Owned - L.V. Lane Page 0,1

hair, it was fair to say there was a bit of Irish blood in me. Once upon a time, I’d had the temper to match and considered myself mentally tough.

Life had gotten complicated long before Adam; it was a thousand times worse now. But I only had to look at his innocent face to know what was important. If my emotions sometimes got the better of me now, I would get over it for Adam’s sake.

“She’ll be fine,” Mary said. “Whatever’s happening in the northern district appears to be isolated. Added bonus of keeping things quiet around here.”

Despite being in her seventies, Mary was still sprightly and resilient as hell. People rarely talked about the world before—too painful—so I didn’t know her story. But I got the impression Mary was a survivor of more than the societal collapse. She volunteered to go in Ava’s place since she could handle a gun and herself, even at seventy-something. Ava wasn’t biting, and this, despite me believing that Mary had the edge if it went to the wire.

Mary leaned over the console to take the monitoring keys and manually rotated through the surveillance cameras. The operation room was empty except for the two of us. From here, we could monitor all the outside camera feeds. Not that we were expecting Ava back yet, but there was comfort in watching the screens and seeing that everything remained quiet.

The data center that became a home to our community consisted of nearly thirty people. Somewhere along the line, it had been named Sanctuary. In the seventeen years since the war had ended, a lot had changed in society, if you could even call it society any more. I’d lived more years in the after-life, and memories of that old world held only a dream-like quality in my mind. I’d moved around a lot before finding Sanctuary. Disparity existed between the many pockets of humanity. Each had their culture, rules, and laws, or lack thereof.

I had lived in communities of thousands and of five. They’d all had a common theme. I’d run from one to another, always hoping for better until the day I crossed paths with Sanctuary scouts. It had sounded too good to be true. But I was pregnant, alone, and desperate enough to take a risk. As it turned out, it was the best risk I’d ever taken and the start of something good.

“She knows where to go and what to do,” Mary said, reminding me that while Sanctuary was good, the world at large was not. “And she cares about Adam as much as you. She won’t take risks in this, not where her favorite little boy is concerned.”

I smiled, but it faded. “Yeah, it’s more her killer instinct that worries me.”

Mary made a scoffing noise and the corners of her eyes crinkled in amusement. “She doesn’t belong on this side of the apocalypse, that’s for sure. But I don’t reckon any of us do. Maybe except my Walt. I’d have liked to see that bastard suffer some, but he went and had a heart attack the day before the shit hit the fan. Some folks have all the luck.”

“How come I’m only hearing about your nefarious plans for this mysterious Walt now?” I teased.

She cackled to herself before wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

Her humor faded, and she huffed out a sigh. “Ah, Nora, don’t you feel it?” She gestured toward the monitors where the damp, dark streets remained eerily quiet. “Change is coming. Don’t know if it’s a good kind of change, like the day I happened upon Sanctuary. Or the bad kind, like the day I happened on my Walt. But it’s coming, and not a damn thing either of us can do about it. We can only buckle up and get ready for the ride. Don’t talk about the past much. That’s the rule. Don’t think of it much either, truth be told. Except for times like these when the hustling begins again.”

Her words settled a heaviness on my shoulders and a sickness in my gut.

Jodi and our reconnaissance team had been cut off by the distant troubles in the northern district. Now, Ava was on the streets, and Ava never went out. Jodi handled that side of things.

Jodi was tough as fucking nails so Ava didn’t need to be.

The history between those two had happened after the collapse, but I still didn’t know much about it. There was speculation—there was always speculation within a community, but especially