End of the Line (Book 2): Stuck in the Middle

by Lara Frater

  “She’s awake,” the other man said. I saw him now. Joel’s other lackeys, Chris. There was a blanket on the bed, I grabbed it to cover myself, but I noticed my capri shorts and underwear were around my ankles. Under the blanket, I pulled them back up. I had no idea where my bra and shirt were. I knew I was nowhere near a gun. Chris had one on his back. I had to figure out a way to get it.

  Bill hadn’t shed his clothes. He pulled up his khaki shorts, which had an army fatigue pattern, and zipped them. Chris similarly wore fatigues, but I didn’t think either of them was military.

  “Where are the rest of my clothes?”

  Chris said nothing. I was in a bedroom, a big one, probably in some mansion. The bed was large and the rest of the room was filled with oak furniture. He walked towards the dresser and grabbed a shirt out of it and tossed it to the bed.

  It wasn’t mine. A floral polo shirt that was too big, but I put it on anyway.

  “Besides dull sex,” I said. I would never let these men see me upset. “Is there any reason you kidnapped me and shot up a bunch of innocent people?”

  The men didn’t answer me. Raping Bill looked annoyed. I pulled the blanket away and sat at the edge of the bed.

  “I asked both of you a question.”

  “Joel will explain everything, bitch, so shut the fuck up.”

  “See, was that so hard?” I said, unfazed. I had been called bitch so many times it didn’t matter.

  The man looked frustrated. I knew the kind of man he was. A bully and hater of women or what he considered weak. I had a feeling my tongue might cause trouble, so I had to control it, but I didn’t want them to think I was a doormat.

  I think they wanted to see me cry. Be upset of being raped and cursed at but I wasn’t going to let them have that luxury.

  “I like to see Joel as soon as possible. This is unacceptable.”

  Bill didn’t say anything, but the other guy actually grinned.

  “Unacceptable? Why I’m sorry Madame, would you like some tea? Perhaps some crumpets?”

  “Some tea would be nice.”

  Chris didn’t reply because the door opened and there was the man of the hour. Joel stood there, looking me over in my capris, oversize shirt and bare feet. Unlike before where he wore jeans, tee-shirts and tried to look sexy, now he wore grey fatigues.

  “Leave us,” he said.

  “Yes, sir,” they said in unison as they both left.

  “I guess you didn’t kill the rapists. Were you talking about your own men?”

  “Did Big Bill fuck you? I hadn’t realized. He sees a pretty girl and it just takes over. I was telling the truth—somewhat. Some rapists were keeping women as chattel. I killed them and took their chattel.”

  I pretended what he said didn’t faze me. “This is not the best way to recruit me.”

  “This isn’t a recruitment. I’m pretty sure if I put a gun in your hands at any time, we’d all be dead in five seconds.”

  “Less. You murdered all those people in the cantina.”

  “That’s your fault. You should have come with me when I asked. I would’ve told Tanya you decided to stay and no one would have gotten hurt.”

  I wasn’t buying his guilt trip. “What do you want from me?”

  “Grace,” he paused and sat at the edge of the bed. “Grace Hamilton Sinclair, of the Hampton bay Hamiltons, has a nice ring to it. Father was Timothy Sinclair, father of you and Joe, who was a doctor. Kind of low on the totem pole for a Hamilton, don’t you think? But not so much since Joseph ran your father’s pharmaceuticals company and was his personal physician.”

  “You know who I am and you should know my name no longer matters.”

  “The Hamilton’s were the old money, weren’t they? The Sinclairs? Your father didn’t inherit all his money. He actually earned some of it. New money right? The Hamilton’s weren’t pleased your mother married new money? Am I right?”

  “What are you getting at?” I ignored what he said, but he was true. My grandparents breathed a sigh of relief when my mother divorced my father. To them my father was trash because his parents were middle class.

  “About six months after the world ended, I found a lab, part of SL Pharmaceutical Company. They have labs all over the world. You know what the S stands for.”

  “Yes, it’s one of my father’s companies.”

  “That he owned with his best friend and run by your brother.”

  “What are you getting at? So you know about me. Yes, my father was venture capitalists. He had his hand in a dozen companies. He always voted Republican and he hated paying taxes. Is some kind of weird vendetta against me because I was part of the one percent and must be punished? My father’s wealth didn’t protect anyone.”

  “This has nothing to do with your wealth and everything to do with SL. Tell me about it.”

  “I knew nothing about my father’s business. Half the time I didn’t know what companies he owned. I was a 19 year old idiot college student when the end came.”

  Joel didn’t say anything. It almost looked like I threw him off script.

  But he recovered.

  “SL made vaccines and drugs. Their biggest seller was H2N2 flu vaccine. Panicked a lot people into buying it when H2 came out. You know, the Rat Flu.”

  “So, the lab wanted to make money.” I didn’t know what Joel was getting at but I started to suspect.

  “They took a big hit on their diet drug LaLose. It’s amazing how many libraries still use microfiche or have paper copies of the Wall Street Journal.”

  “A drop in the bucket for my father, but surely you didn’t murder people and let someone rape me to discuss that.”

  “I came across some papers. About how the next flu vaccination needed to make a shit load of money in order for the company to remain profitable, but who knows when the next terrible flu would come along. Do you know what happened next?”

  “No, but I was sure you’re going to tell me.”

  “Make the flu,” he said. “They made the Hell virus that killed billions of people. Your family did it. I’m here to decide if you need to be punished for it.”

  I didn’t believe him. “You actually have documents that say my father, my brother, or I released the virus?”

  “No,” he said but he didn’t look fazed. I didn’t like that and I figured he was looking for someone to blame. “They didn’t call it H311. They wrote a report about wanting to release a virus instead of waiting for the next epidemic.”

  “That’s still not any proof my father was responsible or that this virus was H311 or if they actually released it. SL had many labs.”

  This was the problem and I saw it in his eyes. He didn’t care. He was looking for someone to blame.

  “In the lab, I found a fax. They said that some people wouldn’t get the flu. Instead they were carriers of the zombie virus.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “You knew a carrier, right?” I didn’t respond. “Right? Rachel, your former leader? And some of your people have big mouths. I knew Rachel gave the virus to Dan by fucking him.”

  “I don’t know what you’re getting at.” He didn’t know about Keith.

  “I’m sure your father didn’t want billions of people killed or the survivors being attacked by zombies. He wanted a panic so they would buy more vaccinations. They made money off the last one.”

  I didn’t believe him. I knew daddy. He wanted to make money, and SL probably lobbied highly for drugs and vaccinations but he wasn’t a monster.

  “You’re thinking about it.”

  “I know my father, you don’t. He liked making money but he didn’t release the virus. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt me or Joe. And I don’t think he wanted to kill himself.”

  “As I said before, he probably didn’t want to kill billions of people, enough so the company could make money, but something went wrong, didn’t it?”

  “You’re a liar. My father wasn’t responsible and no matter what, neither was I.
I didn’t know anything about his companies or what they did.”

  “Ignorance won’t save you.”

  “So you’re going to kill me? Is that it? Kill me and the world magically resets.”

  Joel got mad. “My entire life died from the epidemic—“ He paused. “Grace, you said if this was some vendetta against the one percent. While I didn’t have money like your family did. I had a lot from my investment banking job. Everything I worked for was gone as the virus killed everything. My wife, my children. Can you imagine watching your entire family die one by one?”

  “So did mine. Everyone I cared about is dead. I shot my brother in the head while he was still alive, so he wouldn’t come back as a zombie.”

  No expression from what I said. “But none of you ever got the flu, right?”

  “Because we stayed at home and didn’t go out. None of Mike’s family got the flu because they stayed home.”

  Joel looked annoyed, but he still had the look. I saw it at Harbor Heights. The real Joel came out when he didn’t get his way. The smiling Joel was the phony. Part of him knew this was crazy, the other part wanted vengeance so bad he could taste it.

  “It happened at an unusual time right? In May, not really flu weather.”

  “Joel—the virus killed fast. No vaccination even came out for it.”

  He wasn’t listening. His face said he had gone over to the vengeance side one hundred percent.

  “Since you have already decided, I want one request. Can I please not be raped between now and when I die.”

  Joel laughed but it wasn’t funny. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  When Joel left, I looked around the room for something I could use for a weapon but first I looked out the window to see if I could escape.

  The air inside the room was warm and stuffy despite the open windows and a plastic fan. I could hear people outside but couldn’t make out the words.

  I was a good three floors up with no way to climb down. It was getting dark so I couldn’t see the outside so well. It looked like a sizeable estate. I saw people moving about but only as shadowy figures. I moved from the window to the door and knocked. The door opened and I saw Chris. I looked beyond him. I was in a sprawling mansion. I could see a brass banister down the hall.

  “What?”

  “I have to use the restroom.”

  “One in your room,” he said, slamming the door. I heard it lock. I took a deep breath. I needed a way out of here and if possible get a gun. I had a few people I needed to shoot.

  I found two closed doors in the room. One was a closet, the other a large bathroom with a small window. I looked through to if I could see outside better, but it wasn’t much different from the window in the bedroom.

  I searched the closet. I did not expect they would overlook a gun but I wanted to find some kind of weapon. I had to get out of here. I wasn’t going to be raped again and I had no intention of getting killed by morons. It was hard to see in the closet, and I was surprised when I hit the switch by the door, the closet lit up. It was a full walk in. I searched the clothes and discovered shoeboxes on the top shelf. I grabbed one at random, opening it to find exactly what I needed. Nothing like a stiletto heel jabbed into your eye.

  I put the shoebox back but kept the shoes. I heard the key to the door so I stuffed the heels under my pillow. Chris came in with a tray in one hand and a rifle aimed at me with the other. He left it on the floor and backed out the door before I could even get up. I heard the door shut then lock. I walked over to the tray. It was a paper bowl of rice with beans, a plastic folk, a plastic cup of water and a paper napkin. I knew it wasn’t poisoned. They wanted me alive for a little while, but it might be drugged.

  My food was drugged at the cantina. That was what made me sleepy. I knew who did it, but that wasn’t going to help me now.

  I pushed it to the back of my mind. I had to escape first. If it was drugged I risked being raped again.

  I carried the plate and cup back to the bed.

  I loathed rice and beans. I felt like a hobo eating them, but I realized that I was a peasant like everyone else.

  As I ate I thought about what Joel said about daddy. I knew it couldn’t be true. I let Joel think I knew nothing about Daddy’s companies. We never talked money but I knew a few things. SL did not make that much money off flu shots, even if flu rates doubled, there wouldn’t be significant profits. They had a diabetes drug in the works that showed promise.

  And if it was true, Daddy would have been on the phone a lot with his people at SL telling them to push the flu shot as hard as possible.

  This flu was random.

  I knew I couldn’t convince Joel of that.

  Chapter 21

  I woke up the next morning as dawn hit. I wasn’t drugged and found no man on top of me. Joel kept at least one promise. I didn’t wake up confused. I knew exactly where I was, a prisoner for a crime I didn’t commit.

  I slept in the clothes from yesterday. Hadn’t bothered to search the dresser for something I could sleep in.

  I used the bathroom, splashed some water on my face. The bathroom had a ring of light bulbs over the mirror but only three worked. I looked like hell without makeup. I opened up all the cabinets but couldn’t find any to put on.

  I turned on the shower. Water came out weak and cold. I didn’t mind because of the hot and humid room. I stripped and stepped into it. I sat on the floor letting the cold water clean me and getting rid of the smell of that horrific man. Here I could be upset because no one could hear me. I sat on the floor of the tub and let the water run over me. I had sex a few times at college but never saw the point to it. I guess I really was an ice princess.

  I knew I wouldn’t stay in long. Someone could come. Someone might hear me and I couldn’t let that happen. I got out and dried myself off with some ragged towels.

  More light came into the room. I saw something hanging of a wooden rocking chair that looked like the shirt I wore from yesterday. I couldn’t find my shoes.

  I took the off the rack Lauren polo shirt from the chair and discovered it had been torn to pieces. He must have ripped it off. I didn’t find my bra. Did he keep it as a souvenir? I went to the drawers. I found underwear too big for me and clothes that looked like they belonged to an older woman. I thought about my grandmother who lived in New York City. I knew she didn’t make it. She already had health issues beforehand. She had been my mother’s mother who hated my father was a passion. My father who took in both his kids after the divorce while her precious daughter jetsetted around the world. Even so, I loved her more than my own mother. She had been the tough matriarch of the family but doted on her grandkids. I was the only girl and became her favorite. She admired me for always speaking my mind.

  In the drawers I found a fresh short sleeved polo shirt that was a little big and wore my capris from yesterday. They were beginning to smell.

  After I changed, I went to the window to look out.

  I did not like what I saw.

  The estate had a large garden in front, a good two acres maybe more. From far away I saw tennis courts filled with holes and a pool house with no sparkling water. That wasn’t the issue.

  The garden was probably originally covered in flowers, trees, bushes and shrubs was now growing food and people were in the field tended it. The estate had double fences. An iron one that looked like it surrounded the entire place and meant to keep people out. Someone had put in a chain link fence on the inside. There was about four feet between the two. Between them was a trench that looked about two feet deep.

  Milling inside the trench were zombies; a lot of them. Most of them were close to the chain linked fence as they looked hungrily at the workers.

  There were also men with guns in the fields watching the people work.

  The people were slaves.

  Joel was much worse than I thought. I don’t think anything he said was the truth.

  When I heard the door latch working, I moved quickly away from t
he window and back to the bed.

  It was a different man from last night. This one was younger, could easily be my age, and had a gun strapped to his back but I couldn’t see what it was.

  “Food,” he said. He put the tray on the floor.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I watched him leave, noting that his speaking to me civilly made him the weak link.

  I grabbed the food that was steaming.

  And holy fuck, it was eggs.

  I gobbled them like a hungry hobo. They had been simply scrambled with a hint of salt but a wonderful taste filled my mouth. I hadn’t had fresh eggs in more than two years. I felt almost sad seeing the empty plate.

  Once I was finished, I added the plate to my growing pile.

  There wasn’t a lot for me to do while I waited for Joel who I knew would show up again. In that time I looked at the stiletto heels. With more light I was able to search drawers for anything else I could use. I figured Joel’s people tossed the room before I arrived but men didn’t realize how deadly shoes could be.

  I ran back to the bed, stuffed the stiletto under the pillow when I heard the door opened and Joel came in. He looked grim. I made the sign of crazy and pointed at him.

  “Do you have any concern for your wellbeing, Grace?”

  “Remember at that lunch when you asked me how many zombies I killed? I said I don’t keep track but I’m sure it’s in hundreds, maybe even a thousand like you. I kept people alive. How many people have you killed Joel?”

  “Losing you as a shooter would be a damn shame, but we can get along.”

  “Are you holding all those people prisoners?” I said motioning to the window.

  “No, they won’t survive without me—“

  “Then why do you need armed men and fenced in zombies?” I interrupted.

  He ignored me. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. I’ll decide tonight what to do with you.”

  “This is insane,” I said. “You’re mentally defective. How many of my people did you murder to get me? What did they ever do to you?”

  “They shielded you.”