The Lola Chronicles (Book 2): A Day Without Dawn

by Jillian Eaton

  “Me?” I said incredulously. “You have got to be kidding.”

  “You’ve been acting a little weird lately. First you disappeared into the woods–”

  “To meet Maximus!”

  “–and you’ve been missing all night. Now you’ve come back with some crazy story about how we’re supposed to protect the zombies–”

  “I never said to protect them,” I bit out through gritted teeth. “I said try not to kill them if we don’t have to.”

  “–and you want me to believe that one of us is working with the drinkers. Sorry, Lola.” Dropping his hands to his hips Hunter shook his head. “Not buying it. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  There was a lot I wasn’t telling him. And I wasn’t going to. We needed to be fighting the drinkers, not each other, which was exactly what would happen if I told Hunter the truth. I could just picture it now.

  You’re right. There is something I’m not telling you. Maximus is actually a drinker. But he’s a good drinker. How do I know for certain? Because he hasn’t killed me yet.

  Yeah. That would go over well.

  “You’re just going to have to trust me,” I said firmly. “Which means we need to change the plan. If the drinkers know what we’re going to do then we’ll be finished before we even start.”

  “No. No way. We’ve been working on this for days, Lola. We’re not changing it now.”

  “But–”

  “No,” he snapped. “It’s too late. We’re sticking with the plan and you’re either with us or you’re not.”

  My mouth dropped open. “Hunter! How could you–”

  “What are you guys doing out here? Sorry!” Rose exclaimed when we both jumped like scalded cats and whirled around. “Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you.” She twisted her fingers together. “It’s just that…well…it’s dawn. And we’re sort of all waiting. And there’s a boy out front of the school in a red convertible who says he needs to talk to Lola.” Her gaze slid to me. “Do you know who he is? He’s really cute. I m-mean,” she stammered as her cheeks turned pink, “at least that’s what Becca and Livy said.”

  Hunter growled.

  “Thanks Rose,” I said quickly. “We’ll be in in just a sec. We’re just going over some last minute details.”

  Her eyes darted between us as she picked up the tension radiating off our bodies in hot, electric waves. “That’s – that’s what I figured. What should I tell everyone?”

  “Tell everyone to get ready,” Hunter said.

  “Hunter…” I said, a warning edge in my tone.

  “Tell everyone to get ready,” he repeated without looking at me. “We’re going forward with the plan.”

  “YOU’RE ALL GOING TO DIE,” Maximus said shortly.

  I rolled my eyes. “Nothing like a little optimism before going into battle.”

  “What is there to be optimistic about?” he asked as we strapped the last of my belongings onto one of the four wheelers. “

  “Don’t you start too. God.” Pulling the final bungee cord into place I threw up my hand and turned around to face him. All around us everyone was making their final preparations before we headed out for the farmhouse and – according to Maximus – certain death.

  It hadn’t been easy, but I’d gotten Hunter to agree to let Maximus come along. It was either that, I’d told him, or I was taking back all of my guns. We hadn’t spoken a word since. “Guys are so annoying. Why can’t you just get along? We’re on the same team.”

  “Are we?” Maximus said, his expression guarded as he glanced to the front of the line where Hunter was topping his four wheeler off with gasoline. “He could be the–”

  “Don’t even say it. In fact, don’t even think it.”

  “If he was unwilling to listen to reason–”

  “He was unwilling to listen,” I interrupted, “because he doesn’t trust you and I can’t really blame him. I don’t even know if I trust you.”

  Was that a flicker of hurt I saw flash through Maximus’ eyes? No. Definitely not.

  “I am going with you even though your plan is idiotic and destined for failure. That should tell you everything you need to know.”

  “Leave our plan alone,” I said defensively. “It’s a good plan.”

  Or at least it had been a good plan before someone spilled the beans.

  Which one of you is it? I wondered. Which one of you sold us out? And why?

  Short of someone raising their hand and yelling ‘It was me!’ it looked like I was going to have to wait to find out.

  “Everyone ready?” Hunter yelled.

  We all raised our hands except for Maximus who stood standing beside the four-wheeler with a mutinous scowl. He was still wearing the same t-shirt and jeans from last night. The dark clothing, coupled with his constant glower and tousled black hair, didn’t exactly make him look very approachable which was probably why everyone had been steering clear of him. If Hunter was our knight in shining armor then Maximus was the mercenary who no one dared looked in the eye.

  “Can you try to fit in?” I hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.

  “Why? I do not know any of these people.” Turning his back to me he slid onto the four wheeler and gripped the handlebars. “You’re the only one I care about.”

  I did a double-take complete with head swivel and dropped jaw.

  Had I heard him correctly?

  You’re the only one I care about.

  A few weeks ago those words would have made my heart go all pitter-pat. Now I felt like I’d just reached the top of a roller coaster and was about to shoot down the other side. Without meaning to I glanced at Hunter. He had one knee resting on the back of his ATV and was having a quick conversation with Stevenson. Morning sunlight shone through his blond hair, catching on the wheat-colored strands.

  If you die I’ll never get to kiss you.

  My gaze darted back to Maximus.

  You’re the only one I care about.

  Oh no.

  Oh hell no.

  I was so not doing this right now. My life wasn’t going to turn into a cliché teenage romance. I wouldn’t let it. Not when there was drinker ass to kick.

  Glad Maximus couldn’t see the myriad of emotions contorting my face I swung my leg over the back of the four-wheeler and, because there was nothing else to hold onto and because I refused to be known as the girl who fell off the ATV for the rest of her life – however short that life ended up being – I grabbed a fistful of Maximus’ shirt to balance myself. There wasn’t a lot of space between us. I didn’t think the four-wheeler was meant for two people, but since Maximus couldn’t exactly show up at the farmhouse in his fancy “just a car” corvette without attracting loads of unwanted attention we didn’t really have much of a choice.

  Planting my feet on the kickboards I tried to wiggle back, but the slanted seat kept sliding me forward. A few more inches and I would be plastered against Maximus’ ass. Not the worst place to be, all things considered, but this wasn’t a date. It was a rescue mission.

  And I needed to get my head in the game.

  “Ready?” Maximus asked, raising his voice to a shout when the rest of the four-wheelers roared to life.

  Was I ready? Aside from trying to save Travis from Angelique – and we all know how well that ended up – I generally made it a habit to run away from the big bad monsters, not straight towards them. Yet here I was, ready to jump head-first into a nest of drinkers and crawlers. Bravery or sheer stupidity?

  A combination of both, I decided as Maximus gunned the four-wheeler and we made a wide loop around the back of the school before heading out to the parking lot.

  At least we had a plan. A good plan even though Maximus thought it was shit. Then again, I was pretty sure anything Hunter came up with he would automatically find a reason to dismiss. To say it was hate at first sight between the two of them would have been the understatement of the century.

  That doesn’t matter now, I reminded my
self. Just play your part, get Dad, and get the hell out.

  Unfortunately my part was one of the most important ones, along with Hunter’s. You might even say we had the starring roles.

  Go us.

  Rose and Stevenson were our decoys. While Livy and Greg waited out of sight across the road they were going to stall out their four-wheeler in front of the farmhouse and lure the crawlers outside. When they came out Hunter, Maximus, and I would go in, guns blazing. We were going to fight our way down to the basement, free the prisoners, and send them out to Ms. Siegel and Becca who would be waiting in the woods behind the farmhouse. Then we’d all regroup at the middle school and head straight for the Poconos.

  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The Farmhouse

  THE WIND BLEW THROUGH MY hair as we accelerated down the road, whipping my braid back and staining my cheeks with bright slashes of red. The farmhouse was three miles out of town; a straight shot down Main Street and then a sharp left onto a narrow dirt road that sent clouds of choking brown dust billowing up behind us.

  After nearly falling off – twice – I’d given up on trying to keep my distance from Maximus and was curled around him like a koala, my good arm hooked around his ribs and my front plastered against his back. I could feel the rigidness of his muscles through our clothes. The steady lift and fall of his spine as he breathed. The quivering vibration in his thighs whenever my hand accidentally slipped.

  You’re the only one I care about.

  From the front of the line Hunter threw up his right arm, signaling for us to slow down. We were two spaces behind him, tucked neatly between Becca and Ms. Siegel and Livy and Greg. Stevenson and Rose were bringing up the rear. They pulled up alongside us as all of the four-wheelers rumbled to a halt and the drivers killed the engines.

  “How are you doing?” I asked Rose. Peeling her face away from Stevenson’s back she managed a weak smile. A thin layer of dust covered her freckles and coated her eyelashes.

  “Um… Okay I guess. Nervous,” she confessed in a whisper, her gaze darting to Hunter who was so busy trying to pretend Maximus and I didn’t exist that he was avoiding looking in our direction all together.

  “Me too.” Gravel crunched under my sturdy black ankle boots as I swung off the four-wheeler and inspected the back to make sure my belongings – including my gun which had been fully reloaded and was tucked safely inside the front pocket of my duffel bag – were still secure. Satisfied that nothing had budged I climbed back up behind Maximus who had been oddly silent since we’d left the middle school.

  “How are you doing?” My palm bounced painlessly off his shoulder. “Nervous?”

  He twisted his head to look at me, his eyes the same dark, restless gray of a stormy sky right before lightning struck and thunder boomed. “No.”

  “Are we going to run into any of your friends?”

  The corners of his mouth tightened. “No.”

  Aaaand we were back to one-syllable answers.

  “How do you know? Maybe–”

  “My friends do not torture and murder humans,” he said shortly.

  Hunter chose that moment to stand up on the back of his four-wheeler and address all of us, saving me from having to think up a reply.

  “Listen up,” he shouted, waving his arms to get our attention. Everyone immediately fell silent, the aimless chatter we’d been using to distract ourselves from what we were about to do replaced with a hard, tense silence. “I know you’re scared. I am too. If you wanted to cut and run now, I wouldn’t blame you. None of us would.”

  Well I kind of would, but no one moved. Not even Becca and Livy whose faces were so white they were almost translucent. A grudging feeling of respect rose inside of me. Becca and Livy weren’t fighters. None of us were, not really, but especially not them. Yet here they were, standing strong, determined to do their part to save their friend…and my dad. When this was all over Hayley wasn’t the only one who was going to owe someone something.

  “Does everyone know what they’re doing?” Hunter asked.

  “Yes,” said Ms. Siegel, looking very serious. Her part in our little production may have been small, but it was no less dangerous than mine or Hunter’s or anyone else’s. We were all putting our necks on the line and even no one had said it out loud, we all knew there as a good chance not everyone would be returning to the middle school.

  At least not in one piece.

  “Aye aye, Lord Commander!” Greg yelled, standing up to give Hunter a sharp salute.

  “Good,” Hunter said with a nod. “Then let’s do this.” For an instant his eyes met mine. Our gazes locked and I felt an uncomfortable lump grow inside of my throat. I didn’t want to head into almost certain death with Hunter pissed at me. Not after everything we’d been through.

  He must have been thinking the same thing because for a split second he smiled, revealing the matching dimples I’d come to know and love. I smiled back and with one last sweeping glance that encompassed everyone he turned back around, swung his leg over the seat of his four-wheeler, and shot off down the road in a cloud of dust.

  Everyone peeled off in different directions. Now it would come down to a matter of timing and we all needed to make sure we hit our intended marks.

  Maximus followed close behind Hunter as he veered off the road and onto a narrow logging trail that had definitely seen better days. We were going to follow the trail to where it dead-ended behind the farmhouse, ditch the four-wheelers, and approach of foot. Ms. Siegel and Becca would be waiting on another trail while Rose and Stevenson lured the drinkers out the front and Livy and Greg waited in the bushes, guns loaded and ready.

  Everyone had looked at me like I was crazy when I asked them to try not to kill the crawlers, but they’d promised to do their best.

  I couldn’t ask for more than that.

  Twenty yards out from the end of the trail Hunter turned off his four wheeler and coasted to a stop. Following suit, Maximus parked beside him. I was the first one to hop down. Ignoring the twinge in my knee I grabbed my gun out of my duffel bag, clicked off the safety, and secured it to my hip. Before we left the middle school I’d changed out of my torn, bloody clothes and into my last pair of clean shorts and my flamingo t-shirt.

  If I was going down, I was going down in style.

  “Can you braid my hair?” I asked Maximus.

  He stared at me blankly. “What?”

  “Can you braid my hair?” I repeated impatiently. There was no telling how much time we had before the first gunshot went off which would be our signal to go charging into the farmhouse. I could just see it through the trees; an old white house with peeling paint and a wraparound porch. There was a red barn out back and two sheds on the side. To get to the back door we’d have to cut across a fenced pasture and duck under a clothesline that still had three pairs of pants hanging from it, bleached a faded tan from the sun. “I can’t do it with only one hand and I don’t want it in my face. Here’s an elastic.” When he continued to look at me as though I’d just asked him to unhook my bra I rolled my eyes and marched over to Hunter. “Hair. Braid. Elastic.”

  “Turn around,” Hunter said gruffly. I felt a few painless tugs and then he stepped back. “All ready for battle, Sanchez.”

  “Thanks Golden Boy.”

  “No problem.”

  I flashed him a quick smile over my shoulder, glad we were on speaking terms again. His eyes softened and his mouth started to open as though he was going to say something, but then Maximus spoke instead and the light in Hunter’s eyes dimmed to a dark, suspicious glint.

  “We should get in position.”

  “I still don’t see why he is coming with us,” Hunter said, making no effort to lower his voice or hide his disdain.

  “Because we need all the help we can get,” I said, an edge of impatience sharpening my tone. “And because he knows how to fight better than all of us combined.”

  “You keep saying th
at.” Hunter’s gaze was cool and assessing as it swept over Maximus who returned his stare without blinking. They reminded me of two boxers squaring off in a ring. Boxers who didn’t have any reason to hate each other, but as soon as the bell rang they’d raise their fists and duel to the death anyways. “But you still haven’t told me where he came from or what he’s doing here or how he knows so much about the drinkers.”

  I toyed with the end of my braid. “Maximus isn’t a big talker.”

  “I can see that. Haven’t you ever wondered why?”

  Of course I had. And I couldn’t blame Hunter for asking so many questions. Not when they were the same ones I’d asked myself. But he wasn’t going to like the answers any more than I had, which meant the little showdown that was brewing between them would just have to wait.

  “Focus, Hunter. We have a job to do. We can hash this out after it’s done.”

  “Oh, I am focused. You’re the one who’s distracted.” His green eyes cut straight through me. “I just hope it doesn’t cost you your life.”

  “How did you find the farmhouse?” Maximus asked suddenly.

  “What?” I said, thrown off by the abrupt topic change.

  “The farmhouse,” he repeated. Leafy shadows fell across one side of his face as he turned and stared hard at the farmhouse through the trees. From this angle it looked completely inconspicuous. If I hadn’t known better I never would have guessed it was a torture den for the creepy crawlies. “It’s five miles out of town on a dead-end road which is why the drinkers chose it. There would be no reason for anyone to come here. So how did you find it?”

  “I didn’t,” I said with a shrug. “Hunter did.”

  What the hell was taking Rose and Stevenson so long? Had they gotten to the farmhouse yet? Were the crawlers taking the bait? There was no reason they wouldn’t. Two seemingly defenseless humans all but served up to them on a silver platter. Even Maximus had begrudgingly agreed it would be the most efficient way to get them out of the farmhouse. So why hadn’t we heard any gunshots?