Impact (11 page)

He laughed, then looked at the guy with the spiky hair. “Get them out of here.”

Just like that, we were herded out of the van and marched into a building, with the goons shouting at us and prodding us around like cattle. When a man dragged off Asia and Jackie a different direction, I went ballistic.

“They’ll be fine,” the man said, “but if you don’t cool your jets, I’m gonna shoot them myself...after I have a little fun with the curvy one.”

I bit my lip, trying to calm down, because I wanted to break his neck. I had no idea what we were doing there, and I expected one of Z’s brothers to walk in at any time. I knew there was no way they were going to let us live. Ultimately, we would die there unless we came up with some sort of escape plan. Our only chance was to outthink our stupid kidnappers.

My handcuffs were loosened, and some other guy roughly shoved me into a room. I fell down on a smelly foam mattress that was lying on the floor. A few seconds later, others were tossed into my cell. Our captors murmured outside the door, and I tried to make out what they were saying, hoping for a clue as to what was going on and what intentions they had for us. 

“What’s happening?” asked a blond guy with dirty, matted hair. 

“Shh,” I said, placing my ear against the door.

“What are they saying?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

He leaned back against the dirty, mildew-covered wall. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and was muscular and fit. I knew he’d be a valuable asset in getting out of that nightmare.

“I’m Marcus,” he said.

I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Marcus. Just wish it was under better circumstances. I’m Dean.”

“It is what it is. These are my buddies, Lewis, Elliot, Toby, and Theo.”

We all exchanged handshakes and fist-bumps.

“What could they possibly want with us?” Toby asked. He seemed the most freaked out of all. 

“Do you know Z?” I asked. “Are you with his people?”

He cocked his brow. “Z?”

“Yeah. He is...er, uh...was a madman in charge of a gang that attacked the town where I was staying. We killed him in self-defense during a battle at a hospital. I think his brother wants revenge.”

“We just drove into the city a few days ago. There weren’t any zombies, so we figured it was a good place to rest for a few days. These guys came in and just snatched us out of there, without a word as to why.”

“They left my mother, elderly aunt, grandma, and four children,” another man said. He took off his jacket, exposing the tattoos that laced his bulging arms. “So why did Z’s guys kidnap us? We’re not on either side.”

“Because you were in the city he wants,” I said.

“Wrong place, wrong time, huh?”

“I’m afraid so. You were in what he considers his territory, so that makes you his enemy.”

He shook his head. “I knew we shoulda kept going, but the kids were so tired.”

“But why didn’t they bring the kids and the others here?” I asked. “Did they leave them, uh...alive?”

“Yeah. They didn’t lay a finger on them and just took us.” 

“Something doesn’t make sense. Z and his men had no mercy, no pity. They left no survivors and enjoyed torturing people.”

“Maybe they just wanna make an example out of us,” Lewis said. ”Maybe they just didn’t want to hurt women and kids.”

“You don’t know Z’s gang like I do,” I said. “They don’t care. They’ll kill everyone, young, old, male, or female. They enjoy making everyone suffer.”

“Then what’s this about? Does it have anything to do with this Z guy, who sounds like a real freaking nightmare, or is it something completely different?”

“It could be anything,” Theo said. “We’re clueless, and they obviously love keeping us in the dark.”

Marcus looked at me intently. “If this isn’t Z’s guys, any idea who they are and why they want us?” 

I blew out a long breath. “Well, I’ve seen it all, from making us fight zombies in an arena to, uh...cannibalism.”

“Cannibalism? As in...people eating people?” Toby said.

“Yep, unfortunately.”

“You mean, besides the zombies? You’re talking about actual living humans chowing down on other humans?”

“Yes,” I said, nodding. “It happens.”

“Yes it does,” Elliot said. “I’ve seen it before.”

I blew out a long breath. I hoped cannibals weren’t the case. “My sister ran into a bunch of them on her journey from Philadelphia to Ohio. And I’ve experienced it myself too. People are starving out there, and you know what they say about desperate times and desperate measures.”

“Now that gives me the creeps,” Toby said.

Lewis leaned forward and looked at me. “Well, you’ve obviously managed to survive.” 

“Yeah, I’ve been pretty lucky so far.”

“I’ve heard about people having to fight zombies in an arena,” Lewis said.

“Kingsville?” Toby whispered.

I cocked a brow. “Yeah. How did you know?”

“People we’ve met and stayed with talk about that place. I thought it was a myth.”

“Nope. It’s far too real. I barely got away.” I went on to quickly describe the games and everything that happened. “If I can survive that, I’ll survive this,” I finally said. “We just need to figure out what they want.”

Elliot nervously ran his hands through his hair. “My guess is that they want us for food. That’s why they took the healthiest of our group.”

I looked at him, trying to make sense of everything.

He continued, “We spent a couple months in a town about an hour from here. I’ve been hearing stories about people getting kidnapped, and they’re never seen again.”

“Don’t let the fear get hold of you,” I said. “You can’t let ‘em get in your head. No matter what they want with us, we’ve gotta stay brave, gotta fight, gotta get out of here!”

Suddenly there was an audible
click
, and the door started to open.

All riled up from my own pep talk, I held up my fist, ready to attack. “Anyone dumb enough to come in here is gonna get taken down,” I said, seething.

“Please don’t hurt me,” said a woman with short blonde hair. “I just brought you some food.” She smiled sheepishly and held out a tray that held open tuna cans and a jar of muddy water.

“Who are you?” Lewis said, taking the tray from her hands.

“Eva,” she answered, sounding a bit nervous.

I met her gaze. “I came here with a brunette and a woman who was unconscious. I need to see them.”

“Jackie and Asia, right?”

“Yes!” I said excitedly, touching her arm. “Please tell me they’re okay.”

She nodded. “They’re fine. Asia came to and is recovering, and—”

Suddenly, before she could get another word out, Marcus wrapped his arm around Eva’s thin throat and pulled her back. “You’ve got no right to hold us here like prisoners when we didn’t do anything wrong. What’s to keep me from snapping your pretty little neck?”

“Not before we get answers,” Elliot said.

“Just stop!” I shouted. “Let the girl go!”

Marcus shook his head. “Not a chance. Not until she sings like a canary.”

“I’m a prisoner, too, just like you,” she muttered. “They won’t care if you kill me. I’ve got a bum leg and limp when I walk. I’m of no use to them anymore. Why do you think they sent me in? I’m...expendable.”

He slowly let her go and looked at her skeptically, trying to make out what her true motives really were.

“You can smash that jar and cut my wrists for all I care!” Eva shouted, sounding like a suicidal maniac.

“We’re not gonna hurt you,” I said softly, trying not to spook her. “Right?” I asked, looking at other guys for acknowledgment. The girl was obviously a victim, and I assumed it might pay to have someone on our side, someone who could act as a bit of a mole. I figured she could give us the layout of the place and what we were up against, so we could plan a safer escape. 

“I just might take the girl up on her offer,” Marcus said. “I’m sure she’s one of them. I’m not buying her crap.” He looked her up and down. “We’ve got nothing to lose, honey,” he said, glaring at Eva. “Tell us why we’re really here, what’s going on.”

“You’d better eat up,” she said. “They might not feed you boys for days.”

Lewis looked at the brown water. “What is that anyway? You trying to poison us?”

“It’s rainwater. We live off the land. You’re just lucky we went on a raid and found the tuna.” She stepped closer. “And speaking of that, I’ll need the tin cans back when you’re done.”

“No way,” Elliot said, shaking his head.

“If I don’t return with those cans and the jar, they’ll kill me.”

“I know you’re up to something!” Marcus shouted. “Nobody in their right mind would send you in here alone, with possible weapons.”

“They aren’t...enemies, per se,” she said. 

“Back off for a minute, buddy,” Elliot said, trying to calm his friend down.

“She’s one of them!” Marcus said in a rage. He then threw Elliot to the ground, and they both screamed out a barrage of obscenities. 

Eva walked over and whispered something in my ear, but I couldn’t make out her words with all that commotion going on around us. 

“What?” I asked, drawing closer.

“If you wanna live, attack me,” she whispered.

I shook my head and looked at her like she was insane.

“Do it! They’ll come in and stop it.”

I raised a brow. “Why?”

“It’s a test, to weed out who will fight and who is too passive. Do it or die!”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

“Because Jackie said you’d help me escape, that we could work together to get out of here.”

At that moment, I realized she really was a prisoner and wanted our help. Eva truly was on our side. She’d had enough and wanted out of that crazy place. In order to live, I had to fake an attack on her. It had to look authentic, as if I was trying to kill her, but I wouldn’t hurt her at all. As far as I was concerned, she was now our ally.

“On second thought, maybe you’re right, Marcus,” I roared. “Give me that!” I snatched the jar and smashed it against the wall, then tore a long strip of fabric from the bottom of my shirt and wrapped it around a shard of glass, creating a stabbing weapon like some kind of sociopathic MacGyver.

Marcus’s eyes lit up. “Now that’s a shank!”

I wrapped my arm around the girl’s neck and held the blade close. “I’ll kill her!” I shouted.

Eva screamed for effect, and the others began hooting and hollering like wild animals. 

“Open this door right now or she’s dead!” Elliot demanded.

“We’ll slice her throat!” Toby screamed.

In the next second, the door opened, and a gang of men rushed in like some kind of commando team. Pain burst across my jaw as one of them hit me with the butt of his gun. Another used his handgun as a blunt weapon and clubbed me. Blood dripped down my face, and I dropped to the ground.

“Sweep it up!” a man said to Eva, pointing at the broken glass.

“Yes, sir.” She rushed in and swept up the glass, then collected the tuna cans. She then ran out of the room without saying another word to me.

One of the guards gave one last kick to Toby, causing him to writhe and gasp in pain, and then he stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

“You okay?” Marcus asked, though he was just as dismantled as I was.

“He nailed me pretty good on the side of my head.”

“Got me too.”

“They took our makeshift weapons,” Toby said.

“Why didn’t they shoot us though?” I asked, rubbing my head.

Marcus pondered. “I was just thinkin’ the same thing.”

“We had one of theirs, that chick,” Elliot said. “Maybe they were scared of hurting her.”

“If that was the case, they never would have sent her in here,” Marcus argued. “Heck, Dean coulda killed her with his glass shank.”

“Well, whatever their reason, they clearly want us alive,” I said.

Marcus nodded. “Yup. That’s the scary part.”.

“But for what?” I asked. “That’s the dreaded question.”

“They don’t care about that woman,” Elliot said. “She said so herself.”

“They kept us alive for some reason. We just have to figure out what it is,” I said. I didn’t tell them about Eva because I didn’t know them well enough to trust them with that little secret. I knew if they blabbed for any reason, we’d lose Eva’s trust, and she might very well lose her life. She was our key to getting out, and I couldn’t risk exposing her, not even to them. There were a lot of symptoms that came along with living in such a disease-infested world, and one of them was a big batch of trust issues. Enemies were everywhere, living and dead, and desperate people would turn on me in a heartbeat.

I knew a little from what Eva had told me, but I still didn’t know what our captors wanted. That haunted me and was more painful than the beat-down the guards had given me. I wished I could have a few minutes alone with Eva, because the curiosity was killing me. Most of all, though, I needed to see Jackie and Asia. I couldn’t rest until I knew they were really okay, and I would do whatever it took to find out.

J
ust as Eva warned, they didn’t feed us over the next few days. I truly felt like a prisoner. I’d been kidnapped, thrown into a dark room with strangers, and just left to rot. When they finally marched me alone to another room, I was happy to be taken away from the pit I’d been suffering in for days.

I was mostly tormented by the fact that I didn’t know what they were doing to the girls. Jackie and Asia had been through enough already. They barely had time to breathe before they were kidnapped for a second time. First, it was Charlie, and now they were in the hands of people who had some motive we didn’t even know.

I also feared for my safety. Elliot suspected that we’d been brought there as food, captured by cannibals, and I couldn’t help thinking they might be right. They hadn’t fed us in days and I wondered if they were trying to cleanse the toxins from our body before they fed on us. I knew from what I’d seen with my own eyes, as well as the horrific stories Val had told me, that people would do desperate, inhumane things when there was no food. It all came down to survival, at all costs.

My hands were duct taped together at the wrists in front of me, and I was plopped down in a chair in the center of the room. Streams of sunshine flooded through open shades, causing me to squint after having been locked up in a dark hellhole for so long.