by Eli Constant
RED Eye
The Armageddon Series
Season Three: Episode One
By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Claire C. Riley
&
Victoria Cage Author
Eli Constant
RED EYE The Armageddon Series
Copyright ©2020 Claire C. Riley & Elizabeth Constantopoulos
Cover Design: Wilde Designs Elizabeth Constantopoulos
Editor: Amy Jackson
Formatting: Claire C. Riley
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, without express permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
About the episode:
So close… yet so far away.
** Rose’s situation under Nathan’s control worsens, while a brittle Sam suspects Barrett is keeping something from her... **
About the Series:
A new location brings new terror as Rose and Sam find themselves at the mercy of Barrett’s crew, the Sins.
Now separated from both Sam and Nolan, Rose is a caged animal, terrified but determined to find the people she cares about the most. But how much can one person take?
More than ever, Rose would give anything to be sat in a boring office back in England right now.
Sam’s secret is never safe; that’s a reality she’s learning to live with. Barrett has protected her up until now, yet surrounded by his so-called family, she wonders how long it will be before he turns on her…
Sam longs for the days when her biggest problems were a failed relationship, too many carbs, and a sprained ankle.
Life has never been easy, not before the zombies and certainly not after. But even with the dead rising, it is the living that cause the most problems. It’s the humans that elicit the most fear, that make the apocalypse bloodier, that kill anyone necessary to survive.
Between humans, zombies, and the desire for brains,
the world’s getting darker by the hour.
And the two unlikely friends
need one another more than ever.
That doomed red-eye flight seems a lifetime ago…
*
Start this epic zombie apocalypse thriller written by USA Today Bestselling Author Claire C. Riley and Victoria Cage Author Eli Constant.
THE SERIES SO FAR:
Red Eye, The Armageddon Series Season One– OUT NOW
Red Eye, The Armageddon Series Season Two – OUT NOW
Red Eye, The Armageddon Series Season Three, Episode One – OUT NOW
RED Eye
The Armageddon Series
Season Three: Episode One
By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Claire C. Riley
&
Victoria Cage Author
Eli Constant
Prologue
The visceral screams echo down the darkened hallway toward the small cage where he sits, his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. With each new scream he pulls himself tighter, smaller, wishing he could shrink away until he is nothing.
This place is hell, he decides.
A worse hell than he’d been in previously, no doubt.
These men are worse than the dead that were relentless in their search for him.
These men and this place are everything that he’s ever feared.
The screams suddenly stop. Like a faucet being switched off, it is there and then it’s not. And then it’s replaced by a roar of cheers, a chorus of celebration. Death won again.
His breathing is coming fast and hard. So hard he can barely breathe. So hard he thinks he might be sick because it’s making him feel dizzy. Oh God, he’s going to be sick, he realizes, just in time to let go of his legs and retch out his empty guts next to him. He heaves hard, his empty stomach producing nothing but bile. He takes another deep breath, and then another, and then another, until he feels he is back under control of himself again.
His hands are shaking, his knees bouncing as he waits.
And then it is his turn as the guard arrives at the door.
“You’re up,” the guard says, a smirk on his ugly face and a spark of excitement in his eye.
He wants to run, to fight, to scream, but his energies are better served out in the Arena. There he may have a chance. Here he’ll just be shot in the kneecaps and dragged to the Arena regardless.
So he stands and he walks toward the guard, who unlocks the door and lets him out. Every part of his body tells him to run, but he doesn’t, he obeys. He walks toward the light at the end of the hallway, the scent of death whispering to him, the screams for blood like a siren’s call.
He chews so hard on his lip that he draws blood.
The guard pats him on the shoulder as he leads him out into the Arena and toward the large cage to the left. Other men are in there too; they all look more terrified than him. He doesn’t want to see what they just had to see. He doesn’t want to be here anymore. He wants to go home. He wants his wife back, and his child. He wants his shitty job and his beat-up Ford. He wants his Friday night beers with the guys and his Sunday mornings in bed with his wife.
But that’s all gone now.
“Survive and you’ll be one of us,” the guard says. “Die, and you’ll be one of them.” He smirks again, and locks the cage and leaves.
This is what it has come to.
A three-sided coin.
The dead, the living dead, or one of them.
Because he’d rather be dead than one of these men… these men are worse than the monsters that roam the world now.
Chapter One.
Barrett
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “Of all the fucking luck.” I’d just left Nathan…Nathan and his cage. I had the too-short walk back to Stash’s to figure out what the hell I was going to do about it. All I could see in my brain right then was Nathan’s grin.
“Ain’t she pretty,” Nathan said.
I kept my face blank staring at Rose. It wasn’t hard. I’d perfected my poker face when I was a kid, refusing to let my old man see how shit-scared he made me feel. “She’s not my type,” I said casually, standing up. I’d had to squat down to see who Nathan was holding like an animal in the small cage. “Can we get back to business now?”
Nathan looked at Rose for a second, mouth quirking. “Sure thing, brother.”
We’d talked business for a while, but the conversation had strayed back to Rose in the cage… and Sam.
“I’ll trade you this one”—he pointed at Rose—“for the bitch you’re playing house with. God knows the boys will pay more for a grown-ass woman with a body like that.”
“You’re relentless,” I muttered, dropping the papers I’d been looking at—photos and write-ups of all the new girls Nathan had acquired since last time I’d been around. We’d already gone over the important shit.
“You know me…when I see something I want.”
“You get a little fucking obsessed?” I shrugged, face neutral.
“Hey, if she won’t work on her back, then she can strip. I�
��d be satisfied with that. And I’ll still give you the Brit snatch in the cage.” Nathan walked over and kicked the metal bars firmly, the sound echoing loudly in the small room. Rose hunched further into a ball.
When he turned back to me, he was full-on grinning, a maniacal, hungry look in his eyes. I’d seen that look before, and it spelled nothing but trouble for Rose.
“Not interested.” I glanced at the door, making it obvious that the conversation was over. “If that’s all, I’ll be heading back to Stash’s.”
“Sure, sure, Barrett. That’s all.” His smile faltered a little. “All for now.”
Nathan, despite appearances, was a cruel, brutal man. If he set his eyes on something, he usually found a way to get it. That’s why I’d been so determined to talk to him about Sam before he saw her. Look how that had fucking worked out.
Well, to get to Sam, he’d have to go through me. Even a fucking psycho like him would think twice about pushing me.
Goddammit, man. What’s fucking wrong with you? Getting on Nathan’s bad side over a piece of pussy. Grade A pussy, but pussy none-the-fucking-less.
Over the past few years, I’d taken mostly solo jobs. I ran my own show, delivering whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. After so long with the Sins, no one really questioned my seniority anymore.
I mean, I’d had my share of fights with other members. It was a thing for a while, an initiation dare, to see if a newbie could take me down. You want to be a Sin? Got to get a piece of our lone wolf first. Putting enough of them in the hospital ended that tradition real damn fast.
I was a man to be feared, no doubt, but if I had to pick someone to go to war with, for whatever reason, I wouldn’t fucking pick Nathan. He could charm the pants off most anyone—and then surprise the hell out of them when he turned into a serial killer sadist. He was our own personal goddamn Ted Bundy. He’d had his choice of Sins jobs, and he’d settled on resident pimp. He’d killed plenty of girls over the years. And not just out of anger. He liked sex. Rough sex. The kind that either left a girl breathless or not breathing at all.
Nathan wasn’t Bundy. He was Jack the fucking Ripper.
I thought about Rose. If she pushed him…
I shook my head.
There was no if about it. She would push him. I knew that.
Christ on a bike, that woman liked to push people’s buttons. It was only a matter of time before she crossed Nathan’s line. And with a cute as shit accent like hers and a tiny little curvaceous body…Rose was as good as done for.
The cage Nathan had her in was new, and comparatively tame to some of the shit he’d done over the years, but he wouldn’t stop there. Hell no. He’d take pleasure in her pain. The harder Rose fought? The move vindictive he’d be. He’d enjoy bringing her to heel. With Rose’s smartass mouth, she’d be buried in Prostitute Meadow in no time. Just another unmarked grave.
If she died, she died. That part wasn’t my concern. If Sam got dragged into the situation, then my view might change.
I swiped a hand through my hair, pushing the long, loose strands away from my face, feeling pissed at this turn of events. Yeah, I’d promised Sam that we’d find Rose, but I wanted it to happen in my time, when I was good and damn ready. Ideally, Rose would be dust in the wind or dead by the time we found any trace of her. Not that I actively wished ill of Rose—I didn’t. Her being out of the picture was simply better for me. It was simple.
I didn’t care enough about anyone in life to value if they were dead or alive. Hadn’t for as far back as I could remember, and that wasn’t about to change now... Or at least it wasn’t until Sam. Fuck.
The Sins were my family. The only connection I needed. Loyalty over love.
Loyalty was more dependable. Loyalty might get you shot, might get you killed, but it didn’t fucking wreck you the way love could.
The Sins were the only connection I wanted in life.
*
My mind rolled back in time, and before I could stop myself, I was picturing a hollowed-out face. It was trying to smile. Teeth stained from tobacco. Dark brown hair stringy from poor health, too little food, and too much alcohol. She used to be pretty, my mom. I’d seen pictures. But ever since I could remember for myself, she’d always looked frail and two hits from my old man away from being completely broken. But I’d loved her.
I loved the way she tried to hide my favorite cereal.
I loved the way she took the punches that were meant for me sometimes.
I loved her so much it hurt.
And then I stopped loving her, because she was dead, and I needed to survive.
I stopped loving. Period. Thrown into the goddamn broken system. I learned to fend for myself. And then the Sins came along and I learned that a bullet doesn’t lie and cash can keep you warm.
And I was stronger for it. I was still alive.
It was easier if Sam didn’t have Rose as a lifeline anymore.
She’d only have me to rely on.
Fuck, I needed more time with her before this Rose shit exploded.
Because I still hadn’t settled on my end game with Sam.
I was only yards from the security building now. I squared my shoulders. There really was only one choice for now—keep Sam in the dark. If she found out about Rose before I had a solid plan, then she’d go hell to leather to get Rose out of that goddamn cage. She’d probably get us all fucking killed. For now I needed to keep Rose my dirty little secret.
I did need an excuse for not telling Sam about Rose though, in case she found out before I was ready. Something good, something plausible.
The omission would buy me time.
Lies would buy me time.
And that’s what mattered.
I reached for the security building’s door handle, shaking my head a little and making sure my trusty poker face was firmly in place. When I opened the door, it squealed softly. I focused on the sound, so that I’d remember the cadence of it. If anyone opened the door at night, it’d be a warning. That’s the way my mind worked—the way my mind had to work, given the life I’d chosen to lead. And nowadays, being vigilant was even more important.
Cover your tracks.
Be mindful of your surroundings.
I controlled the way the door closed, slowly settling it back into the frame and turning the knob. The inner latch clicked into place, barely a whisper.
My foot was lifted, poised to walk down the shadowed hallway, when I froze at the sound of voices coming from the back of the structure. Sam wasn’t alone hanging out in the room I’d left her in. The other voice…was Stash. I frowned. Staying with Stash was the safest possible situation for the moment, and it had basically been my doing bringing Sam there, I still didn’t trust that old fucker with my woman.
Quietly, making barely the whisper of a sound, I moved down the hallway until the voices were loud enough for me to hear clearly.
“So,” Stash’s voice spoke and then paused again. I heard dull thuds. “You and Barrett.” It wasn’t a question. That was Stash’s normal way of rooting around for truffles in a shit pile. Casually make statements, be friendly. All-in bet at the craps table, he’d made her something to eat to warm her up. “You’re the first woman he’s ever claimed. He’s practically king of bachelor land. He might fuck the same bitch once in a while, but he doesn’t stay in the bed after.”
Everything Stash was saying was true, yet it made my blood boil. Because he was saying it to Sam. He was saying it to motherfucking Sam. I wasn’t sure why that bothered me so much. Maybe it was because it wasn’t his goddamned place, or maybe it was because I hated the thought of Sam thinking less of me. Either way, I was pissed the fuck off.
Sam hadn’t responded. She was keeping quiet.
That’s my girl, I thought recklessly, able to admit that I thought of her as mine, well-and-fucking-truly mine. Only able to admit it because no one could hear inside my goddamn head…
“Now, tell me, Sam. What’s so special about you?” This time a
question. Pointed. No pretense. He wanted to get to the heart of the thing. Maybe he knew their time alone was going to be short-lived. Maybe he knew I’d fuck him up five ways to Sunday if I found out he’d cozied up to Sam while I was gone.
“There’s nothing special about me.” Sam’s voice finally filled the air, and it sounded small and frightened. The boiling of my blood intensified, my anger threatening to spill out of my body and soak everything with lava-stoked plasma.
“Well, now, I call bullshit. Our lone wolf wouldn’t tie himself to anyone who wasn’t special,” Stash pressed, a dog with a bone.
Sam’s voice broke as she spoke again, but she controlled herself. “I’m really not special. We were just in the same airport when all the bad stuff started. He’s sort of kept me safe. I don’t know why.”
“Sure you do. If you’re not special, then you’ve got something he wants. There’s no other explanation. So I’ll ask you again—why’s Barrett protecting you like you’re a million-dollar payday?” Stash wasn’t going to let this go. I’d have to watch him carefully. Make sure he didn’t stay alone with Sam for too long in the future. Or I’d have to kill him.
The realization that I’d kill this man to protect Sam hit me in the gut.
Stash was a Sin. A brother.
Didn’t matter if I didn’t trust him. Choosing a woman over him went against the core of how I lived my life. I had to get myself straight. I couldn’t let shit get complicated.
Loyalty was simple.
Bullets didn’t lie.
Money kept you warm.
Before Stash or Sam could speak again, I decided that I’d had enough. Enough of Stash’s old man curiosity. It never led anywhere but ugly. And I knew how Sam must have been feeling—like a cornered animal. Fuck, maybe I should let Stash keep pushing her. Maybe she’d zombie out and teach the asshole a lesson.
