Cool metal snapped around her wrists, jerking her arms up around her ears. Handcuffs, looped around an exposed rafter. She caught a glimpse of Simon in her periphery and charged him, a feral scream ripping from her throat, but the chain jerked her back. It was a trap, one that Kelsey and Simon had planned far in advance.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Saving Erling,” Simon answered smugly.
“Don’t be stupid. If that horde gets inside, nothing will stop them.”
“He promised the horde will move on once the Alpha kills you.” Kelsey emerged from the trap door in the floor. “I told him we’d finish you off ourselves, but he wants to see what you’re made of. Literally.”
“You’re both crazy. Let me go!” Sanna surged forward as far as the chains would allow.
Kelsey took a step back, startled. She recovered. “I saw what he could do. His Infected ran down some deer like a pack of wolves and then he called them off like that.” She snapped her fingers. “He said you could’ve done the same last summer but instead you let everyone die.”
“Just like what happened at the lake,” Simon whispered in her ear. “Jace and Trevor are gone because of you.”
Sanna rocked her head back, colliding with his nose. Bone and cartilage crunched. He moaned, doubling over, and Sanna landed a sharp kick to his stomach.
“Stop it!” Kelsey cried.
A dagger bit into Sanna’s throat, drawing blood. Kelsey stood in her periphery; her lips pressed into a trembling frown. She looked young, scared, and so much like her older sister, Tess, that Sanna froze.
“Tess is dead because of you. You could’ve saved her.” Kelsey’s her voice wavering. Once you’re gone, we’ll be safe. The horde will go away.”
“He’s lying,” Sanna tried to face her, but the chains were too taut. “I’m not like him—whoever he is—I can’t control the infected.”
“That’s not what Tess said—”
“I tried to save her!”
“Tess saw everything, remember?” The dagger disappeared from Sanna’s throat, leaving a line of warmth trickling down to her neck. Kelsey moved in front of her, well out of reach. She peeled off her glove and pressed her finger to the dagger’s edge. “That mutant Alpha—or whatever it was—tasted you, then bit her instead. Infected her. You should’ve been infected to, yet here you are. Perfectly healthy. Like always.” She squeezed a few drops onto the floor. “This is how the Alpha will find you. She knows my scent.”
A stinking cloth looped around Sanna’s face, pressing against her lips. She gritted her teeth, thrashing her head. Simon’s fist slammed into her ribs. She gasped. The cloth jammed into her mouth like a bit.
“Just think of it in terms of numbers,” Simon said, his voice nasally thanks to his busted nose. “You in exchange for everyone else. Whelp,” he finished tying the gag tight and clapped her shoulder. “It’s been nice knowing you.”
He strode over to the trapdoor and winked at Sanna before starting down the ladder, blood streaming down his nostrils. Kelsey followed.
“Please, don’t do this!” Sanna begged, her words garbled by the gag.
Kelsey paused at the threshold, a sad smile flickering across her face. “Tess was so excited for her first mission. She really believed in you. They all did.”
She climbed down the ladder, closing the trap door shut behind her. A padlock slipped into place on the other side.
Tears stung Sanna’s eyes. She screamed into the rag, struggling against the chains until her throat was raw and sweat dripped from her brow. It was no use. No one would hear her. And even if they did, she doubted they’d come to her rescue.
The whole village hated her. Blamed her. And they had ever reason to.
Her knees buckled. She hung by her arms, her toes scraping the floor. Perhaps Kelsey was right. Maybe the Alpha should kill her, if it would keep Erling safe.
She could still see their faces. Carlo. Lia. Zeke. Tess. Ghosts now, summoned thanks to Kelsey’s damning words. They’d spent their childhood training together, becoming the perfect team, only to have it end in a single, blood-soaked weekend.
She could still hear Carlo’s deep, easy laugh. Lia calling out the number of the Infected she’d taken down during their silly competitions. Zeke had been new to their team. Quiet. Thoughtful. And Tess...A hard lump formed in Sanna’s throat. Tess had been her best friend. Her lieutenant. The bravest person she’d ever met.
And Sanna couldn’t save any of them.
Tess was in the raving stage of the infection and the only other survivor by the time they got back to Erling. She’d told everyone that Sanna had drawn the mutant horde to them. That she was one of them in disguise. The Lieutentant had dismissed the girl’s ramblings but the other villagers never looked at Sanna the same way again.
And they were right. First Sanna endangered her team, and now a whole horde was gathering to attack Erling. All because of her. She wasn’t a hero. She was a murderer. A coward. And worthy only of death.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“WHATEVER HAPPENED TO consent?” Kai asked, his quiet voice masking his inner rage as he crept into the back of the clinic. His shirt sleeve was hiked up, exposing the white bandage around the crux of his elbow. “I thought I had to agree to this.”
“You avoided it long enough,” Theo muttered, peering into his microscope. “Besides, you were asleep.”
“Because of whatever crap that witch into that tea she gave me! My head feels like it was
stuffed with.... feathers or something.”
“Hmmm.” Theo leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin. “Are you sure that’s the drugs?”
Kai balled his fists at his side, wanting nothing more than to punch the doctor in his dumb face. “How long was I out, anyway?”
“About...oh, I don’t know. Eight hours. I’d say. It’s dusk, now.”
He already knew that. The darkness spreading across the skylight had filled him with a terrible dread the moment he woke up. “Where’s Sanna? Why isn’t she back yet?”
Theo switched the slides. “I don’t know. I guess she must’ve gotten caught up in something. Haven and I have been swamped.”
“This is insane,” Kai headed for the front door. “I’m gonna go find her.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Theo said, rearing up from the scope. “Haven is with a patient in the lobby.”
Kai pivoted. “Then I’ll go out the back.”
“They’ll find you, Kai, and all four of us will end up in the dungeon. Just stay put. Haven or I will go and find her after the clinic closes. If anything, she’s locked in her bedroom or something. Nobody will hurt her. They probably couldn’t even if they wanted to.”
“I hate this.” Kai sighed and slumped into nearest chair.
“Yeah. Patience isn’t something the Inferno’s known for, is it?” Theo returned to his work. “There’s some food on the table, help yourself.”
“Actually,” Kai reached tore off a chunk of bread and stuffed it into his mouth, then moved onto a wedge of cheese. “We were pretty good at waiting for the right moment. You have to if you’re outnumbered and outgunned.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Theo said, suddenly. “Haven grabbed your pack from the Tavern. It should be under the table. Don’t ask me how she did it. That girl is a bigger mystery than Sanna’s blood.”
Kai glanced under him and spotted the familiar army-green canvas, which made him feel slightly better. He finished his meal in silence, while Theo shuffled the slides under his scope and scribbled into a leatherbound notebook. Occasionally he mumbled to himself about “breakthroughs” and “discoveries,” but never elaborated as to what that might be.
Frankie yawned and rolled onto his back, exposing his fluffy white belly. He hadn’t left his spot on the hearth since this morning. His pink tongue lolled out the side of his mouth in complete abandon.
“What if all this is a sign?” Theo wondered, tossing down his pen. “What if t
he pandemic is finally winding down? It’s been almost two-hundred years. Our population is nearing extinction.”
“Don’t sound too excited now,” Kai unbuckled his pack. “Quacks like you have been saying that for years.”
“It’s basic epidemiology. Once the host population gets below a critical number, the virus won’t be able to spread effectively. It will either have to mutate or die out.”
“Like when we all thought the stage twos were turning into humans again because their eyes healed but they became Alphas instead?” Kai took out the items one by one: rope, waterproof tarp, flint, compass. Sadly, his axe and bedroll were missing. Thieving bastards. “A lot of people were turned because of that mistake.”
“Uh-huh,” Theo flipped through pages, already lost in thought.
Kai squeezed the side pockets of his pack. The money he’d sewn in there crunched. Between them and Haven’s bracelets, he could easily afford to replace what was stolen. He checked over his bow and wondered if he could scrounge up a few arrows before leaving.
Haven burst in from the hallway. Her brilliant smile was at odds with red splattered over her apron. “Rory—the blacksmith apprentice had a bit of gory accident. I nearly called you.” She crossed over to the hearth, stepping over Frankie, and poured herself a cup of tea. “The poor girl was practically green when I stitched her. I thought she was going to fall flat any minute.”
Theo scowled. “You should have gotten me.”
“It was nothing I couldn’t handle,” Haven said as she pulled her dark hair free from its ponytail. “Besides, I didn’t want to interrupt your important work.”
“Interrupt what?” Theo shook his head, Haven’s sarcasm flying right over him. “What could we possibly have to talk about that’s more important than the safety of a patient?”
“Wait,” Haven’s grin faded the moment her gaze landed on Kai. “I thought you guys would be gone by now.”
“Sleeping Beauty just woke up,” Theo said, looking up from the four books spread across his desk. “You should really measure your sedatives better.”
“She hasn’t been back? At all?”
Theo blinked. “No?”
“I think she’s in trouble—” Kai said.
“Of course, she’s in trouble!” Haven untied her apron and jammed it into a laundry basket. “Theo, why didn’t you go look for her?”
“Well someone had to keep an eye on our little murderer.” Theo glared at Kai. A siren blared, jolting all of them.
“What was that?” Kai said.
“A horde. One must have been spotted.”
“Maybe it’s the same one that followed you guys here,” Theo’s brow furrowed, his gaze drifting to the frosted window. “Very interesting. I’m gonna take a peek.”
He scurried out the back door, leaving them.
Haven threw a red coat over her shoulders. “We have to find Sanna now.”
“I’m coming too.” Kai hurried to grab his coat from the other room before she could object. There was no way he was staying behind. He met Haven by the front door. She jammed a scarf in his direction.
“Cover your face, at least. We’ll split up. I’ll search our house; you check the wall. Especially the watchtowers. Knowing her, she’ll run to them the moment she hears the sirens. No matter who might be after her.”
Kai nodded tersely. He wrapped scarf around the lower half of his face and dragged a hat over his head. Theo staggered into the front yard as they left the clinic, his face ashen.
“I don’t think you’re leaving anytime soon, Kai. None of us are.”
“What are you talking about?” Haven snapped.
“The horde isn’ t just back...its doubled. There’s even an Alpha circling. Female.”
Dread gathered heavy in Kai’s stomach, turning his legs to lead. The voice must’ve called the Alpha off that she had him pinned. She’d flown North, and now she was here.
The siren wailed again, a bone-chilling sound that reminded Kai of the screams to come. He started for the gate, his palms sweating. The Alpha and the horde had come for Sanna, and they woudn’t stop until it killed her.
Which meant he had to find her first.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
THE SIREN’S MOAN JERKED Sanna awake. The horde must have returned.
She thrashed, fighting the chain that held her, but gave up with a dry sob. Her shoulders ached. Her arms were asleep. It felt like a lifetime since this morning, when Kelsey and Simon had caught her like a rabbit in a snare.
The siren blared again, warning everyone to either join the wall or take cover in their homes.
Why had no one come up to this watchtower? Maybe she was the one assigned to it today, and Kelsey or Simon checked her in.
If the horde’s moving, the Alpha will be here any minute.
Sanna squeezed her eyes shut, looking upward to keep her bitter tears from falling. Kelsey was right. This was what she deserved. She could’ve done more to save her friends last summer. Even though she was certain she couldn’t control the Infected, she should have made better choices. Been more assertive. Perhaps then Carlo wouldn’t have panicked, which set off a chain of events that led to her walking home with only their memories. And Tess. Or what was left of her, anyway.
I’ll do the right thing this time. She’d wait. She’d pay the price, spare her people. It’d be an honorable end.
But it’s still the end. She had no doubt that the Alpha would either kill her or infect her. Even now, she could feel the heat of its hatred roiling off the horde outside the Kill Zone. Meeting the Alpha up here, alone, would be suicide. She’d never see her grandparents again. Or laugh with Haven. And Kai...the sight of him meeting the sun this morning with arms wide, and a grin on his bruised, broken face was something she’d never forget.
A spark lit inside her.
After everything Kai had been through, he still wanted to live. And so did she. Even if it meant a lifetime spent exiled in the Deadlands, it was still better than dying here. Her friends were gone, and she missed them, but she was more than a sacrificial lamb. She was a fighter, and she wouldn’t give up now. No matter how many people told her she should.
She stood with newfound strength and studied the beam supporting her handcuffs. It was thick as her two thighs put together and impossible to break—she’d already tried hours earlier in a state of panic. There were smaller beams perpendicular to the rafter, attaching it to the ceiling. Those might work.
She leaned back, forming an inverted plank with her body. Her feet were planted on the floor, her head hovering a few inches above the ground. She focused on the smaller, weaker beam and sawed the chain against it, creating a small, slight dent.
Success.
She kept going, working the chain back and forth. Faster. Faster. Sweat beaded across her brow, her muscles burned. The wind howled through the broken window, and she swore she heard her the faint voices of her old friends encouraging her.
The beam was half eaten now. Good enough. She flipped over, facing the floor, and used every ounce of strength to force her hands down. Wood cracked. She hit the ground hard, her dead arms unable to brace. Her bones ached as blood rushed down to her hands, feeling like a thousand needles pricking her at once. She curled into a ball, waiting for the sensation to pass. Color finally returned to her fingers. She tested them, and immediately tore off her the gag and spat. She was free, almost. Her hands were still bound, but the chain between them was generous enough to allow some movement.
She hurried over to the broken window and immediately spotted the horde. It was bigger—at least twice the size of the one that had chased her and Kai three days ago. Their eyes glowed with malice, piercing through the haze of snow and ice whipped up by the blustery wind. Some were standing on two legs, others crawling like crabs, their bodies broken and twisted by the infection. Scattered amongst them were upright, skeletal creatures with dark, crusted holes where their eyes should be. Stage twos.
There’s so many
. Erling’s walls would be useless if they got close enough to scrabbled on top of one another. The Alpha was probably hidden amongst them, its leathery wings tucked to avoid detection while coordinating the attack.
Down below, the world had devolved into organized chaos. Even without the gag, no one would hear her above the din of the militia preparing for battle. Soldiers fought over weapons, pulled on whatever scraps of armor they could find and scurried up and down ladders to take their assigned positions. It wouldn’t matter. Alphas attacked from above, like giant hawks, and could pick them off one by one before they realized what was happening.
She had to get out of here. She had to warn them.
Her breath fogged as she prowled the room, searching for anything that might help her get down. The walls and floor were bare, except for the tiny red stain of Kelsey’s blood. She looked to the ceiling. Thick dust draped over the exposed rafters like long strings of yarn. No boxes sat on top of them to investigate. No ropes to rappel down. She might as well be in a coffin.
She crossed over to the window and peered down. The drop was at least sixty feet. The watchtower’s frame provided a slight lip—less than an inch. Beneath it, soldiers scattered like dark pebbles tossed by a giant hand.
Her vision blurred. Nausea squeezed her stomach. She leaned back and forced her breath into a steady, even rhythm. I can do this.
If she climbed through the window and dropped down, she could catch that ledge and swing over to the ladder.
Not exactly the best odds, but she was out of options. The Alpha could zoom over the wall any minute. She kicked out the rest of the glass, which shattered over the wall, and climbed into the window.
I’m coming for you, Sanna. And I’m bringing a friend. The voice seeped into her thoughts. She ignored it. Distraction was the last thing she needed. Her gaze caught on the thick, sturdy walls that wrapped around the village. Perhaps she could make her own—a mental one. She squeezed her eyes shut and imagined a great, steel structure surrounding her thoughts. Protecting them.
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