The Girl Who Kicked Ass: (The Death Fields Book 3)

by Angel Lawson

  I link my hand with Wyatt’s, swapping our standard roles. “Come on,” I tell him, pulling him one step further. I’ve got my eye on a faded yellow house on the corner. It’s up on a hill and a rusted, waist-high, chain link fence surrounds the property. I almost cry when I see the bar-covered windows. This was a bad neighborhood before the infection and these people had already built their fortress.

  If we can get behind the fence and up the cement stairs leading to the porch, we may be okay.

  “Alex,” he huffs next to me, arm holding his bruised ribs. He’s falling behind and it’s not supposed to end like this. He stops, wobbling on his feet and takes aim with his gun, firing it into the mob chasing us. Three Eaters fall. A dozen more lunge forward.

  “No!” I shout as much to him as the Eater nipping at my heels. I stop and swing my hatchet, clipping her along the ear. Blood oozes out and she screams. His next shot runs clear through her forehead. It buys us a blip of time and I say, “Run, Wyatt. We’ve got to run.”

  “Do you trust me?” he asks.

  I don’t even have to think.

  “Absolutely.”

  The house is only twenty feet away. He points to his back and says, “Grab that case,” he says, loading bullets into his gun while we continue to move forward.

  I yank off the black case and he takes it, checking the contents. “Run that way as far as you can. Just run and count to ten. Then throw that at the center of the horde.” He reaches into the case once again and says, “Count to ten. Run!”

  We both bolt, taking off in opposite directions. He heads to the house and I pray he makes it. Without him holding me back I’m faster, and I race down the street counting down. When I reach ten I stop and spin, throwing the case back at the horde chasing me. Down the street I see Wyatt do the same, the glint of metal flying through the air. I reach for my gun but feel the jolt of the ground as it shudders, twin fireballs exploding on the road. I’m flung backwards from the force, my hands scraping along the pavement. I’m only down for a second, though, because the now-flaming Eaters continue toward me. My only saving grace is the debris and bodies littering the road that slow them down.

  I spy Wyatt climbing the steps on his hands and knees, trying to get up to the porch of the house on the hill. Dodging the fiery remains of decimated Eaters, I make a final run for the property. I flip the gate latch but scream when the metal burns my hands. I tug my sleeves down to secure it back in place and slowly make my way up the steep incline.

  At the top step I lower myself next to Wyatt, who looks close to passing out. I survey the scene on the street below. “I guess that’s one way to escape an Eater horde,” I say, resting back on my elbows. “You okay?”

  He nods, eyes drooping. “Yeah, or at least, I will be.”

  His shoulder leans into mine and I do the same. Night settles in and no one comes after us. No other Eaters arrive and the little neighborhood reverts back to the quiet, empty world we’ve become familiar with. Together, shoulder to shoulder, we watch the fires burn.

  Chapter 22

  The next morning, we’re lounging on the plaid sofa in the living room when there’s a knock on the front door of the yellow house.

  “Expecting someone?” Wyatt says, his eyebrow raised in question.

  “Actually, yeah.”

  He doesn’t expect that answer, but he wouldn’t, so it’s not surprising when I see the black metal of his gun in his hand.

  I frown at the gun but just say, “Don’t shoot unless I say so, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Pushing back the green and orange floral curtains, I peek out the bars on the windows. Three skinny kids wait on the front porch. The tallest, Devin, has a large gun propped on his shoulder and he looks out over the carnage from the night before. I quickly flip the series of locks on the door and open it wide.

  “Get in,” I tell the children, not hiding my smile. I shut and secure the door. “I was hoping you’d find us.”

  “You blew up the town. It wasn’t hard.” Devin looks around. “Where are the other people? That big dude and the Chinese guy and the girl?”

  “Paul is Korean and they’re not with me. I’m here with my friend, Wyatt, but only because he followed me.” I jerk my thumb to the living room behind us and all three raise their weapons.

  The children gape at the man on the couch and I assess him through their eyes. He looks no better than he did two days ago, although a bit of the swelling has subsided. The bruises on his face are now yellowing, giving him a sickly look. His gun is pointed back at theirs.

  “Put the guns down,” I tell them. I shoot Wyatt a look. “All of you.”

  He lowers his weapon but keeps his eye on the kids. “Alex, can you come here for a minute?”

  I go over to my pack that I’d left by the front door the night before and dig out a couple of protein bars I’d found in the bunker. “Here, eat these and I’ll be back.”

  They snatch the food out of my hands and tear into the packaging. The girl, Kori, looks up at me and says thank you around a mouthful. I enter the living room and sit next to Wyatt on the couch.

  “Care to explain?”

  I tell him about meeting the kids the first time around and how I’d made a mental vow to come back and at least check on them. “They have the SUV locked up in the garage. I brought them some food and supplies. I’m going to trade it to them to get the car back.”

  “The car?” he frowns. “Driving that SUV into the cleared area to get to The Fort is suicide. They have check points and various gates to get through. It’s a completely different place than when you left. She’s got it locked tight.”

  “I know.”

  “Then what the hell are you doing?” But he knows. Realization dawns and he leans back into the corner of the couch and sighs. “You want to get caught.”

  “It’s my best way inside.”

  “You won’t get back out. You won’t get him back out.”

  “I’m tired of running,” I confess. “I don’t want to fight Chloe again. I need to see Jane and see if I can at least reason with her. Erwin isn’t going to back down. You heard him. He’s going to keep building and growing his own Army and we’ll all die.” He opens his mouth to argue but I stop him. “You told me to play nice. To join her movement. I tried, and well, you know how that turned out. I did whatever everyone else wanted me to do. I helped for the Resistance. I fought, killed, and sabotaged. But I owe it to my father, my dead mother, and the rest of the world to try to knock some sense into my sister.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s a terrible plan.”

  “I didn’t invite you to come, remember?”

  He catches her eye and holds my gaze. “Yeah, I remember.”

  “I suggest you rest up for a couple of days and get these kids back to the Center. Take them to Erwin. He may be a vengeful bastard but he has the resources to take care of them.” I look down the hall and watch them on the floor. They’re rummaging through the rest of the food in my pack. “God knows how they lasted this long. It’s only a matter of time before Jane and the Hybrids push this way.”

  I move to stand but Wyatt catches my hand and pulls me back down on the couch. We’re thigh to thigh and he brushes my hair over my shoulder, resting his hand on the back of my neck. My skin burns from his touch. “You’re something else, Alexandra Ramsey.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re crazy and impulsive and I’m starting to suspect everyone in your family has a little bit of a God complex.” I frown because he’s not headed where I expected. He runs his thumb gently along my jaw. “But if anyone can stop her, it’s you.”

  “You really think so?”

  He doesn’t reply, because no, he doesn’t think so, but this is the best Wyatt can give me. He understands a mission and carrying the boulder of failure. He knows about righting wrongs. This burden may not be mine alone to take on, but I may just be the only one that can do it.

  *

  Wyatt
rests a hand on the back of the SUV and says, “Unless you hit a snag, the gas should get you to at least the first gate.” Then for the third time today he asks, “You sure you want to do this alone?”

  “They’ll kill you, Wyatt. You and I both know it.”

  “Oh yeah, that traitor thing.” He rubs the beard growing thick on his chin. “I forgot about that.”

  A shout from the porch catches our attention but it’s just Devin talking to his brother and sister. If I’m reading the scene right, they’re in the middle of reenacting the Eater inferno from two days before. “Thanks for taking care of them,” I say. “We can’t leave them out here.”

  “You sure? They’ve done an okay job so far.” But I know he’s joking and that in the last twenty-four hours he’d developed a soft spot for them. Particularly Garrett, the youngest boy.

  We stand by the car. I don’t know about him, but I feel awkward. We’ve parted before but never like this. It’s always been in the heat of the battle and usually he just vanishes. We made a deal a long time ago to stick together. It was the right deal for us to make when we made it. It kept us both alive, but time and circumstances have changed us.

  “You’ll stick with Erwin?” I ask, because I want to know where he’ll be if I make it out of the Fort alive.

  “For a while at least. Now that my ties with Jane are severed it’s probably the best place for me.” His eyes bore into mine but it’s not the time or place to open lingering questions. “Don’t be afraid to use everything you’ve got, hear me?”

  “Yeah, I hear you.” I look up into his clear hazel eyes. “Good luck, Wyatt.”

  I side step him to get in the front seat but he cuts me off, slipping an arm around my waist. He pulls me close and I’m engulfed in the heat of his chest—the warmth of his arms around my back. He doesn’t smell good but it’s not awful. It’s familiar. It’s the smell of the body that fought with me. Killed for me. Kept the monsters at bay. I clench my arms around him and squeeze tight.

  “Go,” he says, releasing me. He nearly shoves me in the car and refuses to make further eye contact. I get inside and he shuts the door, stepping back to the sidewalk.

  It’s not until he’s out of sight that I say a quick prayer of hope that I may see him again.

  Chapter 23

  For once, I don’t hit a snag.

  The gate stands tall before me and the fence stretches across the highway through the tree line, as far as I can see. It’s built from trucks and cars and antiquated school buses that make me think of the three kids I just left behind.

  The structure towers over me as I turn off the car as directed by the Fighter standing guard. His gun glints in the daylight and before he can offer me whatever standard greeting they’ve been told to give, I inform him, “My name is Alexandra Ramsey. I’m here to see my sister.”

  He blinks once and starts shouting, “Get on the ground! Face down! Don’t make a move!” I follow orders but he shoves me to the ground anyway. My cheek grates against the pavement and his boot presses against my back. I’m frisked for weapons that I explain to him are in the car. Additional Fighters pour out of the gate searching for my back-up, guns raised, fingers on the trigger. They’re expecting a battle, but soon enough they’ll realize it’s just me.

  A crow flies overhead followed by a pair of hawks, all witness to my fate. I’m lifted from the ground by my neck, my car and belongings confiscated. The gates slowly open and I’m pushed inside.

  In five minutes and without firing a shot, I go from Wanted to Captured.

  *

  Handcuffed and chained, I’m shoved into the backseat of a Jeep and driven to the main entrance of The Fort. We pass through miles of cleared areas and I’m stunned with the improvements Jane has made in such a short period of time. The city streets are clean. Civilians walk up and down the sidewalks with purpose. I spot a functioning school and more than one church has its front doors open.

  “You guys have been working hard,” I say to the stone-faced Fighter. He doesn’t bother with a reply.

  We pass through a second but smaller fence line, and the Fighters working the gate stare at me as we pass. The best way to describe it is it’s as though they’re gawking at me like I’m a celebrity. I hold up my bound hands and wave.

  A few minutes later the Jeep approaches the more familiar barricade surrounding PharmaCorp. It’s been improved. Less makeshift. More grand. It’s fitting that my sister’s Fortress would require something more lavish. For the first time, I acknowledge the foolishness of my plan. My sister, The Director, views herself as the Queen of this mighty fortress. Her ego must be nearly impenetrable.

  The vehicle lurches to a stop and we’re surrounded by Fighters. They jerk me from the back, flanking me from all sides. “You guys are significantly overestimating my skills,” I joke. I’m weaponless and restrained.

  AKA: Screwed.

  We go through a small door built into the fence and I’m ushered directly into quarantine. Female guards watch as I strip down to my Erwin-issued gray underpants and tank and my clothes are tossed in the burn bin. I step behind the curtain and wait for the nurse.

  “Alex?”

  “Amber?” I see the familiar blonde that I met months ago when I first came to PharmaCorp. She was stationed at the Vaccine Center with us before our escape. To be honest, I’m a little surprised she’s still alive. “What are you doing here?”

  “I got transferred back a few weeks ago.” She eyes me carefully. “I heard they were looking for you.”

  “Not anymore.”

  She starts her evaluation, but we both know I’m fine. Before she sends me to the shower she whispers. “I heard about the Center. We’re not supposed to know but we had a huge number of injured personnel come through about a week ago. If you see Wyatt, thank him for me.”

  “What for?”

  “He’s the one that got me moved off that assignment. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he saved my life.”

  I smile. “You’ll probably see him before I do but yeah, that sounds like him.”

  “Good luck,” she tells me and again leans close. “Something’s going on around here. I’m not sure what, but people are nervous.”

  “The Hybrids?”

  She shivers. “So far they keep us separated. The Hybrids are strictly for military purposes but increasingly I’m seeing them around the civilian areas.”

  “I guess they’re not exactly suited for medical or childcare.”

  “Yeah or serving food in the cafeteria.” She snorts. “But seriously, something is different.”

  “Have you seen my sister?”

  “Not like we used to. No more community meetings.” She shrugs and hands me a towel. “It’s probably nothing and I’m just way out of the loop. But it’s a feeling I’m getting.”

  I shower, happy to wash the dirt and grime off my body. I’m covered in soot and dirt. Blood is caked beneath my fingers. The last week washes off of me and even with the dread in my stomach, I feel better by the time I put on a fresh set of clothes.

  I expected to be given the same uniform as everyone else but not today. I’m dressed in a dull gray shirt and plain blue cotton pants. Flimsy, slide on slippers finish the prison look, and it’s clear as we exit the quarantine building and head to a tunnel I’m unfamiliar with, that’s exactly where I’m headed.

  Chapter 24

  My cell is part of the laboratory quarantine system on one of the basement levels of PharmaCorp. There are no windows and the doors bolt shut from the outside. I have a mattress on the floor and a stainless steel sink and toilet in the corner, connected to the Fort’s extensive plumbing system. Meals come three times a day, and after two days I’m not sure if there are other prisoners down here. So far I’ve only seen a series of rotating guards.

  There’s a small sconce light next to the door but it seems to be on a motion timer. If I’m still for too long, the light flicks off and I’m just left with the small strip that comes from und
er the crack in the door. I don’t mind. I use the time to sleep. Surviving the apocalypse is exhausting and I feel safer behind this locked door than I have anywhere else in a long time. Maybe it’s knowing I’m in the belly of my enemy. Or maybe I’m just too tired to care. I do know that I have no desire to escape, and even though I tell this to the guards, they still treat me like I’m a level one threat.

  I’m on my eighth meal when I hear the bolt slide. The door opens but I don’t stop chewing the hard piece of bread. “Get up,” the guard says. I don’t recognize him from before.

  I grab the three pieces of chicken off my tray and shove one piece in my mouth and tuck the others up my sleeve. You never know when you’ll get your next meal.

  At the end of the long hallway we step into a waiting freight elevator. I’m still leery of riding up and down in the enclosed boxes. Electricity isn’t reliable anymore—even here—and as we climb higher and higher my stomach churns with nerves.

  I exhale when the car slows and we exit on a long, windowless hallway. The walls are painted a stark white and the floor carpeted in a similar shade. I think for a moment that I’m just in another cell, but I finally make out the door blended into the wall at the far end of the hallway. There are no other doorways, no wall décor and I’m utterly confused when the guard nudges me forward. “Walk to the door and wait.”

  I stare at her. “Wait for what?”

  “Just wait.”

  She steps back into the elevator.

  “You’re leaving?” I ask, but the shiny, steel doors close between us and I’m alone. I reach for the button pad and am shocked not to find one. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the door at the end of the hall. Out of options, I walk to the end of the hall and slide to the ground, sitting on the plush carpet, and for once, do as I’m told.

  *

  I wait for so long that I’m startled when I hear the click and I jump, banging my head against the wall. A thin line of drool is wet on my chin and yeah, I fell asleep in the hall of whiteness. I do manage to wipe my face and get to a standing position before the door opens fully. I’m not exactly surprised to see Jane standing in the opening.