Einstein spun around and was about to rip into him until he saw the look in Churchill’s eyes. His body crumpled like a deflated balloon.
“Yeah,” JB said. “Well, she’ll learn. We have everyone’s best interest at heart here. We got rules here, son, like any well-oiled community. If a man wishes to copulate with one of them women, he has to earn the right to do so.”
“Copulate.” Einstein stared down at his hands as he fought off the tears threatening to appear.
Churchill leaned forward, his voice flat. “How does a guy earn, uhm, a chance to, uhm, have sex with these women?”
JB pulled on his cigar and blew out a cloud of light blue smoke. “Goods. In this community, you have to give before you can receive. Once a man has enough goods credit, he is allowed to choose from one of three dozen women we have on hand.”
Einstein swallowed loudly.
“Three dozen?” Churchill said with a whistle. “You have three dozen women here? I’ve not seen one.”
“Only the women outside of childbearing years are allowed to leave their area, and only then for meals, showers, and cleanup. Women and children have to be cared for better than they were pre-epidemic. Before everythin’ went to hell in a hand basket, rape and kidnappin’ were punishable by death. Death, son. We cherished our women and children enough to make abusers of them pay the ultimate price.” He leaned forward, oblivious to the ash from his cigar as it fell on the carpet. “Then we started druggin’ our kids when they stopped behavin’. Gave them all sorts of letters, like ADD and ADHD, to explain away the fact that their parents stopped disciplinin’ them. We became afraid of our own children even while releasin’ their abusers back into public. We have a chance to make amends, to do it better, to make it right.”
Einstein started to stand up but Churchill laid a hand on his shoulder.
“You can understand, I’m sure,” Churchill said. “That it’s a bit disconcerting to know you’ve locked our people away from us. We—”
“From you?” JB leaned back. “This is the first time you’ve asked to see them. But then, that brings me back to them rules we was talkin’ about.”
Churchill squeezed Einstein’s shoulder before laying his arm across the back of the couch. “I’m afraid we don’t have any goods,” Churchill said.
JB clamped down on the cigar. “You’re not wanting to procreate with them, are you? ‘Cause we got us plenty of fresh blood to choose from.”
Churchill shook his head. “Hell no. Well, Einstein might, but not me. Too damn bossy.”
JB chuckled. “I hear you.” He turned to Einstein and said, “But I’m not a heartless man. If you’d like to see your girl, I can have a guard take you to see her, but only for talking. Step outta bounds with that filly and it won’t go good for you.”
Einstein jumped to his feet. “Right now?”
JB chuckled again and snapped at one of the guards. “I don’t see why not. Adam, take him to room twenty-eight. Stay outside the door in case she–you know.”
“Yessir.”
JB rose and shook Einstein’s hand. “I trust you will do what you can to keep her calm. It takes the ladies awhile to understand their position in the New Order.”
Einstein started out the door, but stopped and turned back to JB. “You keep talking about this New Order. What, exactly, does it mean?”
“That’s what we call it now. It is where we are headed. To a New Order of things. We need to get back to basics, where women raise their children instead of handin’ them off to daycare, and where men protect their families at all cost. We’ve been given a chance to right our wrongs, to get back on track. To do right by the Lord. The women will fight it, of course, but in the end, they’ll see that it’s in their best interest to abide by the laws Jesus Christ handed down in the good book.”
Einstein shifted his gaze to Churchill, but said nothing.
“Go on, Einstein,” Churchill said. “Give her my love.”
Einstein nodded and followed Adam from the warehouse.
“Your boy is pretty smart,” JB said when they were out of earshot.
“Hence his name. He’s pretty smitten with her. It will do him good to see her.”
“Will he settle her down?”
Churchill looked around the warehouse. They’d gone to a great deal of trouble to make the front part of the building look like a cozy family room.
But that was the problem. They were working too hard to make this place appear warm and friendly.
“He will. He’s good at following orders.”
“Good.” JB set the cigar in the ashtray. “Are you?”
Churchill forced a grin. “I can. I won’t lie to you, sir. This arrangement is going to take some getting used to. Our women are strong. They can fight. They—”
“Oh, I’ve seen the fight in them. That angry filly broke the nose of my best guard and messed him up pretty bad.”
Churchill worked hard to act nonchalant when he asked, “Roper? Is that why she’s in the infirmary?”
JB nodded. “That’s one frisky filly. I got any number of men who want to be the one to break her.”
“So she didn’t really fall.”
“Oh hell no. She wasn’t ready to do her job here, so she put up quite a fight. It got a little out of hand.”
“A little? You sent her to the infirmary.”
“Yeah, well, she didn’t give up. I like that about her. She’s the only one of your people to pass the test thus far. We only want the strongest genes for the New Order—women who are not affected by the zombies. Your filly, Roper, is one of those women. She’s valuable to us. Once she gets out of the infirmary, we’ll put her to good use.”
“But she’ll be okay?”
“That’s what Sanchez told me. She’s our lady doctor. Your gal put up quite a fight against a man I’ve seen snap the necks of two men at once. I like that kinda fire in a woman’s belly. It’s the kind of spirit this nation lost—that fighting spirit that refuses to give up.”
“Can I see her?”
“You’re not sweet on her, are you?”
Churchill acted repulsed. “Hell no. I like my women soft and fluffy. She’s all edges and corners.”
JB threw his head back and laughed. “You know, I think I’m going to like you.” He snapped for a guard to take Churchill to the infirmary. “She took a pretty good beating, so don’t expect her to be as pretty as she was yesterday.”
Churchill rose and joined the guard at the door. “I appreciate that, sir. I won’t take long.”
“Take all the time you need. She won’t have to be at the next test, but I do want you to see it again. It’s fascinating, really.”
“When will that be?”
“Later this afternoon. Sarge will bring you and the boy around.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
As Churchill walked down the streets of the compound to the infirmary, a trickle of sweat ran down his back and into his ass crack. He didn’t know he could loathe someone as much as he hated that crazy man back in the pretend living room. He doubted it.
Then he saw Roper’s face, and knew what true hatred felt like.
Roper laid on a makeshift hospital bed surrounded by white sheets and pillows. Churchill didn’t recognize her at first, her face was so swollen, bruised and bloody.
“My god—”
A Hispanic woman with a clipboard joined him. “You came in with her?”
Churchill nodded and stepped to the side of the bed and picked up Roper’s hand. He examined her knuckles. They were raw and torn open. He held her hand to his cheek.
“She took quite a beating. She’s still unconscious. ”
Churchill looked at the woman standing next to him. She was a pretty woman with a beautiful caramel complexion and warm chocolate brown eyes that studied him appraisingly. Long, black hair framed a face that wore sincere concern.
“Is she going to be okay?”
“Three possibly bruised ribs, variou
s contusions, scratches, and two broken fingers. She definitely fought hard.”
Churchill sighed. He pointed to the handcuff on Roper’s wrist. “Is that necessary—”
“Sanchez.”
He nodded. “Churchill.”
“I’d rather not, but I have my orders.”
“Orders.” Churchill put Roper’s hand back on the bed. “JB’s orders.”
“Yes. She’ll stay in here overnight or until she feels better. I’d like to give her a few days rest here.”
Churchill leaned over the bed and kissed Roper’s forehead letting his lips linger there a moment. “Hang in here, Roper. We need you, babe.”
Sanchez backed away from the bed. “Are you related to her?”
Churchill stood up. “Yeah, actually. She’s my family.”
****
Butcher
Butcher kissed Egypt and laid her back in her crib. The boys convinced her that a goodbye was a decent thing to do…even though she was feeling anything but decent.
“I’ll be back to get you, punkin’, but this—this is something I have to do. One day you’ll understand why taking care of those who take care of you is the most important job in the world. I love you. I will always love you. Forever and ever, no matter what.”
“She’s a beauty,” Meg whispered over her shoulder.
Butcher traced the baby’s eyebrow with her index finger. “I don’t want her to grow up being afraid of every shadow, of everything lurking around the corner. I don’t want this world for her.
“We’re fighting the good fight, Butcher. You’re doing everything you can.”
Butcher put her hands on Meg’s shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Take good care of my baby.”
“You are coming back, right?”
Butcher nodded once. “That’s the plan.”
“What else? What aren’t you telling me?”
Butcher walked out of the room and picked up her duffle bag. It was light.
“Butcher?” Meg laid both hands on Butcher’s shoulders and stared into her eyes. “Oh my god. You aren’t coming back, are you?”
Butcher couldn’t answer her. “Love her up for me, Megan. Keep her safe.” Tears ran down her cheeks as she turned and made her way through the quad and to the airstrip, where she found Luke waiting for her.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” The veins on his neck bulged. “Have you lost your mind? Wait. Don’t answer that. It’s obvious by what you’re planning on doing that you aren’t thinking straight.”
Butcher pushed by him and threw her bag in the plane. “I never expected you to understand.”
“Understand? Understand what? That you’re walking into something you have no idea about? You can’t do this. You can’t just take the plane and leave.”
“Sure I can. Watch me.”
Luke reached out to grab her, but Butcher pulled away and raised an eyebrow. “Only if you want to draw back a stump.”
Luke stared at her. “Butcher, we have a plan in place. If you’d have stayed at the mee—”
“There’s no time. I left you to do what you do best—organize our fighters. But by the time you fought your way there, Dallas and Roper could be dead. That’s a chance I’m unwilling to take, especially when we have a plane at our disposal.”
Luke shook his head. “For God’s sake, Babe, you’re Egypt’s mother. You can’t just abandon her to go after people you don’t even know are alive.”
Butcher narrowed her eyes at him. “They aren’t just people. They’re my family. I won’t abandon those who kept me alive long enough to be a mother. I owe them. Don’t make me choose, Luke. You might not like the outcome.”
Luke took a step back. “Seems to me you already have.”
“It’s not that black and white.” She pulled a folded piece of paper from her back pocket and handed it to him. “This is the route Hunter and Wendell took from Dallas. They say it’s pretty clear. The X shows where we’ll land the plane if we can. We can meet at the plane in ten hours and we’ll tell you what we’ve found and what we need to do.”
“Ten hours? You want us to travel at night?”
“What I want is for you to get your asses in those Jeeps and get a move on. Every minute we stand here jaw jacking is one more minute they are held hostage…or worse.”
Luke shook his head. “That’s it then? You’ve made up your mind? You’re leaving me? Us? Your daughter? This is unbelievable.”
Butcher took Luke’s his face in her hands and kissed him hard. “You know me. You know how I feel about them. They would drop everything to come after me.”
“Even their own child? Would Dallas or Roper leave their daughter for you?”
Butcher nodded. “Yeah, Luke. They would. I know them. They’d come after me. The only difference is they would already be on their way back, not standing here wasting precious seconds.”
Luke watched her climb into the plane. “I hope you live long enough to explain this to our daughter.”
Butcher paused and turned. “It’s my hope that when she hears about this, she understands the lengths her mother went to help her family.” Butcher leaned forward. “I love you, Luke. I will always love you. Don’t judge me too harshly if I don’t make it. It’s what you would do.”
“I’m not a mother.”
She smiled at him. “What was our arrangement when we first found out I was pregnant?” She waited for him to answer. When he didn’t, she answered for him. “That you would never treat me as less just because I was pregnant. Asking me to remain here just because I’m a mother breaks that agreement.”
Butcher closed the door and signaled to Colby to start the plane. She looked out the window at Luke’s dejected countenance. She was pretty sure he mouthed, “That’s not all that’s broken.”
“Get this thing in the air,” Butcher said. “And pray we’re not already too late.”
****
Cassie flung herself into Einstein’s arms the moment the door opened and she saw who stood there. They hugged for a long time, until Einstein pulled away. “Are you okay?” He asked, laying a palm on her cheek.
Cassie shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “I’ve never been more scared in my life.”
He nodded. “I know. I can’t even imagine. Look, there’s not much time. Churchill and I are doing everything we can to get you guys out of here.”
“Can you, can you believe they chained that man eater to a pole?”
“I know. I know. I don’t know if we have time to stop this next test. You need to—”
“Roper saved me once, but I don’t think it will happen again. I’m next up, I’m sure. Promise me—”
“No. We’re going to get out of this, Cass. All of us. Just hang in there. Go last. Do anything you can to stay away from it.”
“But if I can’t—”
“You can. You have to.”
Tears fell from Cassie’s face. “I, I’m not strong like them, Einstein. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to stand that close to that thing waiting to have my head blown off.”
Einstein brushed the tear off her cheek. “Just close your eyes. Think of something, someplace where you’d rather—”
“I meant getting bitten. Turning. Promise me you’ll kill me before that happens. I don’t want to ever be one of those things. Promise me you won’t let—”
Tears welled up in Einstein’s eyes. “I, I don’t know that I’m strong enough to take out someone I care about.
She paced across the room, her chain rattling against the floor. “Of course you are. You’re one of them. They taught you everything they know. They know everything.”
Einstein held her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “Do they know I love you?”
Cassie blinked.
He smiled. “I guess the better question is do you know I love you?”
Cassie wiped her eyes and frowned. “I’ve had my suspicions. I just thought—” She shook her head. “It never—”
Einstein put his fingertips over her lips and whispered, “It’s okay. You aren’t obligated to love me back. I just need you to know.” Then he kissed her long and deep, holding her tight in his arms.
When the kiss ended, he held her face in his hands. “Do you know?”
She closed her eyes and nodded. “I do now.”
****
Zoe
Zoe woke up when she heard commotion on the street below where she hid. She watched as Dallas, Burnett, Ingrid, Nancy and Cassie were escorted to the zombie cage. When the guards opened the gate, the zombie looked up, and started toward them pulling the chain taut.
“Jesus H. Christ,” Zoe muttered, readying her crossbow and calculating the odds of successfully hitting the guards. As she worked out the angles in her head, she saw a man wearing a black cowboy hat walk out with Churchill and Einstein behind him.
“What the fuck?” She got to her knees and aimed her weapon at the zombie’s head and waited. Before she could do anything, she watched as Dallas made her move.
“Where’s Roper?” Dallas demanded, charging JB.
Two guards stepped in front of him and shoved her back, threatening her with their tasers.
“If you’ve done anything, you son-of-a—”
JB held his hands up. “She needed no help from me, Miss Dallas. Your little friend attacked one of my men and, well, there are consequences for such behavior. She paid the price.”
“You mother fucker!” Dallas lunged at him. A guard punched her in the stomach. Dallas doubled over.
“Not the ultimate price, Miss Dallas. She has proven to be a valuable asset to our community. Are you?”
Dallas straightened up. “Try me, asshole.”
JB motioned to the guards. “She’s first.” He looked at Dallas and said, “I hope, for your sake, you’re as special as your sister, because if you are not, I’ll be chaining your ass to that pole and watching you be judge and jury for your friends.”
Zoe moved her aim from the zombie to the cowboy hat. “Soulless mother fucker,” she whispered.
Before she could press the trigger, a large, callused hand clamped over her mouth and yanked her backwards so hard she fell on her back, still clutching the bow.
She rolled over on her side and sprang to her feet and swung the crossbow with one hand while pulling a knife from her vest with the other. She drew back to toss it but froze just before she let it go.
Man Eaters (Book 3): Mob Rule Page 9