“You are not the greatest conversationalist.” She glances at me out of the corner of her eye.
I shrug. I can’t argue the point. Conversation is distracting, and I need to be on my toes at all times. I scan the area again, that niggling feeling still in the pit of my stomach.
“Tell me about Katrina,” Hannah says.
“I don’t know that much about her.” I reach up and scratch the back of my head. “She’s pretty feisty, like you. I’m interested to see if she has taken a liking to either of the guys. They’re all about the same age, and Marco and Sam were both eyeing her.”
Hannah laughs softly and then cringes.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know,” she says as she takes a deep breath. “I think it’s just all the walking. My back is still killing me, and my feet are threatening to strike.”
“Not much farther, I promise.” I’m lying. At the rate we’re going, it will be another hour before we reach the coordinates Katrina provided. Hannah has slowed down again, and I sigh as I shorten my stride and move a little to her right.
We only get a few blocks farther before Hannah has to stop. She wraps an arm around the underside of her belly, supporting it.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Maybe it was something I ate,” Hanna continues. “I feel like if I could just get out a good fart, I would feel better, but I can’t.”
I laugh.
“It’s not funny!”
“You saying ‘fart’ is funny.”
“It hurts!”
I reach out and rub the small of her back.
“When we look for those flavor packets, we’ll find you some Gas-X, too,” I tell her.
“I may need it. It really does hurt.”
Hannah leans against a retaining wall near an alley. I can’t get her to sit even though her feet are hurting. She’s afraid she won’t be able to get back up. I take a quick run around the area, hoping maybe there are the remnants of a drug store around, but I find nothing. I’m not familiar with this part of town. I’m nearly back to the retaining wall when I hear Hannah scream.
My body turns cold. My legs suddenly feel like they can’t keep me upright, and I can’t take a breath.
Hannah is still next to the wall. Behind her, Caesar stands with his arm around her neck and the barrel of a gun pressed against her temple. There is no doubt that Caesar didn’t escape the destruction of the compound without injury. His face and neck are badly burned, and his left ear is gone, likely burned off. He must have been caught in the explosion but somehow managed to get himself away in time.
How did he survive?
“Did you really think I was just going to stand by while you steal my property and blow up my camp?” He shakes Hannah roughly.
She cries out again, one hand still under her bulging stomach and the other gripping Caesar’s forearm. I can see the tears on her face from here as she stares at me.
Caesar pulls the gun away from her head and aims it at me.
“I’ve officially had enough of you,” he says.
Oh, fuck.
Chapter 9
Even though I know there’s a gun pointed straight at me, the only thing my brain can register is that he has his hands on her.
That motherfucker has his hands on my Hannah.