Page 5 of Outbreak

Noah’s grip tightens as I pull us through the woods. At some point, he got pushed behind me in the panic spilling from the party. I should probably question listening to some strange masked man giving me orders, but I must be in shock. I can’t really comprehend what’s going on, but he told me to go back to my dorm, and that’s all I can focus on doing.

“Rue!” Noah screams, pulling against me as people push us side to side to get by us. His fingers slip through mine as I try to turn back, but the crowd pushes us in opposite directions, and I have no choice but to keep moving forward with them.

“Meet me at my dorm, Noah!” My voice barely carries over the screaming surrounding us, but he knows where we’re going.He’ll make it out. He has to. He’ll meet me at my dorm, and we can properly freak the fuck out together about what the hell is actually happening.

The thick woods open up to the clearing as the backside of the college comes into view. I feel like I can breathe again as the crowd disperses and spreads out in the open area. Panic is still heavy in the air and weighing on my chest like a boulder, but I can’t let it take hold of me. I have to make it back to the dorm. I’ve got to find Mal and Noah. They have to be safe. I can’t lose anyone else.

People always leave…

Pushing down the panic climbing up my throat, I skirt around people crying and screaming, holding on to each other with their phones in their hands. By the time I make it back to my building, my body is trembling in the cool night air. My hoodie is nowhere to be seen, and I could really fucking use it.

Deciding to wait it out a few minutes until it clears, I use the bushes for coverage. My back digs into the cold bricks of the old building as I flatten myself out of the way of the people flooding through the doors. I need to get inside to the safety of my room, but getting trampled is the last thing I need.

Maybe I’ll spot Noah or Mal before they go inside. I really need them to be okay. I haven’t felt adrenaline like this since I fled Arizona. How is this happening? What is happening? What the fuck is going on?

Fear and memories assault me, stealing my breath as I slide down the bricks. My ass hits the cold dirt, but I barely feel it as I spiral.

Rough hands on my body.

Wet tears are soaking my face.

Cruel laughter at my pleas.

“I love it when you cry for me, little girl.”

His voice repeats on a loop in my mind as I try to find purchase in the dirt, gripping handfuls of it to ground myself back in reality. Dragging in lungfuls of air is harder than it should be. At this moment, I’m back in that house, a little girl crying for help and no one coming to save her.

The breath seizes in my lungs as I feel hands wrapping around my body, picking me up and moving fast with me. I can’t drag my eyes open, but I feel safe against the warm chest. Just like that, my panic subsides and I can take a deep breath.

“Noah?” I whisper, still fighting through the haze of panic left in my mind.

A growl that vibrates through my whole body is the only response I get. Noah doesn’t growl. Definitely not a panty melting growl like that. Fear tries to smother me once again, and I peel open my eyes.

I should have kept them shut.

CHAPTER 5

Ghost

“Let me go, fucker,” Death screams, struggling against my hold on her, but I just tighten my grip.

She can fight me all she wants. I’m bigger and stronger than her. My 6’7 stature towers over her by more than a foot. In my time away from her, I’ve gotten bigger. My muscles are more defined, my shoulders broader.

She’s changed, too—grown into her delicious curves. She’s always been the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. But now, she has the body of a woman that makes me want to pin her against one of these trees and trace every curve with my tongue.

I parked my truck just through the woods behind her building, so I skirt the edge of the building and away from the crowds of people running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

“Put me down, asshole!”

Growling at her pitiful fight and filthy mouth, I haul her over my shoulder and smack her ass hard. “Be still.”

Her body goes rigid against me for a moment as she processes her predicament before she lets loose like a wildcat, hitting and clawing at my back and ass with her long, black nails.

Not to worry. I came prepared. Slipping my free hand into my pocket, I pull out the capped syringe, popping the cap open with my teeth and plunging it into her plump ass cheek.

Her scream echoes into the night, stirring the wildlife hiding in the darkness. The fight leaves her slowly, like water swirling slowly down the drain. Her muscles relax, and she slumps over my shoulder, making her hands bounce against my ass as I take off into a run again.

When I get to my truck, I have to adjust her on my shoulder to reach my keys in my pocket. The chirp is loud in the quiet when I unlock it now that we are away from the screams and panic on campus.

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