RecruitZ (Afterworld Series) (15 page)

I scaled the cage and pitched my legs over the top, dropping feet at a time down the chain-link as my fingers barely held on. Brenda was already charging me by the time I hit the floor, but I managed to grab the chain that had been fastened around the zombie and whipped it toward her face.

The crushing sound as the metal connected with bone sent her flying toward the cage. I lashed the heavy chain toward her again just as her body crashed into the chain-link. The sudden movement and noise alerted the zombie to her presence. He dashed over to her and before she had a chance to realize what was happening, the zombie shoved his hands through the links, his rotting flesh falling to the floor. I turned away as her screams echoed into the air and he finished.

“Grab the chair,” Preston yelled, snapping me out of my horror.

I hauled the chair over and placed it underneath Preston and climbed on.

“The guy over there’s only knocked out. He might come to any second.”

“Okay,” I panted.

I wanted to give that guy a kick in the stomach, but the way my luck has been, I’d probably kick him awake.

“I’m going to use your shoulders to stand on as I work my way up the chain. I think I can throw myself onto the beam up there and unhook the chain.”

“How are you going to get back down?”

Brenda’s screams had turned to quiet moans, and I shoved the thought away. I couldn’t afford to worry about it. After all, she was going to kill us.

Do or die, right?

“I’ll figure it out once I’m up there,” he said, as his hands began clamping on the chain, working his way up.

Preston placed his feet lightly on my shoulders and pressed off, hauling himself further up the chain. His body swayed with the weight of his movements, and my stomach was in my throat. The moment his feet left my shoulders, I hopped off the chair and grabbed the stun gun that was on the floor. I ran to the hallway where Brenda and the two men had come from and cautiously walked down toward the other room. I slid slowly toward the opening with my back pressed against the wall and rounded the bend, stun gun at the ready. But the room was empty and it was small. There was a small cage in the corner like the ones from the zombie pit where they kept the undead pre-fight.

I ran back to the main warehouse, forcing myself not to look at the cage, looking up toward the metal ceiling instead. Preston had already reached the top and unhooked the chain from the beam.

“I think I can saw this rope off so stand back. It’ll drop the chain with it.”

“Okay.”

The groaning had completely subsided, leaving only the shuffling of the zombie. I refused to look. I watched as Preston quickly slid his wrists back and forth against the rough edge of the beam until they were finally freed. The chain crashed to the floor with a thud as Preston turned himself around and began untying the rope around his ankles, freeing them after several seconds. He glanced down at me, a smile spreading across his lips.

“I wasn’t sure we were going to make it out of here,” he said, inching his way to the wall.

“We haven’t yet,” I warned, raising a brow as I watched him swiftly climb down the metal wall, his feet moving from one horizontal support to another.

The moment his feet touched the ground, I ran over to him and threw myself on him.

He groaned from the pain, and I stepped back, horrified, covering my mouth. “I’m so sorry. I forgot. I don’t know what came over me. I just—”

He grinned and wrapped his arms around me. “It’s nice to know I might have been missed.”

“More than you know,” I whispered, my cheek pressing onto his bare chest.

“This building looks clear, but I have no idea where we are or if there are other buildings on the grounds or…”

The man on the floor moved and Preston grabbed the stun gun out of my hand, zapping him. Preston searched the man for weapons and found a knife and a pistol. He shoved the knife in his back pocket and the pistol in between his waistband. He searched the other man and handed me a knife, pistol, and canister. I tucked the knife in my sock and the pistol in my waistband and held onto the canister. It reminded me of the one that had been tossed into the coffee shop.

“I need to finish the job,” he whispered, looking into my eyes.

My eyes fell to the man on the floor. It was true. He would be a threat once he woke up, and neither one of us knew what we faced on the other side of these walls. I took a deep breath in and nodded. I turned toward the exit and heard the gun go off. The zombie began shaking the cage violently from the blast. It would only be a matter of time before he broke through.

“I’m so sorry, Rebekah,” he whispered, as he aimed the pistol at the zombie and pulled the trigger.

I watched the zombie fall to the ground and fisted my hands to stop the trembling.

That wasn’t my brother-in-law.

It wasn’t.

I needed a distraction.

“If there’s anyone outside, they would’ve heard the shots so either we’re lucky and there’s no one outside or they’re waiting for us.”

“I’d like to go with the first option,” he said.

“You and me both,” I said, as pain slowly replaced the adrenaline. “Let’s go out through the office.” I pointed down the hall and Preston nodded.

“I’ll take the lead,” he said, walking in front of me.

“My pleasure.”

My eyes followed along his shoulder blades, down the long length of his back, and a shudder went through me seeing the lash marks up close. I knew my wounds were nothing compared to his.

We reached the metal door, and he signaled for me to stand to the side. We both readied our pistols as he wrapped his fingers around the door handle. I took a deep breath in and watched as he slowly opened the door, revealing a bit of daylight and nothing more.

There was no one and nothing outside except for what looked like wheat fields and cattle fencing. There was a grey cargo van to the left but other than that, the place was barren.

“Keys?” I asked, glancing back at the desk behind us.

“There weren’t any on the two guys. I would have felt them.”

“Let’s hope they’re not on Brenda,” I mumbled, opening the middle drawer of the desk. No keys. I opened the side drawer and was relieved to see a vehicle key.

“Let’s hope.” I dangled it briefly before sliding it into my pocket.

I opened up the other drawers and fumbled through mostly bills and paperwork. I decided to grab it all. Who knew what it might tell us? I followed Preston outside and glanced around the property. The only building appeared to be the one we’d been in. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere and judging by the wheat fields, I’d say that was the case.

“Doesn’t that soil look pretty roughed up?” I asked, pointing toward a corral.

“It does,” Preston confirmed, walking to the van.

“I’m gonna go check it out.” I ran to Preston and handed him the papers and took off toward the corral.

“We really shouldn’t be hanging around here,” Preston said, shoving the papers inside the van.

He was right, but I had to know. I made it to the fencing that wove throughout a large pasture, finally ending at a larger pen. It reminded me of a non-functioning cattle ranch, everything falling apart, rusty, and old. But judging by the ground, it was recently used. So where were the cows?

I ducked in between two railings and began walking along the enclosure.

“Come on,” Preston hollered, leaning against the van.

Something glimmered in the mud and caught my attention. I ducked down and pulled a chain out of the dirt with a red thumb drive on the other end of it. A shot of satisfaction ran through my blood as I clasped my fingers around my souvenir. I walked a few more steps and saw something awful on one of the metal latches securing the fencing in place. My stomach turned queasy when I leaned in and saw the pieces of fabric and flesh stuck onto the metal. I began stumbling backward as I realized that this wasn’t a pen for cattle.

I dipped under the fence railings and ran toward the van.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I yelled.

Preston jumped into the driver’s side and turned the engine on. I hopped in and slammed my door, completely out of breath.

“What did you see?” he asked, stepping on the accelerator.

The dust billowed around the van as we peeled down the dirt road; the vehicle jumping over potholes and diving into ruts.

“Come on. What did you see?” he repeated.

I looked at Preston, his eyes focused on the road ahead of us, his grip squeezing the wheel. He was on the edge of the seat so his back wouldn’t touch the seat.

“We have to find them before they find us,” I muttered, ignoring his question. “Or they’ll turn us into them.”

My mind flashed back to Peter. He was an imposter. He had to have been.

”What are you talking about?”

“It was a pen for humans,” I replied.

But the question remained, living or undead?

After a few wrong turns and unfamiliar street signs, we figured out we were on the other side of the mountains in Eastern Washington. Preston had been driving for several hours, and I could see that he was getting tired. I convinced him that I could drive the rest of the way home while he rested. I hadn’t been in this region of the state since the outbreak when Gavin and I had been on the run. It was a lot less green over here. The country was also more rural, which made it more difficult to gauge the level of devastation. Some towns looked completely untouched, while others were left in shambles.

I pulled into one of the towns that looked to be slowly piecing itself back together. The town consisted of a main street with buildings on both sides of the road. The brick façade of the building to the right was crumbling in sections and shop signs either dangled or were completely missing. There was a drugstore on the corner that had the word ‘open’ spray painted in big red letters on the plywood where windows were once housed. Next to the pharmacy was a consignment store that looked untouched. Across the street there was a Laundromat and a café.

I parallel parked in front of the drugstore and turned off the engine.

“We should get something to fix you up a little,” I said softly, attempting to wake up Preston. His head was pressed against the window, his arms crossed in front of him, and he was breathing heavily.

I touched his knee gently and he woke up like a shot, looking around quickly.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“What’s up?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“I thought we should get some medicine on your back before we get to the other side. I don’t know what’s going to be waiting for us…”

He nodded. “Probably a good idea.”

“I’ll run in and grab some bandages and whatever else I can think of,” I said, opening the door.

“Rebekah?” Preston said, his eyes teasing. “You might want to put one of those on. Not only are you missing a shoe, you look like hell.” He pointed to a stack of jackets behind the driver’s seat and I started laughing. “And make sure to button it up.”

I grabbed the coat and snapped it shut.

“Doubt it’s going to make people not notice the busted up lip and swollen cheek, but I guess it’s a start.”

“We’ll take what we can get,” he laughed.

I walked into the drugstore and met the curious stare of the clerk behind the counter. “Rough day,” I replied, scanning the aisles for first-aid.

Of course, the supplies were in the far corner. The fluorescent lights above flickered in sections as I made my way over. Many of the metal shelves were empty and missing the novelties that these types of places were once known for. I only hoped that the store had plenty of first aid supplies.

When I reached the section, I was relieved to see several boxes of salve, rolls of gauze, and bandages, along with some other first aid products. I grabbed them all and hauled them up to the cashier.

“Miss, are you alright?” the female clerk asked. She was in her fifties and wore a red vest.

“I am,” I said, grinning. The pain as my lip cracked made me drop my smile. “Just these.” I placed everything on the counter, and she began scanning the items and placing them in a plastic bag. I tossed a few candy bars into the pile and my stomach growled. “And these, please.”