The Deadfall

by Lilly Black

  "She has a point," Alek said.

  "Really? So, when she goes out there and names you King Hell Storm, you're going to be okay with it?"

  "Oh, I like that," Liana said.

  "Don't even think about it," Alek said sternly.

  "Then help me convince Oblivia to be queen."

  "Trust me. I'm on your side here," he said, and Olivia looked at him impatiently. "Seriously, Liv. Liana's group just took down a drug ring headed by a guy called the Widowmaker. We need to sound a little more bad-assed than our boring reality."

  "Exactly! Widowmaker was defeated by the armies of the queen of the Deadfall. Who? Bloody Queen Oblivia, that's who. The bitch is crazy! She'll crucify you," Liana prattled, pleased at least by the fact that even though she wasn't the queen, she was the one who created the queen, but Olivia just slumped down in her chair shaking her head. "Now, all we need is a sigil and a little mythology."

  "Oh, God! Just kill me now," Olivia groaned.

  At dinner that night, the new members were served inside their temporary, communal home. They were all placed together in one of two hunting cabins in the middle ring just up the mountain from the back gate. Rena had bugged both of these units so they could use them when integrating new people to make sure they could trust them before bringing them into the fold, and since those rescued from the solar farm had been blindfolded on the way in with the exception of Widow, there was always the option of dropping them off somewhere far away if they didn't work out.

  While they had their evening meal under guard, the rest of the community was in the lodge where General Navarro introduced the people of the Deadfall to their queen, and to Olivia's chagrin, everyone seemed to like the idea much more than she did as they all recognized that they needed to command fear in this dangerous, new world. The mythology began to take on a life of its own, and the lodge became a mead hall as they began to share tall tales of their bloody queen.

  Ten of the cruelest men ruled the Deadfall until she killed them all singlehandedly to take the throne.

  She wore a cloak stained red with the blood of enemies and traitors of the Deadfall.

  She walked among the dead like a ghost, and their sickness could not touch her.

  She rode into battle on the back of a great, black panther named Evil who tore out the throats of those who cowered before her.

  Men trembled upon witnessing the queen's fierceness, and upon seeing her beauty, they turned on their own.

  The legend spread like wildfire, and though Olivia hated the idea of being called queen, she saw the value in the exercise, which brought the community together and energized them toward a common goal beyond their immediate survival. They were creating a fantasy world, but when the real world was populated by more dead than living, she was willing to play the necessary role to keep morale inside the compound as positive as they were that night because after the attack on their community, she feared things were about to get much worse. Not only did they have to worry about the larger group Monroe, Dave, and Austin had come from, now they had to worry about the group that had been trading slaves for drugs with the now dead militia at the solar farm. Olivia had their drugs, and she was terrified of what would happen if they managed to track them to her compound.

  It was time to bring one of the legends of the Bloody Queen to life. It was time to crucify some zombies.

  Day 46

  While Alek and Jax led a small team to round up unblemished corpses, Aiden oversaw the building of the crosses, and by the end of the day, they would have murderers, rapists, and traitors hanging at the middle and inner gates. Though Aiden had disagreed with the idea of putting traitors to death, recent events had helped him begin to see the wisdom in the threat, and before the new members from the solar farm would be allowed to roam free on the grounds, they needed to get these crosses up.

  Meanwhile, Rena was working to fill in all of the gaps in their video surveillance system, which would have no lapses in the camera coverage and no toggling. Though more cameras may not have prevented those men from getting inside as they had Alek's vehicle, more monitors would have meant that Savannah, who was on duty in the panic room, would have sounded the alarm much sooner, and the people of the Deadfall could have been armed and ready.

  Last night before they celebrated their win at the solar farm, they mourned the lost guard and the Greyhawk who died at the farm. They burned the guard's body on the pyre in the inner ring, and they threw the bodies of Monroe and Dave into a fire pit they'd dug outside the wall. Now they just needed to decide what to do with Austin. That was Dani's responsibility, but she was getting nowhere.

  She had interviewed him, and though she was willing to keep trying, she went looking for Olivia's advice because she honestly did not think he was ever going to open up to her. She found her in her office and shared what little she had learned so far.

  "The only thing I'm sure of is that he's either been severely traumatized or he's working an angle to save his skin, but if that's the case, he's a great actor," she explained.

  "Does he strike you as smart enough to try to manipulate you?" Olivia asked. "Savannah went to school with him. She says he was nice but not the sharpest knife in the drawer."

  "My kneejerk reaction would be to say no, but I just don't feel like I know him well enough to make that determination."

  "So, what do we do?" Olivia asked.

  "I think maybe if we let him spend some time with kids his own age..."

  "Absolutely not! Even if he didn't want to, he was willing to go along with those men, then as soon as it was clear that his group was going down, he jumped ship. At best, we can only trust him to look out for number one."

  "But maybe he had been waiting for that opportunity like he told Alek. Maybe if he didn't conform, those guys would have killed him. We just don't know," Dani argued.

  "I think he needs to stay in the cell until we do know, and if he wants anything at all beyond the most basic of subsistence living, he'd better start talking. We need to know if the camp he begged Alek not to send him back to is a threat to us."

  Dani nodded and headed toward the door, but when Olivia went back to her work, she noticed that Dani never actually left.

  "Was there something more?" Olivia asked.

  "Well, I was just wondering... Has anything changed between you and Alek since yesterday?"

  "We haven't had sex yet if that's what you're asking," Olivia said impatiently, then she sighed and put down her pen. "How can I do that, Dani? How can I just replace Reid as if he meant nothing to me?"

  "It's not like that, and Reid would understand," she said. "He loves you and he'd want you to be happy, but if you're not going to let that happen, then maybe June had the right idea."

  "What idea was that?"

  "Remember what Liana suggested about June and Alek?"

  "She was joking," Olivia insisted, rolling her eyes.

  "Maybe, but June came to me with the same idea," she said, and when she saw the look on Olivia's face, she realized she needed to make it clear that she wasn't advocating it. "Don't shoot the messenger. I just told her I'd bring it up with you. That's all."

  "Well, I think it's a terrible idea," Olivia said.

  "Why?" Dani asked. "I mean, aside from the obvious." Olivia looked at her, incredulous. If Dani's own jealousy wasn't enough to tell her it was a bad idea, there were plenty of reasons, including June's inexperience.

  "For one thing, if he gives her her first orgasm at thirty-five, she's going to fall in love with him."

  "That's not always true, you know."

  "Then she'll become obsessed with him. Whatever," Olivia said.

  "I guess that's a possibility, but I still think you should consider it," Dani said, though what she really meant was that she figured this might shock Olivia into getting over her fear. "It would be good for June's therapy to finally commit that sin, and it would be good for Alek to not be sexually frustrated for once in the damn apocalypse. How long do you think
he's going to wait for you, Olivia? At least this way you'd be in control of who he sleeps with, and let's face it, June won't steal him from you. She's not his type. Plus, it gets you off the hook for a few more weeks."

  "So, that's why she picked Alek? To benefit me?" Olivia asked, annoyed.

  "All of you. You get time. She gets her orgasm. Alek gets laid. Everybody wins," Dani explained.

  "I'm not sure I'd call my perk on that list a win," she snarled.

  "Well, I said I'd mention it to you, so I've done my due diligence," Dani declared as she hurried toward the door so Olivia could spend some time stressing over their conversation. Dani was reasonably certain that Alek would be getting into someone's panties within the next few days, and they would not be in June's.

  As for Olivia, she was reasonably certain that Dani was trying to manipulate her, but in spite of that knowledge, it had begun to work. All afternoon, the idea that Alek would not wait much longer churned inside her head, tormenting her just like their resident psychologist had intended.

  "There you are," Liana said as she ran into Dani walking down the hallway from Olivia's office. "I've been looking for you."

  "I was just talking to Olivia. What's up?"

  "Let's go somewhere private," she said, taking Dani by the arm and ushering her into a storage room off the main lodge. Once there, Liana closed the door, and Dani rubbed her arm when she was released from Liana's rough grip.

  "When were you planning on telling me about the Witch of the Wellspring?" Liana demanded, and Dani froze. Only one other person knew her private name for the woman in the woods, and he was alone with Liana most of the day yesterday.

  "How do you know about her?" Dani finally asked.

  "Jax mentioned her."

  "What did he say?"

  "That you ran into a lady you thought was a witch. Why didn't you tell me about her?"

  "There was nothing to tell. She's just an old lady who lives up the mountain in a shack. Olivia knows about her, and she didn't consider her a threat, so she said to just let her stay there. I wasn't keeping it from you. I assumed you knew."

  "Well, I didn't, and as head of security, I should have been told about this."

  "Then climb up Olivia's ass, not mine! I only saw her because I followed Olivia up the mountain with a damn chicken!" Dani snapped, angry.

  "I'm sorry," Liana said, calming down. "You're right. I just thought maybe I should check her out, make sure there's nothing to worry about."

  "So? Do it."

  "How do I get there?" Liana asked, and even though she wasn't being harsh anymore, she still didn't seem like herself. She was impatient, almost twitchy.

  "Her shack's not too far up from the wellspring. I can draw you a map," she said, and Liana pulled a small notebook and pen out of her jacket pocket, handing it to Dani. As she drew the crude map, she became even more suspicious as her friend watched intently.

  "Lilo, is everything okay with you?" Dani asked.

  "Yeah. I just had a fight with Aiden. That's all," she lied.

  "Well, if there's anything I can do to help..."

  "I appreciate it, but we'll be fine," she insisted, taking the notebook back from her.

  "I'm sure you will," Dani said as Liana looked over the map before slipping the notebook back in her pocket.

  "Thanks," she said as she reached for the doorknob. "Oh, and Dani? Don't mention this to Olivia. She has too much on her mind already."

  "No problem," she said, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to Liana's desire to visit the witch than just security.

  There was.

  Liana believed that Madam Levinia had brought her together with Aiden, so she was convinced that the Witch of the Wellspring could take away the obstacle standing between them. With her map in hand, she hurried off into the woods.

  It was late in the afternoon when she came upon the witch's shack against the mountainside, and she waited on the stoop for a moment, nervous as she listened to a rooster crowing from inside. She almost turned away and went back home, the horror stories from her abuela swirling around in her brain, warning her that witchcraft was evil, but when the door suddenly swung open and a beautiful, young woman beckoned her to come in, she forgot all about her misgivings. The woman looked like an angel. Her brown hair shone with a halo of gold as the firelight reflected off it, her skin was smooth and pink like the inside of a seashell, and her eyes were so large as they glistened behind long, black lashes, she almost looked like an anime character.

  "Come, sit by the fire," she said, her voice soothing and sweet as she shooed the hen from her seat with a graceful wave of her arm.

  "Are you the woman who met my friend, Dani?" Liana asked, thinking this must be the witch's daughter or even granddaughter, and her host giggled impishly.

  "I am the only one here," she said, and a smile spread across Liana's face because if this was the "old" woman Dani was talking about, she clearly had powerful magic.

  "What's your name?" Liana asked.

  "Does it matter? Are you here to make friends or use me for my powers?"

  "I'm sorry. I..." Liana began, thinking she'd offended the woman, but she laughed again.

  "It's okay, LiLo," she said in her tiny, syrupy voice, and though Liana had no idea how she knew her nickname, it became insignificant as she was offered the magic she had come seeking. The witch stood with her hands on her hips, staring down at her. "Well, come on. Out with it. Tell me what you want, and it shall be yours."

  "What will it cost me?"

  "Your raven haired friend brought apples and pears. Your golden haired friend brought a hen," the woman said, her mannerisms mischievous and playful.

  "Olivia came to see you? What did she want?"

  "She was just curious."

  "She doesn't believe in magic," Liana explained.

  "But you do, and I know what you've come for," she said, getting up from her chair and sorting through bottles of potions and powders on a shelf behind her. She selected a small, glass pot with a greyish paste inside that was sealed with wax, and tied around the rim was a scrap of paper with crudely handwritten words. She gave it to Liana.

  "What's this?"

  "Rub it on your scars before you go to sleep tonight. Use it all, then crush the glass beneath your shoe as you read the incantation. Tomorrow when you wake, you'll believe that there is real magic in the world."

  "What's in it?"

  "I'll tell you that if you come back for more. The spell works for one moon, then you must cast it again or the blight will return." Then noticing the confusion on Liana's face, she explained herself. "One full cycle of the moon. Twenty-eight days."

  "Oh," Liana said with an embarrassed smile. "So, what do I owe you for this?"

  "The first taste is free. If you return for another, we'll talk about payment. Fair enough?" she asked.

  "Okay," Liana said, her instincts telling her that it was a mistake to accept such a deal, but her all-encompassing desire to feel perfect for Aiden silenced the voices. She left with her paste, hurrying back down the mountainside. She was excited to see if it would work, but she was so afraid that it wouldn't, when she got home, she hid the jar beneath the mattress in the loft where it would stay for days as she tried to talk herself into using it. It was her last hope.

  Day 47

  After dinner, Alek and Olivia were walking the perimeter of the stone wall to check the position of the new cameras when they were startled by a sound they had not heard in over a month. Her satellite phone was ringing. Anxious, she fished it out of the inside pocket of her jacket, in such a hurry to answer, she didn't notice the look of fear on Alek's face as she fumbled with it.

  "Hello? Reid?" she asked, a huge smile already plastered across her face just from seeing his name on the display, but the unexpected joy was fleeting.

  "Who?" asked the woman on the other end of the line.

  "Who are you?"

  "My name's Calista."

  "Are you w
ith Reid, Calista?" Olivia asked, still hopeful.

  "I don't know who that is," she said.

  "Then why did you call me?" Olivia demanded, her fear for her husband's safety manifesting as anger toward Calista.

  "I'm sorry. I don't know anyone with a satellite phone, so I just hit redial. I thought maybe it would connect me to someone who could help," she said, and Olivia's posture fell, the phone dangling from her hand as it dropped to her side. Alek could hear the woman still talking on the other end, and he picked it up, putting it on speaker.

  "Hi, Calista," he began. "My name's Alek. You're calling us on the phone that belongs to my friend's husband. How did you get it?"

  "It fell off a zombie I killed outside of a hardware store on the west side," she said, and Olivia started to feel sick. Reid was in a hardware store when he called her last.

  "Was it a man?" Alek asked.

  "Yeah."

  "What did he look like?"

  "I don't know. He was a tall guy, but it was dark out, and it happened so fast. My friend got bit, and now I'm trapped here all alone. I'm scared."

  "You're trapped in the hardware store?"

  "It's not the store. It's the whole fucking city. I was going to go find someplace in the country to hide, but I can't get out."

  "I don't understand," Alek said.

  "Yeah, welcome to my world, buddy," she complained, but then she started to explain how the fact that downtown Charleston was overrun at the onset of the plague had led to her situation. "So the idiots in charge got the bright idea to blow the bridges, and when that didn't contain the dead, they put up blockades at every road out of the city from up past the capital all the way down to Iowa Street. The only way out now is on foot if you can fight your way past the hordes. We couldn't even take a fucking boat because the Kanawha River is full of corpses!"

  As Alek talked to the young woman, Olivia tuned out, her whole body going numb. Even though the tall zombie could have been Reid, he could have dropped his phone and some other tall guy grabbed it before Calista ended up with it, but if they had blown the bridges and blocked the roads, that vehicle Reid was planning to use to get back home wouldn't have gotten him anywhere. Olivia was beginning to realize that her hope had all been in vain. There was no spell keeping her husband alive. He was dead, and she never even got to say goodbye.