Our trek ended up leading us through the Black Hills, but the two locations that we knew people had been living in back when we’d left the bunker in spring were deserted. Someone had left notes all over the place, pointing people to head toward western Wyoming, past where the interstate bisected the state. Reading that made me instantly suspicious, but I had to admit that it made sense that after we’d left, Shayla and her people had joined forces with the increasingly more organized groups back by the bunker.
Somehow that made the fact that we were no longer welcome there rankle even more.
Nate called for a vote whether we should continue on with the plan, or abandon it in favor of hunkering down somewhere else. If not for Sadie’s call I thought we would have opted for just bailing on what used to be our people. In the end, only Taylor, Clark, and Pia, surprisingly, were against heading for Wyoming. When I eyed her askance once we dispersed toward the cars, she gave me a small shrug. “I could never stand that stuck-up cunt, either,” she professed, clearly referring to Emma. The fact that, of late, she and I seemed to run in sync more often than not disturbed me—but less so than it would have a year ago.
The next day dawned hot and bright, but about an hour after we broke camp I saw thunderclouds start to build up in the south. Long before we got close to Douglas—the site of our first encounter with too many zombies to handle at a time, and home to the Jackalope statue that, to this day, I still hadn’t seen—the sky had turned a foreboding steel gray. “Can this be any more ominous?” I asked Nate, receiving only a shrug that could have meant anything in return. I didn’t really need an answer. The hard lines of his jaw told me plainly just how much he was looking forward to this encounter.
The moment we crossed the interstate it became obvious just how much things had changed in the past months. Where in the spring the land had looked deserted but not remarkably different from how it had been before, the people of the neighborhood watch—or whatever they called it now—had been busy. They had erected stands and small posts by the roads, leaving them great getaway possibilities—and more often than not a good position to block the road and make it harder for whoever was trying to come for them that they’d rather keep at a distance. All of them looked deserted, but I didn’t doubt that there were snipers hiding around the stands, already radioing in our position. At least no one would be surprised to see us. I thought about switching the radio on, but figured that whatever business we were about to conduct here could be handled on short notice.
A few miles further west, about where the easternmost parts of our winter perimeter had ranged, things started to change. For one thing, the defenses became more obvious, and of the more permanent kind. They had started building a wall. For another, there were workers and guards aplenty, busy closing a gap in said wall. As we approached, they halted and stared at us, but no one moved a finger to force us to stop. All of them were wearing patched-together gear, and while the wall looked like a very sturdy construction, it didn’t resemble the palisades so many of the settlements seemed to have adopted. I let out a breath I had been holding for what felt like ages. It was one thing to expect to have some issues with Emma for various reasons, but it was still a relief to see that the Wyoming Collective meant business where being independent was concerned.
There were no signs and no one pointed out the way for us, so I just kept on driving. The wall went on for an impressive five miles before we saw a gate up ahead, surrounded by roadblocks. Guards were stationed on the lookouts left and right of it, and as we came closer, I could see that they were busy talking into their radios. I saw machine guns mounted on top of the guard posts, trained directly at the space beyond the roadblocks—very comforting, but without the two-tier box design most other gates had, it made sense to increase their active defenses.
I was pleasantly surprised—a first in what felt like forever—as I brought the Rover to a halt at the roadblocks, and saw a line of cars waiting at the other side of the gate. In near synchronicity the driver and passenger of the lead car got out as Nate and I exited, making us end up with maybe twenty yards and the gate between us.
“Looking pretty good for a dead girl!” Jason hollered across the distance, not even the dark clouds overhead able to dim the carrot-red shock of hair on top of his head. Of course we’d known that they had been here last week when Sadie had used one of their radios to reach us at the Silo, but I hadn’t dared hope that they’d stuck around.
I didn’t have to force the grin that came onto my face. “You should probably not listen to every bullshit story that someone’s telling on the radio.”
He shrugged, his eyes skipping to our cars. The worst of the damage from the chase had been repaired, but even if they were all fully functional, they looked like they’d been through a lot.
“So you weren’t stupid enough to run into a trap and ended up chewed on by zombies?” he guessed.
I briefly eyed the guards, but none of them looked particularly alarmed.
“Yeah, well, maybe that part’s true,” I offered. “But I can’t be dead and slaughtering innocents out there at the same time, right? At least not in a coherent, controlled fashion.”
Jason’s grin widened. “I’m sure that many guys really appreciate those posters, if not for the reason they were intended for.”
I couldn’t help but wince, yet seeing the perfectly pinched look on Nate’s face was so worth it. My grin from before resurfaced as I snorted at him. “What, not happy that random assholes all over the country now use your wife’s likeliness for recreational purposes?”
“Why, unhappy that you don’t have other options now?” he snarked back, the hint of a smile curving his lips up. Ah, but it felt good to banter like that again, even if my heart wasn’t completely in it yet.
When I turned back to Jason, I found him practically beaming at us. “Did I hear that right? You finally got hitched?” I nodded, trying for somber, but likely failing by a mile. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” I shouted back. “I do reserve the right to plead temporary insanity.”
“Of course you do!” Jason said, then turned around at the sound of a vehicle approaching. Vehicles, as it turned out—a small SUV, followed and was then passed by two ATVs. One of the quads came to a halt first, and as soon as it stopped, Sadie exploded off the back seat, ducking underneath the booms of the gate and hurling herself at Nate. Neither of us had exited the car armed, so nothing kept him from hugging her tight before he swung her around like a girl a quarter her age—but she still squealed as if she were five years old. The first time they’d done this it had been the understatement of the century to say that I’d been irritated, but now it made me smile. I got my own, very warm and strong hug from her next, but there was a clear hierarchy of affection going on.
“I’m so happy you could make it!” she practically cooed as she finally stepped back, smiling, but I didn’t miss the nervous jitter in her voice.
Anything I might have replied I swallowed in favor of looking at the other people now assembling behind the gate. Emma and her husband Bert, next to a few other people who were looking mighty important. The second ATV took off as soon as Dave, one half of the local radio and conspiracy nuts duo, had slid off. He didn’t exactly look clueless, but the way he kept eyeing us I got the feeling that Sadie’s explanation that Dave wanted to talk to us had really been all Sadie. As my attention settled on Emma, I felt my mirth drain away. I’d refrained from ditching my jacket, avoiding pulling a defiant asshole move like at the Silo, but even with the collar unzipped I knew that the back of my neck was out of sight, the marks covered. That didn’t mean that I thought anyone here wasn’t aware of them. We stared at each other uncomfortably long, and I couldn’t help but glance at how tense the guards looked. I finally relented, breaking the silence before the air of awkwardness could get any worse.
“Hi there,” I called across the gate. “Good to see you all. Bert. Emma.”
The guard closest to me made a f
ace, and at me looking his way he cleared his throat. “For you, that’s Governor Hughes.”
I didn’t have to put scorn in my scoff—it leaked in there all on its own. “I spent an entire winter crammed into a hut with her, dreading the next container of apple sauce. I think I’ve earned the right to call her by her given name.” Shifting my attention back to the woman in question, I raised my brows at her. “Or have you already forgotten who made sure that you always had something to eat and didn’t freeze to death over the winter?”
She didn’t deserve that, and from how ramrod straight her spine got I could tell that she knew it. “Of course I haven’t forgotten,” Emma replied. “I also haven’t forgotten that you used to be a lab rat who by mere coincidence managed to get swept up by this lot.”
That sounded ominous enough that it made me cross my arms over my chest, instinctively falling into a defensive stance.
“Guess that’s your convoluted way of saying that you won’t let us in?”
Bert, at least, had the grace to look unhappy, but Emma’s already closed-up face turned into a cold mask. “You I won’t let in. As for your people, I know that I have to extend the courtesy of a five-day stay to them, but I presume they won’t take advantage of it in the light of said exception,” she explained.
“Ah,” I said, surprised that I didn’t even feel disappointed. “And, pray tell, what makes me so special that you need to single me out?”
Emma narrowed her eyes at me, but rather than descend further into hissy-fit territory she pulled herself up into a regal pose. “Whatever the guys at the Silo might write into their database, I know that when you left you only qualified for a single mark. The reason you have three now isn’t because you got inoculated with a vaccine, or whatever other stories you may be telling. I know that you caught it. From him.” Her gaze, needlessly, flitted over to Nate, who stared right back. Sadie, still standing between us, gave us both curious glances, but unlike her mother she seemed unperturbed by the entire affair.
“Caught it?” I echoed, forcing a derisive smile onto my face. “Last time I looked the serum wasn’t mono.” Emma’s mouth shot open, ready to object, but I went right on, not giving her the chance. “Be that as it may, I’m not here to fight. We have some radios the guys from the Silo asked us to leave with you for distribution, and we picked up the two generators you asked for? Of course, if you don’t let us in you’ll have to get out from behind your neat little pole gate there to fetch your equipment, but if you want it, it’s all yours. Unlike some people I don’t make it my business to rain on everyone’s parade. We are out here to help.”
If I’d expected gratitude I got sorely disappointed, but I saw that the guards relaxed. Let Emma have her way; I wasn’t going to press this until I had a very good reason to, and lacking that, I didn’t need to burn bridges I might later still rely on. Emma turned around and talked with her husband and a few of the others who had joined them, and in short order people were dispatched to fetch a larger cargo vehicle. Nate and I remained standing where we were, while Pia took over coordinating unloading our cargo, leaving it sitting right next to the cars that had transported it. At Sadie’s nod, Dave joined us. He did a great job giving us shifty eyes until I relented with a sigh, and we all stepped away until the four of us were out of earshot of both the gate and our cars.
“So what is so damn important that you can’t talk about on the radio?” I asked, incapable of not sounding just a little vexed. The overhead clouds might have done their own to keep my eyes from tearing up, but I still didn’t like being out here, exposed in the open, my eyes itching slightly.
Dave looked at Sadie, confirming my guess that she had some kind of agenda, but much to my surprise he got out a folded paper that he held out to me. “Here’s a list of settlements that we think will go neutral if you just give them some incentives.” His eyes darted to Sadie again, the look on his face getting cautious. “We’ve been in contact with them over the past months. All of them have reported that women have gone missing. It seemed to happen at random at first, but we think that most of them have been pregnant.”
My thoughts ground to a halt for a second, the pain deep inside of me flaring back to life, but it was annoyance that made me make a face rather than misery. I had no way of knowing just how much Sunny or whoever else from the Silo had related to them, but this sounded a little too close to home to be a coincidence.
“Why are you telling us this?” I asked, trying hard to sound neutral. Nate gave me a sidelong glance but remained mute. Belatedly I remembered that, just before we’d left for the Silo, Rita in Dispatch had warned us about the very same thing. Maybe that was why Dave brought it up now.
The loud, forced exhale that left Sadie made me focus on her instead. Her gaze latched on to Nate but then skipped over to me, her forehead furrowed as she hugged herself. “We’re telling you this because I’m pregnant. And Chris is the father. Well, was.”
I blinked in momentary irritation, not sure why she’d think that I’d know who around here she was referring to, until the last part jogged my memory.
“What, Bates?” I asked, not having to feign surprise. Nate’s reaction was more visceral, a shudder running through him that ended in a silent snarl, but when he realized that Sadie was already tense as hell with apprehension, he forced himself to relax. She eyed him cautiously, but turned back to me with her answer.
“Yes, Bates. Exactly how many Christophers did we have in the bunker over the winter?” She kept rubbing her arms, trying to comfort herself, but as she went on, her voice gathered more strength. “You can both keep your speech to yourself. I’m an adult, and I get to make my own decisions.”
“You were seventeen last winter,” Nate pressed out, obviously losing the fight with his temper.
Now that the cat was out of the bag, Sadie seemed relieved enough that she managed to stand up to him, her chin jutting out defiantly. “You’re such a hypocrite! But it doesn’t matter. It wasn’t like it was going anywhere. And that part wasn’t planned.”
Nate looked ready to continue berating her, but I cut in before either of them could say something they’d regret later. “So, it happened. No big deal.” Now I was on the receiving end of Nate’s glare, but I ignored him. “You’re sure it’s Bates’s?” I went on, feeling just a little shabby asking for confirmation.
Sadie snorted, agreeing with me on that point. “Of course I’m sure. I’ve only had sex with one guy, so unless we now all believe in immaculate conception—“
“Can you please not say that where I can hear it?” Nate griped, but shut up when Sadie gave him a humorless grin.
“What, that too crude for you? Deal with it. We fucked.” That she actually blushed at that last part would have made me laugh under different circumstances. So much for her mother’s insistence on her keeping her language clean. Nate winced, which made Sadie’s jeer brighten. But all too soon mirth left her again, and she turned back to me, wringing her hands.
“I didn’t know, when you left. But I suspected it, because it was the first time ever that I skipped my period. I know that I sent you guys out to fetch me protection but my cramps got worse from it, not better, and as we all know, all of you are sterile, so…” She trailed off there, shrugging. Nate’s jaw stood out from how hard he clenched his teeth, trying not to say anything, so I jumped in.
“Are you feeling okay? You’re how many weeks along now?” Eyeing her critically, I couldn’t be sure with her dark blue windbreaker, but she didn’t look pregnant.
“Going on four months now,” she hedged, biting her lip. Then her face fell and she reached out to me, her fingers like vises around my forearm. “Bree, I’m afraid. I’m scared shitless. I don’t know what to do! I haven’t even told Mom because I’m afraid that she will tell one of those weirdos that keep dropping by, and—“
“And all over the country pregnant women are disappearing,” I finished the thought for her.
She nodded, but it was Dave who rep
lied, although he looked mighty uncomfortable because of the topic at hand. And they obviously didn’t even know just how loaded a topic it was.
“We can’t be sure, of course, but I’ve been listening in to what the folks over at Dispatch are chatting about. Not all of the women that disappeared fooled around with scavengers, but an overwhelming majority were known not to discriminate too much. That includes those that no one could confirm whether they were knocked up or not.”
The news kept getting better and better. Turning to Nate, I tried to ask him with my gaze what he thought of that, and the look I got in return was laced with the same pain and confusion that I felt. At least that confirmed some of the things I’d been speculating about since that trap at the factory.
The silence between us stretched, and seeing as Nate had apparently swallowed his tongue, I turned back to Sadie.
“You were right not to tell anyone. Anyone but Dave and us. I presume no one else knows?” She shook her head. “Good. Try to keep it that way. I don’t think your own mother would sell you out, whatever her animosities may be, but right now I wouldn’t trust anyone.”
Sadie looked unhappy getting confirmation for that, but she took it with a nod. “So you think this is connected? That there’s someone out there snatching up pregnant women? Particularly if there’s a chance that the father was part of the serum program?”
Nate and I shared another look, and this time I just couldn’t reply, so he did. “No need for guessing,” he said. “We know.”
Sadie’s eyes widened. There was no thinking that she didn’t jump to the right conclusions. Her eyes skipped from Nate to me and back, taking in just how exhausted and downright haggard we both looked, even after a week of regular meals and sleep. “Oh God, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her hands convulsing around each other. Then she was hugging me again, her body shaking. I squeezed back for a moment but then pushed her away at arm’s length.
Green Fields Series Box Set | Vol. 2 | Books 4-6 Page 52