by Tera Shanley
“Get out,” her rescuer demanded curtly.
Mitchell and Guist exited the Hummer behind them, and an intangible weight lifted from her shoulders. A group of heavily armed men descended upon them and searched the undercarriages of the Hummers immediately. Laney and Jarren were pinned against the wall, and after a shocked moment, Mitchell and Guist received similar treatment. The rescue team from the Hummers removed articles of their clothing, and Laney’s rescuer glared at her team with annoyance written on every one of his features.
“Take your clothes off,” he barked.
Panic rose in her throat. “What?”
He sighed in obvious frustration. “Have to check for bites. You don’t get through that last gate until we make sure you aren’t turning Dead on us.”
“Surely you can cut her a break though,” Mitchell said in a dangerous tone. “She’s a woman. She shouldn’t have to strip down in front of everyone.”
She turned a panicked look on Jarren. What about the healing bite on her side? They’d kill her when they saw it.
The angry leader narrowed his eyes and stepped closer. He was stripped down to his cargo pants, and she tried to keep her gaze professionally on his face and not on his sculpted physique.
“Are you afraid we’ll want to look at your body? Is that the problem? Because if so I can assure you, you don’t have to flatter yourself. I think I can speak for all of the men here when I say we like our women softer. A little more…” He hesitated, as if he were searching for the right word. “Womanly,” he finished. “Take your clothes off.”
Burning heat crept into her cheeks. She had never been so embarrassed in all of her life. To make matters worse, all of these strange men were laughing cruelly at her, and the man she found so intimidatingly attractive had just hit squarely onto her biggest insecurity.
Jarren started toward the man with a dangerous look in his eyes, but she caught his arm and shook her head. It wouldn’t solve anything. She unbuckled her vest of weapons and shrugged out of it. Her team turned away and started undressing.
Turning her back to the waiting crowd of men, she faced the wall to finish removing her clothes. When her shirt was in the pile beside her, the men started murmuring to each other. It could have been the huge peacock tattoo that snaked from her shoulder blade to her opposite hip, the plume of bright green and blue feathers snaking around her hipbone that could have caused their reaction. More likely it was the crusty bandage that wrapped around her waist.
Vulnerable, Laney crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to cover up. She chose to focus on the grout between two cinder blocks in front of her face. The subtle click of a gun and cold metal that pushed through the gathered hair in the back of her head created the most terrifying sensation.
“What is this?” the blue-eyed man demanded.
His lips were so close she could feel his warm breath tickle the fine hairs on the back of her neck when he spoke.
“A tattoo.”
“Don’t be a smart ass. You know what I mean.”
Jarren stared at the cinder blocks beside her as if they held the answer they needed. Mitchell was resting his head on the wall, watching her with intense brown eyes. She could see the fear in them.
“I shot her,” Mitchell spoke up, never taking his eyes from hers.
The gun stayed its position on the back of her head. “Why would you shoot her?”
“It was an accident. It happened last week while we were fighting Deads.”
“Take the bandage off.”
Laney hesitated. She didn’t want to remove her arms from her chest.
“Do it!” the man yelled so loudly that she jumped.
Her lip trembled embarrassingly as she removed the bandage with shaking hands. The steady hum of murmured questions picked up again as she painfully pried the clingy bandage off the healing wound.
The man shoved her head into the cinder block wall with the barrel of the gun. The rough surface scraped painfully on the gash at her temple.
“Looks like a bite to me. In fact it looks exactly like a Dead bite. I’ve seen them a hundred times.”
Jarren jumped into action. “Wait, wait, wait! Think about it!” He held his hands up in surrender as he sidled closer to Laney. Ten guns trained on him instantly. “Look at all of the scabbing. Look at it! That wound is a week old and a quarter healed. She would be turned by now.”
“I’ve seen people stall before turning,” the man argued.
“But how long?”
“An hour.”
“Okay. We’ve been with you for well over an hour and she is still human.”
The man hesitated. Laney could almost hear him grinding his teeth. He loosened his grip and kneeled down to look closely at the wound. “What kind of gun?” he asked Mitchell.
Mitchell spoke up, void of hesitation. “Shotgun, sir.”
“I didn’t see a shotgun in your weapons pile.”
“Lost it, sir. Right after I shot her.”
“Shotgun seems inefficient for a fighter’s weapon. You have to reload too often.”
“It was my father’s, sir,” Mitchell lied smoothly. “Had sentimental value to me.”
“Must have been tragic to lose it then,” the man said sarcastically. His instincts were spot on. No doubt he smelled a rat but he was unable to argue with facts. And the fact was, she was still human, which should have been impossible if she had been bitten so long before.
“Put her in quarantine for a few hours to be safe. I want two guns on her at all times.”
She was allowed to dress again but was denied all of her weapons. They were led through the final gate and greeted with the chaos and jovial exclamations that came with a returning supply run team. How long had their rescuers been gone and how far had they been forced to travel to fill the Hummers?
She was flanked by two guards who dragged her unnecessarily to an outlying set of buildings. She stumbled, trying to get a better view of the homecoming. The happiness and relief that radiated from the masses was infectious, and she yearned for more of it like a drug. It seemed the blue-eyed man was very well-liked and his face transformed as he spoke to friends and received “welcome homes” and pats on the back. He went out of his way to greet every person and even stopped to ruffle the hair on a few little boys. The children positively glowed under his attention. His face only changed back to a mask of unhappiness when he came to one searching woman. He became serious, a blanket of sadness seeming to settle over him as he took her gently by the arm to find privacy. She must have been Reynolds’s woman.
Laney lost sight of them as she was led to a medical building. The biting sadness nagged at her. She didn’t have to imagine what the woman was going through as the men broke the news to her. She’d been through it before. Laney had survived, as the woman would, but she hadn’t wanted to.
A middle-aged man with glasses and a receding hairline greeted them. He was tall and skinny as a rail, but his easy smile, clear eyes, and relaxed nature screamed health and vitality.
“Got orders to quarantine her for a few hours,” one of her guards explained.
“Heavens, why on earth is she to be quarantined?” the doctor asked, concern growing on his countenance.
“Show him,” the guard ordered.
Laney lifted her shirt, and the doctor’s face went pale. “Why would you let her into the colony?”
“Relax, Doc. She passed gate inspection. The wound is old. The quarantine is just a precaution. Besides, if she even looks at you wrong, we’ll shoot her.”
The guard sounded a little too eager for comfort, but Doc had already recovered and was poking around the wound.
“This could use some antibiotics.”
“You have antibiotics?” she asked.
“Nope, not since the first year,” he said through a grin. “I was just pointing out that you could use them. What happened?”
“I was shot,” she rushed.
“All right, and what about the ha
nd?”
Laney looked down at her un-bandaged hand, which had never had the chance to close with all of the action the past couple of days had brought. “Cut it on glass.”
“And your head?”
“One of your welcoming committee threw a helmet.”
“Ah, yes. Some of our boys have a bit of a temper around outsiders.”
She remembered her rescuer’s furious eyes. Temper was a colossal understatement.
“Well, you boys can take a seat over there.” Doc motioned toward a row of chairs near the back wall. “This young lady needs some stitches.” He pulled out some antiseptic wipes and looked at her critically. “Maybe a shower first.”
The shower was glorious. Granted, it was a blue tarp with tiny pinholes poked into it that dribbled depressingly slow streams of mountain-cold water when a bucket was poured over it, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so relaxed. Well, when she could ignore the guards who watched her like hawks on a rat. The thin curtains around the shower area surely didn’t hide much. They had already seen her goods at the gate, though, so she tried her best to ignore them and enjoy the clean, fresh water sprinkling over her like a spring rain. Doc even graced her with a healthy dollop of what smelled like homemade shampoo.
Stitches were an unpleasant follow-up to her ten minutes of pure bliss.
Doc was close to being finished with stitching her hand when an older woman came in. Laney liked her right away. The woman’s laugh was infectious, and she didn’t glare at Laney as if she were a tarantula. The woman had long gray hair and laughing blue eyes that looked like they would crinkle in the corners when she was amused.
“I’m Mona,” the woman said. She handed Laney a pair of cotton pants and an old, comfortable shirt. “I’ll have your other clothes washed and dried before your quarantine is over,” she promised. She turned to leave, but paused. “What’s your name?”
Laney hesitated. Reactions to revealing who she was always varied, and she wanted Mona to like her.
The woman smiled knowingly. “I already know who you are, dear. I just want you to confirm it.”
She sighed. “Laney. Laney Landry.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Laney.”
Doc offered her a cot, and she fell asleep almost immediately, only barely able to resist the urge to zombie moan at her guards who scowled at her as she made herself comfortable. She wouldn’t miss them when her quarantine was over.
Just as Mona promised, she came through with the newly laundered clothing, along with the news that Laney could leave the medical building, on grounds that she hadn’t tried to eat anyone as of yet. “You have to keep one of your guards, though,” Mona informed her as she scurried to get redressed.
Laney grumbled but conceded. Every leader was different and every colony followed different rules. Apparently rule number one for Denver was don’t trust outsiders as far as you can throw them. And when one gets the chance…throw them.
“Can I at least pick who I get?”
“I don’t see why not,” Mona said, smiling.
Laney squinted her eyes and treated her pick every bit like the beginnings of a terrible schoolyard kickball team.
“I’ll take Chuckles over there.” She pointed to the stone-faced man who hadn’t said a word.
“Thank God,” the other guard said and left without preamble.
Laney glared after him in annoyance.
“I think it’s time you met our fearless leader properly,” Mona said, opening the door for her.
“Fantastic. I can’t wait,” Laney said sarcastically. She squinted into the bright sunlight. Damn, she wished she could have slept awhile longer. The exhaustion still pulled heavily at her injured and sleep-deprived body. She was so hungry that her stomach had finally given up on being fed, and now felt queasy instead of famished. If she knew her team, though, they were already trading and working for food and supplies for their next run. They always refilled quickly in case they needed to bolt. She just had to find one of them and mooch a meal.
“Come on, then,” Mona said, no doubt seeing the look of escape on Laney’s face. “He doesn’t want to meet with you, so we will have to be clever about it.”
“Great!” Laney said. “Neither one of us wants to meet, so let’s just not.”
Mona gave her a patient look. “I think it’s important you two talk.”
Laney bit her lip and held her tongue. She had a feeling Mona might be nice about it, but in the end this woman would still get what she wanted. Laney recognized a stubborn streak when she saw one.
She followed Mona down a gravel path between buildings. People were gathered in small groups, talking and throwing unhappy looks in her direction. Laney sped to catch up to the fast-paced older woman. She wouldn’t be much good in a fight, but one warning glance from Mona was keeping the lynch mob at bay.
They came to a tall, stone-bricked building in the middle of the colony, and Mona stopped so abruptly that Laney ran into her. “Sorry,” she murmured.
Mona glanced at her with a hint of worry overshadowing her bravado. “Do try to act normal, dear.”
“Oh, you mean like—” Laney waved her arms slowly in front of her and moaned “—braaaaaaaains.”
Mona stifled a giggle and swatted her hands down. “Do that in here and you’ll likely get yourself shot. Again.”
“Right. Best behavior. Got it.”
Mona arched an eyebrow skeptically but turned to nod at the guards posted on either side of a thick wooden door. “She’s with me. She’s here to talk to Sean.”
To Laney’s surprise, the guards let them pass without delay, and she looked at Mona with a renewed curiosity as they went down a long hall that boasted several closed doors. They walked until they came to one with another set of guards posted in front. The armed men quickly opened the door for Mona and stepped aside to let them pass.
Laney straightened her shirt and steeled herself. She could probably teach a class in bad first impressions. Sean Daniels had better be ready.
Chapter Four
WHATEVER LANEY HAD EXPECTED to be behind that door, it wasn’t what she in fact encountered. The entire room was filled with jungle gyms, miniature art tables, and brightly colored bins of toys scattered all over the floor. There were strings of finger-painted pictures hung up to dry and an entire wall devoted to drawings created by children. And right smack dab in the middle of that room was a dark-headed little girl with the biggest and most compelling brown eyes Laney had ever seen on a three-year-old.
“Mona!” the child cried when she noticed the older woman. She flew up from the table where she’d been sitting with a man in military garb, and charged Mona for a hug.
The man stood and nodded respectfully to Mona before he took his post in the corner of the room.
“Thank you for watching her while I was away, Brian.”
“Anytime,” the man replied with a smile.
“Look, Mona,” the child said excitedly. “Look what Brian drawed.”
Mona examined the paper. “Oh, good. He’s teaching you how to draw AK-47s.” She gave Brian a mock glare, and he repaid her by shrugging his shoulders remorselessly.
Mona turned back to the child. “Are you ready to go see Daddy?”
The sheer amount of noise that came from the heart-happy child was almost startling. This little girl apparently had a very loving family if the noise of celebration coming from her lips was any indication. She and Jarren used to get excited like that when Dad would come home from work. The recollection was unexpected and painful and Laney shut it down. Giving those memories a voice was weakness. Nothing could be done about the people that were gone.
“This way,” Mona said as she opened the door.
Mona and the child chatted happily with the ease of long-term companionship. Laney and her guard followed behind them as Mona led them to another hallway.
“What’s your name?” Laney asked the thickly muscled guard who seemed to be trying his best t
o avoid her attention.
“Finn,” he said in a deep voice.
Laney arched her eyebrow dubiously. The bruiser looked like a Finn about as much as she looked like a Tiffany. His face was stern and serious. Definitely not joking then.
“Okay. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Finn.”
The I’ll probably shake you within the hour wasn’t said. She didn’t tend to keep guards for long, but Finn didn’t need to know that.
The hallway opened up to an entryway. She stopped in surprise. This must have been the Denver leader’s home. The walls were painted in shades of browns and greens, with lonesome landscape paintings hung in the hallways. The dark wood floors had taken a beating, but it only added to the masculinity of the home. A stairway lead to a second floor, and the furniture in the living area off the entryway was dark and functional. Mona motioned for Laney to sit in one of the chairs. The murmur of voices came from a set of French doors off the living space. The double doors were adorned with thin, ivory-colored curtains. His office.
Three more guards filed in and waited for their turn to talk to the colony leader.
“Wait here,” Mona directed Laney and the child and walked to the office doors.
The little girl stood directly in front of Laney and studied her with a curious expression.
“Hello, there,” she tried. “I’m Laney. What’s your name?”
“Adrianna,” Mona answered for the girl. Apology was already written on the woman’s face. “Sean will be with you in a few minutes. Adrianna, you stay with Ms. Laney.”
“Wait, you’re leaving her here with me? But I don’t know anything about kids!”
“Good luck,” Mona said as she retreated back to the hallway they came from.
Face down a horde of zombies? That was just another Tuesday. The thought of entertaining a child, however, brought on the cold sweats.
Another group of guards came into the sitting area, and Adrianna fidgeted nervously as the room became crowded. When one of the men shifted his weight and bumped into the small girl, Laney reached out to steady Adrianna and unleashed a verbal lashing the guard wouldn’t soon forget. The little girl’s solemn brown eyes were filling with tears.