Territory of the Dead (Book 2): Phase Two: Evaluate

by Rose Wynters

  “Tabitha,” a man's voice hissed, close to my ear. I jerked guiltily, my skin prickling with heat. I'd been so lost in the monstrosity of my thoughts I had completely missed the conversation around me.

  I looked up to see three pairs of eyes watching me. Two of them were concerned, one just looked irritated. “I asked if you were feeling anything unusual?” Kellan repeated, checking my eyes for any abnormalities.

  “I'm fine,” I replied, brushing his question away. My parents looked relieved at my words. Nodding at the IV, I asked, “Do you think we could take this out?”

  Kellan nodded. Straightening my arm, he inspected it before pulling off the tape that held it in place. “You were dehydrated, dangerously so, but I think you'll be fine. This might sting for a second,” he warned, an instant before pulling the needle out.

  Immediately, he pressed a cotton ball against my arm. “Hold this in place. I'm going to dispose of the needle.”

  I smiled up at my parents, glad to have it gone. “Everything is fine,” I told them, despite the fact that I felt the complete opposite. Physically, I was okay, but our reality was eating away at me. I decided to change the subject. “How's Jayden doing?”

  Mom sat down on the edge of the bed, a happy smile on her face. “He's fine, but he's pretty eager to see you.”

  Dad chuckled before adding, “That's an understatement. The boy has almost worn the floors thin, pacing in front of the door here.”

  The thought filled me with a pleasurable warmth. It was flattering and touching. I tried not to let it go to my head, though. When it came to Jayden, my feelings were complicated.

  Kellan walked back into the room. “Would you mind if I talked to Tabitha by herself? There are some things we need to go over.”

  My dad shot him a puzzled look, but he nodded. My mom patted my leg again before standing up. Silently, I groaned when she smiled at Kellan with watery eyes. “I didn't have the chance to say this before but thank you for saving our little girl.”

  Kellan's lips twitched as he watched me in amusement. His response was simple, though. “It was my pleasure.”

  My parents walked out of the room, my mom shutting the door closed behind her. I swallowed again, but this time in nervousness. I wasn't afraid of Kellan but being alone with him was a bit unsettling. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  “Straight to the point, I see,” he drawled out softly, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. “I like that in a woman.”

  “I just bet you do,” I retorted, surprising myself by saying it out loud. As a rule, I wasn't quite so outspoken. His eyebrow arched up, but he remained silent. It was obvious Kellan expected me to continue.

  Trying not to sound snappish, I added, “I've noticed you're awfully abrupt with people. I know we are all under a lot of pressure, but I don't think that's it. If I were to guess, I'd say you've always been that way. It wouldn't hurt to slow down some and actually say something that isn't an order or a demand. We're not in the military, you know?”

  To my surprise, Kellan chuckled. Throwing his large right foot over his left knee, he leaned back in his chair and studied me. “For an eighteen-year-old, you're pretty astute. And more honest than a lot of women twice your age.”

  And he was pretty clever. It didn't escape my notice that he hadn't confirmed or denied my assessment. Flattery was nice, but it wasn't enough to make me lose my train of thought. “And another thing, how come you've never told us your last name? I mean, the only people I know that go by one name are singers or actresses. Are you trying to be like Madonna or what?”

  “Does my last name really matter?” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “How many men do you know named Kellan, especially now? It's not likely you'll get me confused. When you need to know it, I'll tell you. Don't hold your breath, though.”

  He had a point. Kellan wasn't a man to be forgotten. I rolled my eyes. “There you go again, being abrupt. Just say what you have to say. I'm eager to get out of this bed and out of this room.”

  “To Jayden?” He asked, his voice suddenly hard. There was a tension in the air that hadn't been there a moment before.

  “Yes,” I replied slowly, not getting it. “I would like to see Jayden.”

  His blue eyes narrowed on my face. “Tread carefully when it comes to him, Tabitha. Don't rush into anything you'll regret later on.”

  I scoffed at his words. “Who says I'll even live long enough to regret anything, Kellan? You just don't seem to get it. I spent the last few years living for the day I'd graduate from high school. I wasn't one of those popular girls that loved every moment of it. No, I disliked everything about school, from the restrictions that were placed on us, to the boys that were my classmates. I just felt like it was childish, that they were all childish. Maybe I have an old soul, but I was beyond all that. I just didn't belong there, and I knew it.”

  I turned to look out the window. It was bright outside, they sky clear and a beautiful shade of blue. It was a sight I'd seen a million times before, but not one I'd necessarily appreciated. I did now, though. Despite the safety of our current location, our days were numbered.

  “You want to talk to me about regrets, Kellan? I don't need to wait to experience those, I already do. I regret that I've never met someone I really wanted to date. I regret that I've never fallen in love and experienced what that feels like. Instead, I looked forward to graduating. I honestly believed that once I got out of high school, my life would change. I'd meet someone great, and I'd fall in love. But it's not going to happen. Not now.”

  I turned to look back at him. He was watching me with a frown on his face as if my words disturbed him. I blushed. What had I been thinking, telling him all of that? He wasn't exactly the type of person you'd want to confide in... Or the type that would want to hear it. “Okay, my rant is over. Sorry you had to listen to it.”

  To my relief, Kellan didn't acknowledge it, one way or the other. Maybe his abruptness had its benefits, after all. In a deep voice, he got to the point of his visit. “We need to go back to Pleasant.”

  I hadn't been expecting that. “Why?”

  His clean-shaven jaw tightened just a fraction of an inch. If I hadn't been watching him so closely, I would have missed it. “I didn't get everything that I need.”

  “No way,” I refused him, shaking my head. “I'm not going back to the grocery store again.”

  “I don't need you to go to the store,” he replied, his eyes as hard as his voice. “But you will be going, and Jayden will, too. He's a good shot, and he has a good head on his shoulders.”

  “Fine, so Jayden can go,” I agreed, spreading my hands out in front of me. “But why do you want me? I managed to ruin the last trip to Pleasant. I don't see how taking me along would be any benefit.”

  “You didn't ruin the trip,” Kellan retorted, his lips twisting in repugnance. “James did that, which is why he's not going. Had he stuck to the plan, none of that would have happened.”

  He stood up, his shoulders ramrod straight. “Take the rest of the day to rest up, if you need to.”

  At the door, Kellan opened it before turning to look back at me. “To answer your question, though, I'm taking you so I can keep an eye on you.”

  His response stunned me. I stared at him, flabbergasted, as he walked out of the door. Which was what he planned.

  With a mock salute, he closed it behind him, leaving me with even more questions than I'd started out with.

  Chapter 5

  True to Kellan's word, we left the house early that morning. Despite my initial resistance, I had to admit I felt great. Louisiana was quickly moving into summer, but it was still early enough in the day that the heat wasn't oppressive.

  We hadn't left empty-handed. Jayden helped Kellan load the back up with guns and two coolers. One of them was full of water, but the other was full of food. It was impressive. I had to give Kellan credit, he was always prepared.

  The trip back to Pleasant passed quickly. I had t
he whole backseat to myself. Jayden rode up front in the passenger seat, watching the scenery. We were all quiet, but I didn't mind. In fact, I enjoyed it.

  Once again, we drove down Main Street. It was still quiet, the streets littered and in disarray. It was eerie. How long would it take for Mother Nature to recapture the town? I could see the signs of it already, by the weeds that were growing through the sidewalks and the squirrels playing in the open door of the restaurant. Stripped of all human life, Pleasant wasn't so pleasant, not anymore.

  Had I not been staring so hard, I might have missed it. As small as it was, it would have been easy enough to do. As it was, though, I spotted it immediately. Leaning closer to the glass, I asked in disbelief, “Is that a camera?”

  Kellan pulled to a stop. Putting the Suburban into park, he turned around to look at me and demanded, “Where?”

  I pointed to the electric pole at the corner of the street. Positioned where it was, it had an excellent view of the entire area. Frowning, I thought back. “I don't remember seeing it before, but then again, I wouldn't have been looking for it. What about you?”

  “Damn,” Kellan muttered, turning back around in his seat to throw the gear into drive. Already zombies were filtering out of the buildings and side streets, their bodies headed straight in our direction. One of them slammed into the door across from me, his dirty hands and fingers searching for a way in.

  Mashing the accelerator down, Kellan took off. The zombie spun around from the movement, but he didn't fall over. Instead, he followed after us, as did all the rest. Forever searching for food, they would likely follow us to the ends of the earth, if they were able to.

  “No,” he answered me, his eyes flashing with anger in the rear view mirror. “That wasn't there before.”

  “But who could have put it up?” It made no sense to me. “And when I say who, I literally mean it. As far as we know, everyone else is dead. If there are survivors, why would they risk their lives to do that, and how could they even operate it without electricity?”

  Jayden twisted around in his seat to look at me, his expression just as puzzled as mine had to be. “I saw it move, right as we were pulling away. I don't know how or why, but someone is definitely watching Pleasant.”

  I'd been so stunned by the video camera that I hadn't paid attention to our surroundings. To my surprise, we were leaving Pleasant. “Wait,” I called out to Kellan. “Where are we going? You didn't say anything about going any further than town.”

  “Oh, we'll be back,” he assured me, his eyes trained on the road. It was a good thing, too. There were cars everywhere. Most of the doors were open, as if the occupants had ran for it. But others were wrecked, either into each other or the houses along the streets.

  “I want to drive up to the Arkansas border,” Kellan continued, the hard edge in his voice leaving no room for argument. “I have a theory, but I won't know if it's correct until I actually check for myself.”

  I didn't like the idea, not one bit. There were too many things that could go wrong. “Fine,” I bit back, with a hard edge of my own. “But you tell me, what will we do if we get a flat tire? Or the Suburban runs out of gas?”

  Turning my head, I watched the zombies littering the area. Some of them came out of houses as we went by, while others were already on the sidewalks. There were so many of them, and only three of us.

  And they knew a meal was waiting inside. I couldn't began to understand what went on in their minds, but somehow they always knew. “Take a look in your rear view mirror, Kellan. Do you see what I see? Every zombie in the area is following us. Care to take a guess about how many there will be between here and the Arkansas border?”

  “Tabitha,” Jayden admonished, with a heavy sigh. “Don't be so dramatic. I'm sure the Suburban will be fine.”

  “Are you willing to bet your life on that, Jayden?” I retorted, angry that he placed so much faith in a vehicle. “Cars break down all the time. And if this one does, we're dead. There's no way we can escape from hundreds of zombies. Especially, when half of them can run as fast as I can.”

  Jayden glared back at me, but he didn't respond. After a moment, he turned around and faced the front again. That suited me just fine.

  Kellan remained silent throughout my exchange with Jayden, but why should he talk? He'd decided, and he expected us to blindly follow. And I didn't appreciate it. So my next words were directed at him. “The next time you plan a detour, Kellan, leave me out of it. I'm not interested. You should have asked first, but I guess you knew all along I'd refuse. Pull a stunt like this again, and I'm done with you. Period.”

  “So the kitten has claws, does she?” he retorted, watching me in the rear view mirror. Although his voice was soft, there was a warning in his words, but I chose to ignore it. By nature, I didn't anger easily, but he'd crossed the line.

  “Call it what you will,” I waved his words away. “But I mean what I say. I won't be ordered around, especially if it involves something I'm uncomfortable with. If you can't accept that, I'll leave.”

  “And where would you go, hm?” If his voice had held a warning before, it was flat out dangerous now. “Or have you forgotten the last time you were left to yourself and nearly died from heat exhaustion?”

  “I nearly died from another one of your outings,” I corrected him, crossing my arms as I glared at the back of his head. “And once was enough for me.”

  “You nearly died because James detoured from our plan.” Kellan's hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I don't see how any of you made it for the brief time you did before I found you, and you damned near didn't. Don't push me, Tabitha. I might just decide to take you up on your offer and drive you there myself.”

  “That's going a little far, don't you think?” Jayden hissed out, his voice filled with anger. “If you want us gone that bad, why don't you just say so?”

  “Just forget it,” I interrupted them. The last thing we needed was for the two of them to get angry with each other. I was mad enough for all three of us. “I don't want to talk about it anymore.”

  To my relief, they listened. We settled into an uneasy silence. The atmosphere within the vehicle fairly bristled with tension, each of us upset but for different reasons. And that's how we passed our trip, the miles blending into each other as we were lost in our own thoughts.

  Surprisingly, despite my anger and fear, I fell asleep. It was a deep, undisturbed rest, free from the nightmares that had been plaguing me. I'd seen so much horror since the apocalypse, so much death and destruction that I felt like I was in a perpetual state of mourning. How could I not be? With the exception of my family, Amanda, and Jayden, I'd lost everyone I knew and cared about, all in one swoop.

  The Suburban pulled to an abrupt stop. I woke immediately, straightening up from my slumped position against the door. My eyes widened in horror as I slowly leaned forward to stare past them. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight that awaited us.

  We were on the downside of a hill, the front of the Suburban tilted down. The welcome to Arkansas sign still remained, but that was all. Right past that, the road simply disappeared.

  “Oh, my God,” I managed to gasp out. My heart was racing so fast I thought I'd pass out. It wasn't just the road that was gone. It was everything, as far as I could see. And we were so close to it. Another twenty or thirty feet, and we would have been gone, too. At that moment, I simply wasn't capable of saying more.

  “I need to have a look at it,” Kellan informed us, his hand on the door handle. He pushed down the emergency brake with his foot, but he left the Suburban running. “The zombies aren't here, yet, but we don't know how long it will stay that way. Jayden, you cover me.”

  He ignored me, quickly opening the door and stepping out. I followed suit, although it would have been safer to remain inside. Despite my fear of heights, I simply had to see what had happened.

  Kellan walked quickly to the edge, but I inched forward. Even from where I was, I could see how wi
despread the damage was. It was as if the world simply ended at the Arkansas border. For some strange reason, it reminded me of my fifth grade history class. People used to believe the world was flat. I wondered if they had imagined it something similar to the chasm in front of us. If so, it would have been a terrifying thought. No wonder people had been afraid to explore the world even further.

  The road inclined as I got closer. Kellan didn't wait for me. Already at the chasm, he turned to the left and walked alongside it. Swallowing back my fear I finally reached it, but I was careful to stay back several feet.

  The rest of the world wasn't gone, as I'd originally believed, but it might as well have been. A chasm had opened up, and it was huge. At least fifty feet wide, it completely separated us from Arkansas. Looking left to right, I couldn't see where it ended. And that was the scariest thing of all.