Wilders: The Complete Trilogy

by Cass Kim

  The girl stopped short of rounding the back of the car when she saw Alyssa standing there. Her lip sneered up, and she took a tentative step back.

  “Hey Babe, let’s get going. You’re going to be late if you don’t get in there.” Jeremy hadn’t seen Alyssa standing there yet, since he’d gotten out and turned toward the storefront without waiting. When ‘Babe’ didn’t respond, he glanced back. Then he saw Alyssa.

  Except, she realized, he didn’t see her. He saw a dirty girl with short, murky hair and lumpy layers of baggy clothes.

  He puffed his chest up and stalked back to the car, holding an arm out to his side. The girl darted past Alyssa and tucked herself into him. Jeremy placed his arm protectively around her then looked at Alyssa, frowning. “We don’t have any cash on us, so beg somewhere else.”

  “Oh fuck off, Jeremy.” Alyssa rolled her eyes. Of course. Of course this would be how she would have to reappear from potential death. She couldn’t come riding in on a nice summer day, in a cherry red convertible, long blond hair streaming behind her, savior of the world. No, she had to bully this idiot into letting her use his car while looking like a homeless woman.

  He did a double take. “How do you know me?”

  She stepped closer, the girl at his side cringing into him as she approached, afraid Alyssa was diseased or dangerous. She narrowed her eyes at Jeremy, ignoring the tiny brunette and giving him her best superior glare.

  He did a double take. Stepped a bit closer to her, looking hard at her face. “Alyssa? What did you do to your hair? And where the hell is Renna?” He dropped his arm from the girl, all but forgetting her.

  “Oh, so now you care about Renna?” Alyssa popped her hands onto her hips, ready to light into him. Feeling the bag tucked into her waistband, she was reminded of her purpose. “Look, nevermind. I need you to help me.”

  “With what?”

  The girl cleared her throat, glancing between them. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but my boyfriend needs to walk me into work now.”

  Alyssa pinned her with a haughty glare, eyebrows raised. “You can’t walk the fifty feet across the parking lot by yourself?” True, it wasn’t this girl’s fault Jeremy was a player. But, still. She was here, and she was already annoying Alyssa by being with Jeremy.

  The girl opened her mouth to reply just as an older woman with a full cart trundled by.

  Alyssa held up a finger, “Scratch that, don’t care. I’ve gotta get this cart. Jeremy, meet me by the TVs at the entrance if you want any info at all.” She gave him a hard look that promised information he’d want before following the woman, feet slipping and sliding in the slush as the wet heavy snow picked up again.

  16

  Renna

  Her body was burning. The cold metal table kept her muscles in a perpetual state of tension, the synapses crackling and firing as fast as they could recharge. Keeping track of time was a game she wasn’t winning. Had it been one day? Two? Maybe three now. All she knew was pain, needle sticks, and drifting in and out of consciousness. Metal, lights, and stranger’s hands on her in between. Renna felt like she was stuck in a twisted version of the Change all over again. Except this time, she didn’t have Soo’s calm presence to ground her, and no promise of Alyssa or Emerson outside the tent, demanding to see her.

  The hum of the generator kicked up outside, sending shivering spasms through her body. Is this why the scientist of the camp had run from the well supplied government facilities originally? They hadn’t been forthright with the details, but she remembered Syd saying something about the people in this camp having a choice, at least.

  Why would they invite those monsters here? And why had Syd helped them grab her?

  As if her thoughts summoned the older girl, the tent flap unzipped and a short figure came in, shedding a heavy coat dusted in snow. She stomped her boots hard at the edge entrance and turned the light off as soon as she came within reach.

  “Renna.” Syd’s voice was low and concerned, but Renna couldn’t see her face.

  Renna closed her eyes against the bright spots that remained dancing in her vision. How long had that light been on, right above her head?

  “Renna, can you hear me? We don’t have much time to talk.”

  “Syd,” She tried to force Alyssa-like venom into her voice, but her dry throat caught the reply she was forming.

  “Here, have some water.” Syd tucked a sheet around Renna, shoving the fabric between her bare skin and the metal where she could. “Good God, what do they have you in? Shorts and a tank top?” The older girl finished tucking the sheet around Renna and pushed a cup against her lips. “Drink nice and slow, I can’t unbuckle you to sit up and I don’t want you to choke.”

  Renna obediently sipped. The blind spots were fading, and she cracked her lids to look at her former friend. She looked tired. Well. Good. She still looked a hell of a lot better than Renna felt.

  “Do you need anything?”

  Renna choked on the last sip at the question. Gasping and gurgling, she glared at Syd. Catching a breath, she spat, “I need a reason.”

  “A reason to live? Yeah, Okay. This sucks, but you’re helping all of humanity. And you’ll see your brother in a few minutes.”

  “No.” Renna wanted to spit at Syd’s fake concern, but she couldn’t afford to waste the water. “A reason for you helping these monsters. You’re the reason they have me. I was getting away.”

  Syd’s eyes widened. Before she could respond, a new pair of boots stomped at the tent edge.

  “Well, what do we have here?” The man from earlier, with his smooth Botox face edged up behind Syd.

  “Just preparing the subject for transport, sir. My research suggests it’s best to get her away from metal before joining the two. Both should be as calm as possible.”

  Botox shook his head slowly. “I’m not an imbecile. I’ve been researching this virus since before you were born. I’ve been tiring them both out, so that when the punishing stimuli is removed, their bodies will be too exhausted to trigger. No adrenaline left equals no berserker response.”

  Syd shook her head, two swift side-to-side movements. “This subject has not had a berserker response in weeks. This is unnecessary.”

  Botox turned sharply toward Syd. “When I want your opinion on my trial, I will ask you. Until you’ve proven a solution to the metal sensitivity, I will continue to test my own theories without your overly sensitive, child-like input.” He turned and pulled on latex gloves.

  Syd’s teeth ground together, and she took a deep breath as if to reply. She looked long and hard at Renna before letting the breath out, unused. “Yes sir. I apologize.”

  Renna twisted, trying to see past the man’s bulky winter clothing to determine what he was preparing. If she was drugged to sleep again, she was going to lose it. All she’d done the past however long was wake up in pain, get little bits and pieces of information as she was poked and prodded, then get drugged back to sleep. She couldn’t remember how much she’d gotten to eat or drink, or how much information she’d really been given because the drugs hazed out so much or her memory.

  He turned with a plastic dropper in his hands, filled with an opaque pink liquid. “Hold her eyes open, Sydney.”

  “What is that?” Syd made no move toward Renna, staring at the dropper in his hands.

  “Just a solution to coat the eye before taking her outside. It may be snowing, but it’s still daylight. After her light treatments, this solution should allow her to see in the light outside.”

  “What’s it made out of?”

  “You ask an awful lot of questions for somebody who is working on this side of the table by our good graces.”

  “I’d like to incorporate it into my research.”Syd remained positioned just in his way and made no move to hold open Renna’s eyes. “It’d be a shame to miss out on an opportunity to solve a problem with the vaccine just because I didn’t ask questions when I had the chance.”

  “Hmm. Indeed. I
will give you the compound formula if it works.”

  “Have you tested it before?”

  The man squared his shoulders and cocked his head to the side. “And who are you, the IRB? If I wanted restrictions on my work, and rules impeding the process, I would not be here. But yes, it has been tested on the infected and as far as we can tell it causes no damage. With our infected nonverbal, we have been unable to determine how helpful it is, either. Now, get out of my way.” He bit the words out, patience at an end.

  Syd turned to Renna, her expression unreadable. She pulled gloves on quickly and placed gentle hands on Renna’s face, holding her eyelids in place. The man squeezed two fat, sticky drops into each eye before Syd released her, allowing her to blink. The goo felt cold and soothed the burning in her eyes.

  When the film remained in place as she blinked Renna started to panic. She couldn’t see anything through the blurry coating. Would she be blind now? Renna blinked rapidly, willing the goo to clear. One of the only saving graces to being a Wilder was the strength and the night vision. And now she had neither. Her body was exhausted, her eyes were clouded, and all she had left were vulnerabilities.

  17

  Alyssa

  Alyssa wiped the heavy snow off her forehead, scanning the front of the store for Jeremy. If that little rat-weasel player had disappeared, she’d hunt him down and wring his neck then take his car keys and leave him stranded.

  Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. If she could get his car keys from him, she knew where his car was parked now. She could ditch him somehow and load up the supplies quickly. That would be even better. No explanations, no worries about him trying to contact the authorities about where she and Renna were.

  Shoving the empty cart forward, Alyssa scanned through throngs of people all shuffling from aisle to aisle, some with their bulky coats off and crumpled in their baskets. With a low growl she pushed forward. He had to be here somewhere. Probably making out with his little girlfriend before she clocked in for her shift.

  Stuck in the line of carts making their way past the crowds in line to check out, Alyssa pulled the list Emerson gave her from her pocket. She patted the coat lining to be sure the thick envelope of cash remained in securely tucked in there. “Batteries of all sizes, gauze pads, rubbing alcohol bottles and wipes. Jugs of water. Dried food goods. Frozen meat items and eggs. A large cooler.” How the hell was she supposed to carry a large cooler filled with meat back to the woods by herself? They’d gotten too used to relying on Wilder strength in the camp.

  Edging through the congregation of carts, she made the first turn down any aisle she could. She didn’t have time to follow the masses. Zooming past dog food and cat litter, she stopped. Tim Tam! She bet he’d just die for some wet cat food. With the car, what was one more box? Alyssa grabbed a mixed pack of wet cat food pouches and set it in the cart. She’d let Renna give it to him, to cement the rebuilding of their relationship.

  Turning the corner, Alyssa almost ran Jeremy over. He wasn’t making out with a girl back here though, he was talking animatedly with another guy, some blond dude that looked too smart to hang with Jeremy. Both were waving their arms around, replaying some kind of event. Tapping her foot, she tried to wait them out. No need to draw extra attention to herself.

  The blond guy laughed and pulled out his phone, showing something to Jeremy. They both stood there, chuckling like loons, watching some kind of video. Shaking her head in a gesture that used to ripple her long blond hair dramatically, Alyssa drove the cart the remaining two feet up to them and cleared her throat.

  “Oh, uh, hey.” Jeremy looked sheepish.

  “Don’t tell me you actually forgot you were going to meet me here?”

  “No! I just ran into Jacob here. He’s pretty much the coolest dude in Placid Lake. He writes these wicked horror stories. And he finds the funniest videos. You’d like him. Jacob Klop, meet—”

  “Charmed to meet you, really. But I’m on a tight schedule, so not be rude and all but…” She trailed off, looking meaningfully at Jeremy.

  “Hey man, I gotta go. Women, right?” Jeremy flashed his trademark grin at Alyssa and nudged Jacob.

  Jacob raised his eyebrows in response. “Yeah, I’m not into that whole ‘all women are the same’ mood, Bro. But it’s cool. Nice to meet you.” He tossed a wave and loped off down the next aisle.

  “I think I would like him.” Alyssa stared after him. What a refreshing attitude. “Okay, now, I need you to help me get this stuff from my list, and I need you to keep the questions to a minimum.”

  Jeremy’s expression was serious, and he walked beside her. “Alyssa, where have you and Renna been? And what about Ben? Don’t give me any crap.”

  “Look, I can’t really explain it all.”

  “Alyssa. I know I was a shit to Renna, and I did things all the wrong way. But you know me. You know I loved her. Her mom calls my mom practically seven times a day to see if she’s heard anything at all.”

  Alyssa’s heart sank. “And what about my parents? Do they call?”

  Jeremy shrugged, avoiding the question.

  “Yeah, okay.” She swallowed hard. They probably just called other people. “Renna is fine. Jammin too. They’re both alive.”

  “Are you positive? My mom said that they found Ben’s car in the driveway with a dead body in it. Everybody thinks they’re all dead. Or Changed.”

  “They’re both alive. I’ve seen them myself. They’re fine.” That might be a slight lie since she’d only seen Jammin’s shadow, technically. And they were both Changed. But lies told to protect others were probably not as bad for your soul anyhow. Plus, it was Jeremy. He deserved all the lies in the world.

  He let out a deep sigh. “Okay. So, you need me to take you somewhere with a bunch of,” he grabbed the list from her hand, “Medical and food supplies? Are you at some kind of shelter somewhere? You guys can just come and stay at Stacy’s house with me. It’s huge. Seriously, at least twice as big as my house.”

  “First of all, it’s not your house, it’s your parent’s house.” She snatched the list back from him before he could read all the details. And second of all, I don’t want or need to stay at your latest girl-toy’s McMansion, okay? I’d rather camp in the snow.”

  “Is that what you’ve been doing?”

  She ignored him as she turned into the medical aisle. The ginormous jugs of peroxide and rubbing alcohol were all gone, the bottom shelves for bulk items sat completely empty. Figured. Well, the smaller sizes would be harder to carry but better than nothing.

  Jeremy stared as she grabbed the remaining ‘family size’ bottles of rubbing alcohol and dumped them in the cart, followed by seven boxes of alcohol wipes. She should have started with dried and canned food goods first, based on his expression. It would be a lot harder to sneak away from him now, with his interest caught.

  “That’s a lot of medical supplies.” His voice was low as he stepped into her personal space, blocking her from moving the cart. “That’s a lot more than just some general first aid kit. Is Renna hurt? You better tell me what’s going on, Alyssa. I’m not going to drop you off. I’ll go with you. I can help.”

  She shoved around him, gripping the cart and continuing. “She’s. Just. Fine.” Alyssa bit each word out, grabbing a six pack of deodorant as she passed, not caring what scent or brand.

  “Did you hear me?” He trailed behind her, dodging children and other carts when they passed aisle caps.

  “I heard you, but that’s not an option.” She grabbed several huge tubs of protein powder and electrolyte supplements, dropping them unceremoniously into the cart. Speeding up, she tried to leave the conversation behind as they entered the bakery section.

  Both options for taking the cart through the fragrant bakery were blocked by a pair of carts, collided together. The driver of one cart, filled with cases of bottled water and frozen meals had his coat off, his long-sleeved shirt piled on top of it, and was sweating, yelling red-faced at the woman driv
ing the other cart. She had a package of gingerbread goodies in her hands and was waving it around.

  “I don’t care if it’s the last package of Whistberry’s or not! I grabbed it first, so it’s mine.”

  “It’s not even Whistberry’s. Look at it. Do you see the black and white logo? No. It has the red logo for the ‘Gingerbread Hag’ company. So, you damn well should give it to me, because it’s the only brand my Mother will eat!”

  “Sorry.” She backed her cart, filled almost to overflowing with a huge amount of food, away from the man.

  The man grabbed the cart and wrenched it forward, intent on dragging the woman and the gingerbread rolls in question, closer.

  Alyssa backpedaled, stepping on Jeremy’s toes and bumping him back. There was something about the man’s movements as he grabbed the latticed metal at the front of the woman’s cart that bothered her.

  He let go of the cart almost immediately.

  Alyssa swallowed hard as he rubbed his hands together, then shook them out. Almost as if the cart had hurt them. She took in his sweating face. The discarded warm clothes despite being near the cold freezer section of the store.

  “Freaking, effing, shit,” she muttered, shoving Jeremy back down the way they’d come and wrenching the cart into a quick turn, speeding down aisles and pulling frozen foods at random into the cart.

  “Why do you need so much frozen food? Where are you even going to keep all of that?”

  “Get a cooler. Hell, get two coolers, ones that will fit in your car.”

  “You can’t carry two coolers.”

  She rounded on him, gripping his forearm tightly in her hand. “Jeremy. I need you to listen, and listen hard. This place is going to become very dangerous, probably pretty quickly. We need to get as much as we can, as fast as we can. I can’t answer your questions. I’ll take you with me if it will make you shut up and do as I tell you.”