Atlas (Apocalyptic Cries Book 1)

by Adalie Jordin

  “I don’t believe you,” I spit, full on seething. “But that’s not why I’m here.”

  He takes a step back, hand dropping to his side with a soft thud. He studies me closely, looking for answers behind my defensive wall of nothing. “Why are you then?”

  “Because if what you told me is true. That you…” Clearing my throat, I force myself to continue, “If you really do love me, then I need you to show me by helping Cade and I free Nyler’s prisoners.” Not how I’d planned to say it, but my filter is mostly gone. The shock of him being engaged is getting to me more than it should.

  He’s shaking his head even before I finish. “That’s emotional blackmail — exactly what Robert’s pulling. Don’t be like him, Saedie. It doesn’t suit you.”

  Low blow… But he’s not wrong.

  I deflate a little, allowing him to see past my defensive walls, if only for a moment. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I mean. Just — Luca, please. We, I, need your help.”

  He doesn’t say anything for a while, just stares at me with that penetrating blue gaze of his as he quietly weighs his options.

  We stand around for so long I have the immature urge to poke him in the eye, just to make sure he’s still capable of blinking.

  “What, exactly, do you want me to do, Saedie? Spell it out for me,” he finally says on a soft exhale. Like he’s given up fighting. Is it really that simple?

  Hmm….

  Suspicion eats me up from the inside. “It’s better we don’t talk about it here. Meet me at my place after lunch and we can all talk.”

  He nods, waving me off toward the exit and going back to his weights. Way too easy. I stand there like a perv, watching as he works up a nice sweat, before forcing my eyes off him and walking away.

  On the way up the stairs, I catch the sound of someone coming down the opposite way. I stall, recognizing the gait almost immediately. Shit! Leaping back down the last three steps I try and think of what to do to hide myself.

  Why the fuck can’t I catch a break today!?

  Rushing to Luca’s side, I frantically glance about the room for a place that will conceal me. “Help me hide, quick!”

  It takes him a second to hear the footsteps too, but he must see how urgent I’m being, because he ushers me to the wall of lockers along the side of the room, adjacent to where he’d been working out. “Get in.”

  “What?”

  Opening the waist high door, he pushes my head down so I’m level with his crotch. Nice. “I said, get in unless you want them to find you.”

  Huffing, I squeeze myself into the cramped rectangle, crossing my damn fingers I don’t get stuck in here. My petite stature is a blessing for once, allowing me to fit inside easily, but without much wiggle room. Shutting the door behind me as quietly as he can, I hear Luca’s feet run back across the mats to the weight bar.

  I watch through the thin slats as he flops down on his back, lifting the bar from its cradle, before pretending to pop it back home immediately after.

  Asshole has reached the bottom of the stairs and is glaring daggers across the room at Luca.

  Wonder what he did to get on Asshole’s bad side?

  If I didn’t know him better - or at least think I do anyway - I’d say Luca isn’t bothered by Mr. Price’s presence in the room one bit. However, the minute ticking of his clenched jaw is a dead giveaway he isn’t happy about Asshole showing up unannounced during his private work out time.

  “Boss wants an update on your progress with the Walton gel.” Asshole’s voice grates on my nerves. My name doesn’t belong on his lips. Ever. I mean — unless he’s begging me not to let the infected eat him after we set the prisoners free…. I can’t help but see him back in the lab with the Zerk, popping the eyeball straight out of its head.

  Nausea rolls through me, and I bite my lips to deflect my attention elsewhere.

  To his credit, Luca doesn’t look toward the lockers once. “I’ll give an update when I feel like there’s something worth reporting, Price. That’s the deal.”

  Asshole harrumphs, not appreciating the lack of respect Luca’s giving off. “Don’t work like that, boy. He calls, you answer, or you end up as one of them.” It’s almost like he’s trying to warn Luca — almost. I’ve seen the monster within, and I’m not convinced by the wrapping.

  Luca grits his teeth so hard I can almost imagine hearing them grind from here.

  If he didn’t know I'm in the room, would he be spewing paragraphs at Asshole right now?

  “Then tell him she’s shacked up with that newer guy, the giant one. That should be enough to hold him over for now. I don’t bloody have anything else.”

  Asshole grunts, “Won’t be happy.”

  “Is he ever,” Luca mutters under his breath, low enough I don’t think Asshole can hear him. He’s giving Price the stink eye now. “I’d like to get back to my workout, if you don’t mind. I have extra duty tonight.”

  So the bitch wasn’t lying about any of it, really. She just got the timing wrong. How about that.

  Asshole doesn’t wait around for heartfelt goodbyes, instead he turns - more nimbly than I would normally give him credit for - and stalks back up the stairs as fast as his lopsided gait will carry him.

  When we can no longer hear the stomp of his loafers, and the gym door bangs closed, Luca waits a beat before striding over to the lockers. Crouching down, he turns the dials of the built-in combination lock - I hadn’t realized it engaged, that could have been bad - until it clicks home, releasing.

  Bad is an understatement.

  Luca pulls open the door and I ungracefully tumble out onto the mat at his feet, knees hitting hard on the supposedly shock-absorbent surface. My hair is all over the place, a few strands stuck underneath my legs where they meet the floor, forcing my head to stay down until I free them.

  Knew I should have pulled it up today.

  “Ow.”

  Luca huffs a laugh, breath floating out over my face causing a few loose baby hairs to stir. It makes me realize just how close we are, his face is mere inches from mine. He seems to have the same thought, and I’m ashamed to say I don’t immediately back away from him. Instead, as the smile falls from his lips and something more heated takes over, we just stare, breathing each other in.

  I hear Cade’s voice in my head, telling me not to take too long, and it changes the course of my thoughts from the lust-ridden choo-choo train my brain is about to jump aboard, to guilt at not backing away sooner. Creating some distance between us, I swipe my wayward hair over one shoulder, twisting it loosely so it won’t immediately fly about again. “I should go.”

  I know he hears me, but he doesn’t move back to allow me room to get up. Tilting forward, in a lighting quick move, he has my face cradled between both of his hands, his lips pressing fervently to mine in a kiss that screams love and desperation.

  I try to pull back, to break his hold, but that tiny little niggling part of me, deep down, is enjoying the way his soft mouth feels as it brushes against mine. That realization alone has me jolting backwards, painfully knocking into a corner of the locker door that’s still half-open behind me.

  “No. I’m sorry, Luca, but I can’t do this.” My eyes plead for him to understand.

  “I don’t care you’re with Calder, Saed…. I’m willing to share you if that’s what it takes.”

  What the fuck did he just say?!

  I want to be appalled, but instead I’m quietly intrigued. The image of Cade and Luca wrapped around me, naked and sweaty, enters my mind and my whole body heats up. A throbbing builds between my legs, and I don’t know what to make of it. I’m not an exhibitionist — I’m not comfortable enough with the art of sex to have even seriously considered the scenario before.

  Boring bitch.

  “I… don’t even know what to say to that.” Rubbing my back where it still smarts from the locker, I get unsteadily to my feet.

  “Don’t say anything. Just think about it. I don’t want Morgan
, and I never have. She’s been a distraction offered by Robert that I’ve indulged in, but I hold no feelings for her.” With that confession ringing in my ears, I shake my head at him, confused, miffed on Morgan’s behalf — even if I despise the wench — and admittedly horny.

  Not a pleasant combination.

  “Don’t forget to stop by after lunch, Luca.”

  I leave him standing there, hard on clearly visible in his workout pants, trying to scrub the last few minutes from my mind.

  ◆◆◆

  I take the long way back to the observatory, giving myself a chance to get my emotions under control before I see Cade. I’m going to tell him about the kiss - I have to - but for the time being I’m going to keep the offer of a threesome to myself. I just…. No, I’m not even going to go there right now. We have too many other things that need our attention. My love life isn’t at the forefront of things to worry about.

  Kenji’s gone when I get home, like I asked her to be, but much to my disappointment so is Cade. At first I think he’s gone looking for me, but there’s a small note taped to the first chair in the row closest to the door, letting me know he’s walking Kenji back to her place so she can work on the phones in her little gadget room.

  Where in the world did he find tape?

  Inane question notwithstanding, I’m glad he’s keeping an eye on Kenji.

  For my part though, I’d rather not be standing here in the silence. I haven’t made rounds in a few days; I figure it’s time to go and see if Nurse Nance has been leaving anyone to the wayside in my absence. And if she’s cooled down enough without The Incubator around to actually let me see my little brother.

  One can hope.

  Before I leave, I find a pencil and jot down a reply to Cade, in case he comes back before I do. I don’t worry about how he’ll get into the room. I have the only key, but that clearly didn’t stop him when I was sleeping earlier this morning.

  The infirmary is cold and empty when I pass through the swinging double doors. Literally no one is around. All of the beds are empty — stripped of bedding, with no personal belongings strewn about the room like there usually are.

  Where the hell is Jeremy!?

  My little brother’s bed stands empty, a mirror of the others. His few toys and things I’d managed to keep for him from Before, and scrounge up for him after, are missing too. It’s whitewashed like he was never here.

  The game console, and everything that went with it, are also gone.

  Running to Nurse Nance’s office, I find much the same. The desk, filing cabinets and minimal decorations she had in here are nowhere to be seen. The medicine cabinet has been scrubbed clean — not a single pill capsule left behind.

  This is methodical. Whoever did it didn’t want the room to appear used at all.

  Before crazy conspiracy theories can start to run rampant through my thoughts, I angle my feet in the direction of Prudence’s dorm. She may be a deadbeat, but it would be just like her to pull a stunt like this to distance me from Jer when she knows I won’t follow her demands and stay away like she wants.

  Walking into my old housing unit is like a blast from the past, even though it really hasn’t been that long since I was last here. The place is abuzz with other Compound members as they go about their daily tasks, and I recognize a few of them from when I stayed here. I haven’t seen them much since I moved out, and they want me to stop and chat, but I make my excuses and walk on.

  By the time I reach our floor, my heart is about to pound out of my chest. She better have him.

  I’ll knock, stay clear of the peephole, and barge in once she unlocks the door — I’m not playing these games.

  Only, when I get about halfway down the hall, I know I won’t get to do any of those things.

  The door to my family’s apartment is standing wide open, allowing me an unhindered view of the emptiness within.

  They’re gone.

  CHAPTER 23

  This is starting to get ridiculous. I bang the palm of my hand against the door frame in frustration. Where the fuck would they have gone?

  Nyler.

  The Incubator is Mrs. Nyler now, according to Nance. Would she have taken Jeremy to live with the ‘Commander’? If she wanted to save face and not look like a deadbeat parent… maybe.

  Why hadn’t I thought of that before!

  Doing an about face, I run straight into one of my old neighbors as she’s coming out of her apartment. Seizing the opportunity, I think, who better to ask?

  After apologizing profusely for nearly bowling her over, I get the answer I suspected. Bitch-face moved in with Nyler when they got hitched, and took Ainsley and Jeremy with her. Shit.

  Going after him half-cocked would be pointless. I’d be walking right into Nyler’s hands. If he has Jeremy and hasn’t hurt him, and I’m sure people would talk if a little boy went missing versus an old - lonely - resident, then I have to believe he doesn’t think Jer is immune like I am. Or at least isn’t thinking of using him as a bargaining chip yet, since no one bothered to tell me they live together — to rub it in.

  Hell, I don’t even know if Jeremy is immune, or that I am for that matter….

  Maybe this is all Prudence’s doing. Another thing to ask Luca about when we convince him to aid us in freeing the test subjects. If he’s as close to Nyler as I assume, since he’s his son and all, he’d have to know something about The Incubator, Jeremy and Ainsley.

  There’s fuck-all I can do about it for the next few hours, though.

  Keeping to my original plan, I make my rounds to the older residents of The Compound — to the sick and frail that Atlas has allowed within their walls…. The ones I now know are only here as bodies to fill up Nyler’s lab. To be experimented on when no one is looking.

  Miss Jessie is doing well, and lets me know Nurse Nance has been sending a lackey around with meds for those that need them in the few days I’ve been absent.

  No way Nance would do it herself, ragged old cunt.

  When she asks me about Old Man Wilson, wanting to know why she hasn’t heard him stomping around on the floor above her in a while, my heart sinks to the bottom of my chest. Please, Gods, don’t let him have passed away up there, without anyone coming by to help him like he needed.

  “What about the boys I had on him, to help him with food and such,” I ask, trying to filter the worry from my tone so she doesn’t latch onto it. Jessie is a giver, and if she thinks someone needs help, she’ll give more than she has to make sure they’re taken care of. I’ve no doubt it would scar her for life if she went up and found Wilson’s fetid corpse wasting away in his dorm.

  I don’t want to see it either.

  Maybe I’m overreacting though — wouldn’t the teens have told someone if Mr. Wilson randomly stopped accepting food?

  I have been keeping to myself a lot lately, trying to fly under Nyler’s radar. No one but Luca, Cade and now Kenji know I live at the Observatory. Perhaps they couldn’t find me?

  Jessie pulls me from my thoughts. “They haven’t been around since Commander Nyler called up for new guards. He recruited them to the gates about, oh, I’d say a week ago. Possibly more.” Had I really not been around for that long? It seemed like only a couple of days ago that Nance and Prudence kicked me out of the infirmary.

  I really could use a gods damn calendar right about now.

  “What day is it?”

  My question has her looking at me funny, but she answers anyway, “Wednesday, the third of October.”

  Fuck.

  “I’ll run up and check on Mr. Wilson now. Thanks for the heads up, Jessie. I’ll let you know if I find anything amiss.”

  I must sound convincing to her, even if I don’t to myself, because she smiles gratefully and gives me a pat on the hand before I turn and leave her home, rushing up the stairs to the floor above.

  Knocking on Old Man Wilson’s door, I wait…. Minutes pass with no sounds coming from within. No shout of his disgruntled voice telli
ng me to hold my horses. Even though all of my being is begging me to turn and walk away, I don’t. I can’t.

  I tell myself he’s just napping, and hasn’t heard my repeated pounding on the poor door.

  Liar.

  Steeling myself, I give the door a handle a twist. Mr. Wilson’s anal about keeping his door locked, so when it easily turns under my hand, my worry immediately skyrockets. Pushing though the barrier, I take in the unused space beyond. It’s as Jessie said, it doesn’t look like anyone has shifted the dust in here in days. Maybe more.

  Mr. Wilson likes cleanliness, so the scent of staleness in the air is a clear giveaway. The fact that I’m not instantly hit in the face with decay when I cross the room is puzzling though.

  I wander about his private space, looking for a clue as to what’s going on. His bedroom is empty, bed made with pristine corners, and his favourite sweater is hanging morosely from the back of the closet door.

  Mr. Wilson isn’t here.

  I take a few more minutes to look about before eventually giving up. There’s not a single hint as to where he’s gone anywhere in the space. Turning on my heel, I dejectedly make my way out of the room, but as I’m about to close the door behind me, I pause. Replaying the moment of walking to the door in my head I stop when, in my minds-eye, a glint on the floor catches my attention.

  Stepping backward into the living room, I lean down close to the musty, carpeted floor. There! In the gap between the door and the frame, a piece of metal shines up at me, reflecting in the lights from the hall peeking under the door. Keeping on grip on the handle for balance, I lean down and pull the item from the crack.

  It’s a ring. More specifically, it’s Mr. Wilson’s wedding ring he thought no one noticed he took such gentle care of. It was the one thing left of his past Before that he was always so careful to keep close. Holding it under the light, tucked between my body and the living room so no one can see, I spin it around in my fingers. Just inside the inner edge, a dull spot of color catches my eye. It’s small, tiny really, but with how well he maintained the jewelry, it’s a surprise to me to find any flaws in it at all.