Blood Hunt (Blue Blood Babies sequel!)

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-two

For a while there was quiet in the car as the miles flew by.  I spent at least  ten minutes craning my neck, half-twisted in my seat, arm slung across Maggie’s shoulders, staring behind us, waiting for another vehicle to come barrelling up, guns blazing.  None did, though, and eventually I felt my panic start to recede.  I stared at the gently climbing smoke trails instead, as the terrorists’ fires rose up to join the constant smoggy sky.  Surely somebody would notice that?  Why weren’t there other vehicles flying towards us, coming to find out what was going on?

Maggie shivered beside me.  We were so jammed in that the movement rippled down my left hand side.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Just cold,” she muttered through trembling lips.

I squeezed her more tightly to me, grimacing in sympathy.  Without the windows, the cold air was pouring in at us from all sides.  Ryan was pushing the car, too, the dial nudging sixty miles an hour; as fast as he could go on the tightly twisting country road.  His expression was fixed, his jaw clenched tightly.  He kept his eyes on the road, barely glancing at the rest of us. 

“Ryan,” I called after a while.  “Where are we going?”

He shook his head, not deviating his gaze, eyebrows pulled forward to protect his eyes against the onslaught of wind.  I scowled. 

“Where are you taking us?” I demanded.

It was Melissa who answered.

“There’s an army base not too far away, that’s where we’re going.”

“And how do you know about that?” I shot back.

Finally Ryan spoke.

“Because I used to be posted there,” he snapped, lifting his eyes to glare daggers at me via the rear-view. 

I huffed a laugh, although it wasn’t funny.  Ryan raised a questioning eyebrow at me, his expression sour.

“So you are a soldier,” I commented.

“Were,” he corrected.

“What happened, they throw you out?”

I didn’t know why, but I was getting angry, confrontational.  What I should have been was grateful – Ryan had saved our lives after all.  

“Alfie,” Maggie murmured, placing a remonstrative hand on my knee.  I caught her eye and she was gazing at me reproachfully.

“Why did you leave?” Connor seemed to be as eager for answers as I was.

“Well I wasn’t thrown out,” Ryan said, his expression still angry.  “I left when Melissa got her letter.”

“Did they let you do that?” Maggie sounded surprised.

Ryan shot a derisive look.

“I wasn’t really asking,” he said. 

We lapsed back into silence after that.  It wasn’t quite as tense, though, and after a couple more miles Ryan eased off on the accelerator a little.  The biting rush of air slowed and I felt like I could breath a bit more.

I also felt a bit bad for attacking him... and not saying thank-you for his impromptu rescue.

“Ryan-,” I began.

“What?” he barked.

I swallowed back my retort.  I probably deserved that.

“Thanks,” I muttered.