One thing was for sure. Preservation of the species was the women’s job in Afana’s bunker. They would survive. Terrier wasn’t sure how, but he knew that they would.
Louis and Adam led Ryder to a different shack. Maxwell had told her she could stay there instead of at Carter’s bachelor pad. Leandro was by her side, looking fluffy and dangerous, and the guards kept their distance. Only Maxwell didn’t seem to be scared of the wolf.
“How long have you had the wolf?” Maxwell asked.
Ryder wanted to say the wolf’s full name, “Fluffy Snowy,” but felt it was more of an inside joke. She didn’t want to put Fluffy through any more embarrassment. And she didn’t want him to bite Maxwell. Not yet, anyway. “A day or so.”
Maxwell looked shocked. “Only a day?”
“Yes, and he’s already saved my life many times. He’s a good little son of a bitch.”
Fluffy looked up at her with his too-intelligent eyes and growled playfully.
“I can’t have him wandering around here without you,” Maxwell said. “He may be friendly to you, but I can’t risk other people in the settlement.”
“I understand. He likes to be close to me, anyway.” Ryder looked down at Fluffy, who was by her side, and wondered why that was the case. Why was he always rescuing her? He was like her guardian angel, like Terrier had been.
“Over time, you’ll get used to our settlement, and I know you’ll be a valuable part of our society.” Maxwell smiled. He believed the words he was saying, but Ryder knew she wouldn’t be around long enough to be a valuable part of anything. “Once you’re settled, I’d like to know more about Afana’s bunker and how you think we could get in.”
This part took Ryder by surprise; Leandro could see that on her face.
Maxwell continued. “Please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t want to get your hopes up. We will not be assisting you, and I want to stress that you don’t try to leave the settlement. Don’t take our kindness as stupidity or weakness.”
“I don’t,” she said. I just hope Louis and Adam are stupid or weak. “That would just be rude. May I ask why you want to know about Afana’s bunker if you have no intention of helping me?”
“If we ever have the opportunity to get our people back, I will take it. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will happen while I’m alive, but I will pass the information on to my successor.” Maxwell nodded as he spoke.
“You have the opportunity right now,” Ryder insisted. “Just help me.”
Maxwell smiled gently. “On that, we disagree.”
Ryder sighed. “Fine. I will share with you anything I can. I have nothing to hide about that hellhole. It’s my hope, too, that everyone there will be free to live in a place like this one day.”
Ryder looked around. Men and women worked side by side, keeping the settlement in order. It gave Ryder hope that there was a better life for her people outside the bunker. It only fueled her need to get back there.
“Thank you, Ryder. I do truly hope you will call our settlement home in time.” Maxwell pointed to the shack in front of them. “This can be yours for now. Feel free to build another if you like. People will help you. Or you can keep this one.” The shack looked just like Carter’s, except there were a few more trinkets inside. Small wooden toys were scattered on the floor.
“Who used to live here?” Ryder gulped. She had a feeling she already knew the answer.
Maxwell pulled his lips in and nodded. “One of the living dead lived here with his son before he turned.”
“Where’s his son now?” Ryder wished she hadn’t asked, but the question was already out.
“Tommy is his son.” Ryder let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “That kid has been through so much. A lot of the kids have. Thank you for protecting him. He was the one who wanted to give you his house for saving his life.”
That brought warmth to Ryder’s heart. “Sweet kid. But where’s he going to sleep?”
“He is a great kid. He sleeps with the others’ kids. He didn’t want to come back here after what happened to his dad. We try not to focus on the depressing things around here. If we did, we’d spend our whole lives crying from the cradle to the grave. It would be a waste if you ask me. When you’re ready, I’ll show you the rest of the settlement.”
Ryder forced a smile. By not facing their problems, they were just hiding or running away from them, which was something she didn’t intend to do.
“Could you show it to me now? I don’t really have anything else to do.” Except plan my escape. “And I’d like to thank Tommy.”
“Sure.” Maxwell did just that. He showed Ryder everything about the settlement—the crops, the lake, and a small stream where kids were washing clothes. Tommy was there, and Ryder got to thank him. He blushed as she spoke with him.
Then, he showed her the latrine area. Carter didn’t look pleased to be on toilet duty. His braids had all been tied up out of the way with a bow. It looked like something Jessica had done.
“Hey, Carter, you’ve got something brown on your nose,” Ryder said, brushing at her own nose. Carter did the same thing, smearing goo from his hand onto his face. Ryder and Maxwell laughed. Fluffy looked like he was smiling, and his tongue lolled out from between his teeth.
Carter gagged and narrowed his eyes at her. “Now you get a sense of humor? That’s fucking disgusting. Why isn’t Ryder on toilet duty as well?”
“You know that’s not how we treat new members of the settlement.” Maxwell shook his head, clucking his tongue. “If you’re going to fit in here, one of your daily tasks will be to wake up Carter. He is very lazy.”
“Hey,” Carter cried. “I’m right here, you know?”
“We know,” Maxwell said. “We can smell you.”
Maxwell smiled as he led Ryder away to relax for the rest of the day. He left Louis at her door. Maxwell might have made Ryder feel welcome, but she was still a prisoner.
Not for long.
25
The Old Dog was packed when Massimo entered.
Word had spread about the nasty business going on around town. Some people wanted to pay their respects, others felt there was safety in numbers, and a few were just nosy.
Kelvin passed Massimo a glass. “I told them you thought it was a disease.”
Massimo was grateful for that. It meant that he wouldn’t have to fill everyone in. “Thanks, Kelvin. Drinks are on me tonight.”
Kelvin nodded. “Drinks on Massimo!” Kelvin yelled to everyone in the bar.
A cheer erupted from the gathered crowd. Everyone smiled and thanked the old vampire. It helped cut some of the tension building among the townspeople.
Kelvin passed out glasses of their strongest liquor first. Once everyone had a glass in their hand, Massimo raised his to the sky. “To the fallen!”
Everyone repeated Massimo’s words, and they all downed their drinks. The toast was quickly followed by coughing, people asking for water, and general cursing.
“Are you trying to poison us, you crazy old man?” Graham asked, laughing.
A few people asked for a second round, and others looked down at their cups indecisively.
“Fill them up again, Kelvin,” Massimo shouted. “Drinks on me! If anyone has an empty glass, you’ll be fired!”
Kelvin smiled at Massimo. He knew what he was doing. He did it every time something like this happened. Everyone knew he wouldn’t fire Kelvin, but they pretended like they didn’t want to risk his job.
People cheered, wives shook their heads, but everyone joined in. Massimo went to the jukebox, looking for the perfect song. Something that wasn’t too upbeat, but not too depressing, either.
Something just right.
He thought about what music the dead men and Annie might like, but nothing came to mind. He flipped through the songbook, running his finger down the list of available songs as the pages turned in hopes of inspiration.
The Osmonds’ Crazy Horses flipped to the front. Oh, that
wouldn’t be right, would it? Andrew did love those horses, though.
Next was Taylor Swift’s White Horse. Way too depressing even for a time like this. Then, Dead Horse by Guns ’n’ Roses came up.
Massimo shook his head. He wasn’t having any luck finding a song, and why on Earth were there so many non-English bands on here? Leandro must have snuck them in when I wasn’t looking, that cheeky bugger. It’s really screwing with the bar’s ambiance.
Then he found it. He hit the button, and The Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses blared over the speakers.
Perfect.
Sergei, Pavel, and Yegor got to the edge of the forest and stopped. They had never been any farther than this. Only men on cattle raids were allowed to cross the invisible line of Afana’s domain. If the hunters stepped one foot over the line, their friends would have killed them for a reward.
This time, it was different. Afana had given them permission to track down Ryder wherever he went. He’d even given them guns to achieve it. If they failed, he would have their heads, so failure wasn’t an option.
“Which way now?” Yegor asked, scratching the back of his head. “Something fucking bit me. I hate these damn bloodsucking bugs.”
He pulled his hand away from the bite, and he saw his black fingernails stained with blood. He sucked his finger clean and then wiped it on his shirt.
Sergei wasn’t paying much attention. He wished Nestor had been here to occupy Yegor. That was what Nestor was good for, listening to Yegor’s crap.
Sergei looked up and down the swampy river, trying to work out which way Ryder would have gone. The traitor’s tracks had led the hunters here, but Ryder could have gone anywhere once he hit the water.
He didn’t think Ryder could swim well, since most of them couldn’t. There was no need to, and he really didn’t like the idea of trying to get himself across the water. Farther out, the current looked strong.
He knew that there were settlements in the Bora mountains. Afana had sent the generals to round people up from there when he was young. Sergei didn’t like the idea of going up there. There were a million hiding spots for people to lie in ambush.
“You don’t know where to go, do you?” Yegor asked, craning his extra-long neck between the two of them and then looking across the river. Sergei tried to smack Yegor out of the way, but he’d already yanked his head back. “Why don’t you go where the fire is? That’s where I’d go.”
He hadn’t spotted the black smoke rising on the horizon, but now, it was clear as day. Sergei refused to give Yegor credit for pointing it out. Sergei pointed to the smoke. “Why don’t we go this way?”
Pavel smiled at Sergei. “Excellent idea.”
As Sergei and Pavel headed toward the smoke, Yegor wouldn’t stop talking shit about it being his idea. If the annoying douche didn’t stop going on like an old woman, it wouldn’t only be Ryder’s head Sergei would bring back.
26
Ryder washed the bedding in the lake that afternoon. It would have been weird to sleep in sheets another man had used, especially after he went mad.
She recalled Tommy looking into the cages that held the infected people as they’d passed. One of the men must have been his dad. Doesn’t it hurt the kids more to see their parents like that? Ryder wondered as she gathered the bedding. She’d wrung out as much water as she could.
A few of the kids she’d walked to the settlement with were at the lake, and some waved at her. One even asked to pet Fluffy, but she said no since she wasn’t sure how he’d react.
The kid wasn’t too pleased, but Ryder knew it had been the right thing to do. She hoped that over time, she’d know what Fluffy was like with others and she could let them pet him. But it wouldn’t be any of the kids in this settlement.
She’d be long gone by then.
Ryder hung the sheets on some wooden poles outside her shack. She’d noticed other people doing the same. It didn’t matter if the bedding dried before bedtime since she had no intention of sleeping on the bed. It was more for show and something to do, really.
Night was coming, and soon, it would be time to escape. Until then, she would take a break in her shack with Fluffy.
She lit a small candle, the flame dancing in the cooling breeze. The flickering shadows on the wall reminded her of when she and Terrier would make shadow puppets for the kids in the bunker. The memory struck a painful chord, but it reminded her what was at stake. Ryder steeled her resolve.
I'm coming, Terrier.
Once darkness had fallen, Ryder knew the time was right. She didn’t need to waste any time gathering belongings because all she had were her weapons, and they never left her side. As she prepared to make a break for it, Leandro’s ears perked up, and Ryder knew something was happening outside the shack.
Her door swung open. Carter was standing there, and Louis wasn’t.
“After what you said today, I shouldn’t be rescuing you,” Carter bitched, clearly still bitter about the joke from that afternoon.
Ryder frowned at him. “Rescuing me? Who the hell says I need rescuing?”
Carter rolled his eyes. “Can you just stop running your mouth until we get the hell out of here? I'm trying to be kind. Why must you make it so difficult?”
Ryder knew he was right, but she’d never admit it. She’d never hear the end of it. She gave him a smile as she ran past him, and Fluffy followed her, a white blur in the dark.
“Wait up, you two,” Carter whispered. “You don’t even know which way you’re going.”
He had a point. Ryder let him catch up. She needed to get the hell out of here before Maxwell or any of the others realized she was gone, and if that meant relying on Carter, then so be it.
As they ran through the trees behind the settlement, Ryder kept looking over her shoulder like she thought someone would be coming after them. Maxwell seemed like a smart guy. He had to know she would try to escape tonight and that Carter would help. But no one came. Ryder began to wonder if Maxwell really did care about his people.
They paused for a moment when they were far enough away from the settlement, and Carter gave Ryder some water. She sipped just a little. She was determined to keep a clear head, even though it was hard because all she could think about was the next sip.
“What did you do?” she asked, lowering the bottle from her lips.
Carter looked at Ryder with mischievous eyes. “Well, I knew Maxwell would think that I’d come for you or that you’d try to evade him. So, I tied him to his chair. He’s so little, I kind of feel like a bully for doing it.”
Ryder grinned. “And the others?”
“They weren’t quite so easy. Those fuckers are big.” Carter laughed. “I bopped them over their heads. They’re sleeping it off in their shacks.”
“You mean you bashed them over the head?”
He shrugged. “Bashed? Bopped? What matters is that they’re all asleep.”
Ryder shook her head. “How many people did you ‘bop’?”
“Only the people I had to,” he said. “I lost count.”
“Dammit, Carter, it was meant to be a quick, quiet escape. By the sound of it, you bopped everybody.”
He grinned. “There will be a few headaches tomorrow morning, but they’ll all be fine.”
“Why are you helping? Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful.”
“Wow, a compliment,” he said. “Look, unlike the elders, the younger generation wanted me to help rescue the people in the bunker. If I had stayed, they would have known I was a traitor to our people, and that is a terrible example for a big brother to set. So, I’m going to help you.”
Ryder took a moment to look at Carter. His beard was filled with color and had bows at the ends of the braids. Jessica had gone crazy before sending him off.
Carter blushed and poked at his beard. “I had to let Jessica do it. She said it would give me good luck. Don’t be jealous.”
Ryder laughed, but she was a little jealous of the elegant bows and braids. She�
�d never had anything so pretty done to her hair. Maybe her mother had done her hair before she’d been kidnapped, but if so, she couldn’t remember it.
“Hey, you don’t need to laugh so hard,” Carter said, smiling and batting his eyelashes at her playfully. “I know damn well I look cute.”
“Maybe a little.” Ryder winked.
“Wow, two compliments from you in one day? I might have to write them down because I have a feeling there won’t be more anytime soon.”
Ryder shook her head, smiling. “Yeah, don’t get used to it.”
“Which way now?” Carter asked.
Her smile evaporated. “I thought you were the man with the directions? I’ve never been anywhere other than the area around the bunker.”
On the horizon, Ryder could see a flicker of orange, probably from a fire. Maybe there was some life there, and they’d help like Carter. She hoped they were better than Carter, actually. Ryder smiled. He’s not that bad. Give him a break, she told herself.
“Let’s go this way,” Carter said.
“Cool. I’ll follow you. That way, you can’t blame me if we go the wrong way. Wait, where’s Fluffy?”
Fluffy was missing. They looked around for him but couldn’t see him. Ryder was sad that he’d gone without at least letting her give him one last pet. Then she saw his white fur coming through the trees. “Oh, I guess he went for a leak.”
“A leak?” Carter asked.
“Yeah, you know? A piss.”
“A leek is something you eat,” he told her. “What the fuck has that got to do with taking a piss?”
“Not that type of leek, a leak. It’s another way to say, ‘take a piss.’”
Carter shook his head. “Has everyone in the bunker had their sense of humor removed?”
Ryder arched her back a little, seeing Fluffy appear behind Carter. “Are you going to be this annoying all the way?”
“I’d say I’m more charming than annoying. Wouldn’t you agree, Fluffy?”
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