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.”“You mean you’re going to bring back Dane.”I ignore her.She sighs, scrubbing a hand down her pale face.“I’m coming.”All three of us pin her with a look.“I know Dane’s history, you don’t.I think I might know where he is too,” she murmurs, touching her bottom lip absently.It still pisses me off she knows shit about him that I don’t.“Gina--”“Now she,” Jase says to Sam, whilst pointing to Gina, “will slow us down.”Gina’s eyes narrow.“The hell I will.”“What are you going to do?” Jase asks.“Fuck our enemies to death?”“Jase that’s enough,” Sam growls.“Gina might not be able to fight but she knows shit, okay?”“Fine,” Jase concedes.“A little sex on the way might be good.”I slap him on the back of his head.“Stop being such a dick.”He gives me a look that would make a lesser woman squirm.“Fine.You’re call princess.”I rub my forehead.“Us, the dungeon men and five other men.What do you think?”Everyone nods, including Gina.It looked like I was finally going to see what was beyond these walls, but under the circumstances, I didn’t even care.Chapter FourteenI shield my eyes from the bright sunlight as the gates close behind me.After years, I was outside of the castle walls.Looking around, I see no sign of life.Nothing but trees and grass.At least it wasn’t desert.“You ready?” Sam asks, and I nod my head.I roll my eyes as the men surround Gina and I.“Not necessary.”We start to head north.We’ve only been walking about ten minutes when I hear a scuttling noise from behind a passing bush.Everyone stills.“Don’t worry about it, it’s probably just… Ahhh fuck,” Jase grits out, glancing straight at me.“What is it?” I ask, looking around.Goosebumps travel up my arms and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.What the fuck was going on?“Your dad is rolling in his grave right now,” Sam says, wincing.“He might just come back to life to kill us.”That’s it, I’d have enough.“Explain.Now.”“Olivia--”I hear the noise again, followed by a hissing noise.What the hell was it? Intrigued, I step towards the noise.Someone grabs my upper arm, and pulls me in the opposite direction.I resist.And then I see why no one wanted me to see what it was.Or who it was.It was… one of them.Transfixed, I stare at its almost translucent skin, hollowed eyes, and peeled lips.Its scalp had almost no hair on it, just a few long strands of blonde here and there.I remember when that head used to be full of thick, healthy hair, just like my own.My mother.She wasn’t dead, she was a zombie.“Wh-why?” I stutter, staring at the woman who gave birth to me with horrid fascination.Sam pulls me.“Evan told us not to kill her.She stays here, hanging around the walls.”“Mom?” I whisper.She stares back at me, tilting her head like a curious puppy.There was no recognition in her gaze.My heart was hurting.It felt like I was losing her all over again, but this time it was worse because she wasn’t in a better place.She was in hell.Why did my dad want to keep her alive like this? Like a monster.She wouldn’t want to live like this.I knew my mother.She would hate herself.“Jase,” I whimper.He comes to my other side.I look up at him, my eyes pleading with him.He knows what I want, why I said his name instead of Sam’s.“Are you sure?” he asks.I nod.“She wouldn’t want to live like this.Please make it quick.”“You walk ahead,” he says, surprising me with a compassionate kiss to my forehead.“You’re making the right decision.Your father was weak when it came to her.Blinded.”We walk ahead for about ten minutes when Jase catches up to us.I didn’t hear anything.I look forward and try to push her image out of my mind.I try to no avail.What else has everyone been keeping from me?“He used to feed her,” Sam says, studying me as I lean my back against the tree trunk and close my eyes.“We killed any other zombie that came near the castle but not her.”“She wasn’t a pet,” I whisper.“I don’t know why he did it.”“He loved her.Too much to kill her.Love made him selfish.He didn’t want you to know.Made sure that no one told you.It was his burden to bear.”His voice is sympathetic, and when my first tear drops, he sits next to me and holds me in his arms.“I know you wanted us here because you don’t trust us,” Fred says.“But we will prove ourselves to you.”I really hope they did.“You’ve been nothing but great so far,” I tell him, because it was true.The dungeon men blended in with the others.They kept guard, didn’t start any fights, and seemed honest.Only time would tell if that’s the people they truly were though.“We love living in the castle.It’s nothing like out here.It’s a whole new world,” he admits, smiling and showing off his yellow teeth.“Drink some water Olivia,” Gina demands, handing me an animal hide water bottle.I take a few sips and then hand it back to her.“Thanks.”We’ve been walking for hours.Apart from seeing bodies of zombies on the floor, there were no other signs of life.Was it Dane that killed them? It was almost like there was a trail of them for us to follow.Then I see it.Smoke.I nudge Sam and point to it.He motions for us to duck down, so we do, behind the trees.“Looks like a camp,” Jase whispers.“I don’t know how many.”“Plan of action?” I ask, pulling an arrow out and holding it in my other hand just in case.“Why don’t two of us head closer and check it out?”“Let me guess, you’re volunteering,” Gina whisper-hisses at me.“Seriously you have more balls than most men I know.”Sam flashes her a dirty look.“Shut up,” Jase snaps at her, then turns to me.“You’re staying your ass here.Sam and I will go.”“He’s kind of hot when he goes all alpha male,” Gina turns and says to me with wide eyes.“Hot,” she mouths again.I lift my head and pray for patience.“Protect them,” Sam tells Wyatt, one of the men.Wyatt was a bulky guy, who kind of reminded me of a large bear.Scruffy beard, long messy brown hair and the muscles of a body builder, he also had kind brown eyes that said he wasn’t as mean as he looked.Oh, and he was quiet.He never spoke unless spoken to.Wyatt nods then glances in my direction.Not knowing what else to do, I wiggle my fingers at him.He blushes.I look to Gina who is staring at Sam.“Be safe.”“Hey that’s my line,” I murmur, looking at my best friend.“Be safe Sam.”He shakes his head in exasperation, and then he and Jase are off.“This team needs a name.A code name.”Gina looks at me like I’m crazy.“There is something seriously wrong with you.”I wish Dane was here.He would have thought of an awesome code name.Dane.Fuck, I missed the man.He better be safe, or I’m going to be pissed.He said he’d always come back.“How long until the sun goes down?” I ask no one in particular.“Couple of hours,” Wyatt replies quietly.As soon as the sun went down we would need to find somewhere safe to sleep.We’d have to take turns taking guard.Hearing a noise coming from behind us, I grab my bow and arrow, positioning the arrow and pointing it in that direction.Something steps out from behind one of the bushes.It…hell, I had no clue what it was.But it was fucking scary.“What the fuck is that?” I ask, my heart about to jump out of my chest.It wasn’t anything I’d ever seen before in my life.It was a monster.That was the only way I can describe it.With elongated fangs and black fur, it was standing on two legs… paws.I don’t fucking know.It was like a cross between a bear and a t-rex [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]