The Oklahoma Wastelands Series Box Set | Books 1-3

by Mary, Kate L.

  “You didn’t buy that, did you?” I asked.

  “No,” Kellan said, “but it could mean he’s decided to try to get along with everyone.”

  I thought he was being overly optimistic but said nothing. Only time would tell.

  22

  It was early when Cade showed up at the holding cell to let us out, and the industrial hall was quiet, the lights dimmed the way they usually were overnight. Behind him stood Ernie and Scott, silently watching as he checked Kellan’s wound, took his temperature, and looked him over for any other symptoms. There were none, of course.

  “You feeling okay?” Cade asked once he’d done his exam.

  “The bite hurts like hell, and my neck is a little sore thanks to this bed hog,” Kellan jerked his head toward me, “but that’s it.”

  Cade got to his feet, turning to face the two men in the hall. “He looks good. His fever is normal, not too high and not too low, and he isn’t showing any signs of lethargy. He ate everything we brought him.” Cade motioned to the plate from last night, sitting on the floor beside the bed. “His appetite hasn’t changed. He doesn’t check any of the boxes, so in my medical opinion, I’d say he’s okay.”

  Scott nodded, his expression unreadable. “Sounds good.”

  Next to him, Ernie’s mouth pressed into a frown.

  “So I’m okay to get out of here?” Kellan asked.

  Cade didn’t look at the other men when he said, “Yup.”

  “Good.” Kellan stood, pulling me with him.

  Ernie’s cold eyes followed us as we passed, and my scalp prickled despite myself. The guy wasn’t happy with the outcome, but we’d have to wait and see what he’d do about it. Hopefully, he decided to embrace the comfort we’d given him by allowing him into the shelter and fall in line.

  It was still early, so it wasn’t a surprise to find the common area nearly empty. Only Bill was present, reading a book with little Tiana curled up at his side, her head resting on his shoulder.

  He lowered the book when he saw us and smiled. “Glad to see you.”

  “Glad to be out of that room,” Kellan replied.

  “Sorry that had to happen, but you’re a good man for putting up with it.”

  Kellan paused, my hand still in his, before saying, “I get it, I do, and I want everyone to be comfortable, but that means we shouldn’t have to worry about someone pulling a gun on us.”

  “Ernie and I talked, and he knows he overreacted.” Bill’s voice was level and unconcerned. “He’s just used to calling most of the shots, and this is going to take some adjustment, but he’s a team player. I promise. You’ll see.”

  “I’m trusting you on this, Bill,” Kellan replied. “The last thing I want is for any of us to be in danger.”

  “I know.” Bill looked at Tiana, his expression serious. “If he causes more problems, we’ll talk about it again. But for now, I have to take him at his word, and he’s assured me it won’t happen again.”

  Kellan let out a long sigh. “Okay.”

  Bill gave us a tight smile before turning back to the book.

  We moved on, heading down the stairs side by side, our steps pounding through the empty halls.

  “You think it’s going to be okay?” I asked as we passed the clinic and classroom.

  “No.”

  Kellan’s bluntness surprised me, which was something that rarely happened.

  “Really?”

  “It could be weeks, maybe months, but I think eventually Ernie is going to cross a line, and we’re going to have a tough decision to make. But I doubt Bill will be in on it.”

  “You really think he’ll bow out and leave it up to us?”

  “I do.” When we reached our floor, Kellan paused outside our door and turned to face me. “I don’t blame him for not wanting to be the bad guy, I even get it. I don’t like having to kill people, and I sure as hell never thought I’d have to do it, but I’d rather be involved in the process than have to live with a decision I didn’t agree with. You know what I mean?”

  “I do,” I said quietly.

  Kellan’s expression was serious, reminding me of how he acted when we left the shelter, almost like he’d flipped that little switch in his head so he could deal with this Ernie situation.

  I lifted myself up on my toes and kissed him. “Let’s take a shower.”

  Like magic, the switch flipped again, and his brown eyes lit up. “That’s an offer I’d never refuse.”

  He kissed my neck while fumbling with the doorknob, and I let out a giggle. Seconds later, we were stumbling into our condo, our lips locked, our hands already working on our clothes.

  I was in the process of pulling my damp hair back into a ponytail, my fingers moving through it to work out any knots and smooth it down, when Kellan and I stepped into the hallway later that morning. Cade was coming down the stairs, his steps fast and the serious expression on his face telling us something wasn’t right before he’d even opened his mouth.

  He came to a stop a foot in front of us, panting. “There are at least twice as many as there were earlier.”

  “Zombies?” Kellan was already moving for the stairs.

  “Yeah,” Cade huffed out, turning so he could head back up.

  No longer caring about how it looked, I slid the ponytail holder over the chunk of hair in my hand and twisted it, making sure it was secure before taking off after them.

  The three of us charged up the stairs like a pack of wild dogs was hot on our trail. When we passed through the common room, the tension was palpable, but I didn’t let it slow me down. Up in the industrial hall, several people had gathered outside the control room. They moved aside at our approach, and inside, we found Bill and Blake staring at the screens, while behind them Emma stood gnawing on her bottom lip, her brown eyes swimming with worry.

  “How many?” Kellan asked when he stopped next to Blake.

  “Forty.” Blake panned the camera around, giving us a better look at what was happening on the surface. “Maybe more. They’ve been stumbling in every few minutes. It’s crazy, man. Scott and Ernie went out this morning to do some hunting, and there was only one. This has all been in the last few hours.”

  Behind the horde, a good distance from the fence, sat the yellow truck. There were a few zombies surrounding it, but most were still trying to get to the goats. Scott and Ernie must have turned the engine off as soon as they saw the horde.

  “Damn.” Kellan blew out a long breath, his body as tense as it had been those first few days after Bill’s people arrived. “This makes me nervous.”

  “As it should.” Bill tapped his index finger against one of the bottom screens. “Especially with the way that fence is wobbling.”

  He was right. The onslaught of zombies two months ago had taken a toll on the fence, and under the weight of this new horde, the metal looked like it was struggling to stay up.

  “We can’t wait,” I said. “We need to get out there right now and take care of it before that fence gives.”

  “You don’t think it’s Andrew, do you?” Cade asked, looking back and forth between Kellan and Bill. “We let our guard down when the zombies stopped coming, but this new horde… Maybe he hasn’t forgotten us. Maybe he dragged them here hoping they’ll destroy the fence.”

  “I don’t see what that would do.” Kellan shook his head, frowning. “He still wouldn’t get into the shelter, and if he wanted to destroy the fence, he could drive a truck through it. Plus, it’s been two months. We’ve been up there nearly every day taking care of the goats, and we’ve gone out to hunt and fish. He could have hit us other times. This has to be something else.”

  “Either way,” Bill turned his back to the screens and looked the group over, “we need to get people armed and up there before that fence gives. The sooner, the better.”

  “I’ll get the others,” Diane, who was in the hall, called before running off.

  It didn’t take long for everyone to gather in the hallway outside the
control room, and once we were all there, we headed up. Despite the hordes from weeks ago, nothing about this felt routine, and on the plus side, I was getting plenty of practice killing zombies, which was something I’d been pushing for years. Even better, Kellan had stopped nagging me to stay behind.

  When we reached the surface, the combined sounds of the goats bleating, the dead moaning, and the rattle of the fence greeted us. The morning was sweltering and bright, the sun beating down like it was trying to scorch the very ground we stood on. It was days like this that made me feel bad for everyone living in the nearby settlements. With no electricity, there was no way for them to cool off, and when the temperature exceeded a hundred degrees, it wasn’t uncommon for people to die of heatstroke. The elderly, especially, were susceptible.

  The truck was still sitting a good thirty feet away, and the doors stayed shut as we headed for the fence. We started our normal routine of stabbing the zombies through the holes in the chain link, but it wasn’t long before I realized we were going to have go out sooner than usual. Not only were more of the dead hanging back, but the bodies soon began to pile up, making it difficult for the remaining zombies to get close.

  “We need to go out,” I called over the frenzied moans of the dead.

  Kellan swore and shook his head even though he was already moving to the gate, and the rest of our group—panting from exertion—looked even less enthusiastic at the prospect.

  My clothes clung to my slick skin as if holding on for dear life, and I lifted my shirt, peeling the fabric from my stomach in a futile attempt to cool off. It did nothing, though, because the air was too hot and the sun too bright. There would be no relief until we were back inside and wrapped in the cool, manufactured air of the shelter.

  “Get ready,” Kellan called.

  The rattle of metal on metal clinked through the air as he pulled the chain free, and outside the fence, the dead were already on the move. Kellan shoved the gate open and rushed out, with Bill and Cade and Blake right on his heels, and the rest of us followed, armed and ready.

  Finally, the men in the truck climbed out, and to my relief—and a little surprise—they jogged over to join us. The sun glinted off Ernie’s lenses, making it impossible to see his eyes, but I remembered the cold way he’d stared at us this morning, and the animosity I felt toward him bubbled up. I worked hard to push it down, though, and focused instead on the dead.

  Kellan slammed his knife into the head of a zombie, while all around me people grunted and the dead moaned. A few dots of red showed through the bandage on his forearm, and my heart beat harder when I thought about the bite. It wasn’t the type of bite that would kill him, but it was an all too real reminder of the danger he was facing right now.

  These zombies were fresh, and fast, and they had reflexes that allowed them to respond better, to move out of the way, and even charge faster. Their milky eyes seemed to study our movements, analyzing the situation and searching for a way to take us out, and it was unnerving enough to have me rattled.

  “This is a pretty advanced strain!” I called as I ducked under the swinging arm of a zombie, moving so I was behind him.

  He growled and tried to turn, but I slammed my shoulder into his back, sending him stumbling forward. His feet tripped over a body, and he fell, landing on his stomach and giving me the perfect chance to pounce. I threw myself on top of his decaying back, sitting on my knees as he squirmed, and shoved the blade of my knife through the back of his neck and up into his brain.

  “Yeah,” Kellan replied between pants.

  He ripped his blade out of a zombie’s head as I did the same with the one under me, and we both turned to face the rest of our group. Only three zombies were still on their feet, but before we’d even had a chance to move to help, they were down and we were left standing amongst the rotting corpses, gasping for breath and drenched in sweat.

  Behind me, Bill let out a low whistle. “That’s not good.”

  I turned to find the fence bowed in, a huge section of it leaning at a forty-five-degree angle.

  “Shit,” Kellan muttered. “Even a few zombies could destroy the fence now.”

  “We’re going to have to fix it,” Cade said.

  “Which means making a run into Altus as soon as possible.” Kellan turned his back to the fence and scanned the bodies littering the ground. “This could buy us some time.”

  “How’s that?” Ernie asked in a tone that dripped with both doubt and bitterness.

  “In Altus, they line the bodies up outside the gate to deter hordes, and it seems to be working,” Kellan replied without even looking the other man’s way. “So, in theory, if we leave these bodies here until we can get the supplies to reinforce the fence, it could keep the dead away.”

  “Or at least encourage them to go to another part of the fence,” I piped in. “A section that’s not quite as weak.”

  “Yeah.” Bill was nodding, his gaze moving over the dead as well. “Wouldn’t want to keep them here for long, though. It could attract other animals.”

  Kellan’s gaze moved back to the fence, or more specifically, to the gap under it. “Yeah.”

  With the chain link bowed forward, the bottom had lifted several inches off the ground, leaving an opening. It wasn’t big enough to worry about the goats getting out, but it was possible an animal could sneak under. A coyote, especially, which would leave our animals vulnerable, and us in turn.

  “We’ll need to take the truck.” Kellan looked around before focusing on Bill. “And we should get a decent sized group together in case we run into trouble.”

  Bill nodded as he studied the fence. “If we’re headed out anyway, I’d like to swing by the base.”

  “I understand,” Kellan said, “but with that fence leaning the way it is, I’d hate to be out too long.”

  “I get that,” Bill said in a slow, calculated tone, his gaze moving from the fence to the shelter. “This is important, Kellan. It’s been two months since the fire, and we need to see what’s left. My people lost everything that night.”

  I thought about the pictures and other memorabilia I’d seen in the C-17. Pictures of long-dead loved ones, parents some of these kids couldn’t even remember, and it pulled at my heart, especially when I tried to conjure up an image of my own family, because I wasn’t sure if what I came up with was accurate. Bill was right. If some of the pictures had managed to survive the fire, we needed to do everything in our power to get them back before it was too late. There was so little left to cling to in this world.

  Bill pressed his mouth into a tight line, and I could tell he was trying to figure out a way to convince Kellan. Thankfully, I knew exactly what to say.

  “If we’re going out, we should hit up the Altus settlement, too. See if anyone has any news about Andrew and his men. Find out if people are still going missing or if there are any other rumors.” I pinned Kellan with a serious look. “That’s where we heard about him the first time, and if he’s still around, odds are we’ll find out in Altus. If we’re already going that way, it makes sense to stop by the base, too.”

  Kellan’s mouth turned down. “You’re talking about a two-day trip. I don’t know if the fence has that long.”

  “We just have to reinforce it temporarily until we get back.” I waved to the cars parked next to the small surface shelter. “If we pull the sedan right up against the fence, it won’t bow anymore while we’re gone. That should buy us some time.”

  Kellan let out a deep breath, his focus on the fence as he thought it through. Beside him, Bill shot me a grateful look, and I returned it with a smile.

  Finally, Kellan nodded. “Okay. Although I don’t know where we’re going to sleep in Altus. You know how that place is.”

  “I have a buddy.” Bill slapped Kellan on the shoulder as he headed for the gate. “He has a place we can crash in. We’ll have to sleep on the floor, but it’s better than nothing.”

  “Okay, then,” Kellan said as he followed Bill.
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br />   “Where do we look for supplies to repair the fence?” I asked, hurrying after him.

  The others had begun retreating to the relative safety of the fence, ready to get cleaned up, no doubt. Scott and Ernie were the only ones walking away from the shelter, instead heading to where they’d left the truck.

  Ernie paused before getting far, though, and turned. “We can try Atwoods. I worked there once upon a time, and they had all the supplies necessary for something like this,” he said, referring to the old farm and ranch supply store.

  That must have been where he had the “kid” boss he disliked so much.

  Kellan’s frown deepened as he met the other man’s gaze. “The store’s pretty beat up, but odds are, the stuff is still sitting there.”

  “It’s a good bet,” Bill said, “but if that doesn’t turn up anything, we can probably find some stuff on base.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Kellan said slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. “Who do we take?”

  “Scott and I are happy to tag along,” Ernie said before Bill could reply.

  I cringed, not even trying to hide it, and Ernie frowned. Behind him, Scott stood silently, his expression as unreadable as ever.

  “That’s a thought.” Kellan nodded to the truck. “Why don’t you pull the truck in and we can talk it through?”

  Ernie’s expression said he knew Kellan was trying to put him off, but he didn’t say anything before turning away. The three of us watched in silence as he and Scott continued their trek to the truck.

  Once they were safely out of earshot, Kellan turned to Bill. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  Bill lifted his hands. “He’s my go-to guy. Always has been. I know you have doubts about Ernie, but I’m telling you we talked this out. Plus, I want to give him a chance to prove himself. To show you he can be a team player.”

  Kellan blew out a long breath, and all three of us watched as the truck pulled through the still open gate and parked next to the other vehicles.

  “Okay, but I want Blake with us, too,” Kellan said, relenting. “I know you trust Ernie, but I’d be more comfortable knowing I have someone else to watch my back.”