by Dia Cole
A deep rumbling voice called out from down the hallway, “Gabe, what’s going on? I thought we were doing a quick in and out. Where’s the female?”
I glanced up at the massive seven-foot-tall bearded giant whose broad shoulders skimmed both sides of the hallway. “Havana is changing.”
Gabriel scowled at the other Enforcer. “You’re supposed to wait in the car, Liam.”
“I thought you might’ve run into trouble."
“The only trouble is the female is taking too long.” Gabriel scowled at me.
“I’m sure she’ll be here shortly.” I turned to face the side stairs. Although I’d just met her, my blood hummed in anticipation of seeing her again. Her beautiful face could ease the sting of failing to save the infected human.
Liam cleared his throat. “You don’t think she’ll run, do you?”
She won’t run. Will she? Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to let her think we were cops. I swallowed hard imagining Nathan’s reaction if we let her slip through our fingers. Getting on the wrong side of an Alpha was deadly. Even worse, we’d have lost one of the most captivating females I’d ever encountered. It’s too dangerous for her out there on her own. “She’ll be here in a minute,” I stated with more confidence than I felt. Bloody hell. What if she runs?
Liam must’ve picked up on my worry. He straightened his thick shoulders. “There’s a back exit that leads to the alley. I’ll watch it.”
“Good idea,” Gabriel said with a relieved look.
Liam nodded and stomped back down the hallway toward the front of the club.
A gurgling sound came from the private room.
Gabriel and I whipped around to see the human stagger to his feet. A new scent wafted off the man—the sickly odor of death.
A sinking feeling hit my stomach. I should’ve anticipated this.
The human’s eyes snapped open revealing cloudy white irises that fixed on my face. Its lack of heartbeat and the fact it no longer drew breath made it clear it was one of the reanimated. Although how it could possibly exist baffled me along with the rest of the medical community.
“It’s one of them now,” I said over the sound of the man’s chattering teeth.
Gabriel cursed.
The creature sniffed the air in a decidedly canine-like way.
“Do they use smell to hunt like we do?” Gabriel asked in a low voice.
“It appears so.” My exposure to the creatures was limited to the blood samples I’d worked with, the reports I’d been getting from other doctors and nurses, and the handful of restrained infected I’d dealt with in the hospital.
The creature staggered in our direction.
The impossibility of it fascinated me. “Look at how it ambulates without a working respiratory system, limbic system, or any functioning organs. Despite limited cortical activity, this man is… to put it in lay terms…deader than a doornail. And yet, look how it walks and hunts.”
Gabriel gave me a dry look. “Do you want to make out with it, or do you want me to kill it?”
“It needs to be put down.” Based on what’d I learned so far about the reanimated, they’d attack and try to consume any living creature until they experienced significant cerebral damage.
“I’ll take care of it.” Gabriel pulled out a gun, screwed on a sound suppressor, and shot the creature in the middle of the chest.
The reanimated man continued staggering forward seemingly unaware of the fist-sized hole in the center of its torso.
Gabriel fired several more body shots.
That won’t do anything. “Shoot it in the head.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Gabriel switched aim and pulled the trigger again.
At nearly point-blank range, the bullet took out the back of the creature’s skull and its brains splattered nearly every surface of the red room.
I jumped back before reminding myself that we were immune to the virus. Still, we didn’t need infected blood and skull fragments on our clothes when we were about to take a trip with the female. I looked over at the side stairs both relieved and disappointed not to see Havana there.
Gabriel snapped the curtain closed, hiding the grisly scene. Then he cocked his head as if listening for the club’s reactions to the muffled sound of gunfire. Seemingly assured that no one heard anything over the sound of the music, he turned to me and said, “The female’s five minutes are up. Where is she?”
4
Havana
“It’s time to go,” a deep voice boomed from beyond the dressing room.
Another male voice called out, “Havana, are you ready?”
It’s them. I froze. Thinking back on my conversation with the guys, neither of them actually said they were cops. Crap, I’m such an idiot. They could be serial killers for all I knew.
“Jeez. You’re white as a ghost. Are you okay?” Jade asked in a concerned voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said with confidence I didn’t feel. “See you tomorrow night.” I gave her a wave and walked through the doorway into the backstage area of the club. For a moment I debated going straight to Max. He and Justin would run the guys off the property in a heartbeat, but I hated the idea of bringing drama to work especially when Max had his hands full dealing with the Calaveras.
Deciding to ditch the guys for now, I rushed over to the side exit. Hopefully, I’d be halfway home before Gabriel and Mason even noticed I was gone. Bracing myself for the chill, I shoved open the door, and stepped out into the dimly lit alley.
The rancid odor of urine, rotting garbage, and a tangy metallic scent I couldn’t place engulfed me. Ugh. Now I remember why I don’t go out this way. Besides the creep factor of trekking through a dark alley alone, the stench was enough to peel the flesh from my bones. My breath fogged the air in front of my face while I struggled not to lose the salad I’d had for dinner.
Click. Click. Click.
What’s that? Swallowing back nausea, I peered down the alley.
Three figures lurched around an overflowing Dumpster. The weird chittering sound seemed to be coming from them.
Initially, I dismissed the trio as homeless Dumpster divers. Then they moved into the light.
I gasped in recognition. It was Jess, along with her drug-dealing boyfriend, Brody. But they didn’t look right. The light from the parking lot illuminated their strange white eyes and the crimson stains around their gnashing teeth. Limping next to them was an unfamiliar short guy who was missing half his face. His one remaining eye swung from his socket like a lost headphone.
They’re like the crazy people on the news!
Shit! Deciding it’d be better to take my chances with Gabriel and Mason, I grabbed for the club door handle. It wouldn’t open.
The three of them staggered closer.
My heart pounded like a kettledrum. “Stay back!” I pulled the folding knife from my boot and flicked out the blade.
Jess let out a low moan. Intestines spilled out of the front of her yellow dress and swung from side to side like tentacles as she tottered toward me in platform heels.
Oh, God! If being disemboweled hadn’t stopped her, my four-inch knife sure as hell wasn’t going to be a deterrent. Fear turned my blood into ice as I turned and raced down the alley as fast as I could in my stiletto boots. The parking lot was in sight when the biggest man I’d ever seen in my life stepped into the alley ahead of me. Shit! I stopped so suddenly, the heel of my right boot snapped off and I flew forward.
As I slammed onto the ground, the knife sliced into my palm. I muffled a cry focusing not on the pain, but on the hulking man ahead of me.
The giant’s massive shoulders blocked out the light as he let out a growl that made every hair on my body stand on end. Impossibly, his eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.
Oh, God! Monsters in front. Monsters behind. Terror paralyzed me, and the knife fell out of my bleeding hand. The frenzied chattering of teeth grew louder and louder until it seemed to rattle my bones. A rush of adrenalin
e had me stumbling to my feet. Hearing a low moan, I twisted around just in time to see Brody launch himself at me.
Damn it. He wasn’t as big as the giant, but his lanky six-foot frame knocked into me like a wrecking ball. As I fell onto the ground, pain radiated out from my back.
The drug dealer immediately lunged for my throat.
“Get back, you asshole!” I braced my hands on his chest, struggling to push him away. His flannel shirt was wet with blood and as I fought with him, the fabric tore revealing a huge bite wound at the top of his shoulder.
Click. Click. Click.
The other two were almost on us. Panic had me trying to bring my knees up to kick him off.
He’s too strong.
My arms shook with the effort of keeping his snapping teeth from my neck.
Just when my muscles began to fail, Brody was wrenched off me.
Gasping for breath, I watched in disbelief as the giant picked up the drug dealer and tossed him straight into Jess and the short guy.
They went down like bowling pins in a tangle of body parts and flailing limbs.
Before the giant could attack me, I searched the ground for my weapon. Finding my knife, I fisted it in my uninjured hand and swung it at the hulking creature.
In a blur of motion, he knocked the weapon away and threw me over his shoulder.
“Let me go! Help!” Blood rushed to my head as I beat my fists against his massive back.
The giant laughed as he carried me toward the parking lot. “Nathan didn’t mention you’d be a handful.” His deep voice rolled over me like thunder.
“Nathan Steele?” I asked feeling like I’d just been smacked with a lead pipe. How does he know my ex?
“The one and only,” he replied. Answering my unspoken question he said, “Nathan told me, Gabriel, and Mason to bring you somewhere safe. If you hadn’t noticed, the world is going to hell.” He waved behind us where Jess and her friends still writhed in a heap.
I shivered, suddenly very willing to trust the stranger with my life. “Where are you taking me?”
The man twisted around to look at me with a surprisingly handsome face. In the light of the parking lot I made out the deep auburn color of his beard and hair. “Sanctuary.”
“Where's that?”
Instead of answering, he made a beeline straight to a black SUV parked toward the front of the parking lot, opened the back door, and gently set me down on the leather seat. “I smell blood. Are you hurt?”
“I sliced my hand in the alley when I fell,” I said, holding up my bleeding left palm.
He gently cupped it in his basketball-sized hand and frowned. “I’m sorry for scaring you back there.” He lowered his head as if ashamed. “I seem to have that effect on females.”
Although I didn’t know him, he’d just saved my life and the last thing he needed to feel was bad about how I’d reacted to him. I reached out and touched his cheek with my free hand. “Thank you for what you did back there.”
He turned his face into my hand and kissed my fingers. “Believe me, it was my pleasure. My name is Liam Murphy.”
I sucked in a startled breath, taking in his beautiful deep green eyes. Wow. He’s as sexy as the other two guys.
As if conjured by my thoughts, Mason and Gabriel came running out of the club.
Gabriel stalked over to the SUV and gave me a hard look. “You just needed to change, right?”
I dropped my hand away from Liam’s face. “Um, well, I didn’t know you guys were friends with Nathan.”
“Give her a break,” Liam said. “She just went toe-to-toe with infected in the alley.”
Gabriel studied me. “Were you bitten or scratched?”
I shook my head.
Gabriel sniffed the air. “You’re bleeding.” He shot me an accusatory look.
I showed him my blood-covered hand. “I fell when I was trying to run from those…” I started to say zombies, but stopped myself. They couldn’t be zombies, right? But what other explanation was there?
Mason peered around Gabriel’s shoulder. “That cut needs to be disinfected. Let me get my medical bag.” He walked around to the back of the SUV and opened the trunk.
Bag. “Oh no!” I glanced back at the alley. “I dropped my duffel bag in the alley.” Shit. It held my phone and purse.
“I’ll get it for you,” Liam offered.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gabriel scoffed.
Those things are back there. I grabbed Liam’s muscular arm. “He’s right. It’s not worth your life.”
Liam’s grin transformed his face from ruggedly attractive to drop-dead gorgeous. “I’d gladly risk my life for your happiness.”
Gabriel’s gaze narrowed. “Liam, forget it. Get into the car.”
Ignoring him, Liam jogged back toward the alley.
“Damn it!” Gabriel slammed his hand on the roof of the SUV. “Happy now, princess?”
I sucked in a breath. “I didn’t want him to go.” God, what if those monsters tear him apart? My stomach knotted as I watched the alley.
A minute later, Liam reappeared with my bag. He carried it over and set it on my lap like a trophy. “Easy peasy.”
Unable to help myself, I threw my arms around his beefy neck. “Thank you. Just don’t do something crazy like that again.”
He slowly pulled away, his deep green eyes never leaving my face. “I have a feeling that I’m going to be doing a lot of crazy things over you.”
Heat moved low in my belly as I inhaled his scent—fresh pine with a hint of mint. I decided then and there that I liked Liam. A lot.
“For Christ’s sake, let’s get out of here,” Gabriel snarled, opening the door to the front passenger seat and getting in.
We weren’t just going to leave. Were we? “Wait. Shouldn’t we call the police?” There were monsters in the alley, surely that warranted a call to the authorities.
“There’s nothing they can do,” Gabriel said tersely. “Besides they’re probably overwhelmed with calls as it is.”
I blinked at him in disbelief. “But we need to at least tell Max—”
“What we need to do is get to safety. Now, Liam,” Gabriel growled.
Liam got into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle while Mason slid into the seat next to mine.
“Step on it, brother. We’ve wasted too much time here already.” Gabriel glared at me again.
As Liam pulled out onto the street, Mason tore open a package and the sharp, acrid smell of alcohol filled the inside of the car. “This may sting a bit.” He gently pulled my injured hand into his lap.
That was an understatement. I hissed in pain when he started cleaning the cut.
Without even turning on a light, he reached for a spool of gauze and then expertly wrapped my hand.
“Are you a doctor?”
“I am.” The flash of his even, white teeth made my heart pound a little faster.
Does he do backs? I wondered.
Liam caught my eye through the rearview mirror. “So what’s the deal with you and Nathan? Are you two together?”
I shook my head. “No. I haven’t spoken to him in ages.”
“Really?” Liam said, flashing me another smile.
Damn. Liam was sexy in a mountain man kind of way. I licked my suddenly dry lips. “I was his daughter’s nanny before we got together. We only dated for a few months before Nathan broke up with me.” Realizing that I was rambling, I shut my mouth.
“He’s a fool,” Mason said softly.
“His loss, our gain,” Liam rumbled from the front seat.
Gabriel snorted. “Eyes on the road, Liam. Nathan wouldn’t have us drop everything in the middle of the goddamn zombie apocalypse and go after this female if she wasn’t important to him.”
“The zombie apocalypse?” I repeated with a laugh. “You don’t actually believe that, do you?”
All three men nodded in unison.
“That’s insane.”
“What did y
ou think those creatures were in the alley?” Liam asked.
“I don’t know…sick people,” I answered weakly, trying not to remember how Jess’s guts had hung outside her body.
Mason white-knuckled his medical bag. “They are sick. Sick and dead. And soon the entire world will be filled with them.”
It suddenly seemed colder in the vehicle. “What are you talking about?”
Mason sighed. “The flu vaccine is causing pathogenic side effects in a sizable subset of the population. That older gentleman back in the club is a good example. He must’ve received the vaccine within the past twenty-four hours—that’s usually how long it takes for the Z-virus to spread and kill a person. Like the other infected, he reanimated immediately after death.”
I gasped. “Dr. Sullivan died?”
Mason put his hand over mine. “I’m sorry if he was a friend.”
“He, ah, wasn’t, but I didn’t realize he was that bad off.” Crap, in less than an hour that guy went from drooling over me to dead.
Gabriel cleared his throat. “The flu vaccine kills people and brings them back as zombies who infect and kill others.”
“Holy shit.” That explained the crazed people on TV and Jess’s new undead look. As impossible as it sounded, I was starting to drink the Kool-Aid. “I have to warn my friends.” I pulled out my cell phone and rang Sydney. My call went straight to voice mail. “Syd, call me as soon as you get this. There’s some bad shit going on and you need to get somewhere safe.” Hopefully, she was just finishing up with that bachelor party and I’d catch her before she got to the airport.
I tried the club, but the phone just rang and rang. They must’ve already closed. I then tried Donna’s cell and then Max’s. Neither one of them picked up. Damn it. I left Max a voice mail asking him to call me. He’d want to know about Jess and my dead VIP customer.
After ending the call, I stared down at the phone. There was only one more person I felt compelled to call. Even though I’d deleted his number from my phone, it was seared into my mind just like the memory of his mouth on my body. Taking a steadying breath, I dialed Nathan.