I wasn’t even sure if Bill was alive or dead, and as the yellow truck faded from view, I realized I might never find out.
I tried to comfort myself with the knowledge that Kellan was okay, but with our situation so precarious, it was impossible. His safety was only temporary, because if Andrew thought he was too much trouble, or if he found out the truth, I would lose everything.
Andrew chuckled, and I lunged at him without thinking, raking my fingernails across his face and breaking the skin, leaving three trails of red on his cheek. He let out a hiss of pain seconds before he lashed out, his hand open, his palm stinging across my face and sending me slamming against the door.
“Bitch.” Andrew pressed his hand against his cheek, and when he pulled it away and saw the blood on his palm, he let out a low growl that reminded me of the dead. “You’re damn lucky I have to keep you in one piece.”
He mumbled something under his breath as he reached down and rooted around for something on the floor. When he turned back, he slapped me again, and this time my head banged against the door. The world went fuzzy and out of focus, but I registered Andrew yanking my hands forward and wrapping something around my wrists. He pulled it tight and plastic bit into my skin, and I thought about how the other man had done the same thing to Kellan.
“If you can’t be a good girl,” Andrew said when he released me, “you get time out.”
“Fuck you,” I spit at him.
I blinked, trying to clear my vision.
Andrew’s grinning face came into view. “Since the offer’s on the table…”
My stomach dropped faster than a rock sinking to the bottom of a lake, and I scooted farther away from him.
Andrew laughed again, the sound loud and deep in the silence of the car. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to touch you unless your little friend forces my hand.” Andrew’s gaze moved to my chest. “I like my women with tits.”
My face warmed under the reminder that he’d seen me naked already, had touched me, had even been moments from raping me before Kellan stepped in. His assurances that he wasn’t going to do that now weren’t enough to calm me down, because if Kellan stepped out of line at all, Andrew would take it out on me, and when he was done, he would kill the man I loved.
I looked over my shoulder, out the back window, hoping to see the yellow truck speeding after us, but all I could see was the big white one driven by Andrew’s men. Blake had to be back there, though. He wouldn’t let Andrew drag Kellan and me away without coming after us. He’d catch up with Andrew and save us. He had to, because we all knew we weren’t headed back to the Holy City this time.
At my side, Andrew ripped his leather jacket off and shoved it on the floor at my feet, smearing zombie guts all over my pants in the process.
“Don’t bother looking for your friends,” he said as he ripped his hat off and tossed it on top of the jacket. “They’re not back there.”
He didn’t look at me as he fished a cigarette out of his shirt pocket. The thing was smashed, the paper crinkled from being jammed in his pocket, and he had to roll it against the seat in front of him to smooth it out. Once he had, he slipped it between his lips and pulled a lighter from his pocket, his gaze finally moving to me as he flicked his thumb over the top. One side of his mouth turned up as his cheeks hollowed, his eyes staying on me while he sucked in and the cigarette flared to life. After a few seconds, he pulled it away and slowly blew the smoke out.
He shoved the lighter back in his pocket and said, “We made sure they can’t come after us.”
Fear gripped me in a tight grasp, squeezing my throat. “How?”
“Your tires have been slit,” Andrew said. “You guys have been careful, but you underestimated me. You had no idea I followed your trail after you rescued your little blonde friend. No idea I was the one who set the hangar on fire.”
“What?”
I thought back to that night and the chaos that had ensued, as well as, just today, when Bill had voiced his doubts about how the fire started. He’d been right. It was no accident. Andrew had done it.
“See,” Andrew paused and sucked in another mouthful of chemicals, and when he started talking again, it puffed out like smoke from a chimney, “I don’t like losing, and I’m patient. I underestimated you when I took the girl, and I wasn’t going to let it happen again. So I kept my distance and studied you. I started the fire and observed how you worked together, then I released the zombies and watched you fight them. I also saw that son of a bitch take a bite out of you. That’s how I learned you were immune, and that’s when I changed tactics. If I could get you, I didn’t need Harper.
“So I started bringing zombies to the shelter, releasing them to draw you guys out.” He quirked one eyebrow. “That part, you did figure out, though, didn’t you?” He didn’t wait for me to answer, but instead nodded as he took another long drag off his cigarette. “You were smarter than I thought you were, and more organized, and I knew I needed more men, so I took my time and recruited some people. It wasn’t hard. A lot of lowlifes out there these days, and a lot of men desperate for a chance to head east and join a sanctioned town where they have the promise of safety, food, and electricity.”
In front, the driver shifted, his gaze darting back to Andrew, a grim smile on his lips, while the man in the passenger seat turned to look directly at me. I shrank away from his cold stare, which only made him grin. There was something very threatening about that man.
“When I saw the way the fence gave under the weight of the dead today, I knew some of you would have to go out and get supplies, and I also knew you would be with them.” Andrew pinned me with an intense look as he put the cigarette to his lips again, this time drawing the silence out for longer. “You do love being in the thick of things, don’t you?”
Even though I didn’t want to dignify him with an answer, I found myself mumbling, “I don’t like being useless.”
“Whatever.” Andrew shrugged as if he didn’t understand. “I just know it worked to my advantage.”
He lapsed into silence, concentrating on smoking, but my mind was spinning from all this new information, and from what had happened at the hangar. Ernie had been in on this somehow, but how? How had he made a deal with Andrew, and when had he seen him?
“How was Ernie involved?”
Andrew’s eyebrows lifted at my question. “I saw him, at Atwoods. I’d also noticed on more than one occasion that he and your friend weren’t exactly on good terms.” Andrew chuckled quietly, shaking his head. “It really was a stroke of luck when he stormed out of the store. I thought I could use him as a pawn to give me the upper hand, but I didn’t even need to. He spilled the beans without even having to be pressed, even offered to hand you over to me if things got bad.”
“And he asked you to kill Kellan?”
“He made a deal with me. He’d make sure the vehicles’ tires were cut before we got there, and I’d shoot your friend,” Andrew said. “Too bad for him, I have a strong dislike for people who aren’t loyal. It’s a very important trait to have.”
He went back to smoking, and this time I didn’t break the silence. All I could think about was everything that had happened over the last two months. All the hordes we’d taken out and how they had finally stopped—that must have been when he decided to recruit new people. We’d been naive to think Andrew would give up so easily. He’d played us. I couldn’t believe we’d let our guard down, couldn’t believe how thoroughly we’d underestimated him, but I knew one thing. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
26
Time stretched out, and despite what Andrew had said about Ernie slashing our tires, I couldn’t stop myself from turning to look out the back window every few minutes, praying I’d see the yellow truck. Maybe Ernie had played Andrew the way he’d played us. Maybe he’d realized that replacing the tires would be too difficult and had decided against it. Anything was possible.
No matter how many times I looked out the back win
dow, though, there was no sign of the yellow truck.
The sight of the other vehicle gave me some comfort even though another part of me was terrified at the thought of what might happen to Kellan. If Andrew found out he was lying, everything would come crashing down on us. Maybe I’d been stupid not to tell Andrew the truth, or maybe if I had, he would have killed Kellan right then and there. It was impossible to say for certain, but what I knew now was that I had to make sure Andrew didn’t learn the truth, and we had to do everything they said no matter what. It was the only way for both of us to get out of this alive.
The sun got lower in the sky, dragging the color with it until all that was left in front of us was an abyss of never-ending blackness. Not even the stars were visible tonight because of the overcast sky, and with no other cars in the area and no electricity, it almost seemed like we’d reached the end of the world.
I felt that way, too. Every time the hard plastic of the zip tie bit into my wrists or Andrew blew out another stream of smoke, I was reminded of how desperate things had gotten. Kellan and I were his prisoners, at his mercy with no chance of escape unless we wanted to be the cause of the other person’s destruction. Kellan wouldn’t risk it, and there was no way I would either, meaning unless someone came to our rescue, this was it for us. We were going to Atlanta where Andrew would hand us over to the CDC, and right now all I could do was pray they only wanted some of my blood—and that they’d let Kellan live once they learned he’d lied. Based on the rumors we’d heard about the new government, I wasn’t optimistic.
“Find a place to stop for the night,” Andrew said out of nowhere.
For hours, the only sound had been the deep, throaty voice of Johnny Cash floating from the speakers, filling the silence in the car, and I jumped at the sudden words. Andrew had been smoking this entire time, and the air in the car now tasted like chemicals. The smoke was thick, reminding me of fog rising from the ground on a spring morning. My eyes stung, and I felt like I’d smoked a pack of cigarettes myself, but I wasn’t about to ask him to put the thing out. I wasn’t going to give this asshole the satisfaction of asking for anything.
We’d been in the car for hours—exactly how long I wasn’t sure—but we’d passed what remained of Lawton, which was an hour from Altus, some time ago. After that, we drove through miles of nothingness until the sun finally went down and the world turned black, making it impossible to even guess where we were. Not that I would have been able to. I hadn’t ventured farther than Altus in nine years, and I couldn’t remember how long it had taken to get to Oklahoma City or Tulsa—or even if that was the direction we were headed. Those cities were hours away, though. That was all I knew for sure.
It wasn’t long before the car slowed, thirty minutes, maybe less, and I bounced in my seat when we pulled into an overgrown parking lot, the tires rolling over holes and debris hidden beneath weeds. In front of us, a run-down motel that hadn’t seen life in years sat illuminated by the headlights. Surprisingly, despite nearly a decade of neglect, the doors were shut tight, most of the windows were still intact, and the roof hadn’t yet begun to sag under the weight of time.
“Check it out,” Andrew said, smoke once again coming out with his words.
Without reply and without looking back, the two goons in front climbed out and lumbered toward the motel. Beside me, Andrew pulled yet another cigarette from his pocket and lit up, the flickering flame playing across the dark interior of the car and creating shadows on his face that made him look even more evil than he already did.
“We’ll get a good night’s sleep and head out at first light,” he said after he’d exhaled. “I’ll even be nice and let you curl up with your buddy.”
I stayed quiet, which only seemed to amuse him, because he grinned like I’d told a joke.
The men came back once they were sure the place was zombie-free and got to work unloading supplies. Andrew climbed out, the cigarette still dangling from his lips, and dragged me from the back of the car and through the now open door of the motel.
Inside, the room was musty from disuse, the odor of mildew and dirt heavy in the air, and when Andrew shoved me onto the bed, a puff of dust rose up around me, filling my nostrils until they itched even more than they had in the car. I sniffed the sneeze back but could do nothing to stop my eyes from watering. I was wiping the tears away when Andrew lit a lantern, sending a soft glow over the room. He smiled when he saw me, and even though I wanted to tell him I wasn’t crying, I kept my mouth shut.
“You want this one in here?” someone called from outside.
“Yeah, bring him in,” Andrew said around his cigarette, his eyes still on me as they grew darker, harder. “Remember what I said. You give me any trouble, and you’ll both regret it.” He ripped the cigarette from his mouth as Kellan was dragged into the room. “I’ll strip you down and your boyfriend will have to watch, and when I’m done with you, I’ll slit his throat. Understand?”
“We won’t do anything,” I promised hastily, lifting my hands like I was reaching for Kellan even though they were bound and it was impossible to do much of anything.
The goon who’d dragged Kellan in shoved him onto the bed next to me, and without the use of his hands, he had no way to stop himself from landing on his side. I reached for him, doing my best to help him sit up, and once he was, he turned to me.
“Are you okay?” he asked, lifting his bound hands so he could touch my face.
“I’m fine.” I looked him over, taking stock of his condition, but other than the bite, which was now uncovered, there were only a few minor bumps and scratches.
Andrew stood in front of the door, watching us as he sucked in a mouthful of smoke. His dark eyes bored into mine, filled with silent threats, and the hair on my head prickled. When he was sure I’d gotten the message, he turned, a sadistic little smile on his lips, and went outside. He didn’t close the door behind him, though, and the quiet rumble of voices floating into the room served as a reminder that we weren’t alone.
I grabbed Kellan’s arm once Andrew had disappeared and pulled him closer so I could whisper and still be heard. “What were you thinking? What do you think he’s going to do with you if he finds out you lied?”
“He’s not going to find out,” Kellan hissed. “I knew if they drove off, I’d never be able to find you. At least this way we’re together.”
He held my face between his bound hands and pressed a kiss on my forehead. His skin was warm and soft against mine, and I closed my eyes, holding on to his wrist as I tried to let his presence calm me the way it usually did. This time, it didn’t work.
“It was all I could think to do at the time,” Kellan said, his lips still against my forehead. “The idea of him pulling you into that car and taking you out of my life for good almost killed me.”
“But you have to know what you’re risking. Andrew could decide you’re too much work, and then he’ll kill you.” I tightened my grip on his wrist. “You’re risking your life.”
“My life would be worthless without you in it.”
“A touching thought.”
Kellan pulled back but his hands remained on my face, and we both turned to find Andrew once again standing in the doorway, smoking and grinning like we were putting on a show.
“Just remember that, and we’ll all get through this in one piece,” he said.
Andrew stepped into the room, and another man followed—the same one who’d driven the car. When he pulled the door shut behind him, he was as silent as he had been during the long hours of driving, and not even when he dragged a chair across the room so it was in front of the door did he say a word. He sat, not making a noise, and I curled into Kellan when the realization that we were going to have to share this room hit me.
Andrew noticed my discomfort and chuckled. “Don’t flatter yourself.” He took a drag from his cigarette—he’d have to run out soon; he’d been smoking all day—before saying, “I may find certain tactics useful when it comes to gettin
g my way, but that doesn’t mean I partake in them unless absolutely necessary.”
He moved to the other bed, his eyes on us the whole time and the cigarette still hanging from his mouth. Not for the first time, I was struck by how startlingly bright the evil seemed to shine in his dark eyes. Like a lone fire blazing on an otherwise black night. It was brilliant, unmistakable, and it made me shiver.
Andrew took a seat on the edge of the bed and sucked in a mouthful of chemicals before speaking again. “I was with a group years ago, not too long after all this started, in Vegas. That’s where I’m from. Ve-gas.” He over pronounced the syllables, spitting them out like it was the most detestable city in the world. “I hated it. It was always crowded and hotter than hell in the summer. A cesspool.” He shrugged. “But it was home.
“When the virus hit, thousands of tourists were stuck, and most of them died. Overnight, Sin City became a ghost town, and it was during those first few days of quiet that I met the boss.” Andrew chuckled like he was relaying a fond childhood memory, and I shivered. “The boss. That’s actually what he wanted us to call him. I didn’t care, though, because he was smart and motivated, and when the dead started coming back, I knew I was going to have to join forces with someone like him or die. Those were the only options.
“We recruited survivors as we found them, men and women, and worked together to clean out and fortify the Monte Carlo, but it wasn’t until it was safe that the boss’s true plan came out.” The corner of Andrew’s mouth curled up. “Like I said, he was a smart son of a bitch. He knew how to motivate people. Knew that the currency of the old world had vanished for good, and if he wanted to succeed, he was going to have to create his own. So he did. He used the women as currency.”
The Oklahoma Wastelands Series Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 53
