Hope (24 page)
Authors: Sam Crescent
Tristan stopped in front of Grimes. The man didn’t look well
kept.
“Tristan, you can’t kill him,”
wouldn’t get the chance to do it.”
Damon looked behind him to see the last leader coming up to
the field.
“I sent a word out when Pearce came to visit me. We’ve been
planning an intervention like this for some time,” Don said.
“I’d like to kill you.” Tristan spoke the words and then
made his way to Jordan’s and Don’s side.
Grimes looked startled by the appearance of all three
leaders. “You’ve kept in touch?”
“You murdered Tristan’s family, Grimes. We weren’t going to
let that rest. We’re all trying to find ways to get not just our city but the
whole world running again. I’m tired of what is happening. Aren’t you tired of
fighting?” Don asked.
“Tired? No. Fighting is necessary. It is what defines us
from being weak or strong.”
Damon stared at the other man. He didn’t know about Tristan
being insane. Grimes took the lead on the crazy scale to him.
****
“Shit, I can’t watch this,” Laura said.
Penny stared out of the upstairs window watching the group of
men talking. They all looked so calm and collected. The goose-bumps on her arms
made her shiver. The bag Damon had packed lay on the bed waiting for her to
run. She pressed a hand to her stomach waiting for something to happen.
The love of her life was standing in the centre of it all.
She wanted to slam her fist against the pane and beg him to run. Instead, she
waited to see what was going to happen.
She’d given him a promise, and she intended to keep it.
“How can you bear to look?” Laura asked. Her children were
locked up tight in the basement. They’d told them it was an emergency drill so
they were not to fear.
She closed her eyes counting to ten in an attempt to calm
her nerves. “I don’t have a choice. Damon made me promise him I’d run. I’m
waiting to see what happens.”
Her breath released, and she inhaled again.
“George is down there. If they hurt him I’ll kill the
bastards.”
Penny tensed when she saw the big man reach for his pocket. Damon
and the men behind him lifted their weapons in the air. Laura’s nails dug into
her arms where the woman held onto her.
She winced.
“Laura, please,” she asked, staring at her hands.
“Sorry, I’m a fool. I don’t know my own strength.” Laura let
her go.
The moment was tense, and Penny eased open a window to see
if she could hear what was being said. Only the sound of the breeze could be
heard.
****
Shelley sat at the bar waiting for someone to tell her what
was happening.
The man she loved was
only on the outskirts of the city, and she didn’t have a clue if he lived or
not.
Her hands shook as she picked up her chipped glass. The brew
had been made at the club by the barman.
“Are you okay, Shelley?” the barman asked. He was one of the
few men who’d stayed behind.
“I’m fine. I’m waiting to hear the news.
The barman nodded leaving her alone. The women were in their
rooms waiting for the news. She’d been the one to send him. Don didn’t want to
go as he hated leaving her alone. The tears she had kept at bay for too long
threatened to spill over.
She didn’t know how anyone could handle this kind of
sadness. If he died, Don’s blood would be on her hands.
Sipping the moonshine, she begged and prayed for him to be
safe and to return.
When he did return to her, she wouldn’t let him treat her
like an employee. Their affair would become public knowledge. She was tired of
dying inside at night when Don left her room. There was only so much a woman
could take before she started to hate herself.
Slamming the glass down, she made her way outside of the
club. The crumbling city was in need of repair. She looked at each of the
buildings and started to see hope. Grimes had done them all a favour. If it
wasn’t for his threat on their lives then Don and the others wouldn’t have
ventured out of their areas. Don needed to realise the only way he could make
change was to start truly leading.
Kelly and several of the girls joined her outside waiting on
the news. This moment could change the rest of their lives. She rubbed her arms
staring up at the sun.
Shelley felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She
felt hope.
Epilogue
Three months later
The day that Grimes died was the day that was talked about
every day. Penny remembered the men raising their weapons prepared to fight.
Her heart had raced inside her chest waiting for the moment their lives would
end. She’d have run for Damon. She knew she’d have kept her promise to the very
end. In the one moment they’d been ready to fight, and in the next, Grimes’s
men had started to leave the field after
alone staring at all of them. She’d watched Damon and Pearce hold Grimes down.
The man had fought, and she’d thought Damon was going to die. She’d seen a
knife in Grimes’s hand, ready to strike, and then Tristan had taken the lead.
He’d charged Grimes with a force that had shocked her. Every punch and slash of
his knife had knocked Grimes down. All the men stood watching and waiting. If
Tristan didn’t get the job done then the others were ready to take Grimes down.
Tristan had toyed with him, slashing and cutting him away,
and when the final blow came Tristan had slammed the blade into his throat.
Penny recalled screaming at the blood and the horror of the moment. When Grimes
had gone down, Tristan had spat on him.
All of Don’s,
remained on the field for the remainder of the day. They’d not appointed a new
leader for Grimes’s area yet, and she knew Damon had been approached to take
over the area, which he’d turned down.
She spent a great deal of time looking back over that battle. Damon had
explained in detail about what had happened to Tristan. After she’d heard
everything she felt Grimes died too early. He should have been made to suffer
even more. Penny rubbed her stomach. Gazing down at her stomach she sent
another prayer of gratitude that she hadn’t run away.
Damon had gotten her pregnant. Their child continued to grow
every day. She rubbed her swollen stomach and stared out of the window. He’d been
true to his word, and they lived on the farm once owned by Tony. They had spent
the first month getting the house in order. Shelley and Don had visited her and
brought some furniture in several of the jeeps. Pearce was helping to build
several machines that relied on the light and heat of the sun.
Their energy sources were gathered from
sustainable resources.
“How
are my woman
and baby doing?” Damon
asked the moment he walked inside.
“We’re growing every day and getting stronger.”
He kissed her stomach and then her lips. “I’ll always save
the best for last.”
Penny moaned and whimpered against him. The feel of his hard
body against her was enough to arouse her.
She turned to stare out at the fields that were covered in a
lush layer of green. Her man had taken to farming like a fish does to water.
“Everything looks so beautiful,” she said.
“Not half as beautiful as you do. I love you so much. You
saved me, you know?”
Penny turned in his arms winding her arms around his neck. “How
do you mean?” she asked, curious about the answer.
“I wasn’t living until you came along. I went through my day
without really paying attention. I was dying inside. The moment I heard your
scream I was awakened. I couldn’t let you leave, and I had to make sure you
were protected.”
His words brought tears to her eyes.
“You gave me hope, Penny. Hope that I could live a life with
happiness and hope that we could be together.”
She smiled. He gave her constant hope they’d survive. With a
baby on the way she was scared she wouldn’t be able to make it. There were
plenty of women who’d died in child-birth. Laura was going to coach her, and
she helped her every day with talking to her and chatting.
“I gave you hope, and you give me everything. I love you, Damon
Wright, and always will. Do you think you can cope with that?” she asked.
“Baby, I can handle everything you can throw at me.” He
nuzzled her neck making her giggle.
For now, she was happy to see him smiling.
The
End
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