The Oklahoma Wastelands Series Box Set | Books 1-3

by Mary, Kate L.

  “What happened?” I asked, keeping my voice low in case anyone was near. “Where’s Andrew? Where are his men?”

  “They’re gone.” The woman lifted the flashlight, illuminating the hall in front of us, and nodded in the opposite direction from which we’d come. “This way. To the back door.”

  “Gone?” I followed, walking sideways so one eye was on the dark hall and the other on Kellan. He was on his feet, but just barely. The other two men—who still hadn’t uttered a word—were on either side of him, dragging him after us.

  “We drew the dead here,” the man with the scar—the leader, I assumed—said. “We can use them for offensive maneuvers since we’re immune. It’s usually the fastest way to win a fight.”

  I swallowed, thinking about Andrew and his men being ripped apart. They deserved to die, but it was still a horrific end to consider.

  “He’s dead?”

  “No.” The woman looked my way, and I couldn’t quite read the expression on her face. Annoyance, maybe? “They got away.”

  Andrew was still out there somewhere. He’d be angrier than ever, and probably more determined after getting so close to Atlanta. After all these weeks of him hunting us, I knew he wouldn’t give up unless he’d been seriously injured.

  A shudder shook my body, and I walked faster.

  We were silent after that, moving through a maze of corridors that took us deeper into the building until I’d totally lost track of where we were or how to make it back to the lobby if necessary. In contrast to my disorientation, the woman with the flashlight walked with purpose, acting like she knew exactly where she was going. I hoped so, because the sooner we got out of here and far away from Andrew, the better.

  I was able to get a good look at her as we walked, and realized that while I’d at first thought she was in her twenties, she was actually much older, older even than the man who’d shown me his scar—who I guessed to be around thirty. She was short and compact, all muscle, and had defined arms and broad shoulders. Her athletic build played tricks with the mind, and the gray streaks in her hair had looked blonde in the darkness, adding to the illusion that she was much younger than her actual age. Now I could see that she was probably in her late forties or possibly even her early fifties. Not old by any means, but older than I’d thought.

  After weaving our way down so many halls I couldn’t possibly have found my way back, we reached a dead end. Well, not a dead end. There was a door, a now dark emergency exit sign above it, but nothing else.

  The woman paused with her hand on the latch and looked back at us. “Everyone be ready in case those assholes made their way back here.”

  The others shifted, checking weapons and getting ready for any trouble we might run into—even the two men supporting Kellan—and the action brought a startling and terrifying realization to mind.

  “I’m unarmed,” I said, holding up the scissors. “I don’t think these will be much help in a fight.”

  The man with the scar freed a knife from the sheath at his waist and held it out to me. It was five inches long with a wickedly sharp blade, and much more suitable for defending myself.

  “Thanks,” I said, tossing the now useless scissors on the ground so I could take the knife.

  “You’re welcome.”

  He started to turn back to the door, but I stopped him by saying, “Wait. What’s your name?”

  “Logan.”

  “Well, Logan, I’m Regan and that’s Kellan. Thanks for helping us.”

  He dipped his head in response before turning his back to me.

  “We can get all cuddly with introductions once we’re safe and sound,” the woman said, as if trying to prevent me from making more introductions.

  She shoved the door open before I had a chance to respond, and a burst of night air rushed inside. It was cooler than the air in the building, which was stuffy and thick with dust, but still dense with humidity. Even so, that first big breath I sucked in tasted like freedom. I hoped—no, prayed—it wasn’t an illusion. Hopefully, I hadn’t just gotten Kellan and myself into a much more sinister situation than the one we’d faced with Andrew.

  Logan and the woman rushed out first, with me only a couple steps behind them, while the men helping Kellan followed. It was dark, pitch black except for the stars above and the moon, which was little more than a sliver tonight. In the distance, the city of Memphis loomed, dark and empty and silent, the skyscrapers nothing but black silhouettes against an even blacker sky.

  Only a few feet from the door, a massive vehicle sat, the engine idling but the headlights off. It looked like something the military would have used before the virus—huge tires, a body that was probably bulletproof, and windows along the side that were little more than slits and perfect for shooting out of. Metal sheets, placed so the driver was protected but still able to see, shielded the front windows. They were a different metal than the vehicle, as if they weren’t part of the original design but had been added more recently.

  “This way,” the woman said.

  She flicked the flashlight off and jogged toward the vehicle, patting the driver’s door as she ran by. I kept my eyes and ears open as I followed, walking sideways so my back was to the truck and I could keep an eye on Kellan. Other than the quiet hum of the engine, the night was silent. Wherever Andrew and his men had gone when they fled the building, it wasn’t anywhere nearby. Or at least they were laying low for the time being.

  The door was already open when I rounded the back of the vehicle, and the woman stood waiting. She nodded for me to get in, but I ignored her, instead turning to Kellan.

  “Hey,” I whispered, feeling first his forehead and then his cheeks. “Can you climb?”

  The vehicle was tall and would require climbing a three-rung ladder, and with as dead on his feet as he looked, I wasn’t optimistic.

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “Let me go first. I’ll help.” Logan tossed the bag he was carrying into the vehicle and pulled himself up, then held his hand out. “Come on. We have to go.”

  I stayed beside Kellan, my hand on his arm, while one of the men stood at his back. The woman and the other man kept a lookout as he climbed, dragging himself up two rungs before reaching out to grab Logan’s hand. The man inside pulled, grunting, but it worked, and the second Kellan disappeared into the truck, I climbed up behind him.

  A lantern of some kind hung from the ceiling, giving off a soft green light that was just bright enough to illuminate the interior. Benches lined each side—directly beneath the long, narrow windows—and Kellan was stretched out on the one to my right. His eyes were closed, but when I knelt beside him and put my hand on his forehead, he reached up and took it.

  “You’re going to be okay now.”

  He cracked one eye. “We don’t know that.” He swallowed, which seemed to take a great deal of effort. He needed water. “I want you to promise me something. Okay?”

  “Don’t talk like this,” I said, finding it difficult to speak through the tears clogging my throat.

  “Say you’ll promise me.”

  The gentle pressure of him squeezing my hand forced the words out. “I promise.”

  “If something happens, if Andrew attacks and I’m too weak to make a run for it, you have to leave me. Understand? Don’t risk yourself for me.”

  He squeezed my hand again, urging me to agree to this insane request. As if I could ever leave him. He had to know I’d die before running off and leaving him with Andrew.

  “Regan,” he urged when I said nothing, “you have to swear you won’t die for me. You have to.”

  More tears had clogged my throat as I nodded, and I said a silent prayer that I would never face that moment, because if I did, I knew I would have to break the promise I’d just made to Kellan.

  He exhaled and his eyes slid shut. “Thank you.”

  The door slammed behind me, and Logan shouted, “We’re all in. Let’s roll.”

  Less than a second later, we starte
d moving.

  I craned my neck, trying to see the driver, but the cab was cloaked in darkness, making it impossible to get even a glimpse of whoever was up front.

  My hand was still grasped in Kellan’s when I turned to face our four rescuers. They were unloading their weapons, stashing them in bins under the benches and in a couple lockers at the back, not even paying attention to us and definitely not looking like they were prepared to fill me in on who the hell they were or why they’d come to our aid.

  The woman removed her jacket, which was made of a thick green material, and tossed it on the floor. Underneath, she wore a black tank top, and through the soft glow from the lantern, I could just make out the crescent shaped scars on her arms. Both were riddled with them, but they were faded and old.

  She turned to Logan. “That went better than I could have hoped.”

  “Better than last time,” he said.

  “Last time?” I asked, curious.

  All eyes turned on me.

  “We’ve been tracking groups like this for a while,” Logan said. “This particular asshole has been slippery, though. We were on his trail a while back.” He looked toward the woman. “Two months ago?”

  “Longer than that,” she said.

  “Whatever. Early spring.” Logan turned his gaze to me. “We lost him but managed to spot his caravan yesterday, so we followed.”

  “Why?” I asked. “Why did you save us, and who are you?”

  “We’re like you,” Logan replied.

  I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. “You told me that, but you do realize it doesn’t explain a damn thing.”

  The vehicle rocked like it had rolled over something in the street, and Logan put his hand up, using the ceiling to brace himself so he didn’t fall. He stood over me, staring down, and I was struck once again by how startlingly attractive he was, with pale blue eyes and dark hair, and a square jaw that was dotted with a few days’ stubble. He was broad, too, muscular in a way that made him seem powerful.

  Behind him, the woman hadn’t moved. She was also standing, holding onto a strap that hung from the ceiling so she didn’t stumble, but the other two men were sitting, watching me in silence.

  Logan waved to the woman. “Meet Juliet.” He turned to face the two men, nodding first to the older one, who was probably in his forties. “Alex, here, has been with us since the beginning, so that’s what, four years now?”

  Alex gave me a crooked smile as he rubbed his jaw. Like Logan, his face was dotted with stubble, only his was gray, as was the hair on his head, which was cut in a military style haircut. He had kind eyes and a round face that gave off the impression he should have been overweight even though he was as trim as Logan.

  “Almost four years exactly.” He pulled his sleeve up, revealing the crescent shaped scar on his shoulder. “It was August, I remember, because a heat wave had swept in and I was sweating my ass off. Damn zombie jumped me when I was on a run. Sank his teeth in before I even knew what happened. I took off because I knew the group I was with would put a bullet in my head the second they saw the bite. I wasn’t ready to die.” He dropped his sleeve, and his grin stretched wider. “Good thing I did, because nothing happened. That was when I realized I was immune. Met up with Logan at an unsanctioned settlement when I went for medical treatment. Been with him ever since.”

  Logan patted Alex on the shoulder before turning to the other, younger man. “Ash is a bit new to all this.”

  Ash was young. Seventeen—maybe eighteen, but I doubted it—and tall. Lanky. Unlike the other two men, his face was free of stubble, and his chin-length brown hair looked shaggy and unkempt even by apocalypse standards.

  He gave me a little wave and a shy smile but said nothing.

  “Show her, Ash,” Logan said, a twinge of annoyance in his tone.

  “Oh, yeah.” Ash snorted out a laugh and pulled his shirt up, revealing a scar on his stomach. “Some men raided our settlement out in California about six months ago. They released zombies, and I was bit, but I had no idea I was immune. Turns out, they were looking for people to take back to Atlanta. They got all the way to Little Rock before these guys rescued me.”

  Logan gave the kid a smile that reminded me of an older brother. Not mine because we’d been too young when he died to appreciate one another the way older siblings learned to in adulthood. It reminded me more of how Cade had looked at Kellan and me when we first arrived at the shelter.

  Logan turned to the front of the vehicle. “In the driver’s seat we have Beth, and riding shotgun is Hickory.”

  A light flicked on, and a woman peered over her shoulder at me, her grin barely visible behind a curtain of black hair. She was Asian and small, with pixie-like features that made it tough to gauge how old she was.

  “Glad to meet you.”

  Beside her sat a gnarled man who had to be more than seventy. He was missing his left eye, but the one he looked me over with was sharp and intelligent. He also happened to be missing his left arm above the elbow, and from what I could see, it looked as if most of the left side of his body was riddled with scars.

  “‘Nam,” he said in the gravelly voice of someone who spent a lot of time smoking. “Lost my arm and eye, almost my life. Swear to God I never thought I’d see another war like that one. Then the damn zombies came.” He snorted. “‘Course, they couldn’t get the best of me either. Got bit but didn’t turn. Bastards.”

  He turned back to the front.

  Logan, still standing, chuckled. “He’s a grump and a major pain in the ass, but the man isn’t afraid of anything.”

  I felt like I’d just had a bomb of information dropped on me, but at the same time, I still knew nothing about who these people were or why we were here.

  “Who are you?” I asked again.

  “We’re immune,” Juliet said.

  “That much, I gathered, but it still doesn’t tell me anything about why you would risk yourselves to save us.”

  Logan finally sat, groaning like he was sore and the effort of lowering himself to the bench hurt. “There are a lot of rumors out there about this new government and what’s happening at the CDC, most of them not so great.”

  “Yeah,” I said, “we’ve heard the same stuff.”

  “They’re all true.”

  He said it with such ease that I couldn’t wrap my brain around it.

  “What does that mean? What’s true?” I rubbed my head, which had started pounding. “We’ve heard they’re looking for people who are immune and that the man in charge—Star—is power-hungry, but he still created a vaccine. He’s still looking for a way to stop all this. Right?”

  I looked from Logan, who was frowning, to Juliet. She was studying me with an impassive expression on her face. Behind her, Alex and Ash listened in silence, no longer smiling.

  “From what we understand,” Logan said, drawing the words out like he wanted to make sure they didn’t hurt me too much, “the man in charge has no interest in stopping this thing. He’s not looking for immune people so he can create better vaccines. He’s experimenting on them. He’s using them to create something else, something worse than the zombies.”

  “What’s worse than a zombie?” I whispered, afraid to ask the question, but even more afraid to hear the answer.

  “I don’t know,” Logan replied.

  “Whatever it is,” Juliet said, “you bet your ass we don’t want to find out.”

  2

  “How do you know all this?” Kellan asked, dragging my gaze from the four strangers in front of me.

  He was still lying down, his skin moist with sweat, his cheeks flushed from fever and his eyes sickly, but he was focused, too. Alert and interested in what our rescuers were saying.

  “Rumors passed from settlement to settlement,” Logan shrugged as if it should have been obvious, “substantiated by people who’ve been to Atlanta and know.”

  “But you can’t prove any of it?” Kellan started to push himself up, and when I moved t
o help him, he didn’t brush me off. “You’re only taking someone else’s word.”

  “Someone very convincing, yes,” Juliet said.

  “Who?” Kellan prompted. “And what makes their story so easy to believe?”

  “You’ll meet him,” Logan waved the question off like it was useless to discuss it, “at our next stop.”

  “Where’s that?” I had to butt in because we were getting off track. Andrew was still a threat, and we were hundreds of miles from home, but Kellan had to be my number one priority. “You promised you’d help.”

  Kellan was sitting now, leaning his head against the wall, but he didn’t look any better than he had when he was lying down. He needed antibiotics, and soon.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get you help,” Logan assured me. “We’re headed to a settlement on the Mississippi River where we’ll be able to rest up and tend to his wound. More importantly, we should be able to get some antibiotics.”

  Should be able to.

  I didn’t like the uncertainty in that statement. At the moment, I had no choice but to go along with these people and see what happened. I had a single knife and zero supplies, and no transportation even if I had a clue where to go. Which I didn’t. Other than the settlements in Oklahoma and Atlanta, the world was a mystery to me. If we got to wherever we were headed and things didn’t look on the up and up, I’d formulate another plan. For now, I had to trust that Logan could find the things we needed.

  Juliet’s gaze moved from Kellan’s face, damp with sweat, to my hand resting on his arm. “You two have been together long?”

  “Since we were kids,” I said, putting my hand on his leg. “Since before the virus.”

  The way she was studying us made me shift, and on instinct I moved my free hand to my knife. These people hadn’t been the least bit threatening up until this point, but they were still strangers, and something about the way she was looking at us unnerved me.

  “And you’re both immune?” Ash jerked his head to the side, tossing his wild hair out of his face. “That’s lucky.”