Thicker Than Blood (Thicker Than Blood #1)(59)
He swallowed. “Don’t take that away from me,” he whispered back.
“Thirty seconds!” the guard bellowed.
Yanking free of Alex’s hold, I spun away and marched with purpose over to the gates. Purposely, I avoided meeting Evelyn’s eyes, part of me hating that she seemed to always be able to do what I couldn’t.
Keeping my gaze firmly planted on the ground, I let my belt drop first. Then, reaching around, I began to struggle with the buttons on the back of my dress. As I continued to fumble, silently cursing both myself and this awful situation, Alex appeared at my left and Evelyn to my right. Brushing my hand away, Evelyn began to work the buttons while Alex kept his eyes steadily focused on mine. When my dress fell away, leaving me standing in nothing but a pillaged pair of underwear, I couldn’t hold back a full-bodied shiver. Keeping my gaze on Alex, trembling from head to toe, I tucked my thumbs inside my underwear and pushed them down.
“Turn around and lift your arms,” the soldier demanded.
Swallowing hard, fighting the urge to cover my breasts, I turned slowly, giving my back to the gathered crowd. They weren’t nearly as zealous with me as they’d been with Evelyn, something I attributed to my scars and numerous bruises. Although most of them had turned an ugly shade of yellow and purple, they were still visible. For that, I was grateful. If the crowd had been nearly as crude to me as they’d been to Evelyn, I might have taken off running.
“Spread your legs,” the soldier said, “then bend down and touch your toes.”
I did as he demanded, feeling my cheeks burn hot from the humiliating position. I stayed that way for several seconds, my legs spread wide apart, my backside thrust high into the air while I attempted to reach for my toes.
“Clear!” he called out, and I sprang up, closing my legs and slapping my hands over my breasts. Alex, still standing beside me, had already begun helping me back into my dress.
“What happened to her?” I heard someone ask. Still busy with my underwear, I didn’t turn to answer.
“A man,” I heard Evelyn snap.
“What man?” the voice asked. “That man?”
I spun around then, facing the several soldiers and the crowd of onlookers behind them. “No,” I said bitingly. “Another man did this. And I killed him for it.”
Not one person who heard me seemed surprised by my answer, most of them disinterested in us now that we were clothed again. Only one soldier, the voice behind the question, stared back at me. He was young, maybe around my age, with light brown hair spiked up in all directions, and rather hollow-looking blue eyes.
“Welcome to Purgatory,” he said flatly. “Weapons are allowed, but if you kill someone inside these gates, you’ll answer for it. You got that?”
“Got it,” Alex replied tersely.
“I’m talking to her,” the soldier said, his eyes still on me. “The self-proclaimed murderess.”
“I got it,” I said evenly.
Lifting up two fingers, the soldier spun an invisible circle in the air. “Let ’em in!” he shouted, and the gate began to open, its hinges squealing in protest.
When the gate was fully open and there was no danger of being electrocuted, we stepped inside as a group. Bryce and Mike took off together, disappearing into a crowded market area, while Alex, Evelyn, and I stood in a tight circle, unsure of what to do or where to go.
“This way.” The soldier who’d welcomed us inclined his head. “Time to meet the boss man.”
As we followed him down the crowded path, the throng of people growing thicker and noisier, I couldn’t help but wonder why they would name a safe haven something as awful as Purgatory? Because it was the last stop before heaven or hell? A place of judgment that would test our resolve and strength?
Or was it just as it implied. Purgatory, a place or state of suffering. For all eternity.
From behind us, the gates closed with a thump and click, electrical sparks shooting out in all directions.
I turned away, still following our armed guide. I supposed I’d find out soon enough, one way or the other.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Evelyn
My heart was beating furiously in my chest, anger and frustration still burning through me as I gripped Leisel’s hand, trapping her fingers within my own. Being naked was nothing to me. Being gawked at, stared at, ogled, and scrutinized, it all meant nothing…to me. Yes, I hated them all staring, of course I did, but I’d found it more infuriating than embarrassing. Yet to Leisel, to someone whose own body had been repeatedly used as a tool to both shame and embarrass her, it was everything. And after everything that bastard Lawrence had put her through, her body was finally her own, and I hated that these men had made her feel anything differently.
Alex walked ahead of us, with Leisel and me following closely behind, and like a small triangle we trailed after the guard. I hadn’t even met this supposed boss man, yet I hated him already, hated him for the uncomfortable welcome his men had given us. But as I looked around, taking in our new surroundings, I couldn’t deny that I respected him as well. He’d accomplished a lot with this place, especially safety, and that was worth my admiration.
Life literally teemed from every corner of this place, as if Purgatory were a busy New York City sidewalk, not an old factory complex stuck in the middle of nowhere. It was both fascinating and frightening, so much life all in one place, filled with people who didn’t seem afraid like the citizens in Fredericksville. In fact, these people seemed the opposite, laughing and joking as if this were just any other day, not four years into the crumble of civilization.