Zed (The Zed Trilogy Book 1)

by C. S. Nelson

  Annie spun around and found the door to the dry storage closet. “Hide with me,” she whispered, pulling on his arm. She was afraid that if she left the room without him, she wouldn't get a chance for a proper goodbye.

  “Annie, everyone knows I’m supposed to be working here today.” Kevin pulled his arm away from her. “You’ll be okay.”

  She nodded in defeat, turning and as quietly as possible opening the door to the closet. It was pitch black when the door shut behind her, but she didn’t have the energy to worry about it. Annie reached her arms out and felt around until she hit a wall. Her fingers pushed something over, which made a loud crashing noise. Annie froze, listening for the voices. They had stopped.

  Annie didn’t breathe until they began speaking again in the meeting room. Then she gently ran her fingers along the wall until she reached the back corner of the room. The voices were louder, she realized. As silently as she could, in the pitch black, she moved bags of food out of the way to reveal a small hole in the wall. The closet illuminated, revealing just how much food was sitting in the room. More food than Annie had ever seen in her life in one place.

  Her stomach growled. She refused the part of her brain that was telling her to walk around the room, filling her pockets with everything that would fit. Instead, Annie sat in front of the hole, looking through the tiny peephole, and focusing all her attention on the conversation happening in the meeting room.

  Through the hole, Annie saw Summer Henderson, a male breeder, and female breeder, neither of which Annie knew but recognized from the meetings. “…I don’t trust him, I don’t understand why he’s doing this to me.” Summer's arms were crossed in front of her body.

  “It’s a dominance thing,” the boy said. “He’s always been this way. He’s always needed everyone to know that he’s in power.”

  “Even before he was president,” the girl went on. “I remember him in school. He was a prick.”

  Summer said nothing in defense of the man that she was involved with, which both did and didn’t surprise Annie. It was Summer Henderson after all.

  “I just know he brought that little bitch to these meetings to get me riled up. He knows I despise him announcing his plans to every common citizen as though he were telling them what he had for lunch.” Annie smirked, knowing that she made Summer as angry as Summer made her. "She's been out of school for all of five minutes. How could he possibly know that she's trustworthy?"

  “I don’t think she’s given us a reason not to trust her,” the girl responded. “She’s fought for our lives, and she’s aced. Plus Dustan has nothing but good things to say about her. We need one of the rangers on our side, they're the only ones with access to the weapons and we need protection.”

  “Why take the risk?” snapped Summer. “He’s never announced all of our secrets to an outsider before. Last time he told the commander his basic plan, the commander ran off and told six people within the hour. Or have you already forgotten?” Silence. “If we hadn’t killed those six, there would have been mayhem in the streets. That was a risky plan, giving the commander bits and pieces of information. His next move is to tell her everything?”

  Just like Annie, Commander Matthew had known what they were doing behind the scenes was wrong. But unlike Annie, the commander had decided the right thing to do was spread the word, start a revolution, as soon as possible. But the facts hadn’t spread fast enough. All he had done was gotten six of his rangers killed. Now he was lying in a hospital bed with poison pumping through his veins.

  “So what do you want us to do?”

  “This must never reach the president,” Summer told them.

  They both laughed. “We never tell the president anything.” The boy smirked.

  “I want you to tell the breeders…” Summer had lowered her voice as though she knew that Annie was listening. “To eliminate her.”

  Annie raised her hands to her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Why? Why did Summer hate her so much? Annie was a nobody. She was a ranger. She wasn’t a significant enough person for a leader of the Shield to despise her in this way. What had she ever done to this woman?

  “Take her out?” the boy asked.

  “I need you to ensure that no one finds out. Most importantly, the president. He has this disgusting trust in her for no reason. She’s defiant, she’s wild. I don’t believe a single word that she says. He wants me to know that he's protected. That he has a top ranger on his side, in case I try anything. I think he keeps her around solely to piss me off.”

  Would Annie do anything to Summer if the president asked her to? She didn't think so. Annie had been trained to kill the true enemy, the soul suckers that lingered on the outside of their home. She never had any intention of abusing her access to weapons or her training. But Summer didn't know that.

  “She is an odd addition to the ship,” the girl agreed.

  “So let’s ensure that she doesn’t make it to the ship.”

  Annie, feeling too weak to continue kneeling in front of the hole in the wall, fell back into a seated position. She held her head in her hands trying to keep it from spinning. She couldn’t believe this was happening. The ship wasn’t coming for nearly a month. How was she going to avoid every breeder in this miniscule Shield for twenty-eight days?

  “What do we do with the body?”

  “It doesn’t need to be a good hiding space, just a space where she won’t be found until everyone leaves. Put her in the wheat field. Once we make the announcement, nobody will go there to harvest before we go.”

  Annie imagined her own mangled body half buried in a field. She curled her legs up and lay in the fetal position on the cold stone floor. There were people just a room away discussing how to dispose of her after they took her life away. Why? In a month, none of this would matter. Life on Earth would no longer matter. But that wasn’t enough for Summer. She wanted Annie dead before the end of the world.

  The conversation ceased for a moment and Annie stopped breathing. Everything was silent. Then Summer’s voice came from the room right next to her, even closer. “Is there cold water in here, boy?” Annie scrambled to be as far from the door as possible, pressing herself against the back of the shelves. As if that would help. If anyone were to come in here, the light would reveal her immediately.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Kevin responded.

  Summer was only feet away from her, just on the other side of the door. “A snack as well, perhaps?”

  There was a pause. Kevin was trying to think of what to say. “Nothing out, ma’am, but I can make you something.”

  “Quickly.”

  Annie knew what that meant. She pulled herself under the bottom shelf, her knees up by her chin, trying to become invisible. Kevin slowly pulled the door open, and the room flooded with light once again. Annie watched the light, Kevin coming in and grabbing the food closest to the door. Annie could see Summer, watching him. All she needed to do was look past him, look down, and Annie would be spotted.

  Annie waited with baited breath as time stood still. She watched Summer’s eyes, knowing that one movement of her gaze would result in the end of Annie’s life. But just as the door swung open with a creak, it closed. The latch locked, and Annie was in darkness once again. Annie had never felt this comfortable, this safe, in the dark before.

  The conversation continued in the meeting room for a while. No longer about serious things, but about the plans they had made for when they arrived at Mpho. Summer couldn’t wait to throw a party with alcohol and hot food and music. The boy wanted to marry an Mpho girl and never have any children again. Sex only for pleasure, he described it.

  Eventually the voices dissipated. Annie was certain that Summer and the breeders had left the meeting room, gone back upstairs and were probably sleeping in their warm beds by now. Kevin was still rustling around in the kitchen, giving Annie a sense of security that at least she wasn’t alone. After a long time, an hour maybe, she slowly pulled herself out from under the shelf, s
tretching out her legs.

  She took a deep breath, and then stood up, opening the door herself. Kevin watched her as she took one timid step out, then another. “I figured I would give you some time after she left,” Kevin murmured sympathetically.

  “Thanks.”

  Kevin stopped scrubbing the dishes. “What are you going to do now?”

  “What can I do?”

  Kevin smirked. “What can’t you do, Annie?”

  Annie sighed. “There’s nowhere I can go where I feel safe. There’s no one I can talk to that I trust. If news hasn’t gotten to the rangers already, it will soon. I’m sure as soon as Summer gets home the breeders will all be notified. The Shield is breaking down and there’s nowhere I can go for the next four weeks.”

  Kevin laughed. “You’ve faced worse.” That was a lie, but it did make her feel a little more hopeful.

  “So what do you suggest I do?”

  “Hide in the shadows. Always listen. Go where they least expect you to go. Surprise them.”

  Annie wrapped her arms over his shoulders and around his neck, pulling his face closer to hers. “Hide with me,” she whispered. She leaned in for a slow, passionate kiss. If he were with her, despite the desperation of the situation, the world would look a little less bleak.

  When she pulled away, Kevin held his arm straight out, revealing a wound that went across his forearm, just below his elbow. “This is a tracking device, Annie. You think that if they couldn’t watch where their slaves were that any of us would have stuck around? Some of the shit I’ve been through...” He paused, looking as though he were lost in thought. “I would have taken my chances outside the Shield.”

  “What have they done to you?”

  Kevin stroked her cheeks with his fingers. “You have more important things to worry about, my darling.” If he didn’t tell her in that moment, Annie knew from his stubbornness, that she would never know.

  “So what, do I just leave now?”

  “No better time to find a place to hide than in the dark.”

  “When will I see you again?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry about that.” Kevin smiled at her. “But know that I’ll always be with you.”

  Annie knew what that meant. She knew he was telling her goodbye. She knew that he believed he would never see her again. But Annie was confident that she wouldn’t let that happen. She didn’t have time to have a breakdown right now. Annie had to believe that she would come find him again.

  “Goodbye, Kevin,” she said, hugging him with all the love she had left inside of her.

  “Stay safe, Annie.”

  She let go before it got too hard to do so. Annie had her life to worry about now, more so than ever before. An enemy to the aliens of the world, and now an enemy to her own people. She needed to know how to live without existing in the Shield. And she knew exactly who she needed to go to for help.

  Chapter 18: The Agreement

  Annie wandered the dark streets for most of the night. No one was out. It was long past curfew. Every time she saw a guard doing his rounds, Annie would slip behind a building. She would stop breathing. She would wait and listen. But for once Annie had the advantage that she had never had when being hunted by the soul suckers. She was the one hidden, the one waiting in the shadows. If it came down to it, she was the one that would act first. She would do whatever she needed to if she were seen in order to save her own life.

  The sun had begun rising before Annie found the person that she needed. Others were awake now; the nighttime guards had gone home to go to sleep. It wasn’t strange that anyone was out on the street. Annie had known that as long as she wandered around, eventually, she would stumble across him like she always did. He was sitting underneath a tree; the morning light had begun shining across his face. He was reading a book that he must have stolen from the library, as without a Shield identity he never would have been able to rent it properly. Annie hadn’t read a book in leisure since she had graduated from school.

  “Zed,” she said. She had intentionally kept a safe distance from him, unsure of how he was going to react to seeing her again.

  “Annie,” he responded, not even looking up from his book. He flipped the page calmly, and continued reading. He was such a convincing human that if she didn’t actively think about it, he could have fooled her again.

  “How are you?” Annie asked awkwardly. It had been a couple of days since she had told him to disappear, and she hadn’t seen him in the Shield since. But he was stubborn, Annie knew that. She knew he was going out of his way to avoid her, but that he would never actually leave the Shield. Not once he had found his way inside through one of the holes.

  “Why are you here?”

  Annie sighed. “I need help.”

  Zed looked up from his book, but only for a split second, hoping Annie hadn’t caught it. “And you came to me why?”

  “Because you’re the only one I know that hides in plain sight, and I need to find a hiding place until the ships arrive.”

  That got Zed’s attention. He very slowly dog-eared his book, closing it and placing it on his lap. “What sort of mess have you gotten yourself into this time?” He spoke plainly, as though they were strangers.

  “Summer wants me dead. Every breeder is out looking for me. I have nowhere to go.”

  Zed nodded, deep in thought. “And somehow, the fact that you’re in trouble now negates your immense hatred towards me for withholding a small piece of information about myself?”

  Annie scoffed, taking his bait. “I mean, I wouldn’t really consider you being one of the things that has destroyed my entire species to be a ‘small piece of information’.”

  Zed raised his eyebrows at her. “Did you just call me a ‘thing’?”

  Annie didn’t appreciate the attitude she was receiving; pushing the fact that she probably deserved it to the back of her mind. “Would you prefer to be referred to as ‘soul sucker’ because I’m okay with that as well.”

  “At least we aren’t senseless sacks of flesh,” he sneered.

  “Is that your nickname for humans?”

  “Sure is.”

  “Ours is more clever.”

  “Ours is more accurate.”

  They both glared at each other for a few moments. Then Zed started laughing. Annie watched him, confused. But that didn’t stop him. Zed howled under the tree until his cheeks hurt. “What is so funny?” Annie crossed her arms.

  “Why are you so stubborn, little girl?” he asked. His condescending attitude was making Annie’s blood boil.

  “Stubborn? How am I stubborn?”

  Zed wiped away the laughing tears from his eyes, still maintaining his boyish grin. “You came here to ask for my help. Within two minutes you start insulting me again.”

  He was right. “I guess I’m just used to being told that my words don’t matter,” Annie mumbled.

  “Welcome to my world.”

  He was right again. He had tried to explain himself to her last time. He had tried to tell her that he wasn’t dangerous, but she hadn’t listened. Not only had she not listened, but she had also threatened to kill him. “I’m sorry about my reaction last time we spoke,” she murmured.

  “You didn’t even give me a chance.”

  “I know. It was shocking, but I could have taken it better,” Annie admitted. She didn’t think her reaction was out of proportion. She liked the Zed that she had known before, the person that she had known before. But she didn’t know him now. He was dangerous. If she hadn’t been as desperate as she was, she wouldn’t have talked to him again. “You have to understand, Zed, that we’ve been raised…trained, even, to despise your people and everything you’ve done to us. It’s hard to rewire your brain after seventeen years of propaganda.”

  “So do you trust me now?” Zed stood up.

  She didn’t have a choice. “With my life.”

  Zed clapped his hands together, as if he had been waiting for a moment like this to prove himself
to Annie. “You say that it’s Summer who’s coming after you?”

  Annie nodded.

  “Then I guess we need to see the president.”

  ◆◆◆

  It was still early morning, but Annie had begun watching her back, looking around for any breeder that she recognized. Surely the news had spread throughout the night. Everyone must have known by now that she was an enemy. Her few hours of safety were over. But she knew that Zed was on the lookout as well. As long as he was next to her, she felt safe, even if he was a soul sucker.

  “Are you going to come in with me?” Annie asked as they approached the front of the town hall.

  “If you want me to,” he responded.

  It was a bold move for the two of them to walk up to the town center confidently. The guards had already stepped aside as soon as they recognized Annie. She assumed that Summer must not have said anything to them yet. If she had contacted the guards, Annie would already be dead. Big mistake on Summer's part, to go home and rest before spreading her plan. It gave Annie the opening she needed. She held her hand out to Zed, and he took it immediately. He was warm, just like a human.

  They walked up the steps together, through the front door, and into the president’s office. He was sitting at his desk, dark circles under his eyes, and a steaming coffee in front of him perched on important looking papers. He heard them come in, surely, but he wrote a few more words down on one of his papers before looking up. “Annie! What a surprise!” He stood up for her. “And, Annie’s guest?”

  Zed nodded at him but didn’t say anything.

  “I need your help,” Annie said.

  The president raised his eyebrows, and then motioned for them both to sit in front of him. Annie took a seat across from the president, but Zed still stood in the corner with his arms crossed. Annie realized that he was probably keeping watch for her. “What can I help you with, Annie?” He wiped the sleep from his eyes, and Annie watched his scars shimmer in the morning light streaming in through the window.

  “Your girlfriend is trying to kill me.”