Tamar

“Are they still behind us?” I ask my sister while I take in the scene around me. I’ve done this job for years, having trained under my father, and at this point, knowing someone is following me is like a sixth sense.

This part of town is classified as the nonliving area. On the heels of a major solar storm that wiped out our electrical systems, came a viral outbreak that wiped out half of every living thing here on earth. Since then, the land has been divided into areas that are marked as living and nonliving. Nonliving areas are where the buildings have been ruined. There’s no more food left so you won’t find any people around here. The animals still come and go as they please, which means hunting can be good, even if you risk your life while doing so.

Half of the people who were immune to the viral outbreak tried to build things up again. The ones who survived, that is, because you can imagine how things like that go. I mean not everyone had a father, like I had, who was training me to be a bounty hunter ever since I could walk. So, I was prepared for the worst.

It did help that I was also a zombie movie addict, but that was absolutely not what happened twelve years ago. Nope. People just started dying. Damn scary and I remember it like it was yesterday. Scratch scary, it traumatized me, but that’s a story for another time. Because there were people working in factories, with machines, in airplanes, and so on…it all came crashing down, blew up, short-circuited with the solar flare. And then—bam! We immediately get hit with a virus that wipes out half the population.

Perfect timing, huh?

We were left with no power, no government, no law and order, and no idea how to gain back the luxury we had.

Of course, my sister, Dessa, has this doomsday scenario she likes to toss around. As far as she’s concerned, this was all the government’s doing. That they put a plan in motion to purge the weak. A save the planet from the humans kind of thing, because there were too many people and not enough resources, especially after the solar flare.

Yeah, I don’t care much for those kinds of theories, since in the end, it makes no difference. This is still the world we’re now stuck in, no matter who fucked it up. Which means I’m focused on dealing with our current reality and making sure we survive it. Although I damn well miss my phone. Taking selfies and shit. I had a huge following on Instagram because when you’re nineteen, good looking, and a bounty hunter in training…well, you know what I mean.

Ego much? Maybe just a little.

Back then I didn’t have to worry about anything but looking good, whereas now, it’s more about how many arrows I have left in my quiver, and whether I freshened up yesterday or last week. Twelve years ago, I went to the hairdresser every few weeks, while these days I just grab scissors myself if I need to lose a few inches. Who cares how it looks? I’m always wearing my dirty blond hair in a ponytail anyway.

“You’re right. I have three red dots behind us and one ahead of us,” Dessa answers while she smacks the tiny machine to keep the display active. She’s a genius with building stuff but has to make do with the things we find, cobbling pieces together and Frankensteining equipment into stuff that will actually work—until it doesn’t.

“Another damn group of bounty hunters, no fucking doubt,” Benji grumbles.

The massively muscled asshole might be grumbling, but I’m not worried. I’m way ahead of things. Benji’s always been a pain in the ass. He and Virgil were a part of my father’s company. Well, Virgil has been from the start since my dad and Virgil grew up together. Twelve years later, and we’re the only four left in our group. We’ve met other people along the way, but our trust and loyalty only extend between the four of us. It’s what’s kept us alive thus far. Because we’ve got the same end goal; surviving.

“Worry about the single red dot ahead of us, Benji. The others don’t matter. We’ve got this. Or better yet, I got this. See the wall up there surrounding that area?” I point at the brick wall covered in overgrown vegetation and surrounding what was once a public garden. There’s a small swamp that’s overgrown with trees just behind the wall, and I damn well know that if my target moves past that wall, we could lose him again, and that would set us back another few days. Hell, someone else might even capture him before we catch up to him again. Not to mention the wild dogs that roam the woods could easily make a meal of him, for that matter.

“What about it?” Virgil’s voice rumbles.

“The guy’s escape is blocked. That’s our advantage. Virgil, you go left this time and Benji will take the right side while I draw him out. Dessa, try to keep up.” I give a slight chuckle as I tease my sister before adding, “We’ll strike quick so we’re back in the truck before those other idiots come onto the scene.”

My sister isn’t a bounty hunter. That was never her thing, even when our dad was alive. But she’s amazing at what she does, and she’s more than happy to be a behind-the-scenes player with her nerdy, technical stuff. She definitely has her work cut out for her, especially given that there’s no power, and most of the stuff out there got fried in the solar storm. What’s out there is so scarce, it’s worth more than anything else out there. So when there’s a bounty to bring in some dude alive, and in return you’ll get some mind-blowing solar home with all the amenities? Damn right I’m on that, even if it sounds too good to be true.

Nyles Huntington has clearly stated that whoever brings in Cashwell unharmed gets one of his houses, and the best part is, it’s covered with solar panels and designed to be completely off the grid. That right there means a hot bath, heating, and lights; a safe place with all the comfort and a roof over our heads. Something we haven’t had in years.

We have access to a little bit of power off a few portable solar panels we managed to find, but most of that energy goes to my sister’s laptop. Why she needs it, I haven’t a clue. Yet she’s always busy tearing things apart and putting them back together. But those are tiny things. And this prize? It’s a whole freaking house.

Of course, it also means that every bounty hunter has come out of the woodwork—not to mention the vigilante idiots, too. We’re all hunting Cashwell—not that I know a whole lot about the dude. Just that he’s got brown hair, is forty-two, and has a scar running from his left ear to his Adam’s apple. Not that I care either, why Nyles Huntington wants him.

Hello! Solar energy house…hot bath. That’s like the height of luxury nowadays. And that’s exactly what my team and I want.

“Let’s do this,” Benji barks and starts running.

Fucker. Always taking lead and going his own way, screwing us over in the process because he’s running past me instead of going right like I said. Shit. “Asshole, now you pushed him to go the other way.”

I curse some more and jump into action when I see Cashwell dash out of hiding and heading straight for the wall. Sonofabitch. There’s a tiny hole and Cashwell is going straight for it. I feel my skin prickle and I know someone is following me.

What the hell?

A guy passes me wearing a long leather coat with a large patch stitched onto the back. And all my mind can come up with is ‘how the hell can he run with a coat like that?’ before I realize he’s past me.

Shit. Clearly the other bounty hunters have caught up with us. Meanwhile our target just crawled through a tiny crack in the wall. Dammit. If he’s going into the swamp we’re going to lose him. The guy in the leather spins around when he’s at the wall, since the dude is twice the size of our target, and he can’t go through.

But dammit…I can go over. “Boost me up!” I shout.

The guy spins around and luckily acts without thinking and laces his fingers before I launch myself at him, receiving what I asked for. I grab an arrow mid-jump, take aim and shoot before bracing myself for my landing.

I have to adjust and place one hand on the ground to stay upright. “Smooth landing, Tamar. Not,” I mutter to myself.

In this line of work, one needs to be flawless because one error can cost you your life, or bounty for that matter. Dammit. The guy who gave me a boost jogs past me and assesses my handy work.

“Step away. That’s mine,” I growl and shove the guy’s shoulder.

He spins around and locks eyes with me, the corner of his mouth twitching. “No, he’s not.”

Stepping closer, I stand on the tip of my toes in a futile attempt to get to his eye level. Damn, the guy’s huge. “He is mine. Now move aside before I drop you to your knees and make you wonder if your cock will ever fully function again.”

His left eyebrow raises before he laughs in my face. It’s not like he’s making fun of me…nope, he’s seriously cracking up, full-blown laughter, like I’ve just told him the funniest joke on this fucked up planet. Screw him.

My palm hits his nose as I sidestep to grab his head so I can bring him down. Except, he blocks my move and with that, tingles spread through my body while I fight like hell to bring him down to his knees.