Hunted (A Sinners Series Book 2) (13 page)

The people around him gasp.

“Excuse me, excuse me. I gotta get through.” Cole makes his way toward Bruno.

Sinners clear a narrow path for Cole while I shield the young girl from the gruesome sight unfolding.

For a moment, I think maybe we will get away with it. No one has noticed.

And then automatic fire sprays our railcar. Bodies hit the floor. Everyone’s fighting to get down, piling on top of each other. Bullets whip through the air around us, puncturing the walls. I manage to look up and see the door’s still open. Bruno and Cole are standing, firing back. Another man grabs a gun off Cole’s waist and begins firing.

The car begins to move. The sudden jolt puts everyone off balance. Zeus yelps.

For a moment, I sway left. But Cole’s figure in the doorway fuels me.
Please don’t let this be it. I can’t let him die.

To my relief, the automatic door begins sliding closed. With a loud bang, Bruno and Cole relax, pressing their backs against the wall and trying to catch their breaths as the train picks up speed. I hunch over; my chest’s heaving for oxygen. Everyone’s screaming around me. My ears ring. My head’s pounding like a drum. All of a sudden, Cole’s at my side grabbing my face and inspecting it.

“You’re hit,” Cole says. He touches my cheek.

“It just grazed me. I’m fine,” I say. “How about you, you good?” I run my hands across his chest and then back.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Cole’s breathing is jagged. He looks past me.

I want to collapse, but instead, I survey the damage. People are piled on top of each other for protection. The floor’s slick with blood, and I smell vomit and feces. A soft, wet tongue licks my fingers, and I look down to see Zeus bleeding. It hurts like hell to inhale. I scan him. His wounds from last night have opened up again, but this time, he’s really bleeding badly.

“Cole, get me something, anything. He’s bleeding again.”

Cole frantically looks around, but a man next to him pulls his shirt over his head and hands it to him.

“Thank you,” Cole says. It’s the guy who helped Cole and Bruno fight back. He hands Cole his gun and nods his head.

I drop down next to Zeus and immediately apply pressure to the wound that’s bleeding the most. He lets out a cry.

“Will you stop trying to be such a tough guy? You have to heal, you dork,” I say to Zeus. His big, brown eyes look at me, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was sad. My head snaps up. I know Bruno’s all right, but where’s Grace?

“Grace!” I call out, looking around the car. “Where’s Grace?”

“Right here,” she says. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see her arms around Bruno. Her face looks bloodless.

“Phew. We’re all here; we’re all okay.”

As people around us pick up the pieces, collect themselves, and assess the scene, Grace, who’s been quiet the entire time, decides to speak.

“Why do you suppose they let us go?” Grace asks. “They could’ve stopped the train.”

“Because they know where we’re headed.” Cole’s face grows serious. “They’ll be ready for us.”

An injured woman lies flat on her back, arms at her sides and legs still. Fiery red hair is matted to her face and neck. Her light blue eyes stare blankly. I kneel beside her. She moans, and a man quickly grabs her hand. Her face has already turned ashen, and her breathing is labored. Beside her is a pool of blood. The man presses a hand against her stomach wound as blood seeps through his fingers. He leans forward and kisses her forehead. I watch him as he stares at her, skin bunching around his eyes. His eyes harden the instant he notices me watching.

“This is your fault. They were after you,” he says, pointing to the brand around my neck. “She’s going to die because of you.”

He’s right. And suddenly I’m sinking in my own skin; this is my fault, because they were after me. My hands shake as I pull my hair over my shoulders in an effort to hide my brand.

“She’ll be at peace soon.” I say the only thing I can think of. “Talk to her … tell her it’s okay to let go.” A sick feeling hits the pit of my stomach.

He stares at me like I just said the craziest thing.

“I know this won’t account for much, but where she’s going … at least she’ll be safe,” I say to the man. “Trust me.” He nods.

The woman moans again, and blood dribbles over her lips. I can’t watch her die knowing I’m the cause of the bullet that’s killing her.
How many others are going to die because of me?

I stand too quickly and then stumble backward when the image of Keegan’s death flashes in my mind. My vision blurs.

“Whoa, I got you,” Cole says, catching me just before I fall. “Come on, you need to sit down.”

The man looks up at me, and I swear I see pity in his eyes.

“I’m okay. I just … I just got lightheaded, that’s all.” How can I be thinking about myself at a time like this?

“Come sit with me,” Cole says. “That old man is grieving, but he’s wrong. This isn’t your fault, Lexi. None of this is on you.”

Yes it is.

The light wanes, and everything is quiet except for the occasional shallow cough and the purring of the train on the tracks. I press my head against the frigid, cold metal of the train car. Bruno and Cole join others, moving dead bodies to the other side of the car and piling them up. It’s a gruesome task, and I have to look away. At my feet, Zeus woofs in his sleep.
Probably chasing cats or something.
His wounds have stopped bleeding, but his fur’s still smeared with blood. The dim lights of the car flicker, giving off an eerie glow. It’s like we’re being transported to space or something.
Space would be better.

Cole slides down the wall and covers his face with his bloody, dirty hands.

“How many dead?” I ask.

“Six.” He drops his hands and looks at me. “You’ve been pretty quiet. What’s on your mind?”

I shake my head because I don’t want to hear myself say these words.

“Hey, talk to me.” He waits patiently for my response.

“I don’t want to die, I don’t want anyone else to die.”

“If we stick to our plan, no one else will have to die. And if they do, that’s on Wilson. We have to stay focused. We didn’t start this, Lexi. But we sure as hell are going to find Sutton and finish it.”

I say nothing. He smiles his crooked smile and kisses me.

Bruno and Grace settle next to us in the cramped car.

“All right, lovebirds,” Bruno says to Cole. “What are we gonna do when that door opens again?”

“Unfortunately, since these people recognize us,” Cole says, “they’re a huge liability.”

“We can’t kill them,” I say.

“Lexi!” Grace scolds, a look of horror on her sweet face.

“We need them on our side. We need them to help us blend in,” Cole says.

“We could move to another car, hide there until this one clears,” Grace says.

“Yeah, then once they realize we’re gone, maybe that’ll be it,” Bruno adds, a proud smile across his face.

“That’s not going to work,” Cole says. “Wilson would slaughter every single one of them before he would give up his search for us. He knows we aren’t stupid. He knows we wouldn’t give up that easily.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring,” Grace says.

Seconds pass, and no one speaks. The only sounds come from a young boy crying in the back of the car and a woman speaking in Spanish to her elderly companion.

“I can get us in, if we can get past the guards waiting at the station,” Cole says finally.

“Okay. Let’s say, by some miracle, we make it past the firing squad after the doors open. Once we’re in, then what?” I ask.

“I know a place where we can hide out, at least for a little while. Then we go in search of the monitors,” Bruno says. He rubs the back of his neck.

“Whoa, hold on a minute. What about Sutton?” I ask. “We have to find him.”

“Our first mission’s to find the monitors and help them retrieve the information they need to end this.”

“Wait, what?” I ask, as my stomach plummets to the floor. “Why would we do that?”

“Think about it. You know Sutton better than all of us, and this is what he’s worked so hard for. If we don’t help the monitors succeed, nothing changes. We can’t hang the future on saving one man. We get to the monitors first, then save Sutton.”

I clench my fists and release them, allowing the anger to escape my fingers. I know they’re right, that it’s what needs to be done. I unclench my jaw and relax my shoulders.

“All right, but once we find them—”

“Lexi, one day at a time,” Cole says. “This isn’t going to happen overnight. There are only five of us. We’re up against hundreds of guards and thousands upon thousands of Sinners.”

“You’re right,” I say. “Don’t worry, I can do this.”

“I know you can.” Cole pulls me into a hug, and I soak in his warmth.

Bruno begins banging on the wall opposite the door, drawing people’s attention. “Aha, got you, bugger,” he says.

Grace gives him a funny look. “Bruno, what are you—”

Just then Bruno uses the heel of his boot and kicks through the wall, shattering glass and revealing a brightly painted red handle in a hidden compartment.

“Just a little trick I learned when I worked at the station.” He smiles. “Only a few know there’s an emergency door release. All I have to do is pull it when we get close, and we can jump out before the guards show up.”

“You’re a genius,” Cole says.

“Yeah, let’s just hope this sucker still works,” Bruno says. He sits down next to it, bringing Grace to his side. “When we slow enough to jump without breaking our legs, I’ll hit it, and the engineer won’t see the alarm in time to stop us.”

“All right then, tell us when,” Cole says, leaning his head back against the wall.

I lean against him, but I can’t rest. I can’t relax. Something is eating away at me.
Aside from the fact that we’re heading into the lion’s den.

My attention’s drawn to the end of the railcar, where someone’s coughing. The rasping reminds me of holding Alyssa as she passed away in my arms. I place my hands over my aching heart, missing my friend. The figure’s body wracks and then goes silent. I let my eyes be drawn to the thin aisle separating slumbering bodies, and that’s when it hits me.

The small country church has only six pews on each side, all of which are empty. It’s night time, and it feels like someone threw a thick, black blanket over us. I can feel something’s not right when I see Keegan standing, empty-handed and shell-shocked, at the front of the church. The pastor’s kneeling down with Mom at the altar. My feet stop, and my breath catches. I subconsciously reach out to hold the pew next to me, and the smooth wood meets my fingers. I’m afraid to go any farther.

I watch as Keegan gently folds up the piece of paper he’s reading and motions for me. He’s not smiling. He’s not even cursing, for a change. His eyes look like two giant pieces of coal lodged in a pale face, and I step back.

“Lexi, Mom needs to tell you something,” he says with a broken voice. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Or me. He’s whispering, but it feels like he’s shouting.

“Where’s Dad?” I ask, hesitantly moving away.

My mom’s head snaps up, her makeup smeared and eyes swollen. Terror begins washing over me, and cool sweat trickles down my forehead. Mom slowly stands, letting go of the pastor’s hands. She gives me a thin smile, but it brings me no comfort. Next thing I know, she’s standing before me, and she looks even worse up close. Her lower lip trembles, and she stops to take a breath.

“Daddy’s not coming home
…
” she whispers.

“What do you mean? You told me he’d be home by the weekend.” I feel my voice come out sharp as a razor. I miss him. I want him home so I can swing with him and read stories with him before bed.

Mom grabs me, wrapping me in her arms, and I feel her shaking against me. “Lexi, I’m sorry, sweetie, but
…
he’s never coming home.” Keegan hugs her, enveloping me at the same time. His lank body smashes us all together.