Jenny Undead (The Thirteen: Book One)

by Murray, J. L.

He peered out of the crack. “I see the undead man finally lost his fight.”

  “His fight?” Jenny said.

  “Even the soulless hang onto their humanity. Even when it's nothing like humanity.”

  “Are the living really much different?” she said.

  “Such a sweet child,” he said, taking another step. He didn't smile, nor did his face change. He was a small man, but carried himself like someone much bigger and stronger. It took all Jenny's will not to rip off her ridiculous skirt and pull out her knife. She could still feel the effects of the adrenaline after what she'd done to her grandfather.

  “Did you do that?” She tried to look as innocent as possible. “Did you put him on that pole like that?”

  He frowned, surprised. She'd caught him off guard.

  “Did I what?”

  “The rot-- Er, the undead man. I'm just curious. Did you do that?”

  “Curiosity killed the cat,” he said, his voice low.

  “I'm not a cat,” said Jenny, smiling innocently.

  “Are you asking if I mocked the Lord by putting an obscenity like the undead in the position the Savior took when he died for my sins?”

  “I'm sorry,” said Jenny, smiling. “It was a stupid question.” She relaxed a little.

  “Although I understand the inclination,” he said.

  “The inclination?”

  Joshua had nearly closed the gap. She could take him easily. At least she thought she could.

  “Yes,” he said. He stopped walking. “It's a message.”

  “Message?” Jenny said. She was sure she was pushing her boundaries, but this was the most Joshua had said to her since she came. The most anyone had said to her; except for Lily. And if anyone knew anything about what Jenny wanted to know, it was Joshua. They listened to him. All of them. It was a damn cult down here. But then, all the Righteous were like that now. The ones who stuck together stayed alive. The ones who didn't died.

  And here she was: a Heathen among the Righteous. It was against their laws. They could kill her if they found out, or they could damn well try. But Heathens didn't have laws. They had agreements with other gangs, and they had peace treaties of sorts to make sure Expo was safe, but no real laws to speak of. It was a different world out there. But down here was another story.

  Joshua looked at her, narrowing his eyes. If he didn't know already, any minute now he was going to figure out who she was and then it would all be over. But then his face relaxed and he smiled at her. “Nothing important,” he said. “The undead man keeps people away is all. Keeps the Heathens out. Keeps us safe from the Godless ones.” He took the last few steps and we were standing inches from each other. “It's Jenny, isn't it?” he said.

  “Yes,” she said. She cringed inwardly at the name. She hadn't meant to give him her real name, but it had just popped out when he asked.

  “That's a nice name,” he said. He was still smiling, but his eyes were cold. He reached out his hand and Jenny forced herself to stay still. He touched a dark braid.

  “The smell is starting to make me a bit sick,” Jenny said, trying to sound shy.

  “You don't have to be afraid of me, you know, little cat,” he said. “I can be very nice.”

  Jenny nearly laughed.

  “Jenny?” came a voice from the stairwell. Lily's voice. “Jenny, are you up there?”

  “Yes, I'm here,” Jenny called, smiling at Joshua and pretending to look embarrassed.

  “Could you give me a hand with the dinner?” Lily called.

  Jenny gave Joshua a little curtsy and sidestepped away from him. She walked quickly to the defunct escalator and headed down the stairs, throwing a look over her shoulder at the man who stared after her. She swore he smiled.

  FIVE

  Lily was waiting at the bottom. Jenny looked behind, but Joshua wasn't following. Without saying a word, Lily took hold of Jenny's arm tight and walked her away from the stairs. She didn't say a word for the entire walk across the underground settlement. Some attempts had been made to give people a sense of privacy. Rooms had been made of stacked debris “walls” that rose three feet off the tracks. The married couples got rooms to themselves – though the men were few and far between. Everyone else had two cots to a room. Lily was Jenny's roommate.

  “Lily?” Jenny said as they reached the end of the encampment, and the kitchen area. She was grabbing cans from a neat stack against the cement ledge. “You okay?”

  “Pull the tarp down and I'll start the cook fire,” Lily said, avoiding Jenny's eyes. She slammed the cans onto the long table constructed from old boards and cinder blocks. Lily turned brusquely and yanked pieces of wood out of a nearby pile and threw them into the pit gouged from the concrete. Jenny sighed and shrugged. Hopping up onto the ledge, Jenny loosened the rope that held the stitched-together tarps into place. They had to lower the tarps slightly so they wouldn't block the holes punched up through the top of the tunnel, to let the smoke drift out. Someone told Jenny the tarps blocked drafts that blew through the tunnels. That seemed weird to her, though. The tunnel wasn't blocked off on the end. And it would do nothing to keep rotters out. Jenny lowered the material, letting it slacken a bit, and retied the rope.

  Lily was banging the cans around as she opened them, angry about something. She had started a small fire and set the big pot they used for dinners on top of a grate made from an old shopping cart. Jenny watched the smoke trail up to the ceiling and out past the lowered tarp. There was a bang that made Jenny jump. She looked at Lily, but she was busy pouring beans into the pot. The sound hadn't come from her. Jenny frowned. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she stepped back to the very edge of the tarp, against the far wall. She felt the cold concrete against her back. With a finger she hooked the edge of the plastic sheeting and pulled it aside, peering into the darkness further up the tunnel.

  It was dark without the oil lamps that covered every surface in the encampment. And the air was cold. Even in the July heat it stayed cool under the street, but it seemed somehow unnatural out there. Maybe the darkness made it seem colder, but a shiver fingered its way up Jenny's spine. She squinted through the gap. There was something back there. Jenny concentrated to make out the shape. It was huge. She pulled the tarp wider and the oil light glinted on a window. It was an old subway car. But not just one. Jenny narrowed her eyes even further. There were more train cars back beyond the first one. She stared at them for a second. Why the hell had she never bothered to look on the other side of the tarp?

  And then one of the cars shuddered. Like there was something inside.

  “Jenny,” said a voice right next to her, startling her. That was twice in a row she'd been spooked. She was losing her edge. Lily was staring at her. “What are you doing?”

  “There's something out there,” Jenny said. She looked back at the subway cars. They were still again.

  “Someone's going to see you,” Lily hissed urgently. “We're not supposed to...”

  Jenny let the tarp go and turned to her. “Supposed to what?” she said. “It's just a tarp.”

  “We're not supposed to talk about it,” she said, looking down at her hands. She was back to shy Lily again.

  “But don't you want to know?” Jenny said.

  “Jenny,” she said, looking around. Everyone must have been in their rooms. Only a few people were about. A few older men sitting on the cement ledge and chattering, a middle-aged woman who Jenny thought was called Tasha was trying to repair her dress across the tracks, on the other side of the eating area.

  “Jenny,” she said again, looking at Jenny and then quickly looking down at her hands again. “Are you okay?”

  “Okay?” Jenny said. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean Joshua. Did he...hurt you?”

  Jenny laughed, but stopped when she saw the horrified look on Lily's face. “I'm fine,” she said. “He just sort of talked to me. It was weird.”

  She nodded and looked down again. “We should get supp
er ready.” She turned, but Jenny grabbed her arm. Lily looked up at her with surprise.

  “Has Joshua done something to you?” Jenny said.

  Lily shook her head. “No.” She tried to turn again but Jenny held fast. Lily flinched and Jenny let go.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I didn't mean to hurt you.”

  Lily rubbed her arm and forgot to look away from her. “How are you so strong?”

  “It's a gift,” Jenny said.

  Lily smiled a little, then she looked down and frowned. “It's an honor. That's what he says. It doesn't hurt anymore. Not really. But...” Lily looked around again. “It's not what he does that's the worst. It's Cora.”

  “Joshua's wife?” Jenny said. “”

  She nodded. “She knows. I think he tells her. And she's full of hate.” Lily was looking into Jenny's eyes. She didn't cry. But Jenny didn't think she'd ever seen anyone so sad.

  “Lily, where are your parents?”

  She swallowed. “Dead.” Her eyes flicked to the tarp and back to Jenny. “My mom died in the beginning, when the plague started. And my dad died right out there.”

  “Out there?” Jenny said nodding her head toward the tarp. “By the train cars?”

  Lily nodded. “The night we came here. There was something out there. He was there one minute, and then the next he was just...gone. Joshua found me out there, screaming. I couldn't stop screaming.”

  “Jesus,” Jenny said. Lily winced, then giggled nervously. “Sorry,” Jenny said. “I shouldn't have said that.” The girl had been through more than anyone. Jenny felt the need to protect her beyond all reason. She was a phony here, lying about who she was, and here she was listening to Lily's darkest secrets. Jenny was supposed to be the one in danger. But at that moment, she wanted to rip Joshua's throat out. And something else, too.

  She knew where Casey was.

  Cora stared Jenny down all the way through dinner. She finished the scant amount of food on her plate quickly and rinsed her dish in the bucket of murky, collected water.

  Jenny threw a glance back at the tarp, blue and brown and black plastic sheeting all stitched together. Someone had raised it back up again after the cook fire had gone out. Jenny felt Cora's eyes burning into her as she walked back down the subway platform to her room. It didn't matter if the queen of the cult hated her. It didn't matter that the queen's husband seemed to be pursuing her – thinking she was innocent and much younger, no less. The only thing that mattered, the only thing that she could handle thinking about right now, was that she was going to find Casey and get the hell out of this weird shithole.

  Her rotter grandfather had been strung up on a pole. Her grandfather had been a different kind of man. He was a scientist first, and everything else seemed to annoy him, as if the world were in his way. Jenny had been in his way, along with Casey, until one day he decided they could be useful to him. After that, Jenny wished time could reverse and they could go back to a time when he was annoyed and uninterested in them, before they were useful. She blinked and shook off the thoughts. She didn't have time to feel sorry for herself right now. Bierce had lost the right to take up space in her head a decade ago. He was gone now, finally gone. The sadistic bastard wouldn't hurt anyone ever again.

  Jenny sat down on the mat that served as a cot. It was just old, dirty fabric filled with newspaper. Hardly even a mat at all. There was another just like it just across from hers, where Lily slept. Hers was empty, of course. A small shape peeked out of the thin blanket on her cot. In the dim light Jenny could make it out. A teddy bear. She must have been hiding it in her bedding.

  “Jesus,” Jenny muttered under her breath. “She's just a baby.”

  Jenny heard the scuff of a foot near the opening in debris that served as a door. A moment later Joshua appeared.

  “Deep in thought?” he said. He crossed his arms, his small frame blocking the door.

  Jenny smiled a tight smile. “I guess so.”

  “What are you thinking so hard about, Jenny?” He gave her a condescending look that he probably thought was wise and fatherly. She gritted her teeth as she smiled again and searched for an answer.

  “Um, God,” she said. “I guess.” She pushed herself off the cot and stood up.

  “Anything in particular?”

  Jenny shook her head, brushing dirt and an insect off her dress. “Just, you know, Him. Saying a prayer.”

  He crinkled his eyes as he looked at her. She may as well have been naked. Goddammit, she wanted to punch this guy. “You know, Jenny,” he said, taking a step inside. “You've been here a few days now. Do you feel comfortable with us?”

  She nodded. “Sure.”

  “Good,” he said, sounding genuinely pleased. “I want you to feel comfortable.” He took another step toward her across the tiny room. Jenny moved back, until she could feel the chill of the concrete behind her. Shit. He's doing this now?

  “Lily should be back soon,” she said, trying to look innocent.

  “Lily is helping the women repair some clothing,” he said. “As I was saying, you've been here a few days now, Jenny. I'm glad you're comfortable, but it's time you made a contribution to the group, don't you think?”

  “Cleaning and making dinner is a contribution,” Jenny said. She balled up her fist so she wouldn't reach for her knife. The gun on the other leg felt heavy and comforting as well. But the knife seemed to itch. She wanted to be holding it. But as much as Joshua deserved to be gutted, she was sure she knew where Casey was now. An altercation could ruin everything.

  Her back was pressed hard against the wall now and Joshua was right in front of her. His eyes glinted in the oil light. “Cooking and cleaning is in your nature,” he said. “It's time to contribute to the group, little cat. We need children, Jenny. Have you seen any since you came?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Lily.”

  He smiled. “Don't be silly. Lily is a fully-grown woman.”

  “She's a teenager,” said Jenny, grinding her teeth together.

  “And you?” he said. “Are you a child?”

  “No,” said Jenny. “But you've come to the wrong girl. I'm barren.”

  He smiled. “A young woman like you? How could you possibly know that?”

  “Why would you want to bring children into this world?” Jenny said, forgetting her revulsion for a moment. “It's Hell on Earth right now. Why would you want a child to suffer like that?”

  “God wills it,” Joshua said. “I only obey.”

  He pushed her harder against the wall, pinning her arms and shoving his small body against her. He made an attempt to kiss her neck, but her collar was too high. “You need to get off of me right now,” Jenny said. “Please. You're really going to regret it if you don't.”

  “A threat?” he said, looking into her face. “From you?”

  Nothing was worth this. Jenny smiled sweetly. “It's not a threat.”

  He scowled and squeezed her wrists harder. “You're going to regret your insolence,” he said.

  “I don't think I will,” she said.

  He let go of one of her arms to grope at her skirt. He was pulling it up and grappling around her thigh. Luckily, too low to feel the holster strapped there. Jenny rolled her eyes. She'd had enough. “Have it your way.” He thrust his hips toward her and she brought her knee up as hard as she could with a grunt. Joshua froze for a minute. His eyes went wide and his mouth opened as though he couldn't catch his breath. He staggered back, clutching his groin, then he turned and vomited beans onto the floor with a splash. Jenny wrinkled her nose at the smell.

  He was doubled over, but raised his face to look at her. “How. Dare. You,” he said breathlessly. Blinking furiously, he stood up straight. It was as though he was trying to use his anger to ignore the intense pain he must be feeling. He deserved so much worse.

  “I tried to warn you,” she said. She was trying to sound reasonable. But inside she was coiled springs. She was showing such restraint. Now was the point where Joshu
a would run away, his tail between his very sore legs and in the morning he would be well enough to tell everyone in the Underground that Jenny would be leaving. But by that time she would be gone anyway.

  But he didn't turn to leave. She didn't expect the slap across the cheek, so she jumped a little when it came. It wasn't that it was particularly hard – more like a bee sting, really – just a surprise. And then he had his hand on her throat, holding her out at arm's length. Like he was a pirate with a sword.

  “Before this night is over you are going to beg for my forgiveness,” he rasped.

  Jenny laughed. She didn't mean to, but the whole thing was slightly hilarious. His hand around her neck was weak. She didn't even think he could crush her windpipe with those fingers. His hands were soft and feminine. But he was shaking with rage. And you never knew what someone was capable of when they were that filled with hate.

  “Look,” Jenny said. “If you just walk away right now, I won't tell anyone. I won't tell them what you tried to do. I won't tell them what you did to Lily. I'll be gone by morning if you want. But you can't win this.”

  “You're just a woman,” he said. “You don't get to win anything.” He squeezed. And as he squeezed, Jenny leaned into his hand. She felt the skin of her knuckles split as her fist made contact with Joshua's face. He went down like a sack of bricks. She had never seen anyone go down that quickly. It was like he'd never been in a fight. Which was baffling to her, given the state of the world.

  And that's how Lily found them. Joshua on the ground clutching at his bleeding face with one hand, the other between his legs, and Jenny standing over him, cradling her right hand. Lily shouted for help, and help came. Three men lifted Joshua delicately, as if he were a broken kite, inspecting him, throwing her wary looks.

  “I asked him to stop,” Jenny said simply, trying to look doe-eyed. She distinctly saw one of the men throw Joshua a disgusted look. When they had carried him out, Lily was staring at Jenny like she'd never seen her before.

  “We should get this cleaned up,” Jenny said, nodding to the vomit on the floor.

  “How did you do that?” said Lily.