General Murray watched these events unfold around him like something out of a dream. Everyone ignored him as they went into crisis mode, making him feel detached from the situation as if he weren’t even there.
The advisors gathered in the room next to the lab where all the monitors were. They looked at one another in horror. He’d seen that look in men’s eyes before when he was leading them into a fight.
Murray sidled up to Robert since he seemed like he knew more than anyone else.
“What are they looking for?” the general asked.
“To see if anyone else is infected.”
“Do you need my men?” General Murray wanted to get out of here. He would send his men out, then go for his son.
Robert shook his head. “You can’t leave.”
General Murray knew the doors were closed, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t leave. “You can’t fucking keep me here.”
“You misunderstand me. I mean you can’t leave until you have spoken to Afana.”
Murray had been getting frustrated just waiting around, but at the mention of meeting Afana, his frustration was replaced with fear. His eyes darted around the lab. “Where is Afana?”
Robert’s face was pale. “I have to wake him up.”
Sergei, Pavel, and Yegor stalked into Level Six. Martin stood at the bottom of the staircase to check that the men didn’t have weapons.
Sergei eyed Martin with annoyance. “Have you seen Terrier?”
Martin shrugged. “I don’t keep track of who comes down here.”
“Isn’t that your fucking job?” Sergei pressed.
“My job is to protect these women from cockstains like you. Now kindly fuck off before I ban you from Level Six altogether.”
Sergei flinched at that. He didn’t know if Martin had that kind of power, but he knew he was the son of a general on Three. Sergei wasn’t about to test his luck.
“Search the rooms,” he told them, hoping the women would be more help.
Pavel shook his head. “No fucking way. I’m not busting into the rooms uninvited.” Pavel could see Sergei was getting angry. “I’ll speak to the women and see if they’ve seen him.”
“Fine.” Sergei sighed. “Just fucking go already.”
Pavel left before Sergei changed his mind. The men made their way to the room doors, knocking and asking to speak to the girls. They weren’t greeted with welcome arms—more like boots and belts. Even the women found these morons annoying.
Mama Lou marched toward Sergei with her hands on her hips. She was the head of the women, and she was in charge of choosing which woman a man ended up with.
She was clearly pissed off. “What the hell are you imbeciles doing?”
“We’re looking for someone,” Sergei spat. “Mind your own business, whore.”
Mama Lou damn near snorted fire. “Don't you dare come down to my level, swinging your tiny dick. I’m the queen down here!”
Sergei marched toward Mama Lou. He’d never had a woman speak to him like that before. His hands shot out to grip Mama Lou’s throat, but the butt of a rifle cracked against his skull before he could reach her.
Sergei stumbled and pressed a hand to his aching head. Peter towered over him with murder in his eyes. The guard was roughly the size of a small mountain, and he could crush Sergei’s skull without even trying. If that wasn’t enough, Peter had the barrel of his rifle aimed at Sergei, looking like he wanted an excuse to pull the trigger.
“What the fuck, Peter?” Sergei whined.
“Advisors’ orders. Nobody fucks with the queen.”
Mama Lou smiled. “Thank you, Peter. Now, as I was saying, what the fuck are you and your men doing down here?”
Sergei gritted his teeth. “We’re looking for a traitor.”
Mama Lou raised an eyebrow. “A traitor? Who?”
“Terrier.”
Mama Lou shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Sergei shot her a skeptical look.
“I know every man who comes to visit my ladies, and he hasn’t been to visit them.”
“He’s not with a woman,” Sergei said. “I think he’s hiding down here.”
“Well, then. That’s not my fucking problem, is it?” She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Let’s go, Peter.”
Sergei glared at her back as she walked away. He was pretty sure she was full of shit. Mama Lou knew everything that went down on Level Six, and she had to know who Terrier was. Everyone knew him.
Why bother lying to him unless she knew Terrier was down here? He knew he was getting close to finding his prey.
The kids were eyeballing Ryder, trying to put on their toughest faces. Some were even flashing their teeth, like Leandro was. She found it kind of adorable, but the charm was diminished by the razor-sharp spear points they brandished at her.
“What are you kids doing?” she asked.
“We’re the first line of defense against you guys!” one of the youngest children said.
“Yeah!” the rest echoed.
Carter grinned smugly at the kids’ response.
It sickened Ryder that they were afraid of her. “I’m not one of Afana’s men. I was their prisoner. They took me when I was a child. Now, I’ve escaped from them, and I’m trying to get help to free the others.”
Some of the kids lowered their weapons, but Carter looked at Ryder with narrowed eyes.
“Look, I don’t want to fight.” Ryder turned away from the Bora mountain group. Having her back to them wasn’t a good idea, but it showed them two things. One, she wasn’t going to fight. Two, she wasn’t afraid of them.
She waited for their reaction, but before she could get it, there was a bloodcurdling scream from the woods in the direction Tommy had gone.
Carter took off running, and the kids followed him. Ryder sprinted right behind them. She could have used this opportunity to get away, but the boy might need her help.
The wolf ran alongside her, which was weird, but she felt like he wasn’t a threat to her. It was like he was the wolf version of Terrier, her personal bodyguard, and she was grateful to have him.
Ryder nearly ran into Carter. He had stopped, and his hands were out to his sides. The kids were behind him. She looked over Carter’s shoulder to see tiny Tommy cowering in front of a huge brown bear that stood on its back legs, growling.
The wolf positioned itself in front of Ryder, and it snarled at the bear. The bear’s attention moved from Tommy to the wolf. Ryder got her arrows ready. She wasn’t going to let any of the kids get hurt.
The bear lunged toward the group, and the wolf leaped in the air toward the bear, his razor-sharp teeth going for the bear’s neck. The wolf managed to dig its teeth into the bear’s thick hide, but the bear shook its body mightily, flinging the wolf away into a tree.
The bear didn’t give the wolf a second glance. He was only interested in his next meal. Ryder let her arrows fly—she’d killed bears before—and the bear let out angry cries as the arrows hit him.
The wolf got back on its feet and locked his jaws onto the bear’s leg. Carter attacked with his knives. The man was quicker than she’d thought he would be.
They made short work of the animal, and it slumped to the ground, dead. Carter rushed to Tommy, still huddled and crying on the ground.
“You’re okay,” Carter said soothingly. “You’re safe. The beast didn’t know he was messing with the Bear Killer.”
He helped the child to his feet, and the other kids swarmed around him, offering their support. Carter smiled as he watched them, looking like a proud father. Then, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, smearing blood on his face in the process and making himself look like a complete idiot.
“So, you’re taking all the credit?” Ryder asked Carter, raising an eyebrow.
“Credit goes where it’s due,” Carter supplied smugly.
“It should go to the wolf, then.” Blood stained the wolf’s mouth as he stood next to Ryder.
“Is that your pet? That’s pretty badass.” Carter bent down and looked beneath the wolf at his junk. “What’s he called?”
“Called?”
“Yeah, your pet. Your name for your pet? If you haven’t named him, I will.” Carter thought for a moment. “Fluffy. He totally looks like a Fluffy.”
The wolf growled in response.
“See, he loves it! Fluffy it is.”
18
Massimo and Kelvin tried knocking on Andrew’s door, but there was no sign of him around his home. With no other choice, they decided to go back to town to look for him.
“I’ll check out the church,” Massimo said as they made it back to the town square. “Why don’t you see if anyone in the Old Dog has seen him?”
“Will do,” Kelvin replied and headed to the Old Dog.
Massimo stood in front of the little white church. He wasn’t an overly religious man, but he had strong morals that were in line with most religions. Even though all the wars around the world religion had stayed alive, and Massimo thought it was only right to have a church for people to gather in.
It was also nice when there were weddings in Pinewood. The whole town would come to the church to celebrate, then head to the Old Dog to dance the night away. Massimo was extremely proud of Pinewood, and rightfully so.
Massimo pushed open the doors to the church—which were never locked. In fact, there wasn’t even a lock on the door. It was always open to anyone who needed sanctuary.
A single candle flickered at the front of the church, casting a warm glow over the altar. A man sat in one of the pews, and Massimo tried not to disturb him as he entered. Sometimes, people came to the church to remember those who had passed away. There was a cemetery behind the church, past the solar panels.
The cemetery was small. Pinewood had been lucky not to have been hit by any diseases or disasters, but every now and then, something popped up, taking the town by surprise. Massimo and Leandro worked hard to keep Pinewood safe, and they would continue to do so until their dying days.
Great way to depress yourself, Massimo, thinking about death and disease.
He blocked all the dark stuff from his mind and replaced it with a Bee Gees classic, “Night Fever.” He liked to mix up the lyrics. It always lifted his spirits. Night people, night people… We know how to do it! Uh-huh!
Sometimes it was on purpose, but sometimes it was because he couldn’t remember the words. It didn’t matter much anyway. Most of the people who heard him singing, other than Leandro, had never heard the songs before, so they didn’t know the words were wrong. In fact, the people of Pinewood thought Massimo was quite the skilled songwriter.
He walked quietly toward the side room, pretending it was a normal day where he was fixing something in the church, but he really wanted to see if the man in the pews was Andrew.
It was. He wondered if Andrew was here repenting his sins. This was the place for it. Andrew was looking toward the altar at the head of the church, and he apparently hadn’t heard Massimo come in.
Massimo looked for Vicar Jason but didn’t see him. No big surprise there. He was a trainee vicar, and the job didn’t seem to suit him. He was always drunk at the Old Dog. Massimo thought that wasn’t how a vicar should act, but it didn’t have anything to do with him, so he continued to serve him.
Arms grabbed Massimo, but the vampire ripped himself away before he got bitten. It was Vicar Jason. At least, that was what Massimo thought. Jason’s eyes were glowing red and blood dripped from his open mouth. On the floor was a woman’s body in a nightgown. It was Annie. She had bite marks on her neck like Scott’s.
Vicar Jason was the killer.
“What are you doing?” Massimo asked, stepping away from him.
Jason didn’t respond. He just went for Massimo again.
Massimo’s fangs instantly protruded from his gums. He was ready for a fight. He shoved the oncoming vicar to the side, and he landed on the stone floor with a thud. Vicar Jason quickly got back to his feet, though, and came for Massimo again.
Massimo didn’t want to kill the vicar. He decided to knock him out instead, so he punched him in the jaw, right on the sweet spot, and dragged him into the side room. Jason stood no chance against a vampire’s swing, however old Massimo had started to feel.
Jason was unconscious, snoring blissfully on the floor. Massimo left him and went to Annie. He gasped when he saw her. Parts of her neck had been eaten away, and there were also bite marks on her arms. He’d feasted on her.
Why the fuck was he eating her? Had the vicar gone mad?
He went back to examine Jason. There was dried blood around his mouth. What had he turned into?
Jason’s eyes flicked open, and he leapt to his feet, taking Massimo by surprise. He knocked the vampire off balance. Jason threw himself on top of Massimo and tried to bite him, and as the vampire pushed him away, Jason’s saliva dripped onto Massimo’s face.
Fuck this! Massimo’s hands went to Jason’s head. Massimo heaved and twisted it, snapping the vicar’s neck. Jason’s dead body dropped to the floor and Massimo went back into the church to get some answers from Andrew.
What the fuck was going on?
Ryder and Carter examined the bear they had just killed.
“That was your chance to run away, so why didn't you?” Carter asked Ryder. The kids surrounded the two adults, anxiously awaiting her answer.
Ryder thought before she spoke because this was her best chance of getting any help. Carter could protect himself. She would need someone like him if she were to have any chance of getting Terrier and the others out of the bunker.
“I couldn’t abandon someone in trouble, especially a child. And I need your help.”
Carter looked down at Tommy, the boy who would have been eaten if Fluffy hadn’t intervened. “Why do you need my help?” Carter twisted his beard, grinning.
Ryder told him about the kids being held in the bunker. She left out the part about rescuing Terrier because she knew he’d just judge him as he did her. “Some of the kids may be from your settlement,” she added.
Ryder could see in his eyes that he wanted to help, but he shook his head gravely. “There’s no way the two of us can break into the bunker and free those kids. It would be a suicide mission.”
“I didn’t just mean the two of us,” she said. “We need more than that.” The kids looked at one another with wide eyes. “I didn’t mean you, kids. We need more adults.”
“Hey, we captured you, didn't we?” Jacob asked. She had been introduced to all the children after their fight with the bear. Jacob was a scrawny boy with dirt streaked on his face. Carter ruffled the kid’s blond hair, and Ryder couldn’t help but smile. Jacob was right.
“Do you think the others at the settlement will help me?” Ryder asked Carter. Carter grinned so widely that Ryder thought he might break his jaw. “You’re a smug fucker, aren’t you? What do you find so funny?”
“The fact that you think the people in the settlement would help one of Afana’s men,” Carter snapped back.
This time, it was Ryder’s turn to injure her jaw, but it was from grinding her teeth tightly together. “I’m not one of his men.”
“And how do you plan on convincing others of that when you have his mark on your neck?” he asked.
Ryder hated the tattoo on her neck. “I can cover the tattoo, but if they ask, I’ll tell them the truth.” She knew it was a long shot, but what else did she have? “And you can tell them that I’m not lying.”
Carter looked at her like she’d just asked him to kiss her ass. “And why do you think would I do that?”
“Because you want to free the people Afana took as well. He took someone you care about, didn’t he?”
Carter looked at the ground. “My sister.”
“Then don’t do it for me. Do it for your sister.”
“If I do help you, you’ll owe me,” Carter said. “And I'm not promising they won’t cut your head off when t
hey see your tattoo.”
What is it with chopping heads off? she wondered. “Fair enough.”
“Tommy, lead the way.” Tommy was a little shaken, but he led the group toward the settlement.
Fluffy walked beside them, not so close that they could attack him, but close enough that he could protect Ryder if anything came at her.
“Does he let you out of the bunker much?” Carter asked. “Is he a monster like people say?”
Carter was interested in Ryder, but she wanted a quiet walk, not to have to talk. Faking a deeper voice was annoying. Ryder had thought she was finally free of hiding the fact that she was a female, but apparently not yet. She had a feeling that the world outside the bunker was the same in the way in which they judged women. That they were the weaker sex.
“No, and yes.” Ryder decided to keep her answers short and hope he’d get the hint, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t. He’d already shown he was a chatty type of guy. He would have fit in quite well with Decso and the other gossips in the bunker.
“Yes, he let you out of the bunker? No, he’s not a monster? Then why didn’t you leave earlier?”
“Don’t be a—” She paused before saying “dick.” Ryder looked at the kids. She didn’t know why she was cursing around them. Ryder was good at stopping herself with the kids in the bunker. “One-eyed snake. You know it’s the other way around.”
Carter started to laugh. “A one-eyed snake?”
“You know what I mean! Kids about, and all those space slugs!”
Carter didn’t try to contain his laughter. Tears rolled down his face. Even the kids were laughing.
“Space slugs?” Carter asked. “What the fuck?”
Now it was Ryder’s turn to laugh. It sounded so ridiculous when she heard it out loud. A snort escaped her lips as her laughter crept out, and it didn’t stop. Her ribs were aching with laughter.
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