Trepidation (6 page)

I considered carrying her back to the apartment building.
Maybe Max could help her.
I wasn’t a doctor and had no idea what to do except to keep her warm. I slipped on my coat and opened the door to survey the street, to see if it was safe to venture out, but when the bitterly cold wind smacked me in the face, I worried that Claire might not be able to take the journey. I walked back over and felt her skin; this time, she felt warmer. Still, there was no way I could take her back out in the cold until she was better. If she got worse, though, I knew I’d have to carry her back. I only hoped I was making the right decision, because if I was wrong, it could cost Claire her life, and I would never forgive myself for it.

***

A
fter a few hours, she woke and called me over. “What time is it?”

I glanced down at the watch on my wrist, a rare luxury Max had equipped us with so we wouldn’t miss important meetings. “It’s around three p.m.”

“Whoa! I slept
that
long?”

“You needed the rest,” I said. “Rest for another hour, and then we gotta head back. I found a pair of dry boots you can use...and a dry coat too.”

“Sounds like a plan. I bet you haven’t sat down the whole time I was sleeping.”

“No, I was patrolling and guarding. Also, I found a car with enough gas to get us back to the apartment.”

“Come take a little break with me on this wonderful bed you made me in front of the fire,” she said, patting a soft blanket.

I smiled and sat down next to her. It was so warm and cozy that I ended up stretching out and got underneath the covers. She snuggled up next to me and laid her head on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. As the fire crackled, my thoughts consumed me. I thought about my parents, my island home, losing Jackie, and the impending war with Z.

“You look like you’re a million miles away.”

“I guess I am.”

“Can we pretend like everything is normal, if only for a few minutes? We’re in this cute, cozy house, sitting in front of a roaring fire, all snuggled up in a warm blanket, while the snow comes down in big, giant, fluffy flakes. It’s like Christmas.”

“I don’t think a few minutes are gonna matter one way or the other,” I said. “If anything comes down that chimney, I’m pretty sure it won’t be Santa.”

She laughed, then snuggled into me, ignoring my pessimism.

The fire felt so warm. For a minute, everything seemed right with the world. If I tuned out everything, including how close we still actually were to Z’s lair, it really did feel like two pals just chilling out and keeping warm. We talked and laughed and didn’t even worry about zombies, since I’d already checked the house thoroughly. “I haven’t laughed like this in a long time,” I said.

She leaned her head on my shoulder. “Me neither.”

A
fter a while longer, I stood. “We gotta go. Z’s men could find us here. I know Z said we could leave, but I don’t trust him. He could’ve seen the smoke from the chimney and change his mind. Not only that, but the snow’s really starting to come down. We gotta get back before we get snowed in, and I don’t wanna be walking around in the dark. We’ve gotta let Max know what a sicko we’re dealing with.”

“Hey, Dean...thanks,” she said.

I slid my black boots on. “For what?”

“For getting me all warmed up and making me laugh, for helping me forget about the dreadful world we really live in, if even for just a few minutes. It was a nice fantasy.”

“We’ve been through so much. It feels good to feel...human sometimes.”

She slipped on the big, black fur coat I’d found for her, then slid her feet into four pairs of socks and the furry boots that were a size too big. It was good that she had them, because if the old car broke down, we would have to brave the frozen tundra to get back to town.

I handed her an empty vinyl bag.

“What’s this for? My wet stuff?”

“Yeah and for the stuff in the bathroom.”

“The bathroom?”

I smiled. “Go see.”

She grinned, then darted up the stairs. When she screamed, I knew she’d found the little toiletry stash. “Soap, shampoo, perfume, and razors!” she yelled, delighted. “Oh my gosh! You really know how to pamper a girl, Dean!”

“Wow. This must be a messed-up world when somebody gets so excited over razors,” I retorted.

She laughed. “Hey, have you seen my hairy legs? I could French braid my shins, for goodness sake!”

I chuckled at the strange visual of a big pink ribbon hanging from her legs.

“Dean, this is a goldmine! There’s all kinds of stuff.”

“Well, pack it up and let’s go.”

We put out the fire, grabbed everything we could carry that might be of some use, then trampled through the snow and climbed into the car. Fortunately, the drive home was far more uneventful than anything we’d been through the last few days.

***

B
ack at the apartment complex, Max happened to be in the parking lot.

I beeped my horn and waved him over.

“Dean!” he yelled. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah, well, we’re breathing.”

“New wheels?” he asked. “Where’s the Mazda?”

“History. I hotwired this car to get back.”

“How very MacGyver of you,” he joked.

“We’re fine,” Claire said, too cold to laugh at his very outdated joke. “I’ve gotta see Nick though.”

“The others are out looking for you and the others,” Max said. “I’ll send word that you’re alive and kicking. What happened though? Where’s the crew I sent with you?”

“Huh?” I said, confused. “Jared and the others aren’t back yet?”

He shook his head. “No, and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of their car.”

“Z kidnapped us,” I said.

Max gasped. “Z? How did you escape?”

“Long story,” I said. “I’ll tell you everything once we get inside. It’s freezing out here, and Claire needs to warm up.”

“Yes, of course. Meet me in my office as soon as you get settled. I’ll get some of my men, and then we want to hear every single detail.”

I parked the car and hurried inside the apartment. Sparkles greeted us and Claire picked her up as she wagged her tail and licked her face. The first thing I did was get a fire going to warm up the living room. Claire and I drank lots of water and gobbled up a couple cans of tuna and kidney beans.

“You stay here and rest by the fire a while,” I said.

“No way! I’m coming with you,” she insisted.

I smiled, glad she was feeling better and was back to her old stubborn self. The thought of losing another good friend had been almost too much for me to deal with.

We waited for Max in his office and sat around the table with others to discuss our kidnapping.

Max rushed inside. “The others are back!” he said.

“Are they okay?” a woman asked.

“They’re traumatized, and there are a few injuries, but most are okay. Darrin started bleeding pretty badly, so they had to hole up until they got it to stop.” Max looked over at Claire and me. “They told me everything. I’m so, so sorry.” He quickly went on to tell the others what had happened, and they were just as horrified as he was when they found out we’d been captured. “What did the fiend do to you?” 

“Well, he hung me upside down over a bunch of decapitated zombie heads, and he made Claire walk out onto a frozen swimming pool that she fell into, with zombies chasing after her. She was attacked by the freaks on top of the ice while the ones underwater attacked her legs, all while almost freezing to death.” I purposely left out the part about her being bitten, as I was worried they might throw her out of town.

“So why’d he let you leave?” asked a thin man named Harvey.

“Because,” Claire retorted, “he wanted us to bring a message to all of you. He wants you to know how sick of a psycho he is and that he is not someone to be trifled with. If we don’t leave the city, he says he’ll kill every single man, woman, and child in a similar deranged way.”

I let out a long breath. “It’s...psychological warfare. He thought if we brought the message to you, we could convince you to leave without a fight. Otherwise, he’s vowed to wage war on this town and everyone in it.”

“Well, whatever kind of warfare it is, it’s working,” a woman said. “I don’t wanna see my babies killed that way, by some self-proclaimed homicidal tyrant. Still, I have no idea how we’ll survive past the perimeters.”

“What he did to Claire was sick and twisted. Why would Z torture a poor girl the way he did?” a woman asked.

“It was to prove a point,” I said, “to show that he’ll kill women just as easily as he’ll kill men. Gender makes no difference to him.”

“He left us in that warehouse before to be devoured by zombies, then lit the place on fire when he thought we were still in there,” Claire said. “He just doesn’t care, and that’s what makes him so dangerous. There’s no way to reason with someone so insane.”

“I’m just surprised he’s even giving us a warning and time to leave,” said a redheaded woman with hair a shade darker than Claire’s.

“He’s only doing that so he has less people to fight,” Max added. “It was certainly not out of the kindness of his heart.” Max stood. “I can’t speak for the rest of you, but I have no intention of leaving, so it looks like I’m gonna have a war on my hands. I say we gather up any soldiers who want to fight, men or women, as well as any weapons we can find, then start strategizing and making a military game plan. We’ll attack in a week.”

“No!” a man said. “We should take them right now.”

“That’d be foolish,” another said. “Max is right. We need time to formulate a plan and gather troops and weapons. Then we’ll deliver payback to them for terrorizing people from our city.”

“We’ll fight with all we have,” Max said, “with our hearts, with spirit, with pride. We’ll do it to protect our friends, our families, our children, and the functioning society we’ve built here. I swear to you, Fairport will be victorious, and it will remain ours!”

The group cheered and clapped, inspired by their fearless leader, and I was happy to see it.

“I’ll get started right away,” Max said, then left the room in a hurry.

Claire and I talked with the others for a few more minutes. Everyone had his or her own opinion, but it was good that, for the most part, we were all on the same page.

***

A
fter the meeting, we headed back to the apartment. I had no idea where Nick, Lucas, and Val had gone to look for us, and I knew if we headed out to try to find them, we’d probably miss each other, so it was probably best to just stay put. I only hoped Max’s men had gotten word to them that we were all right and had warned them about the impending war.

Asia was eating tuna on the couch with her feet propped up, and Kate was taking a nap. “Hey! What’s up?” she asked.

“We were here earlier, but I guess you were sleeping,” Claire said.

“My hands keep shaking. I think I’m still suffering the after-effects of those drugs they gave me.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll eventually make Charlie pay for all that,” I said, anger consuming me.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream startled me.

I grabbed my Glock.

“Kate!” Claire said, grabbing her gun and running toward the bedroom.

Droplets of sweat ran down Kate’s face, and her hair was glued to the sides of her head. “Put the guns down.”

“What happened?” Claire asked.

“Just...it was only a bad dream,” she gasped out between breaths.

Claire ran over and hugged her tightly.

Kate was pretty shaken up.
Poor girl,
I thought, knowing it was only the beginning of a lifetime of nightmares. I didn’t know exactly what they’d done to her, but whatever it was, I knew it wasn’t good. When I realized Claire and Asia seemed to have things under control, I turned to leave to give the girls some time to themselves.

A few minutes later, Asia came out. “So...how’d you wreck your face?” she asked.

“Z’s men kidnapped us. They aren’t exactly the most hospitable hosts.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Nick and the others are out looking for me. Max knows we’re okay, and he sent men to go out and reel the others back.”

She arched a brow. “What the heck’s going on?”

“It seems World War III has begun,” I said grimly.

The door opened, and Val rushed in and hugged me so hard I almost couldn’t breathe. She then stepped back and slugged me in the arm. “Dean! What the heck were you doing?” She then hugged me again and asked, “Are you okay?” She shoved me back, stomped her foot, looked at me, and shook her head, then crossed her arms like she was about to ground me; every single gesture reminded me of our mother. “You’re all cut up.”

“Just a few battle scars,” I said, almost proudly. “I’ll live, sis.”

“Quit playing macho. How do you feel?”

“Well, I hurt everywhere, and I’ve got a horrible headache.”

“Max told me everything and I can’t believe it. Let me help you into bed You need to rest.”

“Can’t. No time. There’s too much going on right now.”

Nick hugged me, then loosened his grip. “Where’s Claire?”

“Kate had a nightmare,” I said. “She’s in there with her, trying to calm her down.”

He nodded, then clapped my shoulder. “How are you holdin’ up?”

“I’m fine.”

“We found your car in the ditch,” he said. “I was pretty worried there for a minute especially when I found Claire’s gun on the ground. I’m just glad you two are okay.”

My brother hugged me again.

“Claire will be glad to get her gun back,” I said.

Nick looked at me as emotion consumed him.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m fine.”

“Max told me what they did to you and Claire,” he continued. “I’m gonna kill Z! The second I get my hands on that as—”

“Language, Nick!” Val scolded.

“That...jerk, he’s a dead man. He tried to kill you in that warehouse and now this? After you risked your life to save his people? I’m gonna make him suffer and show him no mercy.” With that, Nick stormed off to the bedroom to check on Claire.

Lucas laughed and shook his head. “Man, Dean, you’re always putting him in a mood,” he said, “but it’s good you’re okay.”