“Did the infected leave you alone like they did Rose?” she asked.
John looked up from his oatmeal.
“If I didn’t move or breathe too loud,” I answered.
“So does that mean you’re safe from ‘em?” Chloe pressed.
I thought about it. “From turning, yes. One bit the crap out of Lucas’s shoulder and he’s fine, but we can still die of infection and blood loss.”
I shoved a spoonful of cereal in my mouth while Chloe digested my words. I had to eat fast or else it would be a bowl of mush by the end of her questions.
“Is that why those people took you?” Chloe asked.
I looked at John. What had they told her?
“Yes.”
“How’d they know?” she pressed.
Okay, I was stumped as to what to say to that. I pleaded with my eyes for John to answer that one.
He adjusted his cowboy hat before speaking. “Wyatt found out and sent her to them.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Then I’m glad he’s dead.” She spat on the ground.
“Chloe!” I chastised her.
Me yelling was more of a reaction to the shock of hearing her speak like that than the actual words. Had someone else said them, I wouldn’t have had an issue with it. She’d never spoken like that before. Chloe crossed her arms and walked away in huff.
“Don’t worry,” John said, “I’ll get Ethan to talk to her.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. It was inevitable that people had changed in this new world, but I didn’t want that to happen to Chloe. Maybe I was kidding myself. After all that she’d seen, it would be unavoidable. I sure as hell had changed and I didn’t particularly like myself—or more appropriately—the things I’ve done. Chloe shouldn’t have to go through that too.
I finished my cereal, not really tasting the rest of it, and hurried over to Rose to ask for the map. She tossed it at me, her attention still focused on the cat in Amanda’s arms. A few people had come over to gawk at them like a circus attraction. Having a pet was a luxury of the old world; not one we could afford now.
After I had scooped up the map from where Rose had tossed it, I went to seek out Lucas. He had taken the entire case of beer when we first got back. I wanted to form a plan tonight and leave first thing tomorrow to find the mercenaries compound—to which he needed to be sober for. I checked the hotel room we all had shared last night, but it was empty. I walked by all the open doors, waving to a few people here and there, but still no Lucas. Where could he have gone? What if he took off? My heart dropped at the thought. He was my only hope for finding Zoe. There was nothing really keeping him at the motel. Rose and Leo were technically supposed to be keeping an eye on him, but they both had shirked their duties for a cat and handing out food.
I resisted the urge to run. It would only cause panic if I suddenly bolted across the motel. I started to peer inside the windows of the rooms we hadn’t opened. Nothing. By the time I was done, I had gotten a few curious stares. I landed back at the end of the rooms, near the office. The office. I walked briskly to the office door and pulled it open. The tiny lobby was empty, and the door behind the counter was open.
I let myself in and found Lucas lying on the rundown couch, lengthwise. The beer that was on course for his mouth stopped when he spotted me. He groaned.
“What do you need now?”
I grabbed his boot-clad feet and swung them over to the ground. Lucas let out an annoyed grunt as I plunked myself down on the space I had just created by shoving his feet off the couch. Using the coffee table from the eighties, I spread out the map before us.
“I need you to show me where the compound is,” I said.
He continued to lounge on the couch, even with his feet and calves now hanging off the edge.
“I’m busy.” He took a big drink of his beer. I looked down to see two empties on the floor.
I stared at him. I really wanted to punch him in the face—my hands were already formed into fists.
“You need to stop drinking.”
Lucas snorted. “You my mother now?”
He finished his drink and tossed the bottle next to the other ones. He reached into the case to rummage for a fresh one. Me coming in here demanding things wasn’t going to work. I had to appeal to his sympathetic side, which I wasn’t sure existed, but it was worth a shot. I took a deep breath and swallowed my pride. This wasn’t about me—this was for Zoe.
“Please.” I let my fear for Zoe leak into my voice. “You know what they do, and they have my best friend.”
Lucas’s hand stilled as he was about to twist off the cap of his newest bottle. He pulled himself up to a seated position, then faced the map, placing his unopened bottle on the table next to it.
“You couldn’t let me have a moment of peace?” he muttered.
“Once you help me find her, I’ll leave you alone,” I said. “You can drink yourself into oblivion all you want then.”
He looked at me, then shuffled closer to the map. “It’s kinda hard to see.”
I got up and pulled back the ancient curtains on the only window in the room. It didn’t light up the entire space, but it let in enough that Lucas could read the map. I walked back over to the couch as Lucas started running his finger along one of the arteries.
“Prairieville,” he said. “That’s where the compound I was at is located.”
I sat down beside him again. “Where in Prairieville?”
“One of the newer neighborhoods. Filled with mansion-type houses.”
“How long will it take to get there?”
“If we can use the interstate, ‘bout an hour from here.”
“You remember how to get there from the interstate?”
He shot me a droll look. “O’ course, but they also left some markers to go by.”
“That stupid hand and eye symbol?”
Lucas nodded.
“Why do they use that?” I asked.
“Dunno. I was only with them for a little while before I was shipped off to the hospital. Only met Shawn, their leader, a couple of times before he turned me over.”
I had no right to ask, but I did anyways. “What happened?”
Lucas hesitated for a second as he stared at the unopened beer bottle. “One of the guys on my crew saw me get bit on a run so I had no choice but to tell ‘im I was immune to stop ‘im from puttin’ a bullet in my skull right then and there. The shit sack went straight to Shawn.” Lucas scowled as he recounted the story. “Shawn had ‘em toss me in with a bunch of the dead freaks to prove it. Got torn up pretty bad, but I lived.” He let out a humorless laugh. “I was rewarded for my service by bein’ knocked out cold and shipped off to the place where I had sent others to.”
Kind of sounded like he’d gotten what he deserved, but I didn’t say that out loud. I wasn’t sure why he was telling me this. It sure wouldn’t warm me to him. Maybe that was on purpose, so it would be easier for him to leave. I sure as hell wouldn’t stop him—after I got Zoe back, that is.
I looked from him to the beer propped on the table. “Are you going to be okay to go tomorrow?” I asked.
Lucas leaned back into the couch. “Only got the one case. Gotta make it last.”
I took that as a yes. I folded up the map and got up to leave. Lucas’s feet immediately claimed the space I had vacated.
“I had nothin’ to do with the girls,” Lucas said just before I reached the door. “Just so you know. I wasn’t lyin’ ‘bout that.”
I turned to him. “What about killing innocent people to get to the immune ones?”
His eyes didn’t meet mine, nor did I get an answer. Was he one of the mercenaries who had attacked the apartment the first time around? A chill ran down my spine. I knew he was already in the hospital by the time they had killed everyone and taken Mac, but before that, when they had shot up the place and killed Roy’s daughter, then took his wife — had Lucas been there for that?
I couldn’t go down that pat
h right now. I needed him to get to Zoe. He’d agreed to help mainly because Rose and Leo had guns leveled at him at the time, but he also said he wanted revenge against Shawn. Maybe he wanted redemption as well. Or maybe I was placing some moral fiber in his being that wasn’t there.
Regardless, I was willing to use him until he no longer was of use to me. To ignore his possible crimes until I got what I wanted out of him. If he betrayed us and ran back to this Shawn guy, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. For his sake, he’d better not try anything.
Chapter 26
“Zoe is my friend too. There’s no way I’m not goin’,” Ethan said firmly the next morning.
We were standing outside by the cube van. The sun was barely up in the sky and the air was just a little chilly. Back home this would have been considered summer weather, but in Louisiana, this was cold.
“Ethan, you’re still injured,” I said.
“So are you!” He pointed to my leg.
To be honest, I had completely forgotten about being shot—well, grazed. Between the events at Hargrove, worrying about Zoe and her rescue, and having to find food or risk starving, I had paid no attention to my physical condition. The truth was that I was tired and hurt pretty much everywhere, especially my foot. Once I got Zoe back, I would be locking myself in one of the hotel rooms and sleeping for days. Until then, I couldn’t afford to “take it easy.” I scowled at Ethan for bringing it up.
“Plus, Crystal said I was fine,” he added.
Crystal was with us, her arms crossed. “That’s not what I said. I said that you are more than likely okay if you’re still standing today. That doesn’t mean you should run off and go to war.” Sheri was nodding in agreement, but it was kind of hypocritical of her. She didn’t take it as easy as she should have when she got shot in the kidney.
The thought of Ethan coming with us made me nervous, but I couldn’t stop him. If I were in his shoes—hell, I had been—I would have insisted on going as well. My wounds were physical; his extended past that into the brain with his concussion.
I bit at my lip again for the hundredth time this morning. John had already added to my stress when I explained the flimsy plan to him last night by voicing his extreme concern. I had asked him how his plan to rescue me from the hospital had been any different and he gave me that disappointed parent look. But I had been right. Only the two of them had come after me when Wyatt had spilled the beans about where I had been taken. For all they knew, Wyatt was lying—exactly what John had accused Lucas of.
This siege would be different. We would have more people coming along. Me, John, Lucas, Rose, Leo, Sheri, and now Ethan, made seven. I was no idiot. I knew it was going to be dangerous as we were not only dealing with infected; there was an armed militia out there comprised of really bad men. But that was precisely why I couldn’t just leave Zoe to them. It would be easy to cut my losses and count her for dead, but that was one thing I couldn’t do. John hadn’t done that to me and I wouldn’t do that to Zoe.
And Zoe was my last link to my old life back home. Without her, there was no physical reminder and I found myself thinking less and less of home as time ticked away. Would I ever find my way back to Canada? Would I ever see my parents or brother again? Were they even alive?
Colin interrupted my sad train of thought. “I want to go too. Zoe was hot.”
I rolled my eyes. “You sure as hell aren’t coming.”
“I survived by myself all that time. You really think I can’t handle this?” He was actually angry.
“You can barely stay awake!” I said, then immediately regretted my words.
“Plus you’re a kid.” Roses added some dirt to the wound.
“Screw you guys,” Colin said through clenched teeth. He stormed off, forcing people to move out of his way.
We already had Ethan to worry about; I sure as hell wasn’t taking another person who would be more of a liability than an asset. And it really wouldn’t be good for him. I didn’t know how much time he had left, and I didn’t want to be responsible for cutting it even shorter. Selfish, I know. But a person can only deal with so much at once. One thing at a time.
“You think the kid will listen?” Rose asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. I starting biting at my lips again. At this rate, they were going to be shredded to bits.
“We should get movin’,” Johns said.
Everyone had a weapon. John even hesitantly gave a pistol to Lucas. The look he gave Lucas as he handed over the gun conveyed that should Lucas try anything, John would kill him. It was a chilling look that I wasn’t accustomed to seeing on John’s face. Lucas quickly placed the pistol in his waistband, still opting for the crowbar at his side. I was given an AR15 and a metal bat in addition to my Beretta. I shuffled from foot to foot. We were practically clearing out the guns and ammo, leaving the others with very little.
Henry and his sidekick had a shotgun and another automatic gun between them, and a few more handguns were given to those old enough and skilled enough to carry. Henry had really wanted to come with us to get revenge for his wife, but John talked him into staying. We were putting them in danger by leaving—and taking most of the weapons, to boot, so we needed to make sure someone stayed behind who was capable of leading the group should something happen while we were away. Henry didn’t like it but he understood why. I was still nervous thinking that Chloe and Amanda would be left there, but Henry ensured me that he would look after them with his life.
Chloe was hanging onto Ethan, afraid to let him go. She kept glancing between Ethan and me, like a confused puppy. She was no idiot. She knew something had changed between Ethan and me; she just didn’t know what. When she spotted me looking, she unlatched from Ethan, who was currently exchanging some words with John, and came over to me, her face downcast.
When she finally reached me, she looked up. There were tears in her eyes. I kneeled down and placed a hand on her shoulder. “What’s up with you?”
She looked over at Ethan before answering. “I don’t want him to go. I don’t want you to go.” Her voice was barely loud enough that I could hear.
“Chloe,” I said. “We have to get Zoe back.” I didn’t want to scare her with the details.
“But those men are dangerous!” she said with a few tears crawling down her cheek. “And Ethan is still injured. And so are you.”
I couldn’t blame her for being worried—I was.
“I promise to look after him. I did last time, didn’t I?”
Chloe nodded, remembering my promise to watch out for Ethan when we left the cabin for the first time.
“But you two are fightin’,” she muttered.
“Family fights every now and then. It’s just how it goes. Doesn’t mean I’ll let him do anything stupid.”
“Family …” She trailed off. “Is that what we are now?”
“Of course.” I ruffled her hair lightly.
She didn’t glare at me this time for doing it. Instead, she lunged at me and wrapped me in a big hug. My eyes stung from unshed tears. I didn’t want to start the waterworks before we left. We clung to each other until I had to finally push her away gently.
“Ever heard of a comb?” I said, referring to the mess I’d made of her hair.
She gave me her signature glare and patted down her locks.
“You ready to go?” John asked.
He must have wandered over during my exchange with Chloe. Chloe took off back to Ethan.
“Yep.”
Our extra supplies were secured into the bed of the truck we were taking while the seven of us worked out the truck cab logistics. John would be driving, but Lucas would also be up front to give the directions. And of course, I would be in the middle of the two. Leo, Rose, Sheri, and Ethan would be sharing the back bench seat. Leo and Ethan chose the ends while Sheri and Rose were stuck in the middle.
Sheri was the wildcard. The only time I had ever been out of Hargrove with her was for the gun training and she had gotten s
hot, so I didn’t know how she would handle herself. She took the gunshot like a champ though, which was reassuring.
Once we all crammed in, Henry opened the gate for us. John lurched the truck forward and we were off. I was already uncomfortable sitting in the middle. Thankfully this was an older truck so it didn’t have the center console like the newer ones did. And even better, this one was an automatic with the gearshift on the steering column. No awkward reaching near my legs. Not that there was room to. My AR15 and bat were sitting between my legs and John’s automatic rifle was resting against the side of my left leg.
I snuck a peek at Lucas. He had the map out, but didn’t seem to be looking at it. I had a feeling he knew his way around and was only using it as a prop. I wondered how his shoulder was doing. As much as I hated to admit it, we needed him in top shape. He was useful. Until he’s not. I gave my head a shake to dispel my thoughts.
“Take a left after this right,” Lucas said when we came to the end of the warehouse district.
“Should I be lookin’ for anythin’ in particular?” John asked.
“Anythin’ that says I-10,” Lucas answered.
John was pretty good at avoiding infected. I was glad he had drove rather than Lucas. He would be more cautious. It turned out the east warehouse district we were in was relatively close to the interstate, which made sense. It would be easier for the trucks carrying cargo.
“Take a right here on the 610,” Lucas instructed.
We continued down the multi-lane interstate. After a bit, we came up to an area surrounded by green and ancient trees.
“What is this?” I asked.
I could see the tops of huge oak trees. It looked like a nature reserve.
“City park,” Lucas said, like it was no big deal.
“In the middle of the city?”
“We’re not in the middle of the city, more like north.”
There went my confidence in my directional abilities. Everyone stuck their noises to the windows to watch the beautiful green life pass by. It was like I had been transported back to the cabin. We had traded in a cement jungle for a real one. Then as quickly as we had spotted it, the vibrant green was gone, sending us back to our modern landscape—the barren interstate.
This Would Be Paradise (Book 3) Page 18