Once inside, the men and women captives were separated and rushed toward wooden structures built to imprison them. These consisted of little more than wooden poles lashed together in a rough square with an open ceiling. The floor was a sea of mud, and the elements had free reign over the occupants. Rain or shine, hot or cold, they felt it.
From inside these structures, numerous sets of haunted eyes looked their way, staring from gaunt faces and bony bodies. A thick miasma of rot, pus, decay, and raw sewage emanated from it, and Cat gasped, facing the grim future laid out before her.
“Don’t you like what you see?” Jay asked, appearing at her side.
“No,” she admitted with a vehement shake of her head.
“There’s only one way out of the stockades,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“The Ring. You fight for your rights in the Ring. If you win, you get to be one of us. If you lose…”
“I get eaten?” she asked.
Jay laughed. “So you’ve heard the stories, have you? About us being cannibals?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No, we’re not. Who in God’s name would eat people?” He faked a shudder. “It makes for a fearsome reputation, though, and if people fear you, they obey you.”
“Clever.”
“I knew you’d appreciate it. You’re more than just a pretty face, aren’t you?” He traced a cool finger down her arm, and she fought with herself not to pull away from his touch. She was on her own here. It was up to her to survive.
“Maybe.”
“That’s why I want you to face Lena in the Ring tonight,” he said, turning speculative eyes on her.
“Fight Lena?” she asked, a frisson of terror running up her spine. She knew better than to show it, though. The only thing Jay respected was strength.
“Beat her, and you’ll be my queen. Lose and..” He shrugged. “You can figure that one out for yourself.”
“Are you the leader here? Of the Ravagers?” she asked.
“No, that would be my brother, but he’s taken, so don’t bother setting your sights on him,” he said. “Besides, he lets me make most of the decisions. He’s too taken up with his pleasures to worry much about running the camp.”
“I see.”
Jay gripped her chin and looked into her eyes before planting a bruising kiss on her lips, one that left her gasping for breath. “Beat Lena, and I’ll make sure you never regret it.”
Cat nodded, at a loss for words. Jay terrified her. His nature was both base and primal. Attractive in some ways, deadly in others. I have to escape, or he’ll be the death of me, but how?
Jay smiled. “Now, off to the stockade for you to prepare for your match tonight.”
“The stockade? But…”
“You thought I’d coddle you?” Jay laughed. “A few hours in there is just what you need to convince you that your best option lies with me.”
Jay stepped back and snapped his fingers. “Take her.”
Without sparing her another look, the Beast walked away, leaving Cat on her own. A guard grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the fetid opening of the stockade, ignoring her struggles as she tried to escape. When they reached it, he unlocked the door, but paused for a moment.
“This is from Lena,” he whispered in her ear, before lifting his foot and bringing it down on her right ankle with all of his might. “Try winning now.”
A sharp, searing pain shot up Cat’s leg, burning its way through her nervous system until every sense was alight. With a cry, she fell to the ground as he shoved her inside, cradling her injured limb with both hands. Hot tears streamed down her face when she realized the awful truth. There’d be no fight for her. As much as she hated Jay, he was preferable to a slow death in the stocks while she found another way out. With this injury, though, there’d be no victory for her. Nothing but death awaited her in the ring. I’m doomed.
Chapter 17 - Nadia
It was early afternoon, and the sun shone hot and fierce, its yellow orb raining down heat. Nadia shifted in her seat, cursing when her sweaty skin stuck to the leather. She lifted an arm and sniffed. “Ugh, this is impossible.”
“What is?” Lisa asked, not taking her eyes from the binoculars pressed to her face.
“I stink, and I’m sweaty. How in God’s name am I supposed to seduce someone?” Nadia complained.
Lisa sighed. “I’m sure you’ll find a way. You’re young and pretty. Plus, it’s the apocalypse. Women are scarce.”
“I hope you’re right. This whole plan hinges on me infecting a bunch of people, and I can hardly go around biting people,” Nadia said. “They’d kill me within seconds.”
“Yeah, I’d rather that didn’t happen. This time tomorrow, I want both my friends safe and sound and back with me. Got that?”
“I got it.”
Nadia fished in her bag for a rag, dampening it with water and giving her sticky skin a quick wipe. She combed her newly trimmed hair and applied fresh lip gloss and eyeliner. Her outfit was sexy, but not over the top, her boots and gear dirty and worn enough so she looked like a legitimate survivor.
“There. Do I look the part?” she asked, nervous tension coiling in her stomach.
“You go get them, girl,” Lisa said with an approving nod.
“Are you sure we’re ready for this?”
“Of course. Everything’s in place,” Lisa said, and indeed it was.
After hatching their new plan the previous day, they’d wasted no time implementing it. The first thing they’d done was look for a getaway vehicle. Something big that could plow over fences and people alike. The idea was for Lisa to storm in during the outbreak with said vehicle, pick Nadia and Cat up at a designated spot, and get the hell out of there.
The mining dump truck they’d found was perfect. Big, brash, and bold.
From there, Lisa would drive to their second getaway vehicle, a Land Rover SUV with a full tank and plenty of supplies. This would offer them what they needed to make good their final escape.
Two towns over, they’d prepped a safe house. Something small and hidden away in the suburbs, equipped with enough food and water to tide them over for a couple of weeks. They’d stocked it with medical supplies too and both the vehicles carried a first-aid kit. Nobody knew in what kind of shape either Cat or Nadia could be in after their meetings with the Ravagers.
Nadia bit her lip as she prepared to get out. “Here goes.”
“Be careful, all right?” Lisa said, her shoulders tense with worry. “I’ll come storming in the moment it all goes to hell and meet you over by the water tower on the edge of town.”
“I’ll try to set off a signal,” Nadia said. “But if I can’t…”
“I just hope I time this right,” Lisa said.
Before she could chicken out, Nadia dropped out of the dump truck to the ground, shouldered her pack, and set off toward the road. From there, she made her way toward the guarded gates, her pace steady and determined. Behind her, Lisa and the truck stayed hidden between the brush and trees on the old dirt track they’d found.
As the gates grew nearer, Nadia’s stomach began to rebel. Butterflies swirled around inside it until she thought she’d lose her breakfast. She couldn’t afford to look nervous, though. The whole plan hinged on her confidence and ability to charm.
A guard spotted her and stepped forward, his gun pointed at her breast. He waited until she was close enough before calling out, “Stop, right there.”
Nadia stopped.
“Now raise both hands in the air. Slowly.”
Nadia complied.
“Walk forward.”
Nadia did so until only a few steps divided them.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” he asked.
“My name is Nadia, and I’m a survivor looking for a safe place to hole up in,” she said.
“Nadia, mm?” he said. “Where’s the rest of you?”
She shook her head. “It’s just me.”
>
“On foot?”
She shrugged. “I ran out of gas a ways back.”
“I see,” he said, studying her through narrowed eyes before jerking his gun at one of his mates. “Disarm her.”
“Why?” Nadia asked, taking a step back even though she’d expected it to happen. It was all part of playing her role.
“This is our place, Missy, and we don’t allow armed strangers to waltz into our camp just like that.”
“Okay,” she answered, trying to look reluctant but also eager to please. “Fair enough.”
The other guard stepped forward, and she stood stock still while he removed her weapons, one by one.
“Satisfied?” she asked when he was done.
The first guard nodded, allowing his eyes to roam over her body in an appreciative manner. “Very much so. You’ll make a welcome addition to our camp.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. Guard number two grabbed her arm in a rough manner, no longer as friendly as before, and she cried out, “Hey, watch it.”
“Take her to the stockades. She can simmer there with the others for a while. A whole bunch of newbies came in yesterday.”
“Stockades?” Nadia asked, her eyes wide, though her ears perked at the word newbies. The stockades. That’s where Cat will be, so that’s where I need to be, but first…
“You’re putting me in the stockades?” she asked.
“You heard me,” the first guard said, while the rest snickered. Besides him and his friend, two more had drifted closer to watch the unfolding spectacle.
“Wait a minute. I’m sure we can come to some sort of a deal,” Nadia said, taking a few steps toward the guard while swaying her hips in a seductive manner. “I didn’t come here to sit in no stinking stockades.”
He eyed her with interest. “Why did you come here then? Haven’t you heard about the Ravagers?”
“Oh, I’ve heard about you,” she said with a curve of her lips, stopping a mere hands-breadth from the guard. She raised one hand and traced a finger over his chest. “I’ve heard that you’re strong and dangerous, just the way I like them.”
Swallowing her misgivings, she slipped her hand behind the guard’s head and drew it down to hers, standing on tip-toe to kiss him full on the mouth. His breath stank, a reeking mixture of garlic and gum disease, but she forced herself to carry on, slipping her tongue between his lips.
Around them, the other guards whooped and cheered, until at last, her guard broke the kiss. He smirked, chest puffing out at the boost to his ego. “Mm, maybe, I should keep you for myself.”
Maybe,” Nadia said with a smile, though she secretly longed to gag. “Or maybe, I’ll just do this.”
With perfect precision, she lashed out with a frontal kick, delivering a solid blow to his groin and crushing his balls. His eyes popped out as he doubled over, both hands cupping his now defunct crown jewels. With an agonized groan, he toppled over, much to the hilarity of his friends.
She turned to look at them with wide innocent eyes. “Did I just do that? Oops.”
The guard who’d disarmed her continued to chuckle. “All right, Miss. You’ve had your fun, and because we all enjoyed the show, I’ll put in a recommendation for you at the Ring.”
“The Ring?” Nadia asked with a frown.
“Yeah, you look strong and sturdy. A fighter. If you win in the Ring, you earn the right to become one of us. That’s what you wanted, right?” He gesture at the fallen guard. “That’s what that little spectacle was for, wasn’t it?”
“Uh, sure. Precisely that. So now what?” she asked.
“Now I take you to the stockade until it’s your turn to fight. Ready?” he asked.
“Sure.”
Nadia followed at a sedate pace as he led the way with another guard following behind. When they reached the so-called stockade, Nadia saw an opportunity. “You’re putting me in there? You can’t. I won’t. It’s disgusting.”
“You have to,” the guard said. “It’s only for a few hours.”
“No!” Faking a panic attack, Nadia fought against their hold, kicking and thrashing as they forced her toward the stockade. When she got the chance, she bit down on bare skin, breaking through and tasting blood. A bystander pitched in, and together, the three men got her inside, slamming the door shut.
“Holy crap, she’s a hell cat,” one said, nursing his bleeding arm.
“No, kidding,” the other agreed, blood dripping from his wrist.
“Fuck her, the bitch. Now she can rot in hell,” said the guard who’d originally said he’d vouch for her to fight in the Ring. She’d gotten him the worst. Three wounds on the upper arm.
Nadia smiled as they walked away. Four infected. Not bad. Then she turned and looked around. “Cat? Are you there?”
At first, she encountered nothing but apathy and indifference. The prisoners were long since broken, their spirits ground to nothing beneath the heel of their enemy. Then she spotted a familiar camo vest and canvas jacket in the corner. “Cat?”
A disbelieving face turned toward her. “Nadia? Is that you?”
“It’s me!” Nadia ran over and crouched next to Cat, noting the pained look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
In fits and starts, Cat told her the story of Jay and Lena before allowing Nadia to look at her injured foot. The joint had swollen to twice its size, and she’d had to loosen the laces of her boot.
With care, Nadia slipped it off completely along with the sock before inspecting the ankle. Any movement or prodding elicited cries of agony, but in the end, Nadia was sure of one thing. “It’s not broken. You tore a ligament, though.”
“Is that bad?”
“Pretty bad in here.”
Nadia slipped off her jacket and long sleeved shirt before donning the jacket again. Tearing the shirt into strips, she securely bandaged the foot before putting the open boot back on. It was a tight fit. Exactly what she wanted.
From her pocket, she pulled out a handful of painkillers and a small bottle of water which she fed to Cat bit by bit. She’d come prepared, after all.
While waiting for the meds to kick in, Nadia looked at the stockade, testing each pole until she found a weak one which she could pull free with a grunt. The end was sharp and splintered, and the other she wrapped in the last piece of her shirt.
She handed it to Cat and whispered, “Keep this as a weapon, and be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“I infected a few of the Ravagers before they tossed me in here. This place is going to hell in a hand basket soon.”
Cat’s eyes widened. “But we’re stuck in here.”
“Not for long. Come on.”
With Nadia supporting Cat, they made their way to the exit and sank down next to it. Nadia eyed the lock on the chain with a smile, before picking a bobby pin out of her hair. “Easy peasy. Now we just have to wait.”
A few hours passed before she heard it. The telltale screams of fresh victims falling to the teeth of hungry zoms. She tugged Cat to her feet. “This is it. Get ready to run.”
With swift movements, she picked the lock on the chain, ignoring the other prisoners who crowded around. As sorry as she felt for them, they were on their own. When the lock sprang free, she grabbed Cat around the waist, but paused for a single moment to look back. “There’s infected in the camp. Run for the nearest vehicle you can find and get out of here.”
Most simply stared at her, too far gone to care, but a few nodded and followed her outside. For them, she harbored a slight grain of hope. “Godspeed to you.”
Without waiting any longer, she turned toward the water tower, half-carrying and half-dragging Cat along with her. “Come on, Cat. We need to get to the tower. That’s where Lisa is picking us up.”
Cat nodded and sped up, even though every breath she took ended in a grunt of pain. Suddenly, a man hurled himself at them, screeching and snarling. He grabbed Nadia by the arm, and she screamed as he bit into the tender flesh above her sh
oulder, tearing into the skin.
She let go of Cat and shoved the infected away, booting him in the stomach. When he stumbled, she bent down to rip the hidden knife from her boot. As he sprang at her again, she stabbed him in the eye, sinking the blade into his brain. He crumpled to the ground, and she turned to gather Cat up once more. “Let’s go.”
“But you’re hurt,” Cat protested.
“It’s nothing. We have to hurry before the whole place goes to hell.”
Together, they set off again at a stumbling run, Nadia wincing as the pain in her shoulder grew to a raging fire. There was no time to stop, however, or to create the signal she’d promised Lisa. She could only hope Lisa cottoned on by herself and got to them on time.
They reached the water tower just a great explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet. Shocked, Nadia looked back in time to see a great ball of fire shoot up into the sky. One of the ammunition warehouses had caught fire. “Yes! There’s your sign, Lisa.”
Certain now that Lisa would come charging to their rescue at any minute, she hustled Cat into a secluded corner to wait it out. The next moment, a woman with red hair came sprinting out of the night and straight toward them. She wielded a machete, and screamed when she spotted Cat. “There you are, you black-haired bitch.”
Cat gasped, lifting her stick in front of her. “Lena.”
Nadia realized in an instant that the woman was no friend of theirs, and launched herself forward. She caught Lena by surprise, her good shoulder smashing into the woman’s stomach. The air left Lena’s lungs in a woosh, and she dropped the machete.
That didn’t seem to faze her, though, and she lunged at Nadia with a screech of rage. Her fist caught Nadia right on the nose, and the cartilage crunched as the bone broke. Nadia cried out in pain as blood sprayed forth, coating both her and Lena in a fine spray of crimson.
She fought back, punching and kicking blindly through teared up eyes, but Lena had gone berserk, her every move like a wild animal’s. “It’s your fault. You did this. The camp, Jay, all of it gone because of you. You killed him. I saw him go down!”
Dead of Night (Dangerous Nights - A Zombie Apocalypse Thriller Book 1) Page 11
