After The Apocalypse (Book 2): Church of Chaos (18 page)

Chapter 31

Fire was everywhere around me. I had the briefest sensation of flying through the air before I hit the ground with a vicious thud. My face felt scorched. The ground underneath me was scalding hot against my skin. My dress might have been on fire. I really wasn't sure. I felt dazed as I sat up.

The Underground was gone. Nothing remained of the building but flames and rubble. Gauge was sitting on his knees and groaning. His arms looked to be pretty badly burned, but he was obviously very much alive.

I blinked through the smoke. Seth was laying on the ground a few feet away from me. He had blood covering most of his face and he wasn't moving.

“Seth?”

He didn't respond as I crawled towards him. The blood on his face was coming from a nasty gash on his forehead. His shirt was torn completely open. He had a long cut going from just under one nipple down to the waist of his jeans. If I had guess, he'd been in a knife fight with someone.

Tears filled my eyes. I reached out and touched his chest. “Seth?”

He didn't move. He didn't react.

“Seth. Please. Wake up.” I could feel his heart beating against my palm. He was still alive. That was something. “Seth, please. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

He still didn't move.

People were screaming around me. Gauge had made it to his feet. He staggered over to us. “Is he alive?”

I nodded. Tears were running down my cheeks as the full impact of everything I'd been through in the last four hours caught up to me. “He's not waking up.”

“We've got to get out of here,” Gauge said. “The guard is going to be coming for us.”

“I'm not leaving him.”

“Wasn't planning on it.” Gauge's shaggy blonde hair was sweat soaked and falling into his eyes. He groaned as he bent down and picked Seth up, throwing him over his shoulder.

“Come on,” Gauge beckoned me with one hand. “We've got to go. We need to get out of the city.”

I only hesitated for a second before I followed him.

Chapter 32

We left the city through the west gate. Gauge didn't believe I could control the zombies until after I'd ordered them to stand against the walls of the corridor and let us pass. The shocked look on his face might have been gratifying at any other time, but I was too exhausted to care about anything other than getting out of the city.

My zombie friend was no longer sitting next to the far gate. I didn't know what had become of him. I wondered if he had decided to leave the corridor after all. I hoped he had. It couldn't be pleasant to sit in the same spot day after day and wait on your own death.

The motorcycles that Seth had hidden in the trees were still stowed safely away. I showed Gauge how to ride the bigger one. He proved to be a fast learner. Seth didn't wake up. Gauge wound up throwing him across the back of the bike. It was a very slow trip up the side of the mountain to the old beauty school.

“Do you think he'll be okay?” I asked Gauge as he laid Seth down on the same cot he'd slept on the night before we'd gone into the city.

“I don't know.” Gauge looked down at Seth and shook his head. “He's a tough bastard.”

“This is all my fault.” I felt miserable.

“No, it's not.” Gauge shook his head at me. “Lola betrayed us.”

I blinked at him, stunned. I hadn't said a word to Gauge about Lola. We hadn't really had time to talk about much of anything. We'd been too focused on getting to safety to waste time on small talk.

“You knew?” I asked.

“You knew?” He countered.

I was reluctant to admit the truth, but I did. “She sold you out. You and Seth both. I don't really know why. She'd apparently been giving that Emmett guy information about the Underground for a couple of years.”

Gauge cursed under his breath. His bright eyes had dark circles underneath them. His cheeks were burned to a ruddy shade of red. “I knew I had a traitor. I thought it was Jacob. Dammit man. I thought for sure it was Jacob. I told Lola that I thought Jacob was betraying me. She must have used my suspicions to cover her own tracks. When Jacob died, he became the perfect scapegoat for her. She must have planted the notes I found in his room. Fuck.”

Gauge leaned against the wall and stared up at the roof.

“Don't blame yourself,” I told him. “She fooled me completely. She convinced me that Seth was manipulating me and using me. I almost believed it.”

“You didn't leave,” Gauge pointed out.

“I started to.” I felt miserable. “She said everything she could to make me stop trusting him. I didn't realize what she was doing until I wound up dumped in the west gate corridor with her. Emmett decided she couldn't be trusted.”

“Oh.” Gauge frowned at me. “Is Lola-?”

“She's dead. She committed suicide by zombies. They tore her apart.”

Gauge nodded. “That's probably for the best.”

I nodded but I didn't say anything else. What was there to say?

We'd been betrayed. We'd nearly died. Gauge's life's work was laying in rubble. I wanted to scream and cry at the unfairness of it all, but I didn't have the energy.

“We need to get some sleep,” Gauge said. “You think we'll be safe here?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Seth says this place is safe. As long as we make sure we locked all the doors, we'll be fine.”

“I'll go double check the doors,” Gauge said. He walked out the door and left me alone with Seth.

I sat down against the edge of the wall, thinking that I'd never be able to sleep after everything I'd been through in the last two days. Within minutes, I found I was unable to keep my exhausted eyes open and fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 33

“Pilar.”

Someone was calling my name. I ignored them. I just wanted to sleep. All I wanted was to sleep. My head hurt. My arms hurt. My shoulders hurt. My legs were throbbing. My feet felt like they had shards of glass embedded in them.

“Pilar.”

“Go away,” I muttered. I snuggled closer into what I was groggily starting to realize was a very uncomfortable tile floor. Sunlight was coming in through the high, narrow window.

“Pi.”

“No,” I grumbled. “Let me sleep.”

He laughed. A soft, low chuckle that turned into a vicious cough. I opened one eye to see Seth sitting up on the cot. A rush of relief flooded through me as the events of the previous night came rushing back in a burst of recollection.

“Seth!” I sat up too fast and my chest exploded in pain. I'd evidently cracked a few ribs at some point last night. Probably when I'd gone involuntarily flying off the roof of the Underground. Still, the pain was something I could deal with.

I flung myself at Seth, throwing my arms around his neck. He pulled me onto the cot with him, burying his face in my hair. “I thought you were going to die.”

“Me?” Seth laughed again. “Don't you know I'm immortal?”

“You weren't looking very immortal last night.” I reached up and gently touched the gash on his hairline. “You lost a lot of blood. I couldn't get you to wake up.”

“I don't remember anything that happened after Gauge killed Emmett.” Seth frowned and rubbed his forehead. “Speaking of Gauge, what happened to him after the blast? Did the guard catch him?”

“No. He's here. At least, I assume he's still here. He was last night when I fell asleep.” I glanced sideways at the door.

“You brought Gauge here?” Seth appeared skeptical of my decision.

“You think I carried you here?” I countered. “You were out cold.”

“Valid point,” Seth conceded. “Gauge isn't a bad guy. A little too much of a do-gooder for my tastes, but-.”

“A do-gooder?” Gauge stuck his head through the doorway. “I carried your sorry ass all the way up this mountain. You better be damned grateful that I'm a do-gooder.”

Seth waved one hand at Gauge dismissively. “You don't like killing people.”

“I beheaded Emmett Maven last night in cold blood.”

“He attacked us and burned the Underground down. He deserved to die,” Seth said. “Besides, it sends a message.”

Gauge shook his head at Seth. “You and I really need to sit down and have a serious discussion about morals one day.”

“Not today,” Seth said.

“Not today,” Gauge agreed. “Pretty sure we have bigger problems than your lack of respect for human life. Has Pilar told you-?”

“No,” I cut Gauge off. “I haven't told him anything. I haven't even told him that Lola-.”

“Lola tried to collect on the price on my head,” Seth finished the sentence for me. “I know.”

“How?” Gauge and I both asked at the same time.

“Would you believe me if I said that I saw it in a prophecy?” Seth was grinning.

“No.” Gauge sat down on the edge of the bed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Nice try, though.”

“Fine. I haven't trusted Lola in a very long time,” Seth said. “I knew she'd sold me out the minute Emmett and his thugs stormed the Underground.”

“I'm sorry,” I said. “She was so convincing. I trusted her.”

“Don't worry about it,” Seth put one finger in front of my lips to silence me. “Lola has always been incredibly manipulative. How do you think she convinced my brother to go willingly to his own death?”

“You think Lola is responsible for Jeremiah's death?” I asked.

Seth shrugged. “I've always wondered. He wasn't supposed to be in the catacombs. Our plan didn't involve going into the catacombs. The first I heard about Jeremiah going into the catacombs was when Lola came to me and told me he had died in the collapse.”

“I'm sorry.” I hugged Seth tighter. “I'm so sorry. For everything.”

“You don't have anything to be sorry for,” Seth replied. “If anyone should be apologizing, it's me.”

“Oh for the love of god, can you two stop?” Gauge asked. “Lola betrayed us. All of us. We all trusted her and we all paid the price. It isn't anyone's fault. Lesson learned.”

“Someone's grumpy,” Seth chided.

“Go ahead and make jokes. You got a solid 12 hours sleep. I've had two hours sleep.” Gauge looked positively disgusted as he rolled his eyes at Seth.

“I only slept because I got knocked unconscious,” Seth said defensively. “You can't blame me for getting knocked unconscious.”

“I'm not blaming you, but I will say that you are much heavier than you look.” Gauge flexed his muscular arms.

Seth laughed outright. “Thanks for lugging my sorry carcass up the mountain. I'll try not to get knocked out next time.”

“Just be glad you had those motorcycles hidden,” Gauge told him. “If it hadn't been for those, I'd have left you hidden in a cave somewhere near the outer wall of the city.”

“Can you two stop arguing for ten minutes?” I asked. “I have a headache.”

“I'm not surprised. You have a pretty good bruise on your temple. Did you get knocked out last night?” Seth ran one finger across the sore part of my head. Now that he mentioned it, that spot did hurt a little bit more than the rest of me. I nodded.

“Lola?”

“Emmett's thugs,” I said. “They snatched us off the street and forced us to go back to his apartment. Lola told them everything she knew about Bud Moon's bunker and that Seth was in Ra-Shet. I think she thought they were going to let us go so long as she gave them good information.”

“Didn't work out that way?”

“No,” I replied. “Emmett said he couldn't trust her anymore. When I realized he was going to kill us, I tried to fight back. One of his goons knocked me out.”

“Emmett won't ever hurt you again,” Seth promised. His familiarly wicked smile was starting to come back.

“We have a lot bigger problems than Emmett,” I told him. “Bud Moon has been releasing his failed super-zombies into the west gate corridor.”

Seth and Gauge exchanged startled glances.

“He what?” Gauge demanded.

“Are you sure?” Seth asked.

“I had a rather long talk with one of them yesterday,” I explained. “He was from the Cube. He knew my Dad. They both worked in the maintenance department. He's the one who told me that Bud has been turning his experiments loose in the west corridor.”

“You had a talk with one of the super-zombies?” Seth was staring at me as if I'd sprouted a second head.

“The far gate in the west gate corridor isn't locked,” Gauge said at the same time. “If he's been releasing the zombies in the corridor and they're still intelligent enough to think then they could be anywhere by now.”

“Exactly,” I nodded at Gauge. “They've been going out the gate and into the woods. He wasn't sure how many of them had been released total. He thought 10 or 20 had gone in when he'd gone in.”

“What possessed you to talk with the super-zombie?” Seth demanded. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”

“He helped me,” I said honestly. “And he said-. He said my Dad went back to the Cube.”

“What?” Seth frowned at me.

“Dad thinks I'm still in the Cube. He knows what Bud Moon is doing. He went back for me.” The words were hard to get out of my mouth. “He doesn't know I escaped.”

“Dammit.” Seth looked positively annoyed now. He rubbed one hand across his face. “Let me guess. You want to go save him, don't you?”

“My Dad went to go fight Bud Moon and the Powers That Be. He's an old man and he's all by himself. We have to try to find him. We have to help him. At least, I do.” I pulled away from Seth so that I could glare at him. “I don't care if you go with me. It's your choice whether you want to come. I'm not scared of being outside in the big bad world on my own anymore. I don't need anyone to save me. I'm perfectly capable of saving myself. If you won't try to help me stop Bud Moon, then I'll do it alone.”

Seth yanked me back against his chest. “Pilar, Pilar, Pilar. What would I do without you?”

“Lead a peaceful life?” Gauge suggested snidely under his breath.

Seth snorted. He took my chin in the palm of his chin. I purposely held my spine rigid as he pulled me into him. We were eye to eye now. Funny how his ruined eye didn't bother me in the slightest now.

“Have I ever left you alone?” Seth asked.

“No.”

“Have I ever failed you?” Seth asked.

“Not yet.”

“Do you really think I'd let you go fight Bud Moon and the Powers That Be on your own?”

“I just wanted you to know that I'm not asking you to,” I said.

“You don't have to ask me to.” Seth shook his head at me. “Besides, do you really think I'm going to let Bud Moon keep turning innocent people into zombie-human hybrids?”

“No.” I smiled at him. “Probably not.”

“Am I the only one who is concerned that Bud released the super-zombies?” Gauge asked. “Because neither of you two seem particularly bothered by that news.”

“I'm more concerned with the fact that Bud is making super-zombies,” Seth said. He pointed at his dead, white eye. “Making super-zombies is
my
job.”

“Speaking of the Church of Chaos,” Gauge looked thoughtful.

“Hmm?”

“I want to join,” Gauge said.

“What?” Seth abruptly released me. He stared at Gauge. “You
want
to join the Church of Chaos?”

“Did I stutter?” Gauge held his hands out in a broad shrug. “The Underground is gone. The people I've spent the last four years of my life protecting have been forced into hiding. I executed Merrick Maven and his son last night in a declaration of war. A declaration of war that was
your
idea.”

“I have a thing for making grand gestures,” Seth was playing with a strand of my hair. He wrapped it around his index finger in a tight curl and then freed it only to wrap it up again.

“And I have a thing for staying alive.” Gauge crossed his thick arms over his muscular chest. “Bud Moon is creating an army of super-zombies. He's planning on attacking my city with them. I can't just let that happen. I'm going to fight, with or without you. Ra-Shet may not mean anything to you, but those are my people. I'm going to do everything in my power to protect them.”

“You want to be changed?” Seth clarified.

“Yes.” Gauge examined a long cut that was running down his forearm. “Especially considering that I'm already cut up. I don't have time to worry about getting an infection. We have lives to save.”

Seth considered the other boy for a minute and then nodded his head. “Fine.”

“Good,” Gauge nodded. “I want to do it before we go to the Cube.”

“That would make the most sense,” Seth acknowledged. “You'll make for better backup if I don't have to worry about you getting eaten by a zombie while I'm not paying attention.”

“I'm actually not that worried about getting eaten by a zombie,” Gauge said. “Considering that Pilar can control them with voice commands.”

“That's just a prophecy,” Seth said dismissively. “Don't put too much stake in it. A lot of the prophecies, well... The prophecies haven't been all that reliable.”

Gauge frowned at me. “Does he not know?”

I shook my head. “I haven't had the chance to-. No. He doesn't know.”

“Wait.” Seth pulled back from me slightly. His attention was fully focused on me. “You tried to control a zombie?”

“They were going to eat me,” I said quickly. “Emmett threw Lola and me into the west gate corridor. Lola committed suicide. I made a run for it and the zombies caught up to me. I didn't even mean to do it. I just screamed at them to stop and let me go.”

Seth looked stunned. “It worked?”

“She can part them like the red sea,” Gauge said. “I watched her do it last night. We used the west gate to leave the city. The zombies never even came near us.”

“Thank god.” Seth breathed out a visible sigh of relief.

“Thank god?”

“If one of the prophecies came true, then there's still a chance that the rest of them will.” Seth was smiling now. I was surprised to realize how young he looked. “We might actually live through this little nightmare after all.”

“I don't understand?”

“One of the prophecies about the Church of Chaos is that the king of Ra-Shet will fall to the Church,” Gauge said.

“Fall as in?”

“Fall from power,” Seth supplied. “One of the more famous prophecies is that the high priest of the Church of Chaos will strip the king of all his power and that the people will be free from his oppression. No more taxes. No more meat market. No more execution by zombie.”

“Is that the prophecy you didn't want to tell me about?” I searched Seth's face for answers.

“Jeremiah
died
trying to fulfill that prophecy.” Seth's smile faded. “I don't talk about the prophecies because people tend to think I can control them. I may be able to predict that something will happen, but there is no guaranteeing when or how it will happen. Lola got impatient. She knew that the king was prophesied to fall to the high priest. Jeremiah was the high priest. She talked him into trying to take the city. I told him it wasn't a good idea and that we didn't have a good plan. He wouldn't listen to me. Lola was filling his head with fantasies about being able to go home to the city. She wanted to marry him in the Church of the Angels. She couldn't have her wedding so long as we were exiled.”