by L. T. Ryan
Addison ran to the ladder and hurried upstairs.
“What is it?” Emma said.
Addy ignored her as she hustled to the opposite end where she opened the window enough to see and hear what happened below. A few moments later she felt Emma’s hand on her shoulder. She reached up with her own and placed it on top of the girl’s, giving it a squeeze.
“Is everything okay?” Emma whispered.
“I don’t know. I think he’s going to give himself up.”
“What? Why? We could have escaped.”
Addison shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
A cool wisp of wind blew steady through the small opening. The odor of gasoline rode with it. The trucks idled somewhere not too far away. Five men gathered near the gate. Addison spotted at least three more in the woods. The others had to be close by.
“There gonna be a problem here, son?” one of the men yelled out. Addison couldn’t tell which one.
She leaned forward so she could see directly below. Jake held up his hands and said nothing. He was going to do it. Going to give himself up. Why? They could have run for it if he hadn’t argued with her.
The gate flung open and the five armed men entered the yard. Addison’s pulse quickened, as did her breathing. She considered taking the men out, but doing so would be signing Jake’s death warrant. They’d certainly unload on him before she could kill all five. She focused on the group of men too long, and nearly missed four others emerging from the woods.
After they joined the others, it became clear that one man was held in higher regard. He had dark hair, streaked with sliver. His beard was full, like he’d grown it out before the outbreak. When the others stopped, he continued forward a few more steps. Then he stood there, nodding, looking at Jake.
“Put your hands down, son,” the guy said.
Jake’s arms fell to his side. His shoulders slumped. The older man lifted his hand and gestured for Jake to come to him.
“Don’t go,” Addy whispered.
“What?” Emma whispered into her ear. Her breath was hot and tickled.
Addy shook her head while continuing to watch the scene unfold outside. Jake had started walking toward the older man. He stopped a few feet short. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then the older guy grabbed Jake by the shoulders. He nodded a couple times, said something that couldn’t be heard up in the loft.
Addison had trouble processing what occurred next.
The older man pulled Jake in close to him. But it wasn’t to hit him or throw him to the ground. He embraced the younger man, holding tight with one arm across Jake’s back while lightly slapping his back with the other hand. Jake’s body started shaking, like he was crying.
“All right, son,” the older man said, louder now. “Brady said he saw two girls, or a woman and a girl. I’m guessing they’re inside?”
“It’s just me,” Jake said as he dragged his sleeve across his face wiping away tears and snot.
But it didn’t fool the old guy. His gaze fell upon Addy’s. Locked onto her eyes. He nodded, slowly, while gesturing for a couple of his men to head inside the stables.
“Son, just tell me the truth, and nothing’ll happen to them.”
Jake looked back over his shoulder, up to the loft. He too met Addison’s stare. He slammed his eyelids shut before lowering his head again. “They’re just trying to get somewhere. Don’t get them mixed up with us.”
The older man handed Jake off to another, then made his way up to the stables. He stopped in front of the doors and looked up. “Come on down. My men are waiting for you inside. We’ll see to it that you’re taken care of.”
Addy backed away from the opening, out of the finger of light stretching across the floor.
“Should we go?” Emma asked, digging her fingers into Addison’s forearm.
“I don’t think we have a choice.”
“We can fight them.” The girl stood tall, chest puffed out. Her father would have been proud.
“We’ll die.” Addy started toward the ladder. “Stay close to me. We’ll see where they take us, and at some point, we’ll make our move.”
But after they climbed down the ladder, she realized they would’ve been better off fighting.
Twenty
Sweat as cold as ice trickled down the side of Sean’s forehead until it collided with the curve of his beard. His heart thumped against his ribs. A spreading pain gripped his midsection.
The man across from him sat unflinching and unblinking. No smile or other hint that his question to Sean, “Do you want to live or die today?” had been a joke. His hands were out of sight. Maybe he had a pistol mounted under the desk and held it now. Sean’s answer would determine how he used it.
Breathe, he told himself. No way they would’ve wasted water and soap on him if the plan was to shoot him here. Medrick used the question as a test. A way to judge the character of the man across from him. Sean’s answer had to stand up to the question. Figuring out what that meant to Medrick posed a problem on its own.
Sean only cared in the context of getting to his daughter, but somewhere deep in his mind, he knew the chances of finding her were slim. Beyond the faint glimmer of hope that he’d find her, he didn’t care whether he lived or died. In some ways, Medrick would do him a favor by ending his life today.
“We’re all dead,” Sean said. “Most of us don’t realize it yet.”
Sean couldn’t see that his answer affected Medrick one way or another. The guy stared at him, unflinching and unblinking, still. After several seconds, he brought his left hand up and rested his wrist on the edge of the desk.
“That’s got nothing to do with today, though. Specifically, I want to know if you want to live or die today.”
“I think you’ve already made up your mind. Quite frankly, I don’t care what happens to me today. I’ve died a little bit every day for the past eight years, some days more than others. One day, this’ll all be over. Until that day comes, I’m gonna keep fighting for God knows what reason. Maybe it’s hope that this’ll end and things will be normal again.”
Medrick chuckled. “Shit ain’t never gonna be normal again.” He brought his other hand up quickly. Sean flinched. It wasn’t much, but he could see by the slight arch in Medrick’s brow that he’d noticed. The man made a show of presenting his empty hand, letting it hover in the air over the desk.
The still room remained silent except for a faint ticking coming from the silver watch on the desk. The second hand flicked forward, paused for a tick, and moved again, over and over. When Sean looked up from it, Medrick was watching him.
“What is it you want from me?” Sean asked.
“One of them gnaw on your leg?” Medrick said.
Sean swallowed hard. He didn’t want to reveal too much to the man. “I was in the military.”
Medrick squinted at him. “Eight years ago?”
Sean nodded, said nothing.
“IED?”
“Friendly fire.”
“Damn. Sucks.”
“Sure does.”
“Why didn’t the government give you something better than a toothpick to walk around on?”
Sean tugged on his pant leg, pulling it over his thigh. He lifted his leg and tapped on the titanium connection bonded to his femur.
Medrick leaned over the desk to get a closer look. “Well, what happened to the rest? You hock it for beer money?”
“Shit happens, I guess. Had to make do with what I could find.”
Medrick sat back down, grinning, shaking his head. “Someone stole your fucking leg? Man, that is hardcore.”
Sean shrugged and said nothing. What was he supposed to say next?
“Yeah, but I got a replacement not too far from here, so if you’ll let me borrow one of your SUVs I promise to bring it right back.”
No, he had to keep that close to the vest.
Medrick rose, wiping his fingers across his desk as he did so. He frowned as he glanced down at th
e dust covering his fingertips. Shaking himself back into focus, he pointed at Sean. “Get up. We’re going for a walk.”
They exited the building, which Sean assumed Medrick used as his private residence. A short walk later, they entered the middle building. The door opened when they were six feet out. Heat enveloped Sean, a sharp contrast to the thirty-degree air they had walked through.
It took a few seconds for Sean’s eyes to adjust to the dim entryway. The doors fell shut behind them, clanking together in a way that left him feeling they were safe from anything outside, but also realizing they wouldn’t be easy to open from the inside either.
Medrick’s hand slapped the center of Sean’s back. It remained there as the other man guided him to the right. They were in a reception area. Blue chairs connected by a steel beam were anchored to the walls in a U-shape. Directly ahead was a chest-high partition. On either side of it were doors. No one sat behind the partition. Mounted to the wall behind the empty stool was a black board with white letters affixed to it. What once probably listed employees now had ridiculous phrases spelled out.
Brains 4 Sale.
Hold My Beer.
Asshats Stay Out.
And others, some of which almost gave Sean a smile. Medrick looked amused as he followed Sean’s gaze.
“I guess you’d say some of the guys here are pranksters,” he said.
“They’re clever,” Sean deadpanned.
Medrick tilted his head, puffed out a breath of air. “Yeah, well, whatever. Let’s keep moving.”
They went through the door on the right. A steady chink-chink sound drummed in the background. Sean looked around the room and couldn’t find the source among the still machinery.
“What was this place?” he asked.
Medrick ignored the question as he pushed Sean onward and around the equipment. They came to another heavy door that led to a hallway lined with brown carpet and illuminated by dull fluorescents.
The right side of the hallway was lined with doors every fifteen feet or so. Those rooms were on the perimeter of the building. The left side had far fewer. The manufacturing side.
“Are you making something here?” he said.
Medrick continued to ignore him. He now hummed the theme song to Gilligan’s Island. How lucky would those bastards have been in this day and age? Wouldn’t have to worry about the afflicted on that island.
Sean felt a yank on his shirt and stopped. Medrick stepped ahead of him, holding a finger up.
“Wait here,” he said before knocking on a door.
A muffled, “Hold on a second,” preceded the door opening an inch or two.
Medrick flashed a toothy grin. “Sup, Doc? Not interrupting, am I?”
The man pushed the door shut, then it sounded as though he were sliding a security chain free from the door. He pulled it open and stood there wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of boxers.
Medrick looked past him, still grinning. “Guess I did interrupt. Sorry, sweetheart, we need the Doc right now more than you.”
A few seconds later a woman wrapped in a pink robe emerged and hurried down the hallway past Sean.
Medrick leaned against the doorway, where the man he’d called Doc was standing. “Sharon? Really?”
The other guy shrugged. “Take what you can get these days. Right?”
Medrick’s face tightened. He shook his head. “No, I pretty much take what I want.” He winked and the smile returned. “Anyway, we’re not here to talk about fornicating. I want you to meet my man Sean here.”
The guy nodded. “Pendergast is the name, but everyone calls me Doc, on account that I was, wait for it, a doctor before all this shit happened.”
Sean returned the nod and said nothing.
Doc turned his attention back to Medrick. “Is he sick?”
“No, well, I don’t think so.” He looked back at Sean. “You sick?”
“No.”
“See, he says no. Made it through initiation without a scratch on him.”
“Impressive,” Doc said with a quick nod. “So what do you need?”
“Show him your leg, Sean.”
Sean hiked up his pant leg, revealing the makeshift prosthetic.
The doctor almost looked pained at the sight of it.
“You got anything better?” Medrick asked.
Doc turned and leaned out of sight for a moment before stepping into the hallway. He held a keyring, not unlike the one possessed by the woman upstairs. “Follow me.”
They went further down the hall, with Medrick and Doc walking shoulder to shoulder, Sean behind them. Were they being watched? Seemed odd Medrick would turn his back to him like this. Did he think some kind of trust had been established between them?
Medrick turned to the side and waited for Sean to catch up. He draped his arm across Sean’s shoulders as he looked back the way they had come.
“You interested in that fine piece of meat he had in there?” Medrick said. “I can make that happen. Just say the word.”
Sean didn’t look at the guy. “I’m good.”
Medrick grabbed Sean’s wrist and jerked it up and down. “I bet you are.” He let go. “But seriously, we got plenty like her here.”
Sean thought of Beth, wondering where she was right now, and if the woman who’d given birth hours earlier would soon be relegated to prostitute duty.
Doc lifted the keyring over his head and shook it. The keys jangled together. The sound muffled as he sorted through the stack and selected the right one for the door he stopped in front of.
“In here, my friend, is something I think you’ll like.”
He pushed the door open and waited in the hallway until Medrick started toward the door. Sean followed behind. Doc entered last, shutting and locking the door behind him.
The room was a ten-by-ten square with no window. Was the back wall adjacent to another room? Sean thought about the walk over with the woman. He couldn’t recall if there were windows cut into the exterior. The building was blurred in his memory.
The overhead lights were dull yellow fluorescents. A small desk and chair were pushed into the corner. A white laminate calendar was spread across the desk. The days were written in black ink. Several of them circled in red.
Opposite the desk were several boxes stacked along the wall. Were they filled with medical supplies? How had they come across so much stuff? Maybe it had all been here, and these guys had lucked into it. Probably not. Sean figured they’d looted or taken it all by force.
Doc reached up and pulled the top box off the right stack. Then a second. And a third. He pulled the fourth and carried it over to the desk.
Sean knew why they were there, he just didn’t believe their words had any merit.
So when the Doc pulled a black and muted grey titanium prosthetic leg from the cardboard box, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Drop your pants,” Doc said.
Sean had to blink the guy into focus before the words registered. He complied and took a seat on the desk next to the man. He stared at the prosthetic.
Medrick settled into the chair. He rolled it back toward the door where he could put his feet up on one of the discarded boxes from the pile.
Doc slid the end over Sean’s leg, then held out both hands. “Let’s see how it measures up.”
Sean grabbed the man’s hands and slid off the table. The prosthetic hit the ground first, setting his hips off-center. “Just a little off.”
Doc slid open a drawer and pulled out a few hardcover books. “Lift your foot.”
Sean did and waited for the man to slide a book under. Once he got the signal, he set it back down. “Almost.”
The man rooted through the drawer again, coming away with a yellow legal pad. Sean repeated the process.
“I think that’s perfect,” he said.
“Great,” Medrick said. “I saw a movie once where they made this dude taller by breaking his legs and stretching them while the bone regrew.”
/> Sean furrowed his brow, not sure if the man was serious. The grin and laugh that followed was all he had to hear.
“I’m thinking we get the guys to do a little work on this.” He pulled the prosthetic away and removed the socket. He measured the height of the book and legal pad, then marked the same distance on a length of steel he could attach at the knee joint and create a hook that would be secured onto Sean’s femur attachment.
Medrick rose and slid his chair away from the door. “I’ll take that, Doc. You mind keeping Sean here for a little while? Give him a once over and all that good stuff.”
Doc nodded as he extended the prosthetic, foot first, to Medrick.
Medrick pulled the door open and stepped into the hallway. Before the door fell shut, he stuck his head back into the room.
“Sean?”
“Yeah?”
“You want to live or die today?”
Sean felt the knot reform in his stomach. He held Medrick’s gaze for several seconds before answering. “Live.”
Medrick smiled and winked. “Well, hang tight, ‘cause I’m gonna give you a chance to prove it in a few hours.”
The story continues in Affliction Z: Fractured (Part 2). Coming soon.
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Also by L.T. Ryan
Affliction Z Series
Affliction Z: Patient Zero
Affliction Z: Abandoned Hope
Affliction Z: Descended in Blood
Affliction Z Book 4 - Coming Soon
The Jack Noble Series
The Recruit (free)
Noble Beginnings
A Deadly Distance
Ripple Effect (Bear Logan)
Thin Line
