She grabbed her stuff and walked toward the pond from the night before since she needed to fill her flask. I will only take little sips. Before she got there, she could see the body of a dead man floating on top of the water. She looked around, but there was no one else. As she got closer, she could see that the water was tinted with blood.
Ryder didn’t waste any time dwelling on her water supply. Maybe it’s a good thing. She headed up a grassy slope to the mountain. It was steep, but the trees overhead made it a little cooler, which was good because she had a long way to go.
16
Massimo and Kelvin took care of Scott’s body. They carried it to the church, giving it to the vicar, Jason, to prepare for burial. The vicar would also take care of the funeral arrangements.
The attack had been a violent one. He had seen something like this on television—when there was still television—but Massimo had never experienced anything like it in real life.
The men decided to pay Andrew a visit since he was the only lead they had. Even that was shaky. All they had was Annie telling them not to look into it, which made them suspicious enough to check things out.
Andrew was the town’s blacksmith. He owned a few black horses, which he loved. He also had an apprentice named Graham, who Andrew wasn’t as fond of. Graham did most of the actual blacksmithing work, and Andrew took credit for it. Even after the world went to shit, things like that hadn’t changed. Bosses still took credit for their employees’ work.
As Massimo approached the squat wooden metalworking shop, he heard a hammer striking against metal. Graham was there working, as usual. His shaved head glistened with sweat, and his muscles flexed beneath his shirt with every swing of the hammer. Graham looked forged from steel himself after years of bashing hot metal.
He looked up from his work as the two men approached. “Hey, Massimo, Kelvin! What brings you here today?”
“We just came to see if Andrew was here,” Kelvin said.
“He hasn’t been in today.” Graham glanced around as if double-checking that Andrew wasn’t there. “It’s been nice not having him watching over my shoulder all the damn time, telling me I’m doing something wrong.”
“Is he normally here?” Massimo asked.
“Always. He likes to be here before me so he can give me grief for being late, even though I’m on time.”
“Is he sick?” Kelvin asked.
Graham shrugged his shoulders. “He wasn’t yesterday, but he was acting a bit odd.”
“In what way?” Massimo asked.
“He was acting like Kelvin did that one time he ate those mushrooms he found in the woods,” Graham said.
Kelvin’s eyes widened as he remembered the trippy experience he’d had. Then, he grinned. “They were some good ‘shrooms.”
“Does he still live there?” Massimo asked, pointing to a house on a hill that was isolated from the other homes.
“Yeah.” Graham nodded. “Why are you after him?”
I need to watch Graham’s reaction closely now. “You know Scott. Annie’s husband? He was found dead today.”
Graham’s eyes widened. “Shit. I liked Scott. That’s a real shame.” Graham paused, and his eyes lit with understanding. “Wait. You think Andrew killed him? Andrew’s a jerk, but I don’t think he’d murder Scott.”
“We didn’t think he did,” Massimo said. “We’re just here for Annie’s wedding ring. She said Andrew was working on it. Why would you think that we’d think he murdered him? Was it because he was having an affair with Annie?”
Massimo paused and waited for Graham to take the bait.
“Yeah,” Graham said.
I knew it! thought Massimo. He mentally patted himself on the back, impressed with his own investigatory skills. Law and Order: Pinewood Unit. Detective Massimo on the case.
Graham’s crestfallen face pulled him from his pleasant daydream. The blacksmith’s apprentice didn’t look nearly as happy as Massimo felt. “Fuck, that was supposed to be a secret. Please, Massimo. Kelvin. Don’t tell Andrew I let it slip.”
“We won’t,” Massimo said. “Thanks for your help. Come on, Kelvin. Let’s go pay Andrew a visit.”
General Murray wasn’t the nervous type, but he couldn’t stop himself from fidgeting with his uniform as he followed Jerkins up to Level One.
Level One was where Afana lived, and it was also where the science advisors worked. Murray had never met Afana in person. He’d only seen him from afar, like the other generals, on the days Afana chose to peer down through the bunker from the top level—or drinking blood from a traitor’s neck.
Like everyone else in the bunker, when Afana was watching, Murray made damn sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong, and he reprimanded any of his men who weren’t following orders to the letter. They all tried to stay the hell out of Afana’s view. Afana never did anything but watch, but he was the terrifying monster that lurked in the shadows—a monster the general didn’t care to see.
Murray just wanted to drop off the damn head and get back to Level Three, where he was comfortable. He should be entitled to a reward for bringing in the head, but so far, Jerkins hadn’t said anything about that yet.
The generals didn’t get the same rewards as the guards or hunters. They got upgrades, like things for their sleeping quarters or good liquor. General Murray wanted a bigger office, and there was one up for grabs since General Cole had been killed in the last cattle-herding trip. That was what the advisors called it when they sent the generals and their men to round up more people from nearby settlements to live in the bunker.
The advisors told them to find kids because they were easier to train. Adults had more likely to fight back, less likely to submit to Afana’s will. They resented being slaves. Go figure. Although he’d never admit it since it would cost him his own child, Murray hated the fact that they abducted kids, but it wasn’t like he had much choice in the matter. He was just a cog in this infernal machine.
Either he did his job—or the other gears would grind him down to nothing.
General Murray felt lucky to be in his position at all. He’d been born into it, thanks to his father, and he had been over the moon when he had begotten a son. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if he had a daughter. He refused to even think about that for too long.
Murray had been a general for a good portion of his life, and he’d been ordered to do some awful things along the way. He always followed the advisors’ orders because it meant his son Martin stayed safe in the bunker. Martin never had to go out in the field or put himself in real danger, as long as his father toed the line. If he disobeyed or went AWOL, Afana had his son. There was no way he was going to risk his child’s life for some futile, rebellious gesture.
Murray and Jerkins made it to the top floor, and as usual, Murray was struck by how different it looked from his own level. It looked like something from the technologically advanced past. The walls were lined with monitors displaying various views of the bunker. A glass wall behind the monitors divided the space from where scientists looked at scientist stuff. General Murray assumed it was Afana’s lab.
Murray didn’t ever want to meet Afana. Working for him was bad enough. The time for listening to orders from his advisors had passed for today, though, so now he had to speak to Afana himself. He had to admit he was terrified.
To General Murray’s relief, Afana was nowhere to be seen. The feeling quickly faded as Jerkins led him through the monitor room into the lab. The white coats turned and gave General Murray the once-over.
They dismissed him and shifted their attention to Jerkins. “What have you got there?” one of them asked.
“A head,” Jerkins said. The scientists all seemed bored by the answer, and they turned back to their work. “It may be infected with a virus.”
Everyone stopped and stared at the bag.
Chaos erupted in the lab, provoking a new level of concern in General Murray. Some of the scientists moved away from them. Others cursed Je
rkins for bringing it up here, questioning if he was trying to kill them all.
General Murray remembered Jerkins’ question when he first saw the head. He asked Murray if he’d touched it. None of these scientific types had touched the fucking head, so why the hell were they so worried? How could it infect them?
General Murray hadn’t touched it, but Knuckles had. The blood had even gotten in his fucking mouth. Knuckles might be infected, and he would be down on Level Six by now—with Murray’s son.
Fear struck him deep in his gut. He needed to get to Martin before the virus did.
Ryder was starving.
As she walked along the trail, she looked for berries like the ones around the bunker. That was the first type of hunting that Ryder had done when she was first sent out, and it would come in handy for her now.
If she’d had time to enjoy the view surrounding her, she would have thought it beautiful, with the lush green grass beneath her feet and the young trees sprouting from the earth. It was amazing to think that this used to be covered with layers of snow. When the climate had changed, so had everything else.
People and animals that had never lived here before moved in. She could hear a songbird trilling nearby, and it reminded her of Terrier. When he wasn’t talking, he was whistling.
He was always happy.
She missed Terrier and wanted nothing more than to find a way to free him. Given the chance, he’d do the same for her and the others. Ryder forced herself to stop thinking about the bunker. Now wasn’t the time to be nostalgic. She had to survive before she could even think about anything else.
Ryder heard a whisper coming from the trees and wondered if her mind was playing tricks on her. She shook her flask. There was still water in it, so it wasn’t her mind.
“He’s going to step into it,” a low voice said. What did that mean?
She heard a rustle in the trees, and Ryder could see orange eyes—wolf’s eyes. They were the same eyes that had come to her rescue against the tiger. Is he here for his reward? For me?
Ryder got an arrow ready. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s fucking dinner. He was going to be her dinner. Wolf meat was bitter and gross, but it was still meat.
She stepped backward, and as she did, the wolf revealed himself. It was the white wolf that had saved her. He was moving toward her, and she backed away.
Then, the ground collapsed beneath her feet, and Ryder dropped into a hole. She hit the ground hard but got to her feet quickly. The trap into which she’d fallen came only to her shoulders, so her head was sticking out like a mole’s.
It was like whoever had dug the hole had gotten bored and given up. Dumb asses. Then again, it could be an animal trap, and I’m the dumb animal.
There was no one in sight except the wolf, and he was growling at the bushes. There was someone hiding behind them.
“Those donkey-chompers!” she cursed. A few of her arrows had snapped in the tumble. They were going to pay for this.
Ryder got into position and fired at the bushes, and she was rewarded by a high-pitched yelp of surprise. It sounded like kids, and it was confirmed when they emerged from the bushes. There were five of them.
She’d been ambushed by fucking kids. The wolf stopped growling when he saw them. It looked as if he were smiling, and then he rolled his eyes.
This pissed Ryder off. “What the fuck! Roll your eyes like that at me again, and I’ll beat them into the back of your head so hard that just maybe you’ll find your brain. You thought it was a threat as well!”
A deep voice came from behind her. “Don't swear in front of the kids.”
Ryder turned to see a man standing behind them with a rabbit slung over his shoulder. He had a long brown beard, and some parts had been plaited into small braids with colorful ties at the end. He had rings under his eyes, and his face was brown from either dirt or the sun, making his teeth look bright white and his brown eyes piercing.
The wolf growled at him.
“There, there. That’s a good little puppy. No need to get in a mood.”
The wolf growled louder and edged toward the man. He stepped back.
Not so cocky, now, are you? Ryder thought. “I wouldn't have sworn if they hadn’t trapped me in this damn hole.”
The man grinned at her. She knew she probably looked like an idiot with just her head sticking up, but that smug grin on his face was pissing her off. Ryder pushed her hands down on the edge of the hole to lift herself up.
“Not so fast,” the man warned, waving his knife at her.
The kids came to the man’s side. “Nice catch!” one of them cheered.
“Thanks, Carter,” another one added.
The man they called Carter gave the kids high-fives. The children looked to be aged between five and twelve. Their clothes were tattered, and some didn’t even have shirts on—not that they needed one in the heat. Their feet were bare, and their faces were mucky.
Ryder wondered if Carter was the leader. It would make sense. He looked like he had all the maturity of a five-year-old.
Ryder started to get out again. This time, the kids shouted at her, telling her to stay in the hole. They had long sticks with knives on the end, and they pointed them at her. The wolf growled at them.
He’s protecting me, she thought.
“Not that tough without your other men, are you?” Carter looked past her down the path from which she’d come. “Are there more of you?”
His knuckles turned white as he gripped his knife. He dropped the rabbit and took another knife from his belt.
“I’m on my own.”
Carter started to laugh with a sarcastic tone. “Afana’s men are never on their own. There are always at least six of you.”
“I’m not one of Afana’s men!” Ryder was getting really pissed off with this jerk.
“The mark on the back of your neck says different,” Carter snapped.
Ryder pulled at her collar, trying to cover up the tattoo she’d been given as a kid. Yes, I was one of Afana’s cattle. Ryder didn't know what would be worse for her to say—that she was female, or that she was a runaway. Men always tried to take advantage of lone women, but if she said she was a runaway, it would reveal that she was from the bunker.
Ryder gestured in the children’s direction. “I was kidnapped when I was their age and forced to live in the bunker.”
The kids lowered the knives, but Carter didn’t. “Tommy, go tell the others we’ve captured one of Afana’s men.” Carter watched as a small boy ran off into the woods.
I've got to get out of here before any more men come. She leaped out of the hole. The wolf was beside her instantly, growling at Carter.
Everyone pointed their weapons at one another, tensely waiting for someone to make the first move. Ryder wouldn’t hurt the kids—their little faces reminded her of the children in the bunker—but she would happily take down the bearded jerk.
If he attacked her, she would take his dumb ass down.
17
Robert Moss, head of the advisors, came over to see what the hell was going on. The other advisors quickly told him that Jerkins had brought an infected head into the bunker.
Robert Moss was a tall, skinny man who wore a white lab coat. He didn’t have much hair on his head, but his eyebrows made up for that. They were overgrown like his nose hair, making him look quite furry, despite his bald head. He was one of the oldest men here. He’d lived through the Ebola outbreak, and the color drained from the pale man’s face.
He was already wearing latex gloves as if they were part of his morning ritual for getting ready for work, and three pens were neatly lined up in his pocket. This man was a perfectionist, yet he’d let his hair go astray.
Robert reached out for the bag. “May I see inside?” His voice was calm, almost soothing. It sounded unusual with all the chaos around them. Jerkins handed it to Robert without a single word.
Ivan’s silent head would do all the talking now.
Robert put h
is hand into the bag, and General Murray and Jerkins looked at one another in surprise. Robert didn’t pay the two men any attention as they backed away.
Murray took his chance and continued backpedaling. He wanted to get down to Level Six to his son Martin.
Although Robert never looked up, he knew that Murray was moving. “Stop,” he politely requested.
For fuck’s sake! Murray was done with all this Level One nonsense. He hoped he would never have to come up here again.
Robert pulled his hand out of the bag, and there was no trace of blood on his latex gloves. The other advisors watched Robert, waiting for his reaction to the contents of the bag. They didn’t have to wait long.
“It’s not Ebola,” he said, and everyone in the room relaxed visibly, as if they could breathe again. “But I’ve never seen anything like this before. The man’s eyes are red. Has anyone else been infected, or are we currently looking at an isolated case?”
Jerkins turned to Murray, silently prompting him to answer.
Murray shrugged. “This is the first fucked-up head I’ve received in that condition, with the freaky eyes.”
Robert nodded. “We learned a lot from the Ebola outbreak, which brought our bunker down to thirty percent of the original population. Our immortal leader put preventative measures in place to stop another virus from spreading.”
The assembled advisors looked at each other nervously and a murmur rippled through them.
Robert cleared his throat. “Please follow protocol,” he announced as if he’d been prepared to say that sentence for many years. The other scientists stared at Robert grimly.
General Murray wondered what “protocol” was.
Robert clapped his hands together once, and the sharp crack startled the advisors from their stunned surprise.
“Acting fast will save the bunker. Move your asses!” Robert commanded. “We need to contain the virus. Now!”
Madness Unleashed: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Live Free Or Die Book 1) Page 10