A thin sheen of sweat broke out all over me at his words. I had no doubt that he would follow through with that threat. In this, I trusted him implicitly.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked in a small voice.
His jaw clenched and his gray eyes darkened with some emotion I didn’t understand. He towered over me, his muscles big and contoured under his gray t-shirt. Loose jeans hung from his hips and bunched over thick leather boots. His skin was tanned and flawless, his jaw so smooth I wondered if he had the ability to even grow a beard.
He was a massive contradiction after the sexy scruffiness of the Parker brothers with their lean, lengthened muscles and flat stomachs. Yes, they were muscled and gorgeous as well, but it was almost like they were direct opposites of Kane’s good looks. And the most obvious difference of all was the warmth and safety every Parker brother emanated like light.
Kane was cold, distant cruelty. There was no warmth, no security, and no hope.
He didn’t answer my question, just walked past me, expecting me to follow. “You need to stay by my side. At all times.”
I obeyed, but only because of his previous threat against Hendrix, Vaughan and Nelson. We walked out toward the town, leaving the school behind us. The roads were in good shape here, but there were no cars or trucks driving on them.
People milled about everywhere. I saw people working in stores, and people walking in and out of them. Men and women stood in line for what seemed like a table passing out food rations. Kids played in the streets with soccer balls and jump ropes. They were a civilized society and not in any way living in fear of the Feeder threat.
Although that might have had something do with the armed men on every single corner and rooftop.
Kane gestured to the rooftop of the closest building and warned, “If you try to run, Reagan, they will shoot you.”
I despised the way he said my name, how it rolled off his tongue with intimate familiarity.
“The threat against my friends was clear enough, Kane,” I spat out.
Seeming satisfied, he explained, “We have men everywhere, all over the town and all over the surrounding forests. We live in relative peace and quiet here because we exterminate the threat of Zombies before they ever reach us. Our people live in houses and participate in civilized society. My father is reclaiming this country for us. Every day we clear more land, claim more property for humanity.”
There were parts of this place that seemed right to me, that seemed good. But it was like everything that these people touched and made their own was twisted with some kind of malicious evil. The Zombie problem needed to be cleared permanently, not dragged into the middle of something that could be good and put on display like a macabre trophy case.
Still, I had questions to ask, “do you use currency?’
Kane shook his head, “We trade work for necessities. Work earns you credits; credits buy you whatever you need or want. The more you work, the more you have. The same goes for housing. The job you choose determines the kind of housing you own. It determines your status in the community. It decides how much influence you have in meetings.”
We walked along an idyllic sidewalk, with quaint little shops rising on either side of us. People smiled and greeted Kane warmly and he returned everything with a head nod or small smile. His hand on my lower back guided me along and I felt the warmth of his hand all the way to my spine.
The women looked at me curiously and the men eyed me hungrily all the while Kane gave me his undivided attention. He brushed off those seeking him out for conversation and ignored those that he could without being obviously rude. But in all the people we passed I never found a girl my age. They were older, or they were younger. There was no community of twenty-something girls that were around Kane’s age.
This realization was alarming for a few different reasons- most of all was the understanding for his interest in me. Dang it.
“What’s top of the food chain?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” he smiled at me.
“Best job, what is it? Who gets the best houses? The most food? The most votes?”
“My father,” he grinned like he was telling a joke.
“And then?”
“Soldiers,” he sobered a little when he realized he wasn’t charming me. “Anyone who patrols gets the best of everything. We risk our lives to keep peace.”
“Well, that’s what I want to be then,” I announced decidedly. Mostly I was testing the waters.
He led me along, past the stores and into a residential area. Huge trees towered over us and created a canopy over the quiet street. Some houses were clearly occupied and some obviously empty. But I couldn’t argue with the fact that the people did look happy. They looked like they felt safe.
“You can’t be a soldier, Reagan,” he explained. “Only our men fill those rolls.”
“And women remain co-dependent on their protection and abundant supplies? I forgot that you own your women here; they are as much property as they are people, right?”
“It doesn’t have to be that way.” We came to a stop in front of a two-story white house with black shutters. A wide porch wrapped around the front of the house and disappeared around the side. There was a quaint walkway up to the house and the yard was wide and well taken care of as it turned green with spring. I looked up at the house, clearly the biggest one in this area, and realized this was Kane’s home.
“But it is,” I argued. “This is your house. I’m your ration?”
He turned so that we were facing each other and whispered, “Prize. You’re my prize.”
I shook my head, tears pricking at my eyes. “You’re crazy if you think I would ever go along with this.”
His eyes held mine and we reflected opposite images of each other. Where he was cool and confident, I was fear and hatred.
He broke the stare down first and reached for my hand. Gripping it gently but firmly, he pulled me up the walkway and the stairs and unlocked his front door. We walked in his comfortable living space, even if it was a little chilly and dark. He went around the room lighting candles and then a fire from an enormous fireplace in the front room.
The house was tastefully and comfortably decorated. The pieces of furniture high end and in good shape; there was an overwhelming feeling of family here. I couldn’t stop my thoughts from wondering what happened to the family that lived here before Kane took over.
Were they killed in the initial attacks?
Were they forced from their home when Kane’s dad came into power?
Did Kane kill them in cold blood when they refused?
“It will be easier for you if you stop fighting this,” he said in a low voice from near the fireplace.
“I’m not sleeping with you,” I declared firmly.
I couldn’t even find the fear that had been plaguing me all day. Yes, there was panic and terror somewhere inside me, but mostly I felt steel determination. I felt resolve.
He was not going to touch my body. He was not going to get close to me.
And to my chagrin he broke into the first genuine smile I had seen from him. It was staggering. He was staggering. Gone was the cold indifference and serial killer charm and in its place was a warmth and affection that seemed blinding with his charisma.
“Nobody said you had to,” he laughed. “You can stop believing I’m a monster, Reagan. I’m not.”
“Then let me go,” I countered.
He shook his head, losing his infectious smile. “I won’t do that.”
“Won’t?”
“I won’t let you go,” he breathed. My skin tingled with a looming premonition and my eyes watered with panic. He continued, “You’re perfect for me. And you’re mine now. I won’t lose you.”
“You don’t even know me,” I pointed out. “I’m a raging bitch.”
He shrugged.
“I would make a terrible wife…. uh, partner, um, possession. I won’t ever be submissive; I won’t ever not fight you.”
&nb
sp; “You’re jumping to conclusions,” he admonished me with too much amusement. “Don’t you want to get settled before you warn me off?”
“No. I want you out of my life today.”
“Not happening,” he countered. “This is the best thing that could have happened to you. Stop looking at this like a tragedy and recognize your good fortune.”
“And my friends?”
“Will be safe and taken care of as long as you remember your place.”
I laughed bitterly. “And if I don’t?”
His expression became solid stone. “Don’t find out.”
A knock on his front door had us both whirling around. He sighed impatiently but walked casually over to open it. I took the time to take in his house, find a way to escape, find a weapon to wound him with.
The windows were all barred – something I hadn’t noticed at first. And the back door through the kitchen was padlocked from the inside. There was no walking out of this house, not easily anyway.
I wondered what the second story was like, but had no desire to find myself up there, not where the bedrooms were. Although in his defense, I wasn’t feeling a “raper” vibe from him. Which might be naïve on my part, but there it was. All the same.
He was detached, distant and terrifying. But he wasn’t the forceful kind. His touches had been somewhat…. gentle and he had coaxed and manipulated me with soft threats and urging insistence. Other than that time he held a gun to my head, he’d actually been kind of a, uh, gentleman.
I shivered with disgust at those feelings. He was also a kidnapper, a tyrant and a desperate man if he felt he needed to steal his women.
The door swung open and a girl around my age stood through the haze of the screen door. Her black hair floated around her shoulders in tumbling waves and her gray eyes assessed Kane with calculating, judgmental eyes. Her delicate features were pursed into disapproval and her petite shoulders tense with frustration.
“Tyler,” Kane breathed. “What do you want?”
What was she? An ex-girlfriend? Lover? If he had this girl waiting for him at home, then why on earth did he drag me back here?
“Just stopped by to meet your new pet,” she replied with perky enthusiasm.
Kane propped his shoulder on the door frame and crossed his arms, refusing her entrance into his home. “She’s not a pet.”
“Really?” she laughed humorlessly. “Let’s see. You went hunting in the forest this morning and returned with a creature that you’re keeping locked in your house. If she’s not a pet, then what is she?”
Kane growled something under his breath that sounded like a string of curse words. “Get off your high horse, Ty.”
“First, get out of my way,” she sniped at him. She ripped open the screen door and pushed her way through. She stomped over to me her eyes glued to my face. Then I saw it- fear, uncertainty, and concern. Once she was out of her Kane’s gaze, she was a completely different person. But all that emotion was gone in a moment and she was face-to-face with her mask of hypercritical arrogance. She looked me over with a haughty eye and ordered, “Alright, Kane, introduce me to my new sister-in-law.”
Putting the pieces together in my head, I realized this was Miller’s sister; this was the sister that needed saving.
“Tyler, this is Reagan,” Kane obliged us. “Reagan, this is my little sister, Tyler.”
“Well, little as in two years younger. But he loves to hold that over me. How old are you?” she asked directly.
“Um, uh, twenty,” I offered, still not knowing what to make of her occasionally compassionate eyes as she held my gaze.
“Yay!” she squealed. “We’re just a year apart then!”
“Yay,” I echoed sarcastically.
“Big brother, be a good host and get us something to drink,” she demanded and waved him away with a flick of her fingers.
Her thick drawl was just as musical as her mother’s and now that I knew she was related to this Zombie-Apocalypse version of the Adam’s family I could make out all the similar family features: beautiful skin, pronounced bone structure, full lips, gray eyes.
Kane sighed again but started off to do her bidding. Before he got too far, though, he looked back and asked her pointedly, “Did you have anything to do with Miller’s stupid little stunt last night, Ty?”
She laughed like the very idea was ludicrous and shook her head, “Uh, did you see Miller this morning? Dad beat the shit out of him. I am not about to be part of his crazy antics. He’s just doing it for attention.”
Her jaw clenched tightly in a frozen smile after her last words and only because I was looking for it, I watched her shake her head out in a nervous tick.
“Right, attention,” Kane chuckled bitterly. “Seems like there are better ways to get Dad’s approval.”
“Well, you would know all about that, wouldn’t you golden boy?”
Kane shook his head but ignored her biting comment. He walked off into the kitchen and once we heard the cupboard door open I felt the hot warmth of metal in my palm. I looked down and saw that Tyler was pushing something into my hand.
I grasped it and pulled back so I could see what it was. A handcuff key. She gave me a handcuff key.
“I don’t need this,” I whispered frantically. I waved my free hands around.
“You will tonight,” she promised with so much fear and anxiety in her voice that my insides froze into organ-sized ice cubes. “He won’t risk losing you.”
“What does he want with me,” I pleaded in a frantic whisper.
But she just shook her head and changed the subject, “Midnight, behind the bleachers, tonight.”
I shook my head, wondering…. “How?” I mouthed.
“Your friends. We’re going with you,” she explained. “Do not let him find that key. He’ll kill them, I promise you he will.”
Understanding her message I nodded and slid the key into my bra. I would die before he got inside there, so by then it wouldn’t matter if he found the key or not.
I was just about to say “thank you” when her rude snarkiness was back, “It’s honestly amazing how one girl as plain as you got all three of those boys to follow her around.” She lifted up a strand of my hair that had escaped my pony tail and dropped it back to my shoulder as if in disgust.
“Tyler,” Kane hissed from the doorway to the kitchen. He walked toward us with two unopened cans of warm Coke in his hands. He offered them to us and we both accepted. Easily. Manson family or not, there was no way I was turning down a can of Coke.
We stood there drinking for a while in awkward silence. Tyler’s eyes kept floating around the room as if she were waiting for someone to jump out at her and attack. Finally, they landed on her brother and an expression of pure, undiluted hatred flashed over her features before she was able to compose herself again.
“Well, I’m off,” she grinned at us. She drained her soda in one swift chug and handed the can off to Kane. “I’m on dinner duty. Besides I’m sure you want time to get to know your new… plaything.”
Now her look of disgust was for me.
Ugh. I didn’t know whether to hate this girl or love her for trying to save me.
“Tyler,” Kane called out as she walked with graceful steps toward the door. “Check on Miller, make sure he’s alright.”
“Why don’t you?” she huffed over her shoulder.
“If I show him I care right now, he’ll think it’s okay to behave this way. We both know, that under no circumstances can he be allowed to leave this place. He would die by himself; he would die in less than a day.”
“What if he wasn’t by himself?” she asked with casual humor, the kind that made it seem as though she were laughing at you.
“You’d die too, Ty,” he said with resigned sadness.
“And you care, Kane?” she laughed humorlessly.
“I care,” he agreed. “Just make sure he’s alright.”
“Whatevs,” she shrugged with that same indifferenc
e that seemed to gnaw at Kane’s patience. Then she was gone and the screen door was slamming behind her with a cracking thud.
“You have a very interesting family,” I pointed out as soon as we were alone again.
“You don’t have any family left?” Kane asked, returning his attention to me.
“Not anymore.” My tone was final and cutting. I would not talk about people I loved with him.
“Reagan, I know how to keep you safe,” he promised in a soft voice as if picking up on some great pain of my past. “This will be a good life for you.”
“Against my will,” I pointed out bitterly. “You’ll keep me safe against my will. And you’ll give me the life you think is good…. against my will. Honestly, I don’t even understand how I got here.”
Confusion crossed his features and he reminded me, “We found you in the woods this morning.”
Losing my mind just a little and all of my patience I snapped, “No, I know how I got here this morning. But I mean, to this place. To you keeping me under lock and key just like Tyler said, like a pet. Why do you think this is acceptable behavior?”
“I don’t,” he quickly reassured me. “I know it’s not alright to behave like this. But I also know it’s been eighteen months since a girl that has even remotely peeked my interest has stumbled upon our encampment and she died three days later because she was too dehydrated and starved to come back from that. Her body shut down and we watched her die in our medical facilities. Since then it’s been a steady stream of mostly men. Or women that won’t work for me.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m the last of a dying breed.” My arms were crossed over my chest defiantly and my eyes boring holes into his stupid head.
“No, but it means you are a rare and precious commodity. A woman is a status symbol in this community.”
“So you’re lazy?” I bit out. “Go find another woman! Go find someone who’s actually interested in you. You can’t just kidnap people.”
“I’m not lazy,” he growled. “I’m an opportunist. You should look at this from my perspective. If you were in the same position as me and the perfect man walked across your path I doubt you would be so quick to let them go.”
Love and Decay (Season 1): Episodes 1-6 Page 29
