Free Dark Paths: Apocalypse Riders by Britten Thorne Page A

Ripp’s body language changed. He leaned forward as if he wanted to attack. Lia touched one of her guns. “Calm the fuck down, girly, I can throw a few damn punches if I want. Why the fuck would you do that, Call?”
    “Executive decision, Ripp,” he said, pointing to his “president” patch. “A warning. Assuming he makes it far. I slashed up his tattoo and torched his bike.”
    “May the devil himself piss on it,” Ripp spat. The anger leaked out of him as quickly as it had appeared. “Goddamn Wales. He was a good kid.”
    “I know.”
    Call finally sank to the floor next to Lia. She felt awful about Wales but her lids were so heavy she could barely keep her eyes open. “We’ll have a funeral when we can get most of the guys together,” Ripp said.
    “It better be the only goddamn one,” Call said, eyes flashing, “ Everyone else had better be coming home.”
    “They’re trying, Call.” Ripp grunted as he rose. “I’ll take watch out in the hall and leave you two to it.”
    Call leaned back on his elbows. “We should stick together, Ripp. With all the shit that’s after us?”
    “Don’t matter,” he said with a shrug. “Two good-looking motherfuckers like y’all? I’d be heartbroken if you weren’t fuckin’ every chance you got.”
    “We’re not doing that.” Her eyes shot wide open. Lia wasn’t sure what made her speak up or why she cared what the older biker thought. But she did care. She didn’t want him to think she was some sort of harlot , as Father Speer would call it. “I’m not… I don’t…”
    “Don’t explain yourself to this dirtbag,” Call growled. “Ripp, have a little more tact, would you?”
    Ripp looked between the two of them as if they were both aliens. “Well pardon the fuck out of me. I hadn’t realized social niceties were back in fashion. Don’t fuck, then,” he said as he sat back down. “I’ll try not to weep for you.” He squinted and pointed at both of them. “But take my advice and do it really fuckin’ soon before one of you dies. ‘Cause that’s all that happens on this grim fuckin’ earth. Everyone just fuckin’ dies. Oh, made a new friend? Dies. Oh hey, some handsome fella brings you flowers? Dead the next day. Shit. Look at her. She looks like she’s made out of straw and paper. You’d better fuck her soon, Call.”
    Lia watched Call’s face change from one of outrage to one of sadness, and then suddenly he was laughing, throwing back his head and guffawing at the air. “I’m gonna let you watch her shoot some corpses. Then you can tell me who’s gonna outlive who. Goddamn.” He put his head in his hands as his shoulders shook. “Lia. Tell him what I called you.”
    She smiled. “A goddamn whirlwind of destruction.” She clapped her hands over her mouth as soon as she said it. She didn’t curse, it just wasn’t something she did. But it had felt good. She giggled through her fingers.
    Ripp just looked between them like they’d lost their minds. He nodded. “All right. Y’all have gone batty. Okay.”
    “Take the first watch, Ripp. Right here.” Call laid back and tugged Lia closer. She curled up at his side and watched the light from the campfire dance across his features as he dozed off.
    But she couldn’t fall asleep right away. She listened to Ripp mutter curses as he settled down to sit with his back against the wall, where he could watch both the doorway and the windows - she couldn’t shake what he’d said. Not the part about everyone dying. She was aware of how unlikely their survival had been and continued to be. She worried about what he’d said about them sleeping together. Fucking , she told herself, letting the curse word linger in her mind. Is that something Call wants? It’s what people do, right? Is he upset with me? Or worse… will he forget about me as soon as he finds a more willing girl? She shivered, suddenly a lot more apprehensive about arriving at the compound. Sleep was a long time