No one spoke.

“I’m not going to ask again.” He nodded to one of his men, who went to stand next to Vicki, holding his pistol against her temple. She closed her eyes, and tears fell down her cheeks. “In three seconds, I’m going to have my colleague here kill this woman.”

He looked across our faces. “One.”

Clutch opened his mouth to speak. My brows furrowed, and I shook my head once. Don’t you dare.

“Two.”

“I’m in charge,” Bryce said hurriedly from next to Tyler.

The leader’s brows rose as though he was genuinely surprised, and he sauntered over to Bryce. “You? Really?”

“You’ve got me. Release my people. They’ve done nothing wrong,” Bryce added. Even though his voice cracked, he put on a good act. I almost believed it myself.

“No, I don’t believe I will.” He raised his sidearm, and clicked off the safety.

“Stop!” Tyler yelled. “I’m Captain Tyler Masden, commanding officer of Camp Fox.”

Hodge smirked. He grabbed Bryce’s hair and yanked his head back to look him in the face. “That was stupid of you. I already knew that asshole was in charge. Everybody knows that whoever speaks up first is a hero, an idiot, or in charge. Usually all three are the same.”

He looked up to his men. “Get them to their feet.”

Tyler, Clutch, and the other fifteen men were pulled to their feet by the eight bandits. I could see in Clutch’s, Tyler’s, and all of the Fox men’s eyes that they wanted to turn and attack. We outnumbered them, but they outgunned us. It would be a massacre.

The leader stood in front of Tyler. “Now I know how far I can push you and how loyal your people are to you. Disappointing on both counts.”

He walked down the line of Fox men and back to Tyler. “You are going to help us draw that New Eden squadron into an ambush.”

“We won’t help you,” Tyler said harshly.

“I should clarify. I don’t need your help. Your uniforms are going to help us draw the New Eden squadron into an ambush. Now, strip.”

It took rifles shoved into their backs for them to take off their fatigues. As a scout, I wore fatigues, too, but I wasn’t ordered to take off mine, probably because I was smaller and mine wouldn’t fit any of the bandits. I knelt there and watched as Clutch and the others pulled off their boots and stripped down to their T-shirts, socks, and underwear.

They stood nearly naked in the freezing morning air, their breaths making cloud puffs, while two of the bandits carried their clothing away. Goosebumps covered Clutch’s tattoos on his arms.

“Hey, Hodge. We’d better hustle,” a bandit called out as he came running up. “The New Eden pricks are just about to cross the bridge.”

I think everyone’s gaze turned toward the bridge in the distance. Trees with golden and red leaves blocked much of the view, but it was impossible to miss the squadron of heavily armored vehicles approaching in the distance.

“Well, then.” Hodge checked his pistol. “Thank you for your service.”

He walked over to Tyler, held his pistol to Tyler’s temple and fired. A thunderous shot broke the silence. A woman screamed. Tyler fell face-forward, and a pool of dark blood spread out from around his head.

Air flew from my lungs and I couldn’t breathe. My heart felt like it’d stopped. Someone clung to me—Vicki, I think—and I embraced her numbly. Ice zapped the strength from my legs, yet I somehow managed to stay on my feet. My vision swirled. Not Tyler. He couldn’t die. He was too good to die.

People cried out. Hodge held his pistol against Bryce’s temple and looked across our faces. He fired, and Bryce collapsed. He moved to the next man, again looked across the group of survivors, and fired.

My mouth opened as I watched in shock as the bandit stopped next to Clutch. My world spun and my legs gave out. I reached for Clutch. “No!”

Chapter XXX

Instead of executing Clutch, Hodge nodded to one of his men who raised his rifle and slammed it down on Clutch’s head from behind. He collapsed into a pile. Tears fell down my cheeks, and I realized the leader was watching me with keen interest.

“You’re a bastard,” I said simply, the ice in my body having given way to boiling hatred.

He smiled broadly. “You see,” he said. “I keep the ones with something to lose. It’s entertaining the things I can make them do to try to save each other. I think I’ll have fun with both of you.”

Never, I thought to myself.

“Boss,” one of the men said. “They’re coming up fast.”

He looked toward the bridge, before turning to his men. “Get the rest inside. We’ll finish later. We have to get changed before the squadron arrives.”

“On your feet,” one of the bandits ordered, waving his gun at us.

Clutch was just coming to with a groan, and I helped drag him up. The back of his head had a wet spot from an open gash. I slid his arm over my shoulder. His skin was freezing cold. Deb came up and grabbed his other arm. The bandits rushed everyone back into the store and back to our small campsite. The seven small grills still had glowing embers from last night’s fires.

Deb and I helped Clutch onto his sleeping bag, and I wrapped my bag around his shoulders. I swallowed and my eyes blurred. The shock of everything was starting to give way, and adrenaline and the cold made me shake nearly uncontrollably. I held tightly onto Clutch, and he wrapped his arms around me, shaking just as much.

“I can’t believe they shot Tyler,” Deb said in a monotone voice.

All but two bandits disappeared into the back. The pair who remained kept their rifles leveled on us while the others changed. One of the bandits was busy admiring his new rifle: Clutch’s Blaser.

Less than a minute later, Hodge came out in Guardsman fatigues, walked over to the pair standing guard over us, and said something I couldn’t hear. When he turned to us, his eyes narrowed. “If any of you try to run, you will be shot. Got it?”

He didn’t wait for a response. He left with the others dressed in clothes our guys had been wearing minutes earlier, and I wanted to see his blood stain the clothes he stole.

I clung to Clutch, partly to warm him and mostly because I needed to feel him—his breathing, his heartbeat, his life. His breathing steadied my own, and I felt my pounding heart return to a level where it didn’t feel like I was having a panic attack. After a minute or two, his grogginess wore off and he no longer swayed or shook as badly. He gingerly touched the back of his head and winced. “Fuck.”

I looked up at him. I wanted to ask if he was okay, but when I opened my mouth, a sob threatened to get in the way.

He cupped my face with both hands. He didn’t kiss me, only pressed our foreheads together as though he needed the physical connection as much as I did. Tears streamed down my cheeks. He brushed away a tear with his thumb. “Sh. Don’t cry,” he whispered softly.

The soft words were such a contrast to his rough palms, yet both were full of emotion and I leaned into him. “I almost lost you,” I whispered back, my voice cracking.

He looked up and glared at the bandits, each on opposite sides of our indoor campground, before looking back at me. “You shouldn’t have cried out,” he whispered. “They’ll use me to hurt you now.”

If I hadn’t cried out, he’d be dead right now. Rather than saying that, I simply shrugged.

Around us, the remaining Fox survivors all sat in shellshock. Many were crying in despair and loss, some stared blankly into nothingness, and others looked downright pissed, like they were about to go kamikaze on the guards. I don’t know how I looked to them because I was feeling all of those emotions at the same time.

Tyler’s rumpled blue sleeping bag sat empty, along with a few others, and I turned away, not having the strength to think about the permanence of what had happened. I could only hope that Jase and Griz were safe.