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matter, was completely out of
character for me.
    Even I had to wonder what was going on in my
head.
    “Oh, and my little brother would like to
assure you that you will not be raped.” And I could have punched
him in the face right then. Little brother? Really? Asshole.
Vaughan continued, “This happens to be a rape-free zone.”
    Reagan’s friend whispered something in her
ear and they both looked down, trying to hide their smiles. Were
they making fun of us? Or just happy to have some place safe for
the night?
    A nervous laugh bubbled up in Reagan and
escaped before she could compose herself. They were definitely
making fun of us and now I couldn’t help but feel this obnoxious
need to know what was said.
    “We’ll take it,” Reagan said easily. “We’ll
leave first thing in the morning, but we will take your offer.”
    “Definitely,” the friend agreed. And then she
made proper introductions. “Oh and I’m Haley and this is
Reagan.”
    We nodded in return, trying to play it cool.
I watched Nelson stiffen though, his whole body went rigid and
alert. I followed his gaze to Haley. Maybe I wasn’t the only one
feeling the presence of females for the first time in way too
long.
     
    “Nelson,” Vaughan noticed too and did not
seem pleased. “Get Page. She’ll be safe from these ones.” Then he
turned back to the girls. “I’m Vaughan, you’ve met Hendrix and
Nelson. My other two brothers are Harrison and King. Nelson went to
get our sister, Page. Best you stay away from her. If anything
happens to my little sister, all responsible parties will suffer
before they die excruciating deaths, got that?” Vaughan’s warning
was a little over the top, but necessary. And I was glad he gave it
because somehow I’d forgotten. Page was the only good thing left in
our lives and we would protect her until death. Our entire lives
revolved around defending that little girl and there were a lot of
people in this world, even apart from Feeders, that would try to
hurt her. And no matter how pretty Reagan’s smile was or how dark
and mysterious her eyes could be, she did not get to hurt my
sister. Ever.
    “Sure thing, boss,” Haley walked by, tapping
Vaughan on the shoulder. She moved on to King and Harrison and
asked about their accommodations for the night. Both boys were
completely dumbstruck by a pretty girl talking to them and I needed
to remember this so I could use it later to torture them with.
    I glanced back at Reagan while she talked
with Vaughan and realized I didn’t have any room to judge. This
girl had done something to me. From the moment I saw her picking
through socks, I couldn’t shake the effect she had on me.
    And I didn’t think I wanted to.
    So the best thing to do would be to avoid her
until she left.
    I didn’t like all these…. feelings . I
wasn’t used to them and they didn’t belong in my world or in my
body. I didn’t have room in my life for any other people-
especially too-skinny girls, with too big eyes.
    So I avoided her for as long as I could.
    Well, it was kind of easy. The two of them
got busy with their packs and took their time in the bathroom. When
they emerged after a while, they had clean hair that hung in long,
wet strands around their shoulders and made the entire floor smell
like girly soap and water. Or maybe I was imaging the fresh, floral
smell taking over our entire space.
    No I wasn’t.
    All of my brothers had tuned into the girls.
Part of it was because they were girls, that had been in the
bathroom together, getting clean. I mean, come on, even I wasn’t
above playing out that fantasy.
    On top of that, they were pretty girls. They
would have peeked our interest no matter the circumstances.
    But they were also different. We’d been
staring at each other for way too long. They brought a new aspect
of life with them, turning us inside out and reminding us of every
single thing we gave up when Zombies took over the world.
    They were fresh air, light in our dark