“Why are you following me?”
Mia’s roaring question caused everyone to jump, including several people working in a storeroom adjacent to the stairs.
Asher shot back. “Why are you yelling at me?”
Mia calmed herself as best she could. She was self-aware enough to know her emotions were so out of balance that she was in no condition to have a meaningful conversation. Putting aside the constant swirl of life and death, she still had no resolve for her battle over her feelings for Asher. He looked back at her with defeat in his eyes as if somehow he knew any hope to win her heart was lost.
“I’m sorry,” she said, lowering her tone. She took a breath and slowly let it out. “Sometimes I feel like the council is going to sit in that room and debate what to do until the dead start to fill up these halls.”
Her admission made him snicker.
“Don’t laugh,” she snapped, trying to hold back a grin. She popped him on the arm and he cringed. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Asher put his good hand up in defense, still managing to hold his smile.
“It’s all right.” He paused. “Just please don’t do that again.” He motioned Gabriel up and took one of the bags from the boy. “What are you going to do then?”
Mia hadn’t put her thoughts together, but she had an idea.
“I want to see the gardens for myself,” she said, and the ring of her tone gave away the idea that she’d only thought of it at that moment. “I haven’t been back to Cheyenne since we were forced out.”
Asher’s face scrunched up. “And you said I’m the one racing off to danger.”
“You heard the scout,” Mia said. “We still have time before the horde reaches the city.” She continued before he could argue. “I can’t convince the others if I don’t know for sure.” Then she added, “I won’t be going alone.”
Bale chimed in. “You can be sure of that.”
Mia’s plan was halfcocked and she knew it. It was rife with danger, but she felt the idea hardening in her gut as she thought about it. The scouts had been ordered to return to the southern boundary of Cheyenne. They were set to return at the first sign of the undead horde, giving Canaan a countdown to the last day. She stared at Asher’s concerned eyes.
“I can take care of myself, you know.”
“You haven’t talked to anyone about this, have you?”
Mia bit her lip. “That’s where I was going now,” she lied. “You have something to do.” She stared down the stairs. “And so do I.”
Mia had to work to put the pieces of her plan together before she reached her destination. What was worse, she had to work it out in her head without letting any of the growing group of followers know she was making it up on the fly. The group came to a stop outside a long bay adjacent to the connection tube between hives one and two. The bay acted as hive one’s primary supply hub, responsible for everything outside of food and water. Marcus stood at the entrance leaning over the top of a half door. He took a double look at her as she approached.
“Don’t see you down here much,” he said and then leaned out farther to get a look at the small group in her wake. “Any of you for that matter.”
Mia got to the point quickly. “I want to go into Cheyenne,” she said coming to a stop in front of him. “I want to see the gardens.”
The comment physically pushed him back. “Why would you want to do that?”
Asher coughed up something in his throat as he came to a stop beside her, but she ignored him.
“I want to see it,” she said. “I know your teams have been there, but we need to make sure it’s ready to receive people. We won’t have much time once we decide to evacuate the compound.” The shifting shadows in the candlelight behind him came to a stop. “I need a proper escort.”
“Is this official?’ he asked.
“Do you want to wait for the council?”
Marcus pursed his lips. “When do you want to go?”
Asher let out a noticeable sigh.
“As soon as you’re ready to go,” she replied.
Mia’s group was soon heading back in the opposite direction. Her mind was focused. Marcus promised to have a team ready to head out by first light of the following day. She kept her mind working through the details of what she needed to bring with her and tried to ignore the barrage of objections from her trailing party.
Mia knew she was running away more than anything else, but she didn’t care. Part of her didn’t want to hear Rowan tell her what he’d found when he reemerged from the gorge. She didn’t want to watch Asher walk away either. There was something about the idea of being out on her own that promised an escape from everything weighing her down. She was so lost in the idea that she barely noticed the growing gathering at the main entrance to the hive beyond the personnel quarters. It took a tug on her arm from Bree to snap her out of it. Something about the swirl caused her gut to churn, and a sudden sense of dread was validated when she heard her name.
The new arrival pushed through the crowd, heading down the central hall toward her. The thick coat and rosy cheeks gave away the woman as one of the soldiers out on patrol topside. She locked eyes with Mia and the two met in the middle of the hall. The woman was out of breath and she had to gather herself before coming up with enough air to speak.
“Riders,” she said at last. “Soldiers on horseback.”
Mia didn’t know what to say.
“Soldiers, ours?”
The woman shook her head.
“No. One of them said he represents the commission.”
The announcement sent a shockwave through the hall. Mia barely managed a response.
“How?”
“They road in from the east,” the woman explained and then lowered her voice. “And they asked to speak to you.”
16
It took a moment for the recognition to set in. Rowan couldn’t believe his eyes. The familiar face was something straight out of a distorted nightmare. It was nearly impossible for him to believe the former tribesmen who’d helped him escape from Cheyenne stood before him in the flesh. Rowan had to force himself to say the name aloud.
“Garret?”
The smiling face stepped closer and the fullness of his decaying features became dreadfully obvious. Rowan remained still although every instinct in his body screamed at him to back away. He kept his gun out in front of him, ready if he needed it. Garret took another step toward him and Rowan nearly convinced himself that the spoken words were all in his head until they came again.
“I haven’t heard that name in quite some time,” Garret said.
This time the guttural rasp under the words had a chilling effect. Rowan’s courage failed him and he stepped back.
“How?”
Garret stopped in the center of the hall and ran his pitch-black eyes over Rowan’s body. The silence between them filled with the bone-chilling grinding of his teeth. He held on to his response until their eyes met again.
“That’s a difficult question to answer,” he said.
A strange call echoed from the far end of the tunnel. The gathering dead chanted as they made the turn. The sounds pulled together in a haunting chorus. “Ku…ru, Ku…ru.” They continued one after the other much to Garret’s delight.
“Such sweetness,” he said allowing the words to slither from his rotting lips. “They have named me so,” he explained. “Kuru, lord of the dead.”
Rowan was at a loss for words. Kuru however relished in the opportunity to speak.
“We’ll need to find somewhere to hide,” he said. “It will be dark soon.”
Rowan didn’t understand how nightfall could possibly matter in the dark tunnels of a buried hive. Kuru motioned for him to follow before turning his back on the light and plunging into the darkness. Rowan shivered and tried to shake off the confusion. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea of the vile thing being Garret.
Rowan started at a distance, focusing the light along the wall to keep th
e glow surrounding him. Somehow, he felt the light offered him protection, even if it was all in his imagination. Kuru moved at a slow but steady pace, never bothering to look back to see if Rowan was following him. They reached another split in the hall and Kuru turned away from the direction of the elevator entrance Rowan and Asher used on their initial descent.
Rowan paused at the turn, part of him still considering whether or not Kuru could be trusted. He slid his head out into the hall and was shocked to find the collection of zombies from the hall gathered a few feet away. They were silent now, no longer chanting the horrible call, each of them gazing back at Rowan in various stages of rot. The sight of the dead so close sucked the air from Rowan’s lungs. He leapt a full two strides back before realizing the dead were not coming after him. Rowan held his gun up instinctively, taking several steps away before turning to catch up with Kuru. A series of turns revealed the last of the day’s light, cascading in through crumbling walls of the massive gorge.
Kuru shied away from the glow of the sun, shifting from one side of the hallway to the other. He led them into a small storage room and it wasn’t until Rowan’s foot crossed the doorway that he realized the entire floor was missing. Kuru had disappeared. Rowan poked his head through the entrance and found his guide slowly edging his way to the next floor down on the remains of a set of stairs against the wall near the door.
The floor below was shrouded in complete darkness. Rowan focused his lantern on the stairs and tiptoed after Kuru until the black swallowed the two. Lines of cable hung from the ceiling across what appeared to have once been a food storage area. A whiff of the pungent, stale air said most of the food had long spoiled. Rowan gagged on the scent as the full aroma rushed into his lungs. Kuru chuckled, looking back for the first time.
“The smell throws off the infected.”
The growling words held Rowan still.
“They hunt you?” Rowan asked.
Kuru kept moving forward. “For now.”
Rowan sped up until he was an arm’s length from his guide. The two moved between the debris until they were lost somewhere deep within the floor. Kuru slipped sideways between two sections of a collapsed wall and came to a stop. Rowan shined his light through the crack and found a tight open area. He was judging the width of the opening when the light hit the floor and the view caused him to raise his gun.
“Are those bones?”
Kuru found a place to sit and looked back at the end of the barrel with little concern.
“Of course,” he said and then grinned. “If I was going to eat you, you’d be dead already.” He motioned for Rowan to lower his weapon. “I would suggest you make your decision quickly. The infected may not be able to smell you, but they can sure as hell see that light.”
As if on cue, a distant growl echoed from somewhere in the darkness. A frightful roar was enough to force Rowan to make a hasty choice. He kept his gun aimed on Kuru as he slid through the makeshift entrance. Rowan pushed an assortment of bones out of his way with his boot and then sat down across from his still grinning host. He dimmed the lantern light until the edges of the soft glow barely reached the outline of Kuru’s face.
“What happened to you?”
“You did,” he said. He held his hands up to show off the bloodstains covering his tattered shirt. “Don’t you remember? I was shot and Jonah—”
Rowan finished for him. “Gave you the vile of my blood.”
“Mixed with the blood of the nexus,” Kuru added.
“So, you’re…dead?”
Kuru’s grin widened at the sound of it. “No,” he said simply. “I’m not much alive either.” He pulled at his shirt, tearing off the buttons as he yanked it open. “I’m something different altogether.”
The light revealed the foul greying skin beneath his shirt. Marks of blackened blood blotted wounds across his torso. Rowan’s eyes were drawn to movement within a fist-sized cavity centered on his chest. The rhythmic pulsing flexed with an oddly familiar thump. The recognition struck Rowan as it matched the beating in his ears.
“That’s your heart.”
Kuru’s lips parted in a smile so wide it nearly tore the skin at both ends. “I suppose it is.”
Rowan’s mind automatically flipped through the lessons he’d learned throughout his childhood. The great infection swept across the land generations ago, causing the dead to rise with a dreadful taste for living flesh. The world quickly surrendered to the infection, but there was more to come. The disease continued to mutate, working its way into the living. The mutation brought about the rise of the infected, transforming living people into bloodthirsty monsters unable to control their vicious desires. He looked at Kuru’s decomposing face with a renewed and frightful awe. Kuru held his smile, apparently amused by Rowan’s expression.
“I don’t think Dr. Olric has any interest in finding a cure.”
Rowan heard his declaration, but his mind was still focused on trying to figure out what he was. His thoughts fluttered through more of the details as he shoved a particularly long bone with his boot. He knew the dead feasted on the living, particularly the brains and other organs. The infected survived somehow on the blood of others. The scattered piles of bones littering the dirty floor said Kuru was more in line with one than the other.
“I think he was dreaming of me.”
The words grabbed Rowan’s attention. “Of you?” he asked.
Kuru let go of his shirt, and the dirty material fell over his ash-colored skin. “At least something like me,” he admitted.
The sudden realization placed a growing importance on finding the nexus.
“He’s still here,” Rowan said, “The undead boy whose blood they mixed with mine.”
Kuru studied him, creating an awkward silence before he responded. “I know.”
Rowan involuntarily scooted forward, shifting the light. The move highlighted the details of Kuru’s face. His sunken eyes absorbed the light. Deep grooves along the sides of his head clung to the bone beneath accentuated by tears in the skin. Thin patches of hair framed an appalling face that held onto a vague reminder of who he once was.
“Have you seen him?” Rowan asked. “Do you know where the undead boy is?”
Kuru shook his head slowly. “I can smell him,” he said and then continued before Rowan could ask his question. “I can smell all of them. I think that’s how the dead know me. They can sense their own kind.” He grinned. “And they can sense my power.”
Rowan didn’t know what to make of what he was hearing. All he could focus on was how Kuru might be the answer to finding the nexus.
“I need to find him,” he said. “Dr. Olric took Jonah and another boy.” He knew that wasn’t the entire truth, but the heart of the matter was honest. “Finding the nexus might be the only way to save them.”
Kuru studied him. His decaying face gave no hint at any recognition of Jonah. Rowan didn’t know if there was enough of Garret left inside the rotting monstrosity to concern himself with such things. A series of distant growls yanked a response out of him.
“I may be able to help you,” Kuru said. “But I need something from you in return.”
Something about the hidden request renewed Rowan’s fear. He adjusted his grip on his gun, jittering slightly on top of his leg. The anticipation built as Kuru continued.
“I want out of here,” Kuru said. “And I need you to help me reach the surface.”
Rowan hesitated. His concern for Jonah and Tate was unable to override a sudden feeling that Kuru could be a danger to Canaan. Rowan had an unnatural urge to raise his gun and fire. Kuru scowled at him.
“I could have let you die,” he said and then snapped to his feet.
Rowan responded by jumping off his seat. His back slammed into one side of the collapsed ceiling as he brought his gun to bear. Kuru took a step forward, ignoring the threat. Rowan stood his ground, unsure if a shot to the brain would put him down.
“You saw us,” Rowan said, guessing
at Kuru’s meaning. “You saw Asher and me when we came down here looking for the kids.”
“I’m the only reason you got out of here alive,” he said.
Rowan quickly considered his options. “How can you help me if you don’t know where the nexus is?”
The question stopped Kuru’s advance mid-step, and the response slithered from his mouth. “You’re going to have to trust me.”
♦
The conversation came to an abrupt close. The silence was unnerving as the two sat directly across from one another. Kuru offered no more detail as to how he could help and soon left his guest sitting alone. He provided a lingering warning before he vanished into the dark.
“The infected hunt in the halls at night. We’ll wait for first light.”
The parting shot filled Rowan’s mind with a number of questions. What exactly do the infected hunt down in the remains of hive six? Are there other survivors trapped down here? Where was Kuru planning to lead him when the light returned? Perhaps most important, could he trust this foul creature enough to follow him?
The time passed painfully slowly. Rowan switched the lantern off for long periods of time in order to save the fuel. There was no hint of the outside world and no way to gauge how long he’d be cooped up in his hiding spot. Rowan didn’t want to think about what Kuru was doing. The bones lying around his feet were an indication he couldn’t ignore.
Rowan struggled to stay awake, at times catching himself as he nodded off. Exhaustion took its toll. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept through the night. He was forced to stand and even step out of his hiding spot in order to pace. In the end, his fear kept him awake. It was impossible for him to determine how long he’d been alone when the first sounds of footsteps moved toward him. Kuru’s voice called out before Rowan could see him.
“You must really need my help.”
The Decaying World Saga Box Set [Prequel #1-#2 & Books #1-#2] Page 82
