The thing charged again, and this time it was my turn to duck. I dodged his arm, spinning so I was behind him, and grabbed the back of his shirt. As if sensing my vulnerability, a couple more zombies stumbled my way, and Kellan yelled my name, but there was little he could do because there were now five zombies separating us.
I was okay, though. I had the zombie in front of me firmly in my grasp, and with one turn I was able to put him in front of me. Using him as a shield, I managed to deflect the zombies that had decided to zero in on me while I figured out a plan. There were five of them stumbling my way, for some strange reason their focus completely on me instead of the handful of other living people at their backs. Behind them, more zombies lurched around the corner of the hangar, drawn by the sound of fighting, and my pulse quickened. Where were they coming from?
The dead in front of me were growling and reaching out, snarling like I’d somehow provoked them. If I had, I didn’t know what I’d done, but I could take them. All I had to do was put a little more space between us so I could come up with a plan that didn’t involve me getting even more flesh ripped from my body.
I walked backward, pulling my zombie shield with me, and ended up behind Bill’s truck. Like I’d hoped, the zombies heading my way all moved at different speeds and were now staggered instead of in one big clump, giving me a chance.
I slammed the blade of my knife into the head of the zombie I was holding, and he went down, taking my weapon with him. Not that it mattered. With the fresh rush of dead, Kellan had pulled his gun and was now firing, and he wasn’t the only one. Trying to stay quiet would be stupid in the face of so many. A death sentence, even for someone immune. No, we had to use everything at our disposal and worry about the outcome later.
Whipping my gun out, I took aim at the closest zombie, lining his head up with my sights. When I pulled the trigger, his head exploded, sending a burst of black blood and dark, gray brain into the air. Already I’d moved on to the second zombie, taking aim.
Around me, the air was full of the sounds of battle. Grunts and gunshots, thuds as zombies fell to the ground, growls and moans, and so many other sounds that I didn’t notice the new one right away. I pulled the trigger, and another zombie went down, and Kellan came into view. He was holding a zombie back, but his eyes were focused on something behind me. They were big and round, and filled with terror, and it was the expression on his face that finally made me register the roar of an approaching engine.
I looked over my shoulder just as another zombie lunged. Dodging his advance sent me stumbling back, but even with my focus on the dead man desperately trying to get his hands on me, I spotted the truck heading our way. It was coming fast.
At first, I thought it was going to plow into us, but when it was less than fifteen feet away it made a sharp turn, the tires squealing against the remaining blacktop and even kicking up a little dust as it came to a sudden stop. A man dressed in leather was clinging to the back, and he hopped down the second the truck had stopped so he could yank the back door open. He took off running just as the zombies began pouring out.
“Shit,” I said and fired of another shot at the zombie I’d been struggling with.
I barely noticed when his head exploded because I was too focused on the new hoard. These zombies were a lot faster than the ones we’d been dealing with. Newer. Their clothes weren’t in tatters and most of them had barely started to decompose. They tripped over one another in their rush to get outside, fixated completely on us, growling and snarling. Practically running.
“No!” Kellan’s focus was half on me when he slammed his knife into the head of the zombie in front of him. “Regan, run!”
He shoved the motionless zombie away and turned, ready to run for me, but was waylaid by another creature before he’d made it two steps. Bill, like Kellan, was wrestling with a zombie and unable to come to my aid, and behind him a group of ten still stood, separating us from the rest of our people. I told myself I was okay, though, silently and desperately praying that it was true. But there were so many of them, and they were so fast, and I was on my own.
I started firing, barely pausing between shots. The head of one zombie exploded, a bullet ripped through the skull of another, the dead woman next to him fell, and behind her went another and another. There seemed to be no end in sight, though, and each time a gunshot rang through the air and a creature fell, another took its place.
Movement behind the horde caught my eye, and I ventured a glance toward the truck. Andrew. A car had pulled up, and men had climbed out, all of them dressed in leather and armed, and they stood watching as our group fought the horde.
Somehow, Andrew had managed to recruit new people. That asshole. No doubt he’d promised them something huge. Either that they could have our shelter after we were dead or that they’d get a life of ease back in Atlanta. Whatever it was, I was determined to make sure none of them got out of here alive. People like this didn’t deserve to live.
And, even if he tortured me, I wouldn’t give Harper up this time.
“Regan!”
Kellan’s shout drew my attention his way. We were separated by seven or eight of the dead, each desperate to take a bite out of anyone they could get their hands on, and like me, Kellan had his gun raised and was firing at the zombies, but between each shot he looked my way. His eyes were huge. Scared. More terrified than I’d ever seen them.
The words he’d whispered to me during our first confrontation with Andrew came rushing back. I was wrong, Regan. It wouldn’t devastate me. It would kill me.
My heart pounding like crazy, I turned back to the dead in front of me and continued firing.
No. This wasn’t the end for us. This asshole wasn’t going to get the best of us. We could stop him. We would stop him.
I was still firing when I caught sight of Andrew pushing his way through the horde, and I had to do a double take. He was walking through them like Moses and the Red Sea, but not a single zombie seemed to detect his presence. It was like he was invisible, and it made no sense.
Then he got closer, and I noticed the way his leather shimmered in the sunlight—like it was wet—and it hit me why the zombies didn’t care about him. He’d covered his clothes in blood and guts. It was smeared all over his leather jacket and pants, probably even soaked into the hat covering his head. He smelled just like one of the dead, and in the presence of the much more alluring smell of fresh meat—our group—the zombies didn’t give Andrew a second thought.
A shiver went down my spine when I realized he was heading my way with a sadistic smile on his face. Why? Was he going to try a repeat of what had happened last time, hoping Kellan would once again sacrifice Harper for me?
I wasn’t sure what Andrew was thinking, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t about to let him get close.
I turned my gun on Andrew, aiming for his head, but just as I pulled the trigger, a zombie lurched, slamming into me, and I stumbled back. My shot was wide, hitting another zombie—which didn’t even react—in the arm, and thanks to the creature clawing at me, I didn’t get a chance to try again. He was strong, and I had to put everything I had into keeping him at arm’s length, using my free hand while aiming my gun at his head. He was close, but wild and strong, and when I fired again, the bullet got him in the side of the head, ripping away half his face but missing the brain.
He slammed into me, this time sending me to the ground where he landed on top of me. He was big, over six feet tall, and heavy, weighing me down. My arm was pinned between us, the gun still clutched in my hand, and my free hand was occupied with holding him back, pushing at him with all my might as he snapped his teeth in my direction. He was too heavy, though, too strong, and I found myself screaming in frustration as he squirmed and fought, barely able to hold him back.
The sudden force of the zombie’s body dropping on top of me drove the air from my lungs. Now no longer moving, he seemed twice as heavy, and twice as difficult to move when I shoved my free hand again
st him.
Thankfully, someone came to my rescue, and within a few seconds his body was ripped away. I looked up, expecting to find Kellan standing over me and all ready to offer a thank you and a smile, but his wasn’t the face that greeted me. It was Andrew.
I raised the hand still clutching my gun, but he yanked it from my grasp and tossed it aside before I could pull the trigger. Then he had me by the ponytail and was hauling me to my feet, threatening to rip my hair out at the roots. I screamed and took a swing at him but made no progress, and in seconds he’d twisted me around so my back was against his chest.
The cold barrel of a gun pressed against my temple.
“Stand down.”
Most of the fighting had stopped. Bill was still wrestling with a zombie, but it was over when Scott came to his aid, and then they joined the others, who were standing in a line with their guns pointed at Andrew.
“Let her go,” Kellan said, his voice as cold as the metal pressed against my head.
Andrew pushed the barrel harder into my temple, and I winced. “If I die, she dies. Think about that for a minute.”
Kellan took a menacing step toward him. “I’m going to rip you to pieces with my bare hands.”
Andrew’s grip on me tightened. “That would be more threatening if your hand wasn’t shaking.”
It was. I hadn’t noticed until Andrew pointed it out, but it was true. Kellan’s hand was trembling ever so slightly. His eye also twitched like he was fighting to keep his emotions in check, and for the first time ever, he looked like he hadn’t been able to flip that internal switch and stash his feelings away. They were written plainly on his face and shimmering in his eyes. The fear, the hate, the rage as he remembered how Andrew had stripped me down and threatened me. I remembered it, too, but for once I wasn’t thinking about Andrew’s hands on my body, I was thinking about how much it had hurt Kellan to watch.
It would happen again, and we all knew it, but I wouldn’t give Harper up a second time. No matter what.
“We won’t give her to you,” I spit out.
“Who? Harper?” Behind me, Andrew laughed, and it vibrated through my chest, emphasizing how little space there was between us. “I don’t need her, not anymore.” He leaned forward until his mouth was pressed against my ear. “I only need one immune person.”
My blood turned to ice.
He knew.
I didn’t have a clue how he’d found out, but somehow, Andrew knew I was immune.
25
An engine roared to life, and Andrew began walking backward, pulling me with him, the cold metal of the gun’s barrel biting into my skin every step of the way.
“Stay back, and I won’t hurt her.” He dragged me farther from Kellan. “She’ll be fine. They need people like her in Atlanta. It’s for humanity.”
Kellan took a step toward us, his gun still raised and aimed at Andrew, his eyes cold and harder than the steel pressed against my head. “You son of a bitch. Don’t act like you’re doing this for humanity.”
Andrew chuckled again, and I cringed away from his hot breath on my cheek. “I’m no fool. In this world, you have to look out for yourself.”
Kellan’s eyes darted from me to the man holding me, back and forth, like a tennis ball. Everything about him was panicked and desperate, and my already pounding heart thumped harder at the sight of his usual calm exterior cracking. Then he took yet another step, ignoring Andrew’s warning.
“I said not to move,” the man behind me snarled.
He pulled the gun away from my head so fast I barely noticed it, and then a crack cut through the air, making my entire body jerk. Before my brain even had the chance to register that it was a gunshot, the barrel was back against my head. Kellan froze, his own weapon still up, and I waited for him to drop to the ground, waited for blood to spread across his chest or stomach, but nothing happened.
A scream followed, and my focus turned to Christine. She was on the ground now, kneeling beside her father. Crying. Her hands pressed against his chest while blood seeped from a wound, spreading out until it was a bright red dot on his blue shirt.
“No,” I gasped.
Andrew pressed the gun harder against my temple. “I told you to stay back.”
“You son of a bitch,” Kellan growled.
“What did you do?” Ernie grabbed my attention this time. He was standing behind Christine, looking down at the scene in front of him with wide eyes. “This wasn’t the deal! This wasn’t what we agreed on. You told me you would shoot him.” He pointed a shaky finger at Kellan. “I told you to kill him.”
What? What did Ernie mean?
I looked from the hysterical man to Kellan, whose eyes had widened, and it hit me. He’d made a deal with Andrew. How, I didn’t know, but somehow, somewhere, he’d made a deal that involved Kellan getting shot and Andrew getting his hands on me.
Behind me, my captor snorted and said, “I don’t take orders.”
The whistle he let out was right in my ear, and I jerked away from it, forcing the barrel against my temple until it felt like it was burrowing its way inside my head. A gunshot broke through the air a second later, and it caught me so off guard that I jumped and let out a squeak.
Ernie’s head jerked back, and his body dropped to the ground.
“Oh my God!” Christine sobbed. “Oh my God!”
Blake was at her side, trying to help her staunch the blood flowing from her father’s chest. Behind them, Scott rushed to check on Ernie, but it only took one look to know nothing could be done. Andrew’s goon had shot him in the head.
Between the blood and sobs, the zombies and the dead man who’d betrayed us, the situation had spiraled out of control, so that as Andrew dragged me farther from my friends, the only person still paying attention was Kellan. He was the only one focused on me when Andrew reached the car, the only one who was still watching when the back door was pulled open and Andrew started to push me inside.
I was half in when Kellan yelled, “Stop!”
He tossed his gun to the ground and lifted his hands, and to my shock, Andrew listened and stopped moving.
Kellan took another step toward us, his hands still up. “Take me, too. Take me with you to Atlanta.”
“No!” I tried to climb back out of the car, tried to fight against Andrew’s grip, but he wouldn’t give an inch. “Kellan, stop!”
Andrew didn’t look my way when he snarled, “You think I’m an idiot?”
“I’m immune, too.” Kellan flipped his hands over a couple times to show he wasn’t a threat, then reached for the bandage on his arm. “I can prove it.”
“Kellan, you can’t be—” Blake, suddenly aware of what was going on, called out, but he was cut off when Kellan said, “Shut the hell up.”
He ripped the bandage off and held his arm out for Andrew to inspect, putting the other one back up as he moved closer. “Look. See for yourself.”
The fresh bite was bright red against his brown flesh, and there was no way to pass it off as anything but a human bite.
But I knew the truth and so did our friends. I could tell Andrew, I should tell Andrew. I couldn’t let him drag Kellan into this, too. It wasn’t fair.
My eyes met Kellan’s, which were silently pleading with me to remain quiet. Behind him, Blake had slammed his mouth shut. He was still kneeling beside a sobbing Christine, but his gun was now up. He didn’t move, though, and I could tell by his expression that he wasn’t going to.
Scott, too, stood silently, waiting to find out what Andrew was going to do, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why someone wasn’t screaming the truth. Why wasn’t I? I mean, I couldn’t let Kellan do this. Could I? If Andrew found out he was lying, he’d kill Kellan in a heartbeat.
Then again, how would he ever know? Maybe once we got to Atlanta he’d find out, but until then Kellan and I would be together, and together we had a better chance of getting away. Together we had a better shot at surviving this.
A
ndrew still had my arm in a punishing grip when he pressed his lips together, studying Kellan for a tense moment before finally calling out, “Tie him up.”
Kellan put his wrists together and held them out, his eyes focused on me as one of Andrew’s men ran forward with a zip tie. When he bound Kellan’s wrists, the zip of the plastic sounded loud, even over the blood pounding in my ears.
It was done now. Kellan was a prisoner, too, and I hadn’t stopped it.
Andrew shoved the barrel of the gun harder against my temple, and Kellan let out a growl.
“You cause problems, and you’re dead, hear me? Two immune people is good, but I really only need one of you.” His eyes stayed focused on Kellan when he said, “And remember what I’ll do to her.”
Rage flashed in Kellan’s eyes, but he managed to keep his emotions in check when he nodded. “I’ll cooperate. I’ll do whatever you want as long as I know she’s alive and okay.”
“I’m not going to kill her.” He nodded to the man at Kellan’s side. “Put him in the back of the truck.”
“No!” Kellan shouted, but he was already being pulled away.
Blake watched all this play out in stunned silence, his gun up even though he didn’t make a move. Andrew still had the barrel pressed against my head, and now Kellan was tied up and being shoved into the back of the truck, and Blake had to know doing anything was too risky. One wrong move and he would get Kellan killed.
Andrew’s gaze moved to my friends. “Don’t follow us or he’s dead.” Then he shoved me into the car and dove in behind me, yelling, “Drive!”
The tires squealed on the blacktop, and the back end of the car fishtailed, tossing me aside before finally lurching forward, the door still open. It slammed shut after only a second, but I barely noticed because I had spun around and was looking out through the back window. Behind us, a cloud of dust had risen, but even through the haze I could see Bill, still lying on the ground. Christine was kneeling next to him, and Scott had moved to help her, but Blake was on his feet. He took a few steps as the truck sped after us, but he wasn’t shooting. He wasn’t charging after us. Like me, he knew there was nothing he could do.
The Oklahoma Wastelands Series Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 52
