“Rose brought us back here,” said Hunter. “She wanted to see her house. When we were going past the farmhouse Greg thought he saw a flash of movement in one of the windows. We hid the four-wheelers in the ditch and three of those drinker zom – crawler things – came out the side and that’s when we heard the screams. Stevenson got close enough to see inside the basement. There’s a window at the back they forgot to board up. It’s not big, but we should be able to squeeze through.”
“Wait,” I said as something sparked in the back of my mind. “That’s not right.”
Hunter frowned. “How would you know? You weren’t even there.”
“No, not that. Rose’s parents don’t live on this road.” Despite the hot August sun spilling down through the trees I felt an icy chill race down my spine.
“What are you talking about?” Hunter asked.
My hand clenched into a fist as a layer of cold, greasy sweat coated my palm. “She told me she lived in out by the quarry.”
“But that’s on the other side of town.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“Then why–”
“Because she needed a reason to bring you here,” Maximus interrupted.
My stomach bottomed out. “It’s Rose. Rose is the traitor.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
T is for Traitor
“THAT’S CRAZY.” HUNTER FOLDED his arms across his chest and glared at both of us. “Lola, I don’t know what kind of mind game this guy is playing with you but you seriously need to snap out of it.”
“Me? What about you!” It was a struggle to keep my voice down. I wanted to shout. Scream. Stomp my feet. My mind was spinning. How could it be Rose? Of all the people how could sweet, shy, scared-of-her-own-shadow Rose be the one to betray us? It didn’t make any sense. I looked at Maximus, seeking answers that weren’t there. He had warned me this would happen but up until this moment I didn’t think I had really believed it was possible that one of our own would switch sides. “We need to warn the others before it’s too late.”
No sooner had the words escaped my mouth than a distant scream tore through the air. Eyes wide, I turned to Hunter. “That sounded like–”
“Livy,” he finished for me, his expression grim. “Let’s go.”
We charged out the woods: Hunter in the front, me in the middle, and Maximus bringing up the rear. I could hear the swish of the tall grass as it brushed past his legs but otherwise he was completely silent; a deadly predator closing in on its prey.
Another scream filled the air followed by a scattering of gunshots. Hunter surged ahead, pulling away from me as he launched himself over the wooden fence without breaking stride. I tried to do the same but my knee wasn’t cooperating.
“Damnit!” I cried in frustration when I tried to jump and the top rail hit me straight in the stomach. Splinters pierced my palms, burrowing under my skin in tiny brown slivers as I tried to pull myself up. Halfway over the top I felt a strong pair of arms encircle my waist. Maximus lifted me effortlessly over the fence and landed beside me in a crouch.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his forehead lined with concern.
“Never better,” I gasped. It felt like I’d just taken a punch straight to the gut and blood was already starting to seep through my bandages, but what was I going to do? Stop? “Come on. We have to catch up with Hunter.”
Maximus helped me to my feet but he didn’t let go of my hand. “Lola–”
“No way. If you tell me to stay behind I will take this gun and I will shoot you. Do you understand?”
A rare grin crinkled the corners of his eyes. “That’s my girl.”
“I’m not your girl,” I gritted out between my teeth as we took off across the field. Hunter had already reached the other side of the fence. He looked back but didn’t wait for us before he jumped over and disappeared around the side of the farmhouse.
Matching his longer stride to my shorter one, Maximus didn’t leave my side and we climbed out between the fence rails together. Ignoring the splinters embedded deep in my hand I grabbed my gun and held it level with my chest as we approached the front of the farmhouse, using one of the outbuildings for cover.
“Stay behind me,” Maximus said tersely. “I’ll signal when it’s safe to come out.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We’re in this together now.”
He scowled at me over his shoulder. “You are, without a doubt, the most stubborn girl I have ever met in my entire life.”
“Why Maximus, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Come on,” he growled under his breath. “And for once don’t do anything stupid.”
There were various pieces of old machinery cluttering up the lawn. Broken down tractors. Rusted hay balers. A lawn mower tipped over on its side. We stepped around them as we made our way to the front of the house. There was no sign of Hunter. There was no sign of anyone.
The plan had always been to go in through the back and head straight for the basement while Greg, Livy, Stevenson, and Rose took care of the crawlers out front. But the plan had gone to hell in a handbasket the second I figured out who the traitor was.
I just hoped everyone was good at improv.
Maximus ducked under a window and flattened his body against the side of the house, head turned towards the road. Tiny white flecks of paint broke off and fell onto my hair and shoulders as I slid down beside him. From this angle neither one of us could see around the corner, but we were close enough to make out the faint buzz of voices coming from the end of the driveway.
It didn’t sound good.
“…shot him!” Greg cried in disbelief. “Rose, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Rose.
So my suspicions were correct. Tightening my grip on my gun I started to stand up but Maximus threw an arm across my hips, holding me down.
“Wait,” he hissed. “Not yet.”
Not yet?! Rose had already shot someone! What was I supposed to do, wait until all of my friends were dead?
“Screw that,” I said out loud. Throwing a quick elbow in Maximus’ ribs I jumped up and darted around the side of the farmhouse before he could drag me back. The sight that awaited me stopped me dead in my tracks. I thought I’d been prepared…but nothing could prepare me to see Rose, flanked on either side by two crawlers, standing in the middle of the dirt driveway with a gun pointed at our friends. My gaze darted to Hunter. He had his hand clamped over his left shoulder. Blood ran hot and heavy between his fingers, staining his shirt.
“Rose!” I said her name without thinking. Bad idea. With a startled shriek she jumped and whirled around. Her gun went off. Before I had time to fully register what had happened I was on the ground and Maximus was sprawled underneath me, his arms wrapped around my body, holding me pinned against his chest.
“I thought I told you not to do anything stupid.”
“Sorry,” I said weakly as he rolled over and helped me to my feet.
“D-Don’t move.” Holding her gun with shaking hands, Rose pointed it straight at my chest while the crawlers on either side of her hissed and snapped their teeth. I’d forgotten how ugly they were. Open sores oozing yellow puss covered their exposed flesh. Their hair was matted to their skulls and their faces were so sunken in it was impossible to tell if they were male or female.
“Rose, what are you doing?”
“I’m sorry.” Tears stained her cheeks. “I’m really sorry about this Lola, but I didn’t have a choice.”
“What do you mean you–”
“Stay back!” she cried when I took a step forward.
“Okay, okay,” I said hastily, lifting my hand in the air. “Just don’t shoot me.”
Rose’s eyes darted like a wild animal’s. “I-I don’t want to shoot you. But I’ll do what I have to. I’ve come too far, Lola. And I’m so close. I can’t stop now. I’m sorry,” she repeated as more tears poured down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry. They told me if
I brought everyone here they’d give her back to me.”
“Give who back, Rose?” I didn’t have a plan but I figured the longer I could keep Rose talking the more time I’d have to come up with one. Behind me Maximus was silent and still. If not for the hand he had pressed against the small of my back I wouldn’t have even known he was still there.
“My sister,” she said brokenly. “They – they said they’d give me back my sister.”
“Oh Rose…” If she hadn’t just tried to shoot me I might have felt a little bad for her. Or maybe not. Traitors weren’t exactly high on my sympathy list. “You know they’re lying, right? They’ll say anything to get what they want. But it’s not too late. If you put down your gun–”
“NO!” she shrieked. Behind her Livy visibly flinched. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He promised me. He promised.”
“Who promised you?” Was it the big bad drinker Maximus had warned me about? The one he’d said was stronger than Angelique? If so then we were royally screwed. A few crawlers I could take. But going up against a powerful drinker without any weapons was nothing short of suicide.
“That – that’s not important,” Rose mumbled. “I have to get you inside. All of you. And then I can see her again. Please don’t fight, Lola. You’ll only make – make it worse.”
“Hunter is bleeding. He needs help.” I looked over Rose’s shoulder and met Hunter’s gaze. Wincing, he shook his head ever-so-slightly, a silent order not to do anything rash. Behind me Maximus communicated the same thing by pushing his hand more firmly into my back. Gritting my teeth together until my jaw ached, I let the crawlers herd us into the farmhouse like we were cattle heading for slaughter. Which in a way I guess we were. I had no idea what the drinkers had planned for us, but it was a pretty safe bet it wasn’t going to be pleasant.
The inside of the farmhouse was sparsely decorated. Most of the windows were covered with dark curtains, making it hard to see. Crawlers of all different shapes and sizes leered at us from the shadows as we were shoved down into the basement. Stumbling on the third step I grabbed onto Stevenson’s shoulder to steady myself.
“You okay, Sanchez?” he muttered under his breath.
“Never better,” I said dryly. The basement steps were narrow and steep and seemed to go on forever. I wondered what was waiting for us at the bottom. Cages? Torture? Death? “Do you know if they got to Becca and–”
“Stop talking!” a deep, unfamiliar voice bellowed down from the top of the stairs.
After what felt like forever we finally reached the basement. It was cooler down here and smelled slightly damp. Squinting into the darkness I could just make out a long row of steel cages. Someone bumped me from behind. Livy.
“Lola I’m so scared,” she whispered, clinging tight to my hand. “What do you think they’re going to do?”
What did she think they were going to do? Throw us a surprise party?
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But we’ll find a way out.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
I felt a sharp pain in my ribs. One of the crawlers was poking me with a long stick. It pointed a claw-tipped finger at one of the cages.
“In,” it rasped.
“Can we talk about this? I think–”
“IN!”
“Alright, alright. I’m going, I’m going,” I grumbled under my breath. Stepping gingerly over a pile of junk I ducked my head and entered the furthest cage on the left. Smaller than a jail cell, it was empty except for a bucket in the far corner. I started to turn around but another jab from the stick sent me stumbling into the back wall. My head bounced painfully off the steel bars. I felt a trickle of warm, sticky blood drip down my temple as I whirled around just in time to watch the door clang shut.
Sonofabitch.
Everyone else was shoved into the cages, even Maximus. They must not have had enough to hold us individually because my door was reopened just wide enough for Hunter to be pushed through. I caught him as he stumbled and helped ease him down to the ground. He didn’t look good. Even in the dark I could tell his face was way too pale and his pupils were dilated.
“Lola?” he muttered, his head lolling to the side.
“Right here,” I whispered. “I’m right here Hunter.” Supporting the weight of his head on my shoulder I remained crouched beside him, helpless to do anything but keep him from falling face first into the dirt. After a few minutes the crawlers stomped up the stairs and slammed the basement door shut, effectively sealing us in. For a second there was only an eerie, all-encompassing silence and then…
“Lola? Is – is that you?”
“Dad?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Reunion
BEING SHOT AT, SHOVED DOWN into a dark smelly basement, and forced into a cage against my will hadn’t been enough to break me but the sound of my dad’s voice made me crack like an egg.
“Dad, it’s me. It’s Lola.” Tears filled my eyes and spilled over onto my cheeks. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I had hoped…and wished…but I’d never really believed. Not until this moment.
“Lola, what are you doing here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sniffling back tears I gently leaned Hunter against the side of the cage and stood up, wrapping my fingers around the cold metal bars as I strained to see into the darkness. “I came here to rescue you.”
I heard his breath catch. “I thought…”
“I know, Dad. Me too.” I was quiet for a moment as the enormity of the situation sank in. My dad was alive. I had finally found him. And pretty soon we would both be dead. “Are you okay? Have they hurt you? How long have you been down here?”
“I – I don’t know.” His voice was shaky. He sounded weak. I gripped the bars harder, wanting to go to him, to touch him, to see him with my own eyes. To be this close and yet still so far away was its own type of torture.
“Don’t worry Dad, we’re going to get you out of here.”
“And how exactly are you going to do that?” someone interjected derisively. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re all locked in cages.”
I couldn’t see who had spoken but I didn’t need to. I would recognize that voice anywhere. Apparently being held prisoner hadn’t done much to improve Hayley’s attitude.
“We have a plan,” I said.
“We had a plan,” Hunter muttered from behind me. “Until it went to shit. I can’t believe Rose would do that to us.” He lifted his head, his eyes finding mine in the darkness when I looked over my shoulder. “I’m sorry for not believing you, Lola.”
“Good,” I said without any malice. “You should be. And I would like to go on record and be the first person to say ‘I told you so’.”
His teeth flashed in a half grimace/half smile. “I figured as much.”
“Who are you talking to?” Hayley demanded. “Is that Hunter? Who else is here?”
One by one Livy, Greg, and Stevenson rattled off their names. Maximus remained silent. I thought he was two cages down from me, but I couldn’t be sure. I just hoped he was having more luck thinking up a way out of this mess than I was.
“Great.” I could all but see Hayley rolling her eyes. “Who’s supposed to rescue us now?”
“Not to worry,” I said with mock confidence. “This is all part of my master plan.”
“Some master plan,” she snorted. “Now you’re just going to die down here with the rest of us.”
Livy whimpered.
“Lola, where’s Travis?” Dad asked. “Did you find him?”
My mouth opened. Closed. I’d forgotten that my dad still didn’t know what had happened to Travis. He didn’t know about Angelique or Maximus or any of the other secrets I’d been keeping. He didn’t know anything. “Travis…Travis didn’t make it.”
I heard Dad’s sharp intake of breath, followed by a deep and heavy sigh. “Lola, I’m so sorry. I know how much he meant to you.”
Resisting the u
rge to squirm I slid down the bars and sat on the hard floor with my knees against my chest. I’d come here to rescue my dad, not have a heart to heart with him. That could come later when we were safe and preferably alone. I couldn’t afford to go all soft and mushy now. Turning my face into my shoulder, I rubbed my eyes dry on the sleeve of the flamingo t-shirt. “It’s okay. I’m dealing with it. The most important thing now is finding a way out of here.”
“There is no way out,” interjected a soft, dreamy voice I didn’t recognize. “We’re stuck here like trout. Trout in a bin. Trout in a bin paying for our sins.”
“Who the hell is that?” I wondered out loud.
“That,” Hayley snapped, her tone bubbling over with annoyance, “is Fiona. She’s been here the longest and she’s crazier than a fruit bat. All she does in rhyme.”
“Rhyme time. Time to rhyme. Have you ever seen a happy mime?”
“Shut up Fiona!”
And just when I’d thought things couldn’t get any stranger…
“How many other prisoners are they keeping down here?” Fighting to stay conscious Hunter forced his head upright and I bit down hard on my lower lip. I didn’t think the bullet had pierced any major organs, but he’d lost a lot of blood. Too much blood. If we didn’t get out of here soon he wasn’t going to make it.
“Besides me, Mr. Sanchez, and Looney Tunes over here?” Hayley said. “No one. They already took everyone else.”
“Took them where?” I asked.
“Out for dinner and a movie,” Hayley said sarcastically. “I don’t know! Every night they come down and drag someone else off. So far no one has come back. Now we’re the only ones left. Or at least we were until you idiots came marching in. Some rescue plan this is. Do you even have any weapons?”
“I don’t need a knife to snap your neck,” I growled.
“Why don’t you come over here and try it you–”
“Enough.” Maximus’ voice reverberated through the entire basement. “Fighting amongst yourselves will get you nowhere.”
The Lola Chronicles (Book 2): A Day Without Dawn Page 18
