The Breeders Series: The Complete Box Set

by Katie French

One of the guards pauses in front of us and bangs a baton on the table for silence he already has. “Contestants, Lord Merek has changed his mind. It was a tie, and the only fair thing to do is to let the little bender continue. For the next round, we will pair you up in teams of two. Once we do, you don’t leave your teammate until the end of the game or you’re dead. Understand?”

  No one speaks. We stand and wait for them to chain us to a stranger.

  Nada gets in line behind me. It takes all my willpower not to turn around and ask her how the hell she got back in the games. Doc must be furious.

  The guards move down the line, pairing people up and zip-tying their wrists together. Finally, they get to Nada and me. I’m both relieved and worried when they grab our wrists and zip-tie me to Nada.

  When the guards walk away, I lean into her and whisper, “How did you do this?”

  Nada looks straight ahead, stone-faced. She whispers to me out of the side of her mouth. “I told Merek I would fight to the death.” Her eyes snap to mine and her gaze is so cold I take a step back. “I mean it, Riley. I’ll kill if it means getting me and Doc out of here. No mercy.”

  A chill runs down my spine and I shake my head. “I’m not on board with no mercy, Nada.”

  She doesn’t look at me. “Get on board,” she says, throwing her shoulders back. “You think any of this lot will show us mercy because we’re small?”

  I look at Mister and know she’s right. Most of them won’t stop until we’re put down for good. “Still, though,” I say, shaking my head, “doesn’t make it right, hurting people for sport. Someone died today, Nada.”

  Nada bristles. “I thought you were in this with me.”

  “I am but—”

  “What if I take you?”

  I turn to Nada. “What?”

  She looks up at me, eyes fierce. “What if I take you with me instead of Doc? If I win, you go free and not Doc.” She stares into my face.

  “Geez, Nada, I don’t… Doc would be crushed.”

  “Doc does fine here. He’s protected. He doesn’t understand what it’s like for the rest of us.” She looks away for a moment and then back at me. “What do you say? We win together?”

  I shake my head. “I can’t make the same promise. If I win, there’s someone I have to take with me.”

  Nada sniffs. “Let’s get through this round and then we’ll see who you’re loyal to.”

  I open my mouth to respond, but the first pair is lead into the sunlight. Pressing my lips shut, I try to control my panic. Whatever we’re headed into, it’s going to be ugly.

  I think of Clay. Of Ethan’s sweet smile.

  We walk through the compound and out the main gate, which yawns open for the first time since they brought in the new recruits. Since I entered the compound with a bag on my head, I’ve never seen the landscape outside of the compound. We step around the wall and I try to take it all in.

  The remains of a town crouch around the compound like a bruise around an eye. Broken houses sit off in the distance, whole suburbs falling to rot. But where we’re headed is an industrial center, full of crumbling warehouses and cracked parking lots, ringed with wire fencing and scraggly plants. We walk down a broken blacktop street, the yellow and white lines faded, the cracks sprouting tough desert plants as tall as children. We pass an old gas station with a sunken roof and shattered windows and a pizza place called Louie’s, burned and gutted into a blackened shell. Down the road on either side, two and three-story concrete buildings rise up, towering over the road like mountainous ruins. Shadows lurk inside buildings, hiding any number of animals or even human vagrants. Beside me, Nada scans left and right, taking everything in with calculating eyes. I try to do the same, counting my steps, noticing exits. Seven large warehouses run down either side of the street.

  And then there’s the game.

  Ahead, Merek and some of his crew sit on grumbling four-wheelers. Guards with guns flank the road. With the warehouses on either side I feel trapped, hemmed in on both sides by tall walls of broken, graffiti-covered concrete. I chew my lip and try not to panic.

  We stagger up to the four-wheelers and the announcer, who seems particularly pleased with himself. He smiles as we circle around him.

  Four pairs of benders zip-tied together. Four sets of victims.

  “My Lord and Lady,” he says, nodding to them, “we are ready to begin the second of Lord Merek’s birthday games, and this one, sir, is going to be very exciting.” He smiles at Lord Merek.

  The lord smiles dryly and goes back to a syrupy conversation with a very young lady on the back of his four-wheeler. Another of his wives? She wears pink silk and looks out of place in a sea of men and benders in dirty leather, cotton, and denim.

  The announcer’s smile wilts a little at Merek’s lack of attention. “This game will test speed and skill. The winners will be the first two teams to cross the finish line at the end of the street.” He points to the end of the still-standing warehouses about a quarter mile down the road.

  A tandem foot race? That’s it?

  He takes a deep breath and opens his hands wide. “Now, I know you’re thinking that sounds too simple.” He flicks a glance at Lord Merek, who frowns. “Bear with me.” He walks up and hands Lord Merek a crossbow and my heart begins to patter. “In Medieval times, kings would often go out with a hunting party. Clever little foxes or deer,” he glances at us, “would be tracked down in the wild. While we don’t have a forest, we have abundant hiding spots.” He nods at the warehouses on either side. “If you reach the finish line, you’re safe. If our good lord spots you on this side of the line, well…” He looks over at Lord Merek, who has a giant smile spreading across his face as he pulls the wire back on the crossbow.

  We’re the prey. Sweat begins to pool under my arms as I study the warehouses. There are three on this side and three on the other between here and the finish line. We’ll have to slink through warehouses, hiding and avoiding getting shot by Merek, to get to the other side. What would a crossbow feel like piercing your chest? I shiver and try not to panic. There’s only one of him and we’re quick and small. Mister is at a disadvantage in this game.

  The announcer speaks, breaking into my thoughts. “And just to add to the thrill, inside each warehouse are special surprises, so be on the alert my little foxes.” He winks.

  An angry heat boils in my chest. The announcer takes pleasure at our misery.

  “Remember, teams, you may not cross the finish line without your teammate. If something happens to one of you, it happens to both. You have two minutes to prepare yourselves.”

  I turn to Nada, who’s scanning the warehouses, her face tight with thought.

  “What’s our plan?” I ask, trying to shake some of the nerves out of my legs.

  She points to the row of warehouses on the right. “We enter there,” she says, pointing to a dark mouth that must’ve been a delivery entrance.

  “Why there?” I ask.

  “Because”—she whispers in my ear—“the announcer’s been looking to the left, smiling. If he has a major surprise set up, I’m betting it’s on the left.”

  “Smart.” Nada’s route looks more decayed and more dangerous. The other teams seem to be studying the route on the left. I smile as we wait for the signal. Nada is a good teammate. If she helps me get out of this game alive, it’ll be hard not to take her with me.

  A gunshot jars me out of my thoughts. Nada springs forward, tugging me along at our bound wrist. We run toward the open garage door as Merek lifts his crossbow to his shoulder.

  We sprint over broken concrete littered with tires, rusted metal, and thorny bushes. Running is tough, especially with one hand attached to Nada, but we work out a rhythm, pumping our connected arms at the same time as we jump over twisted rebar and skitter around sunken blacktop.

  A thwack sound echoes behind us. A crossbow bolt smashes into the warehouse a few feet away, spraying particles at our faces.

  He’s shooting at us. />
  “Hurry,” Nada screams.

  I sprint, pumping my legs faster, dodging a stack of old tires, but Nada runs the opposite way and our connected arms snap taut like a wire. I cry out, more in shock than in pain and Nada tumbles sideways.

  Another bolt cuts the air overhead. Where are they shooting from?

  I crawl through the rubble and use my free arm to pull Nada up. “Come on!” Nada, her face scraped bloody on one cheek, scampers up.

  We sprint the last few feet and dive into the warehouse, tumbling onto the dusty floor.

  Hidden by darkness and thick concrete walls, we sit up and catch our breath. Nada touches her free hand to her cheek and comes away with bloody fingertips.

  “You okay?” I ask, looking at her scratched cheek.

  She nods. “Didn’t think he’d start hunting so soon. But what else can you expect?” She stares at the sparsely lit warehouse before us and blows out a breath. “We better get moving before they decide to hunt in here.”

  I push up and survey the room. Broken windows with jagged glass teeth let in small beams of light. In the streamers of sunlight, the trash-covered floor looks like a clumpy swamp. Puddles of putrid water shimmer on the floor between mounds of debris. Standing water is odd because with the desert heat you’d think the water would’ve long evaporated. The sound of dribbling water, probably a busted pipe echoes from some deep reservoir. Too bad the water’s probably teeming with disease. I could use a drink.

  Scaffolds cling to the brick above us, but the stairwells are long gone. Rusted chains as big around as my wrist drip down from the ceiling like snakes. At the far end, about a football field away, sits a solitary door, blue and bright as a beacon.

  Nada points to it. I nod. It seems too easy.

  We take a cautious step forward. Nothing jumps up at us from the dark shadows. There’s no sound at all except for the roar of Lord Merek’s four-wheelers outside. He’s hunting humans. That bastard.

  Nada looks at me and we take another step forward.

  Nothing.

  “This seems too easy,” I whisper, unable to stop myself from speaking the obvious. Nada nods and chews her lip.

  Footsteps pounding our way make me freeze. Someone’s coming toward the warehouse. And fast.

  We whirl around and ready to dive for cover.

  Michal and his partner barrel in through the open door at a full sprint. Blood drips from Michal’s forehead and both of their clothes are torn. When Michal spots us, his eyes go wide.

  “What happened?” I ask as they run this way.

  Michal shakes his head as he runs. “The other warehouse.”

  “What?” I yell, my heart thumping. “What’s wrong with the other warehouse?”

  There’s no time. We see what they’re running from. A four-wheeler skids to a stop outside the warehouse doors. A guard with a crossbow aims at us from outside.

  We turn and run after Michal and his partner.

  A bolt whizzes by, slicing the air above my right shoulder. On the other side of the building, a glass window explodes.

  Nada yanks me sideways into the shadows along the wall. The debris is thicker and harder for us to navigate, but it’s also harder for the bastard guards to see us. Michal and his partner take the straight path down the center, both running like mad.

  There’s a loud zap. Michal and his partner blast through the air as if thrown by some invisible hand. I skid to a stop and watch as both benders crumple to the floor. They twitch and moan. A smoky ozone smell fills the air.

  “What happened?” Nada asks in horror.

  I shake my head. Their twitching forms haven’t gotten up, but I think they’re alive. My eyes track to the puddle of water in front of Michal and his partner.

  “They’ve electrified the water,” I say, pointing. “They got zapped.”

  Nada and I stare ahead, taking in what this means. Puddle after puddle dots the path between us and the blue door. More probably lurk under the trash and debris. Terrified, my eyes flit from one puddle to another. We’re not going to make it.

  Another bolt zings our way. The guard doesn’t enter, but he’s having a good time taking shots from outside. We skitter forward, afraid that each step might be our last.

  When there’s no clear path forward that isn’t in the shooters’ line of sight or flooded with electrified water, Nada and I crouch low and try to think. Maybe the guards will give up.

  Then from the doorway, “I’m coming in!”

  I turn to Nada. “What do we do?”

  She shakes her head, licking sweat off her upper lip. “If we try to run around puddles, we’ll be shot.”

  My eyes trail upward. The scaffolding runs along the wall above our heads about eight feet from the floor. If we could get up there…

  In the center of the warehouse Michal sits up. His hair is wild, standing straight out from his head. His partner is still moaning.

  “Up,” I say to Nada, pulling. “Now, while the guard’s busy.”

  She jumps up and begins scampering up my body as best she can. But with our arms connected, it’s impossible. I try to hoist her up, but get a boot toe to the stomach and a nice scrape down my shoulder for the effort. When she can reach the metal rungs, she can only grab on with one hand.

  Nada falls down beside me, yanking my arm hard at the socket. “No good,” she says. “If I had both my arms…”

  I look around frantically. My eyes land on stacks of rotting wood pallets. “Help me.”

  We stack wood pallets as fast as we can. Splinters bite into the soft flesh of my palms, but I don’t care.

  When I look back, Lord Merek’s in the doorway, watching from his four-wheeler. His new wife, clutching his waist, has a smug grin on her face. One of the guards has run around back. Maybe he’s disconnecting the power so they can come hunt us without getting electrocuted. Either way we have to hurry.

  We set the last pallet on the stack. As Nada and I climb the wobbly platform, the whole structure shifts and slides beneath our feet, but it’s enough for both of us to reach the metal scaffolding. We pull up, grunting and sweating. Side-by-side, we pull ourselves onto the scaffold. Our footsteps thunder on the metal grate and echo through the warehouse as we sprint down the metal walkway. Below, Michal is screaming at his partner to get up. I glance down and see him dragging a still-moaning body toward our pallet platform.

  Four-wheelers roar into the warehouse. Nada and I sprint to the end of the walkway, but we skid to a halt. The staircase is gone here, too. The fall from eight feet won’t kill anyone, but below us are jagged shards of metal, splinters of wood, and God knows what else.

  But there, a few feet from us, is the blue door.

  Merek roars into the warehouse and lifts his crossbow to his shoulder.

  “Jump!” Nada screams.

  The fall is short. The landing is hard. I crash through wood, feeling it break under my back. Snaps of pain flare up all over my body, but my adrenaline pumps it away. Nada shakes her head as if to fight off dizziness and begins clawing through the debris toward the door.

  A scream cuts through the warehouse. I look back and a guard has his crossbow trained on Michal’s head. I turn away and reach for the door.

  Four steps and we’re there. My hand circles the knob and turns. I push the door open. Sunlight greets me.

  “Riley!” Nada screams. I turn to see what she’s looking at, and a bolt shoots toward us.

  Nada jerks me forward. I fall through the open door after her as the top of the blue door is skewered and sprays shards. Pieces pelt my neck and shoulders. I tumble forward, rolling, rolling, until I stop in a pile of arms and legs.

  When I can lift my head, I see we’ve made it through the first warehouse. We lie on the dirty blacktop in a dim alley. Nada drags me behind a rusted dumpster tucked up next to the second building. In this tiny crack, we can hide and assess the damage before barreling into the next warehouse.

  I pant and wipe sweat off my forehead and try not
to think about what just happened. Instead I focus on my injuries—cuts and scrapes, and a small shard of wood pokes out of my right ankle. My knee throbs with pain that will likely be howling in an hour or two. Otherwise, I’m okay. Nada yanks a shard of metal out of the meat of her forearm and winces at the blood. She begins ripping her sleeve off to make a bandage for her arm.

  “Want help?” I whisper.

  She lets me help her rip the shirt into strips and bind her arm. Then we sit for a few seconds and stare at the dumpster. Someone has tagged it with faded, red graffiti reading Lil’ Gee in big, puffy letters.

  “We need to move,” she says.

  I nod, but my legs do nothing. The throb in my knee is growing, but really it’s my fear of what we will find in the next building that’s keeping me stuck right here.

  A four-wheeler engine rumbles up on the street in front of us. Even though we’re well-hidden, Nada and I both stiffen.

  We creep around the dumpster, careful to stay hidden and silent, and slink along the wall of the second warehouse. This one seems taller than the first, jutting up into the sun-seared sky at least four stories. Above, there are plenty of busted windows to climb in, but on the main floor there’s no way to get in.

  When we’ve skirted the length of the shadowed section, we stop and look at each other. If there is a door, it’s out on the street where the four-wheelers prowl. And the back of this alley ends in a solid brick wall. Glass shatters somewhere in the other row of buildings and a scream follows. I cringe, but inside a sick part of me is hopeful. Let it be done now. Let that be the last set of competitors they want to kill.

  I’m rooting for someone’s death? This game has blackened my heart.

  But, no ceasefire comes. Nada and I inch back into the alley and look up. We’ll have to enter on the second floor.

  When we realize the dumpster we’ve been hiding behind is on wheels, we quickly come up with a plan. With a little squeaking that makes both of us cringe, we push the dumpster over to the second floor window. Then we haul our sweaty, aching bodies up onto the dumpster lid and help each other to climb into the warehouse.

  Slipping in the widow together, we dangle and then drop at the same time to the floor below. The warehouse is long and open like the last, but this floor is littered with broken furniture, rusty machinery, and crumpled paper.