Twisted Fate

by Kate L. Mary

  She reached for my pants, but I pushed her hand back, my eyes still closed. “No.”

  “I want to,” she whispered.

  I wanted it, so much, but the ache in my body had gotten worse and I was finding it difficult to sit still. “I can’t.”

  Meg pulled back and I finally opened my eyes to find her staring down at me. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s back. The pain.” I shook my head, afraid to say the words but even more afraid to stay here with her a moment longer.

  “No,” she said. She put her hands on my face so she could look me in the eye. “No. You have to hang on. We still have hours until we can get the vaccine.”

  The fire that had spread through began to subside, but I had to swallow before I could speak. “I’ll be okay. It’s—it’s not as bad as it was. I can make it.”

  Tears filled her eyes and she pressed her face into the crook of my neck. “I just want all of us to get out of this safely.”

  “Me too,” I said, clinging to her even as I told myself I needed to leave. “That’s what I want too.”

  Sixteen

  Meg

  By the time Donaghy and I dragged ourselves downstairs, the house was a whirlwind of activity. We still had hours before we left for the safe house, but everyone who was going with us was busy getting ready for the trip, and even a handful of people who weren’t. Extra leather had been brought in so we’d all be covered, as well as guns and knives. The dining room table was overflowing with the stuff.

  Donaghy sat in the corner, away from everyone. He was in pain still, I could tell by the expression on his face even though he tried to downplay it, and he acted like he didn’t trust himself to be around anyone. I sorted through the stuff on the table even though I still had the leather I’d borrowed from Jada and a gun, looking for anything else I might need, but I was keeping an eye on him at the same time, so I saw it when Helen knelt in front of him.

  Their conversation was too low for me to hear over the hum of voices filling the room, but I watched as she took his vitals, checked his pulse, his temperature, even listened to his breathing with a stethoscope like this was a doctor’s office. She nodded before standing, and even though it was impossible to know what they’d said to each other, I felt like it was an indication that everything was going to be okay. Or maybe I was trying to convince myself.

  I stopped Helen before she left the room. “He’s okay?”

  “For now.” She twisted the stethoscope in her hands, rolling it into a loop. “He knows the signs, but it could come on quickly, so you need keep an eye on him.”

  “What am I looking for?”

  Helen pressed her lips together before saying, “If he’s not acting like himself.”

  I swallowed when her meaning hit me. “You mean if he’s staring at me like he’s considering taking a bite out of me?”

  She didn’t even blink when she said, “Yes.”

  Fear gripped me, but I pushed it down and told myself we could do this. We had time. Angus’s blood had given us time.

  We were all decked out in leather now. Even Donaghy, who seemed to be hanging on despite the pain. I’d expected some pushback about the idea of him coming, but no one said a word. Not that it mattered; I would have fought any decision to leave him behind. I wanted to be able to inject him with the vaccine the second I got my hands on it. The sooner he got it, the sooner we’d be able to release the brain-eating bacteria that would hopefully wipe out the zombies once and for all.

  The mood was even more tense than it had been before. No one spoke, not even Jada and Jim who didn’t look the least bit nervous but whose silence indicated that they were more on edge than they were letting on. As for the rest of us, we all seemed to find it impossible to hide the nerves buzzing through us. Mom was chewing on her bottom lip like crazy, and at her side my Uncle Angus seemed to find it impossible to stand still. Even Parv, who I’d always thought of as the least emotional person I’d ever met, was showing cracks in her normally calm exterior.

  “Everyone know their jobs?” Jim asked as he hooked a knife to his belt.

  Around the room, everyone nodded.

  “Good.” Jada reached back and pulled her dreads into a ponytail, reminding me that I needed to do the same thing with my own hair. “We’re taking two vehicles, that way Vivian will be able to get Margot and Axl to safety when we get them out. For now, ride wherever you want to.” She started to head to the door, but was stopped by Bonnie, who grabbed her hand on the way by. Jada’s gaze held her adoptive mother’s for a moment before she said, “Take a moment to say your goodbyes.”

  Lila reached out to Mom and gave her hand a squeeze.

  “See you soon,” my aunt whispered. Then she turned to Luke and pulled him into a hug. “Be careful out there.”

  “I will,” he told her.

  When he stepped back, Lila shook her head as she wiped at the tears in her eyes. Her gaze moved to Kelly, who was standing at Luke’s side. “Watch out for him.”

  “I promise,” Kelly replied.

  Charlie hugged Luke next, and then did the same with her father. When she stepped away, there were tears in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her chest like she was trying to keep herself together.

  Lila and Al’s hug was longer, and so intimate that it almost made me feel like I was intruding.

  “Bring our son back in one piece,” she said.

  “He’ll be fine.”

  Lila pulled back so she could look up at her husband. “And don’t you leave me, understand? I’m not ready for that.”

  Al kissed her gently and whispered, “I plan on being old and gray by the time I leave this planet.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” Lila said.

  At the back of the group, I saw my Uncle Angus hug Glitter.

  “I’m afraid I’ll never see you again,” she said as she pressed her face against his chest. “I want to go too.”

  “If you’re there, I won’t be able to focus. I’ll be too worried ‘bout what’s happenin’ to you.” He closed his eyes like the thought of her getting captured physically hurt him. “Don’t you worry ‘bout me. I ain’t gonna let them take me out now.”

  “You promise?” she said.

  “I promise.”

  Her face was streaked with tears when she said goodbye to Dragon and then to Helen, the woman who had raised her since birth. The four of them stood together for a few minutes, talking quietly. They were an odd little family, one created by this crazy world we lived in, one forced together by Star and his sick plan to dominate the world, but they were a family and it was obvious that they loved each other.

  A few other goodbyes were said, Britt and Tony both had family to see them off, and then we all headed out.

  It was early evening and the sun was low, giving us a couple hours until it was full dark. The safe house was a few streets away from the wall, but close enough that our headlights could be spotted in the total darkness that had taken over old Atlanta, so we wanted to move in while it was still light out. It would take about an hour to get there from Senoia, and then we’d have to wait until after the sun had set completely to head to Dragon’s where there would be even more waiting. We couldn’t make our move until the city had converged on the square for the festival or we risked being spotted.

  I sat in the back of the same truck I’d ridden in on the way to Senoia, this time feeling less in the dark but probably even more terrified than I had before. Beside me, Donaghy seemed to be made of stone. His body was tense from the pain coursing through him, and added to that was the worry that he might turn and hurt someone, which I was sure made it impossible for him to relax.

  There was nothing I could do to help him other than hold his hand. Having him with me had been a comfort back when I’d been uncertain about where my dad was and if my mom would ever snap out of it, and I could only hope that the support of having me at his side was in some way a comfort to him.

  The drive see
med to take no time at all, and when we rolled into old Atlanta, the sky had just begun to darken. We parked down the street from the safe house in a driveway so obscured by bushes and weeds that the branches scraped against the sides of the truck. When we stopped, the thick greenery made it impossible to see out onto the street.

  We climbed out, careful to be quiet so we didn’t draw too much attention from the dead that now ruled this city. The sound of the truck’s engine had no doubt drawn some of them this way already, so before I’d even set foot on the ground I had my knife out, as did everyone else.

  “Keep your eyes and ears open,” Luke said.

  He was the only zombie slayer with us at the moment since Jim had driven one truck and Jada the other, but we were quickly joined by the rest of our group. Once we were together again, we headed out, pushing past the branches that concealed us until we found the street. Like every other road in the old world, it was covered with debris and had weeds sprouting from the cracks.

  I sniffed as we walked. Old Atlanta smelled like a totally different world than the city inside the walls, and it had nothing to do with the stench of death. Inside, the air was ripe with human misery. The stink of poverty, the smell of hopelessness, the odor of waste that coated the people who’d long ago given their lives over to drugs and booze. But out here the air was fresh as long as none of the dead were around, and the smells of nature called out to me as we walked, telling me that there was a better alternative to what New Atlanta had to offer.

  It had been like this in Senoia, too. The settlement was thick with the smells of life—cooking meat and fires burning into the night—but had also had moments when nature was the most prevalent scent. The air there was fresh and clean, and not tainted by the hard life the people in New Atlanta knew. The inhabitants of the unsanctioned town may have worn scars on their skin that illustrated how brutal their existence could be, but the marks also branded them as free. Free to roam the world as they saw fit, free to leave the walls when duty called, free to take care of their families in the ways that they wanted to instead of the ways that were dictated to them by the government.

  These were the thoughts going through my head when a breeze blew and we were suddenly engulfed by the scent of death. Jim and Jada, who were leading us through the city, didn’t slow, but I noticed that the steps of those around me did falter a little. No one stopped, and since we were all already armed and ready there was no need for anyone to pull a weapon, but the eyes of everyone surrounding me began to sweep the area.

  There was nothing for us to see but the shells of old houses and the rusted skeletons of cars. Weeds and other plants that had long ago grown out of control covered everything, making the world a sea of green. Anything could be hidden in their emerald depths. The dead or feral animals just waiting to attack, or even raiders who had taken cover in the middle of scavenging when they’d heard our approach.

  The unknown had my heart racing, but despite that my opinion of this world hadn’t changed. This was a life. Out here people were able to fight for themselves away from the confines of a corrupt government. This was a world that forced people to be strong or die, but one that was also ripe with possibilities.

  “Just keep moving,” Jada said, her husky voice barely over a whisper.

  As usual, I was impressed by her ability to stay so calm and in control.

  We reached the safe house without any trouble, although I did catch sight of a few figures shambling down the street in the swiftly fading light.

  I could see into the house through the gaping holes that had once been windows. The main floor had been stripped bare, freed of everything useful years ago, and I had no doubt that the second floor was equally naked. I didn’t get to find out though, because we didn’t go inside but instead pushed past the overgrown bushes and made our way into the backyard. Once there Jim and Jada worked together to move a moldy, old mattress, revealing a cellar door.

  The hinges screeched through the silence when the door was pulled open, revealing stairs that disappeared into a dark abyss. Jim walked down without hesitation, and seconds later a light flickered on, flooding the stairwell with light.

  “In here,” Jada said, waving for us to follow Jim as he continued into the basement.

  We shuffled down in a mass, so close that the air was stifling despite the chill of the basement. Below us more lights flickered on as the sound of Jim’s footsteps echoed through the room.

  Jada had told us that the basement was only used in the most severe situations, like when someone got cornered and couldn’t make it out of the city, and when we made it to the bottom of the stairs I could see why. It was a hole. Rugs had been spread out on the floor that were damp from years of moisture leaking into the space, and the walls were splotched with mold. Cobwebs and bugs had taken over every corner, and the only furniture was a handful of wooden chairs.

  Since people who were about to reverse a two decade old apocalypse couldn’t really complain about where they hid from zombies, I settled onto the floor with Donaghy and tried not to think about the toxins we were breathing in. He was shivering, but his skin was only slightly warmer than usual, nothing like it had been before, and I found myself praying that the fever would hold off long enough for us to get into the CDC. If he was delirious, we’d have to leave him behind.

  “Can we try doing a second blood transfusion?” I asked Helen when the nurse paused to feel Donaghy’s head.

  She shook her head. “It did nothing when they tried it. Sorry.”

  I believed her, but it gave me no comfort.

  “Come here,” I told Donaghy, patting my lap.

  The big man laid his head on my legs like he was a small child, and I stroked his soft hair. The dark fibers tickled my palms and he let out a sigh, and I found myself wishing we’d had more time to be alone before leaving Senoia. Not that we could have done much more than we already had, but at least I would have been able to pretend that all this shit wasn’t really happening. It was impossible now.

  “You shouldn’t have turned me down that day in your room,” I whispered as I ran my fingers across his head, remembering the first time we’d kissed in the back room of Dragon’s Lair.

  His icy blue eyes, which had looked so cold and unemotional when we’d first met, now seemed to swim with feeling. “You know it’s not because I didn’t want you.”

  “I know.” I leaned closer so I could press my lips to his cheek, right next to his mouth. “When all of this is over, you have to promise that we’ll spend an entire day in bed.”

  I wanted him to nod or tease me or say something to lighten the mood surrounding us, but he didn’t. Instead, he continued to stare up at me, his gaze intense as he studied me.

  “You know I might not make it.” I started to shake my head, to get angry, but he put his hand on my cheek and stopped me. “It’s true, and I want to acknowledge that so I can say this. I’m glad I came here. Glad I met you. It’s a hard thing to wrap my brain around when I know Patty is dead because of it, but it’s true.”

  I could hear the confession in his words, written between the lines like a secret neither one of us wanted to spill. I love you. It seemed impossible considering we’d just met, but Mom and Dad had always told me that bonds formed faster when you were faced with certain doom. That was how it had been for them, for Al and Lila, for Jim and the woman he had been with before Jada, probably even Parv and whoever she’d lost all those years ago. When death was around every corner, you didn’t have the luxury of second-guessing your feelings. You grabbed hold of them and embraced them and thanked God that something real and beautiful could exist when the rest of the world was nothing but shit.

  I got it now, but I also got that neither Donaghy nor myself could say the words out loud. Not when we didn’t know what might happen tomorrow.

  “I’m glad too,” I said instead, and then kissed his cheek again. “And when this is over, regardless of what happens inside New Atlanta, I want to settle in Senoia. I don
’t want to go back to being trapped behind a wall and having no choice about my life. I want to be able to live.”

  He nodded, and I could tell that he understood what I meant.

  After the sun had done down, we left the basement and headed through old Atlanta. My mind had been spinning two days ago when we’d fled the city, which meant that when we finally reached our destination, the building didn’t look the least bit familiar. In the soft light of the moon I was able to make out the words on the sign, now faded and peeling with age, but still legible: Randy’s Carpet Emporium. Whoever Randy had been twenty years ago, I seriously doubted that he would be any more likely to recognize this place today than I had been.

  The inside was unchanged, just like the tunnel we went through to get back to Dragon’s was. The basement, however, had not been untouched in our absence.

  The place had been ransacked while we were gone, tables turned over and several bottles smashed on the floor, although most of the alcohol that had once lined the shelves was now conveniently missing. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind what had happened. Jackson had sent his men here and when they’d been unable to locate Donaghy, Dragon, or Helen, they’d gone to town on the place.

  Dragon kicked at a large chunk of glass and it skittered across the floor, clinking when it hit the wall on the opposite side of the room. “Bastards.”

  Helen, who stood behind him, put her hands on his shoulders and patted them gently. “We’ll get it all back and more.”

  Dragon just nodded.