“Later.” He tipped his chin at Al and Daniel nodded.
Finn doubted the woman even knew what was going on. She pressed her face into the big guy’s shirt, hands clutching him to keep upright. Without comment Daniel set his shoulder to her middle and up she went, draped over his back in a fireman’s hold.
“Hey.” Startled, her feet kicked out, but Daniel slapped a hand down over her ass.
“Hush, woman. Phase two of the plan?” The big man asked, hand settling on her rear with a final, affectionate pat.
“Run.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
They had found a hovel to hide beneath for the night. Daniel knew it was a hovel. Bone deep. No debate. He lay on his back in the dirt, staring at the shadowy wooden floorboards a bare meter above his head. When he was a kid they’d lived in a similar place. A small two-bedroom cottage with walls so thin they’d shake. His father would stomp about, rattling the panes of glass in the window frames.
The old man loved to intimidate with his size. Prime perfect example of everything Daniel never wanted to be. No, he’d only wanted to protect Ali and he’d ballsed that up royal y. Guilt smothered him like lead-lining. It was amazing he could breathe.
He saw Finn crawling around in the near darkness, patrolling, watching the street. A machine had nothing on the kid as he went about his duty. Daniel didn’t know whether to be jealous or grateful or what. Mostly, he just felt tired. He could feel himself sinking into the ground, wanting to give in to it. A yawn cracked his jaw and he opened his eyes wide, trying to stay with it. They needed to be on the alert. Ramshackle fence palings hung on al sides of the cottage, little protection against anything, should anything manage to find them.
The situation was wel and truly fucked.
His girl was out cold, a lovely load strewn across his chest because he beat the dirt floor, comfort-wise. And because he needed her close. If he were some cynical, sorry son of a bitch, he might have had a moment. He might have figured playing mattress was the most he was good for. There was no sugar coating it, he had failed her. He had lured her out of her hidey-hole, and then been too high on life and love to protect her. It couldn’t happen again. For the last couple of hours he’d been picking their problems apart, trying to come up with a solution.
If Finn hadn’t turned up, then he or both of them would be dead. Or worse, because there was worse. Her trust issues began to make sense. What those fuckers wanted her for would be a living nightmare, guaranteed. His stomach roiled at the thought of them hurting his girl. Scrubbing the inside of his head out to purge those pictures would be a mercy. There weren’t any limits to how far he’d go to keep her from such a fate. He’d do anything.
The bastards riding up and down the streets intermittently blocked off their lone escape route, a rickety old railway bridge. It didn’t seem to bother them that infected roamed the night. Because of their patrols, the only pissy footpath to freedom wasn’t an option. No one was getting across the river tonight.
Beautiful.
Smoke remained thick, but the flames hadn’t reached them yet. No more fires had been lit close by. Even the bastards had to have deduced they risked being caught between the fires and all the infected.
Finn crawled over on hands and knees, favoring one side. His arm was tucked up against his chest. Daniel added that to his list of worries. But Finn could take care of himself.
“There are less infected on the streets than there were a month back,” the kid commented, dropping onto his belly with gritted teeth.
“Noticed that while you were out and about?”
Daniel nodded, traced a hand over his girl’s back. She slumbered on, on top of him. He slid his hand beneath her shirt, pressed his palm to her back. Feeling her breathe, taking in the warmth of her skin soothed him. “Yeah. They’re running low on food.”
“Fine. How is she? Woken her up recently?”
“About an hour ago. She threatened me.” Dan grinned, heart swelling with love. He was just beginning to understand the things a man would do for love. “She has such a creative mind.”
Finn chuckled, casting an eye over his sleeping beauty. His gaze glommed onto the side of her breast where it pressed against Daniel’s chest.
After a hell of a long moment, wherein he was certain the guy had stopped breathing and quite possibly swallowed his own tongue, the kid’s gaze shot back to Daniel’s face. Hungry-looking eyes turned guilty in an instant. “Shit. Sorry, man.”
“Don’t worry about it. I know what it’s like.” Yeah, he knew what it was like. He stil wanted to hit the pretty asshole, but he did know what it was like.
Therein lay the root of the problem.
Sharing was not in his nature, but nature would have to adapt. Ali needed this kid. Finn was a modern day gunslinger. Deep down he fucking hated it, but his girl needed this one nice and close. Preferably wrapped around her finger and deeply concerned about her health and happiness.