And again, we were supposedly immune to it, but I told them to stuff it, I wasn’t trying that.
“That’s a lot of guns,” James chuckled from the driver’s seat.
I leaned in and saw they’d heard us coming—which was part of the plan of using vehicles—and a huge group was lined up at their first row of fencing. They had multiple rows of fencing like I’d seen in prisons in movies.
Smart. Probably why they survived when other settlements didn’t. They might have been on the water, but they had three other sides they could get corrupted from.
“Last chance to bail, sexy bite,” he said as he pulled to a stop about eighty feet away from the gate.
“Let’s just get it done,” I sighed, unbuckling my belt and getting out. I put my hands up after I closed the door and walked towards them.
“No outsiders,” someone called over.
“Yeah, that’s cool, we’re not here to come in,” I promised. “We’ve got a settlement northwest of here and some friends who want to move into New Orleans, so we just want to talk as neighbors and not piss you off with umm…” I glanced at James.
“Loud music, parking on the lawn, and late nights of killing corrupted in Houston,” James filled in for me. “I’m Admiral James Begley, United States Navy. We were told there was some remaining government here, but you guys were pretty much the new country Texas So Kiss My Ass. That’s cool, we just want to make sure we’re not needlessly worrying each other.”
“We’re the ones armed, so we’re not worried,” one drawled.
“Right, we thought bringing the guns was a bad first impression, but we have a destroyer and aircraft carrier, so we’re not exactly worried about your rifles,” I threw right back.
“Maybe not what I would have said,” James muttered, looking like he was trying not to laugh.
I snorted, giving him a wry look. “Yeah, right. You would have told them to hold on and gone for a fighter jet.”
“There’s no way you have a fighter jet,” someone snapped. “We get you’re in charge of a settlement, but—”
“I’m not; she is,” James clarified. “I’m just her backup as people don’t take her seriously.”
“Yeah, because she’s a little young thing. She’s not in charge,” he argued.
“I am.” I shrugged. “I got the power back on.” I gestured to our vehicles. “Electric. We have electricity from fixed solar panels.” That shut them up quick. “So can the boss come to the door because I burn, like ridiculously burn, and apparently my in-laws are flying in earlier than I thought and I have to deal with that.”
“Go get Chris,” one of the guys said.
“Well, I guess shocking the shit out of them was one way to get to the good stuff,” Trisha muttered behind us.
“Shit, this sun is ridiculous,” I grumbled, rubbing my arms.
“Turn one of the vehicles around so she can hide under the lift gates,” Vitor suggested.
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” I agreed, smiling at Wolfe and nodding quickly.
“Only because you whine if you get sunburned,” he chuckled, shaking his head at me.
“Hey, I really got sunburnt that time,” I defended. “Not all of us are lazy cats who beautifully tan to a perfect golden. I have two shades, super white or lobster red.” I made claw gestures with my hands; amusing all of them and breaking through some of the tension was my goal.
Wolfe hurried and turned one of the vehicles around and pulled it up to us. He opened the back and left it running.
“Hey, I’m not that spoiled I need the AC on to cool down Texas. I’m trying not to be the color of my dresses for this weekend. That’s pretty valid to worry about.”
“Yes, My Princess,” he chuckled, shutting off the SUV but leaving the liftgate up.
I ended up sitting on the bumper as we waited, figuring the guy didn’t just hang around in case they got visitors. Apparently, I was wrong as he was there not a minute later. Well, he probably didn’t wait for visitors, but he was at the ready for anything or they had warned him in advance.
“Who’s in charge?” the one who was clearly the leader of the new guys asked, this Chris probably.
I raised my hand as I stood. “But I’m just a little young thing like your guys said, so I brought a penis with me you might listen to.”
“Thanks,” James drawled. “Admiral James Begley, United States Navy.”
“Stationed where?” Chris asked.
The next several minutes were spent back and forth of who, what, where, and when, testing each other after Chris gave his name and rank. From what I was getting from James, he was buying Chris’s background. The guy had been stationed at the Air Force base in San Antonio and had gotten out before the bombs with key government people.
That was fairly vague, but okay then. I wouldn’t have told us the details either.
“So we’re good? You guys sniffed each other’s asses enough?” I checked when they seemed to settle with it.
“Yes, but we still don’t let outsiders in,” Chris answered, sounding amused. “And I don’t know your name.”
“Inez. That’s cool, we’ve got a place,” I told him. “We’re rebuilding at the four corners. The reservations were signed over to me and some more. Not sure who would contest it in court, but it’s legal I guess.” I shrugged. “We had some people stuck at Fort Knox and those people be crazy it seems.”
“We’ve heard the same,” Chris admitted. “We’ve also seen a substantial decrease in wandering packs of corrupted.”
“That’s us,” I confirmed. “We’ve been leading them to LA and Denver and using the jets and big weapons to get them.”
“Right,
