Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Could not be.
Instead of following the order, he kneeled right next to Knox's prone body and covered it with his, grasping at the sole scrap of information he had about those people. The only one that could prove of use anyway.
“We thought the place was abandoned, I swear. We got lost, it was raining, and it was my idea to get into the junkyard. Please… don’t hurt my boyfriend! He just followed me here.”
Knox looked up at him, but then his eyes rolled back as he went limp.
Chapter 6
Knox
Reality was a blur of lights and darkness, but a splash of water to the face brought Knox back into sharp focus. He spat, confused by what was going on, but someone was holding him upright, and as soon as he tried to speak, thick fingers stuck a pill into his mouth.
“Is he on drugs?” asked someone from farther away as Knox’s head lolled from side to side. The powdery, bitter flavor was familiar, and when he recognized the hand stroking his back as Liv’s, he didn’t question a thing and swallowed before accepting a few gulps of water from a plastic bottle offered straight to his lips.
“It’s perfectly legal medicine,” Liv said as the edges of Knox’s vision came into focus. He hated this moment of transition after his blood pressure dropped, and he closed his eyes, leaning on Liv, who sat next to him on a cold floor, which felt like it was made of… metal?
The events that had led them here spun through Knox’s mind as if he’d gotten kicked in the face. But they were still alive. And he got his meds. So maybe Liv worked something out with—
“You two punks don’t know who you’re dealing with,” Shane’s voice came like yet another punch, and when Knox looked up, his vision returning to normal, he saw a tall, handsome man watching them from behind steel bars.
His short dark hair was messed up by the hood, which was now lowered, and his forehead creased as he watched them scramble on the floor with a cigarette dangling from the lips. He had a black eye and the crooked nose of a boxer, but his eyes pierced the two of them with sharp attention.
“Look, man, we only saw lots of light before your Mad Max-loving friend started chasing us. I have no idea what this is about,” Liv lied with such conviction even Knox would have believed him.
Shane picked up their backpacks from the floor and blew smoke out through his nose. “You should be glad I’m not the only one deciding what to do with you two lovebirds,” he said in a tone that brought back the memories of dead men and barrels. And acid.
Knox stared at him without understanding until it finally hit him.
Boyfriend.
Liv had called him his boyfriend.
What the actual fuck?
Yet Knox wouldn’t confront him until this goon left.
“Yeah, we just wanted to find a place to hide from the rain,” Knox mumbled as he watched his medicine-stuffed backpack dangle in Shane’s hand, out of reach. He glanced around and not only were he and Liv in a cage, but there was another one on the other side of the room. Those people were fucking psychos, and the two of them would never leave this place!
Shane gave them a crooked smile and winked. “Well, you found one. You’ll be dry here. Get comfy, ‘cause it might be a while,” he said and walked off.
He stepped out of the narrow interior, and it was only when he slid the double doors shut that Knox realized they were inside a huge metal box. Or a shipping container, which locked from the outside with a loud clang.
At least the fucker had left the sad little lightbulb by the entrance on instead of burying them in the dark.
Next to Knox, Liv gave a low exhale reminiscent of an echo straight from the pit of death and rested his back against the wall of thick steel. “At least they didn’t kill us yet,” he whispered.
“Fuck!” Knox screamed out, jumping to his feet despite feeling dizzy. “You should have ran when I told you! I could have held off that creepy spear fucker.”
Liv stared at him from the floor, looking exhausted but whole. “I would have never left you behind. It was always going to be you and me, right? Us against the world. Now sit down, your meds are still kicking in.”
Knox hit his fist against his aching chest several times, to resolve some of the discomfort he was feeling, and took deep breaths. He kicked the bars too, but they wouldn’t budge. “I’m not sitting down in this death trap. Oh, yeah, and now I’m your fucking boyfriend? What the fuck was that about? Something you wanna tell me, Liv?” He scowled, pacing the cage and already finding it far too small.