by Tera Shanley
“Oh, geez,” Laney muttered. She scanned the room in search of help, but the guards seemed to be trying to keep their distance after her little outburst. “It’s okay. Everything is okay, Adrianna,” she crooned. “Your daddy is just in the other room. You’ll get to see him any minute now.”
Adrianna’s little lip quivered, and tears threatened to spill over to wet her rose-hued cheeks. The look on the child’s face pulled at some deep, long hidden instinct.
“Come here. You want to sit with me? I won’t let them knock into you again.”
The child nodded slowly and crawled up into her lap. She tucked her head snugly against Laney’s shoulder and sniffled softly. Laney rubbed Adrianna’s back soothingly. Surely there wasn’t a wrong way to give a hug, but it had been a long time.
The sitting room was quiet, and she could make out muffled conversation on the other side of the double doors. She sighed in profound relief, both that Adrianna seemed to settle into her arms and that the men in the office seemed to be wrapping up.
“One more thing, sir,” came the muffled voice of a guard. “The outer fence on the east side has a large crack going up the entirety of it. It looks like Deads have been pummeling it, but no one has reported the incident before now. How do you want me to handle it?”
There was a short moment of silence before an authoritative voice answered him. “The repairs are to start immediately and any Deads participating in the behavior are to be put down at once. We don’t need them getting smart on us. Also, I want a list of guards who have had a post on the east side any time in the last three weeks. Someone has to have seen something, and I want to know why it wasn’t reported.”
The man’s muffled voice was intriguing. There was no waver to his orders. No pause or hesitancy in his command, but it was clear he thought his orders out with careful consideration. Sean Daniels was a natural born leader, a man who knew his place in the world.
Laney tried to see him through the thin curtains but could only make out the shapes of three guards’ backs. The man, Daniels, said something too low for her to hear, and the guards all chuckled and started for the door. She straightened back up in an attempt to appear as if she hadn’t been eavesdropping.
“Mona?” the man asked.
That was her cue. “Come on. You ready to see your daddy?” she asked Adrianna.
The little girl jumped up and led Laney by the hand through the doors of the study.
“You!” Laney blurted out, instantly regretting her quicksilver tongue.
Daniels only had eyes for his daughter. Intense blue eyes that Laney hadn’t been able to shake since he’d come to her rescue in the early hours of the morning.
He had Adrianna wrapped in a tight hug when those eyes came to rest on Laney.
“Yes, me. What are you doing here?” he asked gruffly.
“Well, let’s see. I was up in this tree—”
“Not why are you in my colony. I mean what are you doing in my office? And where is Mona?”
“How should I know? I’m not your wife’s keeper.”
“My wife?” Sean asked, clearly taken aback. He adjusted his daughter up onto his hip. “You think Mona is my wife?”
“Well, yeah.” Laney pointed to his wedding ring. “I thought Mona was Adrianna’s mom, or stepmom. Why wouldn’t I assume her mom would be the one taking care of her?”
Sean’s face grew livid, so she backpedaled. “Look. I’m not trying to piss you off. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know.”
Daniels glared at her and then did an impressive job of ignoring her, choosing instead to focus on the reunion with his daughter. Laney took a seat in the furthest corner of the room. She felt every bit the intruder for witnessing such a tender moment between the stranger and his child, so she picked up a book from an end table and pretended to read.
“You like The Art of War?” Daniels asked as he set his daughter at his desk to spin her slowly in the chair. Adrianna giggled softly and held tightly to the armrests.
“If you can call war an art,” she responded, confused by his question.
“No, I mean the book.”
She flipped the book over to read the title and was legitimately happy to find that at least the book wasn’t upside down. She cleared her throat. “Not much of a reader, I’m afraid. Not much time, what with the zombie killing and all.”
“My wife is gone,” he said, surprising her with the change in direction. From the look on his face, he had surprised himself as well.
“Sorry to hear that.”
He nodded curtly. “Why did Mona bring you to meet with me?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. She just said she thought we should talk.”
Sean looked at her blankly until anger flashed across his face. “If she thinks she is playing matchmaker, she couldn’t be further off the mark on what would interest me.”
That was a slap in the face. Why did he say the cruelest things he could think of? And how did he know her most painful insecurities? She was determined not to let him see he’d hurt her, but the careless venom of his words left a welt on her pride.
“I should go,” she said quietly. She rose to leave and reached for the door handle.
Sean growled, a frustrated and angry sound. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all.
She turned angrily at the door. “You know, I didn’t know you were Sean Daniels. If I knew it was you leading this colony, I never would have come to your office. I like Mona, though, and she insisted I speak with you. It’s not like it is on my bucket list to shack up with a man who clearly hates me. You jacked up my face with your helmet and you completely humiliated me in front of my own team and a group of total strangers.” Her voice hitched embarrassingly, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “You obviously had someone you cared for deeply.” She waved her hand in Adrianna’s direction. “Well, so did I. You aren’t the only one suffering a loss, Mr. Daniels. I may not be your type, but I was someone’s type and I don’t deserve to be treated as cruelly as you have done today. And what is that smell?”
Sean opened his mouth to reply but frowned and shut it again. “What smell?” he asked. He was a wise man for choosing to only hit on the final part of her speech.
“It reeks of Deads in here. Not just in here but all over your colony. Do you bury their bodies inside the gates?”
“You can smell Deads at a distance?” He leaned over the desk on his knuckles, and the position made his triceps flex under his tight black cotton shirt. His appeal only made her angrier.
“Yeah, it’s a gift,” she said sarcastically.
“We bury the bodies a mile outside of the colony. There has never been a Dead inside. Not since we finished building the gates. Maybe you smell the ones outside of the gates. That I can’t help you with. We don’t have an unlimited supply of ammo.”
“It wouldn’t be this strong. Usually I get a break when we hole up in a colony. The smell is as strong as ever inside your gates, though.”
“Maybe it’s me,” he said, looking completely unembarrassed. “It was a long supply run. It’ll probably take a few showers to get all of the Dead reek off of me.”
Every muscle in her body froze like a snake on a cold day as Sean walked deliberately toward her. He stopped directly in front of her and waited.
“What are you doing?” she asked through clenched teeth.
“Smell me.”
She leaned slowly forward and took in his clean scent, finding momentary relief from the nausea. “Homemade shampoo,” she murmured as she repressed a shudder.
“What?”
“You smell like soap and homemade shampoo.” She looked down so he wouldn’t see the heat rising in her cheeks.
Sean shrugged and moved back behind his desk. He pulled Adrianna into his lap and rocked the chair slightly as she snuggled against him. “I don’t know what to tell you. We don’t have Deads in the colony. Maybe your nose is wrong.”
She sighed, tired and defeated. �
�It must be. It was nice to meet you. Adrianna,” she clarified. She waved to the little girl who waved shyly back and then left the room without another word. Sean hadn’t earned a “have a nice life” from her.
“What was your name again?” Sean called after her as she picked her way through the crowded sitting room.
“You can call me Landry,” she said over her shoulder. She didn’t bother turning around and stayed her course.
Sean’s voice wafted across the muffled conversations around her. “Landry?” It was closer than before and held a note of interest in it.
Great.
“I heard a rumor about a girl named Landry.”
She turned slowly. Everyone’s attention had become directed at her. Sean was leaning against the open door frame, looking like a runway model with way too many articles of clothing still on. Damn, he was hot.
“Call me a girl again and I’ll bust your lip,” she said sweetly.
“Okay, all right. Retract the claws,” Sean said over the whistles and murmurs of the waiting guards. “I heard a rumor of a woman named Landry.”
She shrugged noncommittally. “Lots of Landrys out there.”
“Hmmm,” Sean said, his eyes narrowing to ocean blue slits. “Makes more sense for why Mona sent you in here. So, yes, I’ll take you up on your offer.”
“What offer?”
“You know, the one where you said you wanted to have dinner with me tonight.”
The noise level from the guards enjoying the show was getting ridiculous. And there Sean stood, leaned against the door frame, scratching his forehead with the back of his thumb, the smirk on his face all but dripping with confidence. She wanted to kick him right in the sack.
“No thanks. You’re not my type,” she dished and turned back for the exit.
“See you around six, then. Don’t be late!” he called after her through the laughter.
She flipped him off over her shoulder and disappeared into the hallway. She was shaking, her fists clenched at the anger that burned in her gut. She had spoken the truth. Sean wasn’t her type. In fact, he was absolutely nothing like Adam. Adam. The thought cut through her like a knife. Why were her memories so bound and determined to haunt her lately?
She shook her head like it would put her demons back into their cages. She needed to find Jarren and the rest of her team.
Backtracking, she escaped from Sean’s house. A quick, indirect glance at the sun said it was about one in the afternoon. She sighed in relief at being alone with her thoughts at last.
“You know you actually have to show up for dinner with him, right?” a deep voice drawled beside her.
She jumped and clutched her chest. She must have been exhausted to let a yeti like Finn sneak up on her like that. She had completely forgotten about her watchdog.
“I’ll have to check my schedule, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be sleeping.” She hadn’t the first clue where to look for her team, but there was no way in Hades she was swallowing her pride enough to ask the hulk behind her. West was as good a direction as any.
“Look, Mr. Daniels is head honcho around here. If he gives an order, it would be in your best interest to follow it.”
“I suck at following orders,” she said, taking a sharp right between two stone buildings.
“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.”
“I miss when you used to be silent.”
“Are you always this unpleasant?”
“Not generally, no.” She stopped to regroup. She had come to the entrance of several massive gardens.
Finn sighed loudly. “All you had to do was ask for directions. This way.”
She glared at his retreating back and, for lack of a better plan, followed. The stench of Deads grew stronger, if that was even possible, and she stifled a gag. Something wasn’t right. Her focus was taken with the appearance of a very angry man in military dress, stomping dramatically their way.
“Fantastic,” Finn muttered. “Try to behave.”
“Who is he?” she whispered.
“Second in command.”
The man was stout, with light hair shorn close to his head. His eyes were dark, and the color of his face would give a cherry tomato a run for its money. She became instantly enamored with a bulging vein at his temple. She could see his pulse! This was a man with little control over his temper.
“What is she doing here?” the man barked. “And why wasn’t I notified of her presence in the colony?”
She held out her hand. “Laney Landry, pleased to meet you,” she said with as much pestering cheer as she could muster.
The man’s vein bulged even bigger. He looked at her hand as if it were full of pickled dog nuggets. She pursed her lips against a laugh.
Finn sounded genuinely confused. “I’m not sure why you weren’t notified, sir. She has been here for hours. Daniels brought her in this morning, along with the rest of her team.”
“Daniels is here too? Heads will roll for this, make no mistake. Keep her out of trouble, and for heaven’s sake, keep her away from the gardens! We don’t need her stealing colony food.” The man did an about-face and stomped off the way he came. To roll some heads probably.
“I feel like I’ll make fast friends with him,” she said.
“I doubt it,” Finn muttered as he watched the man disappear around the corner of a building. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“What doesn’t?”
“I have no guess where Erhard could have possibly been all day that he didn’t know of your arrival. Or Daniels’.”
“Hmm. Is he left out of the loop often?”
“No, never. It’s his job to be in the loop. He runs this place when Daniels is gone.”
She shrugged, unwilling to put too terribly much thought into affairs that didn’t concern her. “Whatever. Let’s go find my team. It stinks over here.”
Finn shot her a puzzled glance. “I don’t smell anything.”
“Lucky you.”
Finn led her back toward a group of buildings about a quarter of a mile away. “Are you really Laney Landry?”
“The one and only.”
He let it rest. “We’ll check the mill first and then the stables and barn. There is always plenty of work for outsiders. I bet your team is working at one of them.”
They found Jarren hauling burlap sacks of flour at the mill. Mitchell and Guist were helping to clean up after the massive quantity of livestock the colony housed and bred. Jarren sent Laney to find Guist and told her he’d catch up after he finished his work. Guist had food for her, and she sat on a hay bale to eat as the men kept pace mucking out stalls and cleaning filthy pig pens. An utterly pointless task, if you asked her.
Her team didn’t bat an eyelash at Laney’s eating habits, but Finn couldn’t seem to resist. “How can you eat in here?” he asked. “It smells like animal crap.”
“Better animals than Deads,” she said between bites. The barn was an unquestionably immeasurable relief from the stench outside.
“Your pack is almost resupplied,” Guist said from a few stalls away.
He was hidden, but dirty hay flew into a wheelbarrow that sat outside of the stall he was working on.
“Already?” She shouldn’t have been surprised. Guist was positively meticulous about having their packs together. “Thanks, Guist. You’re the man.” She unzipped her pack and rifled through it.
Finn glanced curiously at her pack, so she showed him a few necessities he might not have considered, being a guard and not a fighter. Flint and twine stored in a tic-tac case. A small plastic bag of pistachio shells that provided a fast-burning and oily tinder for fires. A small leather pocket of fishing line and colorful hand-made flies.
Laney came across her newly full clips. “Where did you find ammo so quickly?” she asked Guist. That had to be some sort of record for him. She’d worry about him except he’d been running on robot mode since the day she and Jarren met him.
“I got lucky and found a good gunsmi
th right off.”
“Smith?” Finn asked him.
“Yeah. Does he do the guard’s ammo?”
“Sure does. He’s the best. Colony got lucky when he wandered in here.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Smith?” Laney asked with a grin. “A gunsmith named Smith? Huh.”
Finn chuckled as Guist started hauling the wheelbarrow toward them. “I’m supposed to meet back with Smith in a couple of hours about some tracer ammo.”
Laney gulped a bite. “Don’t you tease me, Guist.”
He laughed as he hauled the soiled hay outside. With Jarren and Mitchell, he always tried to find their favorite available road snack. For her, he didn’t try to track down chocolate, or magazines, or beauty products. Tracer ammo was her favorite treat.
She yawned so hard her jaw popped. The nap she had taken earlier hadn’t been nearly long enough to make up for all she had put her body through. She was safe enough with her team so near, and the scent of living, furred flesh instead of the decaying stench of death had her comfortable enough to curl up on the hay bale that had served as her lunch table and fall promptly asleep.
Chapter Five
JARREN SHOOK HER GENTLY AWAKE. “Seems you’ve made an awesome first impression, as usual.”
Laney sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. “What have I done now?” she asked testily as she removed pieces of straw from her hair.
“I was just notified by a very upset Drake Erhard that our team is supposed to leave immediately. Apparently he is second in command here and can do that.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, since I have a dinner date with the first in command at six o’clock, Erhard can suck it.”
“Oh, so you are going to dinner now?” Finn asked from a few bales to her left.
“I suppose if it’s the only way to keep us here until morning, I will make the sacrifice.”
Finn shook his head and sighed. Mitchell and Guist were both eating on a wooden bench, and Jarren studied her with a worried furrow in his brow.
“We came here for a reason, remember?” her brother pointed out.
“Well, we better find some kind of scientist and quick because our time in this colony is limited,” she said. “I met a doctor while I was quarantined. Maybe we can talk to him and he can steer us in the right direction. He seemed nice enough.”