Read Online After The Virus by Meghan Ciana Doidge - Free Book Online Page A

suddenly bucked forward and thrown her. She had hoped to hit brush rather than concrete on the way down.
    They must have had a wire across the road.
    Her hands were tied behind her back and her wrists felt like they’d bled already, so that wasn’t good. At least her limbs were numb. That probably helped with the pain she was pretty sure she should be in. She knew almost instantly by the general lightness of her clothing that they had stripped her of every gun, knife, and even her grenades. Later on, she’d probably be pissed about losing those, but right now she was more concerned about the negative results she was getting from her internal/external wound evaluation.
    She had flung her arms up to protect her face before she hit ground — old habits do die hard — so it didn’t feel overly bruised or scraped.
    A harsh kick to her right-side ribs immediately informed her that they were badly bruised, if not broken, and she stifled an agonized scream.
    “I know yer awake, I saw your eyes open.” She knew this voice. She wondered if he had his shotgun. She didn’t feel like he’d raped her. Ah, the fucking penis; whether it worked or not, it was always about the dick. Women just didn’t obsess about their clits the same way.
    She cracked her eyes open again. His boots were inches away from her face and she really hoped it wasn’t her blood splattered on them. She was lying stomach down on a navy blue sleeping bag, but her cheek was currently pressed into packed dirt and embedded with small rocks.
    Shotgun Asshole flipped her onto her back. It was awkward to lie on tied arms so she tried to sit, but he pressed a boot to her belly. He hunched down, his shotgun resting on one of his thighs, to look at her. She tried to meet his gaze calmly, but the pain seeping into her arms from the increased blood flow wasn’t helping.
    “Was worried you wouldn’t wake; that’s a big bump you got on your head.” He got off on her pain. “Plus, can’t hurt you more if you’re dead.”
    Rhiannon tried to retort but found her mouth too dry. Someone tried to give her water, but Asshole grabbed the canteen and gave him/her a shove. He poured the water over her head. She got a bit in her mouth, but most of it pooled between and over her breasts. He noticed, typical scum.
    She refused, no matter how injured, to feel scared. She’d gotten away from Asshole before, so she would just do it again. He couldn’t kill her. He saw this realization in her expression, and he raised his hand to slap her, but was grabbed by Buddy, who she could now identify, before he could.
    “You know he wants her unharmed!” Buddy frantically hissed, and then looked around as if someone might be listening.
    “He don’t know what happened to her before we found her,” Asshole countered.
    “Unless she says so,” Buddy reminded Asshole. Asshole didn’t like advice. He shoved Buddy away, harsher than before. Buddy stumbled backwards and then wandered off to sit by the fire.
    “I ain’t losing no more ears over you, cunt,” Asshole spit.
    Rhiannon snorted and sneered. “I guess to kill me, you’ll have to kill us both.” Buddy, whom she’d indicated, looked up at that and shifted his handgun to rest on his knee.
    “Don’t listen to the bitch; she don’t get it.” Asshole leaned in closer like he was sharing some secret. “Let me explain. I can’t do anything to you that’s worse than what he’s going to.”
    At this pronouncement, Buddy actually shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself, even though he sat a couple of feet from the fire.
    “He saw you brought in,” Asshole continued. “He knew who you were, then made sure everyone with you, your friends, were killed, slaughtered.”
    Buddy numbly finished Asshole’s thought. “ ’Cause then you’d know there was no help coming, nobody going to rescue you, no allies, no way out.”
    Asshole threw a shut-up look at Buddy, but he ignored it to add, “Most of your group would have