The lights are still on in here. They flicker but provide just enough illumination to show me the way. I have a feeling the power won't stay on for much longer, not with the impacts of fireballs and lightning shivering through the ground. The sounds grow closer every second.
"We can stay here," Allison says. "Can't we?"
"No. The storm is getting closer, and I doubt this building will survive it."
"Storm? I thought this was an apocalypse."
"It's the same thing."
We pass a restaurant, but the kitchen seems to be on fire, and the flames consume more and more of the dining area. As we hurry through the building in the flickering light, I spot what looks like a shop. I tow Allison along as I search for a torch—a flashlight, she said—or something else I can use to light our way. Finally, I discover an electric lantern.
"That needs batteries," Allison says.
"Obviously," I growl. "Do not speak again unless I ask a question. You are my prisoner. I could kill you—"
"Thought your favorite threat was to cut off my fingers with a dull knife."
"Shut up."
Allison lifts her chin. "Screw you."
The arrogant girl has no idea how much I need to take her up on that unintentional offer. I ignore her comment and hunt among the toppled racks and shelves in the store until I locate what I need—a package of twelve alkaline batteries, double-A size. To insert them into the lantern, though, I'll need to let go of her arm. Unacceptable. If I release her, she will run.
"Open this," I say, handing her the package of batteries.
Despite the fact I'm gripping her arm, she can still use both hands to open the package. And she does that, though she glowers at me first. She keeps flashing me disgusted glances while she struggles to tear open the plastic and cardboard packaging. Once she's completed her task, she thrusts the batteries at me.
I hold out the lantern. "Put them in here."
She puckers her lips, but then snatches the lantern from me and inserts the batteries. She shoves the lantern at me again. "Here. I hope you get electrocuted using the stupid thing."
Every time the chit defies me or insults me, the beast within awakens, and the heat of lust rushes through me. I despise her, but I wouldn't mind shagging her.
I lean in until the whiskers of my beard graze her cheek. "Do not speak to me that way unless you want me to ravage your body for my own pleasure, strictly to silence you."
"If you try that, I'll find a way to slit your throat."
"No, you won't. You're a weakling, not a warrior."
I've never forced myself on a woman, but I can't think of a better threat to intimidate her.
Before she can say anything else, I clamp my hand tighter around her arm and drag her through the store toward the entrance. Allison digs her heels in, pulling with all her strength to stop me. She accomplishes nothing more than to make me growl again. But I stop at the store entrance just long enough to shoot her a dark look.
"We should stay here," she says. "It's a safe place, and we can probably find food in one of the restaurants."
"This is not a safe place. The apocalypse began over the river, but it's coming this way like a plague of insects swarming across the earth. Unlike locusts, this plague will rip you apart in seconds."
"I haven't seen a single living thing since we got to the stockyards district."
Thunder explodes above us as a bolt of lightning punches through the roof right over our heads, plunging deep into the earth beneath the building. Debris and dust choke the air, but through the haze, I see a massive chunk of the ceiling teetering on the verge of tumbling down to crush us. Just as I push Allison, compelling her to run, the ceiling slab crashes down mere feet away from us. We both fall down amid the debris, tripping on the chunks of concrete that once formed the foundation. The lightning tore it apart. Hard, sharp edges slice into our skin, but we have bigger problems right now.
In the corridor outside the store's entrance, figures move around amid the shadows.
Allison is coughing. In the shaft of muted light that shines down through the hole in the ceiling, I can tell she's bleeding from multiple cuts. I'm bleeding too, but I don't care.
Because the real beasts are about to find us.
Chapter Three