Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
And, sensing the urgency, I ran and threw myself into the backseat, bleeping the locks and reaching for the phone.
"What?"
"Reign," I started, voice shaking so hard that my teeth were clattering.
"Calm down, babe, and tell me."
"Um, they were. Ah, you were... invaded. I, um, I didn't see anything. But there were no men outside and when Duke and Renny went inside, they were cursing and I heard some kind of groaning and..."
"Fuck!" he shouted and I flinched away from the sound even though it was only through the phone. "Okay. Alright. Where are you right now? Where are Duke and Renny?"
"Duke made me get back in the car. They went inside I guess to see if anyone was still..." I couldn't bring myself to say 'alive'. "If they don't come out in ten minutes, I'm supposed to come to you."
"Right. That's exactly what you should do. I am sending Repo back but he's going to be a bit because we are going to wait for reinforcements from Hailstorm, okay? You just need to sit tight and try not to freak out."
Yeah, that was a lot easier said than done.
"Okay," I agreed.
"Here," Reign went on. "Cash is going to talk to you until Duke and Renny show back up, alright?"
He didn't wait for me to agree.
Cash's voice was strained and false-comforting. "Hey honey. Crazy day. Just sit tight. Everything is going to be okay. We aren't going to let anything happen to you, okay? Any chance you can see what is going on? Or would you rather stay low?"
I would much, much rather stay low.
But that kind of cowardice wasn't going to help anyone.
I crept upward slowly, just letting my forehead and eyes peek out the darkened windows, everything harder to see because of them.
"There's... nothing. I don't see anyone yet."
"No one on the grounds? No light catching outside the fences?"
"No, there's... Duke is coming," I said, my voice equal parts fear and relief.
"Don't hang up. I need to talk to him," Cash said as I bleeped the locks and Duke got into the driver's seat and, without even bothering to look at me, turned the car around and peeled out. He didn't speed though as we got onto the main drag. He kept the car slow and deliberate like he was trying hard to not get pulled over.
"Cash wants to talk to you," I said from my crouched position between the front and back seats.
"Tell him Renny is going to call and fill him in and hang up," he said, tone no-nonsense.
"Renny is going to call to fill you in," I said and ended the call, tucking the phone into my pocket with shaking hands.
"Duke, is everything..."
"No," he cut me off, his jaw so tight that the sound barely got out. "No, it's not. But I am going to get you safe," he offered and I felt myself shiver at the implication there.
"Duke..."
"Not right now, Pen," he said and his tone was so defeated that I clamped my mouth shut and kept it that way until I felt the car park, until I heard Duke's door slam, until the one to my side opened and he pulled me out.
I was pulled around the side of a building, something old and solid like maybe it was a warehouse or office building of some sort. I hadn't gotten a chance to see the front sign. Duke nodded his head at someone standing beside an open basement door, holding a giant piece of metal pipe.
"Appreciate this, Tig," he told the tall, broad man with the deep skin and slight beer belly.
"Gotta protect the innocents," Tig said with a nod as Duke handed him the keys. "No one will find it," Tig added as he handed Duke the pipe. "You'll have everything you need for a short stay."
With that, he walked away and Duke pulled me toward the walk-out doors and halfway down the steps. Then he dropped my hand, turned back, and pulled the doors closed, sliding the pipe into the handles as he reached for the lantern hanging there. He flicked it on and I could see that the doors weren't just normal wooden walk-out basement doors. They were thick and metal and looked like they could withstand a tornado. Or bullets.
"Come on," Duke said, taking my hand again and pulling me down the stairs. He reached onto the wall for a second before a light flicked on and revealed... a fallout shelter?
That was what it seemed like. I didn't know much about them, but this seemed to fit the bill. The walls, already thick concrete basement ones, were lined with metal strips that looked like the walls of storage containers. There were two sets of military-style bunkbeds with extra blankets. And then there was a metal shelving unit to the side that had an endless supply of canned goods, water, medical kits, and assorted lanterns.