Chapter 47: The Sea Wolves
EDWARD
Masen was suspicious of us. I didn't blame him. Who could trust strangers that invaded the safety of his home and were now suddenly offering for him and the children in his care to join their group?
"People don't just offer to take in strangers when supplies in this world are at a premium," he said, sharply.
"I just told you that we have a place where we plan to move and we need seeds and supplies to build," I said, keeping where we were going as vague as possible. "In exchange for those things, we're offering you a place with us. We're not just offering out of the goodness of our hearts. We both have something each other needs."
"I just don't buy the altruistic act that you're trying to sell me. People in this world only survive by being ruthless, so tell me the truth. What's your play?" Masen said again.
I sighed in frustration and dragged my hand through my hair.
"Pardon my saying," Carlisle interrupted. "You and the children can't stay here when you run out of food. We can offer you the chance at having a future. Don't the children deserve that?"
After a pause to process what I said, Masen scoffed.
"You sound like Arthur... I can't saddle the kids with another group of dreamers that are just going to get themselves killed."
When Masen continued to stare at us in distrust, Jasper spoke.
"We have children in our group. Two of the children are around Austin's age. My wife and I have a baby and two of the other women in our group are pregnant," Jasper said in a quiet voice. "Do you think we would risk their lives for an unrealistic dream? I want my daughter to have a future and our destination is the best hope I have of giving her that."
It was at that moment that Bella emerged from a room down the hall with the children in tow. The three of them seemed to hover around Bella, especially Lilly. She was clinging to Bella's leg like a little leech.
Bella was smiling down at the three giggling children and ruffled Max's hair.
They seemed starved for a woman's affection. Masen had been trying to provide the children with everything they needed since the massacre of their group but I felt like sometimes children just craved a maternal touch.
Thoughts of my mother and my little sister flooded my head and my heart clenched in a wave of homesickness for my family.
Being an only child, Bella had never been all that comfortable around children, but Chris and Clara had brought out a side of Bella that had never existed before. Now she was so natural about it.
There was such softness about her in these moments with children. It was an emotion that she often had to smother because of the world we lived in. But right now it was coming off her in waves.
She reached down and pried Lilly off her leg only to pick her up. Lilly wrapped her arms around Bella's neck and whispered something in her ear. Bella laughed and tickled the little girl's side as the boys tried to drag her to another room.
I felt my heart lurch with a wave of love and something else that I couldn't quite put a name to. However, I suddenly wanted nothing more than to drag her away for some privacy.
Swallowing roughly, I shook that thought from my head.
I looked around at the rest of them and saw both Jasper and Carlisle smiling affectionately at the sight.
However, when I turned to Masen, I bristled with anger. He was looking at Bella with a very similar look to what I had only a moment ago.
"Chill, Edward," Jasper murmured next to me.
Stifling a growl that threatened to escape, I called out to Bella.
"Babe?" I said. "Can you come over here?"
Bella put Lilly down and came over to me.
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back so she was leaning against my chest.
Masen looked at the two of us and then made eye contact with me.
With a shrug of apology, he grinned wryly.
"Masen thinks that what we're doing is just a pipe dream and we're going to get ourselves killed," I said, resting my chin on the top of her head.
"You should come to the apartments and meet our leader and our group. Get a feel for us before you make any decision. We're not that far away from here," Bella said.
"I wanna go, Mase," Max said, leaning into Masen's side. "There are other kids there."
"Please," Lilly whined, clambering for Masen to pick her up.
"Shut up, guys. We're going to do whatever Masen decides," Austin said, glaring at the other two children.
Masen looked skeptical, but his arms had dropped from where they'd been crossed stubbornly across his chest.
"We'll give you the address, so you can come to us," Carlisle said.
Taking out her notebook, Bella wrote down the address for Camden Head apartments and gave it to Masen.
Masen nodded and took the paper from her.
Before leaving, Masen let the four of us go back through the displays in the museum to see if there was anything else in the exhibits that we could use. He still seemed to think we were crazy, but at least he'd promised to drop by to talk to Ben at some point in the near future.
In one display, Bella found a couple of grills on tripods that could sit over a fire pit. Because of their age, I wouldn't trust putting any food directly on them, but we'd be able to put our pots and pans on top. After having cooked over an open fire many times, I knew that these grills would be a great help.
In one of the back rooms filled with boxes of artefacts that hadn't been put on display, we found two other great finds, a foot powered sewing machine and something called a reflector oven for baking.
Who would've thought that a museum could be such a lifesaver?
Over the next couple of weeks, scavenging teams went out every morning with lists of things that had been written by Esme, Alice, Angela and some of the others who were using our books about the pioneers as a guide.
There was so much we needed if we wanted to stay on the island without returning to the mainland. The biggest worry was the fact that we didn't have any livestock. Cows, chickens, and sheep would have made our lives so much easier. Pioneers used their animals for everything from food to spinning wool.
Two weeks had almost passed and Masen and the children still hadn't come for a visit. In the back of my mind, I agonized over the idea that we might very well have to go back there and just take the seeds and building supplies by force. I didn't want to do that but we needed what they had and Masen was the stumbling block.
Bella seemed to sense my worry, but she felt confident that Masen would come.
"Don't worry. He seems like a good man. He'll put the needs of the children before his own. He knows that he can't provide them with a future on his own," she said, snuggling against my chest as we lay in bed.
I nodded, but I couldn't shake the worry that I'd have to use force against him.
"Once he comes for a visit, he'll definitely want to join us. He's really hot. A lot of the women here will scratch each other's eyes out to snag him. He won't be able to resist that," she said, with an undertone of amusement.
I growled deep in my throat.
"I'm sure he won't by the way he was staring at you the other day," I muttered.
Bella laughed, causing me to look at her.
She had a twinkle in her eye and a grin on her face, showing me that she'd been very aware of the way Masen had looked at her and she was teasing me about it.
"Those freckles and black hair will make a lot of the ladies swoon," she said.
"Not you though, right?" I growled, rolling onto my side so that I was looking at her face to face.
"Oh… I don't know about that… That deep voice…" she laughed.
With a snarl, I pinned her to the bed.
"You're mine," I snarled, burrowing my face in her neck and nipping at her skin a little harder than I usually did.
Bella's laughter turned into a moan.
"Only yours…"
My anxiety grew stronger day after day as we gathered all the supplies we needed. No matter how hard we looked we couldn't find any stores that would provide us with enough seeds to sustain us.
After over two weeks had passed, the guard on duty sounded the alarm of strangers approaching.
We quickly mobilized in the way that we'd trained.
Bella and some of the others that were good shots hurried to the roof while others were sent to the front door of the building. Ben and I were charged with going down the fire escape and meeting the intruders because besides Jasper we were the best at hand to hand combat.
Almost immediately I recognized Masen and the three kids so I whistled to the others to stand down.
Strangely all three children were dressed head to toe in snow suits, including hats, gloves and snow boots even though it was only fall and there was not a snowflake on the ground.
Masen was dressed more lightly, but he was armed to the teeth and was warily looking around with his gun raised.
"Masen," I said, stepping forward with my hands out in front to show that I'd put away my weapon. "I'm glad you came."
"Edward," Masen said, lowering his weapon and stepping forward to shake my hand. "I thought it was time to come by."
"Mase," Lilly whined, tugging on his leg. "I'm too hot."
Austin reached out and pulled her away from Masen.
"It keeps us safe from the monsters, Lil," Austin said. "Just wait a little longer."
"Come on in and let me show you around," I said, stifling my sigh of relief.
Floor by floor, I introduced him to the others in our group. Immediately, Chris and Isaac latched onto Masen and Austin and they were soon running around the building playing hide and seek. Once Lilly met Alice, she wouldn't leave her side. Alice's exuberant spirit had her enthralled and Lilly was completely fascinated by Clara who was crawling now.
Ben decided to lay everything on the table in front of Masen. We had to convince him that the plan was real, so that he would choose to join us. We showed him the map of where the island was located and explained to him our plans for the future. Ben didn't try to sugar coat the difficulties that we'd be facing getting to the island and then settling, but he tried to show him that we would overcome those obstacles.
Masen was silent for most of it and he didn't give much away through his body language.
I was worried that Ben was being too blunt about the challenges of moving to the island.
The kids rejoined us as the rest of the group met on the roof for lunch. It wasn't much, just some oatmeal mixed with dried fruit, but it was filling.
I'd hated oatmeal before the end of the world, but now I relished in the pleasant heat of it as it filled my stomach taking away the hunger temporarily.
Masen watched the children with a pained look on his face as they gobbled down the oatmeal and asked for more.
I tried not to stare at him as I desperately tried to read what was going on in his head, but this was the first emotion that he'd shown all day.
When he made eye contact with me, he finally let me in.
"We're almost out of food. I won't have anything to feed them in a few days," he said, sounding defeated.
I let out a deep sigh and placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Then join us. We can offer you the chance at a future. Staying here, staying on the mainland will only get you and the kids killed. We tried setting up a colony here. We created a home inside a walled community, but it was destroyed. There's always going to be the dead and other survivors that are going to try to take what you have. How will you protect the kids and make sure they are fed when you need to leave them alone to scavenge? On an island, the ocean is our protection and with the seeds you have we will have plenty of food to live on. "
He just looked at me as I spoke, again hiding his emotions as he listened to me.
"It's going to be hard. We all know that, but it'll be worth it. There's strength in numbers, Masen. No one can make it on their own in this world."
He nodded at that and exhaled deeply. The sigh that escaped his dry lips was slow, as if his brain needed that time to process his lack of alternatives.
His eyes remained fixed on the children for a moment longer before he set his bowl down and went over to Ben.
"If you'll still have us, we'll join your group."
Masen and the children moved in the next day. They didn't have much in the way of personal items so it only took one trip to the museum.
We were amazed at the amount of seeds Masen's group had accumulated. His leader Arthur must have had a plan since the beginning to create a self-sustaining colony, so he gathered a lot of supplies before other survivors had even considered it.
There was a good variety of seeds in the crates, so as long as we were careful and made sure to gather and preserve the seeds from the plants year after year we had a good chance of sustainability. Also, we would have the edible plants on the island to supplement our diet if times got tough.
One of the final things we had to get sorted out was clothing. Most of us were dressed in an odd assortment of clothes, all of it old and none of it matching. The majority of the clothing that I owned was worn and threadbare. The pioneers that travelled the Oregon trail brought with them two or three changes of durable clothing along with coats and boots that would keep them warm in the rain and snow. They also brought cloth for making clothing. So that was our next task. We needed to find a shopping centre where we could find good quality clothing that would have to last us a long time as well as cloth to make clothes to replace the others when they wore out.
Not everyone could go, but enough of us had to in order to guard and look for clothing in people's correct sizes.
So with a notebook, Claire took it upon herself to talk to everyone and right down their clothing and shoe sizes.
We found clothing in Embry, Katie, Rose and Emmett's apartments in order to take their measurements, but I wasn't exactly sure what size shoes Emmett wore. Hopefully, we'd be able to make the correct guess.
In the phone book, we found a mall that had regular clothing stores in it, but also one that included Columbia outdoor clothing.
We decided to divide our scavenging group into men and women. Each group would be in charge of buying clothing for their gender. I wasn't sure I liked being separated from Bella, but it made sense.
Bella, Alice, Leah, Gianna, and Claire were chosen to search for women's clothing while Ben, Jasper, Quil, Masen, and I would be looking for the men's.
The Camden shopping mall had architecture that many government institutions could only have dreamed of. The ceiling was domed higher than any cathedral and had at one time been covered in the most beautiful stained glass.
Now, many of those beautiful windows were shattered allowing the rain which was at times heavy to pour in unfettered.
In the centre of the shopping mall was an atrium that had once been a food court with three levels of stores surrounding it.
The minute we stepped inside we immediately fell silent as we listened for the familiar sounds of the dead. However, it was quiet, so either the dead had made their way out of the mall or they were hidden in recesses of the mall where they would pop up on us unaware.
The minute I thought this, a skeletal creature burst out of one of the stores, shuffling towards me like a decrepit old man. One arm had been shredded, exposing the white bone beneath. The skull was also exposed on top, looking like he had been scalped in an attempt to put him down.
Hauling out my axe, I took the creature down with a splat as it collapsed to the ground and split open. It was at the point of decay where it was practically liquid inside.
With a grunt of disgust, Quil side-stepped the growing pool of foul smelling liquid.
"When in the hell are these things going to be so rotted that they just stop moving? I mean… it's gotta happen sometime, right? Once they're just skeletons they can't eat, so won't they just… stop?" he asked.
I thought the same thing. There had to be a point when they just started to "die" for want of a better word. The human race was getting small enough at this point that there weren't an unlimited number of people to turn into zombies. Yes, we'd turn when we died unless we had someone to take care of us, but that wasn't enough to replace all the dead that were still milling the street.
I wondered what the world would be like if the streets were no longer filled with dead.
I shook these thoughts out of my head and returned to the task at hand.
Immediately past the entrance, there was a map of the mall showing where the different stores were located. Most of the women's clothing was on the second floor while the men's was on the third.
Quickly, we dug into the task of finding clothing. We each had a certain number of people to shop for, including ourselves.
We didn't go for style or color. We went for durable, warm, and multi-purpose. We needed clothes for winter, summer, rain, and it all had to be made from long lasting material. We would have the ability to stitch ripped clothing, but there was nothing that could be done for clothing that became threadbare.
We practically cleared out the children's clothing section. It was clear that once people were settled babies would soon follow. It was happening already. So we would need clothing in all sizes.
Finding clothes for Emmett was the problem. He was a big guy, so most clothing wouldn't fit him. In each store, there were small sections that were for above-average size men, so I just took everything I could get my hands on. I knew that a lot of the clothes we'd get today would be left behind in Camden Head when we left, but it would be easier to dig through them at the apartment building.
Surprisingly we found very few dead in the mall. After we had filled cart loads with clothing of all sizes and lugged them down the stalled escalators, I noticed that in the back where the food stalls used to be that part of the mall was missing, like a bomb had gone off. Probably a lot of dead had found their way out that way.
Once we'd pulled all of our carts down to the entrance, we went back up to the second floor to help the women with theirs.
I was shocked when I reached the top of the stairs to hear the sounds of laughter and happy chatter. We'd been quite serious about outfitting everyone for our new life, but it seemed like the girls had other ideas.
The place was literally torn apart, and not by zombies. Clothes were flying in all directions as the girls searched through everything. There were already two cartloads of clothing piled high at the top of the escalators which showed they weren't just having fun.
"Take this, Bella," Alice called out from the racks of clothing. "Edward will love it!"
The others laughed, but I didn't hear Bella.
"Bella?" I called out when I didn't see her.
The others fell silent when they realized I was there.
Bella popped out from behind a shelf that was stacked with jeans.
She was beet red and definitely flustered.
I walked over to her.
"What's going on?" I asked, looking between her and the others.
"Nothing…" she muttered, flushing even more red.
"Just picking out clothing, Edward dear…" Gianna called out with a snicker.
"Masen?" Gianna asked, stepping out from behind a rack of clothing. "I'm trying to decide on a few outfits. Would you like to give me your advice?"
She smiled at him with a predatory twinkle in her eyes.
Gianna was one of the women we had rescued from Company Z. She was quite beautiful with black wavy hair and jade green eyes. And despite our limited diet, Gianna had maintained her voluptuous body which I knew had captivated a lot of the single men in our group, no matter what age. Leah was constantly on the look-out for Gianna around Seth even though he was old enough to make his own decisions.
"Ummm…" Masen said, uncomfortably. "We gotta get going. I need to get back to the kids."
Gianna just smirked and walked over to us with an armful of clothing.
"Maybe I can show you later…" she said, walking past him close enough that she could drag the fingertips of her right hand across his chest.
Masen took a step back as if burned and looked around as if he needed to make an escape. A lot of women had shown interest in our newest bachelor, but Gianna was the only one who was openly pursuing him.
"Are you guys almost done?" I asked, looking at the other women. "We need to leave soon."
Quickly we finished gathering the clothing and took them down the escalator.
Hastily, we shoved the clothes into the boxes that we'd placed in the van. There were far more clothes than the boxes could carry, but it would just mean an extra trip up the stairs when we got home.
Everyone else dropped their backpacks in the trunk, but Bella held hers to her chest.
"Put your bag in the back, Bella," I said. "There's plenty of room."
However, when I reached for it, she kept a firm grip on it.
"No. It's alright. I'm going to keep it with me," she said, blushing deeply again.
I looked at her in confusion as Gianna and Alice let out a laugh.
"What am I missing?" I asked, looking around, but the guys looked just as lost as me.
"Nothing…" Bella huffed, pushing me towards the back seat of the van.
"But, Bella…" I began.
"Just get in. I'll tell you later," she said with another huff.
"Don't you mean show?" Claire muttered from her seat ahead of us.
Bella didn't respond, but I saw a hint of a smirk cross her face.
We put all the clothing in one of the empty apartments with piles set out for each person.
Everyone descended on them like it was Christmas day. There was laughter and excitement as people grabbed their piles and hurried to their apartments to try them on.
Not everything was the best fit, but we had a sewing machine and Heidi, one of the other women we rescued from Company z, was a decent seamstress.
So, it wasn't long before the piles of clothing thinned out until there wasn't much of a discard pile left.
I worried that the clothing that I'd picked for Emmett wouldn't fit him, but there was nothing much I could do about that. I erred on the side of too big because Heidi could maybe alter them once we got there.
At around sunset, Bella and I decided to return to our apartment, planning on calling it an early night.
Bella slipped away from me and into the bathroom when we entered the apartment.
She was in there for a while, so I decided to get ready for bed. After changing into my sleepwear, I added a couple of blankets to our bed. It was getting colder at night and despite our body heat keeping us warm, I loved the feel of layers of blankets cocooning us.
When Bella came out of the bathroom, she hadn't changed into her sleep wear even though I'd heard a lot of rustling around behind the closed door.
She looked nervous as she approached me which in turn made me nervous.
"What's going on?" I asked, reaching out for her and pulling her towards me.
"Nothing's wrong…" she said, and I recognized the husky tenor of her voice.
"Really?" I asked, pulling her closer with my hands on her hips.
"I was just wondering whether you want me to tell you or show you what we were talking about at the mall today. Do you want to know what we were discussing?" she murmured, leaning close to me.
I froze and looked into her eyes, getting caught up in the lust emanating from them.
"Yes… yes… I would," I said.
"Which one? Show or tell?" she asked me, with one eyebrow raised sexily.
"What would you suggest?" I asked.
"Well, it would be easier for me to show you, but I need your help," she said in almost a purr.
"Well you know I'm a helpful guy," I said, practically shaking in anticipation. Bella wasn't often playful like this in our love-life, so I was eager to see where she was going with this.
"It's a present, so you'll have to unwrap it," she said, leaning into me and nipping along the edge of my jaw.
"Where is it?" I asked, hoarsely.
"I'm wearing it" she said as she rubbed her lips lightly along the pulse point in my neck.
My mouth went dry as I pushed her back slightly, palms on her hips. Her clothes were the same standard ones that I'd seen her in for years.
For a second she looked confused when I pushed her away, causing a frown to furrow her brow.
"Under this?" I asked, plucking at the collar of her shirt.
Bella smiled happily as she stepped out of my arms.
"What's under there?" I stuttered out.
Reaching out, I circled her wrists with my hands and tugged her back to me. She went easily into my arms, pressing her body firmly against mine.
As I ducked my head to press my mouth against her throat, she looped her arms around my neck
"So what is it?" I murmured against her skin while I ran my hands down the line of her arms from her wrists, down to the curve of her elbows and then up to her shoulders and neck.
Bella pulled back from me again in order to look me in the eye.
She cocked her head to the side, putting on a serious face. When she caught her lip between her teeth in thought, I wanted to kiss her but resisted as I waited for her to say something.
"Why don't you take my shirt off and find out?"
I didn't need any more encouragement.
Before she could let another laugh escape, I crowded her against the wall kissing her wildly as I unbuttoned her shirt with shaking hands.
Time seemed to stand still at that point. All my mind could register was lace, sheer, blue, and naked skin. It was like my brain was on overload and I could only deal with one aspect at a time.
Almost as if it had a mind of its own, my right hand reached out for her shoulder and began running along the silky strap of the little piece of heaven she was wearing. My eyes followed my hand as it glided down her neck, lingering on her collarbone before continuing downward over her soft curves.
It was only when her hand reached out and stopped mine that I registered that she was talking to me.
"Uh… wh… what?" I asked, trying to shake myself out of the sex-induced haze she had reduced me to.
She laughed softly at my dazed expression.
"Well, I guess you like it. But you gotta enjoy it now because it's not coming to the island with us," she said.
I was nodding before all of the words were even out of her mouth.
"Right… right… enjoy it… I can do that…" I said as I dropped to my knees and pulled her towards me.
Things began to move quickly after that and it wasn't long before it was time for a group to leave to search for transportation to the island.
Jane helped us by pointing out a few places along the coast where she believed there were marinas that might have boats we could use. Also, she pointed out a few areas that were mostly privately owned beach side cabins that could also have boats.
Peter, Tia, Bella and I were chosen to go on the expedition. We were given seven days for our search. After that, we needed to return to Camden Head regardless of what we found. We planned on taking the same route to the ocean as we'd done before because the shorter the distance we'd have to travel to the island the better. Gas was going to be an issue. We could only spare enough for one vehicle and that would only get us to the ocean and back. Any more than that, we'd have to find on our journey. We had more gas at Camden head but our group would need it to relocate to the island.
I was pretty sure that Peter wanted to come because he had trouble being still now that Charlotte was gone. He always kept himself busy, probably to give himself less time with his own thoughts. He'd become quite thin and haggard since Charlotte's death, so I didn't think the man slept much anymore.
Tia wanted to come because she said she knew some of the places that Stefan's group had already scavenged, so she could show us where not to look. Like Peter, Tia didn't like sitting still, probably for very similar reasons to him. I shuddered to think about the things that she'd experienced while she was being held captive by company z.
They were an interesting pair. They were together all the time. They even shared an apartment, but they weren't overly friendly with each other. They were more like comrades-in-arms. I felt like they were probably so traumatized by their past that it was all they were capable of.
The day we left was a cool autumn day. Frosty swirls of mist escaped my lips as I breathed in the frigid air. Not for the first time, I hoped that Emmett and the others on the island were able to build enough wigwams to house us for the winter because I wasn't sure that when we finally made it there that we would have the time to build them. It was even too late for us to grow our own food and we hadn't found enough on our scavenging trips to keep us fed all winter. We'd have fish on the island, but we'd have to rely on our books and Jack to help us forage for the winter. It wasn't going to be easy. However, staying on the mainland for the winter wouldn't be much better. We were still lacking food and I didn't want a repeat of the near starvation of last winter.
The autumn breeze tousled Bella's hair and pinked her cheeks. The warmth that had been in the wind just last week had either evaporated into the sky or leached into the earth.
We made it to the ocean in two days, following the same route as our last trip. We tried not to deviate because of our gas situation even though the road was full of potholes and was a labyrinth of abandoned vehicles.
We drove along the coast, stopping in every small seaside town, looking for boats with motors or even sails. But at each marina we were disappointed. At some we found small boats without motors and some big boats but either the motors were missing or broken.
Every time we stopped, we had to contend with the dead that picked up on the sound of our engine and followed us. Wanting to conserve ammunition, we had to take them out by hand which again slowed us down.
It was Bella who first noticed the signs that were spray painted on billboards, sides of buildings and even on broken down boats.
APOCALYPSE HOW?
The Sea Wolves can help!
57 Water street, Newman.
"What the hell do you think that means?" I asked, staring at it in confusion.
"Do you see that little emblem?" Bella said, pointing at a small image of the head of a wolf rising out of the water. "I think I've seen it before."
"Where?" I asked.
Bella and I were never apart, so I couldn't imagine when she would have seen it.
"Do you remember that person on a motorcycle that rescued me when we returned from the mainland?"
I nodded, remembering all too well how she'd almost died.
"The person was wearing hockey gear with that emblem on it," she said.
"It doesn't matter who they are," Tia said from the back seat. "We need to steer clear of them."
I nodded, thinking the same thing.
We continued along the coast, but found nothing except for a small motorboat that would fit three or four people. It would be possible to use it to transport a few people at a time to the island, but it wasn't big enough to carry any of our building supplies or other large items. I kept it in mind though, because it might be all we had.
It was day four of our excursion and we had just finished fruitlessly searching through another small marina when I suddenly felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
We were being watched.
Reaching for my gun carefully, I scanned the area looking for any movement. When I didn't see anything I knew that whoever it was must be behind us. Quickly, I spun around with my gun raised, searching for whoever was watching us.
It wasn't long before I found them. At the top of the small hill that led down to the marina was a person wearing hockey gear and carrying a machine gun.
"Someone's here!" I called out to the others who had spread down the dock to look at boats.
I heard startled gasps from the others and weapons being drawn.
Without fear, the person walked down the hill towards us, swinging their machine gun over their shoulder on a strap to free up their arms.
Bella stepped up to stand shoulder to shoulder with me, her gun drawn and ready.
When the person was within speaking distance, they stopped and reached up slowly to unclip the clasp that held their motorcycle helmet closed and pulled it off.
I was surprised to find that it was a young woman, probably a few years younger than us. She was slight with chin-length dark hair framing a pale face. However, when I looked into her eyes, there was a confidence and fire in them that told me that she could hold her own against the dead or other survivors.
Seemingly without any fear, she leaned over and rested her helmet on the edge of the dock we were standing on.
When she stood back up, she looked at both of us in turn before speaking.
"My name is Bree Tanner and I'm a member of the Sea Wolves. We've been following you for a few days now and I think that we can help you," she said.
"Who says we need help?" I asked, looking at her suspiciously.
"You've stopped at every marina along the coast, so it's clear that you're looking for boats and not just small ones because you've turned away from ones that could easily take the four of you."
My heart started racing at the thought that we'd been followed all that time and never noticed.
"What do you want?" Bella asked.
"I work for a company that provides services for survivors in need. My boss Benito created this business when he realized that the remnants of the human race were rallying by trying to build communities from the ground up. However, he'd seen many of these groups wiped out because they didn't have the resources or the strength to get what they needed. That's when he created our company. We provide help to communities in gathering supplies, protection, or transportation for a nominal fee."
Bree held out a piece of paper to us.
"Here are the services we provide and the payment options. If you are interested in meeting with Benito, our address is on the back."
However, before Bella could take the paper, Bree suddenly yanked it back.
"Wait!" she snarled, looking past us. "I recognize you. We don't do business with scum like Company Z."
She reached over her shoulder to grab her machine gun.
"Wait!" I gasped, realizing that she'd seen Tia and made the false assumption that Tia had been with company z of her own free will.
"It's because of your group that our company's necessary…" Bree continued, not even noticing that I'd spoken.
Her machine gun was in her hand now and I heard next to me the click of a safety being switched off, probably from Tia's own weapon.
"She's not part of Company Z," Bella said. "She was-"
"I saw her," Bree hissed. "She was with those army ass-holes when they slaughtered an entire community for their stuff."
"She was held captive by them," I said, trying to get Bree's attention which was firmly focused on Tia.
I looked over at Tia to see if she would add anything, but she was silent, her face grim.
"Tia," Peter said. "Tell her. It's not your shame to bear. It was the ass-holes who took you."
However, it was Bella that decided to step in.
"She was one of the war wives. The men of Company Z took women as captives to become their sex slaves or whatever other kind of slave they needed," she said, bluntly.
I saw out of the corner of my eye Tia flinch at Bella's description.
Bree lowered her machine gun, looking uncertain.
"It's true," I said. "We killed the members of Company Z and rescued the women being held captive. It was the only chance for them and for our community to survive. They were going to try to take everything and massacre us in the process."
"I heard rumors…" Bree began, but then stopped. "… Okay, fine... Benito can be the one to sort through all of this if you decide to meet him."
With that, she shoved the paper at us again.
Once Bella took the paper from her, Bree picked up her helmet and turned to leave.
Once she was past the dock, she let out a shrill whistle and suddenly several people crept out of hiding places where they'd laid in wait for a signal from Bree. I was extremely disturbed by how close some of them had gotten to us while we'd been talking to Bree.
We watched in stunned silence as they disappeared over the hill and then heard the sounds of motorcycles being revved in the distance.
The minute we were sure that they were gone we hurried back to the van, not wanting to be out in the open a minute longer than we had to.
Bella climbed into the front seat next to me with the paper clutched in her hand.
I leaned close so I could look at the paper Bree had given her.
THE SEA WOLVES COOPERATIVE
SERVICES OFFERED:
1. transportation (by land or sea)
2. manual labour for one week at a time
3. guard detail for one week at a time (defense only)
4. essential supplies (food, medicine, ammunition, gas)
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
1. gas
2. seeds for crops
3. ammunition
4. medicine and medical supplies
5. non-perishable food
6. 1 year of work
**Quantities of products will be determined on a case by case basis.
I passed the paper to Peter and Tia who were in the back seat.
I didn't know what to make of the paper.
My gut instinct was to automatically distrust Bree and her group the Sea Wolves.
"Let's keep looking," Peter said. "We can't trust other survivors."
I nodded.
We just had to look harder and range further.
After two more days of searching, we were getting desperate. It was getting harder to find gas to keep us going and we were finding nothing, absolutely nothing that we could use to get us and our supplies to the island.
"I could meet with this group to get a feel for them," I said after another fruitless morning of searching. We'd already passed the time when we should have started back to Camden Head and we were getting nowhere in our search.
"You can't," Peter said, firmly. "That's just asking to get yourself killed."
"Well, I don't think it's smart for all of us to go," I responded.
Bella spoke up at that point.
"Why don't Edward and I meet with Benito and his crew while you and Tia watch from a building across the street?"
"We shouldn't meet with them at all. They're just trying to lure us in so that they can kill us," Tia spat.
"I'm not saying it's a good idea to go," Peter said, "but Tia… Bree and her people had plenty of opportunities to kill us and they didn't. I got the impression from Bree that they'd been following us for quite a while."
"Maybe they're just going to wait until we bring our group and supplies closer to their home base and then they'll slaughter us all," Tia said.
Her words had an effect on me. It was entirely possible that they lured groups for their supplies.
"One of the Sea Wolves saved my life when we came back from the island. I was about to be swarmed and this rider dressed in hockey gear rode up on a motorbike and cleared a way for me. Once I was safe the rider just sped off. They didn't want any payment. They were just helping a survivor," Bella said.
"That was just one person. That doesn't mean the group that they're a part of is trustworthy," Tia argued.
I practically growled in frustration. I didn't like it any better than they did, but we'd been up and down the coast and there were no boats. What the hell else were we supposed to do? Our people needed this move and they needed it soon.
"I don't know. Did you see how she reacted when she recognized Tia? I can't see that someone who reacted that strongly to what Company Z did would belong to a group that lured groups to steal their things," Bella said thoughtfully.
"We need to know more about these people," I said. "I can't go back to Camden until I know more. I don't expect anyone else to risk their lives, but I'm going to meet them."
The others looked at me grimly, but it was only Tia that practically hissed in anger and stormed off.
The Sea Wolves home office was a pretty non-descript building that looked like a lawyer's office, but with guards dressed in the Sea Wolves hockey gear standing outside on either side of the door.
Bella and I approached on foot, leaving Tia and Peter in a building across the street.
As we approached, the two men at the door stood up straight, but only one stepped forward. He was an older looking man with greased-back grey hair.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he asked.
"We're here to talk to Benito,' I said. "My name is Edward and this is Bella."
The man nodded.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" I responded.
"What are your needs? Everyone who comes to the Sea Wolves needs something. What do you need?"
I decided to keep it vague.
"We need transportation," I said.
"Okay," the man said, scrutinizing both of us. "Benito is in the office, so I can get you in to see him."
The one sticking point was going to be whether they would try to take our weapons. We couldn't allow that. I wouldn't enter a building of strangers without both Bella and myself armed. If they tried to force us to give up our weapons, Tia and Peter would open fire.
"Let's see your weapons," the other man with shaggy red hair said in a gruff voice.
"No. We-" I began, but the man cut me off with an impatient gesture.
"I know… I know… You won't go in unarmed. This isn't our first rodeo. We just need to know what weapons you have on you. We won't take them, but we are going to frisk you."
I looked nervously at Bella.
"Look, we get that trusting strangers is just dumb in this world and you wouldn't be alive if you were dumb. But we're also not going to just trust you. We've seen our fair share of ass-holes that think we're easy pickings. So let us frisk you and let's get on with why you're here in the first place."
I nodded reluctantly, knowing that what they were saying was reasonable.
Once we'd agreed and showed them the weapons we were carrying, the two men patted us down, checking for any concealed weapons.
Without any other fuss, the older man ushered us into the building.
The man led us down a hallway with offices on each side. In two of the rooms with open doors, there were people wearing Sea Wolves jerseys sitting behind desks with one or two people sitting in front with their backs to us.
As we passed each room, the Sea Wolves member nodded at us before returning to their conversations.
We continued on until we reached the end of the hall where there was a closed door.
Our guard knocked quietly and only opened the door when we heard a gruff, "Come in."
Benito was an imposing looking person despite his size which was shorter than my 6'2" frame. His arms were more ink than skin and his blonde hair was so closely cropped that at first I'd almost mistaken him for being bald. He had a long-boned face, tapering to a pointed chin, made only more so by a trimmed beard lining his jaw. He had widely spaced intelligent gray eyes with a droop to his left eyelid that made him look that he was constantly squinting.
He was standing near the window on the other side of the desk when we entered.
Instead of stepping around the desk to greet us, he stretched his arm out, which caused us to have to lean over the table to reach him.
"My name is Benito and I'm the leader of the Sea Wolves cooperative. You must be the ones Bree told us about. I knew not to expect you right away. You needed to confirm for yourself that there are no boats in the area that could transport a group," he smiled easily at us. However, I could tell that he was scrutinizing our every move and facial expression.
"I'm sorry to say that my company cleared out all the marinas in the area to create our fleet. We have a few small ones for sale, but they'd cost you a lot. How many people do you need to transport?"
I raised my hand to interrupt him at this point.
"Let's go back a step," I said, causing Benito to raise his eyebrows in what looked like astonishment. I didn't think the man was used to being interrupted.
"I'd like to know more about you and your company. Bree told us that your company helps survivors build new communities?"
"Yes, that's what we do here. Many survivors can't build a community on their own, either because they don't have the essential supplies or they don't have the strength. My company gives them that helping hand," he explained as if reading from a memorized script.
"I don't understand why any survivor would choose to create something like this. It's hard enough to keep yourself alive, let alone help others. Altruistic people died out a long time ago, so I don't understand the motivation," I said, bluntly.
In the back of my mind I heard the echo of my words in a conversation I had with Masen weeks ago about a similar topic.
"We're offering a service, but it's not for free and it most definitely is not altruistic. Getting the human race back on its feet is good for everyone and it's especially good for business," he said just as bluntly. "My people live quite well on what we get paid for helping survivors. It's a win-win scenario."
"What are you paid with?" Bella asked, but fell silent when Benito's focus landed on her.
He stared at her with an intensity that made my hackles rise.
I stepped in front of Bella and rested my hand on my gun.
"I have something else that I need to discuss with you…" he said, his friendly tone falling away.
"Take a step back," I snarled, when I noticed that he'd moved forward.
Benito eyes flickered to me with disdain and waved me away with a tsk'ing sound.
I pushed Bella further behind me and started backing away.
"Are you the one who was a member of Company Z?" he asked as we reached the door.
He said it in a way that made me think that he would attack if we said "yes."
"No, she wasn't," I said. "And you better back off or else we're going to have a problem."
"So, it's the other girl," Benito said, ignoring me.
He grabbed a walkie-talkie off his belt and paged someone. "Simon, bring in the other two."
"We're leaving," I snarled, reaching for my gun in my belt.
"That's not necessary, Edward," Benito said, more calmly than he had a moment ago. "I mean you no harm, but Company Z has had a profound effect on the survivors in the area. I'm going to have to talk to the other woman in your group. I can't have her bringing Company Z here."
"She was never one of them," Bella snapped. "We told your employee Bree that. Tia was one of their captives. If you know anything about their group, you know that the soldiers chose war wives which was just another word for slave."
Benito's face remained impassive.
"I need to hear her tell me that," he said. "But until then, let's all take a seat."
He sat down in his chair behind his desk and motioned for us to sit in the ones directly in front of him.
"We'll stand," I said, still blocking Benito's view of Bella.
"Suit yourself," he said, but then he fell silent while we waited.
I wanted to leave, but I had a feeling that that wasn't an option. With one word from Benito, his people would be at the door with weapons in their hands.
Nervously, I kept my hand on my gun and kept Bella tucked behind me. One of her hands clutched the back of my shirt, but I knew the other rested on her weapon too.
About ten minutes later, there was commotion in the hallway before the door was suddenly thrown open.
"Thank you, Simon," Benito said standing up. "Please come in."
Tia and Peter were thrust into the room both struggling in their captors' grips. Surprisingly, they had been stripped of their weapons while we were allowed to keep ours.
"Calm down… calm down…" Benito said, stepping out from behind the desk again. "My name is Benito and I wanted to meet Bella and Edward's other companions."
"You had no right to take us," Tia snarled.
"I'm sorry to be so forceful, but I think we have some things we need to discuss, Miss," Benito said, looking at Tia.
Tia's eyes flickered to us, but there was nothing I could say. I didn't know where Benito was going with any of this.
"Were you a part of Stefan Romani's group?" he asked.
"No," Tia snapped.
"Now, I know you're lying," Benito said, his voice becoming menacing. "Bree saw you with him and the other soldiers."
"She wasn't-" Peter began, but Benito cut him off.
"She's going to tell me herself."
"I don't owe you any explanation," Tia growled, glaring into Benito's eyes.
"Tia…" Peter began.
"Shut up, Peter!" Tia snapped.
"I'm going to ask you again, and God help you if you lie to me," Benito said in an eerily calm voice. "Were you or were you not part of Company Z?"
Tia began to shake her head, but I spoke first.
"Tia, this isn't the time for pride. Tell him!"
Benito glared at me for interrupting, but quickly looked back at her.
For a few moments, Tia said nothing, just glared.
Finally, she grudgingly spoke, "I was Stefan Romani's war wife. But there was nothing loving about it. I would have killed him if I'd had the chance."
Benito stared at her, trying to assess whether she was telling the truth.
"What do you mean by war wife?" he asked.
Tia's mouth pulled in a thin line and she kept her mouth closed.
"Tia…" Peter growled.
"I'm not going to explain it. I didn't want to be with Stefan, but he forced me. The bastard considered women property," she growled.
Benito didn't say anything for a moment.
I couldn't read his expression, but his shoulders had relaxed somewhat at her words.
"So you were his prisoner?" he asked.
Tia stared directly into his eyes and nodded.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Benito asked, anger suddenly flaring again in his eyes. "You could be lying to save your own skin. Company Z told some amazing lies to get people to let their guard down!"
"How the hell do you want me to prove it?" Tia asked. "None of them are left alive for you to question. We killed all the soldiers. We can tell you where to find their corpses although I'm pretty sure none of their bodies could be identified by now."
Instead of being appeased, Benito started pacing back and forth.
"How can I be sure you're telling the truth? They killed and took so many people," he muttered to himself. "If I let you go, you could bring Stefan and his cronies here. I can't let that happen again."
"Tia… You should show him-" Peter began, but recoiled when Tia turned on him.
"I told you to SHUT UP!"
"Tia, calm down," Peter said, which only caused Tia to get more upset.
"STAY OUT OF IT!" she shouted back. "I don't owe this ass-hole any explanation."
Her shouts brought guards who had been in the hallway into the room with weapons drawn.
One of them grabbed Peter while another grabbed a hold of Tia. I tried to block one of the other guards from getting to Bella, but a gun at my chest stopped me in my tracks.
"Boss. What do you want us to do with them?" The guard with the red hair asked Benito.
However, Benito was looking at Tia.
"Tell me," he said. "Tell me or I can't let you live."
"I'd rather die than be forced by another man who thinks he can use violence to control me," she hissed at him.
"What about your friends? Don't you care about them?" Benito asked, countering her angry tone with his calm one.
Tia looked at the three of us and her eyes widened in shock at the guards that had us trapped. It was as if in her anger she hadn't even noticed the commotion going on around her.
She stared at us for a moment with an unreadable expression on her face before her jaw clenched shut and she looked back at Benito.
"Fine! You want proof? I'll give you proof," she snarled.
With a yank, she pulled down the collar of her shirt, exposing the upper swell of her breast.
I practically stumbled back in horror when I saw the raised red letters embedded in her skin which were the initials S.R.
Stefan Romani had branded her.
The room fell dead silent as the horror took hold of everyone.
It was Benito who finally broke the silence.
"Lower your weapons. You won't be needing them," he said to the guards. "Everything's okay now. Go back to your posts."
When the guards reluctantly left the room, Benito inhaled deeply as if he was gathering courage.
"Was there a woman named Loralei in Company Z's group?" Benito asked Tia.
For a moment, Tia stared at him, looking for something in his expression. She must have found it because her whole body seemed to relax.
"Loralei? Loralei Reynolds?" Tia asked.
Benito nodded with a stricken look on his face.
"Yes… she was Stefan's first war wife," Tia said, the anger leaching away.
"Where is she? Is she alive?" Benito asked, but there wasn't much hope in his voice.
"I'm sorry. She was killed about a month after I was taken. She'd decided she'd rather die fighting to get away than live one more moment in captivity," Tia said grimly.
Benito slumped back against the desk, all energy seeming to leave him.
We all fell silent with him, not knowing where this left us.
After the silence had stretched uncomfortably long, Benito spoke.
"I'm sorry that we met under these circumstances, but... I… I needed to know."
Running a hand over his face, he let out a long haggard breath.
"Let's all sit down so we can discuss the services that your group needs and what you have to barter as payment. I think if you're still open to it, we can do some business together."