by Bale, Sarah
I replied, “I just hope they make it. I’m worried what she’ll do if she catches them.”
I’d already seen what she could do to her own family and friends. There was no telling what she would do to people she didn’t like.
Elijah said, “Just keep playing it cool. We’ll know soon enough, one way or another.”
“That’s kind of morbid.”
He shrugged. “They knew the risks. Just like we do.”
I nodded, but didn’t reply. He might be right, but I didn’t have to agree with him.
Some of the guys that had gone out of their way to be nice to Elijah came in and called out his name. He went over and sat with them. They were soon laughing and telling jokes. I wanted to join them, but my heart just wasn’t in it.
What if Lilly caught Grey and Kat? What would she do to them? And, as much as I hated to think about it, I was worried what she would do to Elijah and me. She had already established that he was my weakness and I had no doubt that she would use him against me.
I got up from the table and went into the kitchen. Cooper was staring out the window with a frown on his face.
“What did you tell my cousin?”
His face flushed. “It’s none of your business.”
“You’re wrong. She’s going after my friends. That is my business.”
He said, “You should stay out of this. The less you know, the better. Though, I suspect you probably know everything.”
“What makes you say that?”
He sighed. “I get so tired of the games around here. Every single person plays one. Or, if you’re like your cousin and Theo, you’re playing several games. It’s exhausting.”
“If you feel that way then maybe you should leave.”
He frowned. “No one leaves here alive, Daisy. You need to know that. If your friends happened to make it over the fence, they’ll find that out, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lilly keeps a team on the outside of the ranch. They patrol the property and shoot anyone who’s out there.”
I shook my head. “I don’t believe you. No one shot at us when we came here.”
“That’s because Lilly wanted to see who the mysterious group traveling our way was before she killed them.”
Icy fear spread across my chest. If Grey and Kat had gotten over the fence then they’d be dead.
He patted me on the shoulder. “The only way out of here is in a body bag. Or over the fence in the south pasture.”
I prayed Grey had taken that path, but I wouldn’t know until Lilly got back. I turned to leave when Cooper stopped me.
“Be careful who you trust here, Daisy. This place makes good people go bad.”
“Are you talking about yourself?”
He tilted his head toward the window. Theo was walking up with a grim look on his face.
Cooper whispered, “I tried to save him, but he liked power too much.”
Theo burst into the kitchen, glaring when he saw me.
“Lilly wants to talk to you and Elijah. Now.”
“Where is she?”
Theo grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the dining room. Elijah jumped to his feet when he saw what was happening.
“Get your hands off her!”
Theo surprised me by letting go.
“Lilly wants to talk to both of you.”
Elijah pulled me against his body and asked, “Are you okay?”
I nodded, but rubbed my arm where Theo had bruised my skin. We followed him from the house. He called out to a few of the men. Why was he getting backup?
“I’m scared,” I said in a low tone.
“We’ll get through this.”
Theo led us toward our bunk, where Lilly waited at the door. She looked evil basked in the rosy, dusk glow with her guns on full display at her waist.
“What’s going on, Lilly?”
“Where are your friends?”
Elijah saved me from answering by saying, “We’ve already told you. We. Don’t. Know.”
Okay. Maybe not the best thing to say to her.
She glared. “I think you’re lying.” She took a step toward us. “See, one of my people said he overheard the four of you whispering at various points today. Said he caught words like ‘escape’ and ‘tonight’. Makes me think you do know where they are.”
The men that Theo had brought formed a circle around us. My lungs felt tight, like I couldn’t breathe. Would she hurt me or Elijah? That was the question. I squeezed Elijah’s hand and braced myself for whatever was about to happen.
And then I heard whistling.
Grey came around the corner of the bunks with his belt unbuckled. Kat was right behind him… without a shirt on. She giggled when she saw us. What in the hell?
“Hey,” Grey called out. “What are y’all doing out here?”
Kat made little attempt to hide her bare chest by cupping each breast with her hands. The men took notice and grinned at Grey.
Lilly wasn’t so easily distracted. “Where have you been?”
“Just fucking my lady in the grass. Is there a problem?”
My mouth fell open and Elijah tried in vain not to laugh.
“I don’t believe you.”
Kat tried to get past Lilly, who put her arm out.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I need my shirt. I’m freezing my tits off out here.”
This got another round of laughter.
Lilly glared.
Kat said, “Lady, if you’re not going to let me by I’m going to get angry.”
She let her hands fall giving everyone a view of her breasts. Indeed, it was cold.
Lilly cursed. “For fuck’s sake. Get a shirt on.”
Kat breezed past my cousin, going into the bunks. Grey took the time to buckle his belt, which got a few more chuckles.
Grey said, “Seriously, what are y’all doing out here?”
Elijah replied, “Lilly seemed to think you’d gone somewhere.”
“I just told you that I did. I needed some alone time with my lady.”
One of the guys spoke up, “Amen. Ain’t enough hours in the days for that no more and not enough women around here.”
That got him a glare from Lilly.
“Why did Cooper think you and the redhead were trying to escape?” Lilly watched Grey intently.
“Escape?” He snapped his fingers. “Wait. I do recall saying I wanted to escape into my old lady’s garden, if you catch my drift.”
The men surrounding us were now laughing, loud and rowdy.
Lilly zoned in on me. “Did you have something to do with this?”
“I have no idea what you mean, Lilly. I’ve been with you all day.”
She glared and then stormed away. A few of the men slapped Grey on back as they followed her.
When they were gone, Theo said, “I really hope this little stunt doesn’t get Cooper killed.”
Elijah replied, “Sounds like he has a bad habit of listening around corners. You miss a lot doing that. It also puts you at risk for getting hurt.”
Theo’s face turned bright red. “Shut the hell up. You don’t know what it’s like here and what people have to do to get by.”
He shoved past Elijah and went toward the main house, almost running. I felt bad for him, but at the same time we had to look out for ourselves. Especially now that we knew where we stood with Lilly.
11
Elijah said loudly, “I’m feeling pretty tired. Let’s call it a night.”
I’m sure he made that declaration in case someone lingered nearby.
When we were safely inside our bunk, Elijah said in a low tone, “How in the fuck did you pull that off?”
Kat came out from the bathroom fully clothed. Up close, her face was pale and she was shaking.
“Are they gone?”
Grey pulled her into his arms, holding her close. “You did so good, babe.”
“I’ve never been so scared,�
� she said, eyes filling with tears.
Elijah asked, “Again, how in the fuck?”
Grey replied, “Obviously you saw us slip out. We came here and got all our shit. But something just wasn’t sitting right in my gut.” He caressed Kat’s hair. “We hid our stuff and went to check out the fence. Caught a glimpse of a man sitting in a tree with a gun. Realized maybe we didn’t have enough pieces to this puzzle and came back.”
Kat added, “We improvised as we got closer. That reminds me- I tossed my bra and shirt under some bushes out there.”
Grey grinned. “That was some smart thinking. Now we need a new plan.”
I said, “Cooper told me tonight that there’s only one way to leave this place. A body bag.”
Kat broke down and sobbed. “There has to be another way.”
I remembered something and said, “Cooper also said the only part of the fence that isn’t patrolled is the south pasture.”
Grey snapped his fingers. “That’s our out, then.”
“But that puts you further away from our meeting point,” Elijah said. “Will you be okay that far out?”
“You still planning on coming after us?”
We both nodded.
“I figure that gives us plenty of time to make our way to the meeting point, taking care to stay away from the ranch. Not my first choice, but a choice nonetheless.”
Kat wiped her nose. “Sorry for that. I’m not usually so weepy.”
I smiled at her. “We all understand.”
Elijah said, “We should go to bed. If you’re planning on leaving tonight then you’ll want to get some rest while you can.”
“Agreed.”
We all settled into our beds. This time, I held Elijah close to me.
“I think we should leave with them.”
Elijah sighed. “Daisy-”
“Don’t ‘Daisy’ me. I’m telling you, we should leave.”
“And I said no.”
I glared. “Why not?”
“Because it’s not safe.”
“We’re not safe here!”
He said, “I know that. But I’m not going to make a rash decision. Your cousin is crazy and I worry what she has up her sleeve.”
“I know you’re worried, but-”
“I can’t lose you.” His voice was thick with emotion. “I have nightmares about watching you die. I can’t…”
“You can’t keep me locked away, safe. That’s not how this world works.”
He ran his hand though his hair.
“I’m done talking about this, Daisy. I’m only asking for a few more days. Then we’ll go after them.”
I frowned. “I’ve lost so much already just by coming here. I couldn’t bear losing you, Elijah.”
He cupped my face. “I know, Daisy. And that’s why we need to play this smart. I know it’s only a matter of time before Lilly kills one of us.”
“One week.”
“One week,” he agreed.
Somehow I managed to sleep. When I woke up, Elijah was staring at Grey and Kat’s empty bed.
“Did they…” I let my words trail off.
“I’m not sure. I didn’t hear them leave.”
We both dressed and went outside. Elijah made sure no one was around and looked in the bushes.
“The bag isn’t there.”
Hope spread across my chest like wildfire.
“We need to tell Lilly they’re gone.”
And then the hope disappeared like a deflating balloon.
“What? Why?”
“Think about it – if we say nothing she’s going to accuse us of knowing. If we rush to the house and tell her then maybe she’ll believe us.”
And maybe she wouldn’t.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
We took off toward the main house. It was strange – since my heart-to-heart last night I’d started feeling better. Maybe it was coincidence. Or maybe it was because we had a plan to get away from the ranch.
We reached the house and Elijah went in first.
“Lilly?”
Theo came out a room. “She’s still in bed.”
Elijah said, “We can’t find Grey and Kat.”
“This again?”
I said, “They were gone when we woke up.”
Theo cursed and went upstairs. We could hear his footsteps as he went down the hall to the master suite. Anger made my skin feel warm. My cousin had taken everything from my parents!
Lilly shrieked and the two came down.
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know. That’s why we came here.”
She called out, “Everybody come on. We have some runaways to track down.” To me she said, “And you’d better pray you’re not lying to me.”
Elijah asked, “What can we do to help?”
“You’re coming with me. Daisy, stay here and help Cooper.” She grinned. “Hunting always makes me hungry.”
Elijah met my gaze. I prayed my friends were able to put enough distance between themselves and the ranch.
12
Elijah
Daisy went to the kitchen with a frown on her face. Shoving my emotions aside, I turned to Lilly.
“Are you going to at least let me have a weapon?”
She pointed to a rack by the door. “Pick your poison.”
The items on the shelf were a joke. Gardening tools. Sporting goods. Things that wouldn’t help me if the Dead outnumbered me.
I lifted a baseball bat. “What in the fuck can you do with this?”
She shrugged and went outside. I ended up choosing a hatchet with a sharp blade. When I stepped onto the porch there was already about thirty men assembled, including some I’d brought. They wouldn’t meet my gaze. Traitors.
Lilly said, “The one with the wizard beard and the redheaded bitch escaped at some point in the night.”
She stared at a particular group of the men. They shifted uneasily.
One of the men said, “We didn’t see anything outside of the fence.”
“I don’t want to hear it right now. You’re lucky I’m letting you keep your eye.”
The man closed his mouth and took a step back. I didn’t blame him. They must have been the ones on guard duty last night.
“You know the drill. We’ll split up into two groups. Meet at the fence by the south pasture.”
This gave me hope. The longer it took to get to the south pasture, the more time Grey and Kat had to get further away.
“And then we’ll spread out from there.”
Well, shit.
Our search produced nothing. Not even a single footprint, which was pretty damn miraculous since the entire area by the south pasture nothing but a giant mud hole.
Lilly grew more and more furious. “I ought to take an eyeball from every single one of you who were on guard duty last night. This is unacceptable.”
I held back a sigh and followed some men into the woods. The trees were thick here and it was hard to move around. Something moved and I caught a glimpse of a lone biter staggering around. One of the men said it wasn’t worth the effort to kill it.
We kept walking, but didn’t see anything. This was pointless.
A bird called from high in the trees. It was a strange call. I looked up dropped my hatchet in shock. Motherfucking Grey was perched above me. He winked and nodded his head to the right. I couldn’t see anything, but I was sure Kat was nearby.
I called out, “Lilly, how much longer are we going to look out here?”
She was several yards away and replied, “When I say we’ve looked enough. Now shut up and keep moving.”
One of the men near me muttered, “If they made it to the river we’ll never find them.”
A plan formed in my head. Grey and Kat were smart to hide in the trees. What they needed now was a distraction so they could put distance between them and the ranch.
“Which way is it?” He looked at me in confusion. “The river. Which direction?”
�
�About a mile that way.”
He pointed to the west.
“I’m going to check the river. Anyone want to come with me?”
As I hoped, Lilly took the bait.
“We’ll all head that way. Just in case you know they went that way and are trying to meet up with them.”
Theo took the lead. Unfortunately Lilly fell in step next to me.
“I hope we find your friends.”
“I do, too. It’s not like them to run off like this.”
She snorted. “No need to lie to me. But, you should really be hoping they show up. Otherwise someone else will have to take their punishment.”
I glanced at her. She was looking at me with a smile on her face.
“What does that mean?”
“We have rules and one was broken. Someone has to pay.”
Unease spread across my chest.
“What is the punishment?”
“That’s for me to know and you… or Daisy to find out.”
She caught up with Theo, whispering to him. One of the guys gave me a sympathetic look.
“Do you know what she’s going to do?”
He said in a low tone, “There’s no telling. It all depends on her mood. Might get off easy. Might lose a limb.”
Fuck.
We reached the riverbed and it was swarming with the dead. I wasn’t surprised to see so many. They were drawn to water because of the sound. Plus, animals and people alike needed to drink, so it was good hunting grounds for the biters.
A group of them were huddled around a fallen horse, eating on the corpse. It was a fresh kill.
“Are there wild horses running around?”
Lilly shook her head. “It’s one of ours.”
She pulled a knife from her belt and went up to the group, shoving her blade through the temple of a biter. Theo joined her and they took care of the others. Our presence got the attention of the other zombies and they came toward us.
Out of habit I said, “Everyone stay sharp. Don’t make any stupid mistakes.”
I sliced my hatched into the skull of the biter closest to me. The men who’d come with me from Oklahoma fought alongside me. The other men watched, some laughing.
Lilly called out, “What are you doing?”
“Getting rid of the dead.”
