Page 25 of Unrest
Oh, shit. Someone was just here. Suddenly our whole group was alert, guns out.
Devon kicked back a small rug and scuffed the toe of his boot on a thick line on the floor between boards. He motioned to it and put a finger to his lips.
Some sort of cellar?
I held Grandma’s gun tightly and sidestepped across the room to stand before Remy as Rylen and Tater moved beside me and the others went forward.
Devon slowly bent and put his fingers in the crack enough to grab the edge, but when he pulled it didn’t budge.
“Yo,” he said. “Who down there? Open up.”
What the hell, Devon? Was he crazy? We waited in tense silence for six seconds before a polished male voice responded, quavering with terror.
“Get out of my home or I will . . . ignite this bomb!”
Devon’s eyebrows came together. “Hey, what kinda bomb you got, man?”
The man in the cellar hesitated before saying, “A big one! And I will blow you the fuck up. Now get the hell out! My partner is coming back any second and he is fuckinghuge! He will kick your ass!”
Oh, this poor guy was terrified, and his threats were pitiful. Officer Sean moved forward and sank to a knee before the trap door.
“My name is Sean. Listen, we’re not here to hurt you, or to take anything. We’ll even help you in any way we can. We’ve been walking for two days and one of the girls with us is really sick. Can we stay here, just one night?”
The man was quiet for a long time. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“You don’t,” Sean said. “We’ve all got guns and we could have shot this door open by now if we wanted to. I guess sometimes you just have to trust.”
The guy snorted sarcastically. “Kind of like how you shot my front door open?”
Tex pulled a face and Sean sighed. “Yeah, sorry about that. We were desperate.”
We waited, remaining very still. Finally a latch clicked and the hatch creaked open a couple inches. Beautiful brown eyes with dark lashes peered out and stared up at Sean.
“Hey,” Sean said.
The guy stared a long time. “Hey,” he whispered back. He looked mid-twenties. As he pushed it open farther his entire attractive face was revealed. His hair was black and wavy, well-kept, unlike Tater’s mess, and he had a five o’clock shadow that contrasted the rest of his baby face.
Sean stared openly for a moment, then blinked. “What’s your name?”
Devon and Texas Harry shifted closer, and the guy gasped in fear, going back down a step. Both soldiers put their hands up.
“We ain’t gonna hurt you,” Tex said. “Just being nosy ‘bout what you got down there.”
“We’re not going to take anything,” Sean reiterated, glancing up at Tex, who glowered at the beratement. “What’s your name?” he asked again.
“J.D. And there’s really nothing down here but ramen-fucking-noodles that I might die if I have to eat again.”
Every single one of us straightened. My mouth watered. J.D.’s eyes widened as he looked around at our faces.
“Oh, my God. You guys are starving.”
“We’re . . . really hungry,” Sean said carefully.
“Dude,” Mark pushed to the front. “If you have enough packs, that would be so awesome. We’re just staying one night. We’ve gotta be out of here first thing in the morning.”
He studied each of our dirty faces. “What will you give me?” Then his eyes landed on the handgun at Sean’s side.
“Do you have a weapon here?” Sean asked. J.D. shook his head. “I’ll give you this one and a round of ammo if you let us all have some food.
