Green Fields Series Box Set | Vol. 3 | Books 7-9

by Lecter, Adrienne

  “Almost,” I echoed, snorting.

  Red conceded with a shrug. “At that point, the powers that be wouldn’t have been happy to see Miller still around, but they would have been happy to accept you two as a package deal. Communication was still patchy in spring, so it took days to get command to settle on a decision, what offer exactly to extend to you—“

  “And by then I already had the mark tattooed across my neck, and was happily disappearing into the wilderness once more,” I finished for him.

  Another nod. “Of course we could easily track you thanks to the trade network—“

  “Gee, so nice of you to admit that,” I harped—and got ignored yet again.

  “But we didn’t manage to get any of our agents anywhere near you in time,” he went on explaining. “We had people in Dispatch, of course, but no way to easily approach you without raising suspicions. There was talk of kidnapping you then, but you were gone before we could enact that plan.”

  That made me chuckle. “You people really are incompetent fucks.” At his raised brows, I elaborated, only too happy to rub that in his face. “I was wandering through Dispatch, all on my own, for over an hour when we got there. And spent some quality time, drunk, on the dance floor. Except for when we were getting the tattoos and stuffing our faces, I was never around more than two or three people at a time.” Thinking back, it was hard to remember feeling so careless and free—except that it wasn’t. California had felt like that, too. That made me wonder how long it would be until I got to feel like that again.

  Red wasn’t very impressed by my scorn. “It wasn’t that easy to reach all parties involved and coordinate them, and while you can pretend like your husband let you prance around that cesspool teeming with misfits, you weren’t as unobserved as you may remember.” Now wasn’t that a little tidbit to chew on later? “Either way, you were off to the Silo before anyone could snatch you up, so command decided to approach you at a neutral meeting point.”

  “The factory,” I hazarded an informed guess. “Very neutral, with all those zombies locked away to unleash on us, should we refuse to cooperate.”

  Red gave me a weird look, and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was surprise again, even if he tried to cover it up quickly.

  “We were lying in wait for you there, yes,” he acknowledged. “But we found the facility already teeming with stashed-away undead. Hamilton decided that they would work well as an incentive to make you more agreeable, but they were never to be released. That was a knee-jerk reaction based on the fact that your people seemed ready to fight to the death at a moment’s notice.”

  “Wait.” None of that made any sense. “How do you accidentally unleash a zombie mob that kills way more of your people than we ever could have?” Not to forget, “And if not you, who stashed them there?”

  Disappointment crossed Red’s face, as if I should have been able to answer my own question, at least the latter one. “We never got confirmation, but our working theory is that the facility was used as one of the locations to produce the virus-activated syrup. The zombies likely used to be the plant workers, including the better part of the nearby town’s residents.”

  The implications made my heart sink. “So they were a test run of sorts?”

  “That’s anyone’s guess,” Red conceded. “Fact is, we could have handled the situation better, I agree with your assessment of that.” So Aimes had tattled on what I’d hurled at his face when he’d tried to make me feel guilty about that, back at our base camp for the Colorado assault mission. “By then, everyone knew that command figured you were the next best thing to our salvation. It might have taken days to coordinate for them to reach a decision, but only hours for the news to spread among the men and women who were doing their very best to stabilize the country and work tirelessly on providing security and whatever else the settlements needed.”

  I cut him off with a raised hand. “No need to try to sell me on that bullshit. Still not buying it.”

  Red chuckled softly. “I don’t need to sell anything. I know that you’re lying, but I get it. You might have been high as a kite at those negotiations, but I could tell that you meant it when you said you were there to avoid further bloodshed. You have your quarrels with some elements”—no need for him to glance over his shoulder to where Bucky was joking around with Cole and Parker—“and a lot of that might even be warranted. You’re wary of us as a united front for that very reason, but once you can ignore your own platitudes, you know where to place the blame, and that it doesn’t lie with the bulk of us—or the settlements. You were awfully quick to throw your lot in with Greene and accept his offer to settle down right at his doorstep. You believe in our vision of a better, stronger, united nation, or else you wouldn’t be here.”

  “I’m here because I didn’t want you to murder my friends in cold blood,” I pressed out, more annoyed with the sense of agreement his words caused in me than anything else.

  “You could have continued to negotiate,” Red insisted. “Your word to continue to work with us—particularly in the lab—once we all returned would have been enough for Raynor to make Morris accept any deal coming from you. You were quick to accept because you were afraid to be stuck with us without backup, that’s why you caved so easily.” I had nothing to refute that claim with, so I remained silent. At least he didn’t gloat in my face as he went on. “Fact is, a lot of people were disappointed when we returned from the factory without you, and a good third of our people dead. We lost track of you then, and could only verify that you were, in fact, even still alive after interviewing some of the people from that settlement you washed up in, and from what the marines at the Silo were ready to share of their own investigations. A week later came that grand speech of yours, and I don’t think I need to elaborate on the rest. People held up hopes that you would come to your senses until you hit the base, but that negated all the goodwill most were still extending to you. There are still those that believe you can be put to good use, but they don’t exactly rely on you being intelligent enough to see reason.”

  I so didn’t care for that narrative, but I could see where he was coming from—and it explained so much, certainly how the soldiers treated me. This morning, I’d been kind of surprised that no one had tried to jump any of us yet, but Red’s words underlined why—they didn’t see us as enough of a threat to take any of us out, and while they sure seemed to hate not just Nate’s guts for what he had done but also extended that very same courtesy to me, it still wasn’t enough for them to go against their orders. In short, I’d become too insignificant to warrant getting shot in the back of the head for insubordination. Maybe that should have eased my rampant paranoia, but it didn’t. Not completely.

  “Why tell me all that? Besides that ass ordering you to.”

  “Because you deserve to know,” Red insisted. “You deserve to know that you could have been their savior, and you let them all down. Maybe think of that next time you wield blanket statements like an ax, ready to cleave through a zombie skull. You made them your enemies, and yet, they are ready to see beyond that.”

  “Because command isn’t done with me yet.”

  “Because Emily Raynor isn’t done with you yet,” Red amended. He held my gaze for a full five seconds, then turned away with an exasperated sigh. Clearly, I had been dismissed. He then stuck two fingers in his mouth and gave a sharp whistle, making heads all around us turn. “We move out in five,” he called, pausing when his gaze returned to me. He didn’t add anything, but the way he kept looking at me made me guess that he was trying to convey a message—and my mind was too locked in its own hamster wheel circles to grasp it. Shit.

  I was still mulling that over when Nate and Burns joined me, trudging out of the house they’d been searching with Hill, while the others followed Murdock out of another. So they had waited for a moment to single me out and get me away from my people—and while it was easy to attribute that to Bucky, I didn’t buy it. Yup, that didn’t really s
ound like him—he would have just snatched me up, dragged me behind one of the barns, and delivered his message after adding to my half-healed collection of bruises. At least with that, it would have been easy to guess what he was playing at. With Red, all I could tell was that he was still trying to play me, but I didn’t get why he bothered to make things so complicated—and that made it hard to guess why he was doing it in the first place. I so didn’t like that.

  “Any reason why you’re scowling like that?” Burns asked, but the way he and Nate kept glaring in Bucky’s direction made me guess that I could easily get away with a lie—if it even was one.

  “Found some sexy panties for you,” I quipped instead. “Might keep them, though. Not sure you deserve them.”

  Burns’s raucous laughter was balm on my soul, and I told myself to just forget about what had happened. Nothing I could do about it now, and it wasn’t like I had the time or opportunity to hash out the details with Nate. Not that I particularly wanted to, I had to admit. There was one part about it all that Red hadn’t stressed—not even mentioned, I realized—but that stood out like a red-hot spike in my side: it had been Nate’s order that had made Bailey eat that damn tainted chocolate bar to make himself insta-convert, bringing an end to negotiations at the factory by escalating things before any kind of agreement or deal could have been struck. Wilkes—and probably every single soldier here, and back home—thought that Nate was the mastermind behind our crusade, using me as a figurehead only. In fact, that was also a very good explanation why no one but Bucky had tried any funny stuff with me—they didn’t think I made a worthy target. I trusted Nate with my very life, but it was impossible to forget how everything between us had started—with him manipulating me. If not to fall for him, then to join him, and later, to learn to survive without going crazy with fear first.

  Staring after Red as he sent the first fire team forward, I couldn’t quell the resentment toward him that was welling up inside of me. I was not going to let anyone make me doubt Nate—but I also wasn’t naive enough to ignore the fact that he was still very happy to lean back in his proverbial seat and let me drive when it was convenient for him.

  When it was time for us to take the lead, I was only too happy to bash in some shambler skulls that got in our way. That part of my life had always been so simple. When had everything else gotten so fucking complicated?

  Chapter 14

  As the day dragged on, the weather soon got worse, light snow falling between icy gusts of wind slicing across the few exposed parts of my face. One might have figured that with visibility dropping as the conditions worsened, the shamblers would have called it a day, but the opposite was true. The early darkness seemed to trigger their nocturnal roaming behavior—as Red liked to call it—ending with us encountering way more than I felt the lot of us was equipped to handle without using firearms, which would have likely called down several hundreds more on us. So sneaking around and backtracking it was, until even Bucky seemed to have had enough of making me suffer and called for an early night, a good five miles short of where we should have made camp. By then I was tired and miserable enough to stop caring about the emotional malaise my conversation with Red had thrown me into, but I all too soon was reminded of that when it was first watch shift for me again, and I had no additional cause for paranoia than the predators possibly lurking beyond the few feet I could see.

  The third time my perimeter round made me cross paths with Hill, I paused, waiting for him to catch up with me. “What’s up?” he asked, sounding about as enthusiastic as I felt.

  “Got a question for you, if you have a minute.”

  He chuckled softly as he checked his watch. “Still seventy-two more left. Ask away. Anything beats staring into the darkness.”

  Considering that a bunch of shamblers could have danced right by us and we wouldn’t have seen them, that sounded less like a security hazard than it probably was. I wondered how to approach the topic, but Hill didn’t really strike me as someone who would appreciate me pussy-footing around it for long. “It’s about something Richards said to me earlier today.” I cast him a sidelong glance, waiting for some reaction that would indicate that I was right in guessing that Red had made sure to get me alone, but Hill gave me nothing except for a brief shudder when the wind hurled yet more sleet in our faces. “He said that, back in the spring when we popped up on the radar, everyone got very excited about me still being alive.”

  I’d expected to have to explain in more detail, but Hill’s low laughter spared me that. “Ah, I see. He tried to butter you up with that tale about you being our savior, or something like that?”

  I couldn’t hold back a snort. “More like, guilt-trip me. But yes, that.”

  “And now you want me to tell you that he was bullshitting you? Because I’m so much more trustworthy than the brass,” he surmised. I paused and looked away, pretending to peer into the darkness, but there was nothing to see.

  “So far, you haven’t lied to me.”

  “Got no cause whatsoever to,” Hill responded, faintly amused. “Tell you what, girl, I’m the wrong one to ask about that. Haven’t needed a savior myself in over fifteen years, and that’s not going to change any time soon.”

  “But you were there,” I insisted, biting my lip as I hoped I wasn’t making a fool of myself. “I’m terrible with names but a lot better with faces. I think I remember you from that damn intersection, when I went with Miller and what remained of his guys while the rest of the scientists went with Hamilton and the lot of you.”

  “Good catch,” he admitted. “Ever second-guessed that decision?”

  I hesitated, but then shook my head. It was only fair that I gave a little myself. “No. I’m aware that everyone thinks I should, but I haven’t.”

  “Good.” When he saw the surprise on my face, he snorted. “If you doom yourself, you should do it with conviction and without looking back. Yeah, I was there. I was at that factory as well, and before that, I would have been part of the group to bring you up to Raynor’s fortress. What’s the part that has your panties all in a twist? Why none of us is planning on going against our orders and taking any perceived or real misgivings out on you now?”

  “Honestly, yes, but that’s not what I was wondering about. Just checking how much bullshit Richards is trying to feed me.”

  Hill kicked at some rocks in our way, the smaller ones not even skipping as they landed in the thickening blanket of snow on the ground. “Was there some excitement about them finding you again? Yes, but the LT likely exaggerated that in favor of, how did you put it? Guilt-tripping you. We’d lost so many smart people by then that anyone popping back up on the radar was good news, but what’s all that to grunts like us? Just more work to either guard or play fetch. The part he likely left out was that who else was still living and breathing caused way more of a stir. After running the show for over seven months, Hamilton had been sure there wouldn’t be a contender for top dog around anymore who’d be able to go toe to toe with him. And not only did your husband survive, but also his two favorite attack dogs, and a whole bunch of other very capable people. How to approach them was what held up command before they settled on sending us out to meet you all head-on. Raynor wanted you, and from what I hear, some of the brass was ready to extend a really sweet deal to the rest of your people to immediately double our strike team capabilities. Strangely enough, it was a kill order that we got the day we set up shop in that factory. So either some messages had gotten mixed up, or…”

  He trailed off there, giving me a bright grin. I could easily fill in the blanks.

  “Or someone expected to meet too much opposition to be able to fulfill their orders,” I finished for him. Which was exactly what had happened—predictably so.

  “We still would have done our best to keep you alive,” he offered, as if in afterthought. “But not because they thought you were their savior.”

  The heavy layers of my gear weren’t enough to stave off the chills that state
ment sent down my spine. “So what changed? Because if I’m honest, I’m only moderately concerned that one of you might shiv me as I take a dump, but that’s about it.”

  Hill gave me a look that told me I should already know the answer. “You kicked our asses, that’s what. The brass might be so very fond of all those fancy words, but the grunts only care about one thing.”

  “Getting fed?”

  That got me a loud laugh. Something rustled in the bushes, making us both tense and wait for it to come hurling at us, but it must have been some small animal, scurrying off.

  “That, too,” Hill said. “Two things then. Showing strength is always a good shortcut. The likes of Richards and Hamilton would never admit it, but a lot of us gave you props for that stunt you successfully pulled. Or Miller pulled and you did a good job pretending like it was you, who cares. Not everyone was on board with the shit that started up over the summer, least of all kidnapping women but also slaughtering the lot of you scavengers on sight, without even offering you a chance to join us. And while many might hate your guts because your crusade got friends of theirs killed, it was the type of show of strength that also gets you some admiration, like an enemy that you know is worth fighting, and maybe even losing to. You were the antithesis to everything, good same as bad. That’s why we’ve had a small problem with deserters since the summer, and also why Wilkes over at his Silo has his hands full with extra mouths to feed. He might not want that job, but he’s shown that he’s more of a mediator than contender. After getting their teeth kicked in, some people like to be cautious and wait out the storm until it blows over.” He paused, then asked, “Want some advice?”

  “Sure, hit me with it.” I was certain I wouldn’t like what he was about to tell me, but it wasn’t like I could back down now.