With Nadia out of her hair, Lisa sat down with her back against the wall, head leaning against it as she thought of possible ways to save Cat. None occurred to her. Each looked as bleak as the rest, their outcome the same. Either Cat would die alone, or Lisa and Nadia would join her when their rescue attempt inevitably failed.
“There’s too many of them, they’re too well-armed, and our friends are too far away to help us. By the time they get here, Cat will be dead.” She stared at her hands, noting the chipped nails and calluses. They were the hands of a worker and a fighter. Someone strong enough to face the truth. “As much as I hate to admit it, Cat’s on her own. God, help her because I sure can’t.”
Throughout the rest of the night, Lisa kept watch, on the outlook for both zombies and Ravagers alike. It was possible that they’d question Cat and wring their existence and location from her, which was why they needed to be able to run at a moment’s notice.
To keep herself busy, she packed all their things in between keeping watch. Nadia never moved from her spot, though a few times, Lisa thought she heard quiet sobs coming from the girl’s prone figure.
As the hours passed, so did her anger. She knew Nadia hadn’t meant for Cat to be captured. While she’d been stupid for insisting on saving a lost cause, it also spoke of a big heart filled with compassion. Besides, in the end, it had been Cat’s decision as well as her own to stick by Nadia and help her save the captives. Or try to, at least. We knew the score. We knew what could happen.
Lisa also knew that Cat wouldn’t want them to fight, much less for Nadia to implode due to sheer guilt and do something stupid like try to end it all. “I’ll speak to her when she wakes up. Apologize.”
It was around dawn that exhaustion finally caught up with Lisa, and she dozed off. Her sleep was restless, filled with awful images of blood and entrails, zombies and corpses. One of the undead turned to look at her, and it was Cat. Her skin was gray in death, her eyes empty of all that used to be her. A shell. An empty shell of a human being.
“No, it can’t be. It’s not right.” Hot tears streamed down Lisa’s face. “You can’t be dead. Not you.”
“Oh, but I can, and it’s your fault. You and Nadia’s. Why did you run? Why did you leave me?” Cat snarled at her with bloody teeth, clawed hands raising to―
A hand on her shoulder shook her awake, and Lisa cried out, flailing with her arms in the air until a soothing voice broke through to her.
“It’s okay, Lisa. It’s just me, Nadia. You’re having a nightmare, that’s all.”
Lisa gasped and shot upright, pushing her hair back from her face. A sheen of sweat coated her skin, and her mouth was as dry as sandpaper. “Nadia?”
“Here. Drink this,” Nadia said, thrusting a hot cup of coffee into Lisa’s hands.
Lisa took the cup and looked around. “What time is it?”
“Around eight. You looked tired, so I let you be.” Nadia sat back on her haunches and stared at Lisa. “You should know, I went out there again. Back to their camp.”
“You did what?”
“I had to know.”
Lisa sucked in a breath. “And? Is she okay?”
Nadia nodded. “For now. She must have told them she was working alone because they’re not looking for us. She’s with the rest of the prisoners in one of the trailers. I don’t think she’s hurt.”
Lisa blew out the breath she’d been holding. “Thank God for that.”
“They’re leaving today. The Ravagers. They’re going back to their base in the North,” Nadia said. “I saw them packing up their stuff and heard the leader announcing it.”
As if to prove the truth of her words, a rumble started in the distance, growing to a muted roar before reaching a sharp crescendo as it rolled past them down the street. The vibrations traveled through the concrete floor and up into Lisa’s spine, causing her stomach to turn. “No. If they leave, it’ll take that much longer to get Max and Martin to help us.”
Nadia poured herself a cup of coffee as well before sitting down across from Lisa, her expression somber. “I know. That’s why I’m going after her while you fetch help from St. Francis.”
“Nadia, no,” Lisa cried. “Not another suicide mission. Cat wouldn’t want that.”
“I know, but I owe her that much, Lisa,” Nadia said, raising a hand to ward off Lisa’s objections. “Hear me out. I thought about what you said last night, and―”
“About that, I’m sorry, Nadia. I didn’t mean it like that,” Lisa said.
“I know you didn’t, Lisa, and it’s okay. I needed to hear it anyway. It put a few things into perspective for me.”
“Like what?”
“All this time, I’ve been grieving for the loss of Logan and Caleb, and that was as it should be. We should mourn the loss of those we love, but not at the detriment of those that are still alive. I allowed my grief to blind me to you and Cat. To everything, really. I couldn’t see past my anger. My rage. Manny paid for that with his life.”
Nadia paused to sip her coffee, and Lisa studied her, noting the new aura of acceptance that seemed to surround her.
“And yesterday, I allowed that rage to overthrow my better judgment again. All I wanted, was to stick it to the Ravagers in one way or another. Saving the captives gave me a selfless motive to make me feel good about it too. Only thing is, it took Cat away from me. Cat, my best friend.” Nadia carefully placed her cup on the ground before folding her hands. “I’ll always be sorry for what I did. For the pain I caused. You, Manny, Cat…”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” Lisa said. “So have I. It doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life blaming and hating yourself for it.”
“You’re right, but, I do owe it to Cat to try to save her life, even if it means giving up mine. She’s better than me, always has been. She deserves better.”
“But how, Nadia? Even with the three of us, we couldn’t save anyone from the Ravagers. How are you going to do it?”
“By exchanging my life for hers.”
“What makes you think they’ll accept?”
“I can try, Lisa, and in the meantime, you can run back to Max and bring help. If I can stall them for long enough, keep her alive somehow…”
“It’s a long shot.”
“Maybe, but it’s the only one we’ve got.”
Lisa was silent for a while, thinking over what Nadia had proposed. It was a crazy plan, doomed to failure. Why would the Ravagers give up Cat for Nadia when they could have them both? Still, Nadia might be able to buy enough time for them both from within the enemy camp. Still, it didn’t feel right to her. This is not the way.
Her nightmare came back to her suddenly. A raw image of a zombie Cat looming in front of her eyes, and it hit her so suddenly, she was surprised she hadn’t thought of it before. “Wait a minute.”
Nadia cocked her head. “What?”
“What’s the one thing even the Ravagers would fear in a time like this?” Lisa asked. “Something we all fear?”
Nadia shrugged. “I don’t know. People? Zombies? Disease?”
“Other people? Not if they’ve got the numbers and arms in their favor. Not to mention, a superior position. That’s exactly what Upington’s old army base affords them,” Lisa said.
“They’re not scared of the zombies either,” Nadia said. “Not with their firepower.”
“Maybe not old zombies. They’re stupid and slow,” Lisa said. “Fresh infected are a whole different ball game, though.”
“Yeah, but where would we get enough fresh zombies to take out a whole camp of Ravagers?” Nadia asked.
“It’s simple. We make them.”
“What?” Nadia frowned. “Now you’re the crazy one.”
“I’m serious. We make them out of their own people,” Lisa said, almost crowing with delight.
“How?”
“With you, Nadia. You’re a biological bomb just waiting to explode. It’d be so easy. Once the infection takes hold withi
n the camp, nothing can stop it. You know that already from experience.”
Nadia nodded slowly as understanding dawned, and a smile spread across her face. “You’re right. I’m the perfect weapon. All I need to do is get inside, and infect someone.”
“Preferably, more than one person,” Lisa said, excitement causing her to bounce up and down. “Before we left St. Francis, Dr. Lange told me that with the virus evolving, turning has sped up. It now takes less time than before to become a zombie once infected. With any luck, the town will be doomed before they know what hit it.”
“You know, this could actually work,” Nadia said.
“Of course it could. It’s my idea,” Lisa said with a smirk. “Better than yours, anyway.”
“For once, I’m not going to argue with you,” Nadia agreed with a broad grin.
“Are you ready for this?” Lisa asked.
“Of course. Anything for Cat.”
“Time to do what we do best,” Lisa said, pure joy infusing her being. “Spy on people before saving them.”
“Cheers to that,” Nadia agreed.
Chapter 16 - Cat
A deep-seated throb in her left temple dragged Cat from the soothing darkness of sleep and into consciousness. She blinked, turning her head away from the piercing yellow light that seemed intent on cooking her eyeballs.
A deep chuckle reached her ears, and a set of rough fingers gripped her chin, forcing her head back. “My, my, but you’re a real beauty, aren’t you? Now hold still.”
She mewled, swatting at the hand that held her fast while the flashlight shone in first the one eye and then the other. “Stop it. It hurts.”
“I said hold still. I’m checking for a concussion,” the voice said, dropping an octave as a note of anger set in.
The light disappeared, and Cat stopped struggling, blinking to clear the spots swimming across her vision. Gradually, a face came into view, staring at her with one eyebrow raised. It was a handsome face turned ugly by a brutal scar that ran across the left cheek and cut into the lips, twisting them into a sardonic sneer. Cat gasped and pulled back, though she couldn’t move far with the wall at her back.
The man laughed. “Don’t like what you see, hey? That’s too bad because you’ll be seeing a lot more of it in the future.”
“Who…who are you?”
“You can call me Jay, but only because I’ve taken a liking to your pretty face. Piss me off, and you’ll find out why everyone else calls me the Beast. Got that?”
Cat nodded, her mind spiraling into a whirling storm of fear and panic. He smiled and patted her cheek. “Good girl. Now, what’s your name?”
“Cat,” she managed to say on the second try.
“That’s an interesting name. Short for Catherine?”
She nodded again. “Yes.”
“What were you doing here, Cat? Waltzing into a Ravager camp and pretending to be one of us? That was ballsy.” He sat back on his haunches. “Or did you have help? Friends, perhaps?”
Cat thought fast, her mind racing. “I’m alone, or at least, I am now. I was looking for my friend. She disappeared two days ago, and I thought you might have her.”
“What does your friend look like?” he asked.
She’s got blonde hair and the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen,” Cat replied. “She went out on a raid to look for food and never came back.”
Jay studied her face. “You’re not lying to me, are you? Because that would be a mistake.”
“No, I swear it,” Cat said, her eyes wide and innocent.
Jay waited a minute before nodding, seeming satisfied she was honest. “I haven’t seen her. She’s probably zombie food by now.”
Cat acted stricken. “No. She can’t be.”
“We’ve searched most of the town, sweetheart, and there’s no one like your friend anywhere around. She either ditched you and ran for it when we showed up, or she’s dead. Forget her. You’ve got bigger problems to worry about now.”
Cat swallowed, her mouth dry. Her eyes wandered over Jay, taking in the muscles that bulged beneath his thin t-shirt and the tribal tattoos that ran up both arms. Behind him burned a bonfire surrounded by more of his kind. Rough-looking men and women of all kinds, a mixture of different ages, sizes, and ethnicity. All bound by one thing. The red bandanna tied around their necks.
“Scared?” Jay asked, and Cat sensed it was a loaded question.
She raised her chin. “No.”
He grinned. “Ballsy, all right. That’s why I like you.”
“What are you going to do to me?” Cat asked.
“Nothing for now,” he said. “We’re leaving in the morning for home. Then…” He got to his feet and stared at her. “Then we’ll see.”
He gestured toward someone standing nearby. “Toss her in with the rest and double the guard tonight.” He shot her a calculating look. “Just in case she was lying about having friends, though I hope not for her sake.”
“Yes, Sir.” The mystery man hauled her to her feet with one hand.
“As for the party, it’s over. Get everyone locked down tight. We leave first thing in the morning,” Jay continued.
Her captor dragged Cat toward one of the trailers containing captives and tossed her inside without ceremony. Frightened faces surrounded her, and she scrambled into a corner. These were the very same people she’d tried to save earlier, and now she wondered if any of them could be trusted not to kill her in her sleep. When no one made a move, though, she relaxed a bit and leaned back against the bars. After a time, she mustered the courage to ask the nearest woman, “Do you know what’s going to happen to us?”
The woman shook her head, not answering straight away. “There are lots of rumors, but no one really knows.”
A guard rapped on the bars. “No talking!”
Immediately, the woman shrank away from Cat, turning her back on her as did the rest. While they’d been in there for a while, Cat was new, and therefore, an outsider. She sighed and curled up into a little ball. This is going to be a long night.
The hours passed with excruciating slowness. No one would talk to her or answer her questions, and a chill breeze cut through the air freezing muscle and tendon alike. Thirst set in, followed by the dull ache of hunger, and through it all her head pounded like a drum, the side of her face aching from the blow she’d received. Finally, she dozed off, only to jerk awake when the roar of various engines rose around her in a miasma of thunderous sound.
“What’s happening?” she cried, holding on to the bars for dear life when the trailer started moving.
“We’re leaving,” the same woman from the night before answered. “They’re taking us to their base.”
“Why? What’ll happen to us there?”
The woman shot her a blank look. “They’ll kill us.”
***
The journey passed far more quickly than Cat hoped it would, each kilometer bringing her closer to her early demise. Or so she guessed. Once on the road and away from the watchful eyes of the guards, the prisoners proved more talkative.
Each had a similar story to tell: They were survivors of the zombie apocalypse, eking out a living and minding their own business when the Ravagers rolled into town and captured them. Some of them lost family and friends in the process, others gave up before it could come to violence.
Their captivity proved grueling. Kept in the trailers, they were allowed no freedom, no blankets, a single bucket for ablutions, and the minimum of water and food. The adults especially were suffering as they kept most of the food and water for the kids and old folk of whom there were quite a few. No one knew what awaited them at the Ravager’s base, but they all assumed it entailed something terrible. Many, like her, had heard the rumors of rape, murder, and cannibalism.
With each kilometer that passed, Cat’s hopes dwindled. She couldn’t expect either Lisa or Nadia to save her, nor did she want them to. It was a suicide mission, and the only thing that kept her going was the knowledge that th
ey were safe.
Around noon, the cavalcade of vehicles stopped to refuel and refresh, and it was during this time that Jay paid Cat another visit. He sauntered up to the bars, a veritable giant of a man, and she could see why people called him the Beast. He was simply put, enormous. A block of solidly hewn muscle and tendon.
“So, how’s my pretty little Cat doing?” he asked, reaching through the bars to caress her cheek.
Cat flinched, but she didn’t pull away. Something warned her not to anger him, or she’d suffer the consequences. “I’m fine.”
“Thirsty?” he asked, producing a bottle of water and shaking the precious liquid in front of her eyes.
Her dry mouth flared to life, salivating at the sight, and she nodded. “Yes.”
“Say please,” he taunted.
“Please,” she whispered even though every cell in her body longed to scream and lash out at him.
“Good girl,” he said, handing her the bottle.
She bristled beneath the praise, feeling like a prize horse he possessed, but she opened the bottle and took a few swallows, savoring the intense relief it brought. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’ve got manners. I like that. Keep the rest.”
As he turned to leave, he tossed her an apple, shiny and red. She caught it, marveling at its smooth skin. She hadn’t seen a fresh apple in a long time. “Where did you get this?”
“There’s more where that came from, and if you do as I ask, you’ll never want for anything,” he said before walking away.
Cat stared at the apple, knowing that it was a bribe. Just another thing designed to bring her under Jay’s heel. He’s grooming me, but for what? A fling? A plaything?
“I see the Beast has a thing for you,” a sharp feminine voice said, drawing Cat from her thoughts. She looked up into the face of a redhead with smooth golden skin and green eyes. She was attractive in a hard, abrasive manner, her body lean and tough.
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