Broken World (Book 3): Mad World (2 page)

I land hard on my right side. Pain shoots up my arm, but I ignore it and roll onto my back so I can get a good look at my surroundings. The Monte Carlo looms in front of me, bringing to mind what my mom, Darla, said about seeing movement outside the casino. Tat is almost at the front door. He has Hadley slung over his shoulder and she’s still kicking and screaming her head off. There’s some kind of barrier set up they have to run through before they can actually get into the casino, though. Armed men stand behind it, and as I watch, they open a gate so Tat can pass through.

Hadley is out of sight within seconds. Shit.

The man I kicked in the groin is doubled over in pain only two feet away from me. The driver and Chubby head toward us with a group of zombies not too far behind. The two men are out of breath and covered in sweat. Chubby is having a hard time keeping up. He acts like he’s about to suffocate. Probably hasn’t exerted himself this much his entire life.

I tear my eyes away from the men and look around, desperate to get away. But there’s nowhere to go. I try to get to my feet, but New Guy grabs my ankle to stop me from moving. His face is twisted in agony, and his fingers dig into my skin.

“I have to get you inside,” he says, grimacing.

“You can’t handle carrying a chick in?” the driver says when he reaches us. He shakes his head at New Guy.

The driver reaches down to grab me, but New Guy suddenly finds his strength and pushes the driver aside. “I got her.” He grunts when he lifts me up, then slings me over his shoulder again.

He takes off toward the hotel, but this time I don’t fight. There’s no point. Three men against just me are impossible odds. Plus, there’s no way I could leave Hadley. I’d never be able to live with myself.

When we make it inside, I’m tossed onto a couch next to Hadley. New Guy glares at me and grimaces again. He grabs his crotch and bends over, and I’m torn between the desire to smile at his discomfort and the desire to burst into tears at the situation.

I inhale slowly, trying to calm my breathing and quiet my pounding heart. Then it hits me. The air doesn’t stink and I’m not sweating anymore. The air conditioner is on. Electricity.

The hotel lobby is brightly lit, and there’s even music playing from the speakers overhead. The place is clean and clear of bodies, and the people walking by—only men—aren’t filthy. Even the four men who brought us here. They’re sweating from the heat, but now that I get a closer look at them, they aren’t dirty. Chubby’s clothes are stained and gross, but they don’t look like someone who’s been fighting off the living dead. Which tells me he’s just a slob. A slob who’s been holed up in a hotel.

The driver glares at New Guy and shakes his head again, then jerks his thumb toward Hadley and me. “Watch them.”

Hadley grabs my hand, and I squeeze it. We watch as the Hispanic man walks toward the front desk like he’s checking into a room. He stops and talks to a man. A man dressed in a suit, which seems crazy and out-of-place, considering what’s outside this hotel. Suit man is short, stocky, and balding, but he stands tall when he talks. Like he has a lot of power and he knows it. The driver points toward Hadley and me, and Suit Man grins like he was just told he won the lottery. My stomach turns inside out.

I have a very bad feeling about what comes next.

Men come out of the woodwork to gawk at us. Like we’re freaks in a sideshow or something. Hadley scoots closer and squeezes my hand so tight my knuckles crunch together. I can’t really focus on the pain, though. I’m too busy checking everything out. There are so many men here. I scan the room, counting. Ten. Fifteen. More than twenty. Where did they all come from?

A group of men stands in a cluster on the other side of the room, staring at the wall. I lean forward to get a better view, and when I catch sight of what they’re looking at, I inhale sharply and grab Hadley’s leg with my free hand. There are dozens of pictures of naked women lined up on the wall. Not pages taken from a magazine. Actual pictures. And they’re divided into three numbered categories. I guess that explains the crazy code the men were using in the van.

Hadley’s body trembles next to mine. She must see it too. She squeezes my hand again, and I scoot closer. We have to find a way out of here.

It isn’t going to be easy, though. Not with the armed men at the doors. Plus, I really doubt we’re going to be free to roam the hotel. New Guy, Tat, and Chubby haven’t walked away or taken their eyes off us for even a second. They stand right in front of Hadley and me like guards, glaring down at us.

“What’s going to happen?” Hadley whispers.

I swallow and work on controlling my voice. “Try to stay calm.” The words shake.

She turns her green eyes toward me, and her lips tremble. She didn’t miss the fact that I didn’t answer her question, but I have no intention to. Thinking about what these men have planned for us is only going to make us panic, and right now we need to stay calm. Focused. Strong.

The driver heads back, followed by three other men. Suit Man and two big guys with broad shoulders. They look like they should be playing professional football or something. They stop in front of Hadley and me. Suit Man looks us over, nodding in approval. He obviously has some position of authority.

“Nice work.” He steps forward and grabs me by the arm, then jerks me to my feet. “Hadley Lucas will be a three for sure. Looks like this one will be, too. We’ll have to check them over, but this is definitely worth a two. I’ll get you guys a receipt.”

“Ain’t it worth a three?” Chubby whines. “She’s a movie star! We brought ‘er in, we should get a go at ‘er.”

Suit Man’s fingers dig into my arm, and his eyes narrow on Chubby. “It took four of you almost the entire day to bring in two women. You’re lucky it’s a two. If you have complaints about your compensation, you can take it up with the boss. I have to warn you though, he isn’t the understanding kind.”

Chubby clamps his mouth shut and stares down at his feet. He looks like a giant kid with his hands shoved in his pockets, kicking at an imaginary ball on the floor. It makes me sick to my stomach.

Suit Man nods, and the corners of his mouth turn up, making him look sinister. He jerks my arm roughly and shoves me toward the linebackers. “Take them upstairs to be processed,” he says as he turns away. “I’ll be up after I get their receipts.”

Linebacker One takes over where Suit Man left off. He grabs my arm and pulls me forward. Hadley squeaks behind me as she’s yanked off the couch by the other linebacker. They drag us toward the elevator, and men leer at us every step of the way. Fear twists inside me, but I focus on controlling my breathing. On staying calm.

The elevator door shuts, and Hadley sniffs. “Why are we here?”

The linebackers don’t respond. They won’t even look at us.

2
Axl

SOMEBODY’S YELLIN’ AND IT RINGS IN MY EARS, only it takes me a few seconds to realize it’s me. It’s hard to hear anythin’ over the sound of gunfire as I run after the van, pullin’ the trigger over and over again. My chest is tight, and my body’s so tense it feels like I’m gonna explode. But I can’t do nothin’ but pull the damn trigger and charge after that fuckin’ van.

“Axl!”

Angus’s voice finally reaches me, and I lower my gun. I’m pantin’, and I can’t catch my breath. The van is outta sight, anyways. There’s nothin’ left to shoot at but the dead.

“Get in the car!”

I try to swallow the lump in my throat. It don’t work. Feels like it’s gonna choke me. I can’t get any words outta my mouth, so I just nod as I run back to the car. Angus climbs in the driver’s seat, so I go to the other side. The bags of medical supplies Vivian and Hadley was carryin’ are on my seat, and I gotta throw them in the back. At least Angus remembered to grab ‘em. It wasn’t exactly on my list of priorities.

“Hang on,” Angus growls as he hits the gas pedal.

He steers the car through the parkin’ lot and ‘round the crowd of zombies while I stare out the front window and try to find the van in the distance. It’s long gone and I know it. I wasted time shootin’ after them. I shoulda gotten in the car right away. Shoulda drove off and run that bastard off the road. Then I’d have Vivian with me right now, and them bastards would be dead. I know, because I’d shoot every last one of ‘em. And like it.

But I didn’t, and now she’s gone.

My stomach hardens, and I stare straight ahead. “You see where they went?”

We’re flyin’ down the street, and Angus is swervin’ like crazy. “We’ll find ‘em.”

I grip the dashboard, cursin’ myself for my own stupidity. Why the hell didn’t I get in the damn car right away? We coulda followed ‘em.

“Dammit!” I scream, bangin’ my fist against the window.

Pain pulses through my palm to my wrist and up my arm. Somehow it goes straight to my heart. I clench my fist and press it to my chest, tryin’ to hold it all together. This is exactly why I didn’t want Vivian to come to Vegas. Why I wanted her to stay in the shelter where she was safe.

              We don’t catch up to ‘em, and Angus eventually slows the car. I can’t even argue with him to keep goin’. I don’t know where she is any more than he does.

“What now?” I ask through clenched teeth.

I can’t think. At least not ‘bout where to go or what to do. My throat feels close to closin’ and there ain’t a clear thought in my head.

Angus grunts and pulls over. The dead start poundin’ on the side of the car, and the sound vibrates through my body ‘til I think I’m gonna explode. I wish they’d stop so I could think. Could come up with a plan and figure out what I had to do to find Vivian. But right now all I can do is picture the panicked look on her face as she ran toward us.

“I know you ain’t gonna like it,” Angus says, “but I think we gotta head back to the shelter.”

I clench my fists. He’s right. I don’t like it. Don’t mean I think he’s wrong, though. “We can’t just leave ‘em.”

I wanna say
her
, but that’d be a dick thing to say. ‘Course, if I was bein’ honest, I’d admit that I didn’t give a flyin’ fuck ‘bout Hadley. Not as long as I got Vivian back.

I can’t say that, though. Not even to Angus.

“We got no idea where they took them girls and we got no backup.” He puts the car in gear like it’s already decided. “I say we head on back and get a group together. Then we can make a real go of it.”

Angus don’t look at me, and I know he’s not sayin’ what he really thinks. That they’re gone for good and we’re shit outta luck. It’s a good thing he don’t say it. If he did, I’d probably beat the shit outta him.

I swallow and nod, but I can’t for the life of me get any words outta my mouth. Especially when he starts drivin’. My eyes sting, and I know any minute I’m gonna be cryin’. I ain’t cried since our mom died, and the last thing I wanna do is cry in front of Angus. I don’t ever like lookin’ weak, but in front of my brother, it’s about the worst thing I could do.

Angus drives, runnin’ over the zombies that’re too stupid to get outta the way. Their bodies crunch under the tires and for some insane reason, it makes the pain inside me less intense. If we can take care of the damn walkin’ dead, we should be able to handle a few men. Right?

I don’t say one word the whole drive to the shelter. It’s nearly five by the time it comes into view, and the sun is gettin’ pretty low. That damn rock in my stomach gets even bigger. We ain’t gonna be able to go back out tonight. I understand how Angus felt now, that day Winston and Trey showed up at the shelter without Vivian an’ me.

We’d gone on what shoulda been a routine supply run, but the Strip was swarmin’ with the dead. The other car had kids in it, and sacrificin’ myself was all I could think to do. My life ain’t worth more than theirs, that’s for sure. My only real regret was that Vivian was there, too. I hated puttin’ her in that position. But we made it. Got out of a sticky situation thanks to Winston and some fast thinkin’ on his part. After that, Vivian an’ me spent the night on the roof of the Paris hotel. Angus came for us the next day. I knew he would. I could always depend on my brother, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind he’d find us. Zombies or not, Angus would be there. ‘Course, when we got back to the shelter we found out what a prick he’d been to everybody else. Gave Winston a black eye, even.

I’m plenty pissed ‘bout Vivian bein’ gone, but I ain’t gonna scream an’ throw punches like Angus did. Bein’ reasonable is the only way we’re gonna get them back.

Angus pulls up in front of the gate and I hop out, shootin’ two bastards in the head before I even step away from the car. They go down, and it feels good. Watchin’ ‘em fall. More of the dead head my way, but they’re a good distance off. I unlock the fence while I wait for them to get closer. Angus drives through, but I don’t follow. I tuck my gun into the waistband of my pants and pull out my knife. It’s the huntin’ knife Angus gave me for my fifteenth birthday. I’m pretty sure he swiped it from the place he was workin’ at, but I didn’t give a shit. Still don’t.

The zombies sway toward me. They remind me of the guys I used to hang out with after a night of drinkin’, the way they’re staggerin’ all over the place. I clench my jaw tight an’ step forward to meet ‘em, jabbin’ the blade into the first one’s skull. It slices right through the bone, squishin’ into the bastard’s brains. A few squirts of black gunk sprays out and lands on my arm when he falls to the ground. I jerk my knife out and wipe the shit off my arm, then stab the second zombie right through his eye. The bastard goes down, and I wipe my blade clean on his uniform while I look ‘round for more.

The air’s ripe with the stink of rot. The bodies are pilin’ up outside the fence, and the voice of reason in my brain tells me it’s something we gotta take care of. But right now all I can focus on is the rage buildin’ inside. How it’s threatenin’ to crush me.

“Axl, you dumbass!” Angus yells from inside the fence. “Get your ass over here!”

I ignore my brother and pull my gun back out, firin’ off two quick shots. The bullets hit the two closest zombies, and I watch in satisfaction as their heads explode. Brain and black shit and bone rain down on the sand. More of the undead head my way.

Angus keeps yellin’, and another voice joins him. I jerk ‘round, lookin’ toward the fence so’s I can see who it is. Winston. He must’ve seen us on them monitors. That rational part of me says to go inside and talk it out. Somebody’ll have a plan. They gotta.

I ignore it.

A zombie moans, and I turn to face it. He’s a big bastard. An’ ugly. He ain’t wearin’ a uniform, so I got no idea where he came from, but I don’t give a shit. I put my gun away and pull out my knife. Two steps and I’m in front of him. One swipe and my knife is in his skull. The blade rips across his face and he falls down, but that ain’t enough. He’s still movin’. Twitchin’ on the ground like he’s havin’ a seizure. My blood boils, and the muscles in my hands jerk. I can’t focus on nothin’ else. I bring the blade down, stabbin’ him through the eye before pullin’ it out and doin’ it all over again. Over an’ over I stab the asshole ‘til there’s nothin’ left of his face but a black, messy pool of bone and rottin’ flesh. I’m only a little aware of the screams comin’ outta my mouth.

“Axl!”

Winston pulls me away from the body and back toward the fence. I’m shakin’, and I can’t focus on nothin’ he’s sayin’. He leads me through the fence, then shoves me down the stairs. Into the shelter. I’m still holdin’ the damn knife. My fingers ache, I’m grippin’ it so tight.

“Pull yourself together!” Winston yells.

We’re outside the control room, and there’s a group of people there, starin’ at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. Every muscle in my body is stiff, and I’m shakin’. Drops of sweat drip down my face and into my eyes, but I don’t wipe ‘em away. It stings. Just like the tears tryin’ to get out.

No one talks, and my breathin’ slowly goes back to normal. My heart’s still poundin’, though. Only they can’t see that. Winston’s face is tense. He scratches at his beard. He ain’t lookin’ at me, and I got a feelin’ it’s ‘cause he don’t want me to see the pity in his eyes.

“Now tell us what happened.”

Angus clears his throat an’ looks at me. That rock in my stomach gets heavier, and I curl my hand into a fist. I wanna punch him. The prick don’t even look like he cares.

“Lost the doc at the hospital. He was a suicidal bastard. Threw himself into a horde and went down with a damn smile on his face. Helped the rest of us get away, though.” Angus puckers his lips like he does when he’s thinkin’. I hate it when he does that. Moron looks like he just sucked on a lemon. “Axl an’ me got split up from the girls when we was tryin’ to get out. They took off one way an’ we had to go ‘nother. We got to the car first and circled ‘round the parkin’ lot, lookin’ for ‘em. Finally found ‘em just as a van drove up. Two guys jumped outta the back and snatched ‘em.”

“They just grabbed them and drove away?” Trey narrows his eyes an’ shakes his head like none of it makes sense. Which it don’t. He gives me a look that’s full of sympathy, but not pity. Trey’s a good guy. Never thought I’d say it ‘bout no black guy, but he’s alright.

“You follow them?” Nathan asks.

My insides twist, and that rage starts to creep back up on me. I haven’t forgotten how that prick made Vivian strip at Sam’s Club when we first met him. Doubt I ever will. He said he did it to make sure she wasn’t bit, but something ‘bout it never sat right with me. I ain’t blind, and I know he ain’t neither. Vivian’s got a body, and it’s hard for me to believe he didn’t just want a good look.

I tear my eyes away from that asshole. “We lost ‘em.” It’s all I can manage to get out.

I’m so mad I start shakin’. Mad at myself for lettin’ ‘em get away. Mad at Angus for bein’ an ass. Mad at Nathan for what he did to Vivian. Mad at God for puttin’ us in this fuckin’ situation to start with.

Winston shakes his head and scratches his chin again. He’s starin’ at the floor, thinkin’. It helps ease some of the heaviness in my gut. If there’s a way to find her, he’ll come up with it. I know he will. If I was thinkin’ clear, I might have an idea or two. But I ain’t. Winston an’ me, we think alike. Something that took me by surprise. Didn’t think I could have so much respect for a middle-aged black guy, that’s for sure. Sure as hell never thought I’d compare myself to one. Angus would shit a brick if he knew what I thought of Winston. Not that I’m gonna tell him.

When Winston looks up, he don’t look happy. His shoulders slump, and he won’t look me in the eye. He don’t have a clue neither. “Is it even possible to find them? Vegas is huge. They could have taken them anywhere.”

My gut tightens even more, and I let out a noise I ain’t never made before. It sounds like an animal tryin’ to rip its way outta my body. Feels that way, too. I turn ‘round and punch the wall behind me as hard as I can before slumpin’ to the floor. And that’s it. After that, I can’t move.

People ‘round me talk, but I don’t listen. My hand throbs. I look down. My knuckles are covered in blood. I probably broke someting when I punched the wall.

I get to my feet and stagger toward the stairs.

Angus comes after me. “Where you goin’? Don’t get all crazy, you hear me? We’ll find them girls. We just gotta think this thing through.”

I wanna hit him, but my hand hurts like hell and that will only make things worse.

“Fuck off, Angus,” I mumble. “It ain’t like you liked her anyways.”

Angus grunts, but he don’t argue.

“I gotta take a shower.” I walk off, and he don’t follow.

I go to Vivian an’ Hadley’s apartment. I’m pretty sure Darla—that bitch who abandoned Vivian—moved into mine an’ Angus’s. I don’t wanna see her. I’m sure she’ll have some fake sympathetic bullshit to say to me, and the way I’m feelin’ right now, I’m likely to punch her in the face. I ain’t never hit a woman, and I ain’t ‘bout to start now.

Even if she probably does deserve it.

I’m hopin’ the shower will clear my mind. Help me to think of a plan. But when I’m washed off an’ wearin’ clean clothes—thanks to Vivian, who did my laundry before we left—I ain’t any closer to a solution. I’m willin’ to drive to Vegas myself if I gotta, but I don’t got a clue where to start lookin’ even if I do.