2 (of 2)
No, attacking the bitch was right out. That temptation could fly right the fuck home, until he saw reason to become the sort of asshole who rewarded someone not shooting him by fucking up their face. His heart picked up its pace when he made out the fuzzy skyline through the grime on the windshield. Hope clawed its way out of it, twisting his expression from bitter resignation to a triumphant smirk. Austin. Heh. The bitch had taken him exactly where he'd been going. Maybe they were smarter here. Had a better system. One that actually fucking worked. Maybe Sophie was there, busting nuts if anyone so much as dared to cough without making a full report on it.
Bitch was a stickler about paperwork, and if Austin had survived... there was no reason to think she hadn't clung to life with it. Marcus would bet his life on that. Hell, he already had, with his decision to head further inland instead of going for the more temperate coast. He almost crowed with the victory. The crazy woman had taken him to what he'd been after all along. That shit was hilarious.
But then the truck veered away from the city, and doubts crept in. There'd be buildings more secure -- and defendable -- at the city center, wouldn't there? Why build a whole new structure? Unless the city was overrun, and these people were just the remnants. Why be an optimist about it? Disease had spread across the entire country. That meant a lot of sick loved ones and scared people. Time bombs of stupidity.
Fuck. That didn't look like home to him. It didn't even look remotely like an official structure, but the wall made it relatively secure. Maybe not from stupidity, but at least from the undead. The sentinels put him on edge, though. If she hadn't been inclined to let him leave without his shit, they sure as hell wouldn't, so Marcus had no idea how this would play out, except that it definitely wouldn't be in his favor. Tension threaded its way back through his body, and Marcus found a tight grip on his bag when she pulled her head back in and started to pull the vehicle inside the walls. The smirk had died, and he was wound up like a spring, waiting for whatever happened next.
"They all as sweet as you in here, puta?" He asked, feeling like he had a right to some idea what he was getting into. He'd thanked her plenty for not shooting him by not breaking her jaw on the drive, but she might not have caught that. He wet his lips and looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I got one fucking rule. My shit stays with me. Comprende? If that gets me shot, I'll eat the fucking bullet, but it'd be nice to fucking know."
He wasn't bluffing. Whatever he had, he wasn't letting go of it unless he was bleeding out in the process.