Felix followed Olga as they walked in silence for a good distance. His mind whirled over what type of conversation with his aunt was about to happen. Was she going to speak to him about his desires for Kendra or his wife’s hatred for her?
Ari had, somehow, discovered his secret longing for Kendra. How did that happen? If only she’d spoken to him about it. He could have explained how it was an old feeling from a time when he thought that Kendra would be the only female he’d ever see and it just came and went from time to time.
He was never good about change. Anyone could tell her that. He’d battled his aunt when it came time to move and wouldn’t have done so if it wasn’t for the fact that Rupert’s knowledge of where they lived was dangerous. He’d balked when Rex joined their little group and took a while to accept him. It was just his way.
Seeing this side
On the verge of hyperventilating, Ari had to stop and force her body to calm down. She was furious about the fact that Pete had foiled her plan to take advantage of the zombie battle to take down Kendra. Now, she was sure that all eyes would be on her and the opportunity wouldn’t come again.Her hatred for Kendra was so acute that it surprised her. She needed to take the time to analyze it. Was it really simply because she’d heard Felix moan for her while sleeping? Was that really justification for the anger and pure hatred that she felt?No. It wasn’t.Sitting down at the base of an ancient tree, she worked on balancing her breathing while she concentrated on her feelings for Kendra.Memories of when she’d first met her while hunting began a long movie of the different times they’d been in each other’s company. From being sent on a mission to find her by the leaders of Center Land to
Both Felix and Olga expressed their surprise in the fact that Ari wasn’t amongst the group when they returned to them.“We’ve been gone a good long time,” Felix mused. “She should have calmed down and come back to apologize by now.”“How little you know of your wife,” Kendra snipped under her breath as she tightened the cinch on her saddle.Taken aback by his cousin’s remark, he said, “I think I know her as good as anyone.”Swinging into the saddle with the ease of an experienced rider, Kendra did her best to hide the wince as her tender, overused groin settled against the leather seat. “If you did, then, you’d know that Ari doesn’t believe in apologizing. It’s not the soldier’s way. Center Land teaches them to take responsibility for their actions. Own them, but never apologize for them.”He placed his hand on her horse’s neck an
“Stay still!” Petra barked as she shifted the handles of the primitive travois in a more comfortable position. “If you rock this thing one more time I’ll punch you out! I’m getting blisters.”“You’re such a whiner,” Jeena grumbled. “She’s not doing anything different than when I was dragging her, but you didn’t hear me complaining.”Ari’s loud grunt matched the thud that was made as Petra let the handles drop to the ground so that she could display the blisters on her palms to her companion. “See this? It’s from trying to hold these poles while she jolts this thing everywhere. The bark is lifting and cutting into my flesh.”Jeena sucked in air through her teeth. “Wow. That didn’t happen to me. It looks painful.”“Ya think?” Petra snapped as she yanked at the parts of Ari’s shirt that weren’
The group rode in silence. Although they knew that it would not be pleasant, cauterizing Ari’s wounds proved to be a more emotionally traumatic task than they’d imagined it would be. Her screams from the pain were not only heart-wrenching, but were of deep concern since they were very close to the valley of creatures. Two terminator pigs would be the least of their worries if the creatures on the other side of the hill took notice of their presence.Although she harbored dislike for Ari after the way she’d behaved toward the very brave and impressive Kendra after she’d saved her from that amazon woman and a touch of jealousy over the fact that she had Felix and didn’t really deserve him, Alice couldn’t help the deep sense of pity and remorse over what happened to Ari. No one, not even a bitch like Ari, deserved what happened to her.They’d traveled about thirty minutes when a half dozen amazon women on horseba
It didn’t matter what anyone said about Eugene’s fate. Kendra knew in her heart that her son was still alive and that he’d remember her, no matter how much time had kept them apart or what the mad scientists of Center Land had tried to do to his mind. She was extremely disappointed about the delay in going to fetch him, but her heart wasn’t so cold that she would turn her back on Ari when she was in such a condition.As they rode in silence, she let her mind imagine what it must have been like to have enormous wild pigs tearing at her flesh and crunching at her bones while she lay helpless to do anything about it. Her entire body shuddered at the thought.“Are you alright?” Alice asked in a soft and friendly tone as she urged her horse up next to Kendra’s.“Why do you ask?” Kendra snipped in a tone that was a little brisker than she’d intended. When she saw the mixture of both surprise
It was only a matter of minutes before a small group of amazon guards rode up on horseback. Like the women, the horses were oversized. Even though the ones that Kendra and her companions rode were the size of draft horses on the surface of earth, the ones that the amazon women sat astride made the ones that Kendra and her companions rode seem like small ponies.“You’re a brave one, Trudy Desmond,” barked the head guard.“Look at the girl on the travois, Gilda,” Trudy said to the guard. “She needs help now.”After a brief second of indecision, Gilda urged her horse closer to Ari. The sound of her sucking in air permeated their ears. “What beast got ahold of her?”“We’ll tell you, but we’re wasting time standing here,” Kendra boldly said. “We traveled an easy hour to get here. She’s been in pain for some time now.”The guard g
Kendra lay staring at the ceiling while she listened to the rhythmic breathing of her husband. His strong, muscular body lay, naked atop the bedding next to her. Their love making had been sincere, but intense. So intense, in fact, that she momentarily questioned whether the driving force behind Rex’s actions was love or anger.She had no doubt that he loved her. It was just that so much had happened to them and between them that she questioned if that love just might be coated with a bit of bitterness. If that was the case, she didn’t blame him or hold it against him. Admittedly, she harbored a faint bit of resentment that she worked to keep in check over the fact that he’d been used as a stud while in captivity. She supposed that it was natural to have some amount of jealousy mixed in with her emotions of love and friendship. In fact, she thought that it just might be a sign of a healthy relationship.&n
Felix paced the long corridor of the infirmary. His mind was so preoccupied with guilt and worry over Ari’s condition that he barely noticed the patients laying in their beds as he breezed past the open doors.They’d given him very little word on what was happening behind the closed double doors to the operating room. He’d followed them into the room and was there long enough to hear them discuss the possibility of having to amputate one of Ari’s legs from the knee down, but, at the sound of his mournful moan, they realized that he was in the room and promptly escorted him out.Now, he paced the floor, feeling helpless, while he waited for someone to come out of that room and tell him what they done or were going to do to help his wife.Kendra’s soft voice asking him how Ari was doing brought his attention back to his surroundings. He looked around him as if he was unsure of where he was before comprehension set in and h