by Kate L. Mary
“I’m fine.” I looked him over, taking stock of his condition, but other than the bite, which was now uncovered, there were only a few minor bumps and scratches.
Andrew stood in front of the door, watching us as he sucked in a mouthful of smoke. His dark eyes bored into mine, filled with silent threats, and the hair on my head prickled. When he was sure I’d gotten the message, he turned, a sadistic little smile on his lips, and went outside. He didn’t close the door behind him, though, and the quiet rumble of voices floating into the room served as a reminder that we weren’t alone.
I grabbed Kellan’s arm once Andrew had disappeared and pulled him closer so I could whisper and still be heard. “What were you thinking? What do you think he’s going to do with you if he finds out you lied?”
“He’s not going to find out,” Kellan hissed. “I knew if they drove off, I’d never be able to find you. At least this way we’re together.”
He held my face between his bound hands and pressed a kiss on my forehead. His skin was warm and soft against mine, and I closed my eyes, holding on to his wrist as I tried to let his presence calm me the way it usually did. This time, it didn’t work.
“It was all I could think to do at the time,” Kellan said, his lips still against my forehead. “The idea of him pulling you into that car and taking you out of my life for good almost killed me.”
“But you have to know what you’re risking. Andrew could decide you’re too much work, and then he’ll kill you.” I tightened my grip on his wrist. “You’re risking your life.”
“My life would be worthless without you in it.”
“A touching thought.”
Kellan pulled back but his hands remained on my face, and we both turned to find Andrew once again standing in the doorway, smoking and grinning like we were putting on a show.
“Just remember that, and we’ll all get through this in one piece,” he said.
Andrew stepped into the room, and another man followed—the same one who’d driven the car. When he pulled the door shut behind him, he was as silent as he had been during the long hours of driving, and not even when he dragged a chair across the room so it was in front of the door did he say a word. He sat, not making a noise, and I curled into Kellan when the realization that we were going to have to share this room hit me.
Andrew noticed my discomfort and chuckled. “Don’t flatter yourself.” He took a drag from his cigarette—he’d have to run out soon; he’d been smoking all day—before saying, “I may find certain tactics useful when it comes to getting my way, but that doesn’t mean I partake in them unless absolutely necessary.”
He moved to the other bed, his eyes on us the whole time and the cigarette still hanging from his mouth. Not for the first time, I was struck by how startlingly bright the evil seemed to shine in his dark eyes. Like a lone fire blazing on an otherwise black night. It was brilliant, unmistakable, and it made me shiver.
Andrew took a seat on the edge of the bed and sucked in a mouthful of chemicals before speaking again. “I was with a group years ago, not too long after all this started, in Vegas. That’s where I’m from. Ve-gas.” He over pronounced the syllables, spitting them out like it was the most detestable city in the world. “I hated it. It was always crowded and hotter than hell in the summer. A cesspool.” He shrugged. “But it was home.
“When the virus hit, thousands of tourists were stuck, and most of them died. Overnight, Sin City became a ghost town, and it was during those first few days of quiet that I met the boss.” Andrew chuckled like he was relaying a fond childhood memory, and I shivered. “The boss. That’s actually what he wanted us to call him. I didn’t care, though, because he was smart and motivated, and when the dead started coming back, I knew I was going to have to join forces with someone like him or die. Those were the only options.
“We recruited survivors as we found them, men and women, and worked together to clean out and fortify the Monte Carlo, but it wasn’t until it was safe that the boss’s true plan came out.” The corner of Andrew’s mouth curled up. “Like I said, he was a smart son of a bitch. He knew how to motivate people. Knew that the currency of the old world had vanished for good, and if he wanted to succeed, he was going to have to create his own. So he did. He used the women as currency.”
At my side, Kellan’s entire body stiffened so it felt like I was leaning against a stone wall. “Currency?”
Andrew leaned forward as if to emphasize his story, his eyes shining with an evil light. “You see, he was the one who taught me how to motivate people. We needed supplies if we were going to make it, but the city was overrun, and the men needed a reward for risking their lives.”
What he was saying sank in. My stomach lurched and my fingers dug into Kellan’s arm, and somehow against the bile rising in my throat I managed to spit out, “That’s sick.”
Andrew gave an unconcerned shrug. “But effective.”
He’d mentioned Vegas before, that day outside our shelter when we’d handed Harper over to him, and he’d also said there had been another shelter like ours. We’d always known there were more, but the company had been secretive, and not even Jasper had known their locations.
“You said something before, about another shelter. Was that outside Vegas?”
Andrew blew out a long trail of smoke, lifting his chin like he was trying to keep it away from us even though he didn’t care one way or another. The gray cloud floated to the ceiling where it joined the rest of the smoke gathered there, hovering just under the yellowed ceiling.
“In the Mojave Desert,” he finally said, “out in the middle of nowhere just like yours. Some of our men snatched a couple women who were with the group—Hadley Lucas was one of them, if you can believe it.”
The name sounded vaguely familiar, but before I’d had a chance to remember why, Kellan said, “The actress?”
Andrew’s grin stretched wider, suddenly reminding me of a cartoon cat from my childhood that had scared the shit out of me. “The very same.”
Right. Hadley Lucas the actress. I remembered her now. Strawberry blonde hair, thin. Pretty. She’d been in some zombie movie—we actually had it at the shelter—Zombieworld or something like that. It was a comedy, but I’d never really been able to see the humor in it.
“She was popular,” Andrew said, and when Kellan swore under his breath, he waved his hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter now. Their friends got them out, somehow, killed a couple of our people in the process. The boss was pissed, so we broke into their shelter and—”
“You couldn’t have.” Kellan sat up straighter, and like him, alarm pulsed through me at the thought of someone being able to break into the shelter. “There’s no way.”
“There is if someone runs off and betrays you.” Andrew pressed his mouth into a tight line and shook his head, looking less amused than he had before. “We should have let sleeping dogs lie, but the boss was determined. He wanted Hadley Lucas back—and the blonde who was with her was a hot piece of ass, too.” He waved his cigarette-wielding hand in the air as if to wipe his words away. “Anyway, we destroyed their shelter, but they made it out and came back to Vegas. They broke the rest of the women out and set zombies loose in the hotel, and that was the end of the Monte Carlo. I was one of the few people who made it out alive.” He let out a snort that I couldn’t interpret. “Barely.”
“What happened to the other group?” I asked. “To the people from the shelter?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. Died, probably. Nearly everyone does.” Andrew took another drag before leaning down, blowing the smoke out as he snuffed his cigarette on the carpet at his feet, not looking up when he started talking again. “I only tell you this so you understand how resourceful I am. Being together the way you are, I know you’re going to be tempted to try to get away, but it won’t happen.” He sat up, leaving the cigarette butt on the carpet, and focused his cold eyes on us. “There’s nothing I won’t do to get what I want. I captured and delivered
dozens of women to my boss and didn’t miss a second of sleep, and if I have to do the same thing to keep you in line, I will.” He nodded to the armed goon sitting in front of the door, and the man smiled. “And believe me, my men will enjoy every second of it. Understand?”
I clung to Kellan harder. “We won’t cause problems.”
“Good.” Andrew scooted back so he was lying down, not even bothering to take his boots off. “Now I need to get some shuteye.”
Kellan and I scooted back on the bed as well, doing our best to get comfortable. It wasn’t an easy task with our hands tied, but after some careful shifting, we managed.
Andrew’s goon dimmed the light, but didn’t turn it out completely, and I was grateful for the soft glow illuminating the room because it made it possible for me to see Kellan. After hours of being apart, I wanted to soak him in, wanted to cling to him so I could convince myself everything was going to be okay. We’d been together since the beginning, and as long as that remained, we could make it. We would survive this.
“You should try to sleep,” Kellan said, his voice soft and low so only I could hear it.
“I don’t know if I can.”
I tried to look over my shoulder, but he clasped my chin and held it, forcing me to focus on him. He was so close, and his brown eyes were swimming with more emotions than I could identify.
“Don’t look at them,” he whispered, and I almost closed my eyes when his warm breath swept over me, but his gaze held me captive. “Just concentrate on me. Just focus on me.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know, so am I, but we’re going to get through this. I swear.”
“How?” I asked in a shaky voice. “How can we possibly get out of this?”
Kellan swallowed, and when he hesitated, my heart pounded faster. “I don’t know if we can get out of it. I’m not going to lie about that. But we will get through this together. We’ll be together until the moment they deliver us to Atlanta. Understand?”
“What then?” I lowered my voice. “What happens then, Kellan?”
“We survive. It’s all we can do.”
He kissed me then, a feather light brush of his lips against mine, and I sank into him, my bound hands clinging to his shirt like it was a life vest and I was on the verge of drowning. More than anything, I wished our hands were untied so I could feel his strong arms around me, but I didn’t have a prayer that Andrew would actually allow that. Instead, I scooted closer to him, nestling my head under his chin, burrowing my face against his neck.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you,” he said, “more than anything.”
27
I’d thought for sure that sleep would evade me, but Kellan’s comforting presence helped me drift into a deep—if somewhat what restless—sleep, within minutes of shutting my eyes. In the darkness of my dreams, I found myself in the wilderness, surrounded by sand and mountains, trying to find my way back to Kellan. He was somewhere nearby, I knew, but I couldn’t find him. Andrew was there as well, and he seemed to be dozens of people at once, all of them surrounding me, trapping me. Their eyes bright, shining with the darkness living inside him.
I woke with a start when something jabbed into my back, gasping from the shock of being ripped from the unsettling dream. Light flooded the room, streaming in through the motel’s window and wide-open door, and Andrew stood at my back, holding a gun, which he’d used to wake me. At my side, Kellan was already awake, his dark eyes focused on our captor and shimmering with groggy rage.
“Get up,” Andrew said. “It’s time to move.”
Kellan pushed himself up, his hands never leaving me, and helped me sit as well.
Andrew allowed us to walk out together, side by side, but I had little hope he’d let Kellan stay with me once we were ready to leave. I squinted when we stepped out, lifting my bound hands to shield my face. It was early, probably not even seven in the morning, but the day was already sweltering. The motel had been stuffy and hot from being sealed up all night, but the sun’s rays were twice as scorching, and I felt a little bit like I’d stepped into an oven.
Andrew’s men were gathered around the parking lot, eating from opened cans of various food. Most of the silver cylinders no longer had labels, but among the slightly deteriorating paper covers that remained, I spotted peaches, beans, and even potatoes. It was the first real chance I’d had to count the men Andrew had recruited for this mission—things had been too hectic back at the hangar and too dark last night when we got to the motel—and I was surprised to learn there were only six of them. It was a much smaller group than he’d had before, but not so small that they hadn’t been able to overtake us.
We only made it a few steps when Andrew grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward the car. The goon who’d stood watch in the room mumbled something I couldn’t hear, and Kellan lowered himself to the ground as I was dragged away, his gaze still on me. I wanted to fight, and the expression in Kellan’s brown eyes told me he did as well, but neither of us resisted. There was too much at risk.
My stomach growled at the sight of the canned food, but even worse was the pressure in my bladder. I’d been escorted to the bathroom—which reeked of things I couldn’t name—in the middle of the night, but that had been hours ago.
“I have to pee,” I said as Andrew tried to pull me toward the already open door of the sedan.
He stopped and turned, frowning like he didn’t believe me.
“I’m not lying,” I snapped. “It’s a normal bodily function that I have no control over.”
“Didn’t think you were lying.” He was already smoking, and the cigarette bobbed as he talked. “There. You can squat on the other side.”
Heat moved up my face when he nodded to the truck, parked only a few feet from where we stood. There was no privacy, and half his men would be able to see me.
“Take me back to the room,” I said, “or behind the motel.”
Andrew rolled his eyes and tightened his grip as he changed course, now dragging me toward the truck. “This isn’t a democracy. You pee where I tell you, when I tell you.” He shoved me toward the truck, and I stumbled a few steps. “And I’m telling you to piss here.”
His men had stopped eating and were watching, and behind Andrew, Kellan sat watching as well.
“Now,” Andrew snapped. “Or I’ll have Reyes break one of his fingers.”
The man standing over Kellan—Reyes—grinned.
“Okay. I’m going.”
I swallowed, my gaze moving over the people gathered in the overgrown parking lot as more heat moved up my face. I didn’t have a choice, and it wasn’t that big of a deal, anyway. I could do this.
I turned my back to the side of the truck when I reached it, thinking the position would give me the most cover. Even with my eyes straight ahead, I could feel the gazes of Andrew and his men on me, and not only did it make my face burn with shame, it also made my hands tremble as I worked to undo my pants. I had to twist my hands to get the button undone and the zipper down, and the whole time the hard plastic of the zip tie bit into my skin. Getting my pants and underwear down turned out to be the easiest part. Squatting so no pee splashed on my legs or feet ended up being impossible, and once I was finished, getting my clothes back in place proved to be a challenge. I had to stand in the parking lot with my pants around my knees while I worked to pull up my underwear, completely exposed while heat licked at my cheeks and tears filled my eyes. I tried to tell myself it was no big deal, Andrew had already seen me like this at the farmhouse, and no real harm was coming to me, but the longer it took to get my pants back in place, the less I believed it, so that by the time I’d finished and turned to face Andrew, tears were streaming down my cheeks.
I couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze as Andrew dragged me across the parking lot to the sedan, his grip punishing and sure to leave a bruise.
When we reached the car, he didn’t shove me inside, but instead snapped, “Sit.”
Andrew had a canvas bag in his hands, and he didn’t look at me as he dug through it. I wasn’t sure what to expect—a torture device, maybe—but he pulled out a can and handed to me, and then a canteen.
“We need to keep you healthy.” Ash fluttered from the cigarette between his lips, falling to the ground. “The CDC needs you alive.”
When I didn’t make a move to either eat or drink, he ripped the cigarette out of his mouth and blew smoke into the air.
“Eat.” He pointed the cigarette at the can in my hands. “And make sure you drink every drop of water. It’s hot, and the last thing I need is for you to get dehydrated.”
I still didn’t move. “What about Kellan? You’re going to make sure he stays healthy, too. Right? You need him to be healthy when we get there.”
“He doesn’t eat until you do.” Andrew gave me a smirk that looked evil. “Remember, I’m no fool. I’m not going to have you starving yourself in some idiotic form of protest. You eat what I give you and drink all that water, and your little boyfriend will get his share.”
I scowled up at Andrew, but he only smiled in response. I’d had no intention of trying to starve myself, but I still didn’t like being put in a corner like this.
He smoked as he watched me lift the canteen to my lips and take a big gulp. The water was warm and had a slight metallic taste, but I sucked it down anyway, not stopping until it was half empty. Andrew’s eyes stayed on me as I set it down and pried the lid off the can—thankfully, it was a pop-top, making it easy. Like most of the cans I’d seen his men eating from, there was no label, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to get. Not that it mattered. Even if it was a can of condensed milk, I’d choke it down for Kellan.
