Page 10 of Bait
Candela sent Torch a warning look, but he turned his back to us and went to stand at the edge of the woods. “We have to get you to the truck and leave. We don’t like sticking around too long. Becker doesn’t know we do this, and if he suspects anyone in the bunker of talking to the outside, there will be hell to pay down there.”
“Where are we going?” Without a word, Candela pulled me in front of her and nudged me to walk. Torch led us deeper into the trees. They were so thick that even in the daylight only a little bit of light filtered through. Torch had yet to acknowledge my existence, and it bothered me, because I was so aware of him. I was aware of them both. It was like I was caught in the force field the two of them made. My skin fizzed with awareness of every step I took. I had never given much thought to my body. Mostly I wanted it to stay dormant as long as possible, and I knew the suppressors blunted libido. I’d been fine with that, but now it was like my body was roaring to life at the worst possible moment.
It had to be that I’d never been outside. Maybe the unfiltered oxygen was going to my head. Did sunlight cause euphoria? I thought of all the things that Becker and the council had told us. That the people outside were mutated and sick. That the air was poisonous and so vile it would kill us in seconds. That the plants and animals had turned deadly. I knew these were some of the more catastrophic predictions my father made around what could happen. But Becker decided that the worst was the only outcome possible and we’d all believed him. Even my father had.
We just ate up so many lies. My brother had probably paid for wanting to expose them with his life. My mother had. She’d tried to make them listen once she realized their plans, their intentions for the Population Revitalization Project. She’d raged and tried to warn people and eventually it was my father who’d betrayed her. More than once, I’d thought that my brother had met the same fate.
“Did my brother?—?”
Candela shook her head and reached to squeeze my shoulder.
“Gregorio’s dead.” Her voice was gentle, as she slid her hand down to mine. She took it in hers for reassurance. Her words were a punch in the gut, because even that one second of hope was more than I’d had in so long.
“Let’s go,” Torch barked, making me jump.
“Chill out, Torch.” Candela was not amused at his bullshit and neither was I. Why did he have to be such an asshole? Gregorio was my blood. Did he actually think he missed him more than I did?
We walked in tense silence for a couple more minutes, then reached the rig. It was that big truck I’d seen before when I spotted the flag, and it was freaking huge. It was like nothing I’d ever seen. There was a hangar in the bunker where they had some leftover trucks from before lockdown. Gregorio took me there a few times as a kid. I’d climb in the front seat of one and pretended to drive out of the tunnel. But this thing was so much bigger.
“Where did you get this?” There was no way I could hide my amazement.
“That’s a long story,” Candela said smugly, which made me think the story likely involved heroics on her part. It looked like one of the vehicles in that Mad Max movie we’d watched once in the shelter.
I looked over at Torch, and he was still looking into the distance. I don’t know what I expected after what I’d done, but I didn’t think he’d be this close to me and not even talk to me. Was I expecting too much? They’d already saved me from the raiders. Kept me from facing dangers I didn’t know about. Was I going to impose my presence on this man, when he clearly didn’t even want to see me. I could swallow my pride and beg them to help me get to somewhere safe, but Torch had done more than enough already.
“Thank you for helping me.” I was still shaking, and I hugged myself to stop the tremors. It was hot outside, but I was still chilled. “If you have any advice of where I should go or anywhere I could find some help?—”
“You were always a fucking drama queen, Brains.” Candela grinned at me, then slapped my shoulder like I’d just told a joke. But I wasn’t going to get in the truck when Torch clearly hated my guts. If Torch and Candela were out here then maybe others from the bunker were around too. Maybe I could find someone who would help me figure things out.
“I can handle things on my own from here,” I told her, knowing it was the furthest thing from the truth. I probably wouldn’t make it on my own for a night. But Torch and Candela owed me nothing, and they’d already killed for me once today.
“Get in the truck, Alma” Torch snarled, making me jump. His face was like a thundercloud, scowling at me, and that just pissed me off. Because I’d been outside the bunker for like an hour, and he could at least cut me a fucking break.
“I get that you loathe me, but you don’t have to be such an asshole.” Candela barked out a laugh at my insult, while I gulped down my dumb tears and glared at him. His scowl just got deeper. I’d always found his face intriguing. That long nose with a bit of a hook at the end. His skin was like toasted wheat, more reds than browns. A face full of planes and angles. Like he was carved by hand.
He looked older. There were wrinkles around his eyes and his black hair was peppered with grey, but it only made him look more striking. One of his hands was resting on the rifle strapped to his chest. There were scars on the back of it, on his knuckles. I wanted to ask how he got them. I’d always been fascinated by his fingers and the sight of them made my gut clench. Which only pissed me off even more.
“If you don’t get in the truck I’ll put you in it.” He was such a dick.
“Fuck you, Torch.” I spun around with every intent of taking off on my own, even as my face flamed for cursing out loud. That was one of the things very much frowned upon in the bunker. The bunker, that was what I needed to focus on. They were right under our feet, still afraid of the outside world when they could be up here breathing fresh air, free from Becker’s control. I had to go back in. Tell them. A hand gripped my arm hard and tugged me back so forcefully I was lifted a few inches off the ground.
“Not so fast.” I ground my teeth and wrenched from his hold. “Where are you going?” I didn’t answer, turning to Candela who seemed, for once, at a loss.
“I’m going wherever I want.” I was certain I’d get killed or much worse by a raider, and even that grim thought could not detain my eagerness to actually see the sunset. There were so many things to experience, and Torch was ruining it all for me with his crappy attitude. “You’re getting in that rig, Alma Corvado.” A memory of that same low growl being directed at me as he told me to punch him harder, to crash my fist right under his chin where it would hurt the most, came to me in vivid color. He’d drilled me for weeks, pushing me to “hit me, dammit.” Back then I’d agonized about bruising his face. Of hurting him, but now I didn’t hesitate. I fisted my hands and socked him one right on the spot he’d told me a hundred times would knock a guy flat on his ass.
The satisfaction of seeing him stumble back and hearing Candela’s “Fucking hell, Brains,” was instantly hampered by the searing pain in my hand and the fact that the fucker barely was still standing.
“Why are you not knocked on your ass, Bernal?” I was fluttering my hand back and forth hoping it wasn’t broken while Torch glared at me. He didn’t even rub his chin.
“Get in the truck, or I’ll put you in it.” His voice was a little garbled, which did make me feel better. When he took a menacing step forward, I backed up and bumped right into Candela, who instantly grabbed my injured hand. It was like I’d been plugged into an electric outlet and the current was running up and down my body all at once.
“It’s not broken.” She informed me as she pressed the pads of her fingers on it while Torch and I stared at each other. He was less than a foot away and if he closed the distance I’d be caught between them. Unbidden the image of us pressed together invaded my mind. Of being close enough to feel them against my body. Of my ass rubbing against Candela, her tight nipples grazing my back while my own pressed to Torch’s front. Candela would pull down the front of my tank and offer my breasts up to Torch, who’d lick and suckle them until I screamed.
And what the fuck was this? How the hell was I thinking of this after punching the man?
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to go with you.” I felt a lot less defiant than I sounded, but I’d always been stubborn. There was a bruise blooming on Torch’s jaw and the sight of it was much less satisfying than I’d imagined it would be. In fact, my own hands itched to touch it. Ease the pain somehow. He was scowling so hard at me his eyebrows were by his nose. I was an imposition. Trouble they didn’t need. It was more than enough for them to have rescued me from the raider. I didn’t need to disrupt their life. They’d had to figure out the outside on their own, and I would too.
“I don’t want to be a burden.” I made myself slide away from Candela’s hold, but she didn’t let me go.
