Broken World | Novel | Angus

by Mary, Kate L.

  Once Naya finished making the stew, she lugged a huge pot off the counter, grimacing as she did, and started carrying it across the room. The action snapped Angus out of his thoughts, and he was on his feet as fast as his worn body could move, heading her way.

  “Let me help,” he said, already reaching for the pot before he’d made it to her.

  “I’ve got it,” she replied, but her voice was strained from the effort.

  This time, he didn’t give in to her, and after only a little maneuvering—and a firm, almost fatherly glance—she allowed him to take the pot. It was heavier than he’d expected, and some of the broth sloshed out, splashing to the floor in little droplets. He steadied it, waited for the liquid to stop churning, then carried it to the fireplace, managing to get there without spilling more of the soup. Once it was on the hot coals, he turned back to find Naya on the floor, already cleaning up the little puddle.

  She smiled when she looked up at him. “Thanks.”

  “I ain’t done nothin’,” he said, once again lowering himself onto the couch. “You did the huntin’ and the cookin’.”

  “You did it before,” she pointed out. “More than once. We’re a team.”

  A team? Angus snorted at the thought but laughed as well. He supposed they were a team of sorts, as odd as it seemed.

  They sat in companionable silence as they waited for the soup to boil, Naya reading a book while Angus stared into the fire. Other than the whisper of the book’s pages being turned, the only sounds were the occasional creak of the house and the crackling of fire, and it was nice and relaxing, but only at first. After a bit, it had his mind wandering once again as more and more memories bubbled to the surface. He found himself thinking about all the nights he sat up, fighting to keep his eyelids open as he cradled his baby brother in his arms, feeding him or rocking him. The silence that had stretched out during those moments had been both a relief because he’d managed to soothe Axl before their mother woke—no one wanted to brave her wrath in the middle of the night—and isolating because it illustrated just how alone he’d been. Only thirteen with no one to lean on and an infant to care for, and no hope of a reprieve.

  From there, Angus found himself thinking of other moments of stillness. The years in the CDC where the silence went on and on and on until he thought he might go mad. The first few days after Darla, Vivian’s mom, died and he’d hated the idea of going to bed, knowing how still and empty things would feel without her constant chatter. The silence that had stretched out in the cellar after the first time he was bitten as Axl and Vivian struggled to come to terms with what had happened, each of them stewing in their anger and regret. The quiet way Lila had moved through life after Al and Charlie were killed.

  Angus hadn’t thought much of Lila when he’d first met her. It had been at the underground luxury condo in the Mojave Desert, and of the people who’d made it there, she was one of the few who’d had a real claim to the place. A seventeen-year-old girl who’d come from a rich family, her parents had bought a condo years before, but had been in Europe when travel restrictions were set in place, trapping them there. Lila had gone to the shelter alone, had already been there when Angus and his group arrived, and had looked at them all with a quiet disdain only a girl who’d never had to struggle a day in her life could have managed at the end of the world.

  It hadn’t lasted. She and Al were the same age and had found a connection that defied their upbringings, but Angus still hadn’t trusted the girl for a long time. Like everyone else, though, facing an apocalypse changed her. She’d toughened up, worked hard, and had done her best to raise her kids to be fighters even though they’d grown up inside the walls of New Atlanta. It had been almost immediately obvious after her husband’s and daughter’s deaths, however, that Lila was less of a fighter than even she’d thought.

  Angus had seen it before and recognized the signs. Lila would sleep until well into the afternoon, only dragging herself from bed so she could get something to eat or drink—usually moonshine. She lost weight, stopped taking care of herself, and her eyes had begun to look hollow and sunken.

  They’d done their best to draw her out of her depression, Vivian especially since she’d also recently lost a husband, but things only got worse when Luke and Kelly didn’t return from their supply run. By then, Vivian had lost her daughter, Margot, and Megan was killed during the same trip, but she still hadn’t been able to do a thing to comfort Lila. More than a year and a half had passed since Al and Charlie were killed, and while Lila had never returned to her normal self, she’d been hanging on. The loss of her other child along with his wife seemed to do her in, though, and even the fact that her grandson, Trey, was still safe hadn’t been able to change things for her. Lila’s hope had been destroyed. Peeled away one death at a time until there was nothing left, and she’d simply given up the fight. Which explained why things went down the way they did.

  By that point, the survivors had learned to stay inside after dark, knowing the creatures would snatch up anyone who went out at night, but they’d always assumed they would be safe as long as they stayed inside the house. So far, that theory had held true, but that night changed everything.

  Angus, Parv, Vivian, Lila, and the kids—Trey and Patty—were the only ones left. The loss of their friends had chipped away at their morale, turning the once exuberant nights quiet and solemn. Where before they’d been able to laugh and talk, now they spent their evenings in silence, each of them doing their best not to make a sound. Not because of the creatures—they hadn’t expected the kind of attack that was about to happen—but because it usually felt like the ghosts of their loved ones still lingered. At least it had to Angus. He could still feel the people they’d lost, almost like they were just in the other room and not gone for good, and it had made the nights feel heavy. Made him feel lonely like he never had before—not even when he’d had to care for his infant brother all on his own.

  It was one of the reasons he and Parv turned in early every night. A desire to escape the suffocating loss, to be alone with one another and revel in their good fortune. They were the only ones who still had a warm body to cling to at night, after all, and Angus hadn’t wanted to waste even a second of the time they had left together. Which was why he and Parv had been in bed when it happened.

  They were nearly asleep, lying in each other’s arms, when a loud crash shattered the silence. Angus had jerked, surprised and confused, and tried to get his brain to work. The sound had clearly been something breaking, but he couldn’t tell if it had come from inside or from the street. He’d stayed where he was for a moment, his arms around Parv, his heart pounding, his ears straining as he waited to find out what would happen next. He’d had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but he hadn’t been able to say why, exactly. He just knew dread bubbled up his throat like bile.

  “What was that?” Parv whispered.

  Angus swallowed his fear so he could talk. “Ain’t sure.”

  Normally, he would have been on his feet and rushing from the room at the first sign of trouble, but for some reason, his alarm had frozen him.

  “Angus,” Parv said, slightly louder this time, “what should we do?”

  It was as if, like him, she had been able to sense that something horrible was about to happen.

  He forced himself to move. “We gotta get up. Check things out.”

  His thoughts went to the others in the house as he slid out of bed and grappled in the darkness for his pants. He wasn’t sure what time it was or how long ago he and Parv had turned in, or even if the others were still up. The kids would most likely be asleep by now, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t been roused by the noise, and he needed to hurry.

  Angus didn’t bother grabbing any other clothes before rushing for the door, and he pulled it open to find the upstairs hallway dark. He moved for the stairs, pausing when he reached the top. Like the second floor, the first floor was dark, but the faint sound of whispered voices told him someone w
as awake.

  He hurried down, taking the steps two at a time, and rushed into the living room to find the others standing at the window.

  “What is it?” he hissed.

  Vivian jumped at the sound of his voice and turned, her hand on her heart and her eyes wide. They went from Angus to just past him when Parv entered the room, her head shaking. “I’m not sure. We heard a crash and blew out all the candles, but I don’t even know what’s going on.”

  Angus moved to the window so he could peer out. The settlement was dark except for a few lights in some of the nearby houses, and there was no movement as far as he could tell. But what had caused the ruckus?

  It was on the tip of his tongue to voice the question when a shrill scream cut through the air. The hair on his arms stood up, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Parv pull a knife. He cursed himself, realizing that in his haste he’d forgotten to grab his own weapon. It was a stupid mistake that no one who’d lived in an apocalypse for this long should have made.

  Luckily, they had a few stashed on the first floor, so he moved to grab one while whispering, “You see anything?”

  “No,” Vivian said. “It’s totally—”

  Her voice had cut off, and Angus spun to face the window, his search for a knife forgotten.

  The others were all staring outside, and he could see the shocked expressions on their faces clearly in the moonlight. He was only a few feet away, meaning he didn’t have the best view, but he still saw the flash of movement on the street only a couple seconds later.

  “Shit,” he hissed, then had rushed to the side table where the extra knives were kept.

  Even before he had it, Vivian was calling out, “Lila! What are you doing? No!”

  This time, Angus jerked the drawer open before spinning to face them, finding Lila at the front door. The deadbolt was already undone, and he watched in confusion as she’d turned the lock, not pausing, not looking back as Parv, Vivian, Trey, and Patty rushed toward her, all of them calling for her to stop.

  It wasn’t until the door was open that she glanced back and said, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do this anymore.”

  Then she was rushing outside. She hadn’t shut the door.

  “Lila!” Vivian screamed.

  Angus had known it was instinct, but he also knew the sound would draw the creatures their way. Even worse, Vivian was still moving after Lila, rushing toward the open door like she’d thought she might be able to save her.

  Parv was behind Vivian, close enough to grab her arm and pull her back. “What are you doing? Stop!”

  “We have to get her.” Vivian had fought against Parv’s hold. “We can’t just leave her to die!”

  The two women grappled with one another, fighting. Too distracted to predict what happened next. Angus had been too far away, still on the other side of the room when Trey, just twelve years old, had rushed out the open front door and into the night.

  “Grandma!”

  “No!” Vivian shouted, louder this time.

  She’d turned terrified eyes on Angus, who swore and started running. Patty stood at the window, her fingers pressed against the glass as she watched her cousin rush after his grandmother. Angus reached the door and had paused to look around. He spotted Lila down the street, running toward the center of town, with Trey only fifteen feet behind her. It had been like a repeat of what happened the night Al and Charlie died, only Lila was running toward the creature when it turned the corner, not away from it.

  Angus watched from the top of the steps in frozen horror, knowing he’d never make it in time. Lila was too far away, her dark, gray-streaked hair swishing behind her as she ran. Even Trey had been too far away to save, but that hadn’t stopped Angus from taking off, calling out to the boy as he ran, knowing if the kid turned back now, there just might be a chance for him.

  “Trey!” he shouted as he’d rushed down the stairs. “Come back! You can’t save her!”

  The kid slowed and looked back, and Angus felt like he’d been hit in the gut. He looked so much like his grandfather in that moment that Angus could picture Al perfectly. Remembered how wide his eyes had been the day he was bitten, the fear that had gripped him as Al turned to face the group, demanding that Joshua amputate the injured limb.

  Trey had blinked, glanced back at his grandmother, then started running again. Away from Angus.

  “No!” Vivian shouted from behind Angus, who was still running even though he’d known it was useless.

  A howl had broken through the air as the creature finally reached Lila, and in seconds it was over. She went down, her body slamming into the ground with a painful thud that Angus imagined he could feel throbbing through his own bones. The creature was on her, but only for a second, then it had lifted its head and its gaze zeroed in on Trey. Blood ran down the hybrid’s chin and neck as it opened its mouth, letting out another howl before launching itself through the air. It seemed to take forever and no time at all for it to reach the boy, then, like his grandmother, he was on the ground.

  Angus had felt as if his heart was on the verge of exploding. He’d gripped his knife tighter and kept running, not sure what he was doing but unable to stop himself. Vivian and Parv were both yelling for him to come back, but he’d hadn’t been able to stop. It had felt like his blood was boiling, simmering in his veins, and turning back had been impossible. He’d wanted to kill the creature, wanted to gut it, slit its throat, jam his blade through its heart and watch it bleed. Even more, he’d wanted to go back and kill Star again, this time making sure the man suffered for the hell on Earth he’d created.

  The creature repeated what he’d done with Lila, biting Trey the second the kid was down then turning its milky eyes on Angus. When it launched itself through the air, he was ready. He had his knife aimed high, his grip tight, and he felt the blade sink into flesh when the hybrid slammed into him. They went flying, thudding against the ground a second later, and Angus had prepared himself for a fight, but to his utter shock, the creature was totally still.

  “Angus!”

  He could hear Parv yelling, could hear footsteps thudding against the ground and headed his way, but still the hybrid hadn’t moved. He released the knife and used all his strength to shove the thing, his body protesting the act after such a hard fall. The creature had rolled off him, falling to the ground at his side, and still, it didn’t move an inch. That was when Angus saw his knife. It was sticking out of the left side of the hybrid’s chest. Right in the thing’s heart. A lucky shot.

  Angus had sat up, groaning, just as Vivian rushed past him. In the distance, Lila was still on the ground, and Trey had moved to her side. Like before, Angus was struck by how similar this night was to the one when Al and Charlie were killed.

  He had still been staring at them when Parv knelt at his side. “Are you okay?”

  Angus tore his gaze from their friends so he could focus on his wife. “I ain’t the one you gotta worry ’bout.”

  “Don’t be stupid,” she’d said, her gaze sweeping over him as if taking stock. “How could I not be worried?”

  She was right, but he was as well. He could survive whatever these things threw his way, but Lila and Trey were doomed.

  His gaze had moved past Parv to where the others sat. “We gotta look out for Blondie. Make sure she’s got backup in case they turn.”

  “Yeah,” Parv mumbled, then reached down to help him when he’d tried to drag himself to his feet.

  Vivian was with the others and crying when they ran over, one arm around Lila and the other around Trey. That was when Angus realized Patty had left the house, and he’d glanced over his shoulder to find her standing on the porch, watching from a distance. Probably Vivian had told her to stay. Angus was glad. Despite growing up in this world and losing most of the people she knew, the kid didn’t have a lot of experience with blood and gore, and shielding her from it had seemed like a mercy.

  He turned his attention back to the others, knowing they were s
hort on time. Parv had already knelt, and she had a knife out and ready even though she kept it at her side.

  “Vivian,” she said, her voice soft but firm, “you know what needs to happen.”

  Vivian had pulled back, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand. “I can’t do this again. I just can’t.”

  “We don’t gotta choice,” Angus said.

  Lila’s head had been down, her long hair a veil over her face and her hand pressed against the bite on her neck. “Just do it.” She’d lifted her head, peering up at Angus through her tears. “I’m ready.”

  It had been a long time since Angus disliked Lila, but at that moment, he’d despised her. Despised that she didn’t seem to have any regard for what she’d done, for the fact that her grandson had followed her, that he was going to die today as well. That she was giving up without a fight.

  “You took the cowardly way out,” he said, not even trying to soften his words, then he’d jerked his head toward Trey. “Dragged him with you. This what you wanted? To see him die?”

  Lila’s gaze had moved to her grandson, who was crying. His bite was on his arm and much smaller, meaning he’d have more time before he turned, but there was no saving him. Not from this.

  “It’s a mercy,” his grandmother had said. “What is there left to live for, anyway? Why prolong the inevitable?”

  “Al’d be ashamed of you,” Angus told her.

  “Angus,” Parv hissed.

  For once, he didn’t let his wife’s disapproving tone deter him. “He woulda wanted better for you both. Woulda wanted you to keep fighting.”

  “There is nothing better,” Lila had said. “Don’t you get that? This is it.”

  She tore her gaze from Angus then, focusing on her grandson as she pulled herself toward him. Once she was at his side, she’d taken his hand and given it a squeeze.

  “I’m sorry for the pain you’re in, but it will be over soon. I promise. I don’t know what waits for us on the other side, but I know it has to be better than this. And you’ll be with your parents again. With your Aunt Charlie and Grandpa.” Lila had pressed Trey’s hand against her mouth. “Be brave. It will be over soon. Okay?”