The Oklahoma Wastelands Series Box Set | Books 1-3

by Mary, Kate L.

  “He needs antibiotics,” I said instead of directly answering the question.

  “Infected bite,” Logan said, giving a little shrug.

  At the word bite, my back stiffened, but the four people from the settlement didn’t bat an eye. Logan had been right. They weren’t worried about a zombie bite because they assumed that if Kellan was with this group, he was immune. Thank God for small blessings.

  “We’ll make this fast,” the man said before turning his gaze on me. “I’m sure they told you already, but we’re going to have to search you.”

  “Yes,” I said, keeping my voice even.

  The guy nodded once. “Lift your arms.”

  I released Kellan and did as I was told, raising my arms so they were perpendicular to my body while the man squatted in front of me. Starting at my ankles and working his way up, he gave me a quick pat-down, but it was over before I even had time to worry.

  “This knife your only weapon?” he asked, nodding to the one Logan had given me, now strapped to my belt.

  “It is.”

  “Okay, then.” He turned to Kellan, who was slumped against the truck, and repeated the process.

  The other people in our group were in similar positions, being patted down and revealing the weapons they had on them. One of the men from the settlement had climbed into the truck, but his search must have been superficial, because he was back again in no time.

  “Same as always,” he said as he hopped down.

  “All right,” the man who’d patted me down said. “Head on in and get a room.”

  “Thanks,” Logan replied.

  Once again, he helped me with Kellan as we headed inside.

  The interior of the hotel looked like every other hotel lobby had before the apocalypse. A check-in desk sat to our left, and to our right were a few couches, sitting in front of a gas burning fireplace—which actually worked. Beyond that, there were tables and chairs, and a little area where once upon a time the hotel staff had served breakfast. All the cookie cutter artwork and useless trinkets were still in place, making it feel like we’d crossed into an alternate universe where zombies didn’t exist and people still traveled and stayed in hotels.

  Beth stopped at the check-in desk and rapped her fingers a few times, while beside her Ash stifled a yawn. It was catching—as usual—and served as a reminder of how little rest I’d gotten over the last few days. I’d napped in the car while Andrew’s goons drove and had managed to grab some sleep both in the motel we’d stopped at as well as the office building, but it had been restless sleep riddled with dreams about what we were going to face once we reached Atlanta and what our friends back in Oklahoma were going through. Now, I couldn’t wait to curl up on a bed and sleep, but I had a feeling rest would once again evade me unless we were able to get Kellan that antibiotic.

  After only a few seconds of waiting, a woman popped out of the back room, her eyes misty from sleep and her brown hair disheveled.

  “You caught me during a nap,” she said through a barely suppressed yawn.

  Once again, it was catching, and Juliet covered her mouth with her hand as she turned her face to the side, trying to stifle the gesture but failing.

  “Sorry to arrive so late,” Beth replied, “but we had a tough one.”

  She waved toward Kellan and me.

  The woman’s sleepy expression morphed into one of sympathy. “You poor things. I can’t imagine what you must have gone through.” She tsked as she flipped open a book, her eyes on the pages. “What people won’t do to one another these days.”

  No one spoke as she scanned the pages, and I was on the verge of asking what we were waiting for when she tapped her finger against the book. “We have a suite on the second floor that was recently vacated.” Her eyes flicked up. “Two bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a kitchenette. Four beds and a sofa bed.”

  “Sounds good,” Beth replied.

  “Room 206.” The woman fiddled with something behind the desk, and a click followed, then she was sliding a plastic card across the counter. It was a real keycard, something I hadn’t seen since before the virus. Weird. “You can settle how you’re going to pay tomorrow.”

  “Will do,” Logan said, nodding. “Chris knows I’m good for it.”

  “My dear,” the woman said, smiling, “everyone knows you’re good for it.”

  “I guess you guys come here a lot?” I asked as we made our way down the hall.

  “Whenever we’re passing through,” Juliet said. “Not a lot of settlements let strangers in, and this is one of the nicer ones.”

  Hickory let out a snort that sounded slightly wet. “That’s an understatement.”

  Despite the electricity, the elevator had stopped working a few years ago, meaning we had to use the stairs. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except that Kellan was already struggling, and after only a few steps, I was forced to let Alex take over for me.

  “Tell me we’ll be able to get this antibiotic tonight,” I said as we tromped up the stairs, having to raise my voice to be heard over the echo of our footsteps through the stairwell. “I don’t know if he can wait until the morning.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Logan replied over his shoulder, not looking back at me.

  His response was less reassuring than I’d hoped.

  Beth slid the key into the slot when we reached the room, and a beep followed a second later. Before she had time to reach for the knob, Hickory turned it and shoved the door open. It swung inward, slamming into the wall, and a thud echoed down the silent hallway.

  Juliet shot him a disapproving frown that reminded me of a mother scolding a child. “People are sleeping, you know.”

  “Just like I’m gonna be in a minute.” The older man had already tossed his things on the floor and was removing his boots by the time I made it inside. “Dibs on the sofa bed.”

  “He always does that,” Ash grumbled. “Like we don’t all know he wants it.”

  “They don’t know,” Hickory replied, pointing a gnarled finger at me.

  Ash rolled his eyes and headed into the room on the right.

  “This way,” Logan grunted as he and Alex helped Kellan toward the other room.

  Inside, they eased him onto the bed, and the second he was down, I was at his side, my hand on his forehead. It was still hot—maybe hotter than earlier—and his skin was sticky with sweat.

  “Hey,” I whispered, “how’re you feeling?”

  The bed groaned under my weight when I sat, but he barely reacted. His eyes were closed, his lips dry and cracked. I’d never seen him like this before, and it terrified me.

  It seemed to take a lot of effort for Kellan to open his eyes, and they fluttered a few times like they might shut again. “I think being a zombie would be less horrible.”

  My throat was too tight to respond, so instead I grasped his hand in mine and held it tight.

  “Alex, you and Juliet can share with Ash,” Logan said from behind me. “Beth and I will share with these two.”

  My hand was still in Kellan’s when I turned to face Logan. “He needs the doctor.”

  The other man exhaled, and in the bright light from the bedside table, I noticed the dark rings below his eyes for the first time. “I’ll do what I can, but you have to keep in mind that it’s the middle of the night.”

  “I will,” I said. “I—” I had to swallow down a lump to get the rest of my sentence out. “I just don’t know how much time he has left.”

  Logan’s gaze moved to Kellan, and the corners of his mouth turned down. He said nothing, but he didn’t need to. His blue eyes gave him away, and it was the knowing expression in them that scared me more than anything else.

  He turned away when Beth came into the room.

  It was my first opportunity to get a good look at her—in the car she’d been shielded by darkness, and in the lobby I’d been too focused on Kellan. Now, I studied both her and Logan as they talked, noting the way she took his hand and how
her thumb ran across the top of it in slow, soothing circles. She appeared almost miniature next to him. Thin and petite, the dark clothes she wore seemed to swallow her up. They spoke to one another in low voices, making it impossible to decipher their words, but there was an intimacy in everything they did. In how they looked at one another, in how close they stood, in the absentminded way Logan tucked her long, dark hair behind her ear.

  He planted a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth, and I looked away, feeling like I was intruding on something very personal.

  My gaze focused on Kellan’s sweaty face and matted hair, on his dry lips. They had electricity here, so it was a good bet they had water, too.

  “I’ll be right back,” I whispered, not sure if he was with it enough to register my words. “I’m going to get some water.”

  His head moved, but I couldn’t tell if it was a nod, and I didn’t wait to find out.

  Logan and Beth were still whispering when I passed them, and I was too focused on Kellan to even try to hear what they were talking about. In the bathroom, I switched on the light, squinting slightly, but it only took a moment for my gaze to land on the two things I was looking for. A glass and a washcloth.

  Cool water ran from the tap when I turned it on and started to put the washcloth under the stream, but I stopped at the sight of my hands. They were filthy, with dirt caked under my nails and between my fingers.

  I couldn’t clean Kellan up like this.

  There was a bar of homemade soap next to the sink, which I used to scrub my hands and arms, and even under my nails. I watched as brown water dripped from my skin and slid down the drain, growing lighter with each passing second.

  Once it was finally clear, I set the washcloth under the stream, allowing it to soak up as much as it could. I dried my arms while I waited, leaning against the counter and letting out a deep sigh as the exhaustion of the last two days seemed to settle over me. I felt like I’d been on the road for months or years, not days, but rest was still a long way off, and I knew it.

  The sound of the door clicking shut in the other room jolted me from my stupor. Logan had headed out to see what he could do for Kellan, and while I waited, I needed to do the same.

  Once I’d filled the glass and wrung out the excess, I headed back into the bedroom to find Beth already removing her weapons. She set them on top of the old dresser and proceeded to take off her boots, followed by her long jacket. Underneath, she had on a pair of worn black jeans that hugged her subtle curves, and a threadbare gray tank that left little to the imagination.

  “He’ll be back soon,” she told me as I passed her.

  “Thanks,” I said, once again taking a seat on the bed beside Kellan.

  It took a little urging to wake him enough to take a few sips. He managed it, but I wasn’t totally satisfied with how much he drank. It wasn’t enough, not by a long shot, but he seemed too exhausted to stay sitting, so I let it go for the moment. I’d try again soon.

  Once he was lying back down, I used the washcloth to wipe the dirt and sweat from his face. It didn’t help a ton, so I went back to the bathroom and rinsed the washcloth and did it again, this time going so far as to clean his neck and arms. The bite, I avoided. The washcloth wasn’t sterile, and I didn’t want to risk getting more dirt in the wound. With any luck, Logan would be back soon, bringing not just a doctor, but first aid supplies as well.

  “That’s all I can do for the moment,” I said, moving the still cool washcloth to Kellan’s forehead and leaving it there.

  Beth watched me from the other bed, running her fingers through her hair and brushing it back so she could twist it into a ponytail. She looked like a different person sitting there. Like a teenager at a sleepover, ready to gossip about the boys at school or the mean girl in gym class. Logan, I guessed, was nearing thirty, and Beth had to be in her twenties even if her small frame made her look younger.

  “You two have been together long?” I asked, more to distract myself than out of curiosity.

  Beth’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “Since before. We grew up together.”

  “It’s the same for us,” I said, feeling a sudden kinship with this stranger. “Kellan was my brother’s best friend. After the virus hit, we only had each other. We were just kids, and it wasn’t until recently that we admitted our feelings had changed.”

  Too recent, I thought, unable to voice the words out loud. It’s too soon for us to say goodbye. We haven’t even had a chance to really be together yet.

  “We were together already when the virus hit, but he was away at college, and I was just starting my senior year. Everyone I knew died, and I had no idea what to do.” Beth shifted, getting more settled on the bed, and a lock of hair that had somehow managed to avoid being pulled back fell across her face. “I was alone for three weeks when Logan busted down my front door. He’d crossed hundreds of miles to get to me.”

  “Was he already bitten by then?” I asked.

  “No.” Beth shook her head. “He didn’t find out until about a year later. It was the worst day of my life. I thought for sure I was going to lose him.”

  “It was the same with us,” I said, looking toward a sleeping Kellan. “I begged him to kill me, but he refused to give up hope. Thankfully.”

  “I’m the only one in this little group that isn’t immune,” Beth said. “It’s why I stay in the truck. Hickory stays for backup and because his arthritis had gotten so bad recently.”

  The mention of arthritis brought Jasper to mind, and a pang shot through me at the memory of the man who’d both saved me and had acted as a replacement father over the years. Even if Kellan and I managed to get home, we’d never see him again. He was gone for good, killed by Andrew and his goons. It was enough to make me want to sob.

  A rumble of voices came from the other room, and Beth let out a sigh as she got to her feet. “I need to go play referee. I swear, Ash and Hickory can’t go fifteen minutes without bickering. You’d think they were related.”

  Now alone, my focus returned to Kellan. I rinsed the washcloth once again then used it to wipe his hot forehead and cheeks. He was still burning up, and his breathing seemed more labored than before. On instinct, I rested my head against his chest, savoring the thump of his heart against my cheek. I closed my eyes and focused on the sound, silently begging it to keep beating.

  “We’re going to be okay,” I whispered. “We’re going to be okay.”

  He let out a raspy breath, and a second later a warm hand moved over my head. “Remember your promise.”

  “We aren’t going to talk about that right now.” I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, refusing to look him in the eye. “Understand?”

  “Regan,” Kellan said, “look at me.”

  Hesitantly, I lifted my head. When I forced my eyes open, his gaze met mine. The eyes staring back at me were sickly, telling me without him even having to open his mouth just how bad things had gotten.

  “I won’t let you die for me,” he said.

  “You’d die for me.”

  “Only if I had to. You don’t have to die for me, not when I’m already dead.”

  “You’re not dead,” I shot at him. “We have time.”

  “Maybe,” Kellan replied, his tone flat and hopeless. “But if not, if something happens and you have to make a choice, you leave me. Understand?”

  I swallowed, forcing the lie to come out smoothly. “I understand.”

  Kellan’s gaze held mine for a moment, the corners of his mouth turning down. He shook his head and exhaled. “You’re a shit liar.”

  The door in the other room opened, and I jumped to my feet without responding, praying it was Logan returning with this magic antibiotic.

  He’d just stepped inside when I made it into the other room, a fortyish woman with sleepy eyes trailing behind him, and all it took was one look at his face to know he hadn’t succeeded.

  I gripped the back of a chair, trying to steady myself when my legs wobbled. “You didn’t get it.”<
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  “No.” Logan shook his head slightly. “But I brought Caroline.”

  “We’re out of antibiotics at the moment.” The woman who’d come in with him pushed past me, heading for the room I’d just exited. “I need to examine the wound.”

  I followed her, standing at her side as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. Once she’d set her bag on the floor, she flipped Kellan’s arm over, revealing the angry bite. It had gotten worse, not that I was surprised.

  The lines around Caroline’s eyes and mouth deepened when she frowned. “This is already severely infected.”

  “I told you,” Logan said from behind us.

  I looked over my shoulder to find him standing in the doorway, Beth leaning against him.

  “We can clean it and drain the pus, then apply a honey poultice in the hope of reducing the infection.” Caroline looked up at me. “It will buy us some time.”

  “Until what?” I asked. “He needs antibiotics.”

  “I know,” she said. “We should be getting a new shipment any day. Vaccines, antibiotics, and other drugs we can’t get anywhere else.”

  “Who’s bringing it?” I asked.

  Caroline had already started rummaging around in her bag, her gray hair falling forward and shielding her face from view. “A man who has connections in New Atlanta and the CDC.”

  “He’s the one I told you about,” Logan added. “The one who knows things.”

  The fact that he was once again giving me vague statements that answered no questions didn’t escape my notice, but it was something I couldn’t even concentrate on right now, not with Kellan this sick.

  I focused on Caroline instead, who had pulled a glass bottle filled with clear liquid from her bag. Thank God she had supplies.

  “Do everything you can,” I said, not even trying to hide the desperation in my voice.

  “I will.” She paused long enough to lay her hand on my arm, the touch comforting. “I promise.”

  “Thank you.” I could barely get the words out before the tears started flowing.

  What would I do if he didn’t make it? I couldn’t even imagine a world where Kellan didn’t exist. It seemed too dark and horrible, even compared to the one we were currently living in.