After The Apocalypse (Book 2): Church of Chaos (14 page)

“No crazier than I sounded the other night when I saw Seth and thought he was Jeremiah,” Lola said quietly. “You fell in love with Drake.”

“I thought I was in love with Drake,” I corrected her. “He invited me to join the Scavengers and I thought it was a dream come true. Drake was sexy and fun. He treated me like I was someone special. He kept singling me out and spending time with me away from everyone else. A couple nights after we had started talking, he took me out alone and we wound up kissing in the moonlight.”

“That's romantic.”

“It was. But then it turned out that he was kissing a lot of other girls in the moonlight and everybody knew it. I found out later that I meant nothing to him. That I'd never meant anything to him and he didn't even really like me. He only talked to me because he'd been told to by the Powers That Be.”

“Why did the Powers That Be want the leader of the Scavengers to romance you?”

“I don't think they actually wanted him to romance me. I just think that it was the easiest way for him to convince me to leave the Cube with him,” I explained. “Drake was told to get me outside the Cube and kill me. My search for my parents was drawing too much attention to the disappearances that had been occurring inside the Cube. The Powers That Be wanted me dead.”

“Oh,” Lola said. “How did Seth come into the picture?”

“He and Drake are sworn enemies.”

“And you were Drake's girl.”

“Yeah. I guess so. Briefly.”

“I'm starting to see where Vera got the Helen of Troy reference.”

“Really?” I frowned. “I don't.”

“Drake and Seth were already enemies. Drake wanted you dead, so Seth must have thought that having you on his side would benefit him.” Lola pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Seth is using you.”

“I'm not particularly useful,” I said. “He hasn't gotten anything from helping me.”

“Are you kidding?” Lola asked.

“You think he's benefited from helping me?”

“I think you've given him all the ammunition he needs to take out the Powers That Be without the risk of giving away his own secrets. If the Church of Chaos can take down the Cube, then Seth will have control of every square inch of dirt for a thousand miles. He may not really be a god, but he's not opposed to being a quasi-benevolent dictator.”

“I haven't given Seth anything.”

Lola shook her head at me. “You really are naive. Seth hasn't taken over the Cube because he didn't know how things worked inside of it. Now he knows that the people who live inside the Cube aren't willing participants in Bud Moon's plans. He can use that information to turn them against the Powers That Be.”

“I actually think that turning the people against the Powers That Be is a good idea,” I mused out loud. “We aren't cattle. The people who live in the Cube are just as human as you are. We don't deserve to be sold for food.”

“No one deserves to be cannibalized,” Lola replied. “But if Seth can stir up a rebellion inside the Cube, he'll also make sure that he's the one to benefit from that rebellion. Seth despises the king of Ra-Shet. He'll use any power he gains to try to overthrow the king.”

“Why would Seth want to overthrow the king?” I asked. “He hates the city.”

“Seth hates the city because the king is either directly or indirectly responsible for murdering almost everyone Seth has ever loved,” Lola said. The expression in her amber eyes was deadly serious. “Don't lie to yourself about him, Pilar. Seth always has his own agenda and there aren't many throats he won't slit. Don't get caught standing in between Seth and what he wants.”

I swallowed a very dry bite of my fajita. “If you dislike Seth so much-.”

“Seth got Jeremiah killed,” Lola cut me off. “He's the one who told Jeremiah to go into the catacombs. He's the one who triggered the collapse.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?” I asked.

“Because I wish someone had warned me to walk away before it was too late,” she said quietly. “You could have a nice life, Pilar. I have a couple hundred dollars I could lend you. It would be enough to get yourself an apartment on the east end of the city. The money would be enough to tide you over until you got a job.”

“You're offering me a way out?”

“Yes, if you want to look at it that way. I'm giving you the chance to walk away. You don't have any reason to stay with Seth. You're not obligated to him or the Church. He may have found your parents for you, but he definitely didn't save them.”

“He killed my mother in front of me.” Saying the words out loud made them seem more real.

“It's not too late for you, Pilar. You could go back to being a normal girl. There are plenty of nice, normal people our age who live and work inside the walls of Ra-Shet. You could have friends again. You could have a normal boyfriend. Live a rewarding, normal life with no more dead bodies or zombies to deal with.”

“Unless the Powers That Be take over the city with super-zombies,” I reminded her. “If that happens, I'm still just as screwed as I would be if I stayed.”

“Normal girls don't wind up on the front lines of a war,” Lola said calmly. “You might want to think about that, because if you stay with Seth and the Church of Chaos, you'll be on the front lines of Seth's revolution. He's going to go after Bud Moon. We both know that.”

I nodded because I didn't know what else to say.

“Almost everyone who supported the Church of Chaos died during Seth and Jeremiah's last attempt at a rebellion. If you stay with Seth, there's a good chance you won't live to see your seventeenth birthday. You need to understand the risk that you'd be taking.”

“You were with Seth and you didn't die,” I said. “Two days ago you said that you wanted to leave the city with him.”

“I can take care of myself,” Lola purposefully evaded my gaze.

“If you think that walking away is such a great idea, why haven't you walked away yet?”

“I'm in too deep.” Lola toyed with her food. “Walking away stopped being an option a long time ago.”

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “I'm so tired of playing these games. I just want to be able to trust someone. I just want to have someone at my back who I know I can count on.”

“Say you'll walk away, Pilar.” Lola looked at me pleadingly. “Seth knows you're mad at him. I'll just tell him that you've made up your mind and don't want to be involved with the Church of Chaos. You found out what happened to your parents. He'll believe me when I tell him that you decided that your best option would be to return to as normal of a life as possible.”

“I was already planning on walking away,” I said. I didn't understand why she was trying so hard to sell me on a decision that I'd already made.

I sat quietly in my chair and mulled over everything she had said to me. Seth had killed my mother. My dad was probably dead as well. Zombies scared the shit out of me. I had no desire to go up against a horde of super-zombies. I just wanted to find a nice warm bed to crawl into and hide. Going back to living a normal life sounded pretty wonderful right this moment.

I didn't want to be a hero. I had only ever wanted to be a normal girl. Everything that Lola had said about Seth's motives for helping me made sense. He'd never cared about any stupid prophecies. He thought he could use me to destroy Drake. It was so obvious now that I was looking back at everything I'd been through.

Everyone in my life was using me. Drake used me. Seth used me. God only knew how long it would be before I wound up getting thrown into a horde of zombies by the person who was supposed to be pulling me to safety.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “You'll tell Seth I left?”

“Absolutely.”

“I don't want him coming after me,” I said. “I don't think I'll ever forgive him for killing my mom.”

“I'll do everything in my power to make sure you never see him again.” Lola crossed her heart with her right index finger and smiled. “I promise.”

Chapter 22

After we left the restaurant, Lola took me on a tour through the neighborhood that surrounded the Underground. She said no one would pay any attention or remember two teenage girls out shopping. She promised that the circuitous route we were taking would make it more difficult for Seth to track me down later.

We wandered through several clothing stores, two shoe stores and a wonderful store that sold paperback books. I hadn't read a book since leaving the Cube. I missed reading so I picked up a couple cheesy romances that promised to be more humor than murder. Normal girls had time to read books and I was about to become a normal girl again.

Evening had settled on the city of Ra-Shet and a light breeze blew through the air surrounding us as we walked out of a store that sold cheap plastic jewelry and other miscellaneous accessories.

“And then I told Jonas that if he ever bought me another hideous cat necklace, he wouldn't have to worry about buying me another gift as long as he lived because I would no longer be his girlfriend. You should have seen the thing it was-.”

I slowed my pace as I caught sight of a small group of men standing less than 20 feet in front of us. The shortest one of them was leaning against the wall of a big brick building. He was standing just on the outside of the light that was being cast by an overhead street lamp.

Even in the darkness, I could see that the short, heavyset stranger was no thug. He was wearing a long sleeved navy blue button down shirt and a pair of tight fitting light wash blue jeans. He had sunglasses perched on the brim of a black fedora. There was something intimidating about the way the man stood in the middle of the sidewalk, blocking our path.

“Pilar?” Lola stopped a couple feet ahead of me when she realized I wasn't keeping up with her. “Are you coming?”

“Yes,” I closed the gap between us. I leaned down and whispered in her ear. “See that guy standing under the light pole? I think he's watching us.”

Lola squinted and then sighed. Her lips were set in a tight line. “I'd say we should take a different route, but its probably too late. He's seen us.”

“You know him?” I asked.

“Unfortunately.” Lola straightened the hem of her short dress. “His name is Emmett and he's waiting on me.”

“Is he your friend?”

“Not exactly.” Lola started walking towards the man. I couldn't help noticing that she wasn't smiling.

Chapter 23

“Well, well, well. Pretty little Lola. I heard you were a very naughty girl today.” The man in front of us was short, stocky and built like a muscle-bound box. The buttons on his shirt were straining with the effort of staying closed.

“Hello Emmett.” Lola swallowed visibly. Her shoulders were tense despite having just told me that this man was a friend of hers. Her lips were drawn in a thin line. “Whatever you heard, I doubt it's true.”

He let out a deep and strangely chilling laugh. It echoed against the buildings around us and escaped into the night air. “We'll see about that.”

“We can talk later.” Lola took a slight step to the left, as if she were going to walk around Emmett. “My friend and I are running late.”

Emmett reached out and caught her slender arm in his meaty hand. “Introduce me to your friend.”

“Her name is P-,” Lola hesitated. “Patty. Her name is Patty.”

“Patty?” The man exchanged a doubtful look with his two companions. The one on the right was very tall and very thin. His clothes were too big, as if he had recently lost a significant amount of weight. The fellow on the left was just big all over. He towered over us and his arms were thick enough that he looked like he could pick up a building with one hand.

“Patty,” Lola confirmed.

“It's nice to meet you, Patty.”

At this point, every alarm bell in my head was going off. The biggest man stepped closer to us. “Nice to meet you too.”

“We really need to be going.” Lola tried to pull away from Emmett, but he held her tightly in place.

“You ladies aren't going anywhere just yet. Not considering that I heard you and three other people broke into Bud Moon's complex this morning and murdered a man in cold blood. Patty here matches the description of one of your accomplices.”

“Emmett, I can explain.” Lola forced a smile but her already pale skin had turned ghostly white.

I took several steps backwards, trying to increase my distance from the three men. The tall skinny one noticed. “I think the redhead's going to run, Emmett.”

Emmett narrowed his dark eyes at me. “You don't want to run, sweetheart. Trust me when I say you want to cooperate. I treat my friends a whole lot better than I treat my enemies.”

He reached up and stroked one hand down Lola's creamy cheek. She swallowed visibly. “Let her go. She doesn't know anything useful. She's just a pawn.”

“If only I could believe you.” Emmett turned his gaze back to me. “Come with us quietly and you might live through the night.”

I swallowed the lump in my own throat and calculated my odds of actually escaping. The thin man would probably be able to grab me before I made it 10 feet away. Even if I did manage to escape, I was doubtful that I would be able to find my way back to the Underground. Not that I wanted to go back to the Underground. Truth be told, I had nowhere to run for and no one to run to. It wouldn't be right to leave Lola at the mercy of Emmett and his thugs either.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “I'll come quietly.”

“Smart girl.” Emmett began pulling Lola towards a small side street that I hadn't even noticed. After a second's hesitation and a harsh glare from one of the henchmen, I followed them.