Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 16791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
With the gun in her hand again, she pointed and fired.
In three years, she’d never fired that gun at a human.
Dropping the gun, she covered her ears, hearing a scream rent the air and realizing it was hers.
Arms wrapped around her and she tried to fight, but Clayton grabbed her hands.
“Look at me, Maggie. I’ve got you.” He kept repeating the same words.
She became aware of the people surrounding her. All of them part of Clayton’s group.
“Is Lee okay?” she asked.
“Babe, I’m more than okay. Thank you.” Lee came close to her, touching her outstretched arm.
“Let me up,” Maggie said.
“What?”
“Please, let me up.”
“Are you sure?” Clayton asked.
“Yes, I’m sure. I’ve still got to get the food.”
“Fuck the food.”
“No, I’ve got to do this. Let me. Please.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. He helped her to her feet, and bending down, she picked up her gun, ignoring the dead bodies as she made her way back into the grocery store.
****
Later that night, camped out in the woods with the sleeping bags they’d taken from the camping store, Clayton looked toward the log where Maggie was perched. She’d gotten all the food and they now had four shopping carts of food, which he wasn’t sure how they were going to carry. Maggie, of course, came back with a whole bunch of backpacks. They could wear the same clothes, but food was a must, she’d told him.
Now as he looked at her, he saw how pale she was.
“Is she okay?” Lee asked. The woman had a shiner and a large bump on her head from the three men who’d ambushed her.
He’d been so fucking stupid to allow people to just go off like that. They were attacked all the time, but he always made sure they were in teams of two or more. This was a complete fucking disaster.
“I don’t know.”
“I’d say it was the girl’s first kill.” Lee sighed. “I’m pleased she had what it took to save us.”
He couldn’t agree more. If Maggie hadn’t been there, Lee wouldn’t be talking to him right now. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Me? It’s not the worst that I’ve been through, and I’ll live. You know I will.” Lee nodded toward Maggie. “I think you should go talk to her. I had doubts about her, but not anymore. Go, we’ll hold the fort.”
Without another word, he got up and made his way toward where Maggie sat.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said.
She rubbed her hands together. “Hey.”
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine. I mean, I always knew that taking a life wasn’t supposed to be fun, but you should feel something, right?” She looked toward him.
“And you don’t.”
“I feel a little sick, but I’m glad they’re dead. That’s wrong, right? I should be sad for taking a life. I should hate myself for what I did.”
“I’m not going to tell you how you should feel. I imagine in normal circumstances, you’d feel what you’re supposed to feel.”
“But these aren’t normal circumstances. If life was normal, my parents would still be alive and men wouldn’t grab a woman and treat her like that.” She got to her feet and took a few steps into the woods. She didn’t go far, leaning up against a tree. “If we were all normal, you’d still be a teacher.”
“I still am a teacher.” He cupped her hip, pressing his body against hers. “Tell me how I can make this right.”
“Nothing can make this right, Clayton.” She put her hands on his chest. “You know, I used to think about you too. I … I’d watch you. How you’d command the class. You didn’t take crap from nobody, and if anyone disrespected anyone else, you’d be all over their ass, humiliating them.” She tilted her head to the side.
“I was in your thoughts, huh?”
“Yeah, but I think you can tell that, can’t you?”
She lifted up and her lips were on his. “If it were normal,” she said, her hand running down his body and going to his cock, “I wouldn’t be able to ask you to fuck me against this tree.”
He closed his eyes as her hand moved up and down his length through his jeans. “Maggie, you’ve been through a lot.”
“I’ve been through a lot for a lot longer. I wasn’t going to let those bastards hurt Lee. You’re my family and so is she.” She pressed a kiss to his neck. “And you said I belong to you.” Another kiss to his neck, her teeth nipping at his pulse. “So why don’t you take me? I need you, Clayton. I need my teacher’s cock. I need you to do what you do best. Teach me.”
He spun her around, putting her hands against the tree before he worked the button of her jeans, sliding the zipper down. After shoving her jeans down to her knees, he angled her hips and released his cock from his pants.