Dead tides hells apocaly.., p.1
Dead Tides (Hell's Apocalypse), page 1
Dead Tides
Hell’s Apocalypse Book 2
Penn Cassidy
Penn Cassidy, 2024. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
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Contents
About
Chapter 1
Helana
Chapter 2
Hell
Chapter 3
Hell
Chapter 4
Hell
Chapter 5
Hell
Chapter 6
Wyatt
Chapter 7
Hell
Chapter 8
Alex
Chapter 9
Hell
Chapter 10
Hell
Chapter 11
Hell
Chapter 12
Dante
Chapter 13
Hell
Chapter 14
Hell
Chapter 15
Hell
Chapter 16
Hell
Chapter 17
Hell
Chapter 18
Hell
Chapter 19
Hell
Chapter 20
Ret
21. Chapter 21
Hell
The End
Epilogue
About the Author
Where to stalk me!
Notes
About
I thought we were in the clear and that the trappers we'd killed were the worst of our problems. Mac was gone for good and I could put all the trauma in the past.
Maybe I spoke too soon.
As if having the infamous Jessa show up out of nowhere, causing Alex to spiral, wasn't a sh!tstorm in itself, my father's base received a distress call from a settlement in California that needs help. The guys tell me to let someone else handle it. I've been through enough this past year.
But I've never been good at doing what I'm told.
Eff my life.
Chapter 1
Helana
The roof was fast becoming my safe space. Up here, the drama unfolding down below couldn’t touch me. Up here, it was just me, my thoughts, and endless miles of fog filled wasteland.
Occasionally, a herd of zombies would wander past the perimeter guards, slipping through them in a blind spot. I watched about a dozen of them amble through the haze, only vague shadows, followed by the eerie sound of moans.
“Dibs!” I called out as I aimed with my crossbow. With an arrow notched, I sent the first one whizzing through the air. It pierced the zom’s head with a satisfying sucking sound. It toppled over like a bowling pin, and I let out a whoop. “Fuck yeah, bitches, nothing but net!”
Three masculine groans sounded off to my right and left. I waved to my brother, Travis, who stood at the top of a makeshift crow’s nest that poked through the roof of the hay barn. He and another man, whose name escaped me, shook their heads. My middle brother Scottie was perched in the oak tree to the left of the house. He’d set up a hunting perch and had settled in for the last few hours, hoping to catch some zoms.
It was a little game we’d begun playing last week. After my friends and I settled in, and I slowly came to terms with the fact that my family was harboring the last person in the world I ever wanted to meet, I was able to let loose with my brothers when I needed to blow off steam. We'd come out here just as the sun rose every morning, waiting a few hours in case any hordes slipped through. Usually it ended up being just one or two randoms staggering through the fog. We’d pick them off before sending Anubis and the hound dogs out to finish off the remains for their breakfast.
There was a wall surrounding the settlement, so we had to keep high enough to see over the top of it, but in a way it reminded me of the old video games we used to play when we were kids. We were a badass fortress, and I wouldn’t want to mess with us.
“Miss Military thinks she’s hot-shit boys!” Scottie shouted, and the others laughed. “How bout you save some game for the rest of us?"
I rolled my eyes. “You snooze, you lose, Scottie. It’s not my fault your reflexes are slow.” I scooted toward the ladder that would lead me off of the roof, knowing it was time for everyone to start their day, and soon, people would be looking for me.
The guys grumbled, and I climbed down. Travis flipped me the bird, and I just laughed. No matter how old we got, they never changed. I headed around to the back of the house and let myself into the old mud room. My immediate family, along with Nina and Missy of course, have rooms in the main house, while anyone else in the camp is either set up in hastily built homes of their own scattered across the property or in RV campers. Wyatt, Alex, Dante, and Ret were staying in our family’s camper just behind the main house, where I could get to them in seconds and vice versa.
Truth be told, I wanted them with me in the main house, but my daddy wouldn’t hear of it. He was old school in that way, and these men were still strangers to him. I understood, so I never complained.
I stomped up the stairs and into my bedroom, stripping down to my bra and panties, letting my respirator lay on the bed. It needed a good cleaning at some point today. I had my own bathroom, so I wasted no time taking a shower, though it was freezing cold seeing as we had no heating in the house. This was Nevada, so it didn’t get very cold here, but since the zombie-making fog had blotted out the sun for so long, the temperature had dropped dramatically.
We still had generators and solar power, so the water pumped from the wells was fine to use. After a year on the road, I’d almost forgotten how it felt to be clean all the time. I scrubbed my skin until it felt raw and washed my hair three times before turning off the water.
Every day was more of the same now as I dressed in a pair of black fatigue pants, a black ribbed racer-back tank, and my thick military-issued boots. Leaving my pale hair wet, I arranged it into a long French braid that ended right above my ass. It was easier to take my mask on and off if my hair was out of my face.
As I finished getting dressed, the sound of footsteps approached my door. My hand instinctively went to the knife strapped to my hip as I prepared for whoever was coming in. It was just instinct ever since the shit hit the fan. The doorknob turned, and in walked Ret, giving me a small grin.
"Hey," she said, leaning against the doorframe. She was dressed the same as me; only her muscles were significantly more defined than mine. Ret was built like a sleek tank, though it still didn't take away from the feminine beauty of her face and hair. "I just wanted to see if you needed any help with anything today. I'm patrolling the outer wall with Nina today, and I was gonna take Anubis with me."
"He'll like that," I said with a smile. Anubis loved going on patrol. Every day this past week, he'd been whining to get out there and run as fast as he could, taking out the occasional straggler that wandered into our territory. "Go ahead without me. I've got a few things to do around here."
I wanted to cringe. Ret gave me a hard look, telling me she knew exactly what I had planned for today.
"Don't kill the poor woman," she said, folding her arms over her chest. Her smile was crooked, and there was a wicked gleam in her brown eyes that made my stomach flip.
"No promises," I said, crossing my fingers behind my back. I couldn't make that promise. Not when the object of my irritation was walking around my family's camp like she owned the fucking place.
Jessa was an unwanted surprise, and one that sucked all the thunder out of my reunion with my dad and brothers. The fates must have been having a field day up there in the heavens. What were the fucking odds that she would end up here, of all places?
"See you tonight?" Ret said, taking a slow step into my bedroom. She was so much taller than me. Nearly as tall as Wyatt.
I gulped, my stomach flipping yet again the same way it did every time Ret looked at me the way she was looking at me right now...with want. It was the same look I got from the guys, and one that I welcomed more and more as the days passed.
I didn't move away when Ret closed the distance between us, reaching out and cupping the side of my face with her gloved hand. "Don't let that bitch get to you. You're a million fucking times the woman she could ever be, and if the guys don't see that, then they’re idiots."
She leaned in, her lips brushing mine gently. I sucked in a breath, my body inching closer, before I realized what I was doing. I kissed her harder, knowing she was waiting for me to take the lead. From day one, she made it clear that anything that happened between the two of us was completely my decision.
My body felt flushed and warm as her tongue brushed mine. She tasted like toothpaste and coffee, which was an odd but not unwelcome mixture.
I pulled back, my heart racing. "Ret," I breathed out her name, still feeling the heat of our kiss on my lips.
"I know," she said with a smile that was both playful and seductive all at once. "We can't do this right now, they're waiting for me at the front."
I moaned in frustration as she stepped back from me. "I'll see you tonight, then. Try not to die," I said, smirking at her as she secured her hair into a tight ponytail as she backed out of my room.
"You know it," she replied over her shoulder b efore disappearing into the hallway beyond.
I stared at the empty doorway as her footsteps faded down the hallway, wondering how the fuck I found myself in this situation. Not only was I sort of dating three different men, but also a woman, which I'd never even considered as an option for myself before.
Maybe dating wasn't exactly the right word for it though. Could you really date someone during a zombie apocalypse? I laughed, shaking my head as I continued to strap on my equipment. No, dating was definitely not the right word. It wasn't like we could go out for movie nights, dinner, or meeting the parents. We were all sort of thrust together violently, forced to grasp what little semblance of happiness we could find in this dead world.
Chapter 2
Hell
I knocked on the trailer door before I let myself in. It was a camping RV that was newly fortified with barbed wire wrapped around the outer shell of it and metal bars that were welded onto the windows. In other words, it was completely zombie-proof.
"How many today?" A deep voice came from the darkness as my eyes started to adjust to the dim lighting inside the RV.
I saw a head of dark blond hair and made my way towards Wyatt, noticing that he was sitting on the fold-down sofa, lacing up his boots. Pulling off my respirator mask, I set it aside on the kitchenette counter.
"Just one. I think a hoard is coming in the next couple days, though."
I went to sit down next to him, but he grabbed me around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. Our faces were inches apart, and his eyes were dark in the shadows. He wore a smirk that was barely visible under his beard. "What makes you say that, oh zombie whisperer?"
I rolled my eyes. The guys had started teasing me since we got here because I had a lucky streak in predicting when and where a horde would come in from, much to my brother's dismay.
"Call it a hunch," I said cryptically with a shrug.
Really, it wasn't a hunch. Much like hunting herd animals, it was easy to predict movement if you paid attention. I noticed that zoms tended to gather into massive hordes, which was already strange.
Zombies were nothing but dead shells of what used to be human beings that were somehow up and walking around, feasting on the flesh of the living. I was no scientist, so fuck if I knew the biology behind it, but something in the chemical agent that rained down over the US that day must have altered the brain stem. It's the only logical thing I can think of.
I paid attention to the way they moved over the last year and a half. I'd grown accustomed to avoiding hordes and sometimes skirting around them entirely. Lately, one or two lone zoms would amble up onto the property, but they always seemed to be coming from the same direction, telling me there were probably more than a few not too far behind them.
I wasn't going to share my theories with the guys just yet because I kind of enjoyed making them wonder.
His hand tightened on my hips as he leaned in, pressing his nose to the nape of my neck and inhaling deeply. "Fine, keep your secrets. I'll figure it out one way or another." His lips grazed my earlobe before he closed his eyes, cuddling me into the crook of his arm. "Fuck, you smell amazing."
I felt myself flush as warmth flooded through me, and for a moment, all thoughts of zombie hoards evaporated from my mind.
"A daily shower will do that to a girl," I teased. I still wasn't used to feeling clean after nearly a whole year of taking sponge baths with tepid water bottles.
His hand ran up my thigh, fingers squeezing as he pulled me closer to him. "Nah, I think it's just you. You smell like rain and..." He sniffed my neck again, making me shiver. "And a freshly mowed lawn."
Pulling back, I raised a skeptical brow. "I haven't seen a freshly mowed lawn in a year." Those didn't even exist anymore, which was weird to think about.
He hummed under his breath, sounding more like a rumble. "I don't understand it; I simply get to enjoy it."
I could feel his hardness pressing against me as I sat perched in his lap. I hadn't come here to do anything but ask if either he, Alex, or Dante felt like helping me with a special project I started working on three days ago. Not that Alex would be the first to offer his help. Ever since we arrived and the ghost from his past showed her ugly face, he'd been withdrawn and sulky.
"The guys went to the hangar to grab some breakfast. They'll be gone for a while," Wyatt said, a double meaning as plain as day in his tone. His eyes dipped to my lips as he licked his, and I felt his cock twitch beneath me.
The hangar used to be a workshop my brothers used for carpentry projects and working on old cars. Scottie and I used to tinker back in high school. Apparently, when the apocalypse hit, they turned it into a communal area for people to eat and relax in. It was smart because it brought everyone together as a community.
The guys and I never had a chance to pick up where we'd left off back at the store we'd been hiding in. I missed that place sometimes. Ever since finding my farm, we've been all business and no play. It was starting to grate on my nerves. I swiveled in his lap, rubbing against him, making him suck in a sharp breath.
"You're playing with fire, baby girl," he whispered roughly. He sunk his fingers into my hair, holding me in place by my braid as his other hand continued to grip my thigh. "I haven't tasted you in weeks, and I don't know how much longer I can keep my hands off you."
His words sent heat rushing through my body. "Then don't." And I meant it. What was the point of holding back when you never knew if you were going to be alive the next day, hour, or minute?
His mouth crashed down on mine before I could collect my thoughts. His fingers gripped my braid tightly as he angled his head for a deeper connection. My hands splayed over his hard chest, and our tongues explored each other hungrily until we were both breathless and panting against each other's lips.
"I think you might be more dangerous than the zombies," he said with a dark chuckle. "Even surrounded by death, all I fucking think about is touching you. It's fucked up how obsessed I am..."
We didn't have long before the guys would return—not that I would mind if they did anyway. I had no secrets, and neither did they. At least, I hoped they didn't.
I moved from his lap, but before he could protest, I was pushing him backwards, letting his thighs spread, caging me between them. In seconds, I had his belt undone, then his pants.
"Fuck..." he gritted through clenched teeth as I pulled his cock free, wrapping my fingers around his girth and giving a gentle squeeze.
"You said it, not me," I teased wickedly.
With eyes darker than the night sky, Wyatt pulled me towards him, his fingers expertly undoing my own pants before pulling them down my thighs. I struggled for a second to get my boots off, but I managed before shucking my pants off to the side.
Wyatt gripped his cock, stroking himself as he watched me. His eyes didn't even bother flickering at the door; they were solely focused on me. "Get on my dick, Helana, before I fucking burst." His voice was rough and full of desperation.
I didn't hesitate to climb into his lap, straddling his hips. He gripped his cock as I slid my panties to the side, groaning when I rubbed myself against his warm, swollen tip. "Make it hard and fast, Wyatt. I want it rough."
Not just want. I needed it rough. I wanted to be filled up and used. These three men were the only ones I'd ever allow to use my body that way. Beretta's face flashed through my head, and my pussy throbbed. Okay, so maybe not the only three.
He thrust into me fast and hard, both of us moaning at the same time. His hands latched onto my hips, pulling me down onto him and controlling my momentum completely. I let him take what he wanted, knowing I would get exactly the same in return. His hips moved as mine did, thrusts getting faster and more desperate with each passing second.
I held onto his shoulder, my fingernails digging into the muscle as he fucked me from below, his hips thrusting hard and fast as our grunts and moans filled the RV. It was the first time I was glad that the air outside was filled with toxic fog. It meant that there wouldn't be anyone hanging around nearby to listen, because I couldn't control my moans if I tried.
