to do a whole lot of fighting or running.
Maybe the I-Men had stocked the slutty clothes in the room? Mentally shrugging, not having time to think about it as more sounds of chaos reached my ears, I pulled on an oddly cut leopard print top, and tight black pants, with a pair of black combat boots that were a size or so too big for my feet.

Where the hell are my weapons?
Tasha said they had them, so where the hell had they stashed them? My palms veritably itched to be holding at least a handgun.

I slunk over to the window to get a look at what was going on outside. Just as I raised my head up, a figure vaulted over me to land in the room. I whirled around ready to face the new threat, brandishing the useless hairbrush
. I could totally ram it through an eye socket if I had no other options. Yeah right.
But instead of an I-Man, a woman, laden down with weapons and covered in tattoos grinned at me.

“
Shhhh
…
be vaaary quiet. I
’
m hunting I-Men.
”
Her eyes slid over me with curiosity.
“
Are you friend or foe?
”

I fought the urge to cover up my skimpy outfit. I could only guess at what she was thinking.
“
Do I look like a man to you? Because if so, you need to get your eyes checked.
”

She tilted her head slightly.
“
Snarky. I like it.
”
With that she turned and ran for the door, despite her earlier words, not seeming to care if anything she did was silent.

“
Wait!
”
I called after her.
“
I need a weapon.
”

She paused, exhaling loudly.
“
Everyone is always trying to take my babies.
”
Without looking back at me, she slid a small handgun from a holster on her belt and tossed it at me. I caught it with one hand.
“
I hope you actually know how to use that thing and don
’
t shoot me in the back of the head. It
’
ll really piss me off. If I don
’
t manage to survive, I
’
ll haunt the fuck out of you.
”

I ground my teeth together, simply grunting as my response. I pulled out the clip to check how full it was, and slammed it back into the gun. The small 9mm automatic only held five bullets. I lifted my gaze to eye the much larger guns attached in various manners to the walking arsenal masquerading as a woman.
“
How about a
—”

“
Nope. Beggars can
’
t be choosers. I keep handing out my babies all willy-nilly and I won
’
t have any left. You don
’
t like it, tough shit. You really have no idea how lucky you are that I gave you even that.
”

“
She
’
s right. Evo is beyond stingy with her babies.
”
Another woman crept up behind me, her eyes rolling demonstratively at the first. Her long dark hair was in braids, her eyes an odd shade rimmed in blue, and her expression softer than her friend
’
s. She also had more than a few weapons strapped onto her body, although nothing like Evo.
They definitely know how to accessorize for an apocalyptic world.

“
How the hell did you both get up here so easily?
”

“
No time for that now. I have I-Men to kill, but you know, if Max wants to sit here and play twenty questions with you
—
more for me.
”
Evo grinned before slipping out the door.

Max shrugged, pushing past me without another word. Curiosity above all else caused me to fall into line behind them. The two women moved easily, slinking down the hallway without the kind of fear that always twisted my gut when I was about to face down I-Men. Maybe it was the insane amount of weapons that Evo was toting, or maybe it was something beyond my comprehension, but whatever it was
…
I felt safer with them.

Evo toed open each door that we passed, peering in before moving on. When we
’
d come to the end of the hallway she stopped abruptly and swiveled around to address me.
“
You can
’
t be the only woman in here.
”
Her eyes traveled up and down my body with meaning.
“
There
’
s no way it was you and all of those I-Men. Unless
…
you a nympho or something?
”

“
Evo!
”
Max snapped.
“
I can
’
t believe you just suggested
—”

“
Well, hey
—
we
’
ve seen stranger things and you know it.
”
Her eyebrow quirked at Max in silent challenge.

My mouth hung open, words temporarily escaping me. I swallowed several times before I could reply.
“
There
’
s a whole house full of women here, and nothing is what it seems. I
—”

Before I could finish, Evo was thundering down the stairs, obviously thrown into motion by the information I
’
d just given her. Max lifted her gaze to the ceiling, exhaled heavily, and then followed her friend. I again fell into line behind them.

As Evo smashed into the basement, where I knew the women of the house had to be holed up with at least a few of their protectors, screams met my ears, followed by bellows of rage, several gunshots, and then nothing. A part of me wanted to run the other direction, but again curiosity overtook me.

I crept down the stairs and into the room, stopping behind Max. Carnage
—
absolute carnage was what I found before me. The acrid tang of blood and
…
other things caused me to choke when I inhaled. I covered my nose and mouth, scanning the area more closely now that I could breathe. All I-Men were down, and from what I could see, most of their heads were now separated from their bodies.
How the hell did Evo and Max accomplish all of this so fast?
The women, all still alive, were interspersed throughout the room, most of them cowering or crying, some doing both.

Tasha made her way from the corner of the room, stumbling a few times over the fallen I-Men, completely covered in gore. When she was close enough, she shoved Evo, who was looking a bit
…
shell shocked.
“
What the hell, Evo? I said not to shoot!
”

I tilted my head. There was a familiarity between the two women, I was sure of it.
“
How the fuck was I supposed to know that they weren
’
t real I-Men?
”

“
What? What the fuck are you talking about?
”
Tasha shoved at Evo again, who was now beginning to look irritated.
“
Of course they were I-Men! But they were ours!
”

Max grabbed Evo
’
s shoulder and wrenched her away, talking furiously in a hushed tone. She stepped in front of Evo, raising her hands in surrender.
“
Were they
—
were they important to you?
”
What the hell does she mean by that? The only kind of good I-Man is a dead one.

“
They were their pets,
”
I spoke up, causing all eyes to swivel in my direction.

“
Pets?
”
Evo said incredulously.
“
So you
’
re saying
…”
Her voice trailed off as she turned back to face Tasha.
“
What kind of sick shit have you gotten into? The last time we saw you
—
you and Emily were running scared. Just took off in your little civic and never looked back.
”

“
Yeah?
”
Tasha ratcheted her chin up.
“
Maybe we were scared, but not anymore. Now we
’
re in control. Or we were.
”
She swept her gaze over the carnage.
“
All of these prime specimens wasted. Isn
’
t it just like you Evo, to shoot first and ask questions later? You
’
ve ruined everything!
”

“
You can
’
t keep I-Men as pets,
”
Evo grated.

Emily stepped up to stand beside Tasha, lacing her fingers with hers.
“
Says who? What are you going to do, arrest us? They protected us
—
served us
—“

“
Serviced you too,
”
I muttered, causing everyone
’
s attention to focus on me again. My eyes widened as I raised my hands.
“
Sorry. It just slipped out.
”

“
Is that true?
”
Max asked, her expression stark.

“
We trained them. They were ours,
”
Emily snapped.
“
We put them down when we needed to and
—”

“
And made new I-Men to replace them,
”
I interjected.
“
Where are the men you just brought in? The uninfected ones? You didn
’
t
—”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat.
“
You didn
’
t get a chance to change them yet, did you?
”

Tams stood, swiping blood from her face.
“
No. We didn
’
t infect them
…
yet. But we
’
re going to need to replenish the kennels. We
’
re going to have to
—”