This Would Be Paradise (Book 2) Read Free

who had jumped in front of my car had dark skin, his age showing in the lines marring his forehead. He must have been in his late thirties or early forties, and judging by the roughness of his skin, he’d spent a good portion of his life working outdoors. The other two looked like generic office workers who hadn’t seen the light of day in ten years.
    “Happy?” the jaywalker asked.
    “Not the word I would use.”
    “You have a kid in there?” the woman asked, looking past me into the car.
    Her accent was distinctly Eastern European. Her hair had once been blond; the old dye had sunk farther down her straight hair, her natural brown taking over. These days, dying your hair was the least of your worries.
    “Yes, and I would appreciate you putting away your weapons so you don’t scare her more than you already have.”
    Guilt flashed across her face and she shouldered her rifle, as did the others.
    “I’ll check the car.” The woman walked passed me and I stepped toward the vehicle, but the main guy stopped me.
    “You stay here,” he told me.
    The man patted me down and easily found the gun, pulling it from my waistband.
    “I thought you said you weren’t bandits?”
    “Don’t worry, you’ll get this back. But for now, we’ll hold on to it.”
    He confiscated my gun and deemed me clear. Behind me, the woman was gently coaxing Chloe out of the car. These guys didn’t give off a dangerous vibe, just a scared one, as if they’d been screwed over one too many times and wouldn’t trust that easily again, kind of like a rescued animal. Chloe looked at me and I jerked my head, telling her to come to me. She got out and shot the lady a venomous glance as she ran over. She stuck her little hand in mine and stayed close to my side.
    “Hello there. What’s your name?” asked the man who’d confiscated my gun.
    “What’s yours?” Chloe countered.
    The man’s eyes widened. “Roy. And this is Tim and that lady you met is Karla.”
    Roy extended a hand to me.
    After a beat, I took it. “Bailey, and this one is Chloe.”
    “Nice to meet you two. As you can see, we have some tight security, but it’s for a good reason. Would you like to meet the rest of our camp?” Roy asked.
    I guess having a kid around had its benefits; people were usually on their best behavior around them.
    “Did you guys take over the whole town?” I asked, genuinely curious as to how they might have done that.
    “No, but you’ll see for yourself. We have a truck at the bottom of the ramp. Grab your car and follow us.”

Chapter 3
    Chloe and I got back into the Mazda and drove down the ramp. I spotted a truck at the bottom of the exit and we waited for them to get moving. Roy was saying something to the other two, but it looked like Tim kept interrupting him. They eventually nodded and broke apart. Karla and Tim headed up the ramp, back to their posts, while Roy got into the truck. He peeled out, and I set after him.
    “Do you think these are good guys?” Chloe asked.
    I hated that we’d resorted to classifying people as good guys or bad guys.
    “I think they’re just scared, that’s all, and that’s why they have all this security in place,” I said, choosing my words carefully.
    She pointed to the truck we were following. “That guy looked kinda familiar.”
    I thought about it. “When would you have seen him?”
    She shrugged. “Dunno, but he does.”
    Maybe we had seen him at the school, but I didn’t remember much of that chaotic day, other than us fighting to escape with our lives. He led us down the main road for about five minutes, then he took a right. We followed the truck. The streets had no one living, or otherwise, on them. Leaves and trash lined the gutters, like colorful lane bumpers in a bowling alley. The houses we passed weren’t fancy, reflecting more of a middle to lower class lifestyle.
    “Do you think there’ll be lots of people? Do you think maybe Ethan is there?” Chloe asked, practically