Flanked

DRY RUN Book Two
FLANKED
Lolly Walter


Copyright © 2018 by Lolly Walter
Cover design by Natasha Snow Designs, natashasnowdesigns.com
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2019
ISBN 978-0-9997133-4-1
Awl Collaborative Press
PO Box 2435
Pflugerville, TX 78691
Awlcollaborativepress.com


Run. Hide. Survive.
When he finally — violently — escapes his sadistic boss at sex tourism den Flights of Fantasy, Joe has a plan: he and his lover, Devin, will hike over a thousand miles from bleak and barren Austin, deep in the Texas Territory, to the crown jewel of New America’s domed cities, Minneapolis. Joe’s been planning the escape for years, hoping to locate the father who left him behind, but he has no idea what he’ll find. All Joe wants is to keep Devin safe. All Devin wants is Joe.
Life on the road is unforgiving and even more desperate than life in Austin, and it isn’t long before Joe’s careful plan falls apart. When he and Devin rescue a band of teenagers also on the run from Flights of Fantasy, things go from bad to worse. Battling hunger, thirst, pain, and prejudice, with every stranger more dangerous than the last, Joe will do anything to keep Devin and the teenagers alive. He can’t afford mistakes, and he doesn’t have time for anyone, even Devin, to question his decisions.
But mistakes happen. And Joe finds the hardest questions are the ones he asks himself.


To Eleanor, Colleen, and Natalie,
Every day, you teach me a bit more about bravery.


Contents
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
Also by Lolly Walter
Acknowledgements
About the Author


ONE
Sun-baked earth scorched the blistered soles of Joe Brady’s feet.
He hobbled back into the house and peered out at the sunset, red and orange and pink, shimmering over the crumbling, dirt-blanketed houses and the empty highway. Some other day, Joe would have enjoyed watching the sleepy-slow fade into night, but the buzzing that had awakened him was growing louder. He didn’t have time to spare.
He turned into the dusty room and crouched next to his slumbering partner, Devin, whose skin flushed the same rosy pink as the sunset. Joe hated to wake him. They’d tried to put as much distance as possible between themselves and their old employer back in Austin, Flights of Fantasy, so they’d walked all day and night before collapsing, achy and exhausted, in this abandoned house. As far as they’d gone, it hadn’t been enough.
Devin’s lips fluttered softly with his breath, and Joe wasted a moment tracing a finger along the contour of Devin’s cheekbone. He slipped his hand over Devin’s biceps and nudged his shoulder. “Papi, wake up.”
Devin startled and rolled onto his back. His pupils narrowed as his eyes adjusted to the increased light, exposing more blue-lightning iris. He tugged at the collar of his sweat-damp shirt. “Is it time? I just got comfortable.”
“We’re being tracked. A drone.”
Something hit the house with a loud thud, rattling the windows.
Joe and Devin jumped.
“What the fuck?” Devin scrambled to his feet so quickly he almost hit Joe in the face. His massive frame filled the doorway as he peered out the peephole. He pulled a small white VICE-shot from his pocket. “Are there people with it?”
The thumping sound came again and again, louder than the constant buzzing, maintaining a steady rhythm. The drone had to be banging itself against the side of the house.
Joe snatched up his backpack and tossed another one to Devin. “Drones are unmanned, but we need to leave.”
“Can’t we stay? Won’t it run out of juice and die? We’re safe in here.”
Joe shook his head and knelt to tie his shoelaces. “I wish. If it’s tracking us, and it sure seems to be, it’ll have some sort of relay to let Boggs know where we are.”
Devin scuffed his toe over the bland gray grout lines between the diamond-encrusted floor tiles. He stared at his foot for a moment before he met Joe’s eyes. “You think he’s chasing us?”
After the way Joe had defied him and returned the baby Boggs had kidnapped? The greedy heat in the man’s eyes when he told Joe exactly how he’d be punished? “He’ll want us back.”
“Right, then.” Devin cocked his head like he was listening. Before Joe could react, he stormed out the door.
A green flash lit the outside world, obliterating the sunset.
Joe inhaled sharply. Damn. He was fairly certain no one accompanied the drone, but he could be wrong, and Devin was his world. He hurriedly shrugged out of his backpack, then dug in a side pocket and pulled out a pair of vision shields. He suctioned them to his face, tapped a button to activate the protection, extended the switchblade he’d been carrying in his pocket, and ran after his lover.
As soon as Joe stepped outside, the small, hovering drone fired another bright green pulse.
When Joe kept moving, the light continued to flare, but the vision shields protected him. He scanned the area around the yard and beyond as far as he could see. No strangers, no armed men. Just Devin, slumped against the house, six or seven feet to the left of the door.
Devin had shut his eyes, and his fingers scrabbled uselessly in the dirt around him.
“Can you hear me? Keep your eyes closed.” Joe picked up the VICE-shot, which sat a foot away from Devin’s reaching hand, then squatted and checked Devin’s pulse.
Devin’s heart was racing and his breathing was shallow, but both vital signs were strong.
Joe relaxed a little. He looped his arms under Devin’s armpits and dragged him toward the temporary safety of the house.
The going was slow. Outweighed by a good thirty pounds, Joe struggled to move him. Every once in a while, Devin would get his feet under him and propel himself backward a foot or two. Finally, with one last burst of effort, Joe anchored his feet against the interior door frame and launched himself and Devin into the house.
Sweaty and appearing dazed, Devin fell on