“Are we going to die?”
Rowan tried to think of a response, but he didn’t have the heart to say it. His darkening thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched yell from somewhere beyond the hills directly in front of them. The call was enough to get them moving again. Rowan had to drag Garret up to the crest where they found Erin down on the other side waving her hands above her head. The rolling hills came to an abrupt end beyond the next rise. A low valley running east and west opened up at the base of a steep decline and a single structure sat out in the open grassland.
Rowan pushed Garret and Jonah to keep moving until they reached Erin. The lone structure revealed itself under the afternoon light. It was massive with perfectly straight, high walls running around the entire site. Movement in a corner tower gave Rowan hope that someone might be able to help them.
“What is this place?” Jonah asked.
“I’m not sure,” Rowan replied. The dead-speak reached his ears and urged him to continue down the hill. “But it’s the only chance we have.”
A response from the compound reached Rowan and the others the moment they stepped foot onto the valley floor. A loud pop was followed by a small burst in the ground directly in front of them. The hit startled Rowan, but he wasn’t sure what happened. It wasn’t until he took another step forward that Erin yelled at him.
“Stop. They’re shooting at us.”
Rowan froze. “Shooting what?” he asked and searched the ground for arrows.
“They’ve got guns.”
Rowan knew what a gun was from pictures and stories he’d heard from the elders of the tribe. As far as he knew no one had them anymore, at least not any that worked.
“How could they hit me from there?” he asked himself more than anyone else. Rowan studied the distance between him and the tower with renewed amazement. His surprise was cut short by the growing sounds of their pursuers. “They can’t leave us out here.”
Rowan took another step closer and was met with a similar result. He held his hands up to show his intentions and then forced himself to step again. He looked back long enough to see his companions were taking a wait and see approach. Jonah bit his lip and squinted his eyes as if certain Rowan was about to be killed right in front of him. Rowan turned a determined glare onto the gun tower.
“What the hell do you want me to do?”
His yell was met with silence. Although it didn’t provide an answer, it appeared to stop them from shooting at him, if only for the moment. Rowan remained where he was, hands up, ignoring the frightened pleas from Jonah behind him. The eventual response came from a narrow gate on the exterior wall along the compound’s southwestern edge.
Rowan put his hands down by his sides but didn’t move. He heard someone take a step forward behind him, and he urged them to stay put without turning to see who it was. The gate opened and the first signs of life stepped away from the wall. They came in two rows of five, each dressed from head to toe in black clothing. The convoy moved with unspoken precision, each armed with a long weapon Rowan recognized as rifles.
The formation crossed the wide field between the compound and the new arrivals in short time, stopping a few paces in front of Rowan. He was amazed by what he saw. Everything from their appearance to their mannerisms felt otherworldly. The group spread apart with each of them training their rifles on Rowan and the others. The last figure in each line approached, both of them slinging their weapons over a shoulder and pulling the edge of their head coverings down below their chin. The larger of the two’s skin was nearly as dark as his clothing. He spoke to Rowan in a voice so deep it caused him to jerk back.
“State your business.”
Rowan wasn’t sure he understood the direction. “We need help.”
The man’s face soured at the sound of the plea. “We are not taking in refugees,” he said in a rehearsed manner. “Take your problems somewhere else.”
Rowan shook his head. “What’s a refugee?”
The smaller of the two took the opportunity to explain in no uncertain terms. “You are.”
He grinned to make sure Rowan understood he was being insulted. Rowan was in no position to argue, so he tried a different approach.
“There’s an army following us.” Several of the men in the background snickered. “No, not our army. It’s an army of the dead.” Everyone stopped laughing at once. “The infected are,” he struggled with how to explain it, “they’re leading them somehow.”
The two men out front looked at one another and came to a silent agreement. They pulled their headpiece up on their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed. The big man repeated his last direction as they turned to leave.
“We’re not taking in refugees.”
Rowan was at a loss. Jonah yelled out behind him. “Don’t leave us here.”
The two men reached the line of soldiers and reassumed their ranks. Frustrated, Rowan turned back toward the hills, and in a moment of clarity, something struck him right between the eyes. The words escaped his lips a heartbeat before the answer revealed itself.
“Why is it so quiet?”
The sunlight shone down of the first wave of infected as they poured over the crest of the hill like a tidal wave. Rowan barely had time to register what he was seeing before an explosion of gunfire erupted behind him. The infected lined the high ridge from east to west further than anyone could see. Their maddening desire for bloody sustenance drove them down into the valley with ferocious need. The sight brought with it a panic unlike anything Rowan had ever known.
“Run.”
Erin, Jonah, and Garret started forward at the same time, each getting a shocking glance at what was coming over the hill. Rowan waited until Jonah was past him before throwing one of Garret’s arms over his neck and turning to run. The last thing he saw was the first row of decomposing bodies shambling up to the top of the hill behind the infected onslaught.
The men from the compound were firing as they retreated in paired formation. The precision and skill was beyond Rowan’s comprehension. At the moment, he was satisfied they were fully focused on what was rushing into the valley and not interested in stopping him and his companions as they ran past them. Flashes of light popped on and off all along the top of the wall around the compound. The sound of the gunfire was swallowed by a veil of groaning death-howls unleashed by the walking dead as they advanced over the hills. Jonah and Erin kept their focus on the lone open gate and Rowan kept his attention on them.
Terror pushed Rowan to move faster than he thought possible, virtually lifting Garret’s feet off the ground. The screams of the men somewhere behind him pierced the howls of the dead. The sound of gunfire rose up to fight off the dead-speak as they neared the gate. Jonah and Erin reached the opening first and disappeared inside. Rowan nearly dropped Garret as figures slipped into view from the corners of his eyes.
The big soldier who’d turned them away ran with strides twice as long as Rowan. He made no attempt to help the pair as he overtook them, his weapon lost somewhere out on the battlefield. Dead-speak engulfed the valley as certain doom bore down on the remaining runners. Garret screamed a terrifying screech, but nothing could be heard above the coming horde. Rowan’s entire body shook with pain as he forced himself to keep moving.
Rowan lost sight of the dark-skinned man once he reached the wall, and horror took hold as the narrow gate began to close. Rowan gasped for every breath as his lungs burned in his chest. His dread nearly brought him to his knees until Jonah reappeared, this time waving him on. Rowan dashed through the gateway seconds before it closed, and he and Garret collapsed on the ground with the sound of the gate locking in place echoing behind them.
Rowan slammed down onto a concrete slab and the impact knocked the wind out of him. He struggled to get himself over on his back. Jonah pulled at his arms as gunfire exploded from the closest towers. Groups of the black-clad soldiers ran toward a number of ladders lining the interior wall of the compound. Rowan reached his feet a
s something struck the exterior of the gate with the impact of a lightning strike. Soldiers on a walkway above the gate opened fire.
The sound of dead-speak washed over the top of the wall in a fierce wave. The fighting ensued as a note of wailing moans joined in with the infected. Jonah grabbed Rowan’s hands, forcing him to look at the boy.
Jonah yelled above the chaos. “We can’t stay here.”
Garret cut in as he tried to stand. “Not sure what we’re going to do about that.”
Rowan took a quick look around and confirmed Garret’s assertion that there was no way out. A much larger gate along the south wall was closed. The half-dozen cylindrical structures located throughout the interior didn’t make much sense to him until the front of one split open and another group of soldiers ran out of it. His attention fell onto the large, dark-skinned soldier they encountered out on the field as he placed his wide-shouldered frame in front of him.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” he explained and then pointed a rifle an inch from Rowan’s face. “All of you, put your weapons down and get on the ground.”
“Are you crazy?” Garret shouted. “There’s a damn army of dead out there. What did you expect us to do?”
The man’s resolve never wavered. A pair soldiers joined him, one aiming at Garret and the other at Erin.
“Get on the ground or die.”
Rowan did as he was told and the others followed his lead. Their hands were bound behind their backs and their weapons taken. They were lifted and quickly escorted to one of the bizarre cylindrical structures. The outer wall slid open directly in front of them and they were shoved to the rear of an interior room. It wasn’t until Rowan managed to turn himself around that he realized the door had closed. He was trying to get a look at the faces of the pair of soldiers who’d escorted them when he discovered the light above them was not shining down from the sun.
“Where’s the light coming from?”
A quick glance told him none of his compatriots had the slightest idea. He was so mesmerized by it that he barely realized the entire contraption was moving. A sudden lightening of weight in his feet pulled his eyes away from the brilliant illumination. The moment he recognized the change, it came to a stop.
The door slid apart, and the ceiling of a long hall beyond the opening rose high out of view. Dim bulbs dangled from lines connected somewhere far above. The soldiers stepped out of the way and motioned for Rowan to move. He led the group out and the soldiers flanked them as they walked until they reached an archway at the other end of the hall.
“Where are you taking us?” Garret asked.
There was a quick response. “Shut up.”
Garret pulled at the ties on his hands and received a quick thump in the stomach from the butt of one of the rifles. Rowan turned to help as Garret crumpled to the floor, and he was hit in the side for stopping. He swayed as a searing fire erupted on his hip.
“Stop,” Jonah yelled and stepped in front of him. “Leave him alone.”
Rowan managed to push through the pain and lean over Jonah’s shoulder. “All right. We’ll go,” Rowan pleaded.
The soldier held his rifle up by his shoulder, ready to strike. “Do it now.”
Rowan repositioned himself between the soldiers and Jonah. Garret rolled onto his side and then ground his teeth as he got up to his knees. Erin stood close to him, and he used her to get the rest of the way up. One of the soldiers walked to the rear of the group, and they were moving again.
The room beyond opened up below them into a massive bowl. The entire floor space was covered in evenly spaced cages, most of which were already occupied. The group was led down a wide set of stairs into a central row between the cages, and the faces of the captives were revealed. Hands launched out between the bars, some in a morbid state of decay. The screams came next, mixed between a swell of moans. Rowan pressed in toward the center of the aisle, forcing Jonah between him and Erin. They stopped midway across the floor at an open cell.
“Get in.”
A moment later Rowan stood looking back at the locked door from inside the cell with Jonah on one side, Erin and Garret on the other side. The soldiers were kind enough to cut off the ties around their hands after the door closed. The group bunched in on one another as zombies reached in through the sides of the cages on either side. The soldiers disappeared, and the terrible sounds circling the cage swallowed up the new arrivals. None of them was certain that the undead army assaulting the compound was any better than the living that had hold of them now.
19
It took a full day for Mia to find her place. She had no idea how long they would be held in their current quarters or when they might be allowed entry into the rest of the colony, if ever. She refocused her attention on those around her. Mia walked between the bunks, spending time with every remaining member of the tribe. Jacob stayed close to her but always remained quiet.
The response Mia received was dramatic, empowering, and terrifying at the same time. It was hard for her to grasp how these same people saw her as a young girl only days before and now they looked to her for direction and guidance. Most of them where happy to have food in their stomachs while a few waited for answers on what lay ahead. Mia was as honest as she could be, promising to share any information she received from colony residents and their commission.
The tribe was left alone to wonder about their future with only one interruption. The woman entered wearing similar clothing to Connor with only a red wrap around her arm to indicate her purpose. She pulled a fully stocked cart behind her as she made her way between the rows of cots. Mia followed her at a distance but didn’t interrupt.
The woman never introduced herself or made much small talk, but she appeared to know which members of the tribe had an ailment. A number of her instruments lit up in some fashion when she put them to use. Few of the tribe’s injuries were life threatening, leading to a common prescription to stay off their feet for a few days. In all, only Jacob refused to be examined. The woman didn’t put up much of a fight, shrugging at him before quietly excusing herself from the room. The lights running down the center aisle dimmed the moment the door closed.
“You think they’re going to come and tuck us in?” Jacob asked and then laughed at himself. He burst into a coughing fit as the laughter died away.
“You going to be okay?” Mia asked. “You should have let her look at you.”
Jacob shook his head, while trying to control his cough. “She can’t help me,” he insisted once he got his breathing under control. “I’m as fine as I can be.”
Mia’s face scrunched up. “I doubt that very much.”
He found his cot and took a seat. Mia sat down across from him. She looked down the long, open space and watched as most of the tribe slipped into their beds. She was grateful they wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked while they were asleep. At least she assumed it was nighttime.
“I don’t know how anyone could live without seeing the sun every day,” she said. “How many of these colony people do you think there are?”
Jacob shrugged. “I can’t imagine it’s a huge group,” he said. “That Connor of yours said he’d been here all his life. My guess is they, at least the original group, started out pretty small when the infection first began. But that’s not what makes me nervous.”
Mia pulled her legs up onto the cot and then lay back, slipping her hands behind her head. “So, go on,” she said. “Spit it out.”
Jacob cleared his throat and then picked up an open ration bag near his feet and poked through it. “You don’t know what it was like when the infection started,” he said, settling on some half-eaten crackers. “The government, the people who were in charge,” he explained, “they lost control pretty quick. We were left to survive on our own. That included the military. My guess is a place like this was set up for a particular purpose. Research,” he decided. “Looking for a cure, no doubt.”
Mia sat up. “Like pureblood?”
<
br /> “No, not like that,” he said. “They wouldn’t have known such a thing existed, although I doubt it did back then. They would have tried to create something.”
“Create blood?” she asked, lost in the conversation.
Jacob shook his head. “I don’t think I know enough to be able to explain it to you,” he admitted. “That’s not my point anyway. Once the people who were assigned here lost contact with the rest of the government, they would have been on their own to decide how to move forward.” He finished the crackers and laid the rest of the rations on the top of his footlocker. “A lot of things could have gone wrong. They have everything they need to sustain themselves. That’s a lot of power for a small group.”
“I’d don’t see how that’s so bad for us.”
“What have they been doing all this time?” he asked. “Cheyenne’s not that far away. Why haven’t they ever made contact with your tribe?”
Mia popped up as the answer came to her. “They’re hiding.”
Jacob nodded.
“Hiding from what?” she asked.
“That’s a good question.”
Mia had enough conspiracy theory for one day. She lay back down without another word, closing her eyes the moment her head hit the pillow. A vision broke through the darkness of her mind, pounding her in the heart as it appeared. Jonah came first, followed by Rowan and then her father. She squeezed her eyes as tight as she could, trying to make the images go away.
“It’s going to be okay.”
Mia opened her eyes at the sound of Jacob’s statement. He hadn’t moved. He sat motionless, watching her with a sad smile barely visible through his beard and mustache.
“You don’t know that,” she said.
He nodded and the smile vanished. “I guess that’s true, but I can hope.”
“I thought you gave up on hope,” she countered.
That made him smile again. “You got me there,” he said. “I see you, and I see what could have been. You may not realize it yet, but you have the strength to make it.”
The Decaying World Saga Box Set [Prequel #1-#2 & Books #1-#2] Page 60