***BR Paulson Books***
180 DAYS AND COUNTING… SERIES
No Time, bk 1
Last Chance, bk 2
Hold On, bk 3
Too Late, bk 4
Look Away, bk 5
Find Them, bk6
Try Hard, bk 7
Move On, bk 8
Fit In, bk 9
Death Days, bk 10
Long Gone, bk 11
No More, bk 12
WORTH OF SOULS SERIES
Cost of Survival, bk 1
Exchange Rate, bk 2
Worth of Souls, bk 3
BoxSet books 1 - 3
INTO THE END SERIES
Into the End, bk1
Through the Flames, bk 2
Out of the Ashes, bk 3
BoxSet books 1 - 3
BARELY ALIVE SERIES
Barely Alive, bk 1
Falling Apart, bk 2
Mostly Dead, bk 3
Viral Intent
BoxSet books 1 - 4
MEMOIRS OF A CANNIBAL SERIES
Memoirs of a Cannibal
Cannibal Holiday
Cooking with the Cannibal
Cannibal CookBook
Keeping up with the Cannibals
Barely Alive
Chapter 1
Dying sucks.
But knowing you’re dying is a freaking mind trip and I hated it.
My gray-tinted fingers shook. Putting down the empty milk container took all my will power and I honestly have no idea how I did it. Who was I kidding?
“Paul. I need you to grab the new recruits and join us off Flamingo tonight at eleven. Don’t feed them. I want them raring to go.” Dominic’s smile had lost its charm. He’d stopped beguiling me once the virus had taken hold. He knew I couldn’t go home. I’d never return to my family when I could harm them so easily. Plus, they were human – the enemies – self-righteous, capitalists without any real idea of need or purpose.
One thing Dominic had taught me was I could still care, even while I hated. He was my first two-sided coin.
I nodded. What else could I do? He was my master now. My general. And I would do what I was told or he’d lock me in with the dissenters and refuse me my final release. I would do anything for the answer.
I shut the fridge and grabbed a cookie from the counter of the cafeteria kitchen. My previous three-thousand calorie diet didn’t cut it anymore. Downing nine to eleven-thousand calories a day barely staved off the hunger sting unless it was meat. Raw meat. But cows were hard to come by in the Nevada desert and I wasn’t desperate enough to eat the feral cats. Those things were scrawny and all hair. I still had enough control I didn’t jump anything that moved.
Like people. Oh, man. And people smelled the best, too.
Flamingo. Hell, what did Dominic think we were going to win down there, casino jackpots? I licked the crumbs from my fingers, no longer amazed I barely tasted the crap I ate. Everything tasted like dust – unless it was meat. The sweet coppery taste of blood. Ah.
In the back room set up like a large bunkhouse, fourteen guys waited.
The first few weeks at the compound were always sun-filled with Dominic’s promises of gold, powers, and strength. Immortality. Overcoming the evils of the nation – of all the nations – became the fodder that fueled us. We’d rule America.
But once he infected you… me. I became a tool. I lost my “shiny, new toy” appeal to Dominic. He no longer catered to me or the other guys in my group. No more pictures of women, no more games or toys, no more anything… except food. That’s the one thing I couldn’t complain about. A twenty-four-hour buffet filled with treats and food I used to crave, but surprisingly sparse in the one thing I wanted. What all the guys wanted. But we didn’t have the balls to complain to him.
“Paul. Hey, when do we get to eat? I’m starving.” Steve, a redheaded sixteen year old, approached me. He was an inch or two shorter than me, but stocky and twitchy. I hated twitchy, reminded me of my brother. Who, while I hated for being human, I hated worse for being lost to me.
“Yeah, about that. Dominic said we can’t eat until after our mission this evening up on Flamingo.” I held up my hands but eyed the group as three of them stood, fingers balled at their sides. “I know you’re hungry. I do. But hang in there. We can eat tonight. I’m hungry too. I don’t get to eat until you do, okay?”
“Maybe we don’t need to wait for Dominic.” The newest member, John, spat our leader’s name. “He can’t stop us from leaving. We’re stronger than he is. He’s human.”
I contained my groan – no need to start doing that until my faculties had begun deteriorating. I still had ten weeks before my body failed me. Dominic had eyes and ears everywhere. He had an omnipresence achieved with technology his money purchased, but I still hadn’t figured out how.
John and Steve stepped toward the doors followed by the three murmuring amongst themselves.
From the opposite end of the large room, Dominic pushed through double doors. “Going somewhere, boys?” He crooked his finger at us. “I have something to show you.”
I cringed from the bite in his words. I’d been on the tour. But because I was there – with them – I’d have to go again.
John squared his shoulders, assured of his superiority over Dominic who was only human after all. We’d all been fed the same information on the inferior aspects of being human. Hell, it was why we’d left that way of life behind. John lifted his still-peach colored chin. He’d been injected no more than two days ago. Rookie.
“Yeah. We’re leaving. This is a bunch of crap. We’re hungry but we can’t eat until we do what you say? Who the hell are you? You’re just a human.” John glanced at the four boys who’d been prepared to leave with him. “You want us to go steal stuff, give it to you, and then what? Wait? For you to decide on what to do next? That’s a waste of my power and I’m not waiting.”
The others nodded slowly, doubt pinching their brows together.
Dominic’s dark, slicked back curls grazed the white collar of his button up dress shirt, shining in the sunlight as he crossed under the windows. Mid-day didn’t irritate us anymore than midnight did. We didn’t sleep but dang, the hunger. His green eyes had narrowed.
I bit the inside of my cheek. Holy crap. I didn’t want to go on the tour, hear the lecture and the only two options I had. Not again.
“I understand what you’re saying. But, before you go, boys, let’s go downstairs. I’d like to show you what you have to look forward to.” His gaze found mine and I swallowed, my tongue like sandpaper. He didn’t need any more of my pride. He’d taken everything else.
Each of the other guys followed Dominic through a different set of doors to the stairs. I trailed behind. My stomach hurt, from more than hunger. Staying busy had staved off the reality of the situation, but trips downstairs or reminders from Dominic cut into my hyper-sensitized skin like small paper cuts on fingertips.
Thick, windowless walls framed the stairs. The façade of upkeep ended at the bottom. Cement flooring and steel doors lined the hallway. Thick brick work supported the doorways and made up the rooms we’d be peeking into.
Queuing up at a doorway twenty feet from the bottom of the stairs, the boys waited for the great reveal. A new door, one I hadn’t yet seen inside. Each one was different, held a different monster.
“Paul, get the door.” Dominic’s icy voice washed over me.
Claustrophobia would follow the reveal, and some of the newbies would try to escape the truth. I shut the door and the automatic lock clicked into place. I had to adjust my footing. Some of them would come at me in desperation and who knew if they had more strength than me.
Dominic tucked his hands behind his back and pushed his chest out. The fresh scent of his flesh filled the small space. Sweat broke out on my skin. I hadn’t eaten meat in a few days.
“So you want to leave, huh? Think you can take my gift and just run away? That doesn’t sound very grateful, boys. Sounds to me lik
e you need an attitude adjustment.” His smile had chilled vastly from the warm, inviting grin he’d welcomed us with.
The distinct edge of the group’s confusion coated their jerky movements and shifting feet.
“You don’t have all the answers still, gentlemen. Would you like to see what will happen, if you up and leave?” Dominic arched his brow in challenge.
John stepped forward, his bravado courageous considering he had no idea what waited for him behind the steel door. “Sure. It can’t be that bad.”
And with that statement, I did groan. Idiot. Nothing – I repeat – nothing is worse than what Dominic had locked behind that door. Nothing. It didn’t matter what stage of deterioration the poor animal was in, the horror was unfathomable.
Dominic’s smile regained a dose of his humor. “It’s not that bad for me. Not at all.” He swung the door open, releasing an odor reminiscent of a dead skunk rolled in sour milk and tossed with rotten eggs.
I opened my mouth the smallest amount to breathe through. But the odor changed to taste and the sudden wish for dust-flavored cookies coursed over me.
John looked through the opening, curiosity pushing his shoulders forward. But he looked for a moment and then recoiled from the hole, stumbling backwards into his friends. Horror opened his mouth.
Dominic pulled each man to the doorway and made them look their fill. He motioned me forward, I was the last. And I nodded. Of course I’d look in, too. I was his current leader. It was my job to set an example. But I knew what to expect, so I prepared myself against falling backwards or gasping or any of the other surprised reactions of the others.
Two steps, one. The smell strengthened as I got closer.
Inside, Tom, my mentor, huddled against the wall, his labored breath groaning from inside his chest. He coughed and, seeing me, stumbled to his feet. Arms outstretched, he stepped forward, yanked back at the last second by a clinking chain manacled around his bare and bleeding ankle.
Rotting skin fell off in different sized patches, some as large as a playing card and some smaller than a quarter. Milky coverings created partial cataracts over his eyes. One ear had been torn off and chunks of hair stuck to his fingers. Dark, raw bite marks covered his arms, but from the angle on his greenish skin, they had to be self-inflicted.
I froze. I’d liked him. So much. He’d been honest and felt bad for us. He’d snuck my group raw chicken when we’d first been changed. He’d done more, but how could he have been caught? Everything else had been done away from the compound. It didn’t matter. Whatever slight he’d been caught in had been enough to damn him.
“This will be you, if you don’t do exactly what I say.” Dominic spoke slow, letting the reality sink in. He narrated with the skill of a story teller. “Your body will die around you and your mind will keep living. I’m the only one who knows how to release you from this. I created it and I can end it. But that’s only if you do what I want. Exactly what I want.”
Wincing, I turned from Tom. I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t even throw him a chicken. He’d rot in that room, fully conscious for as long as Dominic wanted him to be. Nothing I did would help him. But my efforts could make things worse – or the same – for me depending on how you looked at it. Ignoring the plea in Tom’s gaping mouth and shaded eyes was the only way to ensure I didn’t end up like him. And the rest.
Dominic sized us up, meeting each of our gazes… one at a time. I couldn’t hold my eyes steady and looked away too soon. Something in our faces must have told him he hadn’t convinced some of us because he turned to another door.
No. Oh, crap. The same door I’d seen when I first arrived.
I froze. The creature in there had been further along in the process than Tom. By at least three months. The bricks and doors were sound proof. We couldn’t hear the noises of agony from inside. Tom wasn’t even completely dead yet. We had to see one that was dead.
Air rushed in and out of my mouth, drying my tongue and throat.
With a flourish, Dominic opened the door, releasing the shrieks.
I shuddered, a sob locked in my tight chest. The other boys had crept around me, trapped by the possibility that Dominic was letting them back upstairs, away from the nightmare. The sounds brought them to a halt. The shortest one, possibly the youngest at about fourteen or fifteen, crushed into my side and a small whimper escaped him.
No way in hell was I going closer. I could see more than enough. The single foot in view had rotted down to bone and sinew. The lower leg and ankle were just in sight. The calf attached to the Achilles’ looked to have been gnawed off and chunks trailed the floor beside the foot.
A scream filled with insanity riddled the hallway, echoing from the small room.
The foot moved.
The boy next to me turned his head and dry heaved. Nothing was harder to throw up than dust.
Chapter 2
The lights of the city rose before us. Bright oranges, yellows, greens, blues, reds, and whites beckoned us to the casinos, stores, hotels, and restaurants. Oh, the restaurants. But all their meat was cooked. Damn it.
My cravings were more controlled than the other boys. I’d had a stronger sense of self-preservation since I’d left home. Eating people didn’t seem the way to get anywhere - fast.
John sat beside me in the front seat of the van. I flicked on my turn signal and rounded onto Flamingo. We’d been told to wait in the parking lot behind the university. The cell phone in my pocket would ring when Dominic was ready to give us further instructions.
I parked the large Econoline van in a spot furthest from the light. The boys sat in silence behind me. All fifteen of us had piled in, too afraid to argue with what we knew we would have to do. Hell, after the show we’d been given earlier, I don’t know that many of us were still consumed by hunger. Not enough to smother our fear, step out of line, and get caught. Hell, we’d kill people before we’d get caught. Okay, I wouldn’t go that far, but I’d be tempted.
“So, what are we then?” John whispered beside me. Not to me necessarily but more a thought he had to vocalize to something in the universe.
That’s the question, right? We were stronger, faster, and smarter than the humans. We didn’t need to sleep. And yet, we couldn’t get enough food. And for twelve weeks, all our power was harnessed. We were invincible insomuch as we ate and had somewhere to focus our energies.
Hopefully, I wasn’t wrapping up my fate by repeating what Tom had told me, but I said it anyway. It’d helped keep the insanity at bay for me, maybe it could help John. “We’re soldiers.”
He glanced over his shoulder and back to me.
I didn’t want to be heard either. The conversations behind us had grown in volume. I wasn’t afraid of being eavesdropped on. The majority of the boys dropped words like hamburger, steak, shrimp, and prime rib. A few of them read out loud to the rest what the billboards on the street said.
With a shrug, I lowered my voice to a murmur. “Look, we signed up for this. We were the idiots who didn’t ask for more details. We wanted to rid the world of capitalism, authority, and corruption. He gave us that injection and we’d never asked to read the fine print.” I tapped the steering wheel. “He gave us more details today. Do what we’re told and we won’t be chained up.”
“Can we make him tell us?” John raised his eyes to mine, desperation shining in spots on his pupils.
Oh, another great question. I’d thought it, of course, many times, and it lingered in the back of my mind like a constant mirage, always there, but never fully realized. I offered a half-frown. “Seriously? If you got him to tell you, what then? I know the answer doesn’t involve us leaving alive, because then the authorities would be there for sure. Don’t you think?”
John gasped. “But I’m too young to die!”
I closed my eyes. “I’m too young to die, too. But look at the alternative. We can’t go back to what we were and we don’t want to continue on in the basement, you know?” I looked at my folded fingers
on the bottom curve of the wheel. “I don’t want to go in that basement, John.”
I hated stating the obvious. He just nodded. That’s it. And for some reason that pissed me off more than if he’d argued. He had to be older than me by months if not a year, and I was the one talking sense into him. The whole situation reeked of injustice. And yet, my rational side smacked me on the head. I had chosen this. No one made me. Accepting the consequences of my actions was a hard lesson to swallow, especially with the impossible hand I’d been dealt.
The phone rang, a tinny sound garbled by the weight of my butt smashing it into the seat. For a second I pretended Dominic’s face was the phone and I let it smother for just one more second. John widened his eyes. If I didn’t answer, he’d rip my body apart to get to it.
Tugging it from my pants, I flipped the small piece open, still unused to the grace in my movements. I’d always been physical, but my condition seemed to enhance my abilities. I bet I could throw one helluva football pass.
I ignored the memories of my lost senior year and focused on the job at hand. “Yes, sir.” I snapped my finger over my shoulder for quiet. The boys behind me fell silent.
“Paul, you’re going to bring me back some girls. I want teenagers, but nothing younger than twelve. They had better not be bitten. I’ll be very disappointed, if they are. Grab about five this time around.” Dominic clicked off.
I lowered the phone. What the hell? There were no girls allowed at the warehouse. Dominic had declared it a hard and fast rule. The porn had to be enough, he’d said. But then even that had stopped when we’d been injected. For the recruits, you got everything. Once you were in, well, you worked. I’d heard rumors of course that Dominic would deliver up a handful of girls for a group based on how well they performed in recruiting. I’d never seen it.
“Listen up.” They leaned forward as if one entity. I turned to face them, hiding my uncertainty behind my leadership role – which I didn’t want. “Dominic wants five girls. You can’t harm them. Don’t eat them.” A few of the guys rolled their eyes while another gagged. I nodded my head. “Yes, don’t eat them. You’re going to want to. Especially if they’re dressed for the heat. But don’t. Dominic said he’d be very disappointed if they were harmed.” I didn’t need to remind them of the consequences of his displeasure. The images and smells hadn’t been far from anyone’s mind all day.
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