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

by Angel Lawson

  He charges forward and we pass windowless rooms, including one with a warning sign over the door. “Is this the firing range?”

  “Yeah, along with weapons R&D,” he replies, stopping at a corner. He peers around the side. He jerks back and holds his gun in two hands. A line of workers, identified by their uniforms, race down the hallway. Over the alarm, my ears are barraged by a series of rapid shots. Two gun-toting, black-clad Hybrids follow the workers. I have enough sense to duck and hide.

  …This is not a test. This is a code one emergency… the voice drones on and I exhale when the Hybrids pass. Rowe reaches into his pocket and offers me something. “Take it.”

  I hold out my hand and raise an eyebrow at the weight. It’s a gun. “You trust me with this?”

  “Like I said, if you want to get out here alive you’re going to need to follow me.” He looks at me. “I’m one of the good guys, Alexandra.”

  I shake my head and check the gun for bullets. This guy has no clue that there are no good guys anymore. Just different shades of bad.

  We go the opposite direction of those that just passed, edging down the hallway. Training rooms line the hall and a hint of copper lingers in the air. Rowe tenses and hairs prickle on my neck. We turn the corner.

  “Oh God,” I say, covering my mouth, trying not to vomit. Two dying fighters are sprawled on the floor. But that’s not what makes my stomach recoil. Four severely decayed Eaters gnaw at their flesh, so consumed by their need to spread the infection they don’t even notice us.

  Rowe takes them out, including the Fighters, with a bullet to the brain before I can react. More blood spills on the floor, pooling under the bodies, and the stench is horrific, amplified by the sterile environment. The alarm shrieks overhead but I hear more howls from more Eaters nearby. Raising my weapon, I search down the hall and see dozens milling around an open door.

  “What’s happening down here? I don’t understand.”

  Rowe gestures to the sparring room ahead. “The Hybrids have taken over the upper floors. The basement had to be compromised for us to make our escape.”

  “Who let them in? How did they get here?” But I know Eaters are brought in for fights in the room in front of us and there are holding areas behind the room. “This was intentional?”

  “It was necessary to buy the Director time to escape. She placed you in the basement quarantine cells for a reason.”

  There’s nothing like the feeling of being one step behind while a bunch of infected monsters wait between you and possible freedom.

  Rowe continues, “The only way out is through the tunnels leading to that room.”

  “That’s the only way out? Seriously?”

  “Take your pick, Alexandra. You can go back upstairs and join them and by join them I mean become one of them. Or you fight it out with me and we meet up with your sister and get the hell out of here.”

  “Become one? They’re transforming everyone into Hybrids?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  I eye him skeptically. “How do you know?”

  “Because I’ve been collecting intel from Chloe’s team of rogue fighters for a while now.”

  “You’ve been playing both sides?” But I knew there were others. The Resistance was aware of spies—people like Wyatt. With zero hesitation, I take a gun from the fallen Fighter and pry the bloody blade from his hand. He tried. I’ll try harder.

  “My sister is waiting for us?”

  “On the other side of the tunnel.”

  “The tunnel, I assume, is on the other side of all those Eaters.”

  “Affirmative.”

  I look to the ceiling and brush my hair out of my eyes, muttering a sarcastic thanks, because God forbid she make this easy on me. “Whatever,” I say to Rowe, who is eyeing the incoming Eaters like it’s just another day in his life. “I’m ready when you are.”

  One thing is for certain, I think as I follow him toward certain death, I’m determined to get to the end of the tunnel just to kick Jane’s ass.

  *

  I take an elbow to the jaw and dirty hands claw at my arms. Everything is too loud, the never-ending alarm, the bone chilling howls of the Eaters and the painful ringing in my ears from the explosive device Rowe detonated so we could get through the door.

  “Get off!” I scream, kicking a filthy Eater. She looks ancient in her housecoat and curlers, but who can tell anymore. There’s nothing but a haze of monsters between me and my destination. The woman flings backwards, toppling over the feet of the Eater next to her and I stab her in the temple, the knife pushing into her brain and the murderous light extinguishes from her black spidery eyes.

  “I told you to leave me alone,” I mutter. In a quick move, I slash the throat of the lunging man behind her and then the same to two others.

  It’s merely a drop in the bucket and assessing the space between us and the tunnel leading to the ring, the odds aren’t looking good. My muscles ache and my stupid shoes slip on the floor. I don’t have pockets and my pants are held up by elastic. I ran out of bullets five minutes ago. If Jane wanted me to get out of here alive she could have dressed me for the occasion.

  “I’m fading,” I yell at Rowe, who’s fighting like a machine. He spins and points his gun at me.

  “Down!” He shouts and I duck as he fires twice over my head. Two Eaters fall hard to the ground, one tipping into me, and pinning me to the ground.

  Rowe tosses a body off of me and helps me off the ground. “Get to the cage. I’ll cover you.”

  An Eater’s veiny hand reaches for his shoulder, grabbing him from behind and in a flash he’s back in the fight, elbowing the man with a sharp crack to the face.

  My feet slide, looking for traction, but I run as fast and as hard as I can. The Eaters are slow moving and there are so, so many, but I hear the crack of Rowe’s gun taking them out one by one. They fall like amusement park targets and I jump over arms and legs and decapitated heads strewn on the floor. I don’t know how long he can last—how far his bullets will go—but I’m determined not to waste his effort. The cage is close and I just have to get to the doors on the side.

  “The ladder,” Rowe shouts, his voice urgent. He’s right behind me and I frantically look for the steps that lead into the ring.

  “It’s not there!”

  “Shit.” He pushes past me, dragging him with me. The Eaters are less now. Rowe did a good job of cleaning them out and with the bodies blocking their path it takes them longer to get to us. We have a minute. Probably only a minute, but I’ll take it.

  “Once we’re inside,” Rowe says, breathing heavily, “the tunnel is in the back. It’s been cleared and it’s a straight shot down to the docks.”

  “The docks?” He offers me a boost and I put my foot in his hands. He lifts me to the small ledge leading to the door.

  “Yep--right out on the river.”

  My fingers slip on the latch, oily with blood and ooze, but I get it open and step inside. Rowe jumps on the ledge, Eaters lunging for his feet. He stands and slams the clear Plexiglass door in one monster’s face.

  The alarm and recorded voice come to an abrupt stop, leaving us in relative quiet. My mind is thankful, although the chorus of Eater moans on the other side of the glass is another reminder we can’t rest.

  Well, maybe for a minute.

  My back is against the solid, clear wall, ignoring the hands and banging as they try desperately to get to us. My feet leave bloody footprints on the white canvas floor.

  “I can’t believe we made it,” I say, exhaling.

  “That was tough, but we’ve got to get moving. It took longer than expected.”

  I nod, gaining the energy to make the final journey. I move slower than I’d like on my weary legs, and when the back door opens suddenly, Rowe steps protectively in front of me.

  Cole stands in the doorway, looking crisp and official in his Hybrid uniform. I’m so tired I don’t even react, which is unwise because he pulls out a gun an
d without warning, shoots Rowe square in the chest. The man drops his own weapon and falls to his knees and then on his side.

  I gasp and drop to my knees, taking his hands.

  “Never stop, Alexandra.” The light flickers out of his eyes. I stare helplessly at the Fighter on the floor.

  “What the hell, Cole? He was helping me!”

  He holsters his gun and walks toward me. “It’s not his job to help you. He disobeyed direct orders from the Commander.”

  “The Commander?” I don’t know why I even asked. The answer is obvious.

  He steps over Rowe’s body like it’s nothing but a stain on the floor. “Chloe is in charge now and this man is a traitor. It was my duty to eliminate the threat.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” I have no idea where this is going, but I keep my eye on his gun and my grip tight on my knife. “You said you were here to infiltrate and keep fighting, but that was a lie. You have no intention of stopping your sister, do you?”

  “No.”

  I know there’s no reasoning with a Hybrid. They follow their leader’s every command. This is why the flaws in Chloe’s vaccine caused a problem. Too much independent thought on top of the hyped-up rage and aggression. I stare at Cole. The man who protected me and took care of me for miles and miles of hardship and battle. I know he’s in there—under the dark Hybrid eyes—beneath the lean muscular body.

  “So you’re taking me back to her?” I ask, avoiding his eyes. It hurts to see him like this. “You’ll vaccinate me with that poison and turn me into another droid? Because I’d rather die, Cole. I would. I would rather turn into one of those nasty monsters out there and roam aimlessly though life until the birds and the bugs finish me off.”

  He reaches for me and I have a flash of earlier in my cell. I’d wanted him then, but it was before I knew what he’d become. I twist and fight to stay out of his grasp but he’s too big. Too tall. He pulls me against his chest and I stare at Rowe’s unmoving body on the floor.

  “There are forces at play that I can’t explain,” he whispers in my ear. “You’ll understand one day.”

  His fingers grapple with mine and I feel the familiar grip of my hatchet. I look up and for the briefest moment, I spy the man I once trusted.

  “We’re responsible for our family,” he says. “Even now. You take care of yours and I’ll take care of mine.”

  With a move so fast it could only be performed by the genetically enhanced, he forces my hand, ramming the hatchet blade into his gut. I step back, holding the bloody weapon in my hand.

  “Cole!”

  He bends, clutching his stomach. Bright red blood pours through his fingers and he glances up at my stunned, unmoving face, his hair backlit like an angel’s halo.

  “Run, Alexandra.”

  I run.

  Alexandra’s story continues in thrilling next installment, The Girl Who Kissed the Sun, Book 4 of The Death Fields Series. Read below for a sneak peek at the first section of The Girl Who Kissed the Sun!

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  THANK YOU!

  To all the amazing readers, reviewers and supporters of TGW books! I can’t tell you how much of a whirlwind the last three months have been. This series, one that started off as a struggle for me, has turned into the most inspired series I’ve worked on so far. I am having a ball creating this world and helping Alexandra and her friends fight the evils of this world. I just want you to know that TGW #1 was seriously the little engine that could until I recovered and rebooted it earlier this year. I’m so happy it found a group that appreciates and enjoys dystopian/post-apocalyptic/zombie fests like I do.

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  See you in a few weeks!

  Angel

  Alexandra

  Savannah River, Georgia

  Run.

  That was the last word Cole said to me as he bled out on the sparring ring floor. He’d done the damage himself, pushing the hatchet handle into my hands before slicing his stomach like a fish.

  His command rings in my ears, haunting me as we travel up the cold Savannah River where my sister’s small boat carries us away from the Chloe-led Hybrid takeover at the Fort. The sharp wind slaps my cheeks, freezing the blood from the Eaters that Rowe and I had killed in our attempt to escape.

  “He’s dead,” I yell at my sister over the wind and hum of the engine. “Rowe. He died protecting me.”

  Cole shot him without remorse, rambling about betrayal and orders from his new Commander—the new Commander of the genetically modified Hybrid Army, his twin sister Chloe.

  “Did you hear me?” I shout, waiting for a reaction from my dethroned sister to the fact one of her men died, but she continues to look over the water unblinking. For a minute I think she can’t hear me over the noise but that’s not true. She hears. She just doesn’t care.

  Chapter 1

  We take the river as far as it will go, until we enter the wide, smooth waters of Lake Oconee. There, we take our pick of vacation homes, settling on a cedar plank cabin with fewer windows and isolated land.

  Jane brought along three loyal Fighters. Rowe would have been the fourth. One of the men—Jackson—is quiet and efficient. A little bit like Davis, although he’s tall and lanky. He’s quick and precise. He keeps his black hair cut close. His brown eyes are alert.

  Green is nearly the opposite. Pale white skin to contrast Jackson’s dark. He’s short and thick, more muscle than anything else. At least that’s my guess from the cut of his shoulders and chest. I’m caught off guard when he pulls off the black stocking cap and reveals a shock of red hair. It’s like a beacon. He catches me eyeing it and rubs his hand over the flaming hair. “Don’t worry,” he says. “I keep it covered. It’s like a target, right?”

  I smile. I think I like him—he reminds me of Jude.

  The third Fighter is familiar, and when we get off the boat we stare at one another uneasily.

  “It’s been a long time,” Walker says, the first to break the tension. I’d last seen her months ago when we escaped from the Vaccine Center. So much has happened during that time.

  “It has. It’s good to see you.”

  She looks me up and down. “How’s the rest of the team?”

  That’s a question I don’t want to answer. Or think about. I’ve done all I can to keep them out of mind. Cole the Hybrid. Wyatt the maybe-more-than-friend. I think about leaving him with the kids, Devin, Kori, and Garrett, with the hope he can get them somewhere safe. I left Davis, Parker, and Jude at Erwin’s latest camp without a goodbye. I swallow their memories like a lump in my throat.

  “Alive when I left.” I tilt my head. “But that was before I knew about Chloe’s takeover. I’d come to talk some sense into my sister and ran into a coup instead.”

  Her lips twitch. “Not sure if that was bad or good timing.”

  “Me either,” I agree. “How did you end up with Jane?”

  “She brought me in when you guys ran. I thought she was going to execute me for treason. Instead, she made me part of her personal guard.”

  “Keep your enemies close or something like that?” That’s twice that Jane has taken in someone who works
closely with me under her wing. Three if you count Wyatt, although he’s a man with his own mission, so who knows how much influence she had with him.

  “She kept me alive just when things were getting dicey. I’ll do the same for her,” she says, summing up the entirety of Walker’s philosophy on life in two short sentences.

  She tosses me my backpack, the one I left in the SUV when I surrendered.

  “Thanks,” I say, tugging the blanket I found on the boat over my shoulders for warmth, then I head inside the house.

  The chill of late fall clings to the house and it feels colder inside than out. Dust coats every surface, heaviest on items like the flat screen TV hanging uselessly on the wall. The cabin is comfortable though. The owners decorated it nicely and despite the musty smell, it’s free from the stench of death. It doesn’t take long to find what we need. Heavy quilts and canned food in the pantry. A pallet of bottled water in the garage. Jane enters with her nose in the air and a distinct look of distaste on her face. It’s another reminder that she’s never been out in the real post-crisis world and doesn’t know this is as good as it’s going to get.

  It’s going to be a long trip.

  I corner my sister in a small bedroom. She’s staring at herself in the dusty mirror, looking like a lost child. I sit on the edge of the bed and say, “We’re going to have to talk at some point.”

  “I think I’m in shock,” she says, peering into the mirror. “Do I look like I’m in shock?”

  “You look like someone who’s never stepped foot outside of her fortress during the apocalypse, Jane. Welcome to the world you created. It sucks and you haven’t even seen the worst of it.”

  “Like the infected?” she asks, catching my eye. I recognize curiosity more than fear.

  “Yeah, sure. They’re not awesome.” I sigh and run my hand over the cotton patches on the quilt. I’m cold and tired enough that I’d like to curl up underneath it and take a nap. “There are other things, worse things, believe it or not. Like the Hybrids, who are so strong that they make a rabid Eater look like a piece of cake. Then there’s the humans—you remember them, right? They’re angry and scared and many lost all ethical sense when society fell. They’re terrifying.”