The Shade Chronicles | Book 2 | Predator

by Bradley, T. K.

I sidle over into the corner farthest from the door, huddled down in a defensive crouch, and listen. Soon enough, I hear the approaching footsteps that Trey had picked up on. And with the sound comes a familiar smell…

  “Blood!” I gasp. “They’re bringing us blood, that’s all. They said they would feed us.” I sag with relief and chuckle.

  There’s silence from the others, as if they can’t believe how stupid I am to believe that.

  “Sure,” Trey says gravely. “They’re just feeding us.”

  When the door opens, I catch a whiff of flowers, bringing back memories of daisies and roses, images I’ve banished for being too painful. Her voice when she speaks is like birds singing. “Hi,” she whispers, before clearing her throat and trying again. “Hi, I’m Sydney. My mom said I should bring you something to eat. Is… is that okay?”

  Trey’s voice is half snarl, half purr. “Honey, there’s no way we’re going to turn down a meal. Ever.”

  “Don’t talk to her like that,” Ellis snaps.

  Trey instantly picks up on everything Ellis isn’t saying. “Ooh, have you taken a fancy to the pretty lady? I don’t think she’s interested in getting eaten. At least, not like that…” He leaves his crude insinuation hanging, and I can hear Ellis’s teeth grinding. He knows that anything he say will only enflame the situation further.

  Sydney is hesitating, not sure what to do next. She tastes bitter with discomfort. Eventually, she bypasses all the rooms and comes to the end first, figuring it’s best to just avoid both of them for the moment.

  A hatch opens in my door and her face appears in the barred window. It’s the young woman I saw when we came in, the only one brave enough to look me in the eye, which is likely how she caught this gig of bringing us our dinner. “Hi,” she says, biting her lip. “Are you—I mean, do you want…”

  When I don’t say anything, a little crease appears between her eyebrows, and she holds a cup up to the space between bars. “Here.”

  The tin cup is still warm when I take it in my hand. “Thank you,” I tell her honestly. I hold off on guzzling it down for a moment; she likely doesn’t want to watch me drink a cup of blood.

  “It’s human,” she tells me awkwardly. “We keep a store of blood on hand, in case of emergencies. We all donate regularly and…” She pinches her lips shut, looking embarrassed by her explanation.

  “Watch that one at the end,” I tell her, nodding in Trey’s direction. “He’ll try to rile you up, but just ignore him. He’s just an asshole.”

  “Thank for the kind words, Lori,” Trey snarks, but there’s a hint of a laugh.

  Sydney and I look into each other’s eyes for a brief moment. We’re probably close in age but we’re worlds apart. I can see my reflection in her eyes, and it forces me to look away. It hurts too much. That could’ve been me under different circumstances. I could still be human, I could be on the other side of this door…

  She gives me a smile laced with apology before closing the hatch once more. I listen to her moving down the row and doling out the other cups.

  I hold the warm blood to my nose and take a deep breath. She said it’s human, but it doesn’t smell quite right. It’s probably the cup it’s in, tainting it with an extra metallic zing. Or maybe it’s just because it isn’t Kenzo’s.

  I take a tentative sip, letting it slide down my throat, and when my stomach doesn’t complain, I pour the rest down. I don’t know how much blood they have in storage, but it’ll take more than this to keep us sated for long.

  “I’m Sydney,” I hear the girl say again. It’s kind of cute that she’s introducing herself to each of us in turn.

  “Ellis,” he says, and this is even cuter. His voice is gentler than I’ve ever heard. There’s a vibration that he’s clearly trying to hide. Trey wasn’t wrong, Ellis is attracted to Sydney.

  “You’re not like the others,” she says. “Is it because of the cure?”

  “No. When they test my blood, maybe we’ll learn more about it. About me.”

  I can hear her smile. “I hope so. I’d like to learn more about you.”

  “Barf!” Trey snaps. “Can you hurry it along, princess? I’m getting hungry down here.”

  I imagine she’s blushing as she says goodbye to Ellis and finishes giving out the cups. She’s gone quickly, leaving us once again to the dark and the quiet.

  I’m woken from a groggy sleep when the hallway door slams open and boots clang down the stairs, landing at the base with a squelch. One set of feet, followed by another three. Four guards… seems a bit overkill… I wonder what the hell they want.

  I’m surprised I was able to sleep at all, what with the unfamiliar location and bare cot, but I guess it’s all catching up to me. I scrub my eyes with the heel of my palm, careful not to jab myself with my claws.

  “Knock, knock,” a rough voice says. I don’t need to see him to know he’s probably massive. His voice is deep and booming, someone accustomed to intimidating others. “Back away from the door and submit.” There’s a metallic squeal of hinges as the door swings open. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll give you a cookie.”

  “I’m not a boy,” Kelly says, her words slow, drawn out.

  “No? Hard to tell under all those ugly scabs. You all just look like something I peeled off the bottom of my shoe to me.”

  They step into her cell. They don’t speak much, and I’m left wondering what the hell is going on. The air reeks of stress, and I’m not sure who it’s coming from. That is, until Kelly screams.

  It’s long and drawn out, and before I can think about it, my legs extend as I throw myself at the door to my cell. I rear my arm back to tear into the door when the scream dies off, tapering down to a shuddering whimper.

  “Kelly? What happened? Are you okay?” I shout, slamming my fist against the door. My hand tingles where it makes contact, a numbing jolt traveling up my arm to my shoulder. It feels… strange… What’s going on?

  “She’s fine,” the first man says. “Just a little booboo.” As far as I know, booboos don’t leave a person sobbing like this.

  “Kelly?” I whisper at a volume too quiet for the guards to hear, but I know she must be able to make out my words.

  She tries to form a reply, but it comes out as, “L-L-Lori, f-f-f—” before trailing off to a shuddering breath.

  I feel like I’m being torn in two. Do I have any sense of loyalty to Kelly? No, not really, but our uneasy alliance has brought me this far. And from the state of her, I think it’s safe to say that nobody deserves that kind of pain. Why would she put up with torture? What did this guy do to subdue her, keep her from tearing him apart? The answer comes to me with a start: Bob. They have her father is their custody. Just as they have Kenzo.

  The first door closes with a bang. “Next,” the man says with a sickening purr. Dammit, he’s enjoying this! “You know the drill.” He thumps on the door, and I expect Trey to throw some attitude at the guard, at the very least put up a fight…

  But he doesn’t.

  I hear him adjust his position on his cot, slow movements, nothing aggressive. Trey remains determined and silent. His stress hormones permeate the air, making me want the retch, but he doesn’t so much as growl. Until he does, of course. Just as with Kelly’s scream, Trey’s own roar is torn from his body.

  By the time they’re banging on the third door, the true reality is sinking into my bones. My bowels are quivering. Maybe I should’ve picked the first cell. At least then I wouldn’t have to wait for my turn, with no idea what’s coming for me.

  My mouth goes dry, and I gag, coppery bile rising in my throat. My legs wobble, and I can’t seem to find the energy to stand. I look over at the tin cup left over from dinner. The blood. They drugged it. That’s why nobody is fighting back.

  I lower myself down to the ground before I keel over. I’m unable to move, forced to lie there, shivering in the mud, while I listen to the guards’ procession from cell to cell. Ellis is nearly able to hold back his cry, but
in the end, even he cracks.

  My mother’s scream is worst of all.

  When it’s my turn, my body is nearly numb, from the tips of my toes all the way to the roots of what’s left of my hair. Maybe that’s a good thing, maybe I won’t feel whatever torture they have planned for me.

  I should’ve known better.

  The man doesn’t even bother to knock on my door. All I can see are the toes of his boots in the light spilling in from the hall. I can’t even find the energy to squint as the beam of a flashlight is directed straight at my face.

  “Well, aren’t you a looker,” he says before cackling like he’s made the funniest joke of all time. He nudges me with the toe of his boot, and when I don’t move or speak, he gives a kick, hard enough to roll me onto my back.

  Now I’m staring up at the stone ceiling. The man sticks his head into my view. My vision is watery, but I can see clearly enough to memorize the planes and shadows of his features. I make a silent vow to pay back every injustice he’s enacting on us.

  “Don’t move,” he rasps, sneering as he leans in. “This might sting a little.”

  He uses his thumb to pull down my lower eyelid. I’m helpless to stop him as he comes at my eye with a syringe.

  Shit.

  He slides the tip of the needle into the soft flesh along the inside of my eye socket. At first, it doesn’t feel like much, and I have a brief moment of hope that the numbness has extended far enough… maybe it won’t hurt…

  A searing pain slices through me. Even paralyzed, I pull in a breath, a gasp. Just when I think he’s far enough, he moves the syringe in even farther. I’m blinded by white light. There’s an alarm blaring somewhere, a klaxon of warning, though I’m dimly aware that it’s not an alarm… it’s a scream… and it’s coming from me.

  It’s never going to end…

  Pain… never-ending pain… forever…

  Until suddenly—

  Blackness returns, a soft cool blanket of nothingness.

  “There. Was that so bad?” He pats me on the head, like I’m some kind of pet.

  I hear him pack up his bag, smell the vials of our blood. Without another word, he steps out into the hall and closes and locks my door.

  Their boots clang on the metal stairs back up into the main compound, but before they leave, I hear someone hesitate on the top step. Boots squeak as he turns around and addresses us. “This was the way it had to be. We’re going to analyze your blood, and if all goes according to plan, we’ll have a cure soon enough.”

  He doesn’t apologize for the pain he’s caused, for hiding the truth of what they were planning. He likely only bothered to explain because, once the numbness swears off, we’ll be strong enough to break through these doors.

  He said what was needed to keep us compliant for a little while longer.

  It takes a long time for the feeling to creep back into my limbs. A long time where I have nothing to do but wait and think… and plan.

  19

  Kenzo

  “What do you think?” Uki asks.

  “Huh? Oh. It’s nice.” To be honest, I stopped listening about ten minutes ago.

  She’s walked me through most of the small compound. They’ve got a hydroponic garden which is pretty impressive. They desalinize the ocean water and then cycle it through their tiered gardens. It’s really efficient with the space they have to work with, but… the entire time, all I could think about was how much I wished I could show this to Lori.

  Then she walked me through the living quarters. They’re all tiny rooms with thin walls, bunk beds, and corrugated metal floors. What do I think? Yeah, it wouldn’t be polite of me to tell Uki how this is a poor comparison to what I’m used to, no matter what a shithole our last place was. Lori would probably roll her eyes and tell me to suck it up, buttercup. Heavy on the sarcasm. And she would be right; I’m not in any position to be picky.

  Uki picks up on my sigh and nods thoughtfully. “Would you prefer to see the lab?”

  “Sure.” No, I don’t want to see the lab. I’ve seen enough labs to last a lifetime, and nothing good has ever come of them, but the sooner I can get this over with the better.

  “Can I stay here?” Bob calls down from his top bunk. He’s already pulled out a battered paperback, and I catch a glimpse of a bare-chested Fabio on the cover.

  Uki huffs out a small chuckle. “Sure, Bob. I’ll drop Kenzo and General Howell back here when we’re through with the tour.

  “That’d be swell,” Bob gushes. I can’t tell if his overdone gratitude is real or not. He’s an odd duck, that one, but I find myself strangely attached to the little gremlin.

  Howell keeps looking over his shoulder and around corners, a scowl firmly in place, as if expecting there to be more than there is. “It’s not very big…” he mutters.

  Uki’s lips flatten out. “When there are only a couple dozen survivors, we don’t need much.”

  “That’s it?” I gasp. “I thought there would be more of you.”

  She shakes her head sadly. “We were prepared to handle more, but you’re the first people to show up in years. We assumed—hoped—that they had found shelter in other facilities.”

  Howell and I exchange a look. Uki takes in our silence and turns away. “I don’t want to know,” she says softly.

  I grit my teeth. “No. You don’t.” As much as I want to tell her the state of the things we’ve seen, it would only be for my benefit, not hers. Looks like I’m not going to unburden myself of this weight today.

  The lab seems to be the only room in this facility of any real substance. The glass-paneled door opens with a hiss as the air inside is released. There’s a second door, creating a vacuum seal as we step into the small antechamber.

  “Should we be worried?” Howell asks uneasily. “Do you have live virus in here? Do we need a mask or something?”

  “No, no live virus… yet,” she says. “We have someone heading down to get samples from your companions. Then we can get started on testing how they react with your blood.” She nods her chin at me. “But our lab doesn’t get much use these days. We hit a dead end with a cure years ago, and we’ve never had a supply of infected to test. Since then, we decided our time would be better put to use working on repopulation. We have three pregnant mothers and two newborns,” she says proudly. “Now that you’re here, though, we can finally get back to a cure.”

  I never meant to be a scientist. It’s not like I grew up dreaming of living the luxurious life of an apocalypse doctor, and I certainly had no intention of joining the military. Even with my rank and title, and all the privileges that came with it, there’s no love lost between me and the government. I feel no connection to myself, my own life, to the prestige that has been given to me… forced on me.

  Even with that disconnect, I can’t help but feel a little tiny thrill as I look around at their equipment. This is the first time I’ve actually wanted to look through a microscope. This right here could be the path to a future I can finally strive for. A future for the human race, where our lives aren’t constantly in danger. Where Lori is safe, and happy… and grateful…

  I look down at my feet, a shameful blush heating my cheeks. I would save Lori regardless of whether she feels anything for me at all. Her gratitude actually makes me feel gross, though, the thought that she might feel indebted to me, obligated.

  The door hisses open behind us and I turn, grateful for the distraction from my traitorous thoughts. The acting leader, Deb, comes in, trailing a young woman behind her who offers us a shy smile. I recognize her from earlier when we first arrived. She was part of the welcoming committee.

  Deb seems more relaxed now than she did around the Shredders, but I certainly can’t blame her for that. She even goes so far as to attempt a smile at me, but it pulls her scarred skin tight in a way that looks uncomfortable for her. She drops the smile just as quickly. “I hope Uki gave you the five-star tour.”

  “She did,” I say, but Uki scoffs.


  “Maybe if we had more to show. As it is, it’s a two-star tour at best.”

  Howell has wandered over to a refrigerated cabinet at the back of the room. “You’re being modest,” he grumbles. “The lab makes our whole trip worth it.”

  Deb narrows her eyes. “Yes. About that trip…” Howell looks up and their eyes lock on each other. I feel the urge to back up a step. This feels like some kind of a standoff, and I’m not even sure where the tension came from. Do these two know each other?

  “I told you we were coming,” he bites out, and that answers my question.

  “That may be,” she replies slowly, “but I told you how I feel about the military. You know you have no jurisdiction here. I run this show. As far as I’m concerned, you’re on the same level as your Virals. I don’t trust them, and I don’t trust you.”

  The young woman behind her moves to Deb’s side. “Mom, you invited them here. They came all this way to—”

  Deb snaps her head to look at the woman, effectively cutting her off. The woman tilts her head down in deference, and I have to bite off a reprimand. The younger woman seems to be far too used to being cowed, and it sets my teeth on edge.

  “My daughter, Sydney,” Deb says, indicating the woman at her side. Sydney looks nothing like her mother; she seems softer and far too delicate to be related to Deb in any way, but if I look hard enough, I can see they have the same eyes, though the similarities stop at their color. Sydney’s eyes are kind and patient, while her mother’s glint with distrust.

  Deb gives a slow sigh, eyes shifting between me and Howell. “How about you guys give us a little information…”

  “Like what?” I ask, chest tight. Trust goes both ways, and right now, it’s in short supply.

  “Tell me about that different one, the man who looks almost normal but with black eyes. It’s obvious he’s not human, but you didn’t say anything about him on the radio. What is he?”

  Howell shoots me a warning look that seems to say, keep your damn mouth shut. Yeah, no worries there. I have no intention of spilling any of our secrets. The last thing I want is to pick up our experiments where we left off, and after abandoning everything when we left the compound, I had hopes that all of our research would be lost to the fire, never to be recreated. Ellis is the last remaining sample of the variant, and the mere thought of what they might do to extract it from him chills my bones.