Three days later, Rebel, Justin, her cousin Krissy and her two new friends, Kati and Tiana started on their exploratory journey of north-eastern California.

They had maps.

They had a new minivan with plenty of room and supplies.

Justin had spoken with Adam on the radio, letting him know about their whereabouts and the fact that they would take a day or two longer than expected to pick up the RV. They couldn’t travel too far without the RV, they needed it as backup in case they went somewhere that didn’t have a safe, clean, place to sleep.

Most importantly they had a plan on where to travel. And with a plan came a semblance of hope.

Twenty minutes into their trip, Krissy saw something unexpected on the side of the road.

“What the fuck? Did I see a…?” Krissy shouted over the music blaring from the stereo.

Rebel turned around, trying to see what Krissy was seeing through the window. No luck.

“Stop the car. Stop the car! It was a man, a man on a motorcycle!” Kati screeched from the backseat, right into Rebel’s ear. Rebel winced at the sharp pain and tried to turn around again to get a look at what the commotion was about.

“Oh hell, we’ve got to turn around.” Krissy slammed on the brakes.

Rebel steadied herself with a hand to the dash and turned the music off. “Slow down, Thelma,” she told Krissy. “What’s the hurry?”

“We can’t let a live one get away!” Krissy jerked the steering wheel to the left, whipping the car around with the expertise of a stunt driver.

“Yeah, no chance of that,” Justin deadpanned from the backseat, where he was squished yet again between Kati and Tiana. “He’s flagging us down.”

As the car swerved around, Rebel finally spotted the man on the side of the road. A biker dude standing next to a bitchin’ Harley. He wore a vest, tats, black clothing, jeans—the whole uniform. Even from this distance she could see he was young and fit. And alone.

“He’s fiiiiine,” Tiana breathed.

“Christ, who cares?” Justin bit out. “What if he’s packing? What if he wants to shoot me and kidnap all of you and turn you into his private harem? Don’t stop the car, let’s keep going.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Tiana squeaked. “He wouldn’t have to kidnap me, I’d volunteer! Don’t listen to him. Stop the car, Krissy.”

“Tiana, what if he’s an asshole who beats you?” Justin ground out. “Dear God, am I the only one here thinking with something other than my goddamn vagina?”

“I don’t want him,” Rebel whispered, her throat tightening. “But I think I’m the only one.”

Krissy flashed her a sympathetic look, then zeroed in on Justin, locking eyes with him through the rearview mirror. “That’s why we brought you,” she told him. “You’re a scary-looking son of a bitch, Justin. You’ve got that deep voice and all those muscles. He won’t mess with us with you here. We’ll stop and talk to him. Feel him out. See if he’s a good guy or a bad guy. Hey, if he’s good, maybe he can join our group and we can all move up north together.”

“That fucker is coming with us only if I give the go-ahead,” Justin shot back. “Do you women hear me? I make the final decision. Not you, not Rebel, not any of you. Me. If I say he doesn’t stay with us, then he doesn’t stay.”

Krissy stopped the car, parking across the street from the biker dude. “Who the fuck died and made you king?” she barked. “I said you’re the heat, not the boss.”

“If you want me with you, keeping you safe, you do what I say,” Justin shouted back. “I sure as hell am the boss.”

Rebel shook her head. Oh hell, this was going nowhere. These two would fight all day if she didn’t do something. She turned back to face everyone in the car. “Calm down. Listen. I have to say, considering the fact that Justin was a DEA agent before the end, maybe he’s right. I think we should let him take the lead here.”

“Why, because he’s a man?” Krissy asked with derision in her voice. “Are we starting that patriarchal bullshit in this world too?”

“No, we’re letting him take the lead in this one situation because he’s the expert and we’re bowing in this one instance to his superior knowledge.”

“I don’t trust him taking the lead. He’s not impartial,” Krissy fired back. “He’ll shoot first, say no and ask questions later.”

“I will not!”

“He’s going to start a fight with the new guy, make him look bad and then announce he can’t come with us.” Kati said from the backseat, her arms crossed over her chest.

“I fucking won’t.”

“I say even if this guy’s an ass we overpower him, tie him up and bring him along as our private sex slave,” Tiana said. “The sex is the most important thing here, right?”

“Tiana!” Rebel gasped.

“What the fuck?” Justin shouted. “Am I the only sober person in this car?”

“What?” Tiana yelled back. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“That’s rape, Tiana,” Rebel said, trying to keep her tone even. “We’re never going to be desperate enough for rape.”

The car went quiet. Rebel could feel anger pulsing off Justin in dangerous waves. He looked very close to exploding and saying things they’d all regret. “Um, Tiana, I don’t think you really meant that, about wanting a sex slave. You might want to rephrase,” Rebel said gently, cocking her head towards Justin.

Tiana rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. No sex slaves… Sorry, Justin. The lack of sex is making me cranky,” she sighed. “You call it. I’ll follow your lead.”

“Good.” Justin growled. “One down. Kati?”

“Whatever,” Kati sighed. “I want to meet more men, but I also don’t want to die. So…okay. I’ll follow your lead.”

“Krissy?”

Krissy whipped around and locked eyes with Justin. “You know, if you weren’t gay I’d totally be fucking you right now. You’re hot when you’re bossy.”

Justin’s jaw dropped. Then his eyes slid to Rebel’s, his face morphing into a mask of rage.

She was soooo busted. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“Are you packing?” Krissy asked Justin.

“Of course,” he snorted.

“Okay, let’s do this then.” Krissy opened the door. She stepped out of the car. They all followed her out, one by one, ready to face the unknown.

“I was right,” Tiana whispered as she elbowed Rebel.

Upon closer inspection, Rebel had to admit Tiana was right. The biker dude was fine. Despite the hard-living outward appearance, or maybe because of that, this man was handsome.

Not as handsome as Trevor, of course.

No one was that good-looking.

And never would be. Ever again.

The man kept his hands up, palms out, as they crossed the street to meet him (not bothering to look both ways for more traffic, because, why?). He smiled a bright, genuine-looking smile at the women, and Rebel noticed he locked eyes with Justin and gave him a chin lift. Justin returned it with a frown.

“Hey, my name is Spike. Good to see so many people at once.”

He moved a few steps, and Rebel noticed that he limped and wore a knee brace over his pant leg. And his voice, his voice was amazing. He would’ve made a fortune doing voice-overs.

Spike looked at her closely, his eyes scanning her face. “Hey, aren’t you—”

“Yes, she’s Rebel Case, the movie star,” Krissy said quickly with a bored tone.

“Wow, that’s unbelievable. The other guys won’t fucking believe this.”

“What other guys?” Justin asked. “We thought you were out here alone.”

“Well, I’m on my own now. I left the main group just a few hours ago. Thought I’d be alone for a hella long time. I’m surprised to run into you ladies.”

“Yeah, bet you are,” Justin groused.

“Why don’t you join us?” Krissy offered. “We’re looking for a place to start over, to settle down at, and since we’ve got more women than men here, we’d love to add a new man to our group.”

“No—” Justin started.

“Yes,” Krissy said firmly, glaring at Justin. “Yes, we’d love for you to come with us. Isn’t that right, ladies?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Rebel started to say, but then stopped when she heard a curious noise. A man-made noise, which never happened in their new world. It caused them to all to stop and listen with complete attention.

The unmistakable sound of motorcycles. Many motorcycles.

Rebel’s heart raced with fear. Sweat immediately beaded on her forehead. Oh Christ, what had they gotten themselves into?

Rebel was suddenly very grateful for the baggy blouse she’d worn that morning. Not a maternity shirt, she wasn’t ready for that yet, but a baggy shirt nonetheless, one that didn’t cling to her every curve. Her stomach felt firm lately, the very first beginnings of a baby bump were forming, and she wasn’t ready to show the world just yet. With the shirt she was wearing, she knew she looked normal, a non-pregnant woman.

“Oh fuck,” Spike said.

“What is that?” Justin asked. “Do you know them? Who are they?”

“Hell,” Spike answered. “Living hell, for you. That’s Smith’s gang. They’re probably out on a scavenging mission to Visalia. They like going there better than Fresno. They’re a bunch of ex-cons who live in a compound they’ve created out of a hotel in the mountains. They’re probably also doing double duty, making sure I’m gone like I’m supposed to be. They’re going to want your women. You should’ve left the area when you had the chance.”

The women whimpered, and Rebel felt bile rise in her throat. The bike gang appeared around the bend in the road. Men on motorcycles. The rumble grew louder. Rebel and the others were standing on the edge of a parking lot next to a minimart and gas station, which merged together with a small strip mall, creating plenty of parking for all of the bikes. There were at least twenty men. And they all looked hard-ass and ready for trouble. Every single one of them. Guns, tats, cuts, Harleys, bandanas. Zero smiles. Just hard looks and grim features.

Justin put his hand on the gun at his hip.

“Down, man,” Spike growled. “All you’ll do is get yourself killed.”

Rebel had her Glock and all of them were packing and hiding knives in their clothing, or strapped to their legs. So at least there was that. But still, there were so many of them…

The motorcycles parked around them in a semi-circle, and men were stepping off their bikes. They only had minutes before the men reached them. There was no sense in running; they’d chase them down in a hot second.

“I need you to go for help,” Justin barked out to Spike, over the roar of the engines. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

Spike gave Justin a sharp look. “What?”

“Go to our farm, it’s off the one eighty, west of Piedra.”

“Eighteen sixty-five Wrenwood,” Rebel said, remembering the address.

“Ask for Adam, Rachel and Christian. Tell them the women have been taken and we need help.”

“Rachel?” Spike sucked in a breath.

“Yeah, Rachel, tell them what’s happening and that I said to help you out with whatever you need. You help us, you prove yourself, and afterwards you can be one of us since you’re rogue. You help us and we’ll help you.”