Outbreak The Living (The Outbreak Series) (2 page)

“Egypt, you’re so bad, but that’s what I love about you,” he says. Walking away, I open the gate. Tomas runs up to meet me, “Ready to go? We're going to push hard this morning,” I say while jogging in place.

“HA! You better be able to keep up, old lady,” Tomas says, laughing. “What the hell is that?” Tomas shoots out of the driveway. Shit! I start running to catch him. Running across the road and into the field I am right behind him. I pace myself as I run. The hay is overgrown because no one is around to cut it anymore. Running for what seems to be forever, we are finally nearing the tree line where we will go in about 500 feet. A right-hand turn follows the trail around until we end up in the woods where the guys will be cutting logs. It is about three miles one way. I see Tomas up ahead running as fast as he can. Ha! I could take him, but I don’t. He needs to win this.

Twenty minutes later out of the corner of my eye, I see something move. Slowing down, I look around. Something seems off. I see Tomas stopping and doing the same. Jogging up to him, I say, “Tomas, something not right, we're not alone.” Listening, I can hear the guys cutting wood.

“Aunt Egypt, we need to get out of here, NOW!”

Looking around one last time. “RUN! Run now, Tomas! GO, GO!” We take off and run and fast as we can, jumping over logs that are laying on the ground. Grabbing my walkie, “Someone pick up” I say as we run a bit further.

“Egypt, Egypt! What’s wrong? Where are you?” Mack says.

“Listen, we are coming to you from the right; we are being followed.” Stopping dead in my tracks! Standing between Tomas and me is Hunter! “Fuck! Mack, get to us now! It’s Hunter, and you know he’s not alone.” Taking a quick look around, there’s nothing I can do. Tomas stops and makes to come back to me. “NO, FUCK THAT! Tomas, GO NOW and get help,” I tell him. “DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK HERE TO ME! GET MACK NOW!" Taking my 9 mm out of its holster, I click the safety off.

“Aunt Egypt! Don’t make me.”

“NOW, Tomas, GO!”

Looking at me one last time, he takes off running. Just as I thought, Hunter did not chase him because he is here for me. Glancing behind me, I see three other guys coming up fast. Turning, I face Hunter. He is grinning at me. I remember what he said the last time. “Well, well, if it isn’t Little Miss Egypt. Why don’t you drop that gun and walk over to me,” he says.

Looking behind me, I know that I wouldn’t get off a shot before they were on top of me. Looking at Hunter, “Why don’t you fuck off, Hunter!” I say.

He grins even bigger now. “Ah, Egypt, I hoped you wouldn’t make this easy for me,” he sneers and starts walking closer to me. I look around for a way to run and there isn’t any. Turning back and bending my knees a little, I’m going to have to fight my way out of this. I know it is useless. There are too many of them. I won’t go down without a fight. One grabs me from behind, whipping around I slam my fist in his face. He bends down, so I take advantage and knee him in the balls. He falls to the ground groaning. I kick him in his face and he is out like a light. Whirling around, I meet Hunter again. “No one else touch her or I will kill the person that does!” he says. He stands about a foot away from me now. Looking at him, I will not back down. Suddenly his arms reach out and I get backhanded, HARD. Falling to my knees, I grab my mouth. Licking my lip, I taste blood.

Damn! That hurt like a bitch. Wiping my mouth, I get up. He grabs me by my ponytail and yanks my head back. Bending down, he kisses me hard. Biting his lip, I can taste the blood that is starting to pool. He pulls harder on my hair, but I don’t let go. All of a sudden, I get a solid kick to my leg, right above me knee. Letting his lip go. I grab at my knee as fire shoots through it. I hear yelling coming from the left. Looking around I don’t understand it. Hunter and I never actually talked. Jake is the one with the thing for me, not Hunter. Lying on the ground holding my knee, I see Hunter looking over into the woods. Rolling over so that I can see who is coming at us. I see Sal and the others break through the thick tree line and come to a halt. Mack makes eye contact with me.

Hunter comes closer to me but does not try to hurt me anymore. The guys that came with him have their guns pointed at my guys. “What the hell is going on here, Hunter?" Sal asks. I can tell that he is pissed by the way he is standing.

“Well you know, we're taking her back with us. I would rather just do her here and go on my merry way, but Jake has different plans for her,” Hunter says. Hunter pulls his Glock and points it right at me.

“You’re fucking nuts if you think I’m going to let you take her anywhere!!” Mack says. My eyes don’t leave him for a second. All of a sudden, I hear walking behind me. Looking over my shoulder I see Jake walking up on us and he’s got Tabby with him.

“What the fuck, Jake? I’ll fucking kill you if you touch her!” I say. I struggle to stand up, but my knee won’t hold any weight on it. There is pain shooting up my leg.

Falling back on the ground, I see Sal make his move to one of the guys that are with Jake. They start fighting. Seeing Mack and the rest of them go at each other I know that we will lose someone. They have Tabby. Tomas is here. I can’t risk them. Thinking fast, I try to stand up again. The pain is so bad that it is making me sick to my stomach. “STOP, STOP,” I yell. Everyone one there starts to turn towards me. Mack tries to walk over to me but is stopped by some short red-haired guy. Looking around, I have to get some control back or this is going to get really ugly. “What do you want, Jake?” I ask.

I hear Mack give a low growl, Sal is shifting from one foot to the other. Tabby looks scared out of her mind.

“You, Egypt. I want you. You come with me and I’ll let your daughter go,” Jake says. The yelling and screaming starts. Looking around, I have to make a decision fast. I have to get Tabby away from him and get the kids to safety. I know these guys would die for me. But I cannot let them do that.

I don’t see any other way. “OK, Jake, I will go with you! But first let me go talk to Mack. You can hold on to Tabby so you know I’m not going to back on my word.” I say. Everyone quiets and looks over at me like I have grown two heads. Looking at Jake, he nods his head. I start to walk over to Mack and I know that my knee is not going to help me walk.

Dragging my leg behind me, I make my way to Mack. I hear Sal yelling my name. I look over and shake my head. Getting to Mack I fall into him. Wrapping my arms around him I whisper in his ear, “Listen, this is the only way. Get the kids to safety, find out how he got to her. I hurt all over. I really got my ass kicked this time. “

Mack squeezes me softly. “Egypt, don’t you dare ask me to watch them walk away with you. I won’t fucking do it!” he says forcefully.

Hugging him, I pull away a little. I look him in the eyes. I can see the hurt and despair in them. “Come for me," I whisper to him. Walking away I look over at my other guys. I know Pete understands why I’m doing this. We really are outnumbered. Sal is shaking. He is so pissed. Giving him a small smile, I turn and hobble back to Jake. Walking right up to him, I grab Tabby out of his grasp and give her a big hug. “Shhh, don’t say anything, baby, go to Pete right now. I will be fine.” Looking over my shoulder at Jake. He nods. Tabby runs over to Pete. I feel Jake put his arm around my waist. My hand reaches out and I grab his chest to steady myself.

“Go, start walking away,” Jake says to my group. He looks over and says to Hunter, "You and I will talk later, give us twenty minutes and follow. Make sure they don’t circle back around. Matter of fact, two of you stay behind to make sure they don’t follow us. At least two hours,” he says.

Gently grabbing my arm, he starts to lead me away. It’s very slow going I can see my knee turning black and blue. My ribs hurt and I’m sure my face is swelling. I can hear Tabby yelling for me and shouting. I don’t look back. We walk for about ten minutes and my knee finally gives out. I never hit the ground because strong arms catch me. “That motherfucker will pay for touching you,” Jake says. He swings me up into his arms like I weigh nothing at all.

“Let go of me, put me down,” I growl. I feel him shaking. I see that he’s laughing. “Egypt, you can’t walk. Hunter did a number on you. Just let me carry you to the SUV,” he says. Shit! I’m going to have to give in and let him. If I push my knee anymore it might not heal back to normal.

“So tell me, how is it any different what you want to do to me than what Hunter did?” I feel him stiffen up. Looking into his face. I slowly make my eyes go upwards until I am looking him in the eyes.

“Because, Egypt, I’d never hit a woman. And besides, you will enjoy what I’m going to do with you,” he says.

“You can’t be fucking serious, Jake! I’m never going to want to sleep with you.” Jake jumps over a creek and it jars my knee. Gasping for air, I think I’m going to pass out.

“Sorry, Egypt. I know you hurt,” he says. Looking around I know where I am, sort of. We are heading to the lake up the road. Looking out ahead I see a boat with a guy waiting in it. “Hey, Gus. Start her up we need to get a move on,” Jake says. He slowly gets into the boat. I try to get down so that I can sit on my own until he squeezes me. I stop moving. He sits down and moves me so that I am cradled in his arms on his lap. I try not to move too much. I find myself dozing off. “What the hell happened to her, Jake?” Gus asks.

I can feel his eyes on me, but I don’t move or open my eyes. “Hunter is what happened!” Jake growls.

“What the hell is wrong with that guy, to beat women like that, he’s sick Jake. Something needs to be done about him.” Gus says.

“I know, and he will be dealt with, I promise you that!” Gently he pushes a strand of hair out of my face. I’m jolted out of my light doze as we hit the bank on the other side. Looking around I try and see where we are. I know there’s no way to run. My knee wouldn’t get me far. I have to bide my time until it heals.

“Hold on to me, Egypt. I’m going to get up,” Jake says. I wrap my arms around his neck as he smiles and gets up. I can feel the action of standing tug on my ribs. He gets out of the boat and walks up a path to where an SUV is waiting. Someone is in it and gets out to open the back doors for him. Jake gently puts me in the SUV and settles in next to me. Gus gets into the passenger front seat. The driver puts the car in gear and takes off. “Egypt, I’m going to check out your injuries, don’t move. “ Looking at him, he grabs a box out of the back of the SUV and opens it.

What now? I have to have this man’s hands all over me? “You know what, I'm all right. There’s really no need. Besides, I really don’t want you touching me,” I say. I see that he has stiffened up as I said that.

Leaning close to me, so that he is almost laying on top of me, he whispers, “Egypt, by this time tomorrow you will be begging for me to touch you, every part of you.” Shivering, I try to move away from him. “Let me help you, I never wanted Hunter to do this to you. And, believe me, he is going to pay,” he says. Laying there, I let him look me over. He runs his hands over my stomach and up to my ribs. Slowly, he stops them right under my breasts. At some point, my breath must have picked up because I see him grinning. Damn it, I don’t want this, but my traitorous body is saying something else. “Well, it doesn’t look like anything is broken, some bruised ribs and that knee, you’re going to have to stay off of it for a few days,” he says.

“Yeah, well you should see the other guy. I was fine till they ganged up on me. Real men you got there, Jake,” I say.

I try to move a little away from him but, it does hurt like hell. “Hold still for just a second, “ he says.

All of a sudden, I feel a prick. “What the hell did you just give me, Jake?” Things are starting to get fuzzy and I’m getting scared as I look over at Jake. I reach over to him.

“Egypt, you're safe. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he says. “You needed something for the pain. It’s going to be a long ride since we are going out of state,” he adds. Trying to fight it, my eyes are winning, we are going out of state? How is Mack ever going to find me? I hear these guys talking, but that too is getting fuzzy.

Jake - in the truck

“She’s out for a few hours,” I say. “I can’t believe that Hunter messed her up like that. She did mess up Sam a good one, but to jump her like that. I’m going to beat the shit out of him when we see him.” Looking up at the guys in the front, they have been with me just as long as Hunter has and I know they would never do this.

“That guy is really messed in the head. And he really did a number on her. Is she going to be OK?" Gus asks. Gus looks back at Egypt then to me.

“She’s going to be sore that’s for sure, but it doesn’t seem like anything is broken,” I say. “We heading to the state line? A place where we can stay for the night?” I ask.

Luke, the driver, speaks up, “Yep, a few guys headed there a few hours ago are getting the camp set up.”

Looking down to Egypt, she’s sleeping. It’s better this way really, she needs the rest. Taking a piece of stray hair, I move it behind her ear. Her hand slowly wraps around my stomach. I tense up. It feels so good her touching me. I can feel my cock starting to fill up. Taking my hand, I slowly I run my fingers down her neck along her ribs and stop at her hips. God, is she gorgeous. Her legs are long and perfectly shaped. Her hips have just the right flair to them. I gently squeeze them. Leaving my hand there, I look at her more. Her stomach is flat, not any fat. You can tell she works out all the time. Moving my eyes to her breasts, they are not huge, my hands would fit perfectly over them. They are round and firm. Moving on to her face, she is just perfect. Those lips are begging to be kissed. I can’t forget about her eyes. A man could drown in them. I will have her soon enough one way or the other. She will learn to love me and want me to touch her.

She moves closer to me and runs her hand over my side. I know that she is asleep, but it still feels amazing. I know when I was touching her before that her body was responding. You cannot fake that. I am aware that she was embarrassed by it too. Grinning, I look out the window to see where we are. “Guys, I’m going to sleep for a while. Wake me if there is anything going on. I have a feeling this is going to be one hell of a night,” I say. Looking up in the front of the car, I see the guys hold back a laugh. “What?” I say.

They burst out laughing and it seems like I have to wait 10 minutes before they can answer me. “Well, your fault, dude. You had to have the little spitfire! Is she going to give you trouble, Jake?” Gus asks.

Chucking an empty pop can at him, I then shift a little bit. I get comfortable then I move Egypt so that I can hold her. I know she will be pissed but I just can’t help it. Closing my eyes, I try and get some sleep.

Sal and Mack

Everyone is sitting in the command center of the house. Everyone is yelling and talking about what we need to do. I really do not care what everyone else thinks. I’m going after her. I am not going to just leave her. I told her I would wait as long as it takes and I mean that. I know that she is with Sal. I know they have not slept together yet. Sal would have bragged about it if they had. I see her kids. The boys are holding it together, but Tabby is a mess. This isn’t good for her. She is due in two months. She needs her mother here. Why did Egypt come to me and not Sal? So many questions and she is not here to answer. Walking back to the group, Pete looks over to me.

"Mack, what did she say to you?” Pete says.

Looking over at Sal, this is not going to go over very well. “She told me to come and find her! To get the kids back to the house and find out how they got to Tabby,” I say.

Hank sits down at one of the computers. Pushing a few buttons, he’s watching one of the surveillance tapes. Sal is just staring at me. I know that we will have words after this meeting breaks up.

“I can see that Tabby walks over to the back fence and opens the back gate. What I don’t know is why she did. Tabby?” Hanks asks as he looks over at Tabby.

“He said he needed to get me that my mom was hurt, I didn’t think I just opened it,” she says through sobs.

Hank nods his head and walks over to the couch. “So ideas on how we go about this?” Hank asks. Everyone looks around the room.

“I’m just going to go get her back, take whatever we have here and get it done,” Sal says.

This starts a big argument with everyone.

Nate stands up. “Sal what gives you the right to make the decisions in this? Didn’t she go to Mack and not you? Why is that?”

Looking over to Sal, I know this is going to go to hell, fast! “I don’t have a clue why she didn’t come to me, Nate. Maybe because Mack was closer. What do you think we need to do?"

Nate doesn’t get to say anything because Hank stands up. “I’m Egypt’s second in command so to speak, this is what we’re going to do.” He looks around to each of us. “Mack and Sal you will go get her. The rest of us will lock the house down and make sure we will be safe here in case they come and attack here after you get her. Does anyone have any questions?” Hank asks. I look over to Sal and nod. “OK, Sal and Mack, you go plan and be ready to leave in the morning. The rest of us will discuss the things here that need to be done. Tabby have Mimi get bags ready for them, and see how long until dinner,” he says.

Walking over to Mack I know I have to keep my cool when all I really want to do is kill him. Why did she go to him and not me? She’s mine, not his. Maybe I’m reading too much into this. My head feels like it’s going to explode.

“Sal, you OK?” Mack says. 

“Why did she go to you, dude, and not me? We have a thing, not you two.” Looking over at Mack, I wait for him to answer me.

“Listen, I don’t know why she came to me. I’m not going to lie. I’d wait as long as it takes to be with her and she knows how I feel,” Mack says. My heart drops to my stomach. I think I have always known how he’s felt for her. Nodding at Mack, he puts his hand on my shoulder. “Sal, we will get her back, she’s a tough woman,” Mack says.

I am so about to lose it. “Mack, you know he’s going to rape her. I can’t think of what she’s going through, and we can’t protect her from it happening.”

Looking at Sal, I know what he’s going through. The way she looked me in the eyes and told me to come and get her. I know she knows what’s going to happen. And it is ripping me in two. “OK, Sal, we need to man up. This isn’t helping Egypt or bringing her back. Let’s get our packs together and wait for those guys to leave and we will follow them,” I say.

“What about Hank? He said wait until morning?” Sal asks.

Looking over at Hank, I say, “He’ll understand.”

I watch Sal walk away and head to our RV. Looking out across the road, I see those guys still there. They are on borrowed time, they just don’t know it. I hear footsteps behind me. Looking over my shoulder I see that it is Nate.

“I don’t know why my mom went to you, but she did. She seems to think that you can get her back. Can you?" Nate asks.

Putting my hand on his shoulder, I say, “Yep, I sure can, and I will Nate, I will bring your mother home, I promise.”

Nodding, Nate walks back down the stairs. Seeing movement out in the field, I grab my gun and head down the stairs. Grabbing my walkie “Sal, time to move out, meet me by the truck. Stat!” Taking the steps two at a time, I’m in the garage.

Sal comes bursting through the back door, two packs flung over his shoulders. He has two packs in his hands. Throwing it in the back of the truck, we both get in. Starting the engine, we wait until they move out.

“Be careful out there you guys and bring her home,” Hank says.

Looking over, I see Pete putting a first aid kit in the back along with a cooler. Nodding at him, he moves away from the truck. “We will, Hank. That’s a promise,” I say. Looking out the windshield those guys start to move out. We wait until they get out of view and open the gate and pull out to follow.