"Alex, we need to get out of here," Rafe said quietly.
"Where are my boots?" Alex asked.
Coral pointed toward a box in the corner of her garment section. Alex went to the box and sorted through. She realized it was full of the belongings of the women that had been brought to the brothel and she felt herself go lightheaded at the number of items. Jeans, shorts, T-shirts, purses, bras, and sensible underwear were piled. Alex couldn't even attempt to count the items that would indicate the number of women that had passed through Coral's door. In her mind Alex mourned for the women that had to be stripped to nothing when they were brought to the old woman.
She found her steel toed work boots. Looking around she easily found a pair of socks and she pulled the items on. Her bare feet were rough at the bottom, but luckily weren't ripped open in any place. She went back to join Max and Rafe. Standing there looking at Coral one last time, Alex turned away without saying another word.
"You aren't going to leave me here, are you?" Coral called out.
Alex spun on her heel. She almost was able to leave, without attacking the woman. Maybe Coral was a prisoner in her own way. However, Alex couldn't understand or forget that Coral helped the Noble Lord break the women that came in the door. The women that were kidnapped and forced into services with men that were infected. Alex thought about the full box of belongings stripped from the women brought to Coral for preparation. She could still feel Coral scrubbing at her body with the rough washcloth as she stood nude in a bucket of water.
"You're lucky I'm not throwing you off that balcony. You know, the one soaked with blood from your nephew torturing people?" Alex said.
"I couldn't have stopped him. Please. Help me," Coral begged.
"How many women said that to you, Coral? How many women pleaded with you to help them escape?" Alex demanded, her weak voice sounding more forceful than she thought it could be. Coral had the decency to look away at that question.
"I thought so. You are on your own. Hopefully, the next person you meet doesn't know what you've done here. Our paths should never cross again, because I won't be so kind," Alex said.
This time when she went to the door, Coral stayed silent. Max hesitated as Alex passed her. She kept her gun trained on Coral. Alex stopped at the door when she realized Max wasn't following her. Rafe and Griffin left, watching the landing and stairs to ensure no attack came from where they weren't expecting. Alex turned back to her sister.
"Max, let's go."
"What did she do to you?" Max asked quietly.
Alex looked over toward Coral and saw the woman trembling. She could read Max's intentions as well as Alex could.
"Nothing I'm not going to recover from, as long as we get Marcus and get home," Alex answered.
"She should pay for it, Alex."
"She will. She won't survive on her own," Alex said. She then went to Max and pushed her gun down. She locked eyes with her sister. They shared a moment of understanding before turning and leaving Coral's room. Once they were on the landing, the door slammed shut behind them and the click of a lock could be heard.
"You're right. She has no idea what's coming for her," Max said.
Alex felt better equipped to handle rescuing Marcus. They descended the stairs again and Alex ran forward with a hunting knife to end a solitary infected that wandered the lobby area. Once outside, they retrieved a few additional weapons before running to the vehicles the Duncans came in. Alex's leg screamed in protest as she tried to push herself to keep up with the group. But she knew if she wasn't careful she would rip out her stitches. When she slowed a bit, so did the rest of the group, following her lead and not leaving anyone behind.
They led Alex to a small junkyard where the gate had been closed. Rafe yanked it open and entered. Alex could tell her brother was ready to get back to his Charlie. When they came to three vehicles lined up at the back of the yard, Charlie appeared, a shotgun in her hands. Rafe went to her immediately, touching her face and kissing her on the forehead. A squeal sounded from the back of the white pickup as Sylvia found her injured uncle. Mateo lifted her into the bed, and she bent to hug the older man. They all spoke quietly in Spanish. Alex heard Marcus' name a few times and she wondered if they were debating about helping them get him back.
"So, Callahan's headquarters. You know how to get back there?" Alex asked.
"It's almost a day away, I think. We didn't really drive straight to the compound from there, afraid of leading anyone to our home. But yes, we know where it is," Max answered.
"We go now," Alex said.
"We're coming to help," Mateo said, approaching the meeting between the Duncans.
"You can take a vehicle and go home, Mateo. You rescued your sister. Take her home," Rafe said.
"Marcus brought you to us. He made sure we could rescue Sylvia. We can't just leave him now," Mateo replied.
Rafe nodded, accepting that reasoning, "It's still late, we can drive through the night. But it's not safe."
"The longer we wait, the further they get with him," Alex argued.
"Right now, you clearly are running on fumes, Alex. Let Charlie look over your injuries, make sure you're able to fight. We need to be ready for whatever comes at us," Rafe said.
She knew he was right. But leaving Marcus in the hands of the Major for any longer than necessary chilled her to the core. The picture of Max, broken and bruised when she arrived at the compound, entered Alex's mind. If Callahan could do that to a woman, what would he do to a fit man? As she was working out another argument, Charlie was at her arm, leading her to the black van. Alex put on the brakes and shook her head.
"I'm not getting in that. What happened to the guys that were in it?" Alex said.
"Max and Rafe left them to the infected. One was killed in the shoot out. That's how Albert was injured."
"When we leave, we aren't taking that van," Alex said.
"Of course. I'm sorry. Let's go over to the truck," Charlie replied softly.
Charlie had a large medical bag and she pulled instruments out as she looked over Alex's visible injuries.
"What happened to you?" Charlie asked and then added, "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to."
"It's ok. Nothing worse than losing a fight," Alex replied.
For the next hour Alex explained her injuries to Charlie, gave her pain estimates and let the doctor poke and prod at all of her sore areas. Charlie cleaned the wound on her leg, deciding the stitches were sufficient unless Alex ripped them by being too active. As she wrapped gauze around her leg to protect the injury, Charlie got quiet. She had instructed Alex to strip down to her undergarments. When she saw what Alex was wearing under the clothing, she had gone slightly pale. Alex knew uncomfortable questions were coming.
"Alex, do I need to do any other exams? Were you sexually assaulted?"
Alex stayed quiet for a moment. Silently she was feeling thankful that she was able to avoid any sort of sexual attack. But another part of her felt extreme guilt. While she had escaped that horror, so many other women hadn't. Sylvia hadn't.
"No. I wasn't. I was lucky," she finally answered.
Charlie stood up then. Though she was a little woman, she had a demanding presence when she got into doctor mode. She made Alex hold her gaze.
"I won't tell anyone, Alex. Your privacy is very important to me. But we need to take precautions, if..." Charlie trailed off.
Alex smiled at her friend, laying her hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, Doctor. I would tell you the truth, even if I thought you would tell my brother. I think you should probably check over Sylvia though. I doubt she was able to fight the way I was," Alex said.
"And from the look of you, you fought hard."
"You must know us by now, Charlie," Alex said with a small smile.
"Oh, I know you Duncans. You don't go down quietly, that's a fact. Listen, Alex, I know I'm not a therapist. But with what you've been through, you should talk about it. It doesn't hav
e to be me, just someone," Charlie said.
"Don't worry. I'll talk to someone if I need to. Right now, I need to focus on Marcus. Am I cleared for duty?"
"I'm concerned about your leg. If you rip that open and end up in a fight with an infected, I can't predict what could happen. I also think you haven't gotten real sleep in a few days. So eventually you are going to crash from the adrenaline you're surviving on right now."
"As long as it lasts me another few hours, long enough to get Marcus back, I'll rest later," Alex agreed.
She pulled on the sports bra Max had given her, throwing the lacy nightie in the dirt. She wanted to burn it, but she didn't want to waste any more time. She finished getting dressed and Charlie went to retrieve Sylvia. It was the first moment that Alex was able to be left alone since she was taken by the gang. She sat heavily on the tailgate of the truck. Her body knew that Charlie was right, a crash was coming. She laid back into the bed of the truck, using the backpack Max brought her as a pillow. She hadn't meant to allow the darkness of sleep to invade, but it crept quickly and quietly until she was dead to the world.
"Alex," a voice came and Alex felt her shoulder being shaken. Panic flared and she tried to jump to her feet. Instead, her brother held her shoulders down carefully until she blinked in the early rays of dawn to see his face.
"Oh my god, I fell asleep. Why didn't you wake me?" Alex demanded.
"We tried. But you didn't stir. Charlie insisted your body was doing what it needed to do."
"Next time Charlie shouldn't make decisions for me," Alex snapped. The look on Rafe's face then made her feel bad about being harsh toward his girlfriend. She looked around as she noticed everyone readying the vehicles.
"We're almost ready to go. You can ride with Cliff and the Vegas. Or with me, but you'll be crowded between Max and Griffin. Not sure you want to endure that," Rafe said, rolling his eyes.
"I'll ride with Cliff," Alex decided.
She climbed off the truck bed and sorted through her backpack quickly. Max gave her extra ammo for her 9 mm. They also brought her rifle with its long-range scope. Alex double checked everything on that, thinking it would be useful if they could get a shot at Callahan from a distance. She put all of her things in the truck Cliff was driving and went to meet with Max and Rafe.
"What's the plan?" Alex asked.
"Why do you think we have the plan?" Max asked.
"I know you, that's why. So what do you want to do?"
"In the daylight, sneaking into the camp is going to be near impossible. Also, if they ever figured out how Max escaped, they would have fortified. We are thinking long range is going to be the best bet during the day. If we can get some sort of visual on Marcus and maybe where they're holding him, we can plan for a night breakout," Rafe explained.
Alex agreed that the plan was sound and had little to add. Max, Griffin, and Cliff were the only ones to know what the camp looked like. That was months prior, so there was no telling what Callahan had changed to ensure security. They hadn't unpacked anything during the night, so they were on the road less than ten minutes later. Alex laid her head against the glass of her passenger window and watched as they drove out of the small town the Dead Brothel had been located. With the Noble Lord dead and gone, she wondered if someone would find a way to pick up where he left off.
Cliff drove them along quietly. Alex appreciated his ability to read the situation and know that Alex really had nothing to say. Soft murmurs came from the backseat as the Vega family spoke between themselves. Sylvia sat between Mateo and Albert. Though Albert was still in quite a bit of pain, he refused to be separated from his niece and nephew now that they were back together. Alex didn't blame him. They had risked a lot coming with the Duncans and trusting them to get into the brothel. Though she had questions, she would wait on the full story about how her siblings had met the Vega family.
The two vehicles were rounding a blind curve when Rafe slammed on his brakes. Cliff had to follow suit or risk smashing into the other vehicle. Cliff pulled the wheel and they coasted to the side of Rafe's truck. As they rounded the corner, Alex could clearly see why Rafe had stopped. The road was blocked by a car wreck. It looked like three or four cars had somehow crashed and were left in the middle of the small two-lane highway. That was something they could easily fix. It was the thirty or so infected wandering between the cars that created more of a problem. The car wreck was fairly new, judging by the steam that rose from one engine. Some infected were leaning into open windows and Alex cursed when she realized they were still eating the living that had been in the vehicles.
She reached under her feet and grabbed the machete she had taken to carrying. That along with the 9mm on one hip and her hunting knife on the other, Alex was ready for a fight. She looked beyond Cliff and found Max watching her from the other vehicle. The sisters nodded to each other and wordlessly agreed to what was going to have to happen. Cliff stayed in the truck, ready to move at a moments notice. Rafe had Charlie slide into the driver's seat in their truck for the same reason. Everyone was on edge and ready to move when it was time.
Alex slid from her side of the truck. With the meat in the cars, not many of the infected took notice of the new additions. Those that did, were slow and rambled toward the Duncans. Alex took up a stance at the front of the trucks. Rafe and Max flanked their sister and together they moved into the fray. Alex swung her machete with a great downward arch, slicing the top of the infected's head clean off. Alex herself felt slightly surprised and she hesitated.
"Took the liberty of sharpening it a bit more," Rafe bit out as he fought on Alex's left with another infected.
That made Alex grin a bit. Of course her brother would be sharpening their blades. Knives and anything that cut were his specialty. She rotated her shoulders as another infected came her way. Her leg was still tender, and she favored it as she moved forward for the death blow. Black gore stained her machete blade and Alex wondered if she should be worried about how good she felt. Fighting the infected was something she had grown to understand and know how to do. This was easier than dealing with a drug dealer or a brothel. The infected were easy to predict and their end was well known.
One of the infected that had been leaning into a car suddenly noticed the fighting happening nearby. The dead eyes seemed to focus on the Duncan siblings, just as Alex noticed its movements. This infected began moving faster than anticipated and Alex knew immediately they were dealing with one of the fast dead. She signaled to Max and Rafe that she was moving away. The two understood and moved so they were fighting back to back. The fast infected moved around the car, almost like a living human. The telltale dead black eyes confirmed what Alex already knew. No matter how normal it moved, it was still a dead, flesh-eating zombie.
Though it was faster, the decisions it made were still based on the same basic instinct. Attack, eat, move on. When it looked at Alex, it saw a meal and its number one goal was to sink its claws into her. Alex used this knowledge to her advantage, knowing the fast infected would lunge at her. Only a few moments later and the infected had its fingers up in claws and was diving at Alex. She easily sidestepped and brought the machete in a downward blow, embedding into its skull. She stepped on the top of its head to pull her machete free. She wanted to roll it over and study the body for any other differences, but more infected were realizing new fresh meals were close and they were coming for them.
Alex turned back to her siblings, finding them fighting easily. Black blood flew and the ground was becoming slick with bodies and dead innards. Storm danced around nearby infected, distracting them or knocking them to the ground at Rafe's feet. She knew she didn't need to worry about Rafe and Max, but the older sister in her made her work her way back to them so they were all watching out for each other. If she did nothing else right in the apocalypse, she would always be there for her family. That thought brought Billie, Henry, Easton, and Candace to her mind. The love she had for them fueled her as she swung and stabbed the inf
ected as they stumbled within her range.
The infected continued to come, some faster than others. The clatter of metal made Alex jump and she whirled around to see Max grabbing the arms of a large infected man. Her tomahawk had fallen to the ground and she grunted now as she pushed back at the infected. The man tried to lean his face in, his chomping teeth dangerously close to Max's face. Alex sprung into action, without a second thought. She pulled her Bowie knife and jumped to add more power as she impaled it into the temple of the infected. Just as the body crumpled to the ground, Griffin came running around the side of their trucks. His face was pale and he was holding his rifle at his shoulder. Clearly, he almost saw Max lose a piece of her face to the infected.
Though Griffin had been instructed to watch the back of the trucks for any additional infected, he couldn't be told to go back to his post. Max was frustrated, but Alex could understand where he was coming from. Their life together was important. They had a lot to work through still and time to enjoy the renewal of their love. Griffin was terrified of losing Max in this apocalypse. Alex knew the pain of that and she didn't wish it on anyone she considered family.
Before she knew it, the fight was over and the highway was covered in infected bodies. With the all-clear signal given, the trucks were turned off and Charlie came bounding out of her driver's door. She had a small case with her and she went straight to the first fast infected Alex had fought. There she flipped the body over and looked at it. Alex joined her, realizing she was doing the same thing Alex had wanted to do.
"What do you think?" Alex asked.
"I haven't been able to figure it out yet. But I'm taking samples so when we get home I can test against the other infected information I've gathered," Charlie replied.
Alex watched as Charlie cut a piece of flesh from the infected. It seemed the piece was from the original bite sight, but Alex couldn't tell that easily. The infected had started to decompose and it had many rips and tears in its graying skin. Then Charlie took a needle and collected a number of small vials of black blood. She held each up to the light and shook them to ensure they were full and what she needed. Once she was done, she packed all of her samples back into her case.
Sundown Series (Book 4): Torment Page 25
